ANGELS IN OUR MIDST

The Holy Bible tells us that angels are a little more than messengers. They are ministering spirits who are sent to minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:13-14).

"But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"

The word ‘ministering’ here comes from the Greek leitourgikos, pronounced lā-tür-gē-ko's. It literally refers to the performance of service by one whose duty it is to minister, specifically to angels who obey God’s commands.

The scripture says that we should not forget to ‘entertain’ strangers because some have ‘entertained’ angels without knowing it (Hebrews 13:2).
“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

This is saying that we must be hospitable and show love to strangers because some have hospitably but unknowingly received strangers as guests who were angels. This means that angels take on human form and also means that they can take on any human form.

I accepted Christ when I was twelve years old and always feared God even though I was rebellious. When I was fifteen years old my family moved to the United States from Jamaica. I was taking the school bus to school and was sitting in the only vacant seat on the bus. This guy, who happened to be white and thought he was tough, had been suspended from school and I had been sitting in the seat where he usually sat.

The day he returned to school he called me the ‘n’ word and took a swing at me on the school bus. Needless to say he missed, lost his balance and fell between the seats. He issued a challenge for me to meet him at the park to settle the matter of his wounded pride. I was headstrong, rebellious and fearlessly foolish so I took on the challenge and rode my friend’s bicycle to the park to fight this guy.

When I got there, I was the only one there for about five minutes. I then saw a car approaching slowly. It stopped and this guy and three other muscular looking white guys got out with baseball bats. My heart was drumming in my head like the drummers in a marching band. Then I saw my salvation. There was a man, or what I perceived to be a man, jogging towards us.

The best way to describe this man is that he was as tall as a basketball player, as big as a football player and he was my color. He was jogging so slowly it looked like he was bouncing. The next thing I knew he had his hand on my shoulder and was asking in a deep voice: “You alright little man?” I was looking straight up at his face, which I can’t seem to remember now even though I remember that my head was tilted so far back that it seemed as if I was looking up in the sky.

I don’t remember my answer but I clearly recall hearing the scuffle to get back in the car, the doors slamming and the car speeding off. The man who I believe was my angel just jogged off in the same slow pace he had approached in. I rode my bicycle home thinking about what had happened. The scripture says that the angel of the Lord surrounds those that fear God and delivers them (Psalm 34:7).

This is just an excerpt from my study on ANGELS. Go to the link ANGELS IN OUR MIDST under OTHER STUDIES to the right of this HOME page to find the full study. Feel free to download it.