God And All His Angels

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Before he is caged, Ragnar gives Athelstan's cross to his son Alfred, and tells Ecbert that in the end, Athelstan chose Christ. On the road, Ragnar has visions of his younger days and a discussion with the Seer, where he denounces his belief in the gods. Ragnar arrives in Northumbria and is tortured by Aelle. Ecbert secretly travels to Northumbria to attend Ragnar's execution. Ragnar tells those in attendance that he dies without apology and welcomes death. He says he will wait for his sons in Valhalla, to hear stories of their triumphs.

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Ragnar is then dropped into a pit of snakes where he dies. God if He exists at all, He plays no role in the day by day running of the universe. At most, God could be a "First Cause," but if so, we do not need God to explain anything to us after the Big Bang begins.

Or, many say that the material world is all there is, so-called spiritual truth either does not exist or has no relevance to the world of science. These views are radically different in comparison to a Biblical world-view. The physical world is only half of the creation, and the invisible half of creation is the more permanent and substantial than the physical world. In many ways the material world is a world of shadows. Not only did God design the universe, He constructed it in minute detail over a period of time and then set it all in motion. Furthermore, without His moment by moment sustaining power the very atoms themselves would fly apart and the universe would go up in smoke.

This is clear from statements such as Hebrews 1: Ultimately, all energy and power and life come into the physical world from the unseen spiritual world as the source, even though we do not know how to formulate scientific laws to describe the interactions between these two realms. Since science is bounded by many intrinsic limitations, the responsibility for our failure to be fully-informed and educated concerning the dual realms of creation should probably be laid at the door of the church.

God's people are given the task of explaining to the world those areas of knowledge that depend upon divine revelation, subjects that are, by nature, out-of-bounds for science. This would make possible a climate of benevolent law and order, the rule of justice and peace, and would hold in restraint the wild forces of tyranny, anarchy and murder.

Whenever the church has approached the biblical pattern, righteous conditions have begun to prevail. And when it has turned from this divine pattern to rely on secondary forces it has become proud, rich and tyrannical, or worldly, weak and despised by all.

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According to the Bible, there are two levels of creation: The two realmsthe material and the spiritualwere "tightly coupled" before the fall and though there is still coupling between these realms it is less than it was in former times. Both spiritual and material domains of reality have become flawed, subsequent to creation, and active evil is present in both realms. Scientific observations of the physical world have been, are now, and will be, affected by happenings in the spiritual world.

Although we may not see the causes, the effects will be there. The fall of man is accompanied by a "curse" on nature described in Genesis In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return. The effect of the curse is to reduce the fecundity, resilience and vitality of nature allowing "opportunistic" thorns and thistles and weeds to compete more successfully with crops and fruits useful to men and animals.

Additional "curses" which are consequences of human evil are described as the Biblical account unfolds. For example God spoke to Cain, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.

God had granted this to Adam at the time of his creation,. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.

Man's lost dominion is described in the opening chapters of Hebrews. There Jesus Christ is presented as the Federal head of a new race of men who will place man back again in the position of dominion over creation:. It has been testified somewhere, 'What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou carest for him?

God And All His Angels by Graham Lord

Thou didst make him [man] for a little while lower than the angels, thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his [man's] feet. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him [man]. But we see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for every one. For it was fitting that he, [Jesus] for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering.

Verse five contains a hidden and important clue about how governs the universe. The age which is to come is not ruled by the angels, the author says. The implication is that the age we live in, is ruled by the angels acting on God's behalf. On this important passage Ray C.

Stedman says the following,.

God And All His Angels

It raises immediately the question, What is meant by the world to come? It can mean 1 life after death, 2 the future kingdom of Christ on earth the millennium or 3 the new heavens and the new earth. Since almost nothing is said in Hebrews about life after death 9: That limiting phrase probably looks back to 1: Paul, in Ephesians 2: The two which Scripture continually names are the restored Davidic kingdom the millennium and the new heavens and the new earth. In several places Scripture describes the new heavens and earth as lasting forever, intimating It would be the last age yet to come.

But the word world Gk okoumene in 2: Hughes calls the world to come, "the age of the Messiah in which the messianic promises and prophecies of old find their fulfillment. Several passages in Hebrews 6: Perhaps, we should see this new age to come as spiritually arrived, yet physically still to come.

Also Israel will not play a distinctive role among the nations, for then 'the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever' Rev Bruce supports this view citing the LXX rendering of Deuteronomy When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance When he separated the children of men, He set the bounds of the peoples According to the number of the angels of God. This concept would explain why the fallen angel called Satan is referred to as 'the god of this world' and is permitted his control until the Lord returns and the new age begins and the curse is lifted from nature.

Then, too, the devil will be bound and cast into a bottomless pit for a thousand years Rev His vague reference to his source Gk "Someone somewhere has testified" is not due to uncertainty but to a desire to stress Scripture as speaking, not a mere human author Bruce, Kistemaker and Hughes.

David's psalm is a wondering reaction to the majesty of the night sky as it reveals the power and wisdom of God and forces the question, What part do puny human beings play in such a universe?

