THE FLURRY OF WINGS
Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer

Chapter 1
GOD, ANGELS AND YOU

Heaven helped them!

“After experiencing dramatic rescues, medical miracles and other life-changing events, these ordinary people have no doubt that we share our world with heavenly spirits,” reports People magazine. Note 1

There was a time when those who believed in angels were thought of as misguided souls who existed on the fringe of society. Not any more. In just a few years a fad has become what is now called a cultural phenomenon. According to some surveys, nearly 75% of Americans believe in angels. And a good percentage believe that they have had an encounter with one.

Angelic appearances are diverse. One woman says that her celestial visitor came in the form of a “huge golden being” others tell of spirits that come in light, bestowing inner peace or keeping them from harm. Others take on the form of a man to do their good deed and then apparently disappear.

Here are three typical stories.

When Hilary Russel, then age 6, ran into the rolling surf in a deserted area in Miami Beach, the frantic parents thought she would drown. But a dark-haired man of about 30 years of age appeared a few feet beyond her. He just “picked her out of the water and held her in his arms.” He strode through the waves effortlessly. He put the child in her parents arms and he was smiling. When the Russels embraced each other for joy, they looked back and the man was gone. Today they are convinced that their welcome visitor was “Hilary’s angel.”

Gary Forner had set out with three volunteers to save a stranded 15 year old climber. While he was looking for a place to tie the straps for the rescue lines, the cliff edge crumbled beneath him. “There was nothing there to stop me from falling” he says. Then suddenly as he was falling 30 or 40 feet down the 90 foot drop, he felt this tremendous force, pushing him back. He even felt warmth in his heart, “Like when you’re a kid, and you get hurt and your mom or dad pick you up and cuddle you. All I could think was, ‘sweet Jesus, thank you.’” Thankfully, he was able get to a network of tree roots to climb back up. “It was either God or an angel” he says. His partners who saw the cliff the next morning agreed that “divine intervention is really the only explanation.”

Kahn-Langer was healed while having exploratory surgery for a brain tumor. When she was wheeled into the operating room, she remembered that a golden being had come to her, and to the doctor’s surprise, on the day she was scheduled for surgery, the tumor was gone. Not only was she healed, but she now has the ability to see angels. She has even seen winged spirits, one massive angel over her partner, a clinical psychologist. He in turn believes that this angel is the being who healed him many years earlier. This being had come into his hospital room and sang the Hebrew, “Hear O Israel, the Lord my God, the Lord is One.” An out of body experience convinced him that he had been touched by an angel. Note 2

What do we make of all of this? Why do angels appear to some and not to others? Why is Hollywood fascinated with angel accessories, angel ornaments and angel books? Indeed, stores dedicated to angels are springing up all over the country and the profits are, well, “heavenly.” What is going on?

We will examine this phenomenon and answer questions such as:

• What does this interest in angels say about our society’s understanding of God?
• Has such a phenomenon ever happened before?
• What do we know about angels that will help us interpret these interesting accounts?
• What are the implications of the Biblical teaching that there are two kinds of angels, and how shall we distinguish between them?

Before we discuss angels, we must first discuss God. The reason is quite simple: our view of God will determine our view of angels. Every “angel story” carries with it a “God story;” tell me what you believe about angels and I will tell you what you believe about God.

Approaching God

Humanism simply does not satisfy the human heart. The Bible makes it clear that when people stop worshipping the true God they do not stop worshipping; they just change the object of their worship. Thus, as God has been eclipsed in our society, it is not surprising that people are turning toward spirituality of one kind or another. The desire is to make contact with some “higher power” or a very friendly god who can be accessed by anyone.

This new obsession with spirituality is now combined with the individualism of the West and the result is smorgasbord religion. Little wonder “Everyone believes that his own personal feelings are more important than the collective wisdom of the ages.” Note 3

If it is true, as Tozer has said, that what a man believes about God is the most important thing about him, it follows that the way we approach God reveals the kind of God we worship. In other words, if you tell me how you think God should be approached, I will tell you whether you believe in the Biblical deity or some figment of the human imagination.
There are several stories in the Bible that illustrate this principle.

Cain brought an offering to the Lord that was “the fruit of the ground.” He thought that God should be satisfied with something creative, something fashioned from his own experience. Since he was a “tiller of the ground” he came to God in a way that reflected his own private interests.

Cain’s God was “seeker friendly” and just so long as one approached Him with sincerity and a loving disposition, He would be available for fellowship. This God was not narrow minded, but broad enough for people of all kinds, people with different creative ideas interests.

Cain was wrong, of course.

Abel brought “the firstlings of his flock” and he was accepted by God. Interestingly, it was not that Abel was better than Cain that he was accepted, rather it is because “the Lord had regard for his offering.” The question was not whether one man had sinned more greatly than the other (though that question is important for other reasons), but it was the quality of the offering that determined who was accepted or rejected.

In the New Testament, Jude warns against those who “go the way of Cain” that is, those who fashion their own way to approach God. He describes them as people who do not fear God, but are “caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever” (Jude 12,13).

Cain was rejected by God for the simple reason that the holiness of God makes it impossible for us to come to God on our own creative terms. Abel was accepted because he offered the bloody sacrifice that God commanded. “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain” (Hebrews 11:4).

