Dr. David Jeremiah - Angels: Who They Are and How They Help--What the Bible Reveals

ANGELS
PUBLISHED BY MULTNOMAH BOOKS
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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org). Scripture quotations marked (Phillips) are taken from The New Testament in Modern English, Revised Edition 1972 by J. B. Phillips. Copyright renewed 1986, 1988 by Vera M. Phillips.

eISBN: 978-0-307-83129-3

Copyright 1996, 2006 by Dr. David Jeremiah

Published in association with the literary agency of Yates & Yates, LLP, Attorneys and Counselors, Orange, CA.

Previously published as What the Bible Says About Angels.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

MULTNOMAH and its mountain colophon are trademarks of Random House Inc.

The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jeremiah, David.
Angels : the strange and mysterious truth / David Jeremiah.Rev. ed.
p. cm.
Rev. ed. of: What the Bbile says about angels. c1996.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. AngelsBiblical teaching. I. Jeremiah, David. What the Bible says about angels.
II. Title.
BS680.A48J47 2006
235.3dc22
2006017136

v3.1

to my wifes mother
A NNIE T HOMPSON

All glory be
to the God of the angels

I N A DOCTOR S OFFICE one fall day a decade ago, I was told I had cancer. Im sure youll understand when I say I was fearful. It was one of those times when I would have cherished having an angel with me in the room, assuring me everything would be okay.

In the months that followed I felt the same fear when I prepared to have surgery on two occasions. An angels hand holding mine as I was wheeled into the operating room would have been treasured comfort.

But as far as I knew, Id never seen an angel. Never. Did that mean something was wrong with me? Why did only other people have that privilege? Wasnt I spiritual enough?

Maybe youve asked the same questions. And maybe youre dissatisfied with the answers youve received. The widespread interest in angels has thrown a lot of information your waybut also confusion and contradiction and flimsy speculation. Where can you go for solid, meaningful information? How can you gain a balanced and accurate perspective thats built on Gods reality and eternal truth?

Thats what this book is all about.

Ever since the 1990s, angels are everywhereor rather we find them talked about everywhere, from major magazines and bestselling books and popular TV shows to kitchen conversations and university seminars. Lots of people say they have actually seen or felt the presence of an angel. Never in history, I suppose, has so much attention been directed at these heavenly beings as in our day.

So whats the significance of it all? Is the Lord delighted by this burst of curiosity and belief? And does he want you and me to join in the funor at least to take a bit more notice of angels than past generations did? Should we be looking around on earth for these heavenly beings? Should we be confident of daily care and protection from angel guardians?

Or is all this a waste of time? Maybe the angel craze that peaked in the 90s was at best just another trivial fad, and at worst a deceptive tactic of Satans to divert peoples spiritual attention away from real truth. Like young children at the Grand Canyon who cant see beyond the spoiled chipmunks darting along the rim seeking tourist handouts, if we start focusing on angels, we might miss the grand, sweeping view of God.

On the other hand, could more attention on angels actually be Gods desire and plan for his people at this moment in history? Is it perhaps a clue and signal that were on the threshold of something bigger in Gods timetable for the world? Is the present age about to end? In Gods mercy and love for sinners, has he caused a belief in spiritual angels to be more respectable so people can better accept the spiritual message of the gospelbefore its too late?

Or as some highly respected Bible teachers say, is there no such thing as angelic activity in our world anymore, since the close of Bible times?

The questions go on and on. (I wonder if the angels are asking them too.)

Probably no major theological issue has received as much secular attention in modern times as the doctrine of angels has in our day. You would expect Christians to be delighted at this, and start rushing in to make the most of this fresh opportunity for spiritual dialogue with the non-Christian world. But a good many Christians dont know what (if anything) to think about angels.

At least when the God is dead notion grabbed headlines a few decades ago, Christians were united in their response: No, they proclaimed, God is alive! But when headlines along the grocery checkout lane talk about widespread angel activity and belief in personal angels, the typical Christian reaction is: Well, maybeor maybe not.

The angel craze seemed to trigger a major shift in thinking for our culture. What had once been mostly a myth to previouis generations became a fascinating reality in the popular mind. For example, more than a million people worldwide read the bimonthly Guideposts magazine Angels on Earth, in which each issue features a handfull of stories about people who believe theyve encountered angels.

This all seems to fit into a greater openness to spirituality thats been building for years. Few people think anymore that all of lifes important answers can be found in science and rational thought and reasonable logic. They know reality has another dimensiona spiritual dimension beyond science and reason. And this other side of reality keeps growing bigger in popular thought.

What does all this mean? Is it good or bad?

The biggest danger may well be greater susceptibility to spiritualitys dark side. Mankinds mental doorway may be open wider to thinking about religion and eternity, but its probably also open wider to Satans influence.

Scripture warns us that Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). Perhaps this strategy of deception wasnt so effective in the generations just before us. People werent as open to believing in angels then, and if you talked about seeing one or wanting to, you might have been called flighty or foolish or weird.