by Brian Alan Burhoe
Angel in both Hebrew (mal’ak) and Greek, means “Messenger.”
And Angels appear in every worldwide Culture, with their messages…
When Jacob, in his dream of the Ladder (his Ladder was a symbol of the Tree of Life), wrestled with the Angel, he was involved in an archetypal battle with his inner self. When Mary dreamed of an Angel, it was to be given a history-shaping message.
For those of us interested in Medieval Christian Mysticism, the Biblical presentation has a power that is mythical in origin and psychologically revalatory in its potential.
Ellen G White, in “Who Are the Angels?” wrote:
“The connection of the visible with the invisible world, the ministration of angels of God, and the agency of evil spirits, are plainly revealed in the Scriptures, and inseparably interwoven with human history. There is a growing tendency to disbelief in the existence of evil spirits, while the holy angels that ‘minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.’ (Hebrews 1:14) are regarded by many as spirits of the dead. But the Scriptures not only teach the existence of angels, both good and evil, but present unquestionable proof that these are not disembodied spirits of dead men.”
Before the Creation of Man, angels were in existence; for when the foundations of the Earth were laid, “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” After the Fall of Man, Angels were sent to guard the Tree of Life, and this before a human being had died. Angels are by nature superior to Humankind. The psalmist had said the Man was made “a little lower than the angels.”
The Bible records the great number, and the power and the glory, of the heavenly beings. Of their connection with the Government of God and of their relation to the work of personal redemption. The Prophet said, “I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne.” The prophet Daniel beheld “Ten thousand times ten thousand…were the heavenly messengers.” The apostle Paul declared them “an innumerable company.” As God’s messengers, they go forth, like “the appearance of a flash of lightning,” so dazzling their glory, so swift their flight. The Angel that appeared at Christ’s tomb, his countenance “like lightning, and his rainment white as snow,” caused the keepers to shake in fear and they “became as dead men.”
Angels are sent on missions of mercy to the children of God. To Abraham, with promises of blessing. To the gates of Sodom, to rescue righteous Lot from its fiery doom. To Elijah, as he was about to perish from weariness and hunger in the desert. To Elisha, with chariots and horses of fire surrounding the little town where he was trapped by his enemies. To Daniel, while seeking divine wisdom in the court of a heathen king, or abandoned to become the lion’s bloody victim. To Peter, doomed to death in Herod’s prison. To Paul and his companions in the night of the tempest on the sea. To Cornelius, to reveal the spiritual insights of the Gospel…
A Guardian Angel, the early Christians taught, is appointed to every follower of Jesus Christ. These heavenly watchers protected the righteous from the power of the Wicked One. Satan himself recognized this when he said: “Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not Thou made an hedge about him, and about his house and about all that he hath on every side?” God protects us, said the psalmist: “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.”
Thus, it was taught in Medieval times, that God’s people, although exposed to the deceptive power and unsleeping malice of the Prince of Darkness are assured of the unceasing guardianship of heavenly angels.
In the 5th Century, the early Church divided the Angels into Nine Orders, including cherubim, seraphim, and Archangels. The Seven Holy Angels, or Archangels, were: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Chamuel, Jophiel and Zadkiel.
Modern thought has changed. Bob Longman expresses the thoughts of many with these words: “Humans tend to get freaky when an angel shows up. We often quiver in fear or fall down in awe. But angels themselves are not really that big a deal. We’re more important than angels are. They are servants, acting on Someone Else’s authority, while we make our own decisions, act as distinct persons, and are responsible to discern God’s ways by what the Lord has given us. God made us, not angels, in the image of God. Jesus makes His followers, not angels or even archangels, into God’s heirs. Angels go by what they know : they personally see God’s great presence and hear God’s command. We are made to walk not by sight, but by faith. We’re told not to worship angels in Colossians 2:18. (Indeed, any real angel will urge you not to worship them, but to worship God.) Nor are we to pray to them, though, like all others in the divine realm, they are praying with us. The Almighty is approachable, even in heavenly glory, for the angels do it; how much more will it be so for creatures like us who bear God’s image, once the Kingdom comes in full! What’s much more important than us or the angel is the One for whom the angels are acting. The author of the letter to the Hebrews (in chapter 1) takes pains to point out that however awesome we may think angels are, Jesus is far more important.” -Bob Longman
Angels aren’t only Biblical in origin, of course.
They appear to people worldwide, of all cultures.
The earliest known depiction of Angels in art is on a Sumerian stone carving showing winged angels flying over the head of Ur-Nammu, ruler of Ur about 2300 BC.
The prophet Mohammed told how the Archangel Gabriel appeared to him and “descended in his own form, of such beauty, of such sacred glory, of such majesty, that all my dwelling was illuminated. He is of a whiteness brighter than snow, his face is gloriously beautiful, the waves of his hair fall in long tresses, his brow is encircled as with a diadem of light on which is written ‘There is no god but God’.”
The Sioux visionary Black Elk said: “I looked up at the clouds and two men were coming there, headfirst like arrows slanting down — and as they came, they sang a sacred song and the thunder was like drumming.”
Today, angels appear to people in dreams as much as ever.
