The work of the angels on earth will probably have come to a large extent after the Kingdom of God has been established on earth. We do not know what other activities God has in mind for these angels, who have been continuously working since creation. But what do they do until then?

It would be interesting to look at this on the basis of all passages that tell about the appearance of angels. But that would require too much time and patience. You can do this yourself with the help of a Concordance. We limit ourselves here to some characteristic examples of what angels do in God's service. They stand before God's face, always ready to be sent by Him for a certain task. In that they are unique in relation to people because no man has ever seen God's face:

"He (the LORD) said: You will not be able to see my face, for no man shall see Me and live ... you shall see Me from behind, but my face shall not be seen." (Exodus 33: 20-23)

"No one has ever seen God." (John 1:18)

If when reading the Old Testament the impression may arise that God appeared to a man, then it means that an angel sent by God appeared to him and not God Himself. The best-known example is that of Moses, who is said to speak with the LORD face to face (Exodus 33:11, Deuteronomy 5: 4). In his speech before the Council, however, Stephen said:

"... you who received the law at the disposal of angels" (Acts 7:53)

That this does not contradict what the OT says becomes clear when we look at a number of passages relating to the Angel of God's face who appeared to Moses and the people. Isaiah remembered God's great redemptive acts. He is the Initiator, the Controller, but He used an Angel to make His will known and to perform:

"In all their affliction, He (God) was distressed, and the Angel of his countenance saved them." (Isaiah 63: 9)

In Exodus, we read a lot more about this Angel. Thus Moses said in connection with the redemption from Egypt:

"Then we cried to the LORD, and he heard our voice, sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt." (Numbers 20:16)

This is in accordance with what the LORD spoke to Moses and the people:

"Behold, I send an angel before you, to keep you in the way, and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. Take heed of him and listen to him, do not rebuke him, for he will not forgive your transgressions, for my name is in him. "(Exodus 23: 20-23; 32:34; 33: 2)

This Angel is also called Face because He stood face to face before God and shone His glory and power:

"My face shall go before you, and I will give you rest." (Translation from the basic text of Exodus 33:14, see also the States Version)

Sometimes an angel in the I-form spoke to people as if to say that that angel not only spoke in the name of the Lord but that He also gave him authority to carry out His will:

"And the angel of the LORD met her (Hagar) by a well of water in the wilderness, and he said, I will make your offspring very numerous." (Genesis 16: 7-10)

The man to whom an angel appeared, therefore had to be aware that actually not this angel, but God spoke. Therefore, because the power of God was in the angel, he was as much to fear as God Himself, as can be seen in some places in the Old Testament:

"I have seen God face to face, and my life has been preserved." (Genesis 32:30)

"Then Gideon understood that it was the angel of the LORD, and he said, Woe is me, O LORD. For I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face. But the LORD said to him, "Peace be you! Do not fear, you will not die. "(Judges 6: 22-23)

Angels act as spokesmen for God and His Son. God is sending them out to make His will and His plan known to people. The word they speak has the power of God and therefore can not be ignored. When an angel appeared to the priest Zacharias and told him that the prayer of him and his wife was heard and they would have a son, he did not believe it. That is why that angel rebuked him:

"I am Gabriel, who stand before God, and I have come to speak to you, and to proclaim to you this gladness" (Luke 1: 18-20).

The word angel in the Hebrew and Greek text

At this point, something must first be said about the word 'angel'. In Hebrew, there is the word Malak that is translated into Greek with angelos where our word angel comes from. It has a much wider meaning than we usually assign to it. In the Bible, the angel simply means messenger or messenger, whether it be a heavenly or a human messenger, a fact that is often concealed because the word one time with 'angel' and in other places with 'messenger' or 'messenger' was translated. In the same verse in Malachi, for example, the word Malak is translated one time with messenger and the other with Angel:

"Behold, I send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me; The Lord will come to his temple to seek you, the Angel of the covenant, who desires you, behold, He is coming, says the LORD of hosts. "(Malachi 3: 1)

In the New Testament, the words of Malachi are applied to John the Baptist. Where in Malachi Malak is, stands in Matthew angelos. In both cases the basic meaning is messenger:

"This is he who is written," Behold, I send my messenger before you. "(Matthew 11:10)

The messengers that John the Baptist sent to Jesus with the question: Are you the one who would come? are also described with that same word used for angels: When the messengers (angelos) of John had departed ... (Luke 7:24). The same applies to the disciples who sent the Lord Jesus to prepare His coming: He sent messengers (angelos) before him (Luke 9:52). James described in his letter in the same way the spies who stayed with Rahab: when she took the messengers (angelos) into the house (James 2:25). The word 'angel' does not necessarily mean a heavenly being. Only the meaning and the coherence decide whether the messenger is a heavenly or a human. When we then read in Revelation about the angel of the congregation to whom each of the letters was addressed to the seven churches, we must, on other grounds than the word itself, decide whether it is, let us say, the guardian angel of the congregation, an elder, bishop or any other human representative. Sometimes it is also very clear in the OT when it says Malak JHWH = Messenger of the LORD which then, of course, means the angel of the LORD. It is not said that this is always the same Angel, although there is something to be said for it. From the book of Daniel, we find the name of an angel: Gabriel. He appeared at a number of important moments as the bringer of messages to God's servants, also in the New Testament (Daniel 8:15 and 16, 9:21, Luke 1:19 and 26). His name means: the man of God or God has shown Himself power. Is he perhaps the Angel who spoke with Moses from the burning bush, on the mountain and in the tent of meeting?

Gabriel, however, also appears to have a task in the protection of Israel (Daniel 10:13 and 20-21). For God uses His angels to protect His people, and especially the believers in them, by surrounding them and fighting for them:

"The angel of the LORD encamps round about those who fear Him, and saves them." (Psalm 34: 8)

"When the servant of the man of God (Elisha) rose early in the morning and came out, behold, an army surrounded the city, both horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, Alas, my lord! What should we do? But he said: Fear not, for those who are with us are more numerous than those who are with them. Then Elisha prayed, "LORD, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked, and behold, the mountain was full of horses of fire, and chariots round about Elisha "(2 Kings 6: 15-17).

"My God sent his angel and shut up the mouths of the lions, and they did me no harm." (Daniel 6:23)

In the letter of Judas we find the name of an archangel: Michael. Is he the same as mentioned in Zechariah 3: 1-10? Incidentally, in Daniel there are also princes with the name Michaël. In one case it is a great prince at the Persian court (10:13 and 21), and in the other case the great prince (12: 1), the Messiah, whom we meet in Revelation 12: 7. Furthermore, there are several places in the Old Testament, where there is clearly talk of people (Numbers 13:13, 1 Chronicles 5:13 and 14, 6:40, 7: 3, 8:16, 12:20, 27:18; 2 Chronicles 21: 2, Ezra 8: 8).

God has made His Son available to the angels

In the New Testament we see how angels escorted and assisted the Lord Jesus, especially on or after critical moments, such as after the temptations in the desert and in Gethsemane, in the resurrection and ascension. The apostles also received help from angels (Acts 5:19, 12: 7). The Lord Jesus got them at his disposal to do what God told Him to do. When He returns, they will help Him in awakening the dead from the sleep of death, and gather them before Him:

"... at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his strength." (2 Thessalonians 1: 7)

"And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to another." (Matthew 24:31)

"The Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all that lead to sin." (Matthew 13:41)

Thanks for reading.
God bless you.
Shalom.

All text entries from the NBG Translation of 1951, unless otherwise stated
Photo by 广博 郝 on Unsplash

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