Angels And The Bible

By Nell Meriwether

Angels and the Bible grew out of an intense interest in what the Bible says about angels. Although a few modern examples of angels and their work on earth are given, the book concentrates on what the Bible has to say about angels, their characteristics and their work among mankind. It also tells how angels were used in the beginning of time and how they will be used at the end of time, a must-read

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nell Meriwether
• Release date: Sep 14, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465863355

Nell Meriwether

Nell Meriwether is well known for her interest in biblical subjects, having taught Sunday School for over 60 years. Angels and the Bible grew out of an intense interest in what the Bible says about angels. Although a few modern examples of angels and their work on earth are given, the book concentrates on what the Bible has to say about angels, their characteristics and their work among mankind. It also tells how angels were used in the beginning of time and how they will be used at the end of time, a must-read for those who want to know where angels fit in God’s plan. Meriwether has a M. Ed. Degree, minoring in Bible and majoring in English. She taught English for 27 years and has four textbooks on the market, Twelve Easy Steps to Successful Research Papers Editions 1 and 2 and Writing Strategies for Successful Essays Editions 1,2. These are carried by McGraw Hill Publishing Co., and have sold over 100,000 copies together. Other books are in the works which you will want to watch for in the near future

Book preview

ANGELS AND THE BIBLE

By

Nell W. Meriwether

Copyright: Nell W. Meriwether 2011

Published by Nell W. Meriwether at Smashwords

ISBN: 978-1-4658-6335-5

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword

Chapter One – What the Bible Says About Angels

Chapter Two – The Angel of the Lord

Chapter Three – Characteristics of Angels

Chapter Four – What Angels Do

Chapter Five – Satan, the Fallen Angel

Chapter Six – Satan’s Kingdom and His Demise

Chapter Seven – Angels in the Final Chapter of History

Bibliography

FOREWORD

In looking through bookstores and browsing the Internet, I found many books about angel citings, stories of angels, extra-sensory perceptions of angels, and mis-information about angels. I found few books on what the Bible has to say about angels. It was because of this and because of my strong belief in what the Bible says that I began to research angels through the Scriptures. I learned that many of the beliefs in angels that are being promoted today are, in effect, not biblical. Thus, the idea for this book came into being.

It is my hope that you will not just take my word for what the Bible says, but that you will use the Scriptures which I have given for a deeper insight of your own into the way that the Scriptures show angels. They are God’s gift to man to be used in ways God sees fit.I am grateful to my husband, Carl L. Meriwether, Jr., who supported my writing this book as well as to others who have given me encouragement. Especially am I indebted to Reverend T. W. Terral who read the manuscript for scriptural correctness and logical interpretation of passages and for the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit who prompted me in the development of this book on what the Bible says about angels.

All Scriptures quoted are from The NIV (New International Version) Study Bible.

CHAPTER ONE

What the Bible Says About Angels

In recent years, an interest in angels has grown immensely, much as it was in the first century when people had come to the point of actually worshiping angels. Their beliefs had an element of truth in them, but they were not wholly true. For example, they believed that angels were made of an ethereal fiery substance like blazing light. It is true that at times angels did appear as flames of fire, but that is only one way they appear. It doesn’t mean that angels were actually made of an ethereal substance like blazing light.

On the other hand, some of their beliefs were what we today would consider far out. They believed that angels were God’s senate, and that He did nothing without consulting the angels. They thought the angels were angry when God made man because they were jealous of their position. They did not wish to share any of their place or their prerogatives with any other creation. It was the belief of some that angels attacked Moses on his way up to Mount Sinai because the angels objected to the giving of the law (Barclay, Romans 117-118).

Today, we may not have exactly those beliefs, but with the New Age Movement, some of their beliefs are just as far out. They place much emphasis on angel contact called G.R.A.C.E., which stands for Grounding, Releasing, Aligning, Conversing, and Enjoying. As Dr. James Dobbins notes in his book, When God Doesn’t Make Sense, the New Age Movement has many unusual beliefs, one that each of us can become gods in our own right by zoning in on a crystal and sitting cross-legged until our toes go to sleep (63). So it isn’t so surprising that they feel they can actually converse with angels and align themselves with angels by, as Dr. Dobbins calls it, mumbo jumbo. Since the focus of this book is not to stress the beliefs of the New Age Movement or any other far-out beliefs, suffice it to say that these beliefs aren’t biblical. Oh, a smattering of truth may be found in them, but for the most part, biblical truths are lacking.

Beliefs such as these have permeated today’s thinking. The current interest in angels, however, goes further than the teaching of any one group. It extends into our everyday lives as we go to the grocery store, the book store, the gift shops and card shops, angel boutiques, and on and on. Angels are on stationery, in jewelry, as designs on clothes, on gift wrap, and anywhere you look. As I scanned the obituary in today’s paper, I noted an insert in memory of a loved one. It referred lovingly to the person as being their guardian angel, meaning one who one mediates between God and mortals.

