Allia Zobel Nolan - Angels in the Bible Storybook, Vol. 2

INTRODUCTION

Weve all seen cute chubby angel drawingsyou know, the ones
where the angel looks like your baby brother. But, actually, thats like
comparing a tabby cat to a lion. An angel is anything but fluff and stuff.
They are powerful, majestic beings made up of mind and spirit. Whats
more, they dont have bodies, except when God wants them to be seen.

Angels were created to worship and praise God. They act as his
messengers and our protectors. On top of that, God sends them to
announce news, guide, encourage, comfort, and answer prayers. God
even sent one angel to get his friend, Peter, out of jail. Whatever way
they serve God, angels always obey his will. They always give God honor
and glory.

All the angels, that is, but one. This angel wanted all the praise for
himself. He wanted to be better than God. So he rebelled and he and
his followers wound up being thrown out of heaven. This fallen angel
goes by lots of names. We know him as Satan.

But this is a book about the good angels. And there are plenty of
them. How do we know theyre real? Because the Bible tells us so. Yup,
Scripture is filled with a bunch of stories about these awesome beings.
Sometimes they are in the background, and sometimes they are the
star of the story. But always, they are there, our faithful, loving friends
doing Gods bidding and taking our very best interests to heart.

So what are we waiting for? Lets read about the angels.

Allia Zobel Nolan

Learn an All About Angels fact when you see this symbol.

2 Kings 1819, 2 Chronicles 2932

G od has heavenly armies ready to do battle for him. But he sent only
one angel to help his friend King Hezekiah.

Hezekiah became king when he was very young. The first thing he did
when he put on his crown was to get rid of the false gods. Then he
purified the temple so it was fit for worship. After that, he invited
Gods people, the Israelites, to return. The people knelt and
prayed, played harps and lyres, and sang songs. Everyone
was happy to be back in the house of the Lord.

While Hezekiah was busy making things right with God, his
enemies, the Assyrians, were busy fighting with nearby nations. And
Hezekiah knew it wouldnt be long until they would attack his people.

Dont worry, God told Hezekiah. Ill handle this. Ill protect you.

But Hezekiah didnt listen. Im not waiting until the enemys at
my front door, he thought. Im going to stop them now. So he joined
forces with another king who was also battling the Assyrians.

But his plan didnt work. God was not pleased. Hezekiah was
defeated big time. And this victory made the Assyrian king even bolder.

Im the greatest general, Im number one, he bragged. My army is
unstoppable, he boasted. Then he got an idea: The Israelites saw with
their own eyes how I defeated Hezekiah in this last battle. So maybe I
can just scare them into surrendering. Its worth a try.

With that, the Assyrian king sent a message to the Israelites. Men of
Israel, the messenger shouted. Lay down your weapons. We crushed your
king, Hezekiah, before, and well crush him again. He says your God will
defeat us. Thats a lie. I tell the truth. Give up and live, or fight and die.

King Hezekiah heard about this and felt awful. He knew he should
have let God deal with the Assyrians. So he sent for Isaiah, the holy
man, to plead with God to forgive him. He also asked Isaiah to find out