Alice in Wonderland- Chioma's take

(Originally written in March 12, 2012)

Alright, so I’ll try to keep this short and sweet and not frighten y’all with my usual ramblings- pinkie promise! (wink wink)

So, the other night, after putting my divas to bed, I decided to continue with the tedious job of interlocking my micro locs. So, naturally I had to look for something fun to keep me occupied. After much flipping of the available things to watch, I finally decided to re-watch Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland”.

I had see it earlier, you know, just to tell myself, or anyone who would ask, that I had seen it. But this time, I was watching to enjoy it and really allow myself to be swept away into the world that only someone like Tim Burton can create. And boy, did I have a swell time! I loved seeing my love (Johnny Depp- yay!) again and all the different, exciting, unbelievable, larger-than-life characters, the costumes, make-up, vibrant colours, the set (it won the 2011 Oscar for best art direction) and uber witty dialogue.

But my favourite part was that scene where the Mad Hatter pokes Alice in her gut region and sadly informs her that:

"You were much more muchier (then)...You've lost your muchness."

Instantly, it was like something jumped on the inside of me, you know, almost like the Hatter was talking to me- have I lost my muchness?

Now, I do believe that the concept of muchness will be different for everyone but I personally believe that muchness is that childlike freedom to believe that anything is possible; the simplicity of spirit to live life free of all unnecessary restraint, jadedness and negativity. It is the fervor and fire of inner freshness, untamed imagination and creativity oozing from every pore.  It is also the courage and boldness to be oneself without apologies; the humility to acknowledge wrong-doing and the strength of character to receive correction in good faith. It could also be defined as the will to rise up for others who cannot do so for themselves even at the pain of certain death. The graciousness and kindness of a queen and keen sense of what is fair and just- true nobility. The heart of a lioness.

These, I believe where the qualities missing in the 19 year old Alice. Such that within minutes, the Mad Hatter realized that she was nothing like the precious little heroine that had visited their land 13 years or so earlier. So, that the realization that she had lost that muchness proved disastrously tragic to the people of Underland as they were expecting that she was the one to save them from their predicament with the evil red queen.

But you see that is the good thing about muchness- it never really goes away. It, more times than not, needs a little bit of shaking up. I’m sure it hurt Alice to be told that bluntly that something so awesome was lacking in her. But soon enough situations arose that caused her to mutter in private rebellion to the words of the Mad Hatter (“lost my muchness, have I?”) and in annoyance, reach deep inside to find her muchness again. So that when they needed a champion to fight ‘the jabberwoky’, our brave Alice stepped up, faced that hellish creature almost 50 times her size and ‘offed with it’s head’ with the magical vorpal sword.

Another thing that struck me were the profound words of the White Queen:

“Because when you step out to face that creature, you will step out on your own”

How true! That’s the thing about life and it challenges- when a testing comes, every person must face the music alone. We don’t do the hard stuff as a group- we must all bear the burden or fight that dragon singularly. You must bear down and push out that baby by yourself. You must sit down and write that exam alone. You must stand up to that bully alone. You must open your mouth and defend that PhD. thesis alone. Whatever that testing is, always bear in mind that physically speaking, no one will do it for you- not even God. Remember that when it was His turn, that it was only Jesus hanging on that cross such that, in terrible anguish, He cried:

“My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?!”

Matt.27:46

It’s equally what will happen on the last day, before that Great White Throne of the Almighty. On that day, we will each give account of every single thing we’ve done. We will not do is as a group of jolly friends or as happy family or a besotted couple. Each person will step out and step out alone to face the music because no one will do it for you- no matter how much they love you. What will your performance be like?

So, Alice had to take some time out, reach deep down and find that much needed muchness to do what needed to be done.

Another thing that jumped out at me was the importance of the spoken word. Case in point- the scene where she begins to verbally spell out those 6 impossible things as she walks towards her opponent, the Jabberwocky:

“I try to believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

Count them, Alice.

One, there are drinks that make you shrink.

Two, there are foods that make you grow.

Three, animals can talk.

 Four, cats can disappear.

Five, there is a place called Underland.

Six, I can slay the Jabberwocky”.

Please, note how she vocally utters the words, you know, almost like to encourage and psyche herself to believe that she can actually do the impossible. It reminds me so much of what the Bible says in Rom. 10:17:

So faith comes from hearing the message, and the message that is heard is what Christ spoke.

(God’s Word Translation)

Now, applying that element in our lives as exemplified by Alice is to daily discard what the world says about us. Then we replace these ideas with God's Word instead. It must be a daily task to chant  to ourselves, the Words of Christ in other to increase our faith, sense of worth and generally, our muchness. Over time, if we say it over and over again, we will begin to believe it. So, that when that jabberwocky of a problem presents itself, we have so beefed up our spirits with the life-giving words of our Lord that all we need to do is wield that Sword of the Spirit (which is the Word of God) and cut off the lying tongue of the dragon, then his head and claim our victory through Christ. Hallelujah!

Finally, precious reader, has life beaten you down so that you’ve lost your muchness? Well, have no fear because greater is He that is in you than then he who is in the world. Stand up, dust off your gorgeous butt, pick up that Sword again, open your lovely lips and chant those Words over and over till you believe them:

I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!

(Phil. 4:13)

And feel that surge of your muchness rising on your inside like the phoenix from the ashes and fly, baby, fly!!!

Angels & Demons

A while back, I was listening to Benny Hinn teach about angels and demons on TBN and I just had to share it with y’all! Paul Crouch, of blessed memory,  asked the international teacher why we need to hear about such entities and his answer was that we need to hear them because they are a very active part of our lives. Knowledge is power and the more knowledge we have about these friends and foes of ours, the better for us, right?! And like the Lord said, ‘my people perish for lack of knowledge’. If we decide to ignore these entities, it’s small wonder we have problems with things in our lives. For instance, in Eph. 6:11-12, the Apostle Paul clearly describes the different ranks of all sorts of wicked, powerful and dark unseen forces that we wrestle with every single moment of our lives.

So, like every good story, it’s always great to start at the very beginning. Where did it all begin, right? The Bible begins also by telling us how everything began in Genesis 1:1-2:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth WAS without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep.

Now, let’s hold it right there for a second!

From the above we see that God created first the heavens and everything that existed in it and then an earth. I want to believe that we are all in agreement that God is a perfect God and all that He does is perfect, right? (Well, if you don’t, check out Deut. 32:4)

Now, why will a perfect God create such an imperfect earth that is empty, dark, shapeless and generally so depressing?! I would like to, at this point, stress on the key word ‘was’ from the above Scripture. In Hebrew, it is the word ‘hayah’ and when translated from the Hebrew into English, that word means ‘became’.

Ah ha! So, this tells us that God created a perfect heaven and earth but along the way the earth became the boring, ugly, shapeless, dark and depressing thingy described in Gen. 1:1. Hmmm…. What could have happened?! Well, ladies, I will put you out of your misery and tell you!  The book of Jeremiah tells us in the 4th chapter in the 23rd verse that:

I beheld the earth and lo, it was without form and void and the heavens, and lo they had no light. I beheld and lo, there was no man and all the birds of the heavens were fled…the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord and by His fierce anger.

(Jer. 4:23-27 KJV)

 I want to submit to you, precious reader, that on the basis of the above scripture, that there existed a world before this one as we know it! This world was destroyed and it is from this realm that demons originated! Let me guess- I just lost a whole bunch of you in a huff of hisses! Lol! But seriously, do give me a chance to explain further!

Isa. 24:1 –gives you the clear pre-Adamic existence:

Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty and maketh it waste and turnth it upside down and scattereth the inhabitants thereof.

Wait a minute there! Now, from the scriptures, there was NEVER a time when God made the earth empty, turned it upside down or scatter the inhabitants. Not once! This never happened in the post-Adamic era. So, when did it happen? In the pre-Adamic era of course!

