Guardian Angels
| by | Eric Lyons, M.Min. |
Though Scripture never uses the term “guardian
angel,” millions of Bible believers through the centuries have professed
their conviction in such a classification of angels. In the third
century A.D., Origen wrote that “each one of us, even to the ‘least’ who are in the church of God” has “a good angel, an angel of the LORD,
who guides, warns and governs” (p. 128). More than a century later,
Jerome declared that “the worth of souls is so great that from birth
each one has an angel assigned to him for his protection” (p. 209).
Around that same time, Chrysostom, in his Homily on Colossians 1:15-18,
remarked: “For each believer hath an Angel; since even from the
beginning, every one of those that were approved had his Angel....
[T]here is a demon present also” (p. 273). In the centuries to follow,
the Catholic Church popularized the concept of guardian angels even
more. In 1615, for example, Pope Paul V officially added “Feast of the
Guardian Angels” to the Roman calendar (“Feast...,” 2010). Later,
“Guardian Angels” Catholic churches began to arise across America, from
Rochester, New York to Chaska, Minnesota.
There is no doubt that millions of people around the world have been
captivated by the thought of guardian angels. Though many people who
identify themselves as Christians believe in the existence of this
special class of angels, the only thing that ultimately matters about
this subject or any other is, “What does God’s Word have to say on the
matter?”
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Angel
The English word “angel” is translated from the Greek angelos and the Hebrew malawk,
and literally means “messenger” (“Angel,” 1988). Sometimes in Scripture
“angel” is used in reference to human messengers. For example, on one
occasion the Old Testament prophet Haggai was called “the Lord’s malawk”
(i.e., “messenger,” 1:13). On another occasion, when God spoke through
the prophet Malachi, He prophesied of the coming of John the Baptizer,
the forerunner of Christ, saying, “Behold, I send My messenger (Hebrew malawk),
and he will prepare the way before Me” (3:1). Hundreds of years later,
when the apostle Matthew recorded Jesus’ quotation of this scripture, he
used the Greek term angelos (11:10). John the Baptizer was the angelos of God (i.e., not a heavenly being, but God’s human messenger).
Most of the time, however, the terms malawk and angelos
refer to created (Psalm 148:2,5; Colossians 1:16), celestial beings who
perform a variety of duties for the Creator of heaven and Earth. They
are strong (Matthew 28:2), swift (Daniel 9:20-23), breathtaking (Daniel
8), ministering (Hebrews 1:14) messengers (Luke 1:26), who are concerned
about the salvation of man (Luke 15:10). God’s faithful angels have
done everything from ministering to the Son of God following His 40-day
fast (Matthew 4:11) to contending with the devil (Jude 9), and they will
play a major role at the end of time when Jesus returns to judge the
world (Matthew 13:41; 25:31-32; 2 Thessalonians 1:7).
Guardian Angel
Since the term “guardian” has as its most basic meaning “one that
guards” (see “Guardian,” 2010), there is a sense in which the Bible
speaks very clearly on the subject: God has used angelic beings to
“guard” a variety of people and places in the past. As early as Genesis
chapter three, after the fall of man, God “placed cherubim [“winged
angelic beings”—see “Cherubim,” 1986] at the east of the garden of Eden,
and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard
the way to the tree of life” (3:24, emp. added). Approximately 2,000
years later, two angels struck blind a group of Sodomites and guarded
Lot and his household from harm (Genesis 19:9-11). When Nebuchadnezzar
cast Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego into the fiery furnace, “God sent
His angel and delivered His servants” (Daniel 3:28), thus guarding the three Hebrews from the furnace’s consuming flames. During the reign of Darius the Mede, God sent His angel to guard
Daniel in a den of lions (Daniel 6:21-22). Centuries later, after the
establishment of the church, God sent an angel to release Peter from
prison, guarding and guiding him safely out of the
prison (Acts 12:1-10). Without a doubt, Almighty God has used His
marvelous angelic creation in the past to serve as a kind of guardian
for His people.
Consider, however, the way in which the term “guardian angel” is most often used in the 21st century. Merriam-Webster defines “guardian angel” as “an angel believed to have special care of a particular individual” (2010, emp. added). According to Encyclopedia.com, a “guardian angel” is “a spirit that is believed to watch over and protect a person
or place” (2010, emp. added). Popularly speaking, if a person googles
the phrase “My guardian angel saved/helped,” he will discover thousands
of articles or posts where people avow that their personal guardian
angels have saved them from certain death, or helped them escape some
serious calamity.
