Are
There Angels Among Us?
The Truth About Angels
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The
Truth About Angels
Becoming acquainted with someone usually includes learning
something about that one's family. It is the same with coming to
know Jehovah God. More is involved than simply learning his
name. We must also come to know something about his
"family" in heaven. (Compare Ephesians 3:14, 15.) The
Bible calls the angels God's "sons." (Job 1:6)
Considering their significant role in the Bible, we should want
to know more about them to understand their place in God's
purpose.
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The New
Testament: A Pictorial Archive from Nineteenth-Century Sources,
by Don Rice/Dover Publications, Inc.
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 NEW
subculture is developing. Not only are more people saying that they
believe in angels; an increasing number are claiming to have been
touched by them in some way. When 500 Americans were asked, "Have
you ever personally felt an angelic presence in your life?" almost
a third answered yes. Surprising too is the number of youths who profess
belief in angels-according to one poll in the United States, a full 76
percent! Evidently, people are interested in angels. But how does the
current thinking about angels measure up to Bible truth?
Soft-Pedaling
Satan's Role
When speaking of angels, we should not ignore the wicked angels,
heavenly creatures who the Bible says rebelled against God. Foremost of
these is Satan. A popular book called Ask Your Angels suggests
that Satan is merely "an aspect of God" who helps humans
strengthen their "spiritual muscles" through constant
temptation. Despite Satan's "loving intentions," the authors
state, he has over the centuries become mistakenly identified with evil.
They add that Satan and Jesus, "while not exactly complementary to
each other, are at least on the same side, integral parts of the same
whole." These are astonishing assertions, but what does the Bible
say?
The Bible makes it clear that Satan is not "an aspect of
God" but an enemy of God. (Luke 10:18, 19; Romans 16:20) He
defies Jehovah's sovereignty, and his intentions toward humans are
hardly "loving." He heartlessly vents his wrath on God's
earthly servants. He accuses them before God day and night!*
(Revelation 12:10, 12, 15-17) Satan is intent on corrupting them at any
cost. His merciless persecution of the righteous man Job exposed his
callous attitude toward human suffering.-Job 1:13-19; 2:7, 8.
Far from being "on the same side," Satan and Jesus are
diametrically opposed to each other. Why, it was undoubtedly Satan who
induced Herod to decree a mass infanticide-all in an effort to do away
with the young child Jesus! (Matthew 2:16-18) And Satan's relentless
attacks continued right up until Jesus' death. (Luke 4:1-13; John 13:27)
Thus, rather than being "integral parts of the same whole,"
Jesus and Satan are complete opposites. Bible prophecy shows that their
enmity is inevitable. (Genesis 3:15) Fittingly, it is the resurrected
Jesus who will destroy Satan in God's due time.-Revelation 1:18; 20:1,
10.
Prayers
to Whom?
Some advocates of the angel movement recommend meditation and other
techniques in order to communicate with angels. "A sincere request
for contact with any member of the celestial family will not go
unheeded," says one book. "Ask and you shall be
answered." Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael are among the
angels the book recommends for consultation.#
However, Jesus taught his followers to pray to God, not to angels.
(Matthew 6:9, 10) Similarly, Paul wrote: "In everything by prayer
and supplication along with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known
to God." (Philippians 4:6) In their prayers, therefore,
Christians do not approach anyone except Jehovah, and they do so in the
name of Jesus Christ%.-John
14:6, 13, 14.
Nondenominational
Angels?
According to Eileen Elias Freeman, who presides over the AngelWatch
Network, "angels transcend every religion, every philosophy, every
creed. In fact, angels have no religion as we know it."
The Bible, however, makes it clear that faithful angels do have a
religion; they worship the true God, Jehovah, who tolerates no rivalry
from other gods. (Deuteronomy 5:6, 7; Revelation 7:11) Thus, such an
angel described himself to the apostle John as "a fellow
slave" of those who obey God's commands. (Revelation 19:10) Nowhere
in the Bible do we read of faithful angels upholding any other form of
worship. They give Jehovah exclusive devotion.-Exodus 20:4, 5.
"The
Father of the Lie"
Many so-called angelic encounters involve communication with the
dead. "I had the feeling that my uncle had found a way to reach me
and let me know that he was happy at last," says a woman named
Elise after receiving what she felt was a sign. Terri similarly
remembers a dear friend who died. "A week after the funeral,"
she says, "he came to me in what I thought was a dream. He told me
I should not mourn his departure, because he was happy and at
peace."
But the Bible states that the dead "are conscious of nothing at
all." (Ecclesiastes 9:5) It also says that when a person dies, "in
that day his thoughts do perish." (Psalm 146:4) Satan, however,
is "the father of the lie." (John 8:44) He is the one who
originated the falsehood that the human soul survives death. (Compare
Ezekiel 18:4.) Many people today believe this, which suits Satan's
purpose, for it negates the need for faith in the resurrection-a
fundamental doctrine of Christianity. (John 5:28, 29) So, inquiring of
the dead or seemingly receiving messages from them is yet another facet
of the angel movement that is not approved by God.
Approach
to Angels or to Demons?
Much of the current angel movement dabbles in the occult. Consider
Marcia's experience. "From September to December 1986," she
says, "I began to receive messages from 'beyond the third
dimension.' I saw apparitions and had incredible 'past life' dreams. I
contacted friends who had died and had many other psychic experiences in
which I knew things about people I had just met. I also became blessed
with the gift of automatic writing and transmitted messages from
discarnates. Some, whom I have never met in their earthly lives, would
deliver messages to others through me."
