Angels and You—a Brief Overview
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that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp
of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand.” There were
“cut off all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and captains,”
from the army of Sennacherib. “So he returned with shame of face to
his own land.”
2 Kings 19:35
;
2 Chronicles 32:21
.
Angels Help God’s Children
Angels are sent on missions of mercy to the children of God. To
Abraham, with promises of blessing; to the gates of Sodom, to rescue
righteous Lot from its fiery doom; to Elijah, as he was about to perish
from weariness and hunger in the desert; to Elisha, with chariots and
horses of fire surrounding the little town where he was shut in by his
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foes; to Daniel, while seeking divine wisdom in the court of a heathen
king, or abandoned to become the lions’ prey; to Peter, doomed to
death in Herod’s dungeon; to the prisoners at Philippi; to Paul and His
companions in the night of tempest on the sea; to open the mind of
Cornelius to receive the gospel; to dispatch Peter with the message of
salvation to the Gentile stranger—thus holy angels have, in all ages,
ministered to God’s people.
Thus God’s people, exposed to the deceptive power and unsleeping
malice of the prince of darkness, and in conflict with all the forces
of evil, are assured of the unceasing guardianship of heavenly angels.
Nor is such assurance given without need. If God has granted to
His children promise of grace and protection, it is because there are
mighty agencies of evil to be met—agencies numerous, determined,
and untiring, of whose malignity and power none can safely be ignorant
or unheeding.
Satan and Evil Angels
Evil spirits, in the beginning created sinless, were equal in nature,
power, and glory with the holy beings that are now God’s messengers.
But fallen through sin, they are leagued together for the dishonor of
God and the destruction of men. United with Satan in his rebellion,
and with him cast out from heaven, they have, through all succeeding
ages, cooperated with him in his warfare against the divine authority.
We are told in Scripture of their confederacy and government, of their