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Announcer (00:00:00): It's time to think about the Bible like you never have before! This is Christian Questions. Experience more episodes, videos and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com. Today's topic is, "How Do Guardian Angels Take Care of Us?" Angels are real. They are powerful beings that work directly for God. Angels do play a role in the lives of God's people. This is awesome. But we need to be careful, as there are all kinds of fanciful and fictitious beliefs about angels that are simply not biblical. So, how do we know what's true and what's not? Here's Rick and Jonathan.

Rick (00:00:39): Welcome everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Jonathan, my co-host for over 25 years. Jonathan, what's our theme scripture for this episode?

Jonathan (00:00:48): Hebrews 1:13-14: "But to which of the angels has He ever said, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?"

Rick (00:01:06): As Christians, we are all encouraged by the scriptural principle that God's angels are watching over us. What better hands could we be in than those who were sent by God Himself to take care of our very lives? As encouraging as this scriptural principle is, we need to be careful to avoid turning this reverent truth into some kind of human imagination that skews and corrupts its purity. The Bible is very specific as to the kinds of roles that angels do and do not occupy in our human lives. For us to truly appreciate how angelic influence works, we need to be prepared to accept that many of the notions and traditions surrounding angels are simply human-based fantasy and imagination. Now, this might sound disappointing, but it's actually good news as we want to define angelic activity through God's word and His word only. Jonathan, today's journey is a journey of understanding what angels are and what they're not. To do that, we're going to present several observations of angels and go through them scripturally and try to put it all in order. We're going to get started right off the bat here. Our first Angelic Observation is this: There are many descriptions of God's created heavenly host in the Bible, and in those descriptions, they are not called angels. We're going to start with a scripture from Nehemiah. This scripture is Israel confessing that they had sins after rebuilding the walls. First what we're going to see is the heavenly host were created, Nehemiah 9:6:

Jonathan (00:02:57): "You alone are the LORD. You have made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them and the heavenly host bows down before You." They were not called angels. Why?

Rick (00:03:17): You're right. They're called "the heavenly host" and it says God created them. It says they "bow down before" Him, but they're not given the name "angels." That's a good question - why? We're not going to answer it yet, but hang on, we'll come back, okay? Let's look at this "heavenly host" a little bit further through another scripture. Let's go to Job this time. First it was Nehemiah; now we're going to Job. What we're going to see is there's diversity within this heavenly host. This is Job. This is when God is talking to Job and basically telling Job, "Okay, Job, you think you're so smart. Where were you when...were you there when...I did this and did that?" This is the context of these verses. Job 38:4-7:

Jonathan (00:04:00): "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, who set its measurements, since you know? Or who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" The "heavenly host" includes "morning stars" as part of the sons of God. No angels. Why?

Rick (00:04:28): All right, no angels. We've got this "heavenly host," and now we've got "morning stars," but no angels. The question is, "Why?" It's a good question, Jonathan, I'm glad you keep asking. Let's go on to the next piece of unfolding here.

Jonathan (00:04:44): We know that Lucifer was a very high and honored son of God at one time. Isaiah 14:12-14, this is from the American Standard Version: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, that didst lay low the nations!"

Rick (00:05:04): We want to take a moment on this verse because it's talking about Satan--Lucifer--and how do we know that? Well, it's a little complex, but in Ezekiel 28:11-16, Lucifer is allegorically described as the king of Tyre. In those verses in Ezekiel, which worked together with the Isaiah verses, he's described as "full of wisdom" and "perfect in beauty." It says in the Ezekiel scriptures that he was placed by God in the Garden of Eden as "the anointed cherub who covers." That's a description of Lucifer as this mighty spirit being. Jonathan, I'm going to say it before you ask. No, it's not called an angel at this point either. All right, all right? What we know is as Lucifer fell from honor, he also fell from sonship and he became the deceiver. You look at this and you say, "Wow, what happened?" It's a dramatic, dramatic fall. No wonder he's called a serpent, not Lucifer, when he tempts Eve because he had fallen outside of the jurisdiction of God's will. But we have him described as "the anointed cherub who covers." We've got that description of part of the heavenly host as well. Interestingly, God stationed cherubim outside of the Garden after sin and after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden. There were cherubim in heaven, and they were stationed essentially to guard the gate, if you will. We see this in Genesis 3:24:

Jonathan (00:06:47): "So He drove the man out; and at the east of the Garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life." We have the heavenly host, morning stars, sons of God, and cherubim. There's a pattern here. Still no angels. Why?

Rick (00:07:07): All right. We're going to get to the why in just a second here, but we just want to pause for a second here, because Jonathan, when we think of cherubs, in our world today, people think of cherubs. You've got the little rosy-cheeked, chubby little babies with wings, and we call them cherubs. All right? Yet in this scripture in Genesis, you have cherubim, more than one, stationed to guard the Garden with this flaming sword. Whatever that symbolized, I don't know, but you have this immense power. This is no cheery little diapered flying fantasy, okay? We've messed it up. We've messed it up. We take the great power of a cherub, and we've made it into something cute and wonderful. It is powerful, a power, a heavenly power in the hands of God. Let's now define what angels actually are. What's the word actually mean in the Old Testament?