Evidence is yet again found in Job 9:5-8 and this time, it’s a little more graphic:

Which removeth the mountains, and they know not. Which overturneth them in His anger…shaketh the earth out of her place… commandeth the sun and it riseth not and sealed up the stars…tradeth upon the waves of the sea…

 LOL! I hope I haven’t lost y’all yet! Let me just pause right here and ask you some questions. Haven’t you often wondered why the Bible never mentions the existence of dinosaurs? The Bible only mentions Leviathan and the Behemoth- 2 pre- historic creatures! So, somehow they must have existed, right? I mean, Scientists have found bones and frozen pieces of pre-historic animals and even things that looked human as well. Neanderthal man, hello! Then they go on to tell you that they must have existed millions of years ago and the truth is they are right! This era is what is commonly referred to as the Ice age!

The above scriptures tell us that there was a time when God in His anger shut down the sun, turned out the stars, turned the world upside down, the cites destroyed and scattered every living creature. Shutting down the sun and turning out the stars can only mean one thing- sub-zero temperature. So, the earth was frozen and dark. Turning the world upside and cities destroyed means that a civilization of some sort existed but was completely devastated.

But we need to find out how and why this happened, right? What could have caused God to be so angry to totally annihilate the whole world and everything in it and scatter all the inhabitants? The answer is simple- Lucifer! To get a clearer picture, I may have to take you further back in time.

So, there we have God Who has created a perfect heaven and everything else and a perfect earth with creatures running around and everything is all good. He then appoints the most beautiful and perfect creature He’s ever created to be in charge of things going on the earth. This creature was the anointed cherub who covered the presence of God, that is, the highest level of angelic hierarchy! In other words, if God had an entourage of bodyguards, this creature was the HOD of that department! (Eze. 28:14).

He is covered in every kind of precious stone and finished in gold. Then he has a set of pipes in him that melted even God’s heart. In other words, this creature could sing and was the worship leader to end all worship leaders for all time! (Eze. 28:12-13)

Not only was he the most beautiful thing ever made, he was also the wisest created being! Then he had full access to God and was always before God’s presence. So, being a super angel and the highest angel that ever was, he was the one with the job of giving the words of God to the inhabitants of the earth. (Isa. 14:12) Imagine such a beautiful creature, full of beauty, wisdom, charisma… ladies, simply put, he was the epitome of perfection! He practically had 1/3 of the angels under his power and influence and all the inhabitants of the earth as well. His name was Lucifer meaning ‘bearer of light’.

A very wise human once said, “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Unfortunately, this beautiful creature was not exempt from these eternal words! Before long this embodiment of perfection began to allow certain things creep into his mind that went something along these 5 particular lines:

I will ascend into heaven,

I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.

I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the North:

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,

I will be like the Most High

(Isa. 14:13-14)

 Soon enough, he began his campaign. He convinced 1/3 of the angels to go along with him including all the inhabitants of the then world. (Rev. 12:9). Now, thinking that he had enough muscle to back him up, he moved the treason plot into action and thus the epic battle described in Revelations 12:7.

But you see, this God we serve is NEVER taken by surprise because from the beginning of time, He knew that this was going to happen. Notice the names God gave the 3 most powerful angles- Michael, Gabriel and Lucifer.

Micha-el: means Who is like God

Gabri-el: means God is my might

Lucifer: means Bringer/bearer of light

Notice also how God sealed the eternal fates of all three of them.  To the first 2, He attaches His name to theirs. ‘El’ in Hebrew is the name of God. And the last most powerful of them, God’s name is not attached telling us that right from time, God knew the eternal destiny of this creature. Now back to our story!

So, there we have the Lucifer and his angels fighting to cease power but at the end of the day, he lost the battle and thereby loosing his esteemed position in heaven including all the powers he had and was driven out in shame with the rest of his angels to earth. What followed could be best understood as what Scientists now describe as the colossal meteorite that caused the Ice age. Total annihilation of the earth and everything in it! (Jer. 4:23) So that you don’t think I made this up, Jesus Himself said in Luke 10:18:

"Yes," he told them, "I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning!

Luke 10:18 (NIV)

Personally, I think that corroborates the Scientific fact that some strange celestial occurrence happened such that that hit planet earth and sent it spinning to a screeching halt, don’t you agree?

Revelations 12:12 further corroborates this expulsion of Lucifer.

… But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."

Rev. 12:12 (NIV)

In other words, Lucifer was driven from his exulted place of power and authority and with insane rage he comes tearing down to earth and… KABOOM!!! Planet earth is history!

At I point, would like to draw your attention to the inhabitants of planet earth that were destroyed by the ‘lightening flash’. Note that these creatures that existed in pre-historic times are now what we refer to as demons. They had been corrupted by Lucifer and all the lies he had over time told them about God and so followed him and were eventually destroyed when he was driven away from heaven.

The huge dragon was thrown out - that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him.

Rev. 12:9 (Good News Translation)

Note that the word deceived in the above scripture is in past tense, further lending credence to the existence of a Pre-Adamic civilization and what happened to them and why they were destroyed.

Like all living creatures that God made (minus animals and trees), everything created is immortal. Fine, we die and loose our earthly bodies, but our spirits never die. In the same vein, these pre-Adamic creatures, died in their earthly bodies but their disembodied spirits live on and roam this dimension. These are the entities referred to in the New Testament as unclean spirits/demons. I will later get back to this, but it should be stressed here that demons are not fallen angels. And that is why they go about looking for bodies to inhabit   in order to continue the work and plan of the devil to achieve his ‘5 point agenda’ as mentioned in Isa. 14:13-14.

Jesus explained this need of demons to inhabit human bodies while addressing the issue of his generation requiring proof of His divinity:

When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, 'I will return to the person I came from.' So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation."

Matthew 12:43-45 (NLT)

Alright then- moving on!

So, there we have the earth sitting completely destroyed for billions and billions of years (and maybe even more) dark, cold, formless and filled with water.! And how do I know it was that long? Well, Scientists have calculated the ages of some of these fossils to being about that old.

And then one glorious day in heaven, the Spirit of God decided to go on a long walk to hover over the mess that was once planet earth.

… and the Spirit of God hovered upon the face of the waters.

(Gen. 1:2).

God then begins the work of restoration. First He restores light, the atmosphere, land, vegetation, times and seasons, the sun, moon and stars, sea creatures and birds of all kinds and animals of all kinds.

Finally, God decides to get something that will rule, reign and have authority over all the things He had made. He decides that this time, He will make a creature in His own image and likeness and call him MAN. And so He did and gave him an even higher position than He had given Lucifer. This higher position was obvious in the way God specially blessed man, giving him power and ability to multiply himself. God gave him the special mandate to be fruitful, to reproduce, to replenish the earth to subdue it and to have dominion over every other creature that existed. God also went on to make a special garden for Adam and his new bride to live in and just enjoy! And let’s not forget the almost lover-like strolls God Himself and His two favourite creations used to take every evening! I can just see Lucifer (now called Satan) watching the three of them seething with hatred, bitterness, anger, jealously and vowing to take back what he honestly believes is rightly his!

Please permit me to stress, at this point, that angels do not have the capacity to have a personal relationship with God!  Everything they know about God, they learn it from our relationship with Him and will give a lot to experience this close relationship (1 Pet. 1:12). They cannot receive revelation because revelation is only revealed by the Holy Ghost to the church. (Eph. 3:9-10) The devil can read the Bible but he does not have the capacity to understand it! Hence the scripture:

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

(1 Cor. 2:7-8)

Now people, please permit me some poetic license, at this point, ok? Lol!

So, what does he do?  He takes the form of a snake and slithers into Eden and strikes a friendship with the woman. And why do I say that he takes the form? Revelations 12:9 refers to the devil as:

This great dragon--the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan,

Basically, this scripture tells us exactly who that creepy reptile slithering into Adam and Eve’s happy home really was. It was no ordinary snake but Satan himself!

Alright, so as I was saying, the snake would frequently tell Eve how beautiful she is and how lucky Adam is to have her. Basically, he filled her ears and head with images of grandeur and greatness. Suddenly, hanging out with Adam wasn't so much fun any longer. Why hang around with a guy who doesn't appreciate the epitome of beauty and perfection that she is? Why does he always have to think he is the only one with the goods on God? Doesn't God also discuss with her? Forget him!