The question people should ask today is: Do I approach God with a sacrifice that He will accept? Am I coming to Him in the right way? A God who accepts any sincere person, regardless of what he believes, is not the God Cain and Abel had come to know.

A similar story comes to us from the Tower of Babel. “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:4).

If Cain represents a customized, individualized approach, Babel represents a societal approach, a belief that if we unite, we can get to God by climbing a ladder of our own making. They thought that if they built a tower, they would be spared from another flood. And, they could get to the heavens, if only their tower was high enough.

Instead of repenting of their sin and turning to God for mercy, they thought that they could overcome the consequences of their own rebellion by technological advancement. With meticulous plans and hard work, they could reach the heavens.

Associated with this project was astrology, an attempt to control one’s own destiny without turning to God. The religion of Babylon represents an alternative religion; it seeks to connect man to God on man’s terms.

God responded by coming down to them in judgment, scattering the people by confusing their language. God did not doubt their sincerity; He did not doubt their ability to build a tower. If they had known the Almighty better they would have understood a basic principle: every tower man builds to God comes infinitely short. Every success man has in building his pathway to God only gives him the false confidence that the goal is attainable.

God’s judgment was also an act of mercy; it forced mankind to realize that God cannot be approached according to man’s liking or design. If man is to be rescued, God must build a “tower” to earth; man cannot build one to God.

The third story takes place at Mount Sinai. God instructed the people that a mediator was needed. In fact, God told the people that they had better stay away from the mountain. The mountain was the scene of fire, thunder and a violent earthquake.

The people were warned to stay away. “Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish” (Exodus 20:19:21). Then a boundary was set up around the mountain to make sure that the people would not come near and be struck dead. If an animal strayed past the boundary, it was to be put to death by an arrow or stoned to death without human hands touching it.

Modern man has no place for fear in approaching God. This is why so many reject the Old Testament; it presents a God who is woefully out of step with these enlightened times. People today want a direct encounter; they have the audacity to approach the mountain directly, just on the strength of their good intentions and personal merit.

The people of Israel were wise enough to say to Moses, “You speak to us and we will listen, but do not have God speak to us or we will die.” Michael Horton asks, “Can we, in our day, even conceive of a God whose presence so frightens worshippers that they beg for a mediator, knowing that if they go to God directly, they will perish?” Note 4

The Ten Commandments had just been given to Moses and Israel was dancing around a golden calf, choosing to fashion Jehovah after the gods that they had come to know in Egypt. They wanted a God with a face; they wanted to approach God in a more relevant way.

Keep in mind that the people were not worshipping a false God, but rather they were worshipping Jehovah in a false way. “We are worshipping Jehovah,” Aaron explained to Moses.

God judged the people severely for one good reason: He wanted them to know that it is not only necessary to worship the right God, but also to worship Him in the right way.

This is the great sin of our time: that anyone can approach God directly in his/her own way, without a mediator, without an acceptable sacrifice and without blood.

What does all this have to do with angels? Much, as we shall see in a moment.

Enter The Angels

In the early centuries there was a movement known as Gnosticism, (from the Greek word gnosis meaning knowledge). This school of thought believed that one could have a direct experience of God and achieve secret knowledge. It was also a movement that believed that one should incorporate angels in worship.

One could indeed be touched by an angel and make contact with beings who were on standby to help mortals. In fact, angels were more accessible than God. This heresy threatened the very existence of the Christian church.

Paul the apostle sometimes referred to these people as “super apostles,” not because they were unspiritual, but because they were too spiritual, too tuned into the spirit world, and too brazen in their assertion that they had experienced God. These were the teachers with the “higher knowledge,” the ones who talked convincingly of spiritual realities. These were the people who claimed to know God and angels better than Paul did!

Many writers believe that American religion has revived this old ancient heresy called Gnosticism. If this is the case, we had better know what the Gnostics believed. Here are a few details of their ever-changing creed.

1. Religious beliefs must be brought together, with no one belief dominating over the rest. Gnosticism was a big house, with room for many different religious viewpoints. They willingly incorporated bits and pieces of Christianity with popular culture and mystical theories. Could you find a better description of where we are today?

2. Personal experience was always superior to a doctrinal creed or objective belief. “Gnostic syncretism” says Philip Lee, “believes everything in general for the purpose of avoiding a belief in something particular. In the case of Christian Gnosticism, what is being avoided is the particularity of the Gospel, that which is a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to Gentiles.” Note 5

Spirituality, yes, specific beliefs, no. Religion should be all encompassing, all embracing. Christ is popular as a way to God, but not as the only way.

3. God is near and can be directly assessed. God could be found in the “inner man” available to all who would take the time to look deeply within their own selves.

4. Matter was evil and spirit was good. The self is imprisoned in the body and longs for freedom from it. Thus, Gnostics believed in “mind over matter.” Armed with the notion that matter was evil, Gnosticism attacked Christianity at its central point: The Word (Christ) could not have “become flesh.” If so, Gnostics argued, God would have become evil. Thus, the belief arose that Jesus only appeared to have a physical body.

And now for the angels!

5. This dualism, between matter and spirit led some Gnostics to the idea that strictly speaking,
God could not have any contact with matter at all.

