SPECIAL TOPIC: GUARDIAN ANGELS
- The Bible is silent on many aspects of the spiritual realm. There are hints about different kinds of angels.
- Heavenly council (see
SPECIAL TOPIC: HEAVENLY COUNCIL)
- National angels (cf. Deut. 32:8)
- Persia, Dan. 10:20
- Greece, Dan. 10:20
- Israel, Dan. 12:1
- Messenger angels
- theophany as the Angel of the Lord (see
SPECIAL TOPIC: Angel of the Lord )
- just angels (see Special Topic above)
- Devil angels (Rom. 8:38-39 used imagery for angels that separate, see
SPECIAL TOPIC: SPECIAL TOPIC: ANGELS AND DEMONS and
SPECIAL TOPIC: DEMONS IN THE OT)
- Angels connected to YHWH's presence
- Cherubim (see
SPECIAL TOPIC: CHERUBIM )
- Seraphim (
SPECIAL TOPIC: SERAPHIM)
- Angels that accompanied and protected Israel (as a whole) ‒ Exod. 14:19; 23:20; 32:34;
33:2; Ps. 34:8. The angel was a symbol of YHWH's personal presence, like the Shekinah cloud
(see
SPECIAL TOPIC: SHEKINAH)
- What about guardian angels for individuals?
- There is very little specific information, but some hints.
- Psalm 91:11
- Matthhew 18:10 (at lease for new believers)
- Acts 12:13-15
- Hebrews 1:14
- Angels helped Jesus during His time on earth
- Ps. 34:7; Matt. 4:6,11; Luke 4:10,11 (temptation in the wilderness)
- Matt. 26:53; Luke 22:43 (in Gethsemane)
- Believers must be careful about an overemphasis on reliance on angels (cf. Col. 2:18).
Believers have the indwelling Spirit.
- Why would we rely on angels?
- Humans can be tricked and tempted by evil angels.
- The rabbis were influenced by Persian Zoroastrianism, which developed a conflict in the
spiritual realm (Fravashi, lesser gods/spirits).
- see Encyclopaedia Judaica, vol. 2, p. 963
- see Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah
- The early church
- The first church father to develop this idea was Origen of Alexandria. He was followed by
Jerome. Both were influenced by the non-canonical book of The Shepherd of Hermas, which
circulated in the early church.
- This concept was further advocated by
- Augustine
- St. Thomas Aquinas
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