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The answer is that we were made a little lower than the angels, but then crowned with glory and honor, and everything has been put under our feet. This is a direct reference to Genesis 1: Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.

Some commentators take the made a little lower than the angels in a temporal sense, 'made for a little while,' to imply that human existence in this space-time continuum is only for a brief lifetime, and then we are freed to live the life of eternity. Whichever way the phrase is read, it is clear that our intended destiny was one of power and authority over all the conditions and life of earth. If this was our commission from the moment of creation, what light it sheds on our responsibility to care for this planet and its creatures!

We were not given dominion so the earth and the animals should serve us; rather, we are given authority to develop them to the fullest extent intended by the fruitful mind of the Creator. We are to serve them by thorough knowledge and loving care, in the form of servant-leadership which the Lord himself manifested when he came. No, there are many things fallen humans cannot control: The increasing pollution of the planet, the spread of famines and wars, the toll taken by drugs, accidents and disease, all tell the story of a lost destiny Cherubim And Seraphim In the hierarchy of the angels as revealed to us in Scripture, the greatest and mightiest are known as the "cherubim," among whom are the "Four Living Creatures.

The Hebrew word found in the latter passage is Seraphim, "burning ones" , rather than Cherubim, thus many Bible scholars treat the Seraphim as a separate, but very high class of angels. Our common notion of "cherubs," as childlike harmless angels with tiny fluttering wings is very unbiblical. Cherubim with whirling, flaming swords guarded the gate of access back into Eden after Adam and Eve were expelled, to keep them from eating of the Tree of Life in their fallen condition.

In other words, they could not return to fellowship with God except by the way of the cross. Two figures of cherubim with outstretched arms covered the mercy seat which sat on the top of the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle of Moses and later in the Temple of Solomon. Ezekiel had the clearest visions of God seen by all the prophets. As a young man in his twenties, he was carried into captivity to Babylon along with Daniel but was allowed to see the glory and splendor of the Holy One of Israel. He was given to know details about the long term future of the nation, and to foresee the last and greatest temple the Jews would one would one day build under Messiah's personal direction.

Visions differ from dreams and hallucinations in the Biblical record. God sometimes spoke audibly to individuals in the Bible; at other times, He influenced men such as Joseph and Daniel by giving clear and specific guidance through dreams. Today, now that Scripture is complete, God's last word to man is Jesus, as the opening verses of the letter to the Hebrews states. These are only a shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? The cultures of society, human traditions, habit patterns, and lifestyles are actually controlled to a large degree by angelic forces operating behind the scenes of the world-system. We need not, and should not, rely on visions or experiences as reliable sources of information about the unseen world. When one becomes a Christian he or she is taken out from under the Satanic government of the world-system and placed under the direct rulership of Jesus Christ.

He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Not all visions come from God. The enemy is the great counterfeiter and even has the power to accomplish signs and wonders and miracles. Hallucinations, such as those experienced by individuals on drugs, or under severe emotional stress, or deprived of sleep, are usually heightened imaginations.

Many false religions and cults base their teachings on the visionary experiences of their founders. Islam was born because the "prophet" Mohammed received a vision from an angel.

Demons and evil spirits and Satan himself coming "as an angel of light" are capable of counterfeiting experiences so that they appear to be coming from God when they are not. Such visions have most assuredly not come from the God who gave us the Bible.

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is not strange if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Genuine visions, such as those seen by Ezekiel, Daniel, the Apostle John and other Biblical writers were experiences when the seer was allowed to briefly look behind the veil into the invisible world, into the heavenly places.

They saw into that more permanent and more permanent world of the Spirit. Today, only if an experience can be confirmed by direct words from scripture can the Christian be sure what is happening is coming from God. The Christian faith is not existential, not based on experiences or emotion, but it is grounded in a thorough and complete body of knowledge given to us in the Bible.

Biblical events are historically true as well, not at all based upon myth, folklore or tradition which form the backdrop of common world religions. In regard to the Four Living Creatures, Ezekiel saw them in a great vision as standing around the chariot-throne of God. They must be frightening and awesome creatures of great intelligence, with four faces, four great wings, and they are constantly engaged in ceaseless energetic activity.

And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calves foot; and they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man in front; the four had the face of a lion on the right side; the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle at the back.

Such were there faces. And their wings were spread out above; each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wings of another, while two covered their bodies. And each went straight forward, wherever the spirit would go they went, without turning as they went. Ezekiel's "wheels" are not UFO's but mysterious wheels within wheels "full of eyes round about. And the living creatures darted to and fro like a flash of lightning. Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel upon the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them.

As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: When these went they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. The four wheels had rims and they had spokes; and their rims were full of eyes round about. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose.

Wherever the spirit would go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. When those went, these went, and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. A great platform, the "sea of glass" stretches out above the throne of God, over the heads of the four living creatures.

In recent years transparent metallic glass gold has been produced in the laboratory. The image of the crystal sea reappears in the Book of the Revelation 4: And under the firmament their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another; and each creature had two wings covering its body. And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the thunder of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of a host; when they stood still they let down their wings. And their came a voice from the firmament over their heads; when they stood still, they let down their wings.