Jonathan (00:08:09): "To dispatch as a deputy; messenger, or representative." "Angel" means "messenger." We understand that to describe more of a job description rather than a being. We believe that all angels from heaven are "sons of God," but not all "sons of God" are angels.

Rick (00:08:28): By virtue of the actual definition, "to dispatch as a deputy." Jonathan, if you were the sheriff and you wanted me to go do something for you, you'd say, "Rick, I'm going to dispatch you as a deputy to deliver this message or to take care of this piece of lawful business." I have the authority of Jonathan, the sheriff, to go deliver or go perform whatever it is you told me to do.

Jonathan (00:08:53): Exactly.

Rick (00:08:54): That's a job, you've given me a job to do. That's what the word "angel" means. It means you are taking or carrying a message, you are representing somebody else. It doesn't describe all of who you are. I'd like to think I'm a more than just Jonathan's messenger boy, okay? Just saying. All right, so we've got that as a definition, alright? That's what angels are. That's why you don't see angels as the definition of all of those other things, because they weren't doing that kind of work. Let's get into now the "sons of God" and some of the things that they were doing as well. First, the first recorded interaction of many "sons of God" in the lives of fallen humanity occurs in Genesis 6. It's not a good interaction. It's not an interaction that you look at and say, "Wow, that's awesome." No, it is a very, very, very devious thing that happens here. Genesis 6:1-2:

Jonathan (00:09:54): "Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose." They weren't sent to do that. They went outside of God's will. Notice that they have no special titles. Of course, once again, no angels. Why?

Rick (00:10:20): Because they weren't sent, because they weren't dispatched as a deputy. They weren't sent on a mission from God. They were doing something of their own free will. That's why the scripture labels them "sons of God," not angels. We have to understand that because this is a huge truth that really puts things in perspective, especially when you start to talk about the dark side of this whole story, which we will touch on here and there as we go. But let's go a little bit further. Let's go into Genesis 6:3-4:

Jonathan (00:10:51): "Then the LORD said, My spirit shall not strive with men forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless, his days shall be one-hundred and twenty years. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown."

Rick (00:11:16): These individuals, these spirit beings, acted not only against the will of God, but they acted against the design of God and they mixed spirit with flesh. They bore a hybrid race. That hybrid race did not belong. This is a heinous sin that comes into play from the "sons of God." They're not angels because this is not God sending them to do something. The result of this comes in Genesis 6:5:

Jonathan (00:11:49): "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Rick, this brings us to Greek mythology. It said "men of old, men of renown." There are shades of truth in the stories of Greek gods. For instance, the Greek god Zeus was the king of gods, the king of the sky and thunder. He ruled on Mount Olympus. He has a child with a mortal woman named Alcmene. Her name means "strong in wrath." Their son was called Heracles. He was famously known for his strength and far-ranging adventures. Rome changed his name to Hercules, which we're more familiar with. This god, a spirit being, took a human woman and had a child, which the Scriptures refer to as "Nephilim."

Rick (00:12:42): You can see that you're right, Greek mythology had a founding in what happened way back then. It gives you kind of a sense when you mix the two, you have something that's in between. That wasn't God's will. It's fascinating to see where that came from. You can really attach it to the biblical account. These "sons of God," the spiritual "sons of God," they were not angels or cherubim. They were dabbling in the lives of mankind, of their own accord, of their own desire, and they were not messengers. They were not doing godly work in a godly way for a godly reason. That's what an angel is. That's what an angel does. This is not what we're looking at here. Jonathan, as we look at this, we have to begin to adjust our attitude about angels. What do we have?

Jonathan (00:13:38): God created all of the heavenly host as heavenly "sons of God." Humanity was also created to be earthly "sons of God." Both levels of created sons maintain that "son of God" title as long as they obey God. An angel from God is a heavenly son of God, tasked with representing God's will and word before humanity. Adam was called the "son of God." He lost his sonship through sin. Lucifer was called a "son of God." He also lost his sonship through sin. He became the enemy of God, the deceiver.

Rick (00:14:14): The plot thickens. Now why are we spending all this time on what angels aren't? So we can understand exactly what their role is and what it is not. This is an important equation because it helps us to see exactly how God's will is unfolded through angels and a whole lot about what doesn't happen that many of us might think does happen. God's heavenly host is far more complex than we generally think about. We can learn so much from what the Bible reveals if we pay attention.

Jonathan (00:14:49): We just said that all of God's angels are His messengers. What do they do? What do they deliver? How do they act?

Rick (00:14:58): We'll begin to explore this by walking through a few Old Testament examples. What we'll find is a very predictable and reliable template for how God's angels do and don't interact with humanity. Observing these things helps us to take the imagination and guesswork out of understanding angels and helps us begin the process of understanding what we call "guardian angels." We want to take a look at some examples, practical examples from the Old Testament, God's spiritual beings serving as angels. The first example we're going to be looking at is Abraham, when he's prepared to sacrifice his son, Isaac.

Jonathan (00:15:42): Here's what it looked like. Abraham and Isaac came to the place. Abraham built the altar, arranged the wood, bound his son, and lifted the knife to slay him. Genesis 22:11-12: "But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham! And he said, Here I am. He said, Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." The angel was exactly delivering God's message to Abraham. It reflected the voice of God stopping Abraham from doing what God only wanted Abraham to be willing to do. The test was, would he trust God's word?

