ANGELS WE HAVE HEARD ON HIGH

By Jill Roberts and Michael Canalé

 

Today, Michael and I begin with a powerful and illuminating passage of Scripture, regarding God’s angels:

 

“Are they not all ministering spirits SENT forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (emphasis added)

(Hebrews 1:14) KJV

 

This verse is explicit that angels are specifically sent. God literally dispatches them from His throne in Heaven. And what kinds of beings are these angels whom He sends? They are extraordinary in every way, not the least of which are their physical abilities. The late Pastor Chuck Smith said it so well:

 

“Angels are not subject to space or material obstacles. Angels here tonight could have been in Israel a few minutes ago. We came into the room we are in now, through a door; they came in through a wall.”

 

The angels God sends are formidable with skill sets we can only imagine. Returning to the aforementioned Hebrews 1:14, to whom does He send them? He sends them to those “who SHALL be heirs of salvation.” “Shall” is an interesting word, implying someone still in process, yet with an inevitability of success.

 

The Message translation is helpful in explaining this:

 

“Isn’t it obvious that all angels are SENT to help out with those lined up to receive salvation?” (emphasis added)

(Hebrews 1:14)

 

God sends angels to those lined up! Perhaps, we’re even some distance down the line. The important thing is that we are seekers, lined up in the queue of our lives – the only one that will matter one hundred years from now. God sees us in that queue and sends an angel to us, individually, to keep us seeking and to advance us to where that line is leading.

 

Michael and I consistently put the word sent in all caps. As to this word, Michael makes an amazing point and comparison:

 

“Remember who else in Scripture was SENT? The apostles were sent into the world. As we said in an earlier blog, the word apostle means, ‘one who is sent.’ They share this with the angels and, more importantly, with Jesus.”

 

“Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the HEAVENLY CALLING, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.” (emphasis added)

(Hebrews 3:1) NIV

 

As Michael points out, Jesus was sent, as set forth in the following iconic passage:

 

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not SEND His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (emphasis added)

(John 3:16-17) NIV

 

So, the common thread of all of these passages of the Bible, knits together the missions of angels, our primary focus in this week’s blog, with those of apostles and with Jesus, himself. All were SENT from the throne of God by God. Being in this category, angels are in very lofty company indeed.

 

Another fascinating shared theme that is set forth in these cited Bible verses, is the purpose for which angels, apostles and, of course, most of all, Jesus, are sent. (It goes without saying that, as part of the triune Godhead, Jesus is, therefore, far above all others who are sent.)In the just-cited John 3:17, John writes that Jesus was sent to “save the world.” In turn, Jesus sends his apostles:

 

“Calling the Twelve to him, he began to SEND them out two by two…they went out and preached that people should repent.”

(emphasis added)

(Mark 6:7,12) NIV

 

Now, with this context, let’s turn back for a moment to our original text regarding angels:

 

“Are they not all ministering spirits SENT forth to minister for them who shall be HEIRS OF SALVATION?” (emphasis added)

(Hebrews 1:14) KJV

 

The NIV translation says it like this:

 

“Are not all ANGELS ministering spirits SENT to SERVE those who WILL INHERIT SALVATION?”(emphasis added)

(Hebrews 1:14) NIV

 

How does this manifest itself in the big picture of Scripture? The entire story of salvation has angels appearing in many aspects of its unfolding. Zechariah, soon to become John the Baptist’s father, was approached by “an angel of the Lord.” (Luke 1:11) NIV. It was the angel, Gabriel, who appeared to him:

 

“The angel said to him, ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been SENT to you to tell you the good news.” (emphasis added)

(Luke 1:19)) NIV

 

As is so well known, six months later, “God SENT the angel, Gabriel…to a virgin…The virgin’s name was Mary.” (emphasis added), (Luke 1:26-27) NIV. With this angel’s help, the story of salvation continued as Gabriel told Mary that she had been chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus. (Luke 1:30) NIV.

 

When Joseph, Mary’s betrothed, decided to divorce her because of her pregnancy, “an angel of the Lord,”  appeared to him in a dream and explained, in so many words, that Mary was carrying the Messiah. (Matthew 1:19-21) NIV. A second appearance of “an angel of the Lord,” also occurred in a dream. This time, the angel warned Joseph that Herod meant to kill Jesus and that they were to flee to Egypt, immediately. (Matthew 2:13) NIV. Finally, “an angel of the Lord,” came to Joseph, once more, in a dream, to say that Herod had died and the danger had passed. The angel instructed Joseph to return to Israel with Mary and Jesus. (Matthew 2:19-20) NIV

 

How much does God trust angels? He trusted the very life of Jesus and the Salvation history of all mankind to Gabriel and the “angel of the Lord.”

 

Michael says,

 

 “God’s angels know God in a way that does not allow them to fail Him on their missions.”

 

Sometimes, we have a mere head knowledge of God, when it is a heart knowledge that is needed. The head is both inches from the heart and, metaphorically, a million miles away. These angels have gone far beyond mere intellectual assent to God. They stand in His presence, watch and listen to Him. As Michael said, “They truly know Him.” We learn so much about traversing those million miles from the head to the heart, by studying the activity and faithfulness of God’s angels in God’s word. There is no instance in Scripture where an angel of God’s was sent on mission to Earth, got here and then was distracted from fulfilling God’s purpose in sending him. We do well to understand why this is the case.

 

As noted in last week’s blog, we are to,

 

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for, thereby, some have entertained angels unawares.”

(Hebrews 13:2) KJV

 

Michael says that there are angels that come to us frequently. While some angels have a magnificent, even intimidating stature, others, according to the above verse, are quite ordinary in appearance.

 

Scripture seems clear that, sometimes, these angels are what we call, “guardian angels.” Jesus is speaking:

 

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that THEIR ANGELS in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” (emphasis added)

(Matthew 18:10) NIV

 

The Message is even more forthcoming:

 

“”Watch that you don’t treat a single one of these childlike believers, arrogantly. You realize, don’t you, that their PERSONAL ANGELS are constantly in touch with my Father in heaven?”(emphasis added)

(Matthew 18:10) The Message

 

How strengthened and comforted we can justifiably be that, as we, “the heirs,” the beneficiaries of this amazing story of salvation, “in line” for our future inheritance of heaven, are journeying with the supernatural guidance of angels who stand by God’s throne, day and night, waiting to do His bidding in our lives.

 

There is a Christmas carol that says so much about this week’s blog. On our spiritual journeys, we all have, “ Angels We Have Heard On High.” They are sent from the Most High to teach us a higher way of doing things, a wiser way to walk, especially when we become unsure of the better path:

 

“How gracious he will be when you cry for help!…Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.”

 

Yes, there are “Angels We Have Heard On High,” God’s messengers, sent from His very throne, unfailing, untiring, and guiding us. Their message is from God, Himself, the God of angel armies, always by our sides.