Tag: spiritual warfare

Guardian Angels

Dale Pollard

 The concept of angels and angelic beings filling the role of guardian is found several times throughout scripture. A cherubim with a flaming sword that flashed in every direction to guard the the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3.24). Jesus tells us that each child is assigned an angel and that angel is of such high rank that it can see the face of God (Matthew 18.10). While certain angelic beings, like the Cherubs, are depicted as guardians— it’s possible that any rank of angel might serve in this way (Psalm 34.7).

Here are a few fascinating sections of scripture that shed light on the mysterious operation of God’s heavenly host.

                Daniel’s Angel 

The Old Testament provides several examples of angelic intervention, but what unfolds in Daniel 10-12 stands apart. A distressed Daniel had been praying for three weeks and it was starting to look as if God had forgotten about His prophet. After Daniel had spent twenty one days of fasting and prayer, we read, 

“I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of the multitude” (Daniel 10.5-6).

Daniel’s unnamed angel has finally arrived and he actually provides a reason for why it had taken him so long to respond to Daniel’s prayer. The angels explains, “Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince (patron angel) of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes (angels), came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia” (Daniel 10.12-13).

Daniel’s angel was locked in combat with an evil spiritual force he called “the prince of Persia” and things had become so heated that Michael the Archangel (see also, Jude 1.9) had to intervene. Paul would later confirm  the reality of spiritual warfare when he tells those first century Christians, “…we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6.11-12). 

Just as Daniel is about to receive information about the future sourced from the Book of Truth (see also, Revelation 20.12), the unnamed angel tells him, “No one supports me against them (the evil forces) except Michael, your prince. And in the first year of Darius the Mede, I took my stand to support and protect him” (Daniel 10.21,11.1). 

Michael is called by the unnamed angel, “your prince.” The use of the term prince in Daniel 10 has only been used to describe spiritual beings that seemed to yield some kind of ruling power over a nation. Michael isn’t Daniel’s personal angel but instead Israel’s “patron angel.” If Michael wasn’t Daniel’s guardian angel, then perhaps the unnamed angel fulfilled that role. While the unnamed angel responded to Daniel’s prayer and revealed visions of the future— he then returns to continue fighting the prince of Persia. We’re also told that he took special interest in Darius the Mede, so it’s not likely that he was Daniel’s sole protector either. 

                            Peter’s Angel 

In Acts 12 we find King Herod on a rampage. He kills James the Brother of John with the sword and then throws Peter in prison. While Herod is persecuting the church, the church begins praying— and God answers with an angel. Peter’s trial is scheduled for the next day but he wouldn’t make it because, “Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.

Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 

They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

The way in which the angel strikes Peter to wake him, the chains falling off his wrists, the iron gate opening by itself, and then the angel’s sudden disappearance are all details we can appreciate. However, the following verses are also intriguing. Notice who Peter is mistaken for, “…. He (Peter) went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished” (Acts 12.7-16). The early Christian’s make an interesting assumption and they must have had  reason to think that Peter’s angel either resembled or could resemble Peter himself. 

           Non-Canonical Coincidences 

The Early Church Fathers On Patron Angels 

Clement of Alexandria (Post 202 A.D.): “…for regiments of angels are distributed over nations and cities; and perhaps some even are assigned to particular individuals.” 

Origen, Homilies on Luke (Post 233 A.D.): “To every man there are two attending angels, the one of justice and the other of wickedness.If there be good thoughts in our heart, and if righteousness be welling up in our soul, it can scarcely be doubted that an angel of the Lord is speaking to us. If, however, the thoughts of our heart be turned to evil,an angel of the Devil is speaking to us.”

Rabbinic Commentaries & The Mistaken Identity of Angels 

An angel appears in the likeness of Moses (Devarim Rabbah 2.29).

In a Jewish commentary on Ecclesiastes; “At that time an angel descended in the form of Solomon and sat upon his throne” (Kohelet Rabbah 2.4). 

Another commentary on Genesis, possibly based on older sources, claimed that Jacob wrestled with Esau’s guardian angel (Bereshit Rabbah 77.3). 

An Existential Crisis

Wednesday’s Column: Third’s Words

Christians are not immune to existential crisis. While this overwhelming feeling of meaninglessness is a trademark of younger people, older people often deal with it too. Young people may seek meaning, direction, and purpose for their lives as they look to the future. Older people might look to their past, wondering if their life’s work was a functional/worthy investment of their lifespan. We all have fundamental questions to work through. 

This series will explore some of those questions we have: 

Why was I created? What is my purpose? How can I be happy? What is true/real? Why does God allow evil to exist? What do we mean by “next life”? 