This notion that the incarnation could not have happened because God could not even have contact with matter, was combatted by John the Apostle when he wrote, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; and this is the spirit of antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world” (1 John 4:2,3).

Gnostics were faced with the question: how did God create the world, and how can we have contact with Him?
Thus one school of thought said this: God is accessible but He can best be contacted by association with angels.

The Veneration of Angels

A movie which I did not see, but read about titled: Angels In The Outfield, tells the story of an eleven year old boy Roger, whose mother has just died and whose father has now rejected him. Longing for the family he once had, he seizes on his father’s cynical remark that they will all be together again when the L.A. Angel baseball team (hopelessly inept) wins the World Series.

So Roger prays to a god he does not know, and a god of whose existence he is unconvinced, and asks him/her for help to aid the L.A Angels so that his wish becomes true. It happens, of course, and God is to be thanked for sending “heavenly angels” to help the baseball team.

Welcome to the first century!

Paul had a word for people who called on angels to help them! “Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind” (Colossians 2:18).

What was the great danger of the church in the city of Colossae? There were those who invoked angels for protection, help and assistance. The phrase “worship of angels” could be translated, “veneration of angels” that is, calling on angels in magical invocations.

People called on angels as intermediaries of God to protect them from evil, to give them “inner light” and help them with daily affairs of daily life. Angels were called to help heal diseases and enlisted for success in business affairs.

These people did not speak ill of Christ. They just did not consider Him as the only mediator between God and man.

Devotees preferred angels to Christ because they could be more easily manipulated. Guardian angels were thought of as “good luck charms” for protection and getting things done. They were perceived to be more accessible than Christ and even more friendly.

Yes, history does repeat itself! If Gnosticism is the religion of America today, we should not be surprised that angels have made a remarkable comeback.

Anyone can be touched by an angel. Anyone can benefit from trying to make contact with heavenly beings. All this rests on a basic premise: God can be contacted without a mediator, without a sacrifice and without blood.

What are the dangers of this philosophy? What do angels know and do? What do angels think of the attention they are receiving? How do we interpret the miracle stories associated with them? To these matters we now turn.

Notes
1. People magazine, Dec. 22, 1997.
2. Ibid.
3. Michael Horton, In The Face of God (Dallas: Word, Pub. 1996), p.26.
4. Ibid., p.12.
5. Ibid., p.52.

Chapter 2
WHAT ANGELS DO

Angels are flying low these days. Walk through your bookstore and you will discover that they are not only flying low, but very busy doing all kinds of nice deeds for us. Here are some of the titles I discovered in a quick tour through a local bookstore: Angel Letters; Angels Within Us; The Mysterious Messengers; Ask Your Angels; Angelic Healing; A Celebration of Angels; Messengers of Light; Angels Among Us; and finally, I’m sure the book my wife would have wanted me to buy: Be An Angel.

I believe in angels; I know they exist and also believe that they move in and out among us; I may have encountered one or two in my lifetime. I know some people whose experience is more credible than mine and I have to believe them when they tell me that they have encountered angels.

Why this fascination with angels in our culture?

First, we have learned that angels supposedly enable people to have a spiritual experience without bothering with God. You can be in touch with a non-judgmental, friendly being without having to face unpleasant matters like your sin and disobedience. God might, at times, be harsh and mysterious; but a visitor from heaven bent on helping us and communicating helpful messages seems appealing, indeed.

Rather than studying the Bible, it is much easier to shuffle a deck of angel cards. We prefer a tame divinity, a friendly spirit who will actually help us when we have a car accident, or personal difficulty. In the book Angels Among Us, we have one account after another of angels coming to the rescue. Just think, we can have all of these benefits without our rebellious hearts being revealed.

Second, angels seem to make the world appealing and friendly. In a culture that at one time was prone to dismiss the supernatural as superstition, angels are an inviting entry point. And, now it is acceptable to use the “S” words: soul, sacred, spiritual, supernatural.

In an article in Vogue magazine the writer says that the angel craze is, perhaps, an attempt to “retain altitude at a time when the culture is short on thrust.” The baby-boomers are on a quest for spiritual meaning no matter what direction it takes. The notion of heavenly visitors strikes a responsive cord.

According to a recent poll published in Newsweek, 28% of Americans say they have had a revelation from God in the last year. Nearly 13% percent say they have seen or sensed the presence of an angel. Even better than choosing your own religion is to chose your own angel. Angels transcend religious barriers.

I glanced through the contents of some of the angel books, looking for a story where an angel actually was unhelpful; I was wondering whether there were any bad angels out there. Maybe I missed something, but I couldn’t find so much as one account where a good angel actually turned out to be either deceptive or harmful.

Do I believe all these stories? I have no reason not to believe that people have had encounters with supernatural visitors. It is the interpretation of what is reported that is most important. The Bible teaches that there are also evil angels who sometimes appear as good ones. We need to have some discernment at a time when people are encouraged to dabble in the spirit world without a metaphysical map to guide them. More on that later.

The Bible is filled with references to angels. When God led Israel out of Egypt, He sent His angel to do it. When Christ was tempted by Satan and needed to recuperate, we read, “angels appeared to Him, strengthening Him.” There are at least 300 references to angels in the Bible. Yes, there are heavenly visitors, just ask the virgin Mary.