The use of divination as a means to "communicate" with
angels is not uncommon. One source outrightly encourages its readers to
employ rune stones, tarot cards, I Ching coins, palmistry, and
astrology. "Allow your inner knowing self to lead you to the right
oracle," the authors write, "and trust that an angel will meet
you there."
According to the Bible, however, whatever 'meets you there' certainly
is not one of God's angels. Why? Because divination stands in open
defiance of God, and true worshipers-in heaven and on earth-have nothing
to do with it. Why, in Israel divination was a capital offense!
"Everybody doing these things is something detestable to
Jehovah," the Law stated.-Deuteronomy 13:1-5; 18:10-12.
WHO
ARE THE ANGELS?
CONTRARY to what many believe, angels are not the
departed souls of humans who have died. The Bible plainly states
that the dead "are conscious of nothing at all."
(Ecclesiastes 9:5) Where, then, did the angels come from? The
Bible indicates that they were individually created by God
before the founding of the earth. (Job 38:4-7) The size of God's
heavenly family may be hundreds of millions, perhaps billions or
more! Some angels joined Satan in his rebellion.-Daniel 7:10;
Revelation 5:11; 12:7-9.
Since Jehovah is a God of order, it is not surprising that
his vast angelic family is organized.-1 Corinthians 14:33.
- The foremost angel, both in power and authority, is the
archangel, Jesus Christ, also called Michael.
(1Thessalonians 4:16; Jude 9) Under his authority are
seraphs, cherubs, and angels.
- Seraphs are in attendance at God's throne. Their
assignment evidently involves declaring God's holiness and
keeping his people clean.-Isaiah 6:1-3, 6, 7.
- Cherubs are also seen in Jehovah's presence. As bearers or
escorts of God's throne, they uphold Jehovah's majesty.-
Psalm 80:1; 99:1; Ezekiel 10:1, 2.
- Angels (meaning "messengers") are agents and
deputies of Jehovah. They carry out the divine will, whether
it involves deliverance of God's people or the annihilation
of the wicked.-Genesis 19:1-26.
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"An
Angel of Light"
It should not surprise us that the Devil can make divination appear
beneficial, even angelic. The Bible says that Satan "keeps
transforming himself into an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14)
He can even fabricate portents and then make them come true, deceiving
onlookers into thinking that the omen is from God. (Compare Matthew
7:21-23; 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12.) But all of Satan's works-no matter how
virtuous or how sinister they may appear-serve one of two purposes: to
turn people against Jehovah or simply to blind their minds so that 'the
illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ might not shine
through.' (2 Corinthians 4:3, 4) This latter method of deception is
often the most effective.
Consider the Bible account of a servant girl in the first century.
Her predictions brought much gain to her masters. For many days she
followed the disciples, saying: "These men are slaves of the Most
High God, who are publishing to you the way of salvation." Her
words were true. Yet, the account tells us that she was possessed, not
by an angel, but by "a demon of divination." Eventually, Paul
"turned and said to the spirit: 'I order you in the name of Jesus
Christ to come out of her.' And it came out that very hour."-Acts
16:16-18.
Why did Paul expel this spirit? After all, it provided much income to
the masters of the demon-possessed girl. With supernatural powers, the
servant girl may have told farmers when to plant, maidens when to marry,
and miners where to look for gold. Why, this spirit even moved the girl
to speak some words of truth, publicly praising the disciples!
Nevertheless, it was "a demon of divination." As such, it
had no right to make proclamations about Jehovah and his provision for
salvation. Its complimentary speech, perhaps uttered to lend credence to
the servant girl's predictions, distracted onlookers from Christ's true
followers. With good reason, Paul warned the Corinthians: "You
cannot be partaking of 'the table of Jehovah' and the table of
demons." (1 Corinthians 10:21) Not surprisingly, first-century
Christians destroyed all their books that were associated with
divination.-Acts 19:19.
An
"Angel Flying in Midheaven"
As we have seen, the Bible exposes much of the current angel movement
as being closely aligned with God's Adversary, Satan the Devil. Does
this mean that holy angels are not involved in human affairs? On the
contrary, they are now performing a powerful work on earth. What is it?
To answer, we must look to the Bible book of Revelation. The angels are
mentioned more times in this book than in any other book of the Bible.
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Are you listening to
the angel flying in midheaven?
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At Revelation 14:6, 7, we read the apostle John's record of a
prophetic vision he received: "I saw another angel flying in
midheaven, and he had everlasting good news to declare as glad tidings
to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and
tongue and people, saying in a loud voice: 'Fear God and give him glory,
because the hour of the judgment by him has arrived, and so worship the
One who made the heaven and the earth and sea and fountains of
waters.'"
This scripture highlights the foremost work of the angels today. They
are involved in a high-priority assignment-that of declaring the good
news of God's Kingdom. It was with regard to this work that Jesus
promised his followers: "I am with you all the days until the
conclusion of the system of things." (Matthew 28:18-20) How is
Jesus with his followers? One way is by providing them with angelic help
so that this monumental work might be accomplished.
Jehovah's Witnesses spend more than a billion hours annually
preaching the good news of God's Kingdom. While performing this work,
they see evidence of angelic direction. In their door-to-door ministry,
it has often occurred that they contact individuals who had just been
praying for someone to help them understand God's purposes. Angelic
guidance, along with the Witnesses' own initiative, has resulted in
hundreds of thousands coming to a knowledge of Jehovah each year!
Are you listening to the angel flying in midheaven? When Jehovah's
Witnesses call, why not discuss more fully with them this angelic
message?
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