Friday September 29, 2017
The angels of God, pure spirits/light/power, stand always before the throne/the face of God, in his presence, worshipping and attending to God in his holiness and truth. They serve the Ancient One (Father) and the Son of Man doing his will in heaven and on earth. They are more 'at home' in the Spirit and presence of God, though they are also bound to us here on earth in obedience to the will of God.
They themselves have struggled to obey and they know that those who did not obey among their own now are upon the earth. But we have been given power, dominion, authority, and the testimony and Word of God to stand against them, and they do not have power over us. Even if we must die, we are given the power of the Son of Man to aide us, along with the angels' protection/witness in our lives. Jesus sees Nathanael coming towards him (each of us) but he has seen him under the fig tree. We also have been seen by God since the time of our conception and our God knows us intimately-the good and what needs to be transformed. But like Nathanael and all the disciples, we are reminded that our personal relationships with Jesus, even our relationships in community are not all that is-the angels of heaven and all that God has made are one, and called to be one in worshipping The Son of Man.
Alternative
The word “angel” means “messenger” (Greek, angelos). In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word mal’ak was applied to both human and divine messengers. The more remote God seemed, the greater became the need for intermediaries. Certain mighty figures, later known as archangels, appear in the Book of Daniel, and the process of naming angels began. A confusing variety of functions and names is found, probably because angels were important in popular devotion. All these names have meanings, of course. Michael means “one who is like God,” Gabriel means “God is strong,” Raphael means “God heals,” Daniel means “God judges,” Elizabeth means “God is fullness,” and so on. The archangel Michael was thought to have a special responsibility as the guardian angel of Israel (Dan 12:1).
Early Christianity inherited Jewish beliefs about angels, but the interest is much diminished. The angel of the Annunciation has a permanent place in Christian spirituality, but the New Testament tends if anything to put angels in their place. So in Hebrews 1, angels are inferior to the Son; in 1Cor 13:1 the eloquence of angels takes second place to love; and in 1P 1:12 the angels are seen as envying the Christian.
