A Daily Walk

Guest (Male): According to the Bible, angels exist. In fact, there were over 260 references to them throughout scripture. From the story of creation in Genesis to the description of the end times in Revelation, angels actively participate in the affairs of this world and heaven. However, they are widely misunderstood.

So, here today on A Daily Walk, Pastor John Randall will point to the truth about angels as our study in Hebrews continues. Let's find out who they really are and the one who is even better than angels. We're in Hebrews chapter one.

John Randall: Let's open our Bibles now to the book of Hebrews chapter one. Hebrews chapter one, I want to draw your attention to verse four as we pick up where we left off.

"Having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You'? And again, 'I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son'? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, 'Let all the angels of God worship Him.' And of the angels He says, 'Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire.' But to the Son He says, 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.'"

The letter to the Hebrews was written to a group of Jewish believers who had come to faith in Christ. I remember reading many years ago one commentator saying that the letter to the Hebrews was telling the Hebrews to stop being Hebrews. In deciding to follow Jesus, these Jewish believers became part of the church, which was actually made of both Jews and Gentiles. They were now becoming one body in Christ.

Because Jesus had died on the cross and risen from the dead, they were able to now lay aside their former religious practices, such as the sacrificial system. There is no need to offer any sacrifices anymore in the temple because Jesus was the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world. That old covenant is now done away with. There is a new covenant that has come as a result of the work of Christ on the cross.

But this change of life, this following after Jesus, resulted in persecution in their newfound faith. They were seen as violators of the Jewish law. Consequently, many of them were no longer welcomed among their family members or even in their communities. With all of the discouragement, some of them began to go back—go back to the sacrificial system, go back to the rituals, go back to the old covenant once again.

The writer, being greatly concerned for these believers who were now settling for less than the best, builds a case pointing out that Jesus is better. Jesus is better than anything that you would go back to. Going back to what they had been delivered out of was less than God's best for them. Therefore, the letter opens up, as we saw last week, with this overarching theme initially of the supremacy of Christ—the greatness of Jesus.

Pointing out first of all that Jesus is better or greater than the prophets of the Old Testament. Now, the prophets had powerful ministries. They spoke messages to the people on behalf of God and they spoke to God on behalf of the people. The words they wrote were supernaturally inspired. However, they did not compare to Jesus—not even in the same category.

Why is that? Well, we found out that Jesus is the heir of all things. He is the creator of all things. He is the brightness of the Father's glory. He is the express image of God. He holds up everything by the word of His power. He alone purged our sins when He died for us on the cross. The writer tells us that Jesus completed the work when He sat down at the right hand of the Father. The work of salvation and redemption was done. It is finished. No prophet could compare to Jesus.

Now the writer continues to emphasize the greatness, the superiority of Jesus, citing that He is not only greater than all the Old Testament prophets, but He is also greater than the angels—better than the angels. That is why in verse four it says, "having become so much better than the angels." Angels are mentioned over 100 times in the Old Testament and more than 160 times estimated in the New Testament.

The Bible does give us some insight into the character and the nature of angels. Angels are created personal spiritual beings that have intelligence, emotions, and a will. This is true both of good and bad, evil angels known as demons. They both have these characteristics. They exist in vast numbers according to scripture. The Bible says in Hebrews, for example, that there are countless thousands of angels.

In Revelation chapter five, it says there are myriad of myriads of angels, perhaps implying millions upon millions. Some believe that there could be as many angels in existence as the total number of human beings in all of history. They base this particular theory on Matthew chapter 18, verse 10, where it says, "Beware that you do not look down on any of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father."

Therefore, they say the passage seems to suggest that individual people or children have guardian angels to protect them. It is possible that Jesus was only speaking here in general terms, but suffice it to say there is a lot—there are a lot of angels. In most cases, they are invisible, but there are times when the Bible does give us a description of them.

We know first of all that the Bible describes different classifications of angels. Some angels are referred to as the cherubim and the seraphim. Let me just say they are not these little chubby things that fly around that you see depicted, little babies with little wings. That is not an accurate description. I think when we get to heaven they're going to be like, "See, that was totally wrong." Sorry people depicting these little Cupid-looking things; that is not what they are.

Cherubim primarily, the Bible says, attend the throne of God as guards. While it seems that the seraphim are around the throne and they worship and praise God. This is based of course on Ezekiel chapter one, chapter 10 of Ezekiel, and Isaiah chapter six. But the Bible also speaks of angels of light and it also speaks of fallen angels. In certain cases in scripture, when angels are visible, they have had a human-like appearance and are often mistaken for men.

The Lord had allowed them to be seen in that way. Perhaps that is why the Bible says be careful when you entertain strangers, for some have entertained angels unaware. You hear stories over in Christendom of, "Oh, there was this one time I changed this guy's tire and I looked around and he was gone." It actually wasn't me; it was my aunt's cousin's nephew that it happened to, twice removed.

Somebody has this story of they saw an angel and it is totally possible. The Bible says that, and so I think it is very probable that it can happen. But you always hear that story floating around, and it's just great, and I believe that it's probably true; it happened somewhere. Other cases, there are radiant and shining powerful lights that come from angels. Still at other points, they have wings and tremendous power as they are described.

There are only a few angels that are mentioned in the Bible by name: Michael the archangel, Gabriel, and Lucifer, who is also the devil. We know that there are different rankings of angels that are revealed in scripture. Paul described them in the book of Ephesians and he described them in military standings—that they are engaged in constant spiritual battles in heavenly places.

Scriptures also give us some detail into the role that angels play or the job that they have. Here is what the Bible says that angels are involved with. First of all, angels continuously worship God. In Isaiah chapter six, verse three, it says, "And one called to another and said, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.'" Angels there, Isaiah sees this picture of them worshipping around the throne of God.

