Angels represent God and protect those who believe
Food for Thought by Rev John Sterrett
Do you believe in angels? I’m talking about angels who come down to earth from Heaven and have wings and maybe a halo. The Old Testament is full of them. The New Testament refers to a few as well.
You might wonder “Why on earth would an all-powerful God need angels? If they are real, what are they for?”
I asked this question to some primary school children once and a little girl said: “They protect us.”
She was right. Psalm 91.11-12 tells us: “For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.”
But the Bible also indicates that God can do all this by Himself. He doesn’t absolutely need angels to do it for Him.
In his description of the vision he had from God, the prophet Zechariah said: “While the angel who was speaking to me was leaving, another angel came to meet him and said to him: “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of people and animals in it. And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its glory within.’” (Zechariah 2.3-5).
Wow! The Bible claims that God sometimes surrounds us with invisible angels for our protection, but God also says that He, Himself, can be like a protective wall of fire around us. I have met people who have seen angels, but I’ve never met anyone who has said they have seen God Himself. There are reasons for this.
In the Bible, angels protect believers, but they also represent God. almost like ambassadors represent the Queen.
But if God is all-powerful, why would He even need representation like that, especially when He can be anywhere He wants to be and in more than one place at once?
God tells Moses: “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” (Exodus 33.20). God is so powerful, so holy that in our present state, it would kill us to look at Him.
But Job gives us hope when he says “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God...” (Job 19.25-26).
We can’t see God now, but we will one day! Do you believe this? Do you feel alone, thinking no one notices? Others greater, smarter and more famous than you or me conclude that invisible beings do notice and that the spirit world exists but you must exercise faith to believe this.
In he novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë’s character Helen says to Jane: “Besides this earth, and besides the race of men, there is an invisible world and a kingdom of spirits: that world is round us, for it is everywhere; and those spirits watch us, for they are commissioned to guard us; and... God waits only the separation of spirit from flesh to crown us with a full reward. Why, then, should we ever sink overwhelmed with distress, when life is so soon over, and death is so certain an entrance to happiness – to glory?”
Not only are you watched and surrounded by angels, but you are watched and surrounded by God Himself. Remember the Bible says: “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31.8).
Rev John Sterrett is the minister at St Andrew’s, Golspie.
