Understanding Angels Among Us, Pt 2, Ep 2-26
Welcome back! I am your host Dawn Simmons and in this episode of Conquering Our Unseen Enemies we are going to be discussing part two of the ways we are enabled to conquer Unseen and even Seen Enemies with the assistance of Heavenly Angels. We are going to continue to look at how angels have been revealed to us through the Bible to understand who they are and their role. I will again share a story of my experiences with seeing an angel working and how it felt to be in the room during it all.
Let’s do a quick recap of what we have discussed so far and then we will jump right into what the bible tells us. Remember we are only discussing Heavenly Angels.
· Angels are superior to humans in strength, intelligence, power and character. They have supernatural abilities and far exceed our level of knowledge, but they are not all knowing, all powerful nor omni present
· Angels are holy and have always been holy, created by God. Originally there were 3 companies of angels which were each led by an archangel. Two companies remain and are led by archangel Michael or archangel Gabriel.
· The third company of angels are fallen angels and are led by Satan
· Angels are known for their activities of praising, worshipping and carrying out God’s commands. Angels are interested in and many of their activities involve humans and our journey of becoming saved through our belief in Jesus.
· There are 3 types of Angels: Seraphim, Cherubim and Living Creatures
Alright, let’s get into our discussion for today and we are going to start with the last example from the Old Testament and that is Daniel. I love reading Daniel because it really gives us such a clear picture of what God is willing to do for those are faithful to seek Him. Daniel is unique, not many could be as consistently faithful so he is someone we can all learn from to build strength.
So we are reading Daniel 10: 2-14. At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. (So Daniel prayed for three week) I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.( that is significant because Daniel would appear before the king and you could not appear before the king not looking healthy and having your appearance be in order) On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, 5 I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. 6 His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude. I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. 8 So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. 9 Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground. A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling. Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes,(so the archangel Michael) came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. (referring to the Demon appointed by Satan over that territory, demons are territorial spirits) 14 Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.”
So in these few verses we learn a bit of how the spirit realm works, we see that Daniel’s prayer was set to be answered when he began praying. So don’t think God doesn’t hear you, He can respond the second we begin to pray. Also we learn that there is a hierarchy among the angels, they need to travel and will encounter obstacles in their work to fulfill and carry out what God has assigned them in response to our prayers. So don’t ever say God doesn’t answer your prayers or you align yourself with the enemy and your prayer is now inhibited because you didn’t have the faith Daniel had to keep praying for three weeks. He not only prayed but he was fasting throughout. Stand strong in your prayer request and let God work.
Let’s keep going and move on to the New Testament. We are going to Luke 1. Luke was written by Luke the physician who was Paul’s traveling companion. When Jesus died on the cross remember that Jesus gave his mother to John to care for going forward. Jesus did have brothers, but because his brothers were not believers at Jesus’ death he relied on John. After John’s exile to Patmos was pardoned, he lived out his life in Ephesus, which is where Mary was said to have lived as well and Luke is reported to have spent time interviewing Mary to get more information for his documentation of his writings. So we are going to start with the most important angel visitation in the Bible. Luke 1 reveals that the archangel Gabriel visited Mary in Nazareth to tell her she would conceive Jesus. I visited Nazareth earlier this year. It is located in a Palestinian territory and vastly different than when Jesus was there but you still find yourself caught up in the miracle of the location. Anyhow, here is what we are told in Luke 1, verse 26: In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, (Elizabeth was the mother of John the Baptist, and Mary’s older cousin) God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
Again, the angels are an integral part in the plan for our salvation. Mary didn’t pray for this, the Lord used the angels to bring about His plan for salvation and establish His kingdom that will never end.
Now let’s take a look at Mark 16 and see how God uses His angels: When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
God was using an angel to prepare the way for the disciples to see Jesus after the resurrection. Without the angel, it would have been devastating for the women to show up and likely no one would have remembered what Jesus had told them and who knows what could have happened in their distress looking for Jesus’ body. God is all about good communication.
