The Unseen Messengers of God
By H. E. Sawyer-Hopkins
ANGELS existed before man was created. They are God's messengers, or officers, stationed around His throne, to be sent forth to oversee His affairs on earth,—to minister to the needs of His children, and defend them from the adversary, the devil, who is going to and fro, up and down the earth, seeking whom he may devour. Angels are not spirits in the sense of being phantoms, as some suppose. Isaiah describes them as real, personal, material beings, though not of the same nature as man, for man is lower than the angels. These angel messengers have appeared upon the earth, and conversed and eaten with man. We read of Abraham and Lot providing food for these angelic visitors. There is an innumerable company that comprise this angelic host. Christ mentions twelve legions—a bout fifty thousand—that He might pray the Father to send to His help if needed. John, in his view of heaven, saw ten thousand times ten thousand—one hundred million; and the prophet adds, “and thousands of thousands”—a vast multitude indeed, that constitute the heavenly family, to be dispatched by God in carrying out His commands in any part of His dominion. They are swift to carry messages. Ezekiel informs us that they come as a flash of lightning. They are also of great strength. We read that a single angel slew in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000. When one appeared at Christ's tomb to roll away the stone, there followed a mighty earthquake, and soldiers fell as dead men. When Peter was in prison, bound with chains, between two soldiers, an angel simply touched the chains, and quickly they fell from Peter's hands. The angel passed on ahead, and the great iron gate opened, and Peter went out. As we think of this innumerable company, clothed in garments of dazzling brilliancy, with which those of no earthly monarch can compare, is it any wonder that when they appeared on earth at times, those who saw them fell as dead men? Every child of God has a guardian angel. David tells us, “For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” In any conflict with the wily foe, “the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.” What a privilege that we can have the companionship of these heavenly visitors to comfort, to guide, and to protect us from danger, both seen and unseen!