This week we’ll look at the first question. Not one person ever asked for consciousness or existence. Why were we brought into a dysfunctional world? Even though none of us requested existence, we exist — and we’re going somewhere after we die. None of us asked for that burden, either. 

Here are some of the commonly given answers: 

  1. We’re here for the glory of God. 
  2. God gave us the ability to choose our fate, whether to reject him or be obedient to his will. 

The problem with those statements is that they don’t actually answer the question, at least not adequately. The Bible answers those questions, and with a little effort we can find out why God created us. 

Why are we here? 

1. We’re here to interface with God’s reality. 

2. We exist, ultimately, to populate a perfect world. 

God created us in his image and likeness (Gen 1.26-27, 5.1-3, 9.6; Js 3.9; I Jn 3.1-3). This is emphatic in scripture — he made us in his image AND his likeness. Let’s put the Hebrew words sal-me and de-moot (image and likeness) in modern English. The one speaking in Genesis 1 is Logos, according to John 1. That’s Jesus. He made us to look just like him. He is the visible form of the invisible father, according to Colossians 1.15. 

Genesis 5.1 — When God created people, he made them look like himself. 

Genesis 5.3 — Adam had a son who looked just like himself, and he named him Seth. Same exact words used in 5.1. 

James 3.9 — Uses ομοιωσιν, which means in that context, “to look the same.” 

God made us self-aware, intelligent living entities to interface with the reality he created. This life is just a trial run. We exist, and that’s something we have to accept. We have a life, so what we do with it is up to us. 

That leads to the second reason we were created — to populate a perfect world. II Peter 3.13 says, “Based on what he promised us, we’re looking for a new sky and a new earth where only morally good people can live.” Because we messed up and introduced evil to this planet, it’s no longer a paradise (Rom 8.20-25). But that’s not natural. We weren’t originally created to coexist with dysfunction or entropy. 

We can thank Satan for most of the dysfunction we face today: 

  1. Ephesians 2.1-2 — Satan has control over natural functions of the planet. 
  2. I John 5.19 — Satan has control over political power on this planet. 
  3. Luke 4.6 — Satan has power over every population group on earth. 
  4. Ephesians 6.12 — Those dysfunctional powers aren’t based on earth.

The church is a combat unit. We aren’t fighting other people, we’re fighting an enemy that has far more power than we could ever dream of confronting. That’s what “spiritual warfare” means in Ephesians, for example. God is our ally, so we can never be destroyed for good. Satan may have control of the planet, but God has control over the universe. 

Our job is to make the best of our existence, ideally living by our Creator’s definition of functional. If we do, we get to live in a perfect world without any potential for dysfunction. In Matthew 19.28, Jesus describes it as a “return to the way things originally were” or “regeneration”. 

Why were we created? To interface with God’s reality in a limited capacity, and to populate a new earth after this earth’s time is up. 

Gary Pollard

FIGHTING HAGRITES AND OTHERS

Monday’s Column: Neal At The Cross

Neal Pollard

1 Chronicles 5 devotes a relatively large amount of space to an incident that happened during King Saul’s reign. It involved the sons of Reuben, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh waging war with a people identified as “the Hagrites, Jehur, Naphish, and Nodab” (18-19). The contested area of land was east of the Jordan River in the territory allotted to the Israelites mentioned in verse 18.  At least some of the people they fought seem descended from Hagar and Ishmael. The focus was on the large land grab made by these Israelites in battle. They won this war in terms of spoil (21) and casualties (21-22). 

Today, we wage war of a very different type. New Testament writers describe it. It is not according to the flesh, but is intense nonetheless (2 Cor. 10:3-5). It is a fight of faith (1 Tim. 1:18). It is against world and spiritual forces necessitating our adorning spiritual armor of God (Eph. 6:10ff). We can feel overmatched and overwhelmed by this enemy. What can help us stay in the fight? There are four statements back in 1 Chronicles 5:18-22 that we can legitimately apply to our spiritual warfare today. Will you remember these?

You Will Be Helped (20).

The chronicler says this of the Israelites. “They were helped against them,” and it is implied in this verse that their help came from above. There is no way we could overcome the world (1 John 4:4; 5:4) without Divine help. God gives His help generously, gently, and graciously (Jas. 1:5). He tells us that all we need to do is ask (cf. Mat. 7:7). God’s help is THE difference-maker! 

Cry Out To God In The Battle (20).

If we are striving to be faithful, we will be in a battle. What can be done? These Israelites were helped because they cried out to God in the midst of the strife. I love how Paul says it to the Philippians: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (4:6-7). Don’t neglect prayer in the thick of the fight. Paul follows up his description of our spiritual armor, urging “all prayer and petition…at all times” (Eph. 6:18).