I can just see Satan shape-shift back into his now-corrupted angelic form at the end of his discussions with Eve, sit back and watch his words of death daily whispered into Eve’s mind work their deadly magic. I can see him laughing in wicked glee as he watches Adam and Eve slowly drifting apart. He knew that together, he didn't stand a chance but apart, they were no match for his millennia of wisdom!

Then one day, during their usual discussions, Eve bursts out in tears and pours out her soul to the snake telling him how Adam no longer understands her and how the snake is her only friend. At that, Snake smiles a very secret knowing smile and then whispers words of false comfort. He assures her that in time they will come together when she finally fixes that missing part of her life. Missing part?! Eve is wide-eyed and looks up in attention at her only comrade and with child-like eyes pleads with her friend to help her out!

All this time they had been walking around the garden. Unknown to Eve (who wasn’t paying attention since she was venting to her new BFF all her marital issues) the snake has led her to the centre of the garden. In the middle of the garden are 2 trees- the one on the right is the ‘Tree of life’ and the one on the left is the ‘Tree of the knowledge of good and evil’.  At this time, the snake wraps itself around the tree on the left and listens to Eve as she softly sobs. He just can’t believe how easy this is going to be! He runs his forked tongue over his scaly lips and gives a dramatic pause because now he sees that he now finally has her total trust and undivided attention.

He swiftly changes the topic and launches into a doctrinal argument. Interesting bit there, precious reader. Because you see, this his line of argument of has not changed over the years. It  ALWAYS has and will always be the same elements with which he wrecks his havoc in every human life. Let’s continue.

He then looks around airily and asks, like he’s not really interested, saying,

“Hey Eve, did God really say that you should not eat from any tree in this absolutely gorgeous garden?  I mean, what does God expect you to eat anyway?! Maybe that’s why you are getting fat ‘cos you are eating all the wrong flowers or something, darling…. ”

Getting fat?! No wonder Adam was no longer interested in her! But she had to set her friend straight cos that wasn't what Adam had told her. But she’s still miffed at that whole she being fat comment, so she vehemently replies,  

“Well, we most certainly can eat from any tree in the garden, of course! The only one we are not allowed to eat is the one in the middle. We are not even allowed to touch it or we will drop dead!”

She says that last part with a small shudder as she remembers Adam’s face. She has a small flash-back to the day he told her about the tree...

It was one of those lazy, happy days and Eve had been wandering round the garden playing guess-the-name-of-the-fruit with her husband. She had sauntered close to the tree and had reached out to grab one of the juicy fruits and just as she touched it, Adam rushed to her side and with a cry slapped her had away. She was shocked at his reaction because Adam had never hurt her before. But the fear in his eyes spoke volumes. With trembling hands, he grabbed her shoulders and intensely warned her never again to touch the fruit or even go near the tree because she will drop dead the day she does...

Remembering that somber encounter, she takes a cautionary step away from the tree and tries to talk her friend down from it.

Satan watches her through his yellow beady eyes and slowly lowers himself to her eye level and looks her dead in the face. She is a little taken aback by the amusement she sees in the expression of the snake, like he was holding back a laugh. At this, the snake throws back it head and laughs like a crazed hyena! Eve is now wondering what she said that was so funny!

 “What, Snake?! What’s so funny?” she looks a wee bit hurt now because the snake has now fallen down from the tree still laughing helplessly. And in between gulps of air the snakes looks at her with pity and tears of mirth rolling down his face, he says,

“You Eve! You are a hoot. And all this time I thought you had what it takes!  You poor child! Looks like we have now discovered that missing part of your life” and he collapsed into another round of laughter.

Slightly peeved now, she protests, “Of course, I have what it takes!”

“Oh, do you really?!” the snake slowly drawls. He watches her through narrowed eyes and hisses,

 “Well, the truth of the matter is that you will not die! Your perfect God has been holding out on you two fools! I thought you were smart to pick on it! Don’t you see it, Eve?! All this time, He’s been running this scam just to control you! Let me prove it”

He watches Eve carefully who has suddenly become aware that Snake has touched the tree and hasn't dropped dead like Adam said would happen to anything that touched the tree. With abated breath, she watches as the snake stretches and rubs his head against a bright red fruit. Her heart is beating so fast because she is expecting him to drop dead any minute now. She waits… Nothing! Smiling in triumph, he turns to her and says,

“You see! You will not die! You have been standing close to this tree for over 10 minutes now and you haven’t died.  Now little girl, let me give you the 411 on this your perfect God. He knows that the day you eat his fruit, your eyes will be open and you will be like Him, knowing good from evil”

He slowly tugs at a really ripe one and slowly slithers towards her and hands it over to her and drops it onto her trembling hands. Eve’s mind is running crazy at this point. Warning bells are ringing like crazy in her head and her heart is beating so fast, she’s sure she will drop dead any minute. She then does another flash-back on all the things Adam told her about this fruit and suddenly she’s not sure she heard him right. The lines are looking really blurred right about now. Maybe he didn’t actually mean this tree. Maybe it was the tiny insignificant tree on the right standing next to it. Why would God hold out on them like this if it wasn’t really a test to see who will step up to the plate. Right?

 But then again, Snake was right! Why would God only come around in the evening and keep them all cooked up here in this garden like they were prisoners?! It was about time she took charge of her life and not be subject to some guy who had been lying to them all this time! Snake was right! She had been holding and still hadn't dropped dead, as Adam said she would if she so much as touched the fruit. 

She cannot believe God had been lying to them all this time! So, all it takes to be mistress of her destiny and be all knowing like God is to eat this fruit? Well, freedom- here I come!  She holds the fruit close to her mouth and with a last look at a smiling and encouraging nod from her best and only true friend, the snake, she takes a huge bite.

Snake is hyper-ventilating at this point! Now, all hell will break loose and all will finally be his again! He is practically drooling! But nothing happens. Ah, this crafty God! So, the key is actually the male version of God. Well, no problem! He has already got the female. All the male needs is a little persuasion. And he is quick to teach Eve exactly what to say to her husband.

And off she goes to get her husband in on this pot of gold! Wisdom, freedom and power to be like God! Yay! Snake sees that there was very little work for Eve to do on her husband. The man just pops the fruit into his mouth; no questions asked and took another huge bite. And then it happens!

What happens next best is best described as what Physicists call Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP. Look it up! Lol!) That singular insignificant bite by Adam ignited something that forever changed the course of human existence forever! And like the atomic bomb it started a chain reaction of occurrences that even affected the planet, not just them.

In the twinkling of an eye, Power instantly changes hands. Adam, who was supposed to be the god of planet earth, ruler over all creatures of the air, land and sea suddenly found himself stripped of all his power and glory!

The first sign of the slow but sure decay occurring from the inside of both of them was shame.  You see, that’s the thing about obeying the devil - there is always a horrible downside to the deal. Yes, their eyes were opened like he promised, but what they saw sickened them and filled them with shame and disgust at what they had done. He promised them wisdom to match that of God.  But what they now knew was frightening! They had earlier felt that God was holding out on them but now they realize that He had simply been protecting them all along! But sadly, it was too late now…

Isn’t it funny how this mind-set still exists today! God has given us His Word by which we should live. But when some of it doesn't fit into our private program, we turn around and complain about how God is cramping our style and holding out on ‘the good stuff’. Later, when all the dust has settled, we slowly but surely realize that some things were withheld because full exposure to such would have been soul-destroying.

Imagine the mad panic and confusion that must have filled their minds?! The sudden rush of awareness of things they would have rather never known. Oh, and the final realization that they’ve both been deceived. Unfortunately, with their divine status gone, they would not have heard the hysterical laughter of Satan and the victory dance he must have been doing! They may not have heard him but I’m certain they could feel his blood-curdling screeches of victory- “At last! It’s all mine!”

Then evening time arrives, when God usually visits His favourite creatures. I can’t even begin to imagine what is going through His all-knowing mind as He walked through His usual route to where they were. In retrospect, we now know that He knew all that happened even before He created planet earth.  But I guess it must have still hurt, quite a bit, to see how quickly they had turned on Him and changed sides after all He had done for them.

