ANGELS

GENERAL INFORMATION
Angels are heavenly sons of God (Job 1:6, Job 38:7, Ps.89:5-6). The classes of angels are:
Cherubs/Cherubim (Genesis 3:24, Exodus 25:18-20)
Seraphs/Seraphim (Isaiah 6:2,6) and
Archangel (1 Thessalonians 4:16, Jude 9)
One angel is actually mentioned by name in canonical scripture: Gabriel. (Daniel 8:16, Daniel 9:21, Luke 1:19,26) Other angels refused to give their names when asked. (Judges 13:17-18) Angels do work that God assigns to them (Genesis 19:1-17, 32:1, Matthew 4:11, Galatians 3:19). Angels were already in existence when the Earth was created (Job 38:1-7). Angels have free will, for they are capable of sin (Genesis 6:1-4, 2 Peter 2:4-5). Those who sinned were punished (1 Peter 3:19-20, 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6). More miscellaneous angel references in the bible in order of biblical books: Genesis 16:7-10, Exodus 3:2, Numbers 22:22, Judges 6:11-22, Matthew 1:20-24, Acts 5:17-20, Acts 12: 1-11

GUARDIAN ANGELS
The concept of "Guardian Angels" comes from various scriptures in the bible. The first one is at Matthew 18:10 which states (New Life Version)

Be sure you do not hate one of these little children. I tell you, they have angels who are always looking into the face of My Father in heaven.

A second one, which seems to be aimed at adults, is at Hebrews 1:14, which states (New Life Version)

Are not all the angels spirits who work for God? They are sent out to help those who are to be saved from the punishment of sin.

Others can be found at Exodus 23:20, Psalms 34:7, and Psalms 91:11.

Do these scriptures indicate there are angels assigned to each of us to protect us from harm? Only to a certain extent. For example, in the story at Genesis 19:1-21, God sent two angels to a man named Lot in order to protect Lot and his family from God's wrath against the city of Sodom. At Genesis 21:17-19 God sent an angel to to deliver a young boy from death in the desert.

Although the bible clearly shows that God sends angels to protect us, we must realize that angels aren't assigned to protect us if we are doing something dangerously stupid or sinful. For example, if we act wrecklessly, essentially testing God, we will not be protected (Matthew 4:5-7). If we are sinning and get hurt in the process, we will not be protected (Proverbs 22:8, Galatians 6:7-8, Romans 6:23 ). The bible makes it clear that if we make bad choices, then we deserve the consequences that come (Proverbs 1:32, 14:12, 16:25 ).

Therefore, even though angels are assigned to protect faithful believers, they are not assigned to protect us from our own bad choices. Think carefully about these things next time you are talking on a cell phone while driving, riding your bike without a helmet, in bed with a married lover, or any other situation in which you've made a wreckless choice.

ARCHANGEL

It is interesting to note that the term "Archangel" is never used in the plural throughout canonical scripture, indicating there is only one. There are only two references in canonical scripture that mention the Archangel. Who is he? According to Jude 9 his name is "Michael". Some say that Michael is actually Jesus. What do the scriptures say about this? At 1 Thessalonians 4:16 it states (Wycliffe New Testament):

"For the Lord himself shall come down from heaven, in the commandment, and in the voice of an archangel [in the commanding, and in the voice of the archangel], and in the trump of God; and the dead men that be in Christ, shall rise again first."

This scripture indicates that Jesus speaks with the Archangel's voice, showing that he is the Archangel. This is supported in Matthew 24:30-31. It isn't proper to say Jesus would have the voice of someone in lesser authority to him, if indeed Michael were someone else. We say this because Christ has been given all authority from God (1 Corinthians 15:27), and so all others (except the Father Himself) would be in lesser authority. Other scriptures to back this up: According to Daniel 10:13 Michael is referred to as a foremost prince, Daniel 10:21 speaks of Michael being the prince of the people, and Daniel 12:1 refers to Michael as a great prince who'll stand in behalf of the people. Compare these with Revelation 12:7-12 which speaks of Michael battling with the dragon and winning. These all connect with references to Jesus: Isaiah 9:6-7 prophesies Jesus being the Prince of Peace (Michael vanquishing the dragon would give peace), and Revelation 19:11-19 prophesies Christ being the one to stand up for rule. Also, since according to scripture the Father is King (Matthew 5:34-35) and the Son is in lesser authority, thus a prince (1 Corinthians 11:3), this would make Jesus the crown prince of Yahweh's kingdom - the prince of all princes.

ANGEL WORSHIP
The bible makes it known that angels are not supposed to be worshipped. This is made clear when the apostle John was having a conversation with an angel and attempted to bow down to the angel at Revelation 19:10 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Then I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "Don't do that! I am a fellow slave with you and your brothers who have the testimony about Jesus. Worship God, because the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

and also at Revelation 22:8-9 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown them to me. 9 But he said to me, "Don't do that! I am a fellow slave with you, your brothers the prophets, and those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."

The prohibition against angel worship is also mentioned at Colossians 2:18, which states (King James Version):

Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind

The bible makes is clear that God, The Father, is the only one who is to be given worship at shown at Deuteronomy 10:20. This concept is supported in the New Testament as shown by Christ's own words at Matthew 4:10, in which he stated (Contemporary English Version):

Jesus answered, "Go away Satan! The scriptures say: Worship the Lord your God and serve only Him".


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