God Answers Those Who Trust In Him (20).

To me, nothing is more beautiful to consider than an army bowed in prayer to God to help them. As a citizen of this nation, it is wonderful to consider our military filled with men and women doing that. But, the most beautiful picture of all has to be of God’s Holy Nation (1 Pet. 2:9) filled with spiritual warriors who so put their trust in God that they are constantly before His throne in prayerful petition. Revelation 8 describes in beautiful imagery how carefully and preciously He handles the prayers of the saints brought unto His throne. It is likened to sweet-smelling incense. God is a loving Father who is pleased when His children demonstrate trust in His leadership and guidance. The promise of Scripture is that those who trust in Him are delivered and are not disappointed (Ps. 22:4-5). 

Understand The War Is Of God (22).

We often sing, “The battle belongs to the Lord.” This passage tells us why the enemy was slain. “The war was of God.” The result was that they settled in their place until the exile, which was over 300 years later.  As great as that was, we stand to experience a far greater victory. God disapproves of unworthy battles–“foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels” (2 Tim. 2:23), “foolish controversies” that “are unprofitable and worthless” (Tit. 3:9), or quarrels and conflicts that are fueled by our giving into the sins of our flesh (Js. 4:1ff). Be careful not to be a foot soldier carrying out the agenda of the foe. But if we are on the Lord’s side, we can be assured that He will gain the victory and we’ll be fighting on the winning side. 

Maybe we wonder why God recorded events like this in Scripture. It certainly shows His mind, nature, and power. But it also helps us understand His point of view and His desire in our lives today. The church has “Hagrites” to face. You and I have our own “Hagrites” to battle. How they won is how we’ll win. May the song on our hearts and lips ever be, “Faith is the victory that overcomes the world!”

THE LITTLE GRAVES THAT HAVE NO NAME

Neal Pollard

Lance Corporal Francis Ledwidge, a 26-year-old Irish soldier, was one of 10 million people killed in World War I.He died July 31, 1917, in Belgium. He was a poet, and he wrote the following before the war:

And now I’m drinking wine in France, the helpless child of circumstance.
Tomorrow will be loud for war, how will I be accounted for?
It is too late now to retrieve a fallen dream, too late to grieve
A name unmade, but not too late to thank the gods for what is great;
A keen-edged sword,a soldier’s heart, is greater than a poet’s art.
And greater than a poet’s fame a little grave that has no name.
(Gilbert, Martin. The First World War, Holt & Co., NY, 1994, 353).

Ledwidge sounds neither devout nor decent, but his last stanza rings loudly. This poor, fallen man glorifies the soldier, prolific even in anonymity. Glory rather than shame is to be memorialized in an unnamed grave.

Greater far than those whose spirits departed on plains and beaches of Europe or Asia or even Canaan during Joshua’s days are those who lost their lives in service to God. In the great memorial of Scripture they are mentioned, but without their names. One day, in heaven, their identities will be known as the Lord reads the names of those written in His Book of Life.

The writer of Hebrews speaks about many such unnamed heroes of the spiritual war that endures generation after generation. Among those are unnamed prophets of valor (Heb. 10:32-34). Unidentified women are remembered for their faith (35).

Following them, the writer holds up the generic others–children of God persecuted and even killed (10:36-38). Together they form that multitudinous throng of witnesses in Hebrews 12:1. Under centuries of dust, sand and silt lie their unmarked graves. God does not even reveal their names to the reader. But they sacrificed and persevered in hope of eternal life. They gained approval through their active faith (11:39). They stand as an example and a motivation for Christians today (12:1).

Throughout the world there are scores of Christians toiling in obscurity. For every big-name preacher and high-profile teacher and widely known missionary, thousands of godly mothers are training their children to follow Christ and running their homes with grace and virtue (Ti. 2:5; Pr. 31). Without recognition, elders are praying for, shepherding, defending and feeding lambs in places as far away as India and Africa and as close as Indiana and Alabama. Hidden from the watchful pens of our sharp-sighted editors and authors are saints, as soldiers, fighting Satan without ceremony or earthly commendation. One day their bodies will fail and fall into graves, known only to family and friends, but unmarked in the graveyard of brotherhood greats.

Too, in the church, day by day great things are done by saints that never make the bulletin, announcements, or bulletin boards. Masked by their modesty, they brighten many lives by walking in the light. The elders, preachers, or deacons may never know so much of what they do, but God sees and will reward them. When they lay their armor down, they may sleep in an unmarked plot in the cemetery of church history, but with God they will have greater fame than those who etched their mark in the annals of the world.

So, fight (1 Cor. 9:26)!

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