Although religionists have defined guardian angels in a variety of ways
in the past (cf. Origen, Jerome, Chrysostom), since Catholics claim
these angels “are a development of Catholic doctrine and piety based on
Scripture” (see “Feast...,” 2010), it is appropriate to consider how
they define these angels. According to AmericanCatholic.org, a guardian
angel is “an angel assigned to guide and nurture each human being” (“Feast...,” emp. added). In the 47th volume of the Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Catholicism, Pie-Raymond Regamey summarized Catholicism’s teachings on the matter, particularly regarding who has a guardian angel:
Whatever school of philosophy we may follow, an understanding of the work of the guardian angel...in its place in the whole order of creation, implies that every man has the benefit of his aid, not only the faithful, and has it from the first moment of independent life, from birth.... The worst sinners have this faithful and kindly friend (1960, 47:92-93).
GUARDING THE WICKED?
Although
God certainly “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and
sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45), no passage of
Scripture teaches that every person who has ever lived, whether good or
evil, had/has a guardian angel assigned to him from birth. No Bible
verse suggests that every man, even “the worst sinners” (Regamey, p.
93), “has an angel assigned to him for his protection” (Jerome, p. 209)
and “the benefit of his aid” (Regamey, p. 92). Are we to think that
Pharaoh and Herod had guardian angels when they butchered myriads of
innocent children (Exodus 1:15-22; Matthew 2:16-18)? [The Bible says
nothing about giving any wicked Pharaoh a guardian angel, but God did
harden Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 9:12,34; 10:1,20,27; 11:10; 14:8; cf. Butt and Miller) and send “angels of destruction”
against him and his fellow Egyptians (Psalm 78:49, emp. added).
Likewise, Scripture is silent regarding Herod’s protective angel.
However, “an angel of the LORD” did warn Joseph
in a dream, saying, “Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him”
(Matthew 2:13).] And what about the wicked Jezebel, who “massacred the
prophets of the LORD”
(1 Kings 18:4), or the multi-million-man-murderer Hitler? Are we to
think that God provided each of them with a special angel to “benefit”
and “aid” him/her? The very thought is absurd, not to mention foreign to
Scripture.
Are we to believe that God allows the wicked to have guardian angels,
but He does not hear (to respond to) their prayers? Throughout the Old
and New Testaments, Bible writers repeatedly stressed that rebellious,
sinful individuals should not expect to have God answer their prayers in
a positive way. “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16, emp. added), because “the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the LORD
is against those who do evil” (1 Peter 3:12, emp. added; cf. Psalm
34:16; Proverbs 15:29). The psalmist testified: “If I regard iniquity in
my heart, the Lord will not hear” (66:18). The prophet Isaiah wrote:
“Behold, the LORD’S
hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it
cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and
your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear”
(Isaiah 59:1-2, emp. added). In light of the fact that God will not even
hear (to respond to) the rebellious, how could one ever conclude that
“the worst sinners” have a “faithful” guardian angel (Regamey, p. 93)?
MIRACLES AND GUARDIAN ANGELS
The Bible clearly teaches that God has worked all manner of miracles in the past, and has the potential
to work them at any moment (e.g., at any second Jesus could
miraculously “descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of an
archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will
rise”—1 Thessalonians 4:16). Wondrous miracles wrought by God and His
messengers spatter the biblical text. God miraculously created the
Universe and everything in it (Genesis 1). He sent ten plagues upon the
Egyptians (Exodus 7-12), parted the Red Sea (Exodus 14), and caused
water to come from a rock twice during Israel’s 40 years of wandering in
the wilderness (Exodus 17; Numbers 20). In the days of Elijah and
Elisha, as well as in the first century, God occasionally raised the
dead (1 Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:8-37; Acts 20:7-12). During the time
of Christ, God worked all manner of miracles, displaying His infinite
power—over nature, disease, demon, and death. God also used angels
occasionally in the past to work a variety of wonders: from striking
Lot’s attackers with blindness to setting Peter free from prison
(Genesis 19:9-11; Acts 12:7,10). Thus, every Bible-believing Christian
must acknowledge that God has worked an array of miracles in the past,
and has the power and potential to work them at any time. However,
simply because God has the ability to work miracles at any moment, and
simply because He has used angels to work a variety of miracles in the
past, does not mean that He has chosen to work miraculously in this
present age.