Then we see the next evidence of their slow decline- fear! The Bible says in Gen. 3:8:

And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees of the garden.

Seriously, how pathetic was that?! Hiding among the trees when even deep in hell, the darkness shines like day to Him. (Psa. 139:14). No one can hide from the all-seeing eyes of God! I don’t care how smart a Houdini you are. Sooner or later, His hands are going to reach you and you will realize that it was His hands that still kept you safe even in that hell-hole you were hiding! 

So, He takes a deep breath, and asks them what happened and then the circus show began. It’s Operation let’s-point-fingers-and-take-no-responsibility-for-whatever-it-is-we-did!

“Oh dear, Sir. I wasn’t me! Let’s blame it on the next person, shall we?”

Adam goes as far as blaming the whole shenanigans on God!

“And the man said, ‘the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat ”  (Gen. 3:12)

God turns to the woman and asks her and she seeing how her husband plays the game is also quick to blame the snake. I can just see God’s shoulders falling lower and lower each time they opened their mouths. Notice how, not once, did they admit that they had done anything wrong. And that right there, is the fundamental problem with every single one of us- Pride! It was final evidence of their definite decline from divinity to humanity and the slow descent to certain death. Remember, this was the very same thing that caused the downfall of Lucifer. I am convinced beyond all doubt that had they fallen at His feet, admitted their guilt and begged His forgiveness, we won’t be in this mess we are right now.

I believe this is the major reason why God calls David a man after His own heart. When he was confronted of his sins, David didn’t hide or blame it on that tease of a woman displaying her goods on the roof-top for all to see. Neither did he blame it on that goody-two-shoes Uriah who just wouldn’t play along. David just fell right there and admitted his sin. (2 Sam. 12:13). Of course, there was a grave penalty for the evil he had done and not even God could stop the repercussions of his actions. But the fact is that God respected and loved David so deeply for his humble spirit such that it was from the bloodline of this very same adulterous, wife-stealing, murderous, peeping-Tom David that God brought the world's redemption. This is so because Jesus is, till today, referred to as the "Son of David".

King David, in that famous Psalm, demonstrates his deep understanding of how God operates in Psalm 51:3, 16, 17:

 For I acknowledge my transgressions: my sin is ever before my eyes… for thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it… the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Bingo! Don’t you sometimes wonder how God still blesses and favours you in spite of all the atrocities you've done and somehow all the goody-two shoes around you seem to have it worse and worse?! David just told us why in the above scripture! Because apart from us living in the era of grace, I put it to you that in the quietness of the hearts of you ‘bad’ girls out there, you admit to God what a pig you are and fall, always, at His throne and beg Him to have mercy on you! Tell me I’m wrong?! *wink, wink*

Anyway, let’s skip to the part where God punishes their disobedience.  Please, we need to recognize that sin didn’t come into the world because they ate the fruit. It was through the deliberate choice of Adam (who knew better) to disobey God that sin entered the world. I also want to point out that sin did not enter the world through Eve like most ignorant men have been saying over the years. Adam was the one who brought this world to the state of chaos it is in right now; not Eve! This fact is corroborated by Apostle Paul in Romans 5:12:

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin: and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

I love the way The Message translation puts the above scripture:

You know the story of how Adam landed us in this dilemma we’re in- first sin, then death, and no one exempt from either sin or death.

I can just see all the hairs of the men stand in indignation at my statement. But y’all can see that it ain’t my words- it’s the Bible that tells us that! I just needed to get it out there and liberate some ladies from some imagined shackles that have held them down over the years. Breaking the chains of erroneous beliefs that have caused most of us to hate the fact that they were born female, the bane of all men; the very object of doom that brought damnation to all of mankind! Not true, ladies! Note that I am not excusing Eve because the truth is that both of them disobeyed God’s express instructions but all hell broke loose when Adam ate the fruit! Just saying.

Ok, back to what we were saying. So, God metes out punishment to all parties concerned and even the earth. (Poor planet- just can’t seem to catch a break! Lol!) Yet in the midst of judgment, God gives provision for redemption.  (Gen, 3:15).

“Her seed shall bruise your head”

 Satan, who knows some of the ways God operates, was paying close attention to every statement made by God that day.  But he may not have been paying that close attention because he missed out a very important detail- God giving the fallen couple clothes to wear.

For God to provide appropriate clothing for them, the Bible says He used animal skin to make their clothes. (I imagine that the animal rights activists out there are frowning majorly at that bit, right?! Lol!) He could have snapped His fingers and clothes will appear on their bodies, right? But I am certain that He must have killed the animal and then skinned it to get the fur. Now, for Him to do all that there must have some major bleeding from the dead animal. This shed blood served as a temporary covering of their sins because you see, without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. (Heb. 9:22)

 If the devil had paid close attention instead of running off to throw a victory party with his minions, he would have seen the prototype of the redemption plan God had for mankind! Another proof that he sees, but does not understand the ways of God.

Anyway, with his limited understanding, Satan is frantically looking for this ‘seed’ that will deal that fatal blow. Because, you see, this ‘seed’ will not only “bruise his head” but also take back what he had stolen from Adam and Satan wasn’t about to let that happen anytime soon.  So, he looks for all the humans on earth that fit the profile of ‘the seed” and takes ‘em out. He sees happy, good and faithful Abel. Ah, he gasta go! So, gets Cain to kill his brother poor Abel. This is why Jesus refers to Satan as “a murderer right from the beginning.” (John 8:44)

When he realizes that Abel wasn't this ‘seed’, he then launches an all-out ‘Pollute-them-all’ campaign. He releasing his angels to go throughout the world to impregnate the women of the earth, thereby mudding up the human bloodlines! Hence the passages in Gen. 6:1-4 where we see giants growing up like weeds all over the world! They were the results of the union of these fallen angels and the women of the earth.

( By the way, here is a YouTube link of a video of bones and skeletons of giants that have been discovered by Archaeologists.  Some of these findings date back to the 1940s! Isn't it nice to see science catching up to Biblical facts?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-8bVEIVUh8

Unfortunately for him, God is never taken by surprise because He knows the end right from the beginning. Hallelujah!!! You see, despite his aim to totally pollute the bloodlines of the human race, Satan missed one seed- Noah! But God didn’t. So, He gets him to build an ark that will protect him and his family during the epic flood. So, everyone else is destroyed including the giants and God saves only Noah and his family. 

So, what happened to all these fallen, wicked, baby-daddy angels? Well, we are told, in Jude 1:6 that  they are presently languishing in some triple maximum security prison somewhere awaiting trial and final sentencing:

And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto judgment of the great day.

This further lends credence to the fact that if some of the fallen angels are kept in chains of darkness awaiting that final judgment, then demons must be some other set of creatures like we had earlier discussed! However, I suspect that not all the angels were used for the baby-making-machine project described in Gen. 6:1- 4. Some of them currently hold positions among Satan’s hierarchy as described in Eph. 6:12:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

From the above scripture, we see the 4 divisions of the Satanic hierarchy. As usual, it’s a copy of the hierarchy of angels in the Kingdom of El-Sabaoth:

Level 1- Principalities

Level 2- Powers

Level 3- Rulers of darkness in this world

Level 4- Spiritual wickedness in high places.

Another reason I personally believe that some were reserved for leadership positions is due to Dan. 10. In this passage, the archangel Gabriel was telling Daniel the reason why it took so long for answers to his prayers to get to him. He explained that:

The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me;

Note how Gabriel uses the same word ‘prince’ to refer to both the one over Persia and the archangel Michael. In Hebrew, the word ‘prince’ used in this text is Sar  which means ‘general’, ‘head person’, ‘governor’, ‘master’, ‘ruler’ or ‘captain’. Now, think about it: the kind of creature strong enough to withstand a super-hero angel like Gabriel such that he needed the help of another archangel just to be able to push through to get to Daniel must most certainly be a very powerful former angel and not one of the Pre-Adamic creatures, right? It is even safe to say that all three angels (the prince of Persia, Gabriel and Michael) are probably matched in strength and power. Gabriel goes on to mention that on his way back to the One who sent him, he still has to fight against this same Prince of Persia and when he wins and gets that one out of the way, the prince of Greece will arrive to take the old one’s position. (Dan. 10:20)

The passage opens our eyes to see there are powerful Spirit beings placed over every single sector in the world- be it the entertainment industry, government, religion, food. Just name it. If it has some level of control to shape the world view of humans, you can bet all your front teeth that there is a ‘strongman’ in charge, calling the shots. And it’s in different levels up to where Satan sits as lord and master, having his own kingdom where people worship him. Note that this hierarchy is not only within the devil’s kingdom. As a matter of fact, he copied it from God’s pattern of chain of command.