Revelation chapter four also gives us a similar description. It says the four living creatures, describing these angels, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. They do not rest day or night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come." So angels worship God. We also know that angels communicate and have communicated in scripture God's message to man.

An example of this would be in the book of Acts chapter seven, where angels, it says, assisted in presenting the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. It was there in Acts chapter seven, verse 38, that it says, "This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles given to us."

We also find in the Old Testament the prophet Daniel was spoken to by an angel when he received the prophetic message from God. In Daniel chapter 10, as Daniel was praying and interceding on behalf of his nation, the Lord sent a messenger to Daniel and it says this: "Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. And he said to me, 'O Daniel, greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.'"

"While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling. Then he said to me, 'Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard and I have come because of your words.'" Daniel received a prophetic message from the angels that God sent to him. The birth of Christ, we find that the angels delivered divine birth announcements to Mary, to Joseph, to Zacharias, and to the shepherds.

But the third thing we see angels doing in scripture is ministering to believers. In Psalm 34, verse seven, it says, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them." In Psalm 91, in verse 11 and 12, it says, "For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone."

One example of this that I could cite is found in Second Kings in chapter six, in verse 16. You may remember that story. Elisha the prophet had been sharing intel about what the king of Syria was doing without ever being around the king of Syria. The Lord was revealing to him what was happening. The king of Syria thought that there was a traitor in the midst of the army, but then he found out there was a prophet named Elisha who had been giving away their coordinates and where they were.

So he says, "We need to go get this guy." They came down to the city of Dothan and there was Elisha and his servant. It says that all the armies of Syria surrounded the city and the servant comes out of the tent and he tells Elisha, "Hey, we are surrounded. This is not good. Look around, the army." This is what Elisha said to him: "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

Elisha prayed and he said, "Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." The Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. He had this glimpse of the angelic army of God surrounding them and protecting them. Maybe you recall when we were studying through the book of Acts how we saw how Peter had been placed in prison and he was sentenced to death by King Herod.

But in the middle of the night, the church had been praying around the clock for his deliverance, and it says then an angel went to Peter, woke him up, led him out of the prison, and he was delivered. We also know from scripture that angels rejoice when people get saved. Did you know that? In Luke chapter 15, verse 10, it says, "Likewise I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Just one. All the angels break out in heaven. They just start going. Something happens—another sinner to heaven, somebody's gotten saved and they rejoice. Powerful. But the Bible also seems to indicate that the angels have something to do in coming for those in death. Jesus mentions this in Luke chapter 16, verse 22, in telling the story of Lazarus and the rich man.

He says, "So it was when the beggar died—whose name was Lazarus by the way, Jesus tells us that—he was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried." In that case, the angels came and they took him there, it says. We also find out from scripture that angels assist in the judgment of the world during the tribulation period and the gathering at the second coming.

In the book of Revelation, the angels we read of open the seal judgments, they're involved in the trumpet judgments, the bowl judgments of God. They're also described as assisting in the separating of people like wheat from chaff. Now, with all that background on angelic beings, as powerful and as radiant as angels are, the writer of Hebrews emphasizes that Jesus is superior and immeasurably greater than the angels.

Keep this in mind. The Hebrew believers were feeling the pressure of persecution to deny Jesus Christ. If they would simply compromise and confess that Jesus was a powerful angel, they could skip the consequences. It was a real temptation. A simple change of emphasis on the person of Christ from being God to an angel and they'd be spared the suffering. This is what they were dealing with.

Now, to prove his point that Jesus was better than the angels, the writer of Hebrews highlights seven quotations from the Old Testament, all of which prove the superiority of Jesus above the angels. How do we know that Jesus is better than the angels? Because Jesus is the Son of God. Look at verse four: "Having become so much better than the angels, He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You'? And again, 'I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son'?"

Jesus has a greater and more excellent name than the angels because the angels are created beings; Jesus is the Son of God. According to Jewish thought, a person's name revealed their nature and could express their rank or their status. Jesus had the title "the Son" from all eternity. This is who He is. He's not an angelic created being; He's the Son of God.

To prove this point, the writer quotes here from two Old Testament passages together. He links them together. The first is found in verse five. He quotes here from Psalm chapter two, verse seven: "For to which of the angels did He ever say, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You'?" Psalm two was already a famous Messianic psalm understood to be fulfilled in the future day by a descendant of David who would be crowned the king.

The only person that fits that bill is Jesus Christ. He's the Son—Son of David, Son of Abraham, Son of God. Jesus alone has the exalted name as the begotten Son. Therefore, He is superior to the angels. The second Old Testament passage that He quotes from is found here in verse five, and He's quoting from Second Samuel chapter seven, verse 14, where it says, "or again"—implying to which of the angels did God ever say—"I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son?"

This passage, Second Samuel chapter seven, is a well-known Messianic passage that is referred to as the Davidic Covenant. It means an agreement between God and David, meaning a promise that God made to King David concerning his future posterity. Do you remember what happened there in Second Samuel seven? It was when Nathan the prophet informed David that one of his descendants would eventually come far down the family tree.

He would be the Messiah. He would be the king that would rule and reign forever. David received that promise and he said, "Lord, let it be according to your word." Jesus fulfilled that prophetic promise and the writer of Hebrews points to that passage and says that makes Jesus superior to the angels. That's why the New Testament, when you read Luke's Gospel chapter one and the birth announcement comes through the angel Gabriel, do you remember what was said?

"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus. And He will be great. He'll be called the Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." Jesus is better than the angels because He's the Son of God and He's going to reign forever. No angel is going to reign forever; only Jesus has that position. That's the point. He's superior to the angels.