The fact of the matter is, the kinds of verifiable miracles recorded in
Scripture are not occurring in this day and age. Neither man nor angel
has been miraculously restoring shriveled hands in the midst of their
enemies (Luke 6:6-10) or supernaturally reattaching severed ears (Luke
22:51). God has chosen to use neither preacher nor “guardian angel” to
miraculously cure congenital blindness (John 9:1-7). What’s more, no one
today is being raised from the dead (John 11:43). Once again, this is not a “God-power” issue; it is a “God-purpose” issue.
God has chosen to cease working miracles (i.e., He has chosen to stop
working outside His laws of nature) during this time period because the
purpose of miracles has been fulfilled.
Unlike magicians, who perform amusing tricks for entertainment
purposes, Scripture teaches that miracles happened in Bible times for a
very specific purpose: to confirm the Word. Before the
New Testament was written, when the apostles and prophets were preaching
the Gospel, Mark 16:20 indicates that God worked with them by
“confirming the word through the accompanying of signs.” The message
that the first-century apostles and prophets preached could be shown to
be true by the various miracles that God worked through them (Hebrews
2:3-4). When a God-inspired speaker stepped forward to declare God’s
Word, God confirmed His Word by having the speaker perform a miracle to
show that he was from God (cf. Exodus 5-12; Acts 8:5-12). The miracle
showed the hearers that God was behind the speaker’s remarks. Miracles authenticated
the spoken word as being God’s Word (cf. John 3:2). Like the essential
scaffolding on the sides of incomplete apartment buildings, miracles
were once necessary to “complete” (confirm) the revelations of God.
However, as with the scaffolding that is needless (and, in fact, is very
out of place) on a finished apartment building, once God’s Word was
completely revealed and confirmed (cf. 2 Peter 1:3), miracles became
unnecessary. [For a thorough study of God’s cessation of miracles in
modern times, see Dave Miller’s 2003 article titled, “Modern-Day Miracles, Tongue-Speaking, and Holy Spirit Baptism: A Refutation.”]
Although many guardian-angel advocates insist that their alleged angels
have performed various miraculous feats, neither earthly reality nor
the heavenly Scriptures confirm their stories. The kinds of verifiable
miracles Jesus, the apostles, and the prophets, and even various angels
have worked (e.g., Genesis 19:11; Daniel 3:19-29), are not being
duplicated today. Furthermore, the Scriptures insist that those things
that were incomplete and partial (miraculous gifts) would be replaced by
the total and complete (i.e., the fully revealed Word of God; 1
Corinthians 13:8-10; James 1:25; see Miller, 2003).
ANGELS AND THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD
To say
that God has not chosen to work miraculously today is not equivalent to
denying God’s activity on Earth. From Genesis through Revelation, the
Bible clearly teaches God works providentially (through natural means)
in the lives of His people. The LORD
was with Joseph during his enslavement in Potiphar’s house (Genesis
39:2,3), his imprisonment (39:20,23), and his role as a powerful ruler
in Egypt (45:5-9). Though it was Joseph’s brothers who had sold him into
slavery and Pharaoh who had appointed him second in command of all of
Egypt, Joseph understood that, ultimately, God was behind it all. By
working providentially (within natural laws) in the life of Joseph, “God...made” him “lord of all Egypt” (Genesis 45:9, emp. added).
God’s providential care for His people did not stop with Joseph,
Esther, or Elijah (1 Kings 18:41-46). God continues to care for (1 Peter
5:7), help (Hebrews 13:5-6; 1 Corinthians 10:13), and discipline His
children (Hebrews 12:3-11). God answers the prayers of the
humble-hearted, working providentially in the lives of His people
(Matthew 6:25-33). As Paul proclaimed: “We know that all things work
together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called
according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). Simply because God is not
working miraculously through man or angel to give sight
to the blind, raise the dead, etc., does not mean that God is inactive
in the affairs of mankind (see Jackson, n.d.).
God is not passively sitting on the sidelines while the wicked “god of this age” (i.e., Satan; 2 Corinthians 4:4) and his rebellious angels
work “in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2; Matthew 25:41;
Revelation 12:7,9). If “the devil walks about like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8), attempting to trick and
deceive mankind (Ephesians 6:11; 1 Timothy 3:7), rest assured that God’s
good angelic creation also plays an important role on Earth, even
during this non-miraculous age. The New Testament does not specifically
detail how God uses angels in His providential care of the world and His
people, but one thing is certain: He does use them.