Gabriel reveals to Daniel in Dan.12:1 that Michael is the Prince over the nation of Israel. So, if there is one over Persia, Greece and Israel then you can be sure that every other nation has one; be it a good prince or an evil prince.

Apparently, the job-description of demons is principally forceful possession of human bodies (since they have no bodies of their own) to carry out their evil devises. They function like gremlins while the ‘big boys’ take charge of weightier issues like rulers, kingdoms and world events. It may all sound playful and harmless on paper, but you and I can see that they are anything but cute and playful in real life. They are evil and have no other agenda other than to make sure we all turn our backs on the Lord and end up in hell with them, burning for all eternity!

I don’t care what new fad Oprah, Obama or any other person or group is selling. If it denies that Jesus is the ONLY way to God or infers that the Bible is somewhat flawed, or questions the divinity of Jesus, I can assure you that Hell is the only objective! It may all be subtle, sleek and all sophisticated. Underneath the movie- star looks, elegantly perfumed, well coiffed, super-intelligent exterior is a hideously ugly demon spirit whispering seductive lies. Humanistic lies like, ‘you are god’ and that ‘god is inside everyone of us’ and ‘we are all going to reach that god-consciousness and state of enlightenment if we love and accept everyone regardless of their race, age, gender and sexual orientation’! Have you noted these same people how they are not as "accepting" of anybody who dares to speak out against their ideas or who believes that Jesus is the only way to God. ‘Matter of fact, such deviants are labeled ‘bigots’, ‘hate mongers’ and ‘extremists’.

So, be wary of the different lies been spun by demons and always put them alongside with what the Scripture says. If it’s contrary to the Word of God, discard it as the lie from the pit of hell it truly is.

Now, let’s move on to something more pleasant. Angels. Yay!

The one thing we can all agree on is the fact that angels have existed long before the world as we know it was created because the Bible says in Gen. 1:1, that God created the heavens and the earth.  So, we can infer that heaven and all its content were created first, then earth.

The Bible tells us that our God is a God of order. Take a quick look around and you’ll see that the whole world mirrors His sense of order and I honestly believe that the angels are not exempt from this order. It will be important to mention here that there are various schools of thought on this concept ranging from whether there is actually an angelic hierarchy to those who believe that there are actually 10 divisions/classes/divisions/orders/types of angels. However, in this article I will be going with the 5 classes/divisions/types of angels specifically mentioned in the Bible.

Division of angels

 1)      Cherubim (singular- cherub)

These groups of angels have one basic duty and that is to guard the glory, throne, presence and domain of God from any sin or corruption. They are like God’s bodyguards, if you will. They are super-power angels and, according to some schools of thought, the highest level of angels.

We first catch sight of them in Gen. 3:23 and their purpose in that passage of scripture was to guard the East entrance to the Garden of Eden and the path to the Tree of Life so that Adam and Eve would not eat sneak back in when no one was looking and eat from the Tree (Gen. 3:24) Apparently, they must be quite gigantic, frightful looking beings and imposing enough to keep anyone from re- entry. 

Some folks have often wondered why they were stationed to do that. I can imagine some people even thinking it is God, yet again, withholding the good stuff from Adam and Eve. But the truth of the matter is that before the fall, Adam and Eve where sinless and perfect. After the fall, sin entered the world along with death. The fruit from the Tree of Life would have made the eater immortal.

It is equally important to note that this same Tree of Life was actually standing right beside the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, right there in the middle of the Garden. They had their chance to choose life or death and unfortunately, they chose death. 

Now, if they had eaten it, they would have lived forever in a state of sin, thus preventing the plan of salvation that was to come. Because for mankind to be saved from this life of slavery to Satan and sin, Jesus had to die, shed his blood and buy back our lives. This would have been impossible for Jesus to do if mankind was immortal. So, in this instance, the cherubim helped to guard and preserve God’s redemption plan for all of us.

The next time we hear and see cherubim in the Scripture is when God commands Moses to build a curious looking box with two gold-plated cherubim to serve as the lid. God instructs Moses that these two figures must have spread wings, kinda like hovering over the box, facing one another but looking down on the box. God tells Moses that He will then speak to Moses from above these two figures. (Exodus. 25:20-22).

According to Heb. 8:5, the tabernacle and all the activities carried out within it was a copy of what goes on in heaven. So, if that’s the case, we see that from the description of the Ark of the Covenant, we are shown the exact positions of these angels in heaven. That is to say that they basically form the lower part of God’s throne.

Among the other furnishings of the Tabernacle, God instructs that there must be a veil with embroidered figures of cherubim all over it. He is quite adamant that this veil serves as a thick covering to the entrance of the Holy of Holies so that no one may enter or even peep in to see what the Holy of Holies looks like because to do so meant instantaneous death. Here again, we see the cherubim baring the entrance to the Holy of Holies in the form of a veil. (Ex. 26:31-33) thereby, showing their function of the protection of the throne room of God from all forms of corruption.

In Ezek.1 we get a full picture of what they really look like and why they must have been terrifying enough to look at and so scare Adam, Eve or any other person from entering the Garden of Eden. According to Ezekiel 1 & 10:

a.       They have human form.

b.      They have four faces (in front a man’s face, right side a lion, left side an ox and at                            the back an eagle.)

c.       They have four wings (one pair to fly with and the other pair to cover their bodies)                         and only fly straight and when they stop the wings fold themselves back.

d.      They have human hands.

e.       They are covered with eyes.

f.       They have straight, sturdy legs with hoofs for feet.

g.      They sparkle like burnished bronze (in other words, they were super tanned!) and                           flashed back and forth like lightening.

h.      They always appear with a golden gyroscope covered with eyes.

i.        All four of them, at a glance, look like a blazing fire/fiery torch

Here’s a youtube link to a depiction of what they kinda look like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_507398&src_vid=9oOjw6v6tMw&v=acVJstGhDKU#t=1s

From all of the above, they have acted as objects barring the way to immortality and the reveled Word of God. However, the minute Jesus gave up His Spirit on the Cross, the Bible tells us that the veil in the temple, barring the entrance of the Holy of Holies was ripped apart from top to bottom. Do note that it is this same veil with the images of the Cherubim embroidered on it! I can just see the cherubim guarding the way to the Tree of Life and the guards to the Holy of Holies, at the moment Jesus died, instantly stepping aside so that all who believe can freely enter into the presence of God and partake of the life everlasting! Hallelujah! (Matt. 27:50-51; 1 Cor. 15: 20- 22)

It’s important to note here that Satan was once a cherub but rebelled and was thrown out.

2)     The 4 Living creatures

There is much debate as to what these creatures are. Some believe that they are in fact, cherubim as depicted in Ezek. 1 and 10. The fact that Ezekiel first referred to the beings he saw in Ezek. 1:5 as “four living creatures” does not seem to help matters with this confusion. However, I believe he clarified the issue because the next time he saw the angels we just talked about above, he referred to them as “cherubim” and not ‘the four living creatures’. (Ezek. 10)

At this time it will be very important to describe what these four living creatures, as described in Rev. 4, look like:

a.        They all have 6 wings.

b.      They are covered with eyes.

c.        The first creature looks like a lion.

d.      The second creature looks like a calf/a young bullock.

e.       The third creature looks like a man.

f.        The fourth creature looks like a flying eagle

It is possible to get carried away by the way they appear. But like every other thing created by God, they have a purpose and we see this purpose shown in Rev. 4:8 in that these creatures are always prowling around the throne of God and never resting from chanting:

Holy, holy, holy,

Lord God Almighty,

Which was, and is and is to come!