What do angels do?

Angels Stand In the Presence of God

Isaiah pictures them as singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” (Isaiah 6:3). John describes what he saw in heaven, “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriad’s of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.’” (Revelation 5:11,12).

Angels can actually see God as He is; they have no limitations of sinfulness; there is no barrier between them and the Almighty. Since they have not sinned, they can approach the throne directly to worship the One who is worthy of all praise. Angels worship in the presence of God.

Angels Run Errands For God

Angels do the will of God; Isaiah pictures them as flying, ready to do whatever the Almighty asks. They do not struggle with jealousy; no one feels as if he is overlooked. If Gabriel gets more spectacular assignments, they rejoice as much for him as they would for themselves.

Angels never appear as a mediator between man and God. We are never to pray to an angel, or say, “take this request back to God.” Christ alone is the bridge between God and man.

An angel, will never draw attention to himself, but will always direct people to give the glory to God. Angels are not independent messengers who seek to run errands for us. They come only when sent and give the message they have been given. If they do help us, it is their intention to remain unseen so that God might be glorified.

The sender is always more important than the messenger. Angels, like pastors of churches, are of secondary importance. Angels are never, in the Scriptures, to detract from the glory of God; they are to enhance His glory and make people wonder at it.

The word angel means messenger. Indeed sometimes the word angel is applied to humans who are messengers for God. Perhaps that’s the way we should understand the messages to the churches in the book of Revelation which always begin, “To the angel of the church of...” The angel is the chief messenger, likely the pastor of the church.

How would the angels react to the publicity they are receiving on earth? God’s angels would be appalled. To think that mankind would seek them out as a kind of substitute for their relationship with God, is idolatry of the worst sort. Though the Bible refers to angels many times, it always does so with restraint.

The evil angels which populate the world are of course delighted with the attention; after all, they can masquerade as good angels and get by with it in an age that lacks discernment. They desire that people think more of themselves than they do of God. What really delights them is when they have contact with humans who think them to be the good angels of God! There is a whole network of evil angels, who appear “as angels of light” to deceive people on the earth.

Only a deceived populace can think that we, without the light of God’s revelation, can enter the world of angels and know the difference between good and evil. In the book Ask Your Angel, the author says that if you pray to your angel, “You can be sure that your request will be answered.” God is just a shadowy figure who plays a minor role in the angelic enterprise. He is not as accessible as the angels.

John was so startled by a vision that he fell at the feet of an angel, and the response of the heavenly being was instructive, “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, ‘Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God.’ For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10).

We should never seek contact with an angel. We must let God decide whether the angel is to be sent to us. Nowhere in Scripture are we encouraged to seek angels. God may send you one, but that decision is wholly His. As we shall see in chapter 4 when you make contact with an angel, you do not know which kind will show up.

What if an angel were to appear saying that God is loving and we can get to heaven by doing acts of kindness? Many people would believe that message. But Paul, knowing the gullibility of the human heart wrote, “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!” (Galatians 1:8).

Angels run errands for God and, when they speak, their message is consistent with the Bible. They bring no new Gospel, nor do they add insights about God. We know all that we need to know from the Scriptures.

Angels Act On God’s Behalf

Angels often do carry out the specific acts of God. Gabriel was not just the bearer of good news for Mary, but he also carried out the judgment of God on Zacharias. Then, when Peter was in prison, an angel came and took him by the hand and led him out. Angels are sometimes involved in battle; for example, Michael and Satan fought over the body of Moses (Jude 9).

In 2 Kings 19:35, one angel killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When Elijah was at Dothan, he asked God to open the eyes of his servant, and when that happened the man saw that the horizon was filled with heavenly warriors.

Are there angels among us? Yes. And they might appear as an ordinary person. Abraham, you will recall invited some strangers into his tent and did not know that they were angels. This incident is used by the author of Hebrews to encourage us to invite visitors into our homes, for “...some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:2).

Yes angels are with us. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14). When they appear they may or may not be visible to us. We don’t know how often angels have helped us, because we probably did not recognize them to be heavenly visitors. We may not see them, but they see us.

A missionary who returned to his home church in Michigan, reported this story. In Africa he left town with medical supplies he was carrying to a remote village. Enroute he slept along the way and then resumed his journey.

When he returned to the same town several weeks later, he stopped to give medical aid to a man who had been wounded in a fight. The man told the missionary this story: He and some other gang members had seen the missionary leave town with the medical supplies. They followed him at a distance with the intention of killing him while he slept so that they could steal his supplies and sell them for cash. As they surrounded his campsite, they noticed men standing guard around him.

The missionary was astounded at the story because he knew he had been alone that night! But the man insisted that there were men on guard that night; he even counted them, there were 26!

When the missionary told this story in his home church, a man stood up in the congregation and told this story: he and his church buddies were planning to go golfing one Saturday morning, but suddenly he had such a burden for this missionary that he encouraged the men to come with him to the church to pray instead. Now they compared calendars and allowing for time differences, discovered that they prayed exactly when the missionary would have been sleeping. To verify the story, he now asked all those who had prayed with him to stand to their feet. Incredibly, the number was 26!

What do angels do? They are on assignment, doing whatever God desires.

But how much do they know?