Not only are angels merely interested in the salvation of men (Luke
15:10) and involved in the spiritual realm transporting the souls of the
dead into paradise (Luke 16:22), they also work in God’s overall
providential care of His people as “ministering spirits.” In the context
of exalting Christ above God’s angelic heavenly hosts, the writer of
Hebrews rhetorically asked: “But to which of the angels has He ever said: ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool’? Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister
for those who will inherit salvation?” (1:13-14, emp. added). Although
far inferior to Christ, angels are special celestial beings whom God
uses to “minister” (Greek diakonian) or “serve” (RSV, NIV)
His people. What’s more, considering the present tense form of the
participle “being sent forth,” God’s people have every reason to believe
that God is continually sending out His angels “as
human needs correspond to His divine will” (Jackson, 2000; Dods, 2002,
4:258). Even though no particulars are given in this passage, we can
rightly conclude that God uses angels to positively affect the lives of
His people. Angels are actively working as God’s ministering spirits.
Still, there is no evidence in Scripture that each child of God, much
less every heathen, has his or her own guardian angel, and especially
not one who is performing miraculous feats on his or her behalf.
GUARDIAN ANGEL “PROOF TEXTS”
Psalm 34:7
In the midst of a beautiful passage of Scripture in which the psalmist repeatedly acknowledges and extols the LORD for His wondrous care, guidance, and protection, he testifies that “[t]he angel of the LORD
encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them” (34:7). Was
the psalmist here referring to man’s guardian angel? Was he teaching the
doctrine of guardian angels as modern religionists often define the
term?
First of all, as is frequently the case in the Old Testament, the expression “the angel of the LORD
” in this passage likely refers to the preincarnate Christ (cf. Genesis
16:11-13; Judges 13:3-23; Exodus 23:20-21; 1 Corinthians 10:1-4; see
Myers, 1978, pp. 59-79; see also Quertermous, 2002, pp. 200-220). It is
God, not created angelic beings (Psalm 34:7), Whom the Bible states time
and again that man is to “fear” and worship (Psalm 33:18; 67:7; 85:9;
Ecclesiastes 12:13). Thus, if it is the case that the eternal Word (John
1:1-5) is meant in this passage, then Psalm 34:7 obviously is not
referring to one or more “guardian angels” (as the term is popularly
defined in the 21st century). Today, Jesus certainly dwells with His
church (Matthew 18:20; 28:20) and strengthens those who fear Him
(Philippians 4:13), but He is not what most people are referring to when
they speak of their “guardian angel.”
Second, even if “the angel of the LORD”
in this passage does not refer to the preincarnate Christ (which is
difficult to imagine given that man is to “fear Him”), “guardian angel”
advocates still cannot find proof of their doctrine here. This verse
does not teach that each person on the planet has an angel assigned to him to deliver him from harm. Rather, one angel (“the angel of the LORD”) looks after a plurality of God’s faithful children (as is evident by the use of the plural pronouns “those” and “them”).
Psalm 91:9-13
In Psalm 91, the inspired poet says of the one who puts his trust in God,
Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot (9-13).
This
passage, which Satan once misapplied when tempting Jesus (Matthew 4:6;
Luke 4:10-11), certainly is encouraging to the faithful child of God. It
describes in general terms God’s protection of His people under the Old
Law; but it does not say that each child of God (and
certainly not every person who has ever lived) has his own “guardian
angel.” The psalmist noted that God would give a plurality
of angels the responsibility of keeping one that trusts in him. During
the age of miracles, this certainly could have included God using His
angels to work various supernatural feats (e.g., striking the enemies of
righteousness with blindness in Genesis 19:11). Though the age of
genuine biblical miracles has ended (see Miller, 2003), this scripture
can still be comforting to the Christian in the same manner in which
Hebrews 1:14 is: God sends forth His angels to minister to the saints,
providentially taking care of His people.
One other important detail to remember when reading the psalms
(including especially Psalm 91) is the inspired penmen’s use of figures
of speech, particularly hyperbolism. As in Psalm 58:3, where the
psalmist intentionally exaggerated the wickedness of mankind by
referring to them as going “astray as soon as they are born, speaking
lies,” in Psalm 91, the writer hyperbolically stresses God’s protection
of His people. Not that God is incapable of keeping his people from
harm, but as Travis Quertermous noted, to press the psalmist’s reference
to treading upon snakes and lions literally “would be an obvious
absurdity, not to mention forcing a contradiction with other Bible
passages wherein God’s faithful saints suffered great persecution. It
must be remembered that the Psalms are poetry and thus abound with
figurative language. It is a terrible exegetical blunder to unduly
literalize it” (2002, p. 261).
