The Great Hope (Adapted)

Angels Help

Angels of God and evil spirits are plainly revealed in Scripture and are interwoven with human history. Many think that the holy angels who “minister for those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14) are actually the spirits of the dead. But the Scriptures present proof that they are not disembodied spirits of the dead. GrH_a 6.5

Before God created human beings, 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” (Job 38:7). After the fall of Adam and Eve but before any human being had died, God sent angels to guard the tree of life. Angels are superior to humans, for man was made “a little lower than the angels” (Psalm 8:5). GrH_a 6.6

Says the prophet, “I heard the voice of many angels around the throne.” In the presence of the King of kings they wait—“ministers of His, who do His pleasure,” “heeding the voice of His word,” “an innumerable company.” (Revelation 5:11; Psalm 103:21, 20; Hebrews 12:22.) They go out as God’s messengers, “in appearance like a flash of lightning,” their flight is so swift. The angel that appeared at the Savior’s tomb, with his face “like lightning,” caused the soldiers to quake with fear of him, and they “became like dead men.” When Sennacherib blasphemed God and threatened Israel, “the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand.” (Ezekiel 1:14; Matthew 28:3, 4; 2 Kings 19:35.) GrH_a 6.7

God sends angels on missions of mercy to His children. To Abraham, with promises of blessing; to Lot, to rescue him from Sodom’s doom; to Elijah, about to die in the desert; to Elisha, with chariots and horses of fire when he was surrounded by his enemies; to Daniel, when he was abandoned to become the lion’s prey; to Peter, doomed to death in Herod’s dungeon; to the apostles in Philippi’s jail; to Paul in the stormy night on the sea; to open the mind of Cornelius to receive the gospel; to send Peter with the message of salvation to the Gentile stranger—in all these ways holy angels have ministered to God’s people. GrH_a 6.8