As you will see from this book, nowhere in the Bible is this belief promoted. God created angels, and He created man, but a person does not become an angel at death, as much as we might like to believe he or she does. Humans cannot become a part of that created order. Nor do angels mediate between God and man. They do God’s bidding, not man’s bidding.

In addition to ideas such as these and to the saturation of angels on the market, a top ten television program a few years ago, Touched by an Angel, showed how angels make a difference as they interact with people in different situations. Movies such as City of Angels promote the idea that angels hover us protecting us, directing us, and changing our attitudes and beliefs. Often this Hollywood concept leaves God out in an effort to enlarge on what angels do, whether biblical or not. Angels appear on the comic strip Magic Eye and are written about in magazines and books. Even the Internet provides web sites concerning angels.

For the most part, though, the interest is just a pleasant feeling. It makes people feel good to have cherubs on the wall and a calendar portraying angels protecting children. That kind of interest is not wholly bad; it is just when it extends too far, when the mind begins to play tricks and you begin to think something happened just because of your belief in angels that it becomes questionable. That’s when Satan, the fallen angel, starts to take over, and a person’s worship of God is transferred to angels who were created by God rather than worshiping the One who created them. This we are forbidden to do as John was told in Revelation 22:8-9:

I, John, am the one who hears and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, ‘Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers, the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book, worship God.’

Because John was so grateful for the angel’s showing him the visions which he records in the book of Revelation, he fell down at his feet to worship the angel. But the angel pointed John to the One who should be worshiped – God. God is doing that to us, too. He is saying through His Word that we are not to worship what has been created; rather we are to worship Him.

Other biblical writers also echo that statement. For example, Paul in speaking to the Christians in the church at Rome makes a similar statement in Romans 1:25 as he writes about the wickedness of man:

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is forever praised.

People in the first century were worshiping things that man made and calling them gods. We have to be very careful that we do not do the same thing; that we do not exchange our affections for God to that which man made or which God has made, and indeed He did make angels. Paul tells us this in Colossians 1:16:

For by Him (Christ) all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things were created by him and for him.

God made all things, just as described in the first chapter of Genesis. And a part of that creation is angels. Today, then, especially in light of the increased interest in angels, it is important to know all that we can know about this part of God’s creation so that we will not be ignorant and fall to worshiping the creation rather than the Creator.

It is because of the lack of knowledge on the part of most people concerning what the Bible has to say about angels that this book came about. It is my hope that you will find it interesting and enlightening and that you will share it with others who need to know what the Bible has to say rather than what some individual group or media hype has to say. I also hope that you can see angels as a part of God’s handiwork in the world today as He cares for His own – protecting them, encouraging them, ministering to them, and guiding them.

Because of my research into what the Bible has to say about angels, I have concluded there are three major distinctions the Bible makes about angels. Each of these will be discussed at length with accompanying Scriptures to back up my assertions.

The first distinction has to do with the many, many times in the Old Testament that the angel of the Lord appears, separate and apart from visitations of other angels. He is shown, to my thinking, as the pre-incarnate Christ paving the way for the coming of Christ in the New Testament. One complete chapter will be devoted to these appearances.

The next distinction is angels that may be called benevolent or good angels. Two chapters are devoted to these angels, one emphasizing just who they are and what their abilities are. The other chapter shows what they do – their activities on earth. In this chapter, you will likely recall things that have happened to you or to someone you know and see exactly how God is using His angels on earth today to care for His own, just as He did in biblical times.

The third distinction is angels that may be called malevolent or bad angels. Of course, you recognize these immediately as Satan and his fallen angels. Two chapters will be devoted to these beings, one discussing just who Satan is and how he and his angels came to be on earth, as well as how they interact on earth with man today. The next chapter will discuss Satan’s kingdom and his final demise when he will be thrown into the lake of fire forever and ever.

The final chapter is a fitting end to our discussion of angels. It has to do with how God will use angels as Jesus Himself returns to earth to claim His own. And indeed He will use them. This chapter shows the part that angels will play in the end of time, just as this book shows their part in the beginning of mankind.

While few visitations by angels today are shown throughout this book, it does not mean that God doesn’t work through angels now, but rather that the book is designed to stress specifically what the Bible says about angels. It will endeavor to help you understand God’s impact on mankind through His sending angels at various times as shown through the Scriptures. As already noted, it will point out the attributes and characteristics of angels and their functions as well as attempt to explain why there are bad angels on earth, how they got to be here, and what they are doing on earth now. The chapter that is devoted entirely to the angel of the Lord as the pre-incarnation of Christ in the New Testament should help you see how God prepares man little by little for the coming of Jesus as a human being.

As you read through the chapters, understand that God planned for angels to be in the world and that He will help you by sending His angels to minister to your needs. The writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 1:14,"Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?" That is a comforting thought for God’s children. But we need to understand that while angels are sent to do God’s bidding, it is to Him that we should make our requests known. We are not to pray to angels and offer our