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?)
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:
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:
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…
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