Rick (00:16:29): The answer was, yes, he did. God stationed that angel to make sure that nothing happened that God would not have sanctioned. He was looking for that unequivocal obedience from Abraham. We know from other scriptures that Abraham very, very, very likely had a belief that if something happened there, God would have brought his son back, because God gave him that son as this seed of promise. When we look at this, let's take a look at our Angelic Observation here with this example of Abraham. This Old Testament example shows us that God's messengers, His angels, intervened when God deemed it necessary for the precise accomplishment of His will. God saw fit that the magnitude of this experience--and this was a big experience--warranted a direct and dramatic response.

Jonathan (00:17:22): Rick, this example; Isaac is the promised seed, the starting point of salvation. It was a critical point in God's plan.

Rick (00:17:31): It was, it was. What we're going to be seeing is angels appear at these critical points in God's plan. Let's go on to our next example, God's spiritual beings serving as angels. Remember, an angel is a messenger. God's spiritual beings aren't just sitting in heaven waiting to deliver the next message. They're doing whatever other work they do. Next example is with the prophet Daniel laboring in prayer over Israel's captivity. Jonathan, let's go to Daniel 9:20-23:

Jonathan (00:18:06): "Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God..." Let me break there. What focus and reverence did Daniel show God in his prayer! I love that. Continuing: "While I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering." Well, we know Gabriel was an angel. He gave announcements for God many times. This time it's different. He's looking like a man. Continuing: "He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision."

Rick (00:19:09): Jonathan, when you look at this, you see this tremendous interaction between Gabriel, this angel of God who appears like a man, and Daniel the prophet, and he's praying and he's seeing this vision, and he's being educated according to what God wants him to be able to see and understand and write down so that his plan could be revealed small step by small step by small step.

Jonathan (00:19:37): I have a question. Rick, does this mean Gabriel is Daniel's guardian angel?

Rick (00:19:42): No, no. It means that Gabriel was sent to deliver specific information and specific encouragement. Daniel was so faithful that as soon as he started praying, the command for his answer was issued. This was not a guardian angel. This is God saying, "He needs to know more. He needs to write more because it will come into play thousands of years after he's gone." That's what the angelic intervention was for here. That brings us to our Angelic Observation at this point. This Old Testament example of God's angel Gabriel shows us that God provided extraordinary support, extraordinary support to those who did extraordinary things in His service. There is this correlation that we need to understand that when you have these big events, oftentimes God's angels do come into play to guide and direct. Then what do they do after? They're gone. That's what we're seeing here, okay? We've got those first two examples. We've got Abraham and we've got Daniel. And those are two pretty high-level individuals when you look at faithful individuals in the Old Testament. Let's go to the next example, God's spiritual beings serving as angels, serving as messengers. About the same time that Daniel was laboring in prayer and in prophecy, Zechariah, a prophet of God, was searching for the same answers. In the account, we're going to look at, and Jonathan, I love this one because there's a really unique aspect to this next one. Zechariah is recounting his experience with an angel who was relaying God's precise words. Jonathan, let's go to Zechariah 1:12-17:

Jonathan (00:21:33): "Then the angel of the LORD said, O LORD of hosts, how long will You have no compassion for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been indignant these seventy years? The LORD answered the angel who was speaking with me with gracious words, comforting words." There's a three-way conversation going on here, Rick.

Rick (00:21:56): It's interesting, it's three-way conversation. You have the angel talking to Zechariah and Zechariah responding, but then the angel is essentially talking to God as this is happening. This is unique, this is different.

Jonathan (00:22:10): That is.

Rick (00:22:11): No, he's not his guardian angel, but you can tell that he's delivering something very specific from the Heavenly Father. Let's continue:

Jonathan (00:22:21): "So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, Proclaim, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts (Jehovah Sabaoth, which means "God of many"), I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. But I am very angry with the nations who are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they furthered the disaster. Therefore thus says the LORD, I will return to Jerusalem with compassion; My house will be built in it, declares the LORD of hosts, and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem. Again, proclaim, saying, Thus says the LORD of hosts, My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the LORD will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem." Well Rick, the prophecy of the seventy weeks is also found in Daniel 9:24, and it talks about the loss of favor to Israel for a time. We see the beginning of Israel's favor return with their regathering in 1878, and then later becoming a nation again in 1948.

Rick (00:23:24): We see that. Zechariah puts this prophecy down, it appears in Daniel, and you can see that these two individuals--one's in Babylon, one is not--they are working together and you've got God's angels orchestrating the development of the foretelling of the future according to God's will. You have God's angels doing this really important work. They are directly representing God Himself. I wonder, don't know the answer, but I wonder if that angel with Zechariah was Gabriel as well. Who knows? Don't know. Just guessing at this point, could be, maybe not. The point is that whatever the angel, whoever the angel was, did what they were supposed to do, took care of business, if you will, and then moved on. This is really important, Jonathan, because people tend to get friendly with angels. We think, "Oh, I've got my own guardian angel and I think I'll give them a nickname!" You can laugh at that, but people do that kind of thing. They talk to their angels. Sometimes people even pray to angels. We get comfortable and we can start to say, "Well, my angel should take care of this or that." We ought to be careful. What we're seeing is massive power directly from God. I don't know about you, but I am not going to tell it what to do. I'm not going to get all friendly. I want to be reverent. We want to be reverent. The Angelic Observation here is, this Old Testament example clearly shows us how angels are committed to one thing and one thing only, and that is fulfilling God's will and God's work. Now, look, there are many other examples we could look at, and these examples have specific pointed lessons that we need to clearly grasp. As we look at these lessons, think about it in terms of our own defining of guardian angels. We have this thing about guardian angels and how they're everywhere and taking care of everybody. That's not the kind of picture that we're seeing thus far. Now the picture is going to get bigger, okay? But the picture we're seeing thus far is very specific. Jonathan, four specific points here:

