Angels in the Bible lll

   843. Hebrews 1:14 says angels are "ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation." As such they come to our aid and offer help where they can to make our lives better. They are spiritual beings that remain invisible.

   844. A "heavenly host" is not merely a bunch of angels. The term means an "angel army." The heavenly host that came upon the shepherds when Jesus was born was singing and praising God, but they were a "company" of God's army of angels nonetheless.

   845. Jacob's vision depicts the angels as being lined up on an immense ladder that stretches between the earth and the heavens (Gen. 28:12-15). God looks down and sees us and watches as the angels bring their messages from Him.

   846. There is a hierarchical organization  of angels, though it is uncertain exactly what that might look like. There are seven angels in God's presence that surround the throne. These angels are constantly worshiping their Creator.

   847. Saint Denis the Areopagite wrote a treatise called "DeCoelesti Hierarchia" that claims there are defined levels and ranks of angels. However, his work was largely unaccepted except for that pertaining to choirs of angels. The church heartily accepts this idea but does not make believing in varying levels of angels a requirement.

   848. Gregory the Great demonstrated what the early church believed concerning angels with his comments: "There are nine orders of angels, viz., Angels, Archangels, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Dominations, Throne, Cherubim, Seraphim." He based this on the apostle Paul's findings as well as other Scriptures.

  

Angels in the Bible ll

   838. People had forgotten what cherubim signified by Jesus' time, and the historian Josephus wrote in the first century A.D. that "no one can tell what they were like." Now archaeology has unearthed much of the forgotten past of the Biblical world, and it is believed that a cherub was a small wing-bearing lion with a human head, in other words a sphinx. This was the winged creature most often portrayed in Canaanite art, and Canaanite kings are often shown seated on thrones supported by two cherubim. The Israelites may have adapted the cherubim to make a throne for the invisible presence of God.

   839. Angels have three important responsibilities: to attend God's Holy Throne, to protect people, and to serve as messengers carrying special news or tidings. They are worshipful beings that serve God by carrying out His wishes through these three main roles.

   840. Daniel gives a prophetic picture of what attending the throne of the Almighty God appears like:


               The Ancient of Days took His seat.
               His clothing was as white as snow;
                  the hair of His head was white like wool...
               A river of fire was flowing,
                  coming out from before Him.
               Thousands upon thousands attended Him;
                  ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.
                                                                      
                                                                            Daniel 7:9-10


Angels are all around God, worshiping Him.

841. Guardian angels are spoken of throughout the Bible. Abraham spoke of God sending His angel before His servant Elias as the steward went to seek out a wife for Abraham's son Isaac. Psalm 91:11-12 also speaks of watchful angels:

               For He will command His angels concerning you
                  to guard you in all your ways;
               they will lift you up in their hands,
                  so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

842. As messengers the angels communicate God's will to us. They serve as rescuers (such as when Lot was saved from Sodom); as bearers of great tidings (to Mary concerning the birth of Jesus); to instruct prophets (Daniel was given detailed direction from "the man Gabriel"). Angels are mediators who pass along messages God has for His people.

Angels in the Bible l

   832. The word angel comes from the Greek word aggelos (pronounced angelos) and means "messenger." In the Bible this is the form used in almost every mention of angels except one-in Luke 20:36 (KJV) where the phrase reads "equal unto the angels," or the Greek word isaggelos, which means "like an angel or angelic."

   833. Angels are beings that are created as "intermediate" beings between God and man. They are created beings by God, making them lower, but Psalm 8:5 states that man was made a little lower than the angels.

   834. There are more than three hundred references to angels in the Bible. They play an important role and are seen in some of the most famous Bible stories, including the Christmas story.

   835. An angel is neither a god nor a human. Angels are spirits, as Hebrews say: [they are] ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation."

   836. The first mention of angels in the Bible is when Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden after the fall. "They are banished from Eden, and Eden is protected by cherubim", angels that are depicted elsewhere as winged bulls or lions with human heads.

   837. Cherubim are symbolic attendants to places of the Lord's "enthronement" on earth in the Old Testament. They guard the Garden of Eden and the Ark of the Covenant.

  

Culture Shock between the Ages lll

   827. Jesus took no public stand against slavery, racism, class warfare, state-sponsored terrorism, military occupation, or corruption in government in the Gospels. He spoke not a word against abortion or infanticide, homosexuality or the exploitation of women and children. Of all the social evils of His day, Jesus spoke out against the pharisees and their spiritual corruption.

   828. One sacrifice that only the women gave to the Lord was offered after the birth of a child: "When the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering" (Lev. 12:6).

    829. Jewish women were perhaps less active in temple or synagogue worship than later in history. Although there was a special area at the temple known as the "court of women," women were not allowed to go into the inner court. Sources other than the Bible indicate that women did not read the Torah or recite prayers in the synagogue, but they could sit and listen in the special women's area.

   830. A different picture unfolds in the early Christian church. Luke 8:1-3 indicates that Jesus welcomed some women as traveling companions. He encouraged Martha and Mary to sit at His feet as disciples.

   831. After Jesus ascended into Heaven, several women met with the other disciples in the upper room to pray. Both men and women gathered at the home of John Mark's mother to pray for the release of Peter; and both men and women prayed regularly in the church at Corinth (which is why Paul gave instructions to both men and women about how to pray in public).

