Charles Capps - Angels

ANGELS

by

Charles Capps and Annette Capps

Contents

Introduction

We all have read of the ministry of angels, how throughout the Old Testament and even the New Testament they brought great deliverance to people and nations.

The Mosaic Law was given by the disposition of angels.

An angel appeared to Mary and told her she would conceive and bear a child.

The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem was proclaimed by angels.

Joseph was given direction several times. First, an angel told him not to fear, but to take Mary as his wife because that which was conceived in her was of the Holy Ghost. Then twice an angel appeared to him and told him where to go to avoid the people who were trying to kill Jesus.

It was great that the angels ministered to those people. But somehow down through the years we have let these things slip from us. We need to recognize that the ministry of angels didn't go out with the New Testament. It didn't go out with any dispensation. It's still a valid ministry in the earth today.

Hosea 4:6 says God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. But knowledge is available to us. Jesus said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31,32).

There is a vast reservoir of knowledge concerning the ability of angels to deliver people from the bad circumstances of life, even from life and death situations. You can't believe any farther than you have knowledge.

It is my intention in this book to present an understanding of the ministry of angels as it is available to us today. With knowledge of angels and their work in the earth, we can better do the will of God which is the ultimate goal of every believer.

Angels, Good and Bad

I want us to begin in the first chapter of Hebrews where the writer is comparing Jesus with angels and His ministry with the ministry of angels.

Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they (v. 4).

And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire (v. 7).

Then in verse 13:

But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?

We know He didn't say this to angels; He said it to Jesus!

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? (Rom. 14).

The angels are spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. That includes us!

So the ministry of angels didn't pass away with some other dispensation. It didn't stop when we entered into the New Testament. It didn't stop with the apostles. It's still a valid ministry today.

Fallen Angels

There are not only good angels, but there are fallen angelsangels that rebelled against God. It would be good for us to find out what the Bible says about these fallen angels.

One third of the angels fell from heaven with Lucifer when he rebelled against God. As a result they were cast out of heaven. (Rev. 12:9.) Let's look at Jude, the sixth verse:

And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

Notice these angels are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness.

Now in 2 Peter we find the angels that "kept not their first estate." They sinned, and lost their habitation. The Hebrew says they kept not their first headship or first dominion.

For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.

2 Peter 2:4,5

I want to draw your attention to one statement:

But cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment; and spared not the old world....

The world Satan (or Lucifer, as he was called then) ruled was a world ruled by angels. Lucifer ruled and reigned over a world before

Adam was ever created. Lucifer had a throne; he ruled over nations. The Bible doesn't give many details, but it gives us some insight into that world. Let's read Ezekiel 28:12-15:

Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus , and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius , topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth ; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Notice he said, "Thou art the anointed cherub, and I have set thee so." This "being" he is speaking of is Lucifer. The phrase, "Take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus ," is a double reference. The speaker is talking to a man on earth, but there is a dual reference which could not apply to a man on earth.

For instance, it says, "Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God." It doesn't say, "the Garden of Eden." It says, "Eden, the garden of God." If you're not careful, you'll miss it there.

When Satan was in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, he did not have diamonds and beryl and gold as his covering; he had a snakeskin! When the serpent started talking to Eve, she didn't say, "Oh, how beautiful and how shiny your diamonds are! My, my, your gold and your rubies are just out of this world!" She didn't say that because the covering of gold and rubies wasn't there when the serpent approached her. Satan had already fallen; he was already a fallen angel. He had lost all of his beauty before he was in the Garden of Eden. He lost it when he sinned against God. The Garden of Eden was Adam's garden!

Here it is called God's garden: "Eden, the garden of God." When Satan was in the Garden of God, all those precious stones were his covering. He was the anointed cherub. He was the protector of the earth and the ruler of that world.

This is why the Bible speaks of "the old world" in 2 Peter 2:5.

Then in Isaiah, chapter 14, you will notice again some scriptures that give revelation concerning Lucifer. Verses 12-17 read:

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

I will be like the most High.

Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof ... ?

Notice he is talking about Lucifer, the anointed cherub. Lucifer had a throne. He ruled over people. Evidently, his throne was on earth because he said, "I'll exalt my throne above the stars of God." The stars were already there; they were already created. He said, "I'll ascend above the heights of the clouds," so the clouds were already there.