Jonathan (00:25:39): Angels were sent by God to interact with very few individuals. These individuals played specific roles in the unfolding of God's plan at their particular time. These angelic interventions were unique, brief, and very focused in scope. Once the message was given or the mission was accomplished, the angel left. I have a fifth for you, Rick. Even the priesthood didn't have this access to angels. Think about it. The priesthood did have things like the Urim and Thummim to give them a yes or no answer. They also had Moses early on to interpret things for them, but they didn't have angels.

Rick (00:26:23): That's an important point because when we look at angels, and folks, look, in our lives, our lives are full of fantastical ideas. We have fiction that looks completely real. We have artificial intelligence developing. You've got all of these things that give you a sense of, whoa, look at the possibilities. Well, when it comes to God's angels, the possibilities are limited. They are limited, and they are focused. Like you said, they did not appear often. It was for the unfolding of God's plan. When their mission was accomplished, they left. It was a very succinct thing. Not even the priesthood of Israel had access to angels. This is important, folks, for us to understand because that's the Old Testament basis of angelic intervention. It's not what we may think. This might make us wonder about how God's angels do or don't interact with the rest of us. Okay, so what about us? We've been talking about how do God's angels take care of us? That's the big question. We're like saying, "Well, we're pushing them aside. We're pushing them aside." Well, no, not entirely. We're putting them where they belong; reverently. Let's look at a couple of scriptures here, because God's angels are watching over God's chosen. Psalm 91:11-12:

Jonathan (00:27:47): "For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone."

Rick (00:27:56): That's encouraging, that's uplifting, that gives you a sense of relief. But what does it mean? We're going to unfold that as we go. One other scripture, Jonathan, Psalm 34:7:

Jonathan (00:28:09): "The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear (or revere) Him and rescues them."

Rick (00:28:14): Again, that's encouraging, like, whew, okay, they're there, but how do we know? How do we understand them? All of that is yet to be unfolded, and that's all coming as we further develop this. But right now, after taking a look at these snapshots of the Old Testament, Jonathan, how do we go about adjusting our attitudes about angels?

Jonathan (00:28:35): The Old Testament shows us remarkable individual examples of how God's angels have intervened in the lives of several individuals when God so commanded. These examples show us God's attention to the details of His plan, but did not teach us that we will have that same experience. This does not negate the biblical fact that God's angels do watch over His people.

Rick (00:29:01): We see them interact with very specific individuals in the Old Testament in a very specific way. We're saying, but that's not the norm. But God's angels do take care of us. There's a middle ground that we really need to understand and we need to find out, and the way to figure it out is to look at the rest of the scriptures. Realizing how available angels were for the most faithful Old Testament heroes is important. Realizing that angels do watch over all of God's people--well that's just as important.

Jonathan (00:29:37): There is obviously a difference between those heroes of Jewish faith and us here and now. What do we know about the New Testament angelic protection?

New Speaker (00:29:47): We know that the changes from the Old Testament to the New Testament are significant. The age of the gospel is the age of spiritual growth and reward, whereas the times before were about worshiping God from a physical and earthly perspective. This one fundamental change has a dramatic effect on how God's angels care for us.

Jonathan (00:30:16): All right, dramatic effect, oh good, so it's going to be the way we want, what everyone was hoping for. Here we go! Is it time, Rick, to talk about it? Like this angel sitting here on my shoulder? Is that what we're getting into here?

Rick (00:30:30): No. What we're getting into is looking at how it works in the New Testament. But see, Jonathan, that's where we end up going because we are so used to mixing fact with fiction and fantasy. Look on your phone, you can't tell if some things are real or not, and we get stuck in that. But we don't want to get stuck in that blurred world when we're looking at the mighty angels of God. We need to look at them with the reverence that God sends them out for their missions and their protection of us. Along the same lines as the Old Testament, God's spiritual beings were sent as angels to foretell miraculous world-changing events in the New Testament. Jonathan, let's define angels and then let's get started with that.

Jonathan (00:31:21): Well, in the New Testament, "angel" means "to bring tidings; a messenger; by implication, a pastor." Let's go first to the unlikely birth of John the Baptist. Luke 1:18-19: "Zacharias said to the angel, How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years. The angel answered and said to him, I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news."

Rick (00:31:53): That's a very powerful interaction. Zacharias is wondering, and Gabriel basically says, "Okay, you better be quiet. I'm Gabriel. I stand in God's presence." I'll tell you, Jonathan, that sends chills up anybody's spine if you realize the depth and the power of that. Gabriel is, again, doing God's work here with Zacharias.