Culture Shock between the Ages ll

   821. In the East the custom of arranged marriages goes back to early Old Testament times. When Esau married against his parents' wishes, he caused Isaac and Rebekah grief. Why did parents insist on their right to select a bride for their son? The new bride became a member of the bridegroom's clan, and the whole family had a vested interest in knowing if she would be a good fit. There is evidence that sometimes the son or daughter was consulted, as in Rebekah's case when she was asked if she was willing to go and become the wife of Isaac (Gen. 24:58).

   822. What's love got to do with it? Eastern peoples consider love between husband and wife very much like westerners do between brother and sister. It is believed that husbands and wives should love one another because God chose them for each other through the selection of their parents. Love comes after marriage. There are some exceptions to the rule. The case of Jacob and Rachel is the most notable example. For Jacob it was love at first sight (Gen. 29:10-18).

   823. For centuries it has been possible for a husband in Arab lands to divorce his wife by a spoken word. When the wife is divorced, she is entitled to all her wearing apparel, and the husband cannot take anything from her that she has on her body. For this reason, coins on the headgear, rings, and necklaces became an important source of wealth in time of a woman's need. Such customs of divorce were no doubt prevalent in Gentile lands during Old Testament times. A woman was not allowed to divorce her husband.

   824. A husband must give a written certificate of divorce (Deut. 24:1) to his wife in order to divorce her. This is so that she may remarry. The prophet Malachi taught that God hated divorce and severely condemned any man who dealt treacherously with the wife of his covenant (Mal. 2:14-16).

   825. The sin of adultery did not have anything to do with divorce under the Jewish law. Adultery was punishable by death or stoning (Lev. 20:10). A man who was guilty of unfaithfulness was considered a criminal only in that he had invaded the rights of another man. Jesus swept away all grounds for divorce under the law, and made unfaithfulness the lone grounds for divorce for New Testament Christians (Matt. 5:31-32).

   826. Prostitutes often appear in the stories of the Bible. There were two kinds of prostitutes in the Hebrew Scriptures. There were "cultic prostitutes" of the Canaanite religion, but Rahab, the prostitute in Jericho, was a zonah, which is Hebrew for a common prostitute. Rahab was the prostitute who hid Israelite spies and later dangled a red cord out her window to mark her house for protection during the conquest of Jericho. New Testament genealogy in Matthew lists Rahab as the mother of Boaz, who married Ruth and is an ancestor of David, as well as Jesus.

  

  

  

Culture Shock between the Ages l

   815. The Bible speaks about miracles without making apology or even changing its tone. In other words, it doesn't anticipate skepticism. It considers the whole creation rather miraculous. Its writers show the same awe for a sunrise as for a day when the sun stands still.

   816. Male-female relationships in the Bible do-compared to our present-day standards-put women in a subordinate position to men. But when the Bible is compared to the standards of the day in which it was written, it continually gave women a better place in life than that culture allowed them. 

   817. A modern atheist says that he or she doesn't believe ion God-not gods. Antiquity knew no such atheists. Everyone and every nation had a god of their own, and usually more than one. The proclamation of monotheism must have sounded very strange to the surrounding cultures of that time.

   818. The issue of intermarriage is still a divisive and emotional question among contemporary Jews because it defines who is a Jew. According to Jewish law, a Jew is one who is born to a Jewish mother or is converted to Judaism.

   819. The Mosaic law allowed polygamy (more than one wife) among the Hebrew people. Wives were given certain protections against abuses and there were various regulations regarding these marriages. There was among the Israelites, however, a marked tendency toward monogamy (only one wife). The main reason may have been that the custom of having more than one wife was too expensive people.

   820. The Mosaic law did forbid multiple wives for the kings of Israel with the warning that the king's heart would be led astray (Deut. 17:17). The cause of much trouble in the lives of David and Solomon, as well as Ahab, was that they followed the example of the kings in their day of taking many heathen wives, (sometimes many concubines) rather than obeying God's law. Men like Adam, Noah, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, and Job had only one wife.

  

  

 

Sickness and Death ll

   810. Relatives and friends continued their laments from the time the death wail was heard until the burial. The prophet Micah compared it to the cry of wild beasts or birds. During these lamentations, loved ones exclaimed their sorrow, repeating words over and over as David did when he mourned the death of Absalom: "O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you-O Absalom, my son, my son!" (2 Sam. 18:33).

   811. Professional mourners, who were called in at the time of sorrow to express mourning for the dead, are mentioned by the Hebrew prophets: "Call for the mourning women, that they may come;...And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us (Jer. 9:17-18 KJV). Professional wailers were hired like singers would be for a Western funeral.

   812. Sackcloth was worn, and they often tore their garments in order to let people know the depth of their grief (2 Sam. 3:31). Even today mourners will cry freely and beat their breasts to express sorrow. It is interesting to note, however, that priests were not allowed to rip their clothes even to mourn a parent's death.

   813. Burial follows death quickly, usually the same day. The people of these regions have a primitive idea that the spirit of the one who dies hovers near the body for three days after death. Mourners believe this spirit is able to hear the wailing calls of grief. Martha, no doubt, thought it would be hopeless to think of reviving her brother's body, because he had been dead four days (John 11:39).

   814. Three classes of Arabs are found in Palestine. The nomad or Bedouin Arabs are shepherds who live in tents. The peasant or Fellahin Arabs are farmers and usually live in villages in one-room houses. City or Belladin  Arabs do business in the larger cities. The Belladin Arabs have come in contact with Western civilization and their manners and customs have undergone many changes. The peasant farmers. however, have changed customs very little and the Bedouins have adopted almost no changes.