Hebrews 13:2 "....some have entertained angels without knowing it."

There has been a lot of talk among spirit-filled Christians concerning the involvement of angels in our lives here on earth. There are countless books and periodicals on the subject. The activities of angels, according to them, range from uninvolved watchers to warriors, or servants of the believers to be commanded by them. I recently saw an advertisement on a popular Christian television network for a book containing 12 revelations on how to contact your angels and "put them to work on your behalf".

I felt a need to "weigh in" on the topic. I do this at the risk of troubling some popular theology; not that I have ever lost sleep over that, just giving you a heads up. : )

The only question that needs to be answered is, "Are the current teachings really biblical?" Sadly, I must say that most of them are not.....

I will not get into a long teaching here, but simply know this. The angels do NOT work for us. They work for the Father. We do not command the angels; the Father does. You may quickly point out Hebrews 1:7 and 14, where it speaks of angels being sent to minister to those who will inherit salvation. I will ask you to read it in context of the entire chapter. It refers to the Son being superior to angels NOW, AFTER he has been glorified. It also says the angels are SENT (from whom, and by whose authority) to serve (minister to-not take orders from) the Father's children. Currently in our pre-resurrection condition we are made a little lower than the angels, but only for a little while. After the resurrection Paul says we will judge angels! (1 Cor 6:3).

The greatest examples I can give you to support our inability to "command" angels is found in two places. One in the OT and one in the NT. In the book of Daniel the Lord tells us that an angel closed the mouths of the lions. Daniel does not command the lions' mouths to be shut nor does he command any angels to assist him. Also in regard to warfare, he does not command any angelic involvement over the Prince of Persia or over Michael the archangel. The final example is from our Lord Himself. Remember when he was questioned at His trial about death? His response gives us tremendous insight. He does NOT say HE could command 12 legions of angels to assist Him. He says He could ASK THE FATHER and HE would SEND the angels to help.

So what do we do with all the rhetoric out there about our commanding angels, and how do we relate to the angels?

First of all we need to be cautious! 2 Cor. 11:14 says Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Gal. 1:8 warns us that an "angel from heaven" could possibly lead us astray by teaching a different Gospel, and Col. 2:18 tells us that some "teachers" can become arrogant due to visions and the worship of angels.

Finally, we can be confident that everything that is under God's command will operate according to His perfect will without any assistance from us; which includes the angels. Like Paul reminds us in Romans 8, "...we don't know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit searches the deep things of God and prays according to God's perfect will." (v 26, 27). In other words we do not need to memorize the "12 revelations" or the "3 steps of angelic warfare" to have our angels minister to us or on our behalf. God knows how to command His army. He is the Captain of the Host!!

Angels are powerful. Angels are fierce and comforting at the same time. Angels are active and encamped "all around us and have been given charge over us lest we dash our foot against a stone". Angels are the Father's; not ours.

All we are told to do is to show hospitality to strangers because it might be an angel on a mission. Thank God for such a simple task!

God bless you!