(Rev. 4:8)

 And that, right there is their major function- ceaseless giving of glory, honor and thanks to Him Who sits on the throne- the Ancient of Days.

Here’s a youtube link to a very good depiction of what these 4 living creatures look kinda like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-P_OZoRG6A

Another way to understand these creatures is to see them through scriptural symbolism. Note how they represent all of God’s creation, with the exclusion of all the sea creatures. I would like to submit to all that these living creatures symbolize the different capacities in which Christ Jesus function. Let’s start with the first image of the creatures described by the Apostle John- the lion.

 The lion represents all of the beasts of the forest and is often referred to as the king of the jungle. The image of a lion brings to mind majesty, great power and victory and a conquering king. Hence, the reference to Jesus as the ‘King of kings’ and the ‘Lion of the tribe of Judah’ (Rev. 5:5).

The next image is that of a calf/young bullock. The word ‘calf’ can be translated to also mean ‘heifer’. Back in the day the Children of Israel were instructed, by God, to sacrifice a red heifer without blemish and the ashes after it was burnt was used for the purification of sin. (Num. 19:9 ) Here again, we see Jesus as the ‘Red heifer, young calf, or bullock’; the One Who was killed and Whose blood is used for the wiping away of our sins forever and the purification of our spirits!

The next image is that of a man. From all of our past discourse, we see that man is the pinnacle of all of God’s creation and the one to whom the dominion was given before it was stolen. It was through one man that damnation and death entered the world. It, however, meant that it was through another man that life, joy, peace and redemption will come. Thus, the appearance of God in the form of the man Jesus Christ- the savior of the World! Hallelujah! (Rom. 5:18-21)

The last image is that of an eagle in flight. The eagle brings to mind the images of swiftness, divinity and liberty. An eagle in flight mode represents Sovereignty and Supremacy. Thus this particular creature represents Christ Jesus in all his Deity; telling all that even though He was in the form of a man, Jesus is equally God.

Isn't interesting how God gave instructions as to the way the children of Israel were to encamp themselves around the tabernacle? Let me explain. He was particular that every time they were to break camp during their wanderings in the wilderness, they were to be divided into four different camps with the earthly habitation of God (i.e. the Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting) in the middle. He specifically instructed that:

The tribe of Judah be the on the East side closest to the Tent of Meeting with a raised banner/flag of a their family which was said to be a Lion;

Ephraim on the West also closest to the Tent of Meeting with a raised banner/flag of their family which was said to be an Ox;

Ruben on the South, closest to the Tent of Meeting with a raised banner/flag of their family which was said to be a Man;

Dan in the North, closest to the Tent of Meeting with a raised banner/flag of their family which was said to be an Eagle.

(Num. 2)

All of them were situated in the exact same position of the 4 living creatures in heaven! You now see that the instructions God was giving to the children of Israel wasn't because He had a bad case of OCD but because everything He does has a purpose and all these were mirror images of things going on in heaven and reflection of His plans of salvation for all of mankind.  

So that if these 4 living creatures are in fact cherubim, as some schools of thought believe, then they have gone from concealing the reveled Word of God to shouting it out loud for all to see that the plan for salvation of all mankind lies firmly in the person of the man/God Jesus and that no one may come to the Father except through Christ. And that totally debunks all thoughts that there are other ways to God. Like Jesus Himself said:

I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.

(John 14:6)

3)     Archangel

The word is an adaptation of the combined Greek words ‘archo’ (which means first in political rank or power) and ‘aggelos’ (which means messenger.) The word is used only twice in the Bible in Jude 1:9 (to describe the warrior angel Michael) and in 1 Thes. 4:16 (in relation to 3 significant events that will happen before the rapture takes place.)

According to ancient Jewish wisdom it is believed that the 7 eyes referred to in Zec. 4:9 actually refer to the 7 archangels of God. Apocryphal books and other historical documents like the Book of Enoch and Tobit also make mention of other archangels like Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Raziel, and Jophiel e.t.c. The Bible does make reference to 7 angels in charge of 7 churches in Rev 1:20, 3:1; 4:5, 8:2 and in 10:7. So, it is possible that they may be the 7 archangels mentioned in all these other historical writings. However, in this article, I shall only be working with the ones specifically mentioned in the Bible.

In the Bible, we know of only 1 specifically named archangel (Michael) while it is inferred that Gabriel is also one. It is believed, by some schools of thought, that there were 3 of them- Michael, Gabriel and Lucifer. According to them, all the angels of heavens angels are spilt into 3 and each archangel has 1/3 of them under their command. This position is backed up by Rev. 12:7, where it says:

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,

 So, that when Satan rebelled, and had to be driven away from heaven, they believe that he carted off 1/3 of heaven’s angels, i.e. all the angels under him. So, apart from being high ranking angels with incredible amounts of power and glory, archangels are also warrior angels.

 In Jude 1:9, it is recorded that Michael was the only angel sent to challenge the devil over the body of Moses. Personally, I don’t think he’s much of a talker because in the whole Bible, these words he said to the devil are the only ones recorded:

“The Lord rebuke you”

This leads us to infer that perhaps Michael was the only angel on the same level with Satan and so had the authority to confront him and even then he could only accost him in the name of the Lord. He’s probably more of an action guy and probably has no time for any chit-chat! But considering the fact that he’s angelic prince over the nation of Israel, and seeing how they are such a hated race (thanks to the devil and his evil propaganda) the guy practically has no time to make much conversation- he always has to be on guard.

In Art, he is often portrayed in full metallic amour with a drawn sword, huge wings and a somber expression. It is believed that Michael is the archangel talked about in 1 Thes. 4:16 that will announce the rapture of the Church!

The more fun-sounding, happy archangel is Gabriel! The first time we see him is in the book of Daniel 8 and from the looks of things, he seems to be a quite a spokes-person for God. I say so because he’s the one sent to explain the futuristic vision to Daniel to his understanding.  He comes across as a pretty nice, friendly guy full of kind and encouraging words to Daniel. His exact description is not really given but he is imposing and terrifying enough to behold since his appearance seems to make Daniel fall down in a faint.

According to Daniel, the archangel Gabriel:

a.       Has the appearance of a man (Dan. 8:15)

b.      Makes you fall to your face when you see him and the closer he comes, the deeper                            your terror (Dan. 8:17; 10:7-9; Matt. 28:4)

c.       Gives you strength to face him if he touches you (Dan. 8:18; 10:10 )

d.      Dresses in linen with a belt made with finest gold around his waist (Dan. 10:5 )

e.        Has a body hard and glistening like it was chiseled from a precious stone (Dan. 10:6)

f.       Has eyes like fire

g.      Has hands and feet like polished brass

h.      Has a voice that sounds like thousands of people talking at the same time- ear plugs                         highly recommended when he talks to you! (Dan.10:6)

i.        Apparently has the dish on all future world events.

j.        Specially sent to special people (Dan. 10:11& 12)

We see him again appearing to Zacharias in Luke 1 to announce to him that he will have a son. Unfortunately, he’s not quite as friendly to Zacharias because when the old dude, probably thinking the angel had lost his way or somehow got his orders mixed up, dared to doubt the message, this angel is anything but amused. I can just see Gabriel drawing himself to his full height, blinking furiously and, with righteous indignation, calmly introduce himself to the doubtful old Priest:

I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God and I am sent to speak unto to thee and to show thee these glad tidings.

(Luke 1:19)

And just so that Zacharias won’t say another doubtful word and ruin the miracle that was headed the way of his family, Gabriel has the power to strike poor old Zacharias deaf and dumb until the baby is born!

So, from his above statement, we notice that this particular angel actually stands in the presence of God and so has some special sort of access to God so much so that he is specially sent to speak and reveal truths, mysteries (as in the case of Daniel) and deliver glad tidings (as in the case of Zacharias and Mary). 

