Angels
Who are they and where are they?
What do they look like?
Are they like the ones in the churches?
Let’s kick it about.
Luke 2:12-16 (New International Version)
12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
4 comments:
From the Gospel accounts of the tomb on the third day:
Matthew 28:2-3
And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow.
Mark 16:5
On entering the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe, and they were utterly amazed.
Luke 24:4
While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them.
John 20:11-12
But Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been.
In all cases I can remember of angels, they are said to appear as men and are referred to as "he". Since the Bible was written by men, this isn't surprising. I think of angels as non-gendered, though; they don't "look like" men or women, but I think that ends up meaning they are just fair-faced human-looking people who could be assuming to be male (since they're lacking in breasts, basically).
Another example of an angel is Gabriel, in Luke 1 and Daniel 9. I would hazard a guess (not having access to the original words in their respective languages) that the use of male-gendered pronouns could be an artifact of the language of the author. Some languages do have a non-gender word for "he/she", and some don't. Some opt for "he" when the gender is unknown or unimportant.
Interestingly enough, most accounts of angels in the Bible are followed by the phrase 'don't be afraid.'
Needless to say I don't think they looked like plump little infants or svelt, female super models. Their presence was fearsome.
The Bible also say that they are Spiritual warriors. This further boosts the fearsome idea.
Without a doubt, God uses them as messengers and to fight Satan's legions.
Our current dat enfatuation with them baffles me, but it is clear God uses them for His purpose... then again so does Satan.
I am reminded of an old Petra song: Angel Of Light.
"Angel of light, I see you glow in the night, but you only bring darkness to my soul"
Just because something 'looks' good, doesn't make it good.
Just some thought.
-Doug
Great job guys!
I was taken back when the “Angel power” hit in the 80's (?) I thought wait a moment this isn’t right. One the Bible I read doesn’t describe them like that and two they aren’t to have the kind of worship people seem to be giving them. We were warned about this in the Bible, weren’t we? Idols? Nope, I don’t want the statue or the pin and I sure don’t need a I break for angels bumper sticker. People seen to get confused about them and I could just be over reacting (You Milly, No way! I giggle at myself) My mom isn’t an angel in Heaven, one of my clients left a note for me saying that Heaven had a new angel. I love the sentiment, wrong as it is. My children aren’t angels. (Especially the little one today) I honestly am not sure what one looks like. I believe that they must look different because they were recognized as angels yet some the same because they were recognized as men. . . And about that whole are they men or women issue it never says women in the Bible however, God creates them so it’s His job to decide not mine.
Thanks for your input.
Hebrews 13:2
Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
I am not exactly sure if I personally have entertained any angels lately. But one thing is for sure: if I did, I didn't notice what he looked like!
:-D
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