Angels! What Blessings!

God's gifts to us of forgiveness and salvation, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, are certainly His ultimate and most important gifts. However, another important undeserved gift of God's love is His creation of the angels. There are numerous references to angels in the Old and New Testaments. Their role was often that of messengers and protectors.

What a fantastic message the shepherds near Bethlehem heard when an angel appeared and spoke to them concerning the birth of Jesus. Then, "Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God and saying 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased.'" Luke 2:8-14.

It is not unusual for many of us to give the angels credit for personal protection from storms and automobile accidents, etc., even though we may not actually see the angels at work. However, I can verify through a personal experience, and in conversations with others, that, at times, the helping angel is visible and speaks with the person experiencing the protection. Such experiences of obvious protection call to mind the words of Luke 4:10-11, "He will command His angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone."

Are the angels only involved in our physical well being, or do they also play a role in our spiritual life? In Jesus' explanation of the Parable of the Weeds to His disciples, Matthew 13: 39-40, He states that the harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels... “The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil... Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father."

Luther recognized this spiritual-protecting role of the angels. He provides a model prayer request in his Morning and Evening Prayers, "Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me." Thus as we pray to God for the help of the angels, we should also ask Him to send His angels to ward off the temptations of the devil, to shield us from all temptation and the committing of sin.

We pray, "Dear God, thank you for creating Your angels to protect me from physical harm and misfortune, and also for sending them to help me fight off the temptations of Satan himself. Amen." Angels — What Blessings!

By Dr. Al Senske St. Louis, MO