Jonathan (00:32:21): Next, the "impossible" begettal and birth of Jesus. Luke 1;26-33: "Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God...to a virgin named Mary. And coming in, he said to her, Greetings favored one! The Lord is with you. But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was." Let me pause there. Gabriel is commissioned with the preparation and safety of the Messiah. Continuing: "The angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive...and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David; and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end."

Rick (00:33:14): Again, Gabriel appears. You've got to wonder about who Gabriel is, in terms of his angelic, his spiritual being and all of that. But think about this. Gabriel was there with Daniel, and now this is hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years later, and Gabriel appears here and it doesn't sound like he's old and decrepit. Gabriel is ageless and he gives you this sense of this agelessness of the power of these representatives of almighty God. What is he here to do? He's here to put things in order to show God's plan is now taking another step. That's what he was telling Daniel back then, and that's what he's telling Zacharias. That's what he's telling Mary. God's plan is moving forward. See, these kinds of angelic visits were unexpected. Let's pause there, because sometimes we as human beings, we want those angelic visits to come at our beckoning. "Oh, I want my angel to come and protect me." This is not the way it works. They were unexpected. These messages were always personally life-changing, but they would also alter humanity. These were a bigger message than the people that they were given to. They weren't about the recipients, they were about God's plan.

Jonathan (00:34:31): The most important thing for John the Baptist was that he would introduce Messiah. In both cases the recipients were honored. But with Mary it was about bearing the Messiah. That's the message. What a miracle!

Rick (00:34:50): What a miracle, what a privilege, and what a change in the direction of mankind. That's why it took an angel to deliver that kind of message. This is helping us see that angels showed up at key points when specific direction was needed by those who served God. We see that with Zacharias, we saw that with Mary. Now, let's look at another example. Let's go further on down the road here. Let's go past the point of Jesus' ministry, his death and resurrection, past the point of Pentecost, where now the gospel is being spread. Let's look at the example of Philip in Acts 8:26-29. Jonathan, this is another one of those unique interactions that you look at and say, "Okay, there's hints here about things that we really need to observe:"

Jonathan (00:35:40): "But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza..." I'm going to pause there. This is weird. The angel gave him directions. He said, "Here is where I want you to go. Alright, I'm going to continue: "So he got up and went; and there was an Ethiopian eunuch...and he had come to Jerusalem to worship, and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the spirit said to Philip, Go up and join this chariot." Philip had God's spirit dwelling within him. Why didn't God's holy spirit tell him where to go at first?

Rick (00:36:19): That's a good question because you see at the end, you've got this spirit provoking him to say, "Go join this chariot." I think that the answer likely was that he needed very specific instruction, more than the provoking of God's spirit. This angel said essentially, "Go down the road and take a left at the third oak tree." That kind of a thing. It was very specific to get him onto the right path. Once he got there, he knew exactly what to do. But it was the angel that got him there and God's spirit brought him from the arrival to the mission. This is interesting because this angelic direction was for the purpose of expanding the gospel into another country through a foreigner. Remember that eunuch was sitting there reading the book of Isaiah saying, "Ah, I'd love to understand this, if somebody would just explain that." Talk about a witnessing opportunity, Jonathan. Wouldn't you like that? "Here, you got some room? Let me sit down and talk to you." That's what the angel brought him to. He's hungry for God's truth. You had the external angelic direction to bring him there. Then you had the internal spirit's direction to guide him with how to handle it. You've got both of those things working together. It's really kind of a unique thing. But again, it's not normal. It's not every day. This is not the kind of thing where people say, "Okay, my guardian angel, I want my guardian angel to help me find a parking place because the street is busy." This is not the kind of directions we're talking about. This is for the furtherance of the bigness of God's plan. Let's go to another point. Angels continued showing up at key points when God's plan was in danger of being thwarted. You kind of harken back to the experience with Abraham, "Don't do it." That was sort of a beginning that the angel was there to watch over, to see that it happened. Well, let's go a little further. We're in the New Testament now. Let's look at the Apostle Peter. While the brotherhood prayed, the Apostle Peter was in prison. He was heavily guarded and chained, asleep between two soldiers on the very night that Herod was going to call him out. He is under tremendous, tremendous physical incarceration, and he has a very limited time. Let's see what happens. Acts 12:7-10:

Jonathan (00:38:50): "And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter's side and woke him up saying, Get up quickly. And his chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, Gird yourself and put on your sandals. And he did so. And he said to him, Wrap your cloak around you and follow me." Now I'm going to pause there. In this case, the angel is doing miraculous things and giving Peter specific instructions. Now verses 9-10: "And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself: and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him." Rick, I'm wondering, why didn't Peter get the angel's autograph? Or why didn't he ask him his name and later say, "I'm going to pray to you later. Thanks for giving me that name." Or why didn't he use him as his personal genie?

