"-But unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into." 1 Peter 1:12

There is so much that can be said about the angels. Unfortunately there is much said that shouldn't be. People have made angels into warm and cuddly creatures, but scripture portrays these heavenly hosts in no such way. There are not to be worshiped, nor are they to be held in inordinate curiosity or affection. Scripture tells us that we were made lower than the angels. So let us consider that before we adopt any cutesy views of the Heavenly Hosts. Scripture is quite clear on the fact that the angels are GOD's angels, not our angels. They are never to detract us from Christ Jesus.

They are Holy beings, fully compatible to live in the presence of God. They are messengers of God, and ministers of men. When angels revealed themselves, men fell flat on their face and felt their mortality. Angels were sent by God to announce to the barren that they would give birth. They rescued men from the destruction of their own city, and delivered great and terrible judgment upon those who rose up against God. An Angel appeared unto Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. (Exodus 3:2) An Angel went before the camp of Israel as they journeyed through the wilderness. (Exodus 14:19) When the king of Syria went to war with Israel on account of Elijah, and all appeared lost, God opened the eyes of men to see that "they that are with us are more than they that are with them" (2 Kings 6:17). Some have entertained angels unawares (Hebrews 13:2), and for all we know men still do. It was an angel that named Jesus before He was even born, and it was and an angel that appeared unto Jesus from heaven, strengthening him in the garden before His betrayal and death.

Angels will be active in the judgment of the earth. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:39)

And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:21) In a parable Jesus told, gives a picture of the end of the world when these things take place. He says "The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the angels are the reapers. (Matthew 13:38)

The angels are active doing all that God gives them to do. They carry out God's work for them perfectly as He wills. "And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire." (Hebrews 1:7) They are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14). Again, they are not the focus of our attention, yet they are very real and very active even in our salvation.

God's name is being glorified in the salvation He is working in man, and angels desire to look into these things.

Of Which Things Angels Desire to Look Into

The fall that the angels took was perpetually fatal. No savior could be provided, and no atonement made. Why could salvation be provided for man and not for angels? The answer is in where we fell. The angels fell from such a high and glorious position that there was nothing higher to bring them back! This made their situation a hopeless one in that they are eternally condemned. The angels in heaven are all too aware of this truth. They are witnessing a salvation being worked in us that could never be worked in an angel, and they rejoice in it with us and with our Savior. The Bible tells us that there is "joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." The heavenly hosts know what is going on in us and through Christ. We have been brought to an innumerable company of angels, (Hebrews 12:22) and these do not only behold the salvation of men, but they also work in it as well.

Hebrews 2:16 reads, "For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham." In other words, Jesus Christ did not come to save angels. If he had he would have come in the likeness of angels. But in stating that Christ bore the likeness of sinful man tells in and of itself that it was man He came to save. He had to become like men in order to be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:17)

Scripture tells us That "He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." (Psalms 91:11) There is so much working for our salvation that we cannot see. Just the same, there is much working against it as well. "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12) We will not know in this life all the temptation and trouble that we have been spared because God has given His angels charge over us. By this God has granted us much grace.

CLOSING THOUGHT

Be mindful that the angels behold the works of man, whether they are evil or good. Those same angels are the reapers in the end of the world, and they know the tares from the wheat.

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