Again, we see Gabriel flying to a very obscure village in Galilee to visit a lovely virgin girl excitedly preparing for her wedding to the man of her dreams, to sweetly give her a strange wedding present:

“Gurl, you are about to get pregnant before you get married! And not just any baby. You are about to be the mother of the savior of the world! Yay you!”

Something tells me he dulled his appearance so as not to terrify Mary because the Bible tells us that she was rather thrown off by his words and not his appearance (Luke 1:29). Apparently, her powerful inner strength and deep faith were probably the reasons why she was chosen in the first place.

In this instance, we see him functioning in the full capacity of his access to secret information. For instance, when Mary asks how, she a virgin will be with child, he explains that:

The Holy Spirit will come upon you

The power of the Highest hover over you

Therefore the child you will bring to birth

Will be called Holy, Son of God.

(Luke 1:35; The Message Translation)

He then quickly informs her that her cousin, Elizabeth who was formally labeled ‘barren’, is currently 6 months pregnant. He then finishes by telling her that with God nothing is impossible. 

It is believed that Gabriel was the angel that attended to Jesus after the temptation in the wilderness and the agony in Gethsemane. It is also believed that he was the angel that rolled the stone away from the mouth of the tomb where Jesus was buried and sat on it. Personally, I cant wait to meet him in person! Lol!

 4)     Seraphim (singular- Seraph)

The word ‘Seraphim’ is a Hebrew word meaning ‘fiery serpent’  or ‘flaming spirit’ and are often portrayed, in Art, as fiery red or gold colours with flaming swords with the words ‘holy, holy, holy’ inscribed on the blades.

They are only mentioned in Isa. 6:2, 3, 6, 7 and their main function is to declare and sing the glory of God (Isa. 6:3) They are represented, according to Isaiah’s account, as ‘standing above the King’ ever at attention to minister to Him. So, they are like his personal waiters or stewards, if you will!

According to Isaiah description, Seraphim:

i)                    Have human forms

ii)                  Have 6 wings, one pair to cover their face, another pair to cover their feet and the last                         pair to fly (Isa. 6:2 ).

iii)                Cry/sing to one another the glory of the Lord

iv)                They stand above the throne of God

Isaiah specifies that one pair of the Seraphs wings cover their face and another pair cover their feet and they fly with a third pair and all these covering up will sound rather weird to a casual observer. But the fact of the matter is that they cover their faces to protect themselves from the full glare of the glory of God. The covering of their feet also works along the belief that feet are considered ‘unclean’ and therefore not worthy of showing to God.

 Apart from their functions of God’s personal attendants, they are also the God’s personal rock band. They have been singing, for eons, one particular song; praising His Holiness in the eternal refrain:

 Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty

The whole earth is full with His glory

(Isa. 6:3)

 In Jewish lore, they are said to be the highest level of angels due to their close proximity to God and according to Dionysius’s angelic hierarchy, God’s grace flows from these creatures. They also serve as God’s purification agents. This is depicted in the scene in Isa. 6, where we see one of them taking a hot coal from the holy alter in heaven, touches Isaiah’s lips with it then pronounces his iniquity taken away and his sin purged.

Thankfully, for those of us who may never see these angels until we go to heaven, we have the powerful blood of Jesus to forever wash our sins away and allow us free access into the presence of God. Hallelujah!

5)     Common angels

They defend the church. They are numbered in millions and millions. They are totally obedient to God and they praise Him exclusively. They appear in human form but without wings and walk among us without our knowing. Hence, the passage of scripture (Heb. 13:2) where some have been said to entertain angels unaware. Basically, they guard and protect us. They are also soldiers (Psa. 103:21a) and these are the ones that do war for us in the spirit, warding off the attacks of demons and their plans for the lives of children of God. The Bible records some of them strong enough to wipe off towns from the face of the earth including all its inhabitants in a split second- the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

I want to, at this point, say that we should be careful how we treat children or young believers in Christ because according to the direct words of Jesus our Lord in Matt. 18:10:

Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones, for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my father which is in heaven

By now, you should know, that not all angels can look into the face of God; not to talk of “always behold”-ing His face! So, could it be that the angels that watch over little children are archangels since they are the ones who behold his face? Hmm… Now, if it’s these super-duper-extra-special angels that are watching over these children, be careful what you do and say to them since the Ones protecting them have easy access to God and may equally be as swift to report you! Lol! What I learnt from my mom is to give them personal prayer points to pray to God about because the answers to their prayers are often times instantaneous!

So, really, what do angels do?

Psalm 103:20-21 explains what better:

Bless the Lord, ye His angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His Word… all ye His host, ye ministers of His that do His pleasure.

 First of all, their main function is to sing praise and worship to God. They praise His name, His wondrous works, His dealings with mankind, His justice and just about anything relating to God. (Rev. 4-5). In other words, you would not find them singing about anything else other than praise to God. So, if you meet one singing a love song by Michael Bolton or a song about world peace and flower power, you better run for your life because he is not an angel of God!

They are also known to throw a major praise party when a sinner repents! (Luk. 15:10). Imagine how groovy heaven will be when we really start going all out and winning souls for the kingdom?! Yay!

From Ps. 103:20-21, we notice that they basically exist to attend to God’s every whim and are created for His pleasure. Ah ha- now we can see another reason why Satan rebelled. Can you imagine him preening in front of a mirror just admiring himself and suddenly gets the call from God to run one errand? Can you see the small frown marring his beautiful visage? Can you hear the ugly thought slowly forming in his mind that one day, he’ll put an end to this existing merely to please someone else! Well, we all know how that story ended. Yep, with Michael’s boot prints forever branded on his behind!

Heb 1:14 also gives another glimpse as to their other functions:

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

So, not only do they minister to God, they also minister (i.e. give relief, service, do all the dirty work) to blood-washed saints of God. Hey, that’s you and me, right?! Yay!

Psalm 91:11 further clarifies their ministry to us:

 For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways

 Yooo hoo! This just keeps getting better! We can infer from the above that God will specially dispatch angels with specific instructions to watch our every move to keep us from harm.

However, I would like to alert you to hold your horses for a second because the angels talked about in Psa. 91 are not dispatched to just anybody o! It should be noted that the kind of folks to whom these super-duper-extra-special angels are dispatched are strictly those who “dwell in the secret place of the Most High” and those who “say of the Lord that he is their refuge and their fortress. And that God is their God in Him only they shall trust.” (Ps. 91:1-2) Alas, that kind of high level protection is not given to all!

Angels also serve as messengers to reveal God’s special will to men. Just like they did for Moses, Daniel and John.

They also serve as guides. From scripture, we see this when an angel warns Joseph to escape to Egypt with his wife and the holy child Jesus. In the account of Peter’s major jail-break incident, we see the angel guiding him through all the prison doors and all the way to the street and his freedom. (Acts 12:7-11)

They have even been used to attend to physical needs of certain humans. For instance, providing water for Hagar and her son in the wilderness; an angel provided food and water of an exhausted Prophet Elijah. Even Jesus, after the fasting and temptation duel in the wilderness, had his needs ministered to by angels. (Matt. 4:11)

They have also been known to deliver God's people out of danger once they're in it. For instance, remember when angels released the apostles from prison in Acts 5? An angel also shut the mouths of the lions so that they didn't hurt Daniel (Dan. 6:22)

1 Kings 19:5 shows us where an angel strengthened Elijah by giving him food enough to satisfy him for the 40 day journey he was about to embark upon. Jesus was also strengthened by an angel was in the garden of Gethsemane.  (Luk. 22:43).

They are also known to encourage God’s people. E.g. In the book of Acts, after an angel of the Lord released the apostles from jail, he encouraged them to go to the same place of their arrest and continue teaching the life-giving Words of Christ. (Acts 5:19-20). Another instance of an encouraging angel was where an angel told Paul (who in turn assured everyone else on the ship) that they would survive the impending shipwreck. Everything the angel said happened. (Acts 27:23-25).

God often uses angels as His means of answering the prayers of His people (Daniel 9:20-24; 10:10-12; Acts 12:1-17).