Rick (00:39:54): Jonathan, those are all the kinds of things that we tend to do now. We'd want to get a selfie with the angel and post it on Instagram. That's what we'd want to do. The point is the reverence that we attach all of these things to drains away. When you see the miraculous deliverance of this angel, and then him leaving Peter to go to the brotherhood, there's this incredible sobriety in what happens here. We've lost that with all of our imaginations about angels. This is a pure, unadulterated miracle, and it's pure spiritual power. Why? Why did Peter need such deliverance? Because he was a necessary tool of the gospel, and God saw that His will and His word would go forward no matter what. Let's put another Angelic Observation in place. As we examine these examples, we need to remember that the vast majority of biblical Christian experiences, the vast majority of biblical Christian experiences, happened without any noticeable intervention or mention of an angel, period. This tells us that they're meant to be pretty much invisible to our eyes and to our minds.

Jonathan (00:41:18): There continues, Rick, to be a pattern here. It is more about fulfilling God's plan than about the person, right?

Rick (00:41:26): Absolutely. Again, Jonathan, today we want to be able to command our angels or develop relationships with angels or have expectations of angels. There was no such thing then. There was God's miraculous deliverance or the proclamation of a message or a direction. Then there was leaving. Then, you know what there was? Pure, simple, obedience and reverence and gratitude. That's how we need to begin to understand angels in our lives. Let's focus on the rest of us now. Let's go a little bit further. How do angels watch over us? Let's look at a verse, Jonathan, that is often misunderstood. Let's go to Matthew 18:10:

Jonathan (00:42:12): "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of my Father who is in heaven." Is Jesus saying that children have angels? The context provides the answer. Matthew 18:1-6, 10, starting with 1-4: "At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And he called a child to himself and set him before them, and said, Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Rick (00:42:57): Jesus is doing something very, very, very specific. He's saying, "Be humble" like the child that he put before him. Jesus continues to speak of humble followers, and he calls them children because he used the child as an example. Now he's talking about his followers, calling them children. Let's go to verses 5-6:

Jonathan (00:43:19): "And whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea." Jesus is clearly carrying the thought of his followers being like children. Now verse 10: "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of my Father who is in heaven."

Rick (00:43:51): We've got these verses and we want to understand. What is it that Jesus is teaching us? Because he's using children as an example for his followers, and he brings in angels. What are they teaching us? Several points, Jonathan, let's do them one at a time.

Jonathan (00:44:06): Jesus's disciples must become like children who have no status in the world around them.

Rick (00:44:11): Okay, so the first lesson is you have to be selfless. Already we get too full of ourselves when we start to think about controlling angels and all of those kinds of things. We've got to be careful. We've got to look at this and say, "That's the way I am supposed to be, because Jesus said to be like a child, be like one who has no status, who has no authority." What's next?

Jonathan (00:44:33): These selfless, true believers may be easily abused by others, but not without consequences.

Rick (00:44:39): That gives you a sense that God is watching over those that He has called according to His purpose. There's a protectiveness. Now look, you say, "Well, there's a protectiveness, and Stephen was stoned to death." Yeah, that's right, because he was faithful and his time had come and the glory that followed was immense. But we see and understand that God's hands are over those who are following in Jesus' footsteps. What's next?

Jonathan (00:45:07): True believers have angels that watch over them.

Rick (00:45:10): That's exactly what Jesus said. They have angels in heaven that continually see the face of the Father.

Jonathan (00:45:18): The next point; there is no indication that each has a specifically assigned angel.

Rick (00:45:24): That's important. It doesn't say that they each have. It says they're angels. That's plural. You look at this and you don't draw conclusions that are not plain in scripture. I guess that's the point. This last point of not having a specific angel assigned to you for your life is verified by a scripture that we already quoted. Jonathan, let's just go back to Psalm 91:11:

Jonathan (00:45:49): "For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways."

Rick (00:45:55): What you have then is, you have this sense of the beauty of God's oversight, but it's likely not at all like we think it is. How do we go about adjusting our attitudes about angels knowing what we know now?

Jonathan (00:46:13): The beginning of the New Testament follows the example of the Old where angels intervened to pave the way for God's plan to unfold. As the gospel church was formed and God's spirit took hold, angelic intervention was reduced to specific instructions or rescues that God deemed important for the furtherance of the gospel. However, all the while God's angels were watching over His chosen ones. Our thoughts about our Heavenly Father should always be with reverence for His protection and care over us. That's what a loving father does. His kindness and mercies endure forever.

Rick (00:46:52): They do. When you realize, the example of Philip is a great example because it shows you angelic intervention and shows you the leading of God's spirit. You don't need angels involved in every part of your life when you've got God's spirit from within provoking you and helping you and teaching you and guiding you. That's the point. Angels, we do need to see them through the eyes of reverence because they're God's messengers. They're not a plaything, they're not a companion, they're not a confidant. They're much bigger, they're much stronger than that, and they have much more of a serious sacred responsibility in our lives. It is really inspiring to see the meticulous ways in which God employs His messengers. His plan is protected, and so are we.

Jonathan (00:47:42): What is the bottom line? How do angels actually watch over us? Do they miraculously do things for our benefit?

Rick (00:47:53): This is a difficult question to answer for the simple reason that those angels that minister to us, by definition, are doing so in unseen ways. As we now look more deeply into how all of this may work, we first want to pause and consider the larger picture of what it really means to be a called-out disciple of Jesus. Remember, God's angels are assigned from His heavenly host to those called-out ones. True believers are immensely privileged. Jonathan, just three very, very quick points. First, true believers have God as their Father. Romans 8:15-16:

Jonathan (00:48:35): This is from the New Living Translation: "So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's spirit when He adopted you as His own children. Now we call Him Abba, Father. For His spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children."