Acts 12:15
After God sent an angel miraculously to release and guide him from
prison, Peter traveled to the house of Mary, John Mark’s mother, where
“many were gathered together praying” (Acts 12:11). When he arrived at
the door of the gate and knocked, a girl named Rhoda “recognized Peter’s
voice,” and “because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran
in and announced that Peter stood before the gate” (12:14). What was
the group’s response? They said to Rhoda, “You are beside yourself!”
When she insisted, they said, “It is his angel” (12:15, emp. added).
Does this passage prove, as some believe, that “humans have guardian
angels” (“Angels...,” n.d.)? As “[i]nteresting as this passage is,”
Peter Davids rightly concluded, “it simply witnesses to the beliefs of
the Christians in that house. The author of Acts reports rather than endorses
their views” (Kaiser, et al., 1996, p. 527, emp. added). As Lenksi
remarked, Luke, the inspired writer of Acts, “does not state a
Scriptural doctrine but only the superstitious ideas of those who were
alarmed by Rhoda’s report” (Lenski, 1943, p. 692). Even the scholarly
J.W. McGarvey, who endorsed to some extent the idea of “guardian angels”
(1875, p. 157), admitted in his commentary on Acts that those meeting
at Mary’s house “undoubtedly had allusion to the popular superstition of
their day, that a man’s guardian angel sometimes assumed his form”
(1872, p. 139). [NOTE: It is also possible, as the studious Guy. N. Woods remarked, that those in Mary’s house, “[c]ertain...that he [Peter—EL]
did not escape death at the hands of the murderous Herod...simply
understood that his spirit, separated from his body” and “had come to
them” (1991, 106[9]:18).]
An angel of God most certainly worked a great miracle in Judea on this
occasion. For the second time, Luke records that an angel set Peter free
from prison (cf. Acts 5:19). No Bible-believing Christian would ever
deny such wondrous acts that God worked through His angelic creation,
nor should any child of God ever deny that He is working providentially
through them today (Hebrews 1:14). But, nothing in Acts 12 indicates
that God has given each person (or even each Christian) a “guardian
angel” to protect him from harm. Furthermore, a lesson can be learned
from this text regarding Who should receive the glory for the
extraordinary works God’s angels perform. When Peter finally spoke to
those gathered at Mary’s house, he “declared to them how the LORD
had brought him out of the prison” (Acts 12:17, emp. added). Notice
that nothing is said here about Peter giving a discourse about a
“guardian angel.” And he certainly did not rename Jesus’ church “the
church of the Guardian Angels,” or insist on starting a yearly feast in
honor of guardian angels (cf. Roman Catholic’s “Feast of the Guardian
Angels”). Luke simply records that Peter wanted his brethren to know
what “the LORD”
had done. Given that even God’s good angelic creation will not accept
worship from mankind, but insist that they are fellow servants
(Revelation 19:10; 22:9), it is wise for Christians simply to
acknowledge God for His wonderful care in our lives, even if such help
is being carried out by His faithful angelic servants.
Matthew 18:10
More than any other passage of Scripture, guardian-angel advocates
point to Matthew 18:10 as their “proof” of guardian angels. On page 88
of his otherwise helpful book, A Study of Angels (1978), Edward
P. Myers succinctly stated: “Children have guardian angels.” He then
referenced only “Matthew 18:10” as the Bible passage that supposedly
proves the doctrine. Though Peter Davids questioned the doctrine and
popular definition of guardian angels, he noted: “Matthew [18:10—EL]
makes the only clear reference to ‘guardian’ angels” (Kaiser, et al.,
1996, p. 527). And, according to AmericanCatholic.org, “Jesus’ words in
Matthew 18:10 best support the belief [of guardian angels—EL]” (“Feast...,” 2010).
So what exactly did Jesus say in Matthew 18:10? In the midst of warning
His disciples not to offend “little ones who believe in Me” (18:1-9),
Jesus taught them to “[t]ake heed that you do not despise one of these
little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels
always see the face of My Father who is in heaven” (18:10, emp. added).
