My Christmas tree angel looks like Farrah Fawcett, one of the original Charlie’s Angels…in a prom dress. I’m not complaining, mind you. An Andy Warhol portrait of Farrah is worth an estimated $12 million. Maybe Christians in the first century had angel ornaments like ours, because some were tempted to worship angels (Col 2:18a). I think it would be more Scripturally accurate to have a GI Joe action figure on top of my tree, I just can’t get it past the decoration committee in my home.
Angels play a big role behind the scenes of the Christmas story. God spoke through an angel to Joseph, to Mary, to Zachariah, to the shepherds and the Magi. We also see messenger angels warning Lot’s family, stopping Abraham from killing Isaac, instructing the Apostles after the Ascension, and helping Philip find the Ethiopian official. An angel brought Cornelius and Peter together. Perhaps you have been helped by an angel and were not aware of it. “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb 13:2).
Because angels play such a prominent role in both our cultural and spiritual aspects of Christmas, let’s take a few minutes and sort out the facts from the fiction.
Angels are God’s soldiers, not supermodels
“Heavenly host” is a military term to describe a fighting unit. Ephesians 6 reminds us that we are in a war “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.” (6:13). In Rev 12, we see an angel unit escorting Satan himself into the lake of fire. Heads up…I wouldn’t tell a girl she looks like an angel, because she might just know Scripture better than you. I personally doubt there are any female angels simply because the Bible does not mention them in any of the 500 references to angels.
We hear a lot about “guardian angels,” although that is not really a Biblical term. However, that doesn’t mean the reality of guardianship is wrong: “The Angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them.” (Ps 34:7). How comforting! “For He will give His angels orders concerning you, to protect you in all your ways.” (Ps 91:11)
Apparently the angels all have unique names, as we do. The first of only two angels mentioned by name in Scripture is Michael, the Archangel. Michael is God’s chief warrior (Dan 10:13; 12:1; Rev 12:7). He was the equivalent of a five star general or admiral. I doubt he looked like Farrah either. Nor did an unnamed angel-soldier who killed 185,000 Assyrians in one day (Isa 37:36). I’m guessing he must have been at least a Sergeant, and that his name wasn’t “Clarence.”
Angels are not evolved humans, they are ministers to humans
I really don’t know where the idea came from that deserving humans were upgraded to angel status in heaven. That is neither a compliment to angels or humans. Angels and humans are both created by God for different purposes. Angels have personalities, but they are not persons. They were created by God, but not in His image. Angels are not only different from humans, they are different from each other. Some are “cherubim” while others are “seraphim.” Each has their own mind (2 Sam 14:20), will (Rev 22:89) and emotions (Heb 12:22). They don’t look alike either. Some have wings and some appear just like humans. (Exod 3, Isa 6)
Scripture refers to angels as “servants” (Hebrews 1:7). Verse 14 says they are not only God’s servants, but our servants also: “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve those who are going to inherit salvation?” When God’s people ran out of food in the desert, God gave them manna, “the bread of angels” (Ps 87:25). Angels also ministered to Elijah with food & drink after he ran for his life from Jezebel in the desert all day. Jesus got the same VIP treatment after his 40 days in the desert.
So angels are not only an important part of the creation, Christmas and Easter stories, but of our story also. What we will see behind the scenes in Bethlehem is also a peek behind the scenes in our lives.
Angels are God’s messengers, not musicians
The other angel mentioned by name is Gabriel. He was God’s primary sentinel or messenger. In Luke 1 we see Gabriel bringing very important and good news to both Zachariah and Mary. We never see Gabriel sing. In fact we never see any angels sing in the Bible. Luke 2:13 says that “a multitude of the heavenly host was praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.’” In Rev 5:11-12 the saints are singing and the angels are speaking. The NIV misinterprets it as “sang,” but “logos” only means “to speak.” Of all the Scriptures about angels, not one time are they singing or playing an instrument (the shofar/trumpet is often used for military purposes). You may wonder – why not? Maybe singing is our job, not theirs. God created his image-bearers with the capacity to worship and I wonder if angels are not shaking their heads when they see us watching instead of worshiping on Sundays.
What then, do we have in common with God’s host of angels? Humans and angels are both messengers. The root word for “evangelism” is angel, which means, “messenger.” Evangelism is simply sharing the message of good news. That is something all Christians all have in common with our unseen allies – the Angel Army of God.
