Considering that God has been replaying the song “God of Angel Armies” over and over in my mind for the last two weeks and is bringing teachings from various sources on the subject of angels, I believe that this is what He is calling our attention to at such a time as this! There are 273 references to angels in the entire Bible. It is important for us in this age of disinformation to delve into the truths of this order of God’s created spiritual beings in Scripture. Our infinite God uses these ministering spirits for His purposes and recognizes unfortunately there are also spirits that seek to undermine Gods purposes—Satan and his army. There is no reason to believe these “spirits,” which were active in biblical times, are not busy today appearing or manifesting themselves to humans for much the same reasons they did in biblical times. We read in the Bible that some spirits appeared to humans as God’s messengers; others, appeared as warriors for Satan’s cause. According to Billy Graham, the “greatest catastrophe in history” was “Lucifer’s defiance of God and the consequent fall of perhaps one third of the angels who joined him (Satan) in his wickedness.” Ephesians 6:12 speaks of the infighting between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of satanic darkness: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” The spiritual warfare mentioned here impacts humanity. Dr. Graham says we can identify these evil forces “by the discord they promote, the wars they start, the hatred they engender.” He further adds: “The devil is alive and more at work than at any other time. The Bible says that he realizes his time is short, thus his activity will increase.”
Let us examine scriptures that will establish the foundation for our study. Through Christ the universe was created and He is heir of all things. (John 1:3 and Hebrews 1: 2) He is above the angels as His name is more excellent. (Heb. 1: 4) From Genesis 1: 1 we know that in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The Hebrew word Elohim in this passage is a plural word pointing to the Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In Psalms 103: 19-22 we learn that the LORD prepared His Throne in the heavens; that His angels do His commandments; are ministers at His pleasure; and that God’s dominion is over all. So, we conclude that before the earth was created as we know it, angels were in heaven at the Throne of God to do His bidding. The chief attributes of angels are strength and wisdom. Angel means “messenger” and the word always is used in the masculine gender. They are exceedingly numerous. (Ps. 68: 17; Hebrews 12: 22, Rev. 5: 11) Their power is inconceivable which we will establish through scriptures. Angels worship God the Father and the Son around the Throne. (Rev. 5: 11-12)
We have looked at God’s creation of the heavenly host and their original state. Ps. 18: 30 says that all God does and says is perfect: “As for God, his way is perfect: The LORD’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.” God’s perfection is seen in His character, His Word, and His actions. God is perfect in every way. “He is the Rock. His works are perfect and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He.” (Deut. 32:4) Let us then look at what Dr. Graham calls the “greatest catastrophe in history.” We read in Ezekiel 28 that God created an anointed cherub to guard His Throne that was perfect in his ways—beautiful and in a position of authority and great responsibly. We learn in Isaiah 14 that his name was Lucifer—son of the morning. These accounts reveal how a perfect created angel turned on God as God gave the angels free will. Lucifer chose to rebel against God and became an inverted angel—the opposite of good—an enemy and adversary of God. In Scripture he is the serpent/dragon—Genesis 3:1; roaring lion—1 Peter 5:8; tempter—Mt. 4: 103; accuser—Rev. 12: 10; father of lies—John 8: 44; murderer—John 8:44; prince of the powers of the air—Eph. 2: 1-3; prince of demons—Mk. 3: 22; god of this world—2 Cor. 4:4. He is the enemy of God but can’t destroy God but focuses on destroying and twisting the works of God and to turn creation away from God. Scripture reveals that Satan led a rebellion in heaven and one-third of the angelic host joined him and were all expelled from heaven.
In Genesis 3 we have the account of the temptation of mankind and the fall into disobedience as man was also given free will and failed like Lucifer. As God knows all things, He, even before the foundation of the world, had a plan of redemption for mankind in place through the Lamb of God. (Rev. 13:8) There is no plan of redemption for angels according to Jude 6, Mt. 25: 41, Rev. 20: 10. Satan was notified in Genesis 3:15 of the promise of redemption of mankind and his final defeat and fate. Hebrews 2: 1-18 reveals that for a little while Jesus became a man, lower than the angels, to accomplish redemption and is now crowned with glory, seated at the right hand of the Father and put all things under His feet. Nothing is outside His control! Through death Christ broke the power of the one who had the power of death (that is the devil) and free those who by fear of death were in bondage all their lives.