Chapter 3
WHAT ANGELS KNOW

Angels, are big business. There are books about various angels; there are angel computer networks, and angel “channelers.” And even angel prayer groups.

“If there is anything new about this wave of angel-mania,” says Brooks Alexander, “it is the breadth of its appeal, and the depth of its deception. It is more intense, more pervasive, more deceived, and more deceiving than those that came before it...”

We’ve already learned that there just might be a difference between the angels of popular culture and God’s “ministering spirits.” In chapter 4 we shall consider this in more detail. We shall learn that the atmosphere is filled with both good angels and evil angels; care must be taken that we are not deceived.

In the previous chapter we answered the question: what do angels do? In this chapter we answer the question: what do angels know? They are not omniscient like God; they know much, but they don’t know everything. They have three sources of information.

Angels Know What God Tells Them

Often God sends angels to communicate His message to a person or group. In the case of Gabriel, God sent him several times with explicit instructions. Whether it was a message given to Daniel or Mary, Gabriel was privy to information given to him by God. We can speculate, quite confidently, that all the angels learn by listening to what God has to say. They are on hand for those official pronouncements, either of judgment on the world or blessing. For all we know God might give them regular briefings.

Just think of how privileged the angels must feel to be given a message that could not possibly be known on their own. They receive their messages from the One who has knowledge of all things both actual and possible. The information they receive is always on target; it is always correct.

Example: When Gabriel brought a message to Mary, he could predict her future because he had received his message directly from the Almighty. Angels knew Christ before He had a human body; they knew Him in His glory. They saw Christ high; now they were about to see Him low. Gabriel says to Mary, “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.” (Luke 1:32, 33).

Months later, when Christ was born, angels announced the news to shepherds. Why shepherds? If God had committed the task of announcing Christ’s birth to media mongrels they would have blitzed the world with the news. It would have been packaged for the masses with unforgettable slogans and eye-catching sound bites. But God did it differently.

Here is a beautiful example of the angels doing what was asked of them; they were sent by God on their favorite errand, to bear witness to the wonder of the Redemption story. As we have learned, these angels were with Christ before His incarnation; they had seen His riches, His glory and majesty. They were, quite probably, astounded that Christ would consent to be born into such poverty. And despite their prominence in heaven, the angels were not ashamed to bring the good news to the humble shepherds.

Though not mentioned by name, Gabriel was likely the leader who actually announced the good news. With him appeared “a multitude of the heavenly host.” The entire choir of angels chimed in to shout the good news. “Glory to God in the highest!”

God is glorified in every dew drop. He is magnified in every flower. Although the universe can sing until it has exhausted itself; it cannot sing a song as sweet as the incarnation — that Christ should lay aside His kingly robes and become a man—that surely is the wonder of God. Here is His mercy, wisdom, power, and faithfulness all converge.

The message of the angels was profound, “Peace to men on whom his favor rests.” (NIV). Those whom God had chosen would experience the blessing of God’s favor. The angels said it was so.

Angels Know What They Observe

Angels have been on hand for every major event that has taken place on planet earth. They observed creation, that cataclysmic event which began God’s extensive program for this universe. They saw what happened when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. They were on hand for Israel’s slavery in Egypt and the dramatic crossing of the Red Sea.

They announced the birth of Christ and watched incredulously when Christ died on the cross. Here was both sadness and glory. Sadness, because it appeared as if the Son of God was capitulating to Satan. Glory, because the angels must have known that at least a portion of humanity was being redeemed.

When Christ was in Gethsamane, angels were poised for intervention. When Peter tried to defend Christ with a sword, our Lord responded, “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?” (Matthew 26:53). Imagine the self-control it must have taken for them to withhold their help. Surely the angels had to be restrained. They remembered what Christ was like in heaven, now they saw Him confronted by the torments of hell. They learned much from what they observed.

Our obedience or disobedience is observed by the angels. Paul says we “have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men” (1 Corinthians 4:9). They might not always know what we are thinking, but they observe our actions. When Paul says that women in the church at Corinth should worship in subjection (which for them meant that they should have their heads covered), he says that this should be done “because of the angels.” (1 Corinthians 11:10). Angels had observed disobedience before; they want to see everything done in the church decently and in order.

The angels saw the lovely response of Mary, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). If she had disobeyed, they would have seen that, too. They are even watching when someone comes to saving faith in Christ.

When Jesus was criticized for hobnobbing with some rather notorious sinners, He defended Himself by telling a few stories. First, He said that if you had a hundred sheep and lost one of them, would you not leave the ninety-nine and go find the lost one? And when you find the lost one, you return rejoicing, glad that the lost sheep has been found. In fact, you throw a party and you invite others to rejoice with you. Then He adds, “I tell you in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7).

His second story is of the lost coin. Have you ever lost something and looked a hundred places where it could never be? Jesus says that a woman who loses a precious coin lights a lamp and searches until she finds it. And when she does she calls her neighbors and invites them to rejoice with her.

Now comes the punchline, “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (v. 10). The angels throw a cosmic celebration every time a soul is born again; every time a sinner repents, they share the good news among themselves.

The angels are watching.

