Introduction
The world around us goes about its affairs largely unconscious of the presence of angels in their midst. And as far as Christendom is concerned, this is so, even though belief in angels is written into its creeds. Angels are mentioned in hymns and prayers; sentimental or whimsical representations of angels appear on Christmas cards and different art forms; yet in practical ways they are ignored to such an extent that the impression left is that the Christian Church could very well do without them.
In the Roman Church the dead have largely taken over the work one might expect angels to do. The Catholic calls for help to the ‘Blessed Virgin’, St. James, and a host of other dead men and women, whom it believes to be immortal and possessed of power to help by virtue of the Pope’s canonisation. The Protestant churches do not make prayers to saints, but instead expect to deal with God Himself and the Lord Jesus, whose influence they believe to descend direct to men, without the agency of angels. Indeed to those who believe themselves to be in direct contact with the Godhead agents are hardly necessary. And so the present world is vague about angels and their work (if it thinks at all about them) and there is certainly no vivid sense of angels walking with men, such as Jacob had when he said,
“The Angel which redeemed me from all evil …” (Gen.48:16).
Are we so far the children of our age that we, too, are hardly aware of the presence of angels among us? Do we live our lives conscious of their continual presence; do we remember how often in Scripture angels answered prayers, or strengthened faithful men in a time of crisis? I know I often forget, in my actions and thoughts, that angels watch, listen, and bear into God’s Presence all I do and say.
This study is no more than a remembrance of the things spoken in Scripture about angels, a ‘sorting out’ of the things they are said to be and do, and an attempt to understand some of the curious and difficult things we are told about some of them – such as the angel who wrestled with Jacob, the apparent impotence of the angel in Dan.10, and so on.
The study falls into six parts:
- The Nature and Status of Angels
- Presence of God
- The Presence of Jesus Christ
- Angels and Men
- The Withstanders
- Angelic Work Today.
The Solution