Jesus tells us in the story of “Lazarus and the rich man” that angels care for believers at the time of death. In the story, we read that angels carried the spirit of Lazarus to “Abraham's bosom” when he died (Luke 16:22)

At every significant milestones of Jesus’ life, there was an angel there to record it, so to say. For instance, to announce His birth both to His mother and earthly father, there was sweet Gabriel. When He was born, they conducted a concert in His honor at Shepherd’s field to announce His birth! After the temptation in the wilderness, there was an angel present to minister to Him. After the near break-down He experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane, an angel came around to minister to Him. After He rose from the grave, there were angels present to inform the women who loved Jesus that He was no longer dead but alive and another who rolled the stone away from the mouth of the cave where He was buried! And finally, after He ascended into heaven before 500 eye-witnesses, 2 angels appeared to tell them that this same Jesus they saw going up will, in the very same way, come back! Hallelujah!!! So, sisters, if Jesus (who was 100% God and 100% man, creator of the entire cosmos) needed angels every now and then, you and I most certainly could use some major angelic activity in our lives, too!

But I just need to sound two notes of warning.

Firstly, it is important to remember that we are strongly advised against worship of angels. The Bible in Rev. 22:8-9 shows the angel rejecting the worship of John and he points him in the right direction of worship- God. He states that he’s just like us and in the same boat with all those who keep the words of the Bible. Col. 2:18 also warns against worship of angels and that we will be robbed of our prize of salvation if we decide to tow that line. Praying to them, calling out their names for help in any way constitutes worship. Hence, the reason they are reluctant to give their names when asked because according to the Acts 4:12:

 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (KJV)

Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been given or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one (The Message Translation)

 The only time ‘an Angel’ allowed worship in the Scriptures was because that angel was actually the pre-incarnate Christ Jesus. We see Him in the on the mountain of Moriah talking to Abraham promising to bless him beyond this world after Abraham had passed the test (Gen. 22:11-18), instructing Hagar to return to her mistress and also saving the life of her son (Gen. 16:7-14; Gen. 21:17-20), ‘the man’ that Jacob wrestled with all night (Gen. 32:24-30), in the burning bush (Ex. 3:1-15),  and even ‘the man’ with a drawn sword who appeared to Joshua just before they conquered Jericho (Jos. 5:13-15). On many instances ‘this Angel of the Lord’ appeared and actually allowed folks to worship Him because He was actually Jesus. This gives serious credence to that famous provocative statement of His that:

Verily, verily I say unto you, before Abraham was, I AM (John 8:58)

Note that the phrase I AM is another Hebrew name of God. Hence, the reason they wanted to lynch Him when He made that announcement. Therefore, any angel that allows you to or demands worship is none other than demon spirits out to fulfill their mandate in your life which is to drag you to hell so beware, ladies!

Secondly, the ministry of angels is only operational in places where respect for authority is esteemed. Anywhere where careless words are tossed around offending authorities, (earthly or spiritual) they would not operate! So, be careful what you say- especially about ministers of the Gospel of Jesus! Look here, they saw live and firsthand the demerits of rebellion and since they only function under strict instructions from God, the Holy Spirit will not release them to work in atmospheres of insorbodination to any form of authority. So if you are looking to have these divine ministers dispatched to you, please watch the things that come out of your mouth. If church folk have hurt you in the past in any way, because you need as much protection and as much divine intervention as possible, I would advise you to find a way to kick out Bitterness and starve Unforgiveness to death so as to have constant victory in your life!

People, I know that all I’ve said so far is merely scratching the surface of things happening in the spiritual realm as to how demons and angels operate. I am not here to say I know why certain things are in place. You know, answers to questions like why does God still allow some bad things to happen to good people or why God still allows righteous people to suffer pain and suffering or any of those things. God is the only one that knows all things but I choose to believe that His thoughts towards me and all of you are of good, no matter what!

So, now that we aware of some of these things, how does it benefit us?

Like I said in the first part of this article, we need to know because like it or not, we are spiritual beings in the middle of an epic battle between good and evil. This is a fight that has been going on for millions of years to see those who will choose God and who will follow after evil. The truth is there is no middle ground- either you are on one side or the other.

Knowing that, God wants us to know that we are not alone. Not only do we have angels dispatched when we need them (like in the case of Elisha and the army from Aram and Elisha prays that the eyes of his servant will be opened and he sees the mountain side full of fiery horses and chariots surrounding the Prophet- 2 Kings 6:15-17), we also have, more importantly, the presence of the Blessed Holy Spirit- God with us and in us- to lead us and direct us in the path that we should go.

What about those frightful creatures that we earlier talked about? Be still, your beating hearts!  Jesus has come to destroy the works of the devil and we have absolutely no reason to fear them because according to Rev. 12:11:

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death.

That right there, people, is where our strength lies. In the precious blood of Jesus that will never lose its power and the Immutable Word of God! Finish!

Jesus shows us how to use this tool at the temptation saga in the wilderness, where the devil came around to sniff around at the recently baptized and confirmed Christ. But instead of talking doctrine/dogma or lunching into some theological debate and all that religious nonsense, Jesus won each bout with “it is written”! Not because He couldn’t flick an eyelash and send Satan flying to some other continent. It was to show us how we are to win this fight. For instance, if Eve had known, she would have simply told the devil what God had said and walked away. No need to start reasoning with him. And that was where Jesus passed with flying colours- “It is written”. And when He had enough, He resisted him and like James 4:7 says,

Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

 So, in the famous words of Tuface at The Monique Show, “No shaking!” The Bible assures us that overwhelming victory is ours but only through Christ Jesus. By ourselves, we are nothing. We are no match for the lies and fancy ways the devil can spin a scam. That is why we need to fill our souls with the Word of God. Like I tell folk, read the Bible for yourself and know, personally, what it says. Not what Bishop This or Pastor That said. Otherwise, we are just sitting ducks. When all is said and done, the battle is not ours but the Lord’s. We can do nothing by ourselves and apart from Him we are nothing! It reminds me of the words of a Negro spiritual Shut de door. The last verse says:

Oh, Satan is an evil charmer (Shut de do; keep out de devil) He’s hungry for a soul to hurt (shut de door; keep de devil in the night) And without your holy amour (shut de door; keep out de devil) He will eat you for dessert (shut de door; keep de devil in de night) 

How true! The reality is that by ourselves, we are no match for his wisdom gained over millions of years. He’s older, stronger, smoother, sleeker and more educated than we are a billion times over.

We need to realize that He won’t come against us with a pitch fork and horns. Ahh,  He’s a lot sleeker these days coming in the form of the New Age movement and all other seemingly benign forms that preach love and acceptance. These days, these doctrines of demons are in movies, T.V programs, novels, commercials, everywhere! The way they are going about it now is dropping very subtle messages in catchy phrases and happy tunes. Anything to drop satanic principles down into your sub-conscious because, you see, that is where this epic battle is fought- in our minds! You now understand why the Apostle Paul strongly admonishes us to daily renew our minds because “as girl thinkest, so is she”! Otherwise, it’s just a matter of time before you start believing those lies and chanting along with the world that “good is evil and that evil is good.”

Haven’t you ever wondered how you over time knew the words to a song that you never really paid much attention to but because your room-mate played that song over and over again, till you wanted to knock her brains out with your stilettos! And then, one day in a very neutral place where the song started playing, you began to unconsciously churn out the lyrics and wondered how you got to know every word of the song!

That is exactly how these principalities, powers, rulers and spiritual wickedness folks are rocking the show! In your mind! Let’s make sure they don’t plant their lies in our minds. Let us begin, each day, to renew our minds with the cleansing Word of God!

Armed with this knowledge, let us live lives of exuberant praise and thanksgiving to God because we have so much to be grateful for. We have Jesus, the Word of God, the presence of the Blessed Holy Ghost and the glorious hope that Jesus is coming back one of these lovely days to take us back home with Him. Hallelujah!!! So, until that glorious day, The Mandate is to preach the Gospel to every creature, build each other up with love, build and develop a father-child relationship with God till we so full of Him that everyone we come in contact with is touched by that glory over-flowing in our lives. And then patiently but expectantly, await the return of the ‘Mother ship’ cos as y’all well know, we are only aliens passing through…