Angels Know What They Investigate

God doesn’t tell the angels everything; nor are they limited to what they can observe. There are some pieces of the puzzle they are expected to put together for themselves. When Peter wanted to emphasize that the prophets didn’t always know the time of their own prophecies, but searched these things diligently, he added that these were things, “into which angels long to look” (1 Peter 1:12). If they knew everything or were told everything, they would lose the wonder and the awe of it all.

We can be sure that angels do not question God; nor do they struggle with envy. But they must be speechless, trying their best to understand the ways of God. And they are fascinated with the fact that God has chosen to redeem at least some of the fallen humanity; in contrast, He has chosen to allow all of fallen angels to be lost forever.

Here is another mystery the angels must ponder: the fact that we, who are sinners, will be exhalted above them! No angel can be an heir of God and joint-heir with Christ. No angel will get to sit on Christ’s throne and rule with Him. These privileges are limited to those who are brothers of Christ; you have to be a member of the family to receive the family’s inheritance.

What amazes angels? First, Christ’s humility and second, our pride. They saw Christ in His glory, so they know how far He came; they saw us in our sin, so they know how far we have been brought up. Christ came to serve, yet we want to rule.

I’m sure that what is most puzzling to the heavenly host is the indifference with which we treat the love and redemption of God. They see what we don’t: they see the staggering cost of our redemption. They see the infinite gap between heaven and earth.

Angels ponder these things.

A Contrast Between Two Kinds of Angels

Originally, all the angels were good angels. Lucifer was given the responsibility of taking all of the worship of the angels who inhabited planet earth and was to make sure that all the glory went to God. But he began to take some of the glory for himself. He said, “I shall be like the Most High.”

As a result of that rebellion, he fell into disobedience and myriads of angels fell with him. For them there is no redemption. There was no sacrifice made for their reconciliation to God; Christ would have had to become an angel and die for them, to have made the payment that God requires. But we are told explicitly, that Christ did not take upon Himself the nature of angels, but rather the seed of Abraham.

Of course, evil angels also, know what they observe.

Evil angels have some similarities and some differences with God’s chosen angels. Satanic angels know what Satan tells them, but because his knowledge is limited, they cannot always know that the information received from him is accurate. Since their teacher is fallible, their knowledge is flawed.

So Satan does his own investigation. He and his defeated colleagues have probably done a statistical analysis as to how many of us, when faced with a particular temptation, will yield to it. They know every detail of our lives, whether public or hidden. They have seen human beings act and react for thousands of years. They know us well enough to make an educated guess as to what we might do in certain situations. But their knowledge is fallible. They do not know what we might do, or what God might do for us when we are backed into a corner.

Can Satan know the future? He can know quite a bit, but there is also much that he cannot know. He might know that a man is contemplating to assassinate the President of the United States when he visits Dallas on November 22, 1963. So he knows the event is being planned. What he does not know is whether it will actually happen. The gun might misfire, the assassin might shoot and miss; for all Satan knows, the gunman might be stopped on his way to the sixth floor of the Dallas Textbook Depository Building.

This explains why a fortune teller is occasionally right in his/her prognostications. Satan knows what some people are planning; and he knows what he is planning. And, since his plans often come to pass, the future might happen as predicted. But since Satan is not omnipotent, he cannot control the future. Just as our plans can be changed or smashed, so Satan is also at the mercy of events beyond his control.

Only God can know the future infallibly; only He can take every contingency into account and tell us exactly what is going to happen. And when good angels stand in His presence, God tells them what He wishes them to know. Their knowledge, unlike that of demons, is infallible.

Yes, there is a great difference between the good angels and evil ones.

Chapter 4
DECEIVED BY ANGELS

As of this writing, Hollywood has produced more than three dozen films, made-for-TV movies, and series featuring “heavenly beings.” Roger Ebert, film critic not noted for his commitment to the Bible, wrote “These scenarios are all wrong, wrong, wrong from a theological point of view (which is the only one worth having about angels). All the authorities agree that God created angels before the beginning—before there was earth or sea or sky, or men and women.” Say it again, Roger!

We do not expect theological accuracy from Hollywood; indeed, sometimes even respect and decency are lacking. Thus in the movie Michael, John Travolta portrays the biblical archangel as a slob; a brawling, promiscuous, but supposedly lovable, slob. Covering his wings with an old trenchcoat, Michael joins three tabloid journalists on a journey to Chicago. Along the way he seduces women and he spends a night in jail.

Obviously, this scenario is much more akin to the fallen angel, Lucifer, than it is to Michael, the archangel, the “prince who protects” the children of Israel, and who fought with the devil over the body of Moses. Hollywood has it wrong, very wrong.

My concern is not with such gross distortions of angels, however. Something much more sinister is taking place with this new angel fad, something that ultimately is more damaging than trash television or blatant, liberal theology. I refer to this: that millions of evangelicals are accepting the “Touched by an Angel” TV series as good viewing for Christians everywhere. People who should know better are looking upon this show with approval.

If you are not acquainted with the TV program, “Touched By an Angel,” the basic formula as stated by the producers is this: “The angel meets her assigned human at a crossroads in his or her life. The angel (by the power of God) performs a miracle to bring that person to a point of decision or revelation. He or she, by their own free will, then takes life-changing action.” Note 1

Thus, in virtually every episode a troubled person is helped, perhaps there is a physical healing, or an emotional barrier overcome. Sometimes the needy person might be facing a personal crisis in his or her marriage or with the children. Whatever the situation, an angel is used by God to resolve the crisis, proving that there is a spiritual dimension to the world, and that God Himself stands at the ready to help us by sending angels to those who least deserve or expect it. Each show has a “feel good” ending, since a crisis has been resolved, and the troubled person has turned a corner, setting out in a new direction.