Now we are moving to Acts 8 and this is one of my favorite stories. Philip and the Ethiopian. Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Philip was able to explain to the eunuch what he was reading and about Jesus, prompting the eunuch to want to be saved and baptized. Verse 36, As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” [37] [c] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. (Now here comes my favorite part) When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea. This story is unique because we learn something new about angels among us. Philip is traveling about, it’s not a populated area where this occurred and we are told an angel of the Lord tells Philip what to do, and then afterward Philip is whisked away, essentially transported, to another location to continue to preach. I’ve heard of a few occasions, and I mean 2, where this has happened in this last century. With God anything is possible, never naysay what you don’t understand when God wants to move. You can end up missing something He wanted to use you for to build His kingdom.
Let’s move into Acts 12, and take a look at what an angel did for Peter. 6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
There are times in our lives when we need a suddenly, and there are times when we need an action in the natural that can only be accomplished through the supernatural. I have lived some of those moments, have you? If you were living one now, would you recognize it? Don’t let anyone tell you God doesn’t move in the miraculous today, that it’s not for today. God is the same yesterday, today and forever, Hebrews 13:8. That is your response to someone who is closed minded and has no knowledge of who God is today.
We are going to spend a little time in the Book of Revelation now because we haven’t yet spoken about the third type of angels, the living creatures. I am going to give you eight scriptures which talk about their activities to come. Remember from Part 1 we discussed their appearance as having eyes all over them, so we at least have an “eye”dea what they look like. That was a bad pun by the way, but I couldn’t resist. Let’s read the scriptures and get an understanding of them. I’m going to just read the scriptures one after another.
Revelation 5:6: Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth
Revelation 5:8: And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.
Revelation 5:11: Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.
Revelation 5:14: The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Revelation 6:1: I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!”
Revelation 6:6: Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
Revelation 7:11: All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
Revelation 8:9: a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
While we are here to find answers regarding angels, reading those scriptures, and that is a small snapshot of all the scriptures, that almost leads us to more questions than answers. We know that the Bible reveals to us what we need to know to understand, but not everything we need to know to understand the entirety of God’s world. God doesn’t need us to understand so we have to understand what he allows us to see and from what I see with these living creatures they look specialized, they have a distinct appearance for some purpose we can’t understand today, they have a place of significance in our future, they have control or an authority over aspects of end times, they are full of worship, they are in association with the elders.
A lot of what is in the Book of Revelation is more difficult to understand because it is so foreign to us, but don’t let that intimidate you. The Book of Revelation is fascinating and it may take a few reads to get it down but that’s okay, spend some time there and you will gain an understanding of heaven and see Jesus in a way few understand.
I want to tell you the story of my father-in-law. I haven’t shared this with but a handful of people in my life. Not many would believe it, but that’s not my concern at this point. If you have made it this far, then chances are you will appreciate what I am sharing.
This happened about 8 years ago. My father-in-law was sick for a while, cancer. He was a good man, a very good man. He had a difficult childhood that he didn’t speak of often. He and his sister were foster children at a young age and were placed in a facility run by the catholic church. It was a miserable childhood. They were separated so he was alone and was treated horribly. As an adult it made him turn away from any form of religion. In his last few years, however, he began to ask my husband questions. He was seeking, and I think trying to reconcile what he experienced with who God is and I think that’s understandable. Fast forward to the last year of his life and he did start reading the Bible, talking more, asking more. It was exciting to see, but he would always stop just short. Trust was an issue with him and he struggled to trust a God he didn’t fully know or understand.