And above the firmament over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire, and seated about the likeness of a throne was as it were the likeness of a human form. And upward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as it were gleaming bronze, like the appearance of fire round about; and downward from what had the appearance of his loins I saw as I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around about him.

Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. Seated on the throne is a human form. This man seems to be same Person as the "ancient of Days" named in Daniel. See also Revelation 4: A stream of fire issued and came forth from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.

And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. Lion, ox, man, and eagle all symbolize various attributes of God in four-fold symmetry. Since the number "four" is symbolic of the world in scripture, we have in the four cherubim around the throne, a picture of God's government and concern for all aspects of the physical world, and the world-system which we call "human society.

The ox pictures for us servitude and sacrifice Mark ; The Cherubim's face, like that of a man, corresponds to Luke's Gospel and pictures divine intelligence; and the eagle symbolizes the lofty sovereignty and deity of the Son of God John's Gospel. The four Gospels are also God's complete message to the descendants of Shem, Ham, Japheth, and to mankind in general, in the same order. The "wheels" of Ezekiel God's "chariot throne" appear to symbolize divine mobility, the ability of God to observe, to move and to act, anywhere and at anytime, unrestricted by the limitations of the material world.

The entire vision seems to picture for us God's government of human affairs and of nature. Similarly, the cherubim, the highest class of the angels, are also described for us in detail by John the Apostle on the Isle of Patmos about 95 AD:. And he who sat there appeared like jasper and carnelian, and round the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald. Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clad in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads.

From the throne issue flashes of lightning, and voices and peals of thunder, and before the throne burn seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God; and before the throne there is as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to sing, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!

The Cherubim also seem to represent "God's Intelligence Agency" Ray Stedman with their all-seeing eyes and ability to move quickly in all four directions. The number "four" indicates they have a central role in God's government of human society.

The Four Living Creatures seem to represent the topmost level of the system of angels who fall into definite hierarchy and class structures hinted at in scripture. The Apostle Paul says there are angelic principalities arche , powers exousia , thrones thronoi , dominions kuriotes , and powers dunamis. Thus, there appear to be angels with power over a nation or a city or a planet or a star such as our sun.

In addition to all manner of greater and lesser angels, the Mighty Archangel Michael, guardian of Israel, and the great messenger Gabriel are also named. Only Michael, of all the angels, is actually called an archangel in scripture. Lucifer is however named as one of the cherubim. He was probably the highest of all the angels. Bible scholar James Montgomery Boice calls him "the prime minister of the universe" see Genesis: God created great numbers of spirits, some now fallen, and known now as demons.

Demonic forces operate in all forms of idolatry and false religion, for instance. Demons, deceiving spirits, familiar spirits, and unclean spirits do not have bodies of their own; hence, they seek to possess humans and can possess animals also. The popular New Age fad of "channeling" appears to be a good example of demons acting through men and women who make themselves available to evil spirits so as to receive hidden, esoteric wisdom alleged to come from the past or from "other worlds.

In the Book of the Revelation we are told of four angels who have charge over the "four winds that blow from the four corners of the earth. The Greek word angelos and the Hebrew word malakh mean "messenger," but it is clear in the Bible that angels do much more than run errands and deliver telegrams for God. Great and mighty angels will take charge in the unfolding of God's terrible judgments on the earth that are to come upon us at the end of the present age as described in the last book of the Bible.

As mentioned earlier, angels seem to have control over the forces of nature and human events in their roles as instruments of God. This does not cause man to be a mere puppet, tossed, and buffeted about by the unseen activity of these mighty beings. However, the Bible emphasizes that we cannot understand what is happening in the world or in history without understanding the activity of God and of the angels. Most of the angels are not named for us in the Bible. Commenting on Revelation Chapter 8 Ray Stedman says,.

When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. This word about silence reminds us of the prophet Habakkuk's cry, "The Lord is in his Holy Temple; let all the earth keep silence before him! This silence comes as a dramatic contrast to the shouting of praise and the playing of harps that has been going on in heaven up to this point. Millions of angels, hosts of redeemed humans, and other heavenly creatures have been crying out before the throne of God, and singing praises to him.

But now suddenly everything ceases. When the seventh seal is opened there is total silence. It is a most dramatic pause. It reminds one of that moment of silence just before the last great "Hallelujah! This is the silence of mystery, a silence of intense anticipation of what is about to happen. Our good friend, Earl Palmer, in his commentary on Revelation says, "It communicates in a dramatic way the full and awesome authority of God.

Everything must wait for his kingly move. It is all part of the opening of the seventh seal. These are impressive angels indeed. King James Bible For he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. American King James Version For he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.

American Standard Version For he will give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways. Brenton Septuagint Translation For he shall give his angels charge concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. Douay-Rheims Bible For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways. Darby Bible Translation For he shall give his angels charge concerning thee, to keep thee in all thy ways: English Revised Version For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

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