Why do I object to this harmless story line? The answer, briefly put, is that the show is loaded with theology, a cultural theology that reinforces the prevalent views about man and God. Through its pleasing portrayals of needy people, helped by heavenly messengers, it lobs a grenade at the heart of the Christian Gospel.

A False View of Human Nature

First, it assumes that people are basically good, rather than sinners who stand in desperate need of God’s saving grace. The show avoids concepts such as sin and the total depravity of the human race. Everyone has good within, waiting for it to be unleashed. Indeed, one of the show’s actors says that “there might be an angel in everyone of us, waiting to do a miracle.”

The show reinforces the prevailing cultural myth that sin is never the problem we face, rather it is always a feeling of disconnectedness, a need for knowledge about how God’s help can be enlisted. Thankfully, an angel comes to help in a crisis, and there is relief knowing that at last one has made contact with God.

The Bible teaches that an understanding of our sinfulness is central to our understanding of how we must approach God. If we don’t know how bad off we are in the presence of a holy God, we will try to access Him in ways that He despises. Thus, a wrong view of man always leads to a wrong view of God.

A False View of God

In the television series, the Almighty can be contacted by anyone who has the good fortune of connecting with an angel. Like Cain, who thought that God could be approached in any creative way, the show teaches that ordinary people, if they have enough ordinary good will, can have contact with God, without a mediator, without a sacrifice, without blood.

It follows that the show has no place for Christ, neither His cross nor His resurrection is necessary for us to make contact with the “powers that be.” Angels are waiting to help us get connected. They are more approachable than God; thus, it is possible to be in touch with the spiritual world without appeasing God.

“But” you protest, “it does not claim to be a Christian program, but is committed to presenting a generic faith, showing that there are people who believe in God; and that angels are real beings just as the Bible says.” But the point cannot be made too strongly: The view of human nature portrayed in the series is not biblical and therefore the God the show portrays is not biblical either. It reinforces a destructive cultural stereotype.

What do we make of the angel stories; the reports of angels intervening to help people? Before we answer that question, we have to cover an important bit of biblical data to put matters in perspective.

Sorting Out the Facts

All angels, whether good or bad were created by God. They are independent creatures, not recycled dead people as Hollywood often portrays them to be. In many movies, angels are presented as deceased humans, who earn their wings by good behavior. That is a human idea found nowhere in the Bible.

We must affirm that there is a great deal of similarity between the evil angels and the “elect” angels, as Paul calls them. Thus, it is not possible for us to always distinguish the good angels from the bad ones. It is simply not wise to navigate the metaphysical landscape without a map, a guide that lets us call these angelic beings by their correct designation.

Satan is presented in the Bible as having a keen intellect, a full complement of emotions and a will by which he rebelled against God. Although at one time he stood in God’s presence, orchestrating the praise of all the angelic host, he chose his own path in the cosmos. As a result, he is on a forced march to destruction, enroute to his final destination of torment and humiliation in hell.

Unfortunately, he did not fall alone, but took a percentage of the angelic host with him (perhaps 1/3 according to Revelation 12). At any rate, he has a multitude of helpers that do his bidding, and that seek to extend his kingdom. These helpers are known in Scripture as demons.

When Jesus was on earth, Satan mustered all of his powers to try to divert the Son of God from His calling. He tried to kill the Christ Child when Herod slaughtered the children under two years of age in the environs of Bethlehem. Since the plan failed, he tried to get Christ to sin in the desert; later he continued his opposition, but Christ decisively defeated him on the cross.

Satan was unsuccessful, of course. Facing the cross, Christ said, “Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out” (John 12:31).

The Similarity Between Good and Bad Angels

It is not always possible for us to tell the difference between good and bad angels. The evil angels are willing to make as many concessions as possible to deceive the unwary. The angels of darkness turn themselves into angels of light so that people will be confused about their real identity.

1. Evil angels are willing to mouth solid, evangelical doctrine. When Christ was in the synagogue in Capernaum He met a man with an unclean spirit, who, when confronted by Christ cried out, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are — the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24). This demon, in effect, could sign an evangelical statement of faith that affirmed that Christ was Jesus of Nazareth, “the Holy One of God.”

What is more, demons confessed that Christ was the Son of God. “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” (Mark 5:7). These are the words of a demon responding to Christ’s command to leave the demented man. These demons, could, in effect, sign an evangelical statement of faith that affirmed that Christ was “The Holy One Of God,” or “The Son of the Most High God.”

Of course demons do not make such admissions willingly, or gladly. But when in the presence of Christ, or when attempting to deceive others they will confess to the truths of sound doctrine. Yes, they are capable of appearing and quoting “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is One Lord” if the words will deceive one of their victims.

2. Evil angels will duplicate the miracles of Christ. Paul warned that Satan would come with “all power and signs and false wonders” (2 Thessalonians 2:9). Not every miracle is from God; not every beneficial intervention comes from the good angels. Evil angels will do all the helpful miracles they can if it serves their long-term goals, namely diverting people from the purity of the Gospel of Christ.

