Topics Menu
We are a Christian Fellowship meeting in North London with a strong interest in teaching the Bible and understanding our time in
the light of Bible prophecy
A question of angels
One of the 'religious offerings' on BBC recently featured a programme about
people who claimed to have had contact with angels. According to a
psychologist interviewed on the programme, UFO abductions and near death
experiences are 'out' in paranormal circles and angels are 'in.' Some of the
experiences recounted on the programme appeared quite genuine, with people
speaking of supernatural deliverance from situations of great danger. On the
other hand many were definitely suspect spiritually and as usual with the
BBC there was no attempt to discern between the genuine and the counterfeit.
One woman interviewed conducted 'angel parties', going into people's homes
and inviting angels into the midst. She said, 'Angels are around us in huge
numbers. They are telling us that we must change and love one another as all
the masters - Buddha, Krishna, Christ - taught, or destroy one another.' A
lady who had taken part in her party said she had had a visitation from an
angel, who - surprise, surprise - was called Gabriel and came with brilliant
light. She had an impression of a velvet cushion with a trumpet and a pen.
Her explanation of this was, 'It is time to blow my own trumpet.'
Another lady called Vicky had a house and garden which had become a 'bit of
a centre where people experience angels. Angels flow by me, through me, at
me.' She conducts 'angel readings' with people to find out where they are at
spiritually. She said, 'I began to look into other cultures and they spoke
volumes to me in a way that Christianity has never done. I don't feel very
comfortable in churches. They're repressive, they tell me what I can and
can't believe. I'm not having that.'
What can we know about angels?
The word angel is taken from the Greek word 'angelos', which is a direct
translation of the word used in the Old Testament 'malach' meaning
messenger. The Bible teaches that angels exist and that they are
'ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit
salvation.' (Hebrews 1.14). It follows therefore that God's angels will be
working on behalf of God's message of salvation.
The Bible also teaches that there are fallen angels (demons) who joined in
Satan's rebellion against God (Job 4.18, Matthew 25.41, 2 Peter 2.4, Jude 6,
Revelation 12). In 2 Corinthians 11.14 Paul tells us that Satan is able to
transform himself 'into an angel of light' for the purpose of deceiving
gullible human beings.
With this simple piece of information to hand it is easy to discern that the
examples above from the BBC programme are visitations of fallen angels, not
angels of God. The message of the Bible is that Jesus is the Messiah, the
one mediator between God and human beings. So the lady who is putting Jesus
along with Buddha and Krishna is bringing a message, which contradicts the
message of the Gospel, and is therefore coming from a demonic source. The
interpretation of her vision, 'It is time to blow my own trumpet', in other
words to exalt oneself, is the opposite of the message of the Gospel which
is to deny oneself and exalt Jesus.
Vicky's 'angels' tell her to reject the Christian message because it is
repressive, telling her what she can and can't believe. It is true that God
does tell us in the Bible not to believe and practice certain things - with
good reason! They are untrue and they are harmful. Good parents tell their
children not to put their hands in the fire, not to be repressive, but to
protect them from harm. For example the Bible says,
There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter
pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or
one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a
medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.' (Deuteronomy
18.10-11).
The reason these things are forbidden in the Bible is that there are real
powers of evil, which can be contacted through such practices. The practices
encouraged in the 'Angels' programme are an open door to familiar spirits
(demons) who pretend to be angels from God in order to come in and take over
people's lives. The last days before the second coming of the Messiah Jesus
will see a huge increase in spiritual deception of this kind as false
prophets and false Messiahs go out into the world. Their teachings are
accompanied by lying signs and wonders (Matthew 24.24, 2 Thessalonians
2.9-12) which bring a strong delusion on those who receive them.
On the other hand God's angels are working in the unseen world on our behalf
all the time. 'There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner who repents' (Luke 15.10). The idea that we have a 'guardian angel'
is not directly taught in the Bible, but Jesus did say, 'Take heed that you
do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven
their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven' (Matthew
18.10).
The angels of God are his messengers working on behalf of those who are
seeking salvation or have found it and protecting us from evil, but we are
not to look for them or seek to make contact with them. In every description
in the Bible of an encounter with an angel, it is the angel who makes
contact with the person, not the person who seeks the angel. Those taking
part in the 'angel parties' described above will generally make contact with
a supernatural being - but it will be a fallen angel or demon, not an angel
of God. We should seek God alone, through the mediation of the Messiah Jesus
who has died and risen from the dead to remove the barrier of sin, which
separates us from Him.
We are also not to worship angels, as they are created beings. John wrote in
Revelation 22.8-9, 'Now I John saw and heard these things. And when I heard
and saw I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me
these things. Then he said to me, 'See that thou do not do that. For I am
your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who
keep the words of this book. Worship God.''
Interestingly there are examples in the Old Testament, which seem to
contradict this. At times the being described as 'the Angel of the Lord' is
given divine status of being able to redeem and pardon from sin. To see Him
is to see God and He is given worship (Genesis 18, Genesis 32.24-30, Genesis
48.16, Exodus 14.19, Exodus 23.20-23, Joshua 5.13-15, Judges 13). Rabbinic
literature has puzzled over the identity of this being, giving him the title
'Metatron' who is also described as the 'Middle Pillar, the Mediator between
Heaven and Earth and the Keeper of Israel.'
There are times where the Angel of the Lord is clearly more than a created
being and is given divine status in his manifestations to people in the Old
Testament. This is a problem to the rigid monotheism of Rabbinic Judaism
(i.e. how can God appear in a visible form?). For believers in Jesus as the
Messiah there is no problem at all. Where the Angel of the Lord appears as a
divine being, it is Jesus appearing in his pre-incarnate form as the
Redeemer of Israel. For further information on this subject send for the
book 'The Great Mystery - how can three be one?' by Rabbi Zvi ha Nassi or
the tape on the Metatron by Yakov Prasch or the tape 'The Trinity in the Old
Testament' by Tony Pearce.