Now that we know the fate of Satan and his minions, let us focus on the ministry of God’s Angel Armies that minister to His people. Our God is not only a warrior, but He commands an army of angels. He is the God of the Angel Armies! God is Jehovah Sabaoth—the Lord of Hosts or the God of the Angel Armies. In the Bible, God’s title as commander of the armies of angels appears as Lord Almighty or Lord of Hosts. When David fought Goliath he told him: “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (I Samuel 17: 45) When Elisha and his servant were surrounded by a foreign king’s army, the servant was afraid. “Don’t be afraid, Elisha answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And Elisha prayed, ‘Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.’ Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6: 15-17) In 2 Kings 19: 35 we read the power of just one of God’s angels: “And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand; and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.” These are just a few examples in the Old Testament of God’s mighty Angel Armies!
Now, let us go to the New Testament to see God’s angels doing His bidding. Angels made Divine announcements. They listen and speak verbatim what God has instructed them to speak. God sent heavenly messengers who made word for word announcements. (Luke 1: 34-35) Angels ministered to Jesus when He was tempted in the wilderness. (Mt. 4:11, Mk. 1: 13) Angels gave strength to Jesus when His disciples and friends couldn’t be depended on in His hour of need. God provided an angel who empowered, recharged and imparted strength to Him—renewing His vitality so He could face the most difficult hour of His life. (Luke 22: 43) Angels performed superhuman feats as they rolled away the stone. (Mt. 28:2); and will bind Satan for 1000 years. (Rev. 20: 1-3) Angels perform supernatural guidance—Acts 8:26, Acts 10—appearing to Cornelius to give guidance; summon Peter and his companions to open the door of salvation to the Gentiles; opened prison doors—Acts 5: 17-20; released Peter from prison and blinded the guards—Acts 12:6-10; saved Paul and his fellow sailors from the storm—Acts 27: 22-25 that resulted in a great revival—Acts. 28: 1-9. Angels release judgment again the wicked. God sends angels to release God’s judgment—Acts 12:22-23; Rev. 14: 17-20; Rev. 15-16. Angels worship God and the Lamb. (Rev. 5: 11-14)
A spiritual war rages all around us, but we can rest assured God has placed angels throughout the world to protect us against spiritual harm. We can learn from the angels to trust in God and that even evil beings of great power fall under God’s dominion. Often people try to say Satan is God’s rival, but they often forget Satan has limited power and God is omnipotent. Rest assured, God has no match! When we feel outnumbered and overwhelmed, we must not forget who is on our side! God heads up armies of angels who fight for us. The physical world is what we see and experience every day so it’s easy to forget that far greater spiritual battle is being fought too. But when evil seems to be prevailing, we must ask God to open our eyes. There are more on our side than on theirs. Scripture says there are millions of angels. (Ps. 68: 17, Mt. 1: 20, Heb. 12:22, Rev. 5:11)
The interaction of the physical and spiritual realms is a mystery to us. But it’s clear that God used both the armies of angels and the people of Israel, including Elisha, Elisha’s servant, and the Israelite army to defeat His enemies. Our responsibility is to keep doing the next right thing in every situation, to keep following Him and to keep fighting for His kingdom with every decision we make. And when we need help, call on the God of the Angel Armies. Then stand firm and with confidence. We must pray for our eyes to be open to the truth in every situation and reveal the strategies of the enemy. We need to pray to be able to see into the invisible spiritual realm. We want our spiritual eyes to be opened when we are praying for people or situations. We need to know when something bad happens if it is an attack of the enemy or the result of corrupt seeds sown in the flesh. We must recognize the times we are in; see what is happening in our nation and listen to the watchmen on the walls—godly men and women who see what is happening in our nation and in other nations and who pray accordingly. Our prayers are vital. We need to ask God to send His warring angels to do battle against the forces of evil and rule and overrule to bring them down. Each day we need to pray for God to send His guardian angels to go before and behind us to make the way clear and to war against all mental, physical, spiritual or emotional harm. Every prayer can save a life, change a life, spare a life, or redeem a life! “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (I Cor. 15: 57) Jesus knows the enemy. He understands the battle. Because He has overcome, so will we! God’s army of angels is here to guide and protect us! God and His Angel Armies are always by our side! I am including a link to the song by Chris Tomlin “Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies)” so that you can let the words of this song resonate in your mind at such a time as this!