Dangerous fascination with angels

Jun 08

servantGod Thoughts , , , No Comments

This has been on my heart and mind for a while now. I never really understood the fascination with angels, but I know that in the 90′s there was a huge surge of interest in angels, and it seems like it’s back again. I’m thinking of some “revivals” that were all about angels, and some “preachers” that lend more weight to angels than to Jesus. I believe in angels, I love angels, and yes, they are a curiosity because they are like, yet very much unlike, people. But there are some very unhealthy doctrines being bandied about regarding angels, and I think that as Bible-believing Christians we really need to question this stuff because it can so very easily take our focus off of Jesus, and distract us with cool/flashy/hip things like angels and what they’re doing around us.

Since angels are in the Bible, I whole-heartedly believe in them. Absolutely and without question. What I do question is what people describe as the purpose of angels. I question this need to describe the angelic hierarchy, to categorize them, to find out their names, to talk with them, pray to them, or order them about like they are our own personal genies. We have been told to worship God, yet I believe that what a lot of people are doing is worshipping angels.

The definition of “worship” is: adoration, reverence, devotion. When people focus on angels, seek after them, talk to them, concentrate on them, then they are, in essence, worshipping them. There is a stern warning about worshipping angels, and people who read their Bibles would know it:

“Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”” (Rev 22:8-9, NKJV)

John was told not to worship the angel who had shown him such amazing and wonderful things as indicated in the book of Revelations. Why then would we think it is ok to give angels this same reverence and adoration today when it wasn’t ok to do it 2000 years ago?

As with all things, the Bible is our litmus test. So what does the Bible say about angels? It doesn’t talk much about angelic hierarchies, and very few angels are named. But it clearly says that angels are messengers of God, that they lead or prepare the way according to God’s Will, and that they also stand in the way, hinder, and destroy certain things — again, according to God’s Will. Angels are always met with reverence — not only because they are supernatural beings, but because they were a manifestation of the Will of God, because they brought God’s message to people. Heb 1:14 says that angels are “ministering spirits” . Psalms 91:11 and Psalms 103:20 say that angels do God’s commands, not ours. Matt 13:41 indicates that Jesus commands angels, not us.
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