Rick (00:48:55): Remember you had said much earlier in the podcast that Adam fell from his sonship. When you fall, sin takes you out of sonship. Here it is, it's restored. You are the sons of God. That's a big, big deal. That's a big privilege for the called-out ones. The second immense privilege is that these called-out ones have Jesus, who sits at God's right hand, as their elder brother, Romans 8:29:

Jonathan (00:49:24): "For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren."

Rick (00:49:33): He would be the firstborn among many brethren. Do you understand the impact of that? That's incredible to me. I look at that and say, "Wait, wait, can that be real? Can that be possible? That's so big." You have this tremendous family kind of relationship and you say, well, wow, there's a specialness to those who are called-out. That brings us to this third point, which has everything to do with these angels. Third, the true believers have God's direct attention, His direct attention by way of His angels. We're going to go to Hebrews, and this was our theme scripture, Hebrews 1:13-14:

Jonathan (00:50:14): "But to which of the angels has He ever said, Sit at My right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?" Think about it. If we are to judge angels as it states in 1 Corinthians 6:3, angels must respect those who they give messages to. Why? Because in God's kingdom in heaven, there are levels of leadership and servitude all working together for God's good pleasure.

Rick (00:50:49): Now, think about this just for a second. We'll start to make a connection. We'll develop it as we go. Earlier in the podcast we talked about angels being called "sons of God," right?

Jonathan (00:50:59): Right.

Rick (00:51:00): Spiritual "sons of God." Well, in Romans it said that we are "sons of God." You see that there's a connection? There is a familial connection here. Now with that understanding of God's tremendous care, you can see how these angels play a tremendous, tremendous role, even if we don't understand it. Let's begin to develop this now.

Jonathan (00:51:23): Our first Angelic Observation; God's angels rejoice in the accomplishment of God's will. In the context of our next verse, the Pharisees were complaining that Jesus receives and eats with sinners. Then he spoke the Parable of the Lost Sheep and left the 99 sheep to find the one. Then he taught the Parable of the Lost Coin. The woman lit her lamp, swept her house and searched carefully to find it. Then Jesus said this, Luke 15:10: "In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Now this is very special, this repentance. This seems to me, based on the context, that this is a sinner who changed direction in their life to follow Christ. No wonder the angels rejoiced.

Rick (00:52:13): You get this sense of this community in fulfilling God's will and watching His plan unfold. The joy of seeing that, "Did you see that?" There's this wonder and this power and this reverence that we just don't often think about when we think about angels. They rejoice over the little pieces of the accomplishment of God's plan. What else?

Jonathan (00:52:42): Our next Angelic Observation: good angels don't know all of the answers, even though they minister to us. Matthew 24:36: "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the son, but the Father alone."

Rick (00:52:57): Angels don't know everything, and that's okay. Why? Because when they are sent as a messenger from God, what happens? He tells them, "Here's what you will do. Here's how you will protect. Here's what you will deliver. Here are the things that you are to accomplish. When you're done, you're done." There's this sense that they don't need to know every single detail of every single thing. They just need to deliver what God wants them to deliver. 1 Peter 1:12 really enhances that a little bit:

Jonathan (00:53:30): "It was revealed to them (the prophets) that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the holy spirit sent from heaven--things into which angels long to look." Angels don't know everything. They don't have to. We don't know everything. We don't have to. All we both need to know is, what is the Father's will?

Rick (00:53:57): When you realize that it's okay to not know all of the interactions of the angels and what they're doing, because we see God's providence unfolding, that should be enough for us. Jonathan, there's so much to what we do know scripturally, that we can start to put all those other fantasies away and say, "Thank goodness they're gone" because this is so much better. What's next?

Jonathan (00:54:19): Our next Angelic Observation; God's angels are never at the call or service of men. Never, not even for Jesus. Matthew 4:5-7: "Then the devil took him into the holy city and had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, If you are the son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, He will command His angels concerning you; and on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, On the other hand, it is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test."

Rick (00:54:55): You notice Jesus didn't refute the scripture. He just said, putting the scripture in the context of following after Almighty God, says, "You don't tempt him, you don't test him. You don't tell him what to do." That's Jesus' response to Satan. Don't tell the heavenly Father what to do. It's kind of ironic that Satan made a living out of that, and it will cost him his very existence at the end here. But one other verse about Jesus being subservient to the Father in relation to angels is Matthew 26:53:

Jonathan (00:55:32): "Or do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?" Well, if Jesus trusts the Father for his protection, shouldn't we?

Rick (00:55:45): Yes, we should. He could appeal, but the Father would have to decide. It gives you this sense that the messengers are in direct contact with the greatest power that the universe could ever possibly know. Jonathan, I don't know about you, but that's very comforting for me. It's overwhelming, but it's comforting. I don't need to know how it works. All I need to know is, it's God's will. It's God's way. Jesus could not command the angels himself. That's really the point here. We as followers of Jesus should follow his example and never, ever tempt God to bring any deliverance to us that we shouldn't need. In other words, don't step out to say, "Watch my angel protect me" in any way, shape or form. What's next?

