Scripture readings for St. Michael and all the Angels:

            Daniel 10:1-14; 12:1-3

            Revelation 17:7-12

            Luke 10:17-20

 

Grace and peace to all from God our heavenly Father and Jesus Christ our risen and ascended Lord and Savior.            Amen.

 

            Angels are pretty popular in many ways in our society.  We have uncountable figurines available.  Television and movies portray angels in so many ways.  Throughout history artists have tried to visualize angels for us on canvass and in sculpture.  Today we celebrate the blessings God gives in angels on this St. Michael and all the angels Sunday.  Although any one of us can conjure up romantic ideals of what an angel is, our only source of knowledge is what God has revealed to us in his holy Word.

 

            First of all, let us look at what the word “angel” means as it is used in Scripture.  Angels are recorded in both the Old and New Testaments.  In the original Hebrew (OT), the word malak (mal awk’) means: “one sent, a messenger.”  In the Greek of the New Testament the word used is angelos which also means “messenger, one who is sent.”  It is derived from the word which means, “to bring tidings.”  We find the root of this word in the New Testament word, euangelizo which means, “Good news,” pertaining to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Today we find the word in evangelical – to tell the good news of Jesus.  By nature of the name God has given them, they are intended to be his messengers, his envoys, to bring good news and do good things throughout all of his creation including both heaven and earth.

 

            Where do the angels come from?  From Scripture we know that they are part of creation.  Angels did not exist before the beginning of earthly time.  We also know that on the sixth day, God concluded all creating.  God does not tell us exactly when he created the heavenly beings, opposite of how he gives us a detailed accounting of when all earthly substances and life were created.

 

            What are angels made of?  They are spirits, [Hebrews 1:14] that is spiritual beings without any bodily form as we understand in earthly substances.  Angels do not have flesh and blood as we know it.  [Luke 24:39, Ephesians 6;12]  We cannot see, hear, or physically feel angels.  God too, has spirit form.  But, the difference between God and angels is different as creator and the created.  Angels are subject to God.  They are not God, but beings he created for his good purposes.  They are endowed by God of intelligence and will.  [Hebrews 1:14, Ephesians 3:10]  They communicate with each other and to God, but do not communicate to people unless specifically sent by God to do so.  They are not omniscient, all knowing, as God is.  They do enjoy a beatific knowledge/vision [Matthew 18:10].  Angels are:

• invisible due to their spirit nature
• indivisible – each is separate in itself
• immutable – they are not subject to physical change, they do not beget or are begotten as earthly life procreates. 
• they are immortal  Although created and have a beginning, they have no known end.  They neither grow old or decay.
• illocality – as incorporeal (spiritual) beings they occupy no space, but are present at a certain place.  They are not omnipresent as God is.
• they do have agility and velocity as they are able to change the “where” of their presence immediately but without local motion as we know motion.  Can an angel be “beamed up?”

 

How many angels are there?  We only know that there are uncountable angels.  Daniel records a thousand thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand.  [Daniel 7:10]  Luke records a multitude that appeared to the shepherds.  Psalm 68:17 records twenty thousand, even thousands of angels.  God also has given angels concerning each of you to guard you in all your ways.  [Psalm 91]  Imagine each person having more than one angel assigned to him.

 

            How have angels appeared on this earth?  They have been given, different forms by God for the specific acts he has sent them to do.  They appeared as men to Abraham and Lot, clothed, eating, sleeping, and visiting as you and I would.  The angel(s) at the tomb on Easter and at the ascension appeared as young men dressed in white.  At times angels have appeared but have not allowed themselves to be seen by all present.  [Daniel 10:7-8, 2 Kings 6:17, Numbers 22]  An angel appeared as a man with the three men in the fiery furnace.  [Daniel 3]  They have appeared as light, and fire.  [Isaiah 6:2, Matthew 28:3, Luke 2:9, Psalm 104:4]  They have appeared as an ox, a lion, and an eagle [2 Chronicles 3, Ephesians 1:10, 10:14]  Descriptions of them state that they have shined like lightening and that their clothes were white as snow.

 

            What have angels done?  An angel of the Lord killed 185,000 soldiers in the Assyrian camp.  Cherubims guarded the garden of Eden with a flaming sword.  Angels spoke to prophets.  Angels closed the mouths of the lions to protect Daniel.  An angel appeared to Zechariah to announce the birth of John the Baptist.  An angel appeared to Mary to announce the incarnation of our Lord Jesus.  An angel appeared in a dream three times to Joseph in regards to the birth of Jesus and protecting the infant going to and from Egypt.  Angels appeared to shepherds, at the empty tomb, and at Jesus’ ascension.  Another angel delivered Peter from prison.  An angel stood in the way of Balaam and his donkey, initially allowing only the donkey to see it.  Angels attended to Elijah in hiding, and to Jesus both in the wilderness and in the Gethsemane. 

 

            Are there good and bad angels?  Yes, there are.  All angels were originally created equally righteous, good, and holy, for they were to glorify God and render Him holy service.  This is clear from God’s final statement at the end of the sixth day of creation, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.”  [Genesis 1:31]  Angels, as was man, were given at creation a freedom of will.  Some rebelled against God and were thrown from heaven.  There were quite a number that rebelled as they call themselves “legion.”  [Mark 5:9 and Luke 8:30]  As with many other heavenly events, we only are given a glimpse of what happened and not all of the gory details.  Unlike man, God did not spare those angels when they sinned, but were allowed to remain evil for all eternity.  [2 Peter 2:4]  The fallen angels can do no good as Jesus reminds us that the truth is not in the devil. [John 8:44]  Although Satan has been given certain freedom to be the “prince of this world,” he is judged and will not prevail.  [John 12, 14, & 16]  He does prowl like a roaring lion, looking to devour whatever he can.  [1 Peter 5:8]  God did not create or will them to be evil, but they did this of their own accord.  [Jude 6]

 

            God also tells us that those angels who did not rebel now are unable to fall as a gulf has been fixed between them and those who did rebel.  [Luke 16:26]  As God’s elect angels, they are unable to fall.  [1 Timothy 5:21]  They are preserved in the goodness, righteousness, and holiness in which they were first created.

 

           

Do angels have names?  We do not know except where God has given an angel a specific name in Scripture.  Gabriel appeared in the vision to Daniel, to Zacharaias to announce the coming of John the Baptist, and to Mary to announce our Savior’s conception and birth.  Michael is described as the first archangel who stands in time of conflict for the children of Israel.  He is mentioned in Jude’s letter as one who “disputed with the devil regarding the body of Moses.”  Michael is the leader of the angels in heaven who fights against the dragon and his angels in Revelation.

 

            Back to the work of angels, they are God’s messengers and his agents to bring good news and to preserve his people. The common message angels begin with is, “Do not be afraid.”  They are agents created and sent by God to proclaim the good news of his love to his people.  They are agents who have performed miracles that preserved God’s faithful servants from earthly evil foes.  They are agents who ministered to our Lord and minister to you and me today in ways we cannot see, but are comforted in the words of the Psalmist, “Lest you strike your foot against a stone.”  Jesus tells us how they rejoice at the repentance of sinners [Luke 15:10], protect the saints (all believers) of God, [Jude 9], are present with us at public worship [1 Corinthians 11:10, 1 Timothy 5:21f, and will announce final judgment [Matthew 24, 25, and Mark 13]. 

 

            To all believers’ greatest joy are two final things the angels were created to do.  One, as revealed to John in the divine Revelation, they join with all other saints and heavenly hosts in praising God with joyful songs.  The second is their final responsibility in our time, as Jesus tells in Matthew 24:30-31;  "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.  And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”