I have personally known some people that were as close to an Angel here on earth as you were ever likely to get ( besides my husband and children of course! LOL)
More then half of the people living in the United States, and millions of people around the world, believe in the existence of Angels. Angel lore and beliefs are part of the world's religions , and figure greatly in the Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The word 'angel" comes from the Greek word "angelos", meaning messenger, which is what most people believe is a primary role of angels. In addition, angels are believed to serve as guardians, guides, comforters, teachers, healers-even warriors. Although these spiritual beings have no specific gender, they are most often referred to as "he" except in Zechariah 5:9,2 female Angels with wings like storks carry away "Wickedness" who is also a woman.
The Bible mentions three angels by name
Michael
Chief among the angel-princes, Michael is sometimes a warrior-angel, appearing as such in the Old testament books of Enoch and Daniel. In Revelations, it is Michael who leads an army of God's angels against satan, He is an angel of repentance, mercy and righteousness, appearing in Islamic , Jewish , and Christian "angelology". He is often depicted with a sword.
Gabriel
A messenger angel who appeared to both the Virgin Mary and to Muhammad, Gabriel is the angel of annunciation, heavenly mercy, resurrection, and revelation. It is Gabriel who will blow the horn announcing the second coming of Christ. In Islamic traditions, Gabriel is the angel of humanity, the spirit of truth. his symbol is the lily.
Raphael
An archangel and chief among the guardian angels, Raphael has special charge of protecting the young and, the innocent, and travelers. He is the angel of prayer, love, joy, light, providence and healing.
OTHER ANGELS I HAVE READ ABOUT.
Dubbiel
Angel of Jewish legend,Dubbiel was the guardian angel of the great Persian Empire.
Balberith
A fallen angel who according to medieval occultists,serves as Hell's secretary.
Azrael
The Islamic Angel of Death.The servant angel of Allah, Azrael has four faces covered with a million veils which conceal a body covered with eyes.
Pen-Ming
Of Chinese origin, in Taoism, guardian spirit who serves as messenger between the masters and the rulers of the universe.
The Seraphim
Isaiah gave us an intriguing portrait of Angels in the visionary sixth chapter of his book,where he saw the Lord "high and lifted up" and surrounded by seraphim.This is the only place in the Bible where the term seraphim occurs as applied to Angels.The text describes the seraphim as having six wings each.With 2 they covered their faces,with 2 they covered their feet,and with 2 they flew.They were singing the song, "Holy,holy,holy,is the lord of hosts"
Cherubs
The cherub appears various points in the Old Testament as a kind of "watchdog Angel".In GENESIS 3:24,a cherub guarded Eden to prevent Adam and Eve from gaining reentry.Four cherubim attended the chariot of the Lord in the fantastic vision of Ezekial 1 ( see also Ezek 9:3 and 11:22) In the book of Psalms, God sat enthroned above the cherubim or rode the cherubim (18:10,80:1)In all the texts ,the cherubim attended God as a kind of honor guard,or they protected Eden for him.
Elsewhere, the cherubim are little more than artistic motifs that symbolize God's protection over sacred things,(Exod.25:20,Exod.26:1,1 Kings 6:29,2 Chron.3:10-14)
Mankind lives in a physical, tangible, material world, which is influenced by the invisible, spiritual world around us. This spiritual world is just as real in our day as it was when the Jesus walked the face of the earth nearly 2,000 years ago. Glimpses into this spirit world are revealed from time to time throughout the Old and New Testaments. There is a growing trend towards "angelphilia" with the present angel craze, channeling and a belief in spirit guides.
What Does the Bible say about Angels?. (Mat 22:30) Since angels are created beings there are no baby angels , in spite of all the pictures you might have seen that show otherwise. Artists that draw fat, little, baby angels do this without any Biblical support at all.
God's angels worship Jesus: And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him [Jesus]." (Heb 1:6)
God's angels obey Him: Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. (Psa. 103:20)
God's angels praise Him: Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. (Psa. 148:2)
God's angels refuse to receive worship: Then the angel said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!' " And he added, "These are the true words of God." At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Rev 19:9,10) And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!" (Rev. 22:8,9).
Angels attended Jesus after the devil's temptations: Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. (Mat 4:11) Jesus could have been delivered by legions of angels from his cruel death on the cross: Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels ? (Mat 26:53)
Angels were present after Jesus rose from the grave: But Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. (John 20:11,12)
Angels can guard the righteous: For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; (Psa. 91:11)
Angels can bring deliverance: My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king. (Dan 6:22) But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. (Acts 5:19)
God executes His Judgment through angels: He unleashed against them his hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility -- a band of destroying angels. (Psa. 78:49) Angels will be used to find everything that causes sin and all who do evil (the unsaved): 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. (Mat 13:41) Angels will gather the righteous at the point of the rapture:
And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. (Mat 24:31)
And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens. (Mark 13:27)
Angels can appear as people undetected:
Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. (Heb 13:2) Angels are immortal:
And they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection. (Luke 20:36)
(Mark 3:11) Evil spirits can speak through a person! In our dark day, some might call this by the New Age term "channeling" and the person with the [evil] spirit a "channeler." Devotees of "spirit guides" need to ponder what Scripture says about a spirit being speaking through a person. A fortune teller might be possessed by a demon spirit:
Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her. When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone ... (Acts 16:16-19)
When the demon spirit was cast our of that girl, her special powers to predict the future were totally gone. This was also apparent to the owners of that slave.
They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. (Rev 16:14) NOTE: Demons can produce miracles! Not all spirits are from God. Some spirits are deceitful and are trying to mislead us:
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. (1 Tim 4:1)
There are many ways in which demons can deceive people, but the more common ones are through occult involvement, Ouija boards and seances.
Satan can transform himself into looking like an angel from God: And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. (2 Cor 11:14)
TO BE CONTINUED.......