On April 27, 2015, my mother-in-law called my husband and said, I think it’s time, you need to get here quickly. They lived about 3 hours or so from us, so we left as quickly as we could and got there around 1:30. When we arrived at the house, Tom, was in a hospital bed in the living room. He had been there for a few months I think, it’s hard to remember. We were the first to arrive that day so only my mother-in-law was there. As soon as we walked in the house, I felt the presence of something. It took me a minute to orient myself but I knew we were not alone, someone else was there, someone strong and good. I told my husband, but under the circumstances I don’t know how much he heard. It was an emotional time when we entered the house, my father-in-law was in a medically induced coma so that he could pass peacefully in his sleep. As my husband and his mom talked, I stepped back to the side to try to understand what I was feeling and as I looked around the room I could see there were angels circling above Tom. They were waiting on something as they looked at Tom. At first glance you might assume they were waiting on Tom but there was more to it than that. I looked down at Tom in the hospital bed and that’s when I realized what the angels were doing. They were watching. There was an exchange going on between Tom and an another angel that looked like a man, a higher-ranking angel based on his dress. Remember in the first episode when we talked about Isaiah 6 and he gave the description of the train of the Lord’s robe filling the temple, well this angel wore a robe that defied how material lays or gathers in our world. There were folds on folds on folds of material but it was as if it multiplied in the folds because material does not lay like that. When I was a kid, my mom would sew and I would go to the store with her shopping for material on bolts so I’m familiar with how material can be manipulated to create folds but that’s not what this was. The length of the robe was just to his feet. He was older than most angels I have seen or heard about. His robe was decorated with blue silk embroidery and tassels along the collar and down the front edges of the robe. The only thing I can remember seeing that I understood was pomegranates. The robe was unbelievably beautiful, amazingly white. The angel knew I was there, knew I could see him, but never looked at me. His focus was on Tom. He was speaking with Tom because his time was near. This angel had one job and he was intent on fulfilling it. He was giving Tom the opportunity to accept Jesus. Remember Tom was in a coma so he was not in a position to do it fully conscious. I could tell there was back and forth, Tom was finally getting answers, answers beyond what we were able to provide. I remember him asking me once, how do you know that he is. All I could say was because He said He was I AM, and showed him in the Bible where God calls himself I AM. The angel and Tom spoke for what was a few hours in our time. I only know that by the change of lighting in the room. People came in during and stood next to Tom where the angel was but it didn’t change anything. There was a lot of conversation, the later it got, the more people came. Then without any indication, the angel was gone. The angels above were still there, they were more animated. At one point a few people left and it was quieter. My husband took his phone and pulled up a Johnny Cash song and placed it by Tom’s ear, it was his favorite. My husband kept coming back to spend those moments with Tom and tell him he loved him, then he would go back to his mom. During this Johnny Cash song, however, Tom woke up, he woke up long enough to look at my husband, say I love you and close his eyes again and go back to sleep.
By about 8 or so that night everyone left and made plans to come back in the morning. Me, my mother-in-law and my husband sat in the living room and talked. Around 9:30, I decided to leave them alone with Tom and I went to read the Bible in the room we were staying in for the night. At 10, Don asked his mom how she was going to handle being alone, she said she would be okay and then they no longer heard him breathing and I hear my mother-in-law scream my name. I came running and they were standing beside Tom, I came up to him, checked for vital signs and dreaded having to look up to them and tell them he was gone, confirming what I know they knew. The rest of the night was a whirlwind of activity.
I don’t recall if we left the next day to get back to the kids or if we stayed a day but I do remember that it was pretty quiet as we were driving back and my husband was praying. He didn’t know all the details of what I saw because I hadn’t had time to tell him but he asked the Lord if his dad was with Him, and the Lord gave him a loud and clear “Yes” and that was all he needed.
God uses his angels for His purposes and they complete what the Lord sends them to do. Never discount God just because you can’t see it. I was the only one who saw those angels. I was the only one who saw the conversation, but if I had not been there it would have still happened. We just had the benefit of seeing God at work through his angels. No circumstance is too small or too large for I AM.
I hope you have enjoyed our time discussing heavenly angels and I hope it has helped to build your understanding. We cannot fully conquer our unseen enemies until we understand everything the Holy Spirit makes available to us. If you know anyone who might benefit from this, please share.
As always let’s discuss our Top Show Points:
· Part 2 of our discussion of heavenly angels
· Recap of most important parts of Part 1
· Daniel 10 and the angel appearing in response to Daniel’s prayer
· Luke 1 and the angel appearing to Mary regarding the birth of Jesus
· Acts 8 with Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch
· Acts 12 with Peter getting out of jail
· The book of Revelation and the living creatures: 5:6, 5:8, 5:11, 5:14, 6:1, 6:6, 7:11, 8:9
· The story of my father-in-law passing
We encourage you:
· To have an active Bible reading plan, it will be helpful in gaining wisdom and understanding and it is required for the gift of spiritual discernment
· If you want to learn more about how to Hear God's Voice, take a look at my book, Loving Conversations: How to Pray and Hear God's Voice. There is also a Study Guide available and two new devotionals out based on the Loving Conversations Book. One devotional is for women and one is for men.
· Class coming up 8/2 based on the Loving Conversations book on how to hear God’s Voice, sign up at lovingconversationssalo.com
I have enjoyed our time this week and look forward to spending time with you again next week!
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