What the Bible says about Angelic Intervention
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Genesis 19:1

These angels are the other two who were with the Lord when He was entertained by Abraham. The other two "men" are identified conclusively as angels. It is interesting that the story begins in Genesis 18:1 as though these three spirit beings just suddenly appeared, as if one moment Abraham could not see them, and the next moment three people were suddenly there. Apparently, Abraham was of such experience that he recognized immediately who they were. He certainly was not nonplussed because he immediately bowed down and worshipped one of them, recognizing that One as the Lord.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Image and Likeness of God (Part Three)

Genesis 19:10-11

These angels reached out and pulled Lot in, so their hands were solid enough to yank Lot back into the house. Their hands did not just pass through Lot's arm, body, clothing, or whatever they grabbed him by. They had substance. Then they used some measure of spiritual power because, though the door was closed and those who were trying to get in were on the other side of it, they struck blind those who were outside so that they were disoriented and unsure about what was going on.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Image and Likeness of God (Part Three)

Genesis 19:21-24

These angels had power; they say directly they were the ones who would destroy the city. That power and the authority to do that had been delegated to them by God. They had authority to get Lot and his family out of the city, and they had delegated authority to punish the cities.

Consider that God did not script everything out for them. What does that mean to us? Like men, these angels had minds, and they had to think things through. Is this in line with the charges that God gives us? In the situations we find ourselves in, we have to think, "Would this be okay? What are our alternatives here?" In other words, the angels did not just march into the city, commandeer what they needed, grab Lot by the seat of his pants, and throw him unceremoniously outside of the city. They had the authority to allow Lot choices, and they worked within the framework God had given them. This means that angels have minds with which to assemble facts, to think, and to devise alternatives.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Image and Likeness of God (Part Three)

Related Topics: Angelic Intervention | Angels | Choices | Choosing


 

Daniel 6:22

Daniel indicates two reasons why God sends his angels to protect and deliver His people: He was innocent of breaking God's law, and he respected the leadership God had placed over him (Romans 13:1-5). God uses His angels to keep His faithful servants from harm.

Martin G. Collins
The Ministry of Angels

Daniel 10:8-13

This was an awesome being of power, so great that ordinarily strong, valiant men were so frightened that they ran. Yet something withstood this great being to his face and kept him from getting to Daniel for three full weeks. We cannot even begin to imagine the titanic struggle that went on between, say, Gabriel and this other being. There must have been such an awesome wrestling match as men have never been witness to.

Whatever it was that withheld Gabriel from getting to Daniel must have been awfully powerful. Notice too that this great struggle was going on without Daniel even being aware of it. Somehow a malignant demon tried to thwart Daniel's prayer from being answered.

But it was answered because, in verse 13, "Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia." It was not until two of them ganged up on this other being—two great, mighty archangels to subdue the other. The logical conclusion would almost have to be that the king of Persia mentioned here was none other than Satan.

This section in Daniel 10 really contains a great deal of encouragement. We can understand why the apostle Paul and the psalmist wrote that the angels are ministering spirits. They are ministering to the heirs of salvation. They are protecting us! They are standing between us and possible annihilation! We do not know how many times an angel has intervened to save our lives, to deflect the power of these malignant beings from us. It has happened repeatedly in some cases, not just in dramatic interventions, but where an intervention took place of which we were not even aware.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Satan (Part 1)

Daniel 12:1

God has delegated responsibility to angelic beings. Do we understand the significance of this? He has not scripted everything out, and every one of these angelic beings is required to report to God from time to time about what is happening in his area of responsibility.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Image and Likeness of God (Part Five)

Matthew 18:10-11

Notice that it says angels—plural—who report to God, which is what "see the face of God" means: They stand before Him, are in communication with Him, give reports to Him, analyze and give evaluations to Him. They are telling Him what our needs are. What is the purpose of these angels? They ensure that we have every opportunity to grow to the greatest extent possible that God might save us and reward us to our highest potential.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Image and Likeness of God (Part Five)

Hebrews 1:14

Angel literally means "messenger." Hebrews 1:14 calls them "ministering [or serving] spirits," sent by God to aid the heirs of salvation. A messenger is one dispatched to carry out a responsibility in service to the sender, and in this case, in service to the recipients as well. God has created beings greater than we are to serve us! A key to understand why He has done this is in recognizing God's sovereignty in the words "sent forth." The greater (God) rules and utilizes the lesser (angels). The Bible shows God actively commanding and managing them to perform functions in His governance of Project Earth.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Sovereignty of God: Part Five


 

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