A man who was healed from a serious disease in a so-called healing meeting, discovered that he inherited “demonic darkness”, that is, a persistent sense that he now had an evil presence near him. When he rebuked Satan, the emotional and spiritual cloud left him, but his disease returned. We should not be surprised that healings occur in all the religions of the world. Satan is willing to give something that appears good in exchange for blind allegiance.

3. Evil angels use “super apostles” who present themselves as experts in spirituality. They convincingly lead people to believe that all people have, within themselves, the power to find God; they can have direct contact with God by following the right techniques.

These apostles invite people to come to God “just as they are” not to be cleansed and forgiven, but to be accepted on the basis of their own merit as humans. They are to come to receive the help they deserve. God delights to make contact with His creatures, if only they will desire it. “Come one and all” and “come in your own way.” And so we come once again to the grand lie: anyone can make contact with God without a mediator, without a God-appointed sacrifice and without blood.

Any television program that promotes such a view of man and God is an assault on Christ and His work on the cross. Any insistence that good angels are party to such a portrayal is deception. The good angels know the difference between true spirituality and the false. They know what it takes for man to worship God. They also know what happens to those who think they can do it all in their own way.

Telling The Difference

So the question is: how do we interpret the dramatic rescues, the healings and the help given to people who are in desperate straits? What do we say about the accounts of ‘divine interventions’ of heavenly beings that make everything turn out just right, regardless of what people believe about Christ? Think through the following:

1. God’s good angels are given assignments limited to the people of God. They are not sent indiscriminately to all men and women. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). Thus, we have the function of angels defined for us in Scripture. If angels are ever sent to those who refuse to accept Christ and therefore “will not inherit salvation,” we have no account of it in Scripture.

2. God’s good angels participate in acts of judgment for the unconverted.

Yes, angels are sometimes sent to the unconverted, but only to judge them. We think immediately of the angels that visited with Abraham had the responsibility of executing judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah. Angels did help Lot escape the city, but only because he was a believer in Jehovah and therefore a “righteous man” (2 Peter 2:7).

Repeatedly, in the book of Revelation, angels are directly involved in executing the judgment of those who have not come under the protection of Christ’s sacrifice. For example, in chapter 14 a succession of angels comes announcing judgment. One warns that if anyone worships the beast “he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb” (Revelation 14:10). The angel that followed announced the impending judgment and the next angel executed it.

Read carefully, “Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying ‘Put in your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe’” (v.18) Then notice what this angel does.

“So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God” (v.19). Later in the book, an angel invites the birds in midheaven to eat the flesh of kings, commanders, and mighty men (19:17,18) now that God has destroyed them in judgment.

Needless to say, the program “Touched By An Angel” does not feature angels coming to execute the wicked. These Hollywood angels are always doing good deeds, even for people who might not be particularly religious; even for people who do not believe in Christ as Savior and are not “heirs of salvation.” These popular representations of angels are not good angels, but angels of another sort.

3. Evil angels have all of the essential powers of good angels. Therefore evil angels perform many similar assignments as those of good angels for their evil master, Satan. Think of the awesome “victory” (albeit temporary) Satan wins when millions of people mistake his intervention into human lives as the intervention of God and His angels!

Remember, Satan’s goal is not to create as much misery as he can on planet earth; he is willing to do some good things while keeping his eventual goals in sight. His primary objective is to spread false doctrine, to reinforce the idea that God can be approached directly without a mediator, an acceptable sacrifice and blood. He does not mind if people believe in God, in supernatural occurrences and miracles. Indeed, these serve his purpose very well.

If you are a Catholic, Satan will appear as Mary; if you are a Protestant, he will appear as Christ and if you are a Hindu, he will appear as Krishna. Now that Princess Diana has become a international icon and a religious symbol, reportedly there are sightings of her, too. Satan will take whatever form expected to keep people shielded from the Gospel of Christ. It is naive to say, as some do, that these stories must be the work of good angels because the miracles are good and beneficial. We must boldly say that “good” miracles can be done by “bad” angels.

The famous spiritist, Emanuel Swedenborg recognized the difficulty of distinguishing good angels and bad. After years of spiritism, he wrote, “When spirits begin to speak with a man, he ought to beware that he believes nothing whatever from them; for they say almost anything...they would tell so many lies, and indeed with solemn affirmation, that a man would be astonished...if a man listens and believes, they press on and deceive, and seduce in [many] ways.” Note 2

Please do not forget the great sin of our time: the belief that God can be approached without a mediator, without an acceptable sacrifice and without blood.

Only the full biblical message can combat the rampant spirituality of our times; a spirituality that is a substitute for the Gospel of Christ. The fear that Paul had for the saints in Corinth should be ours today, “But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).

Millions are deceived by angels whose presence preaches “another gospel.” As Paul warns, “But even though we, or an angel in heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8).

Let us remember that angels do not always get their theology straight!

Notes
1. Quoted in Citizen, Dec. 1997, p. 7.
2. Quoted in John Ankerberg and John Weldon, The Facts on Channeling, (Chattanooga: The John Ankerberg Evangelistic Association, 1988), p.8.

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