Since Jesus spoke of “their angels,” allegedly He was implying that
children (or “believers”—18:6) have “guardian angels.”
Matthew 18:10 certainly indicates that there is a special relationship
between God’s heavenly host and “these little ones.” And, “[i]n some
sense...the angels do belong to the ‘little ones’ under discussion”
(Quertermous, 2002, p. 263). One needs to keep in mind, however, that
angels were by no means the main emphasis of Jesus’ lesson. In context,
Jesus was speaking to those who were filled with ambition and desire
for prominence which leads to a total disregard for children of the poor
and deprived of society. Thus Christ’s intent was to let those
of ambitious bent know that the high lofty angels of glory are always
concerned with the welfare of the young children, as well as the humble hearted poor of society (Turner, 1989, p. 76, emp. added).
Certainly, if the angels of God are concerned about
the welfare of children and the humble-hearted, as well as those who are
young in the faith (cf. 18:6—“little ones who believe”), Jesus’ apostles
needed to be as well (and less concerned about “who...is greatest in
the kingdom of heaven”—18:1). This is the lesson to be learned from
Matthew 18:1-14, and not the popular doctrine that each person has an
angel on Earth guiding and guarding him from harm.
But, even if one were to ignore the overall context of Matthew 18 in an
attempt to force the popular “guardian-angel” slant on verse 10, still
the plural possessive pronoun “their” angels scarcely supports the idea
that God assigns one angel for each and every child or believer on
Earth. As R.C.H. Lenski noted, God “often assigns individual angels for
special duties” (1943 p. 692; cf. Hebrews 1:14), but that does not mean
that each person has his or her own angel. Furthermore, “It should be
observed that these angels are in heaven, not upon
earth providing human protection” constantly (Chouinard, 1997, p. 326,
emp. added). If they are in heaven, they are not continuously guarding
“their people” on Earth, as angels are not omnipresent, and must go from
place to place (e.g., Daniel 9:20-23).
Finally, although AmericanCatholic.org insists that “Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:10 best support the belief [of guardian angels—EL],” even they were forced to admit: “The concept of an angel assigned to guide and nurture each human being is a development of Catholic doctrine and piety based on Scripture but not directly drawn from it” (“Feast...,” 2010). Such an admission speaks volumes about the soundness of the guardian-angel doctrine.
CONCLUSION
Rather
than be infatuated with whether or not each person on Earth (or each
Christian) has his or her own guardian angel; rather than conjure up all
sorts of reasons why we might like the idea of a guardian angel; rather
than celebrate a “Feast of the Guardian Angels” or call ourselves
“Guardian Angels Churches,” etc., Christians simply need to accept by
faith what the Bible unequivocally does say about these spiritual
servants of God (Revelation 19:10): they are interested in our
activities and well-being (Luke 15:10; 1 Corinthians 11:10), and are
continually working on our behalf “as human needs correspond to His
divine will” (Jackson, 2000).
Discovering that the Bible writers were silent regarding whether each
human or believer has his or her own special guardian angel should not
be a disheartening revelation. For, as Travis Quertermous concluded, the
Bible “promises not the protection of a single angel, but many of them”
(2002, p. 261, emp. added; cf. 2 Kings 6:16-17). Should it not be “much
more comforting to know that God sends many angels to look out for me
rather than just one when such is in harmony with His will (cf. Heb.
1:14)” (Quertermous, p. 261)?
Finally, although there certainly is a time and place to acknowledge
and discuss the wonderful works that the angels of God are performing
(keeping in mind that few particulars are given in Scripture), more than
anything, God’s people need to focus and meditate on God’s greatness, and not the wonderful ways of God’s angelic creation. They exist in the spiritual realm because God made them (Psalm 148:1-5). They minister to us because God sends them (Hebrews 1:14). They will have a part in the Second Coming because God will bring them
(Matthew 13:40-43,49-51; 25:31-32). As thankful as we should be for
what angels have done throughout history for God’s people, we should be
driven to our knees in thanksgiving for Who God is and what He has done
and continues to do for His people.
REFERENCES
“Angel” (1988), The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary (Electronic Database: Biblesoft).
“Angels in the Bible” (no date), http://www.maryourmother.net/Angels.html.
Butt, Kyle and Dave Miller (2003), “Who Hardened Pharaoh’s Heart?” http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2259.
“Cherubim” (1986), Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Electronic Database: Biblesoft).
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