Jonathan (00:56:40): Our last Angelic Observation: God's angels always carry out the will of God without, and let me repeat, without changing it. Galatians 1:8: "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!"

Rick (00:56:59): That's a big statement. Without changing it, God's angels will only and ever work within the parameters of the pure light of the gospel. They are not about adding or subtracting, they're about exactly delivering God's will, God's word, God's way, God's prophecies, whatever it is that He commissions them to do. Anything more or less than that, we better be very, very suspicious of.

Jonathan (00:57:30): Rick, you're right about describing God's angels. But this is contrary to any other kinds of messengers from any compromised or evil source. Let's read 2 Corinthians 11:13-15: "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds."

Rick (00:58:05): You have the other side of the issue. The other side of the issue is messengers disguised to be "angels of light." How many scams do we see on the internet today and people get emails, and you click on the link. Why? Because it's disguised as something that it's not. Its design is to take your money, take your security, take whatever it is from you. That's what Satan does. He is disguised as an "angel of light." We can only trust those things that are pure light and not the disguised portion. Jonathan actually next week we're going to be talking about demons and Satan and that's not going to be a fun conversation. But this gives us a hint as to the other side of this coin and why we need to be very clear on what angels are, who they are, what they do, and what they don't do. When we talk about God's providence, God's overruling on our behalf, it's possible that some of its details are accomplished through ministering angels. We don't know for sure, but it's possible that some of those details may be accomplished that way. Let's consider for instance, Philippians 4:19-20:

Jonathan (00:59:15): "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen."

Rick (00:59:25): Now, this is Rick wondering here, could God's riches on our behalf sometimes come to us through those angels and we just don't know how it is that it happens?

Jonathan (00:59:35): It's possible. We don't know. But our focus should be that God provides what we need.

Rick (00:59:41): That's the point. It doesn't matter how it comes. If God provides what we need, thank God, rejoice, have gratitude in everything give thanks. Next level of this, Jonathan, as we begin to wrap this up, could we, could we as individual Christians be God's messengers, His angels sent to one another to aid in their wellbeing and protection? Let's look at Hebrews 13:1-3:

Jonathan (01:00:09): "Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body." We should do what angels are called to do, and Rick, that is to engage with a brotherhood so we can be a blessing where we see a need.

Rick (01:00:36): How is it that we want to see that need through the provoking of God's spirit? See, that's how we can have this incredible privilege to minister to one another. In true Christians, the ministering we're commissioned to give to one another is driven by God's spirit. None other than God's spirit. The spirit makes us prospective "sons of God." That is a very lofty description. Romans 12:10-13:

Jonathan (01:01:05): "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality."

Rick (01:01:23): I often wonder if this brotherly love, this going to and supporting one another, and the give and take is not a reflection of what God's angels do for us. I don't know. I really don't know. But they're "sons of God" in the spirit realm. We're "sons of God" in the physical realm. There's a connection. They are there to help us, to build us up. We are here to help one another, build one another up. Let's do that messenger kind of work that Jesus said, "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you." He told us, act like the angels. Now, he didn't say those words, but that's what they do. They care for us. Final scripture, Jonathan, Galatians 6:2:

Jonathan (01:02:07): "Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ." We should be acting in a godly, messenger kind of way with those who are in the bonds of Christ with us.

Rick (01:02:18): Absolutely. We want to act in that way. We don't necessarily know what or how those angels work, but let's act in that way. Jonathan, finally; Adjusting Our Attitudes About Angels:

Jonathan (01:02:29): According to the Bible, God has, does, and will send angels to accomplish a wide variety of tasks for the accomplishment of His plan. Among those tasks are the watching over and camping around and ministering to His earthly children. Let us remember that we truly do not know all of what they do or how they do it. Let us also remember what a comfort and privilege it is to have God's eternal care expressed in such a personal way. Rick, we've been told not to talk to angels, pray to angels, or to name angels, or to command angels or to develop a relationship with the angels. Why is that so important?

Rick (01:03:13): It's important because we want to make sure we're doing things in a scriptural way. In our world today, it's like taking reality and making it into a virtual fantasy game. Everybody knows all about that. It looks real, it feels real, but it's not. But the consequences of such games are that Satan is bigger and stronger and more powerful than we are. We don't want to walk down that kind of road. Perhaps angels ministering in our lives is God's signature of how He cares for us. Maybe it's God saying, "You're my family, and I just signed, sealed and delivered that with this being, these beings that I've sent to oversee your life." We don't even know. We don't even know the magnitude of what God does through these ministers who are "sons of God," as we are "sons of God." All about angels. Think about it. Folks, we love hearing from our listeners where we welcome your feedback and questions on this episode or other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com. Coming up next week, we're going to be picking up this subject from a slightly different perspective. "How do Satan's Demons Influence Our World?" Talk to you then.

Final Notes (01:04:29): copyright @2023 Christian Questions. In addition to this transcript, we provide comprehensive CQ Rewind Show Notes for every episode. They include every scripture quoted during the podcast, as well as graphics, illustrations and bonus material. Click the "CQ Rewind Show Notes" button near the audio player or sign up to receive these weekly at ChristianQuestions.com. This transcript was created using artificial intelligence. While we believe it to be accurate, we apologize for any errors that may exist.