Believe

Some notes on angels:

1. Angels are called: “Sons of God,” “Holy ones,” “Spirits,” “Watchers.”

See also titles in Colossians 1:16.

2. Angels are created spiritual beings:

• Nehemiah: God created the heavens and all their hosts.
• Prior to creation of earth. (Job 38:7: Angels sang creation)
• Came into being all at once. Whereas humans started with one man and progressed, the entire host of angels existed at the same time.

3. The Spirit realm is more than just angels.

Cherubim. Seraphim, Isa. 6. In Revelation there are “Living creatures” at the throne.

4. Angels are spirits without bodies. Heb. 1:14

• Invisible: Can’t see them.
• They can temporarily take on bodily form.
• Our ability to sense reality is limited.
• Can become visible by choice.

5. How many angels are there? Uncountable.

6. Angels appear throughout the life of Jesus.

• Temptation they ministered to him.
• Gethsemane an Angel strengthened him.
• At the tomb, an Angel rolled away the stone. There was also an angel inside the empty tomb.
• Two angels appeared when he ascended.

Angels teach us that when God speaks, he wants us to believe him.

1. Zechariah. =

Luke 1:8-35

• The disbelief is absurd! He is a priest, standing in front of a burning altar of incense (represents prayers rising to God) speaking to a Holy Angel in the Holy Place of the temple … and he doesn’t believe the angel. Gabriel is offended by the priest’s lack of belief.
• Zechariah didn’t have to do anything except rejoice.

2. Mary. = Belief led

Luke 1:26-55

• Gabriel is the same angel who appeared to Zechariah and to Daniel (500 years earlier)
• I don’t think Mary would have chosen herself to be the mother of the Lord.
• Luke 1:33, David reigned for 40 years. The Messiah will reign forever.
• Luke 1:34, Mary’s question “how will this be since I am a virgin?” is a good one. The answer (Luke 1:35) is non-technical. The angel doesn’t tell her how God will accomplish this (he’s an angel, he doesn’t have that information.) All Mary needs to know is that the Holy Spirit will do a work that is beyond the mind of men or angels.
• Mary’s response was one of faith and rejoicing.
• Luke 1:46-55 is called the “Magnificat” which is Latin for “My soul glorifies the Lord.”
• In her song, Mary quotes the Old Testament 15 times. It is one of the most theologically rich passages of Scripture, and it was composed by a teenage girl in the first century.

3. Joseph. = Belief led to

Matthew 1:29-24

• The angel asked him to not only believe Mary was telling the truth, but that God was at work in his world in a miraculous way.
• Joseph’s response was immediate.

4. Shepherds. = Belief led to

Luke 2:8-15

• I wonder if the angel who spoke to the Shepherds was Gabriel.
• The light the Shepherds saw was not from the Angels glowing but was light from heaven flowing down.

Notes on the Manger:

• The Shepherds are directed to “the manger.” How did they know which manger to go to? Almost every home would have a manger!
• Nearby there was a tower the shepherds used and a place there called, “The manger.” The church historian Eusebius linked these fields to a unique biblical location called Migdal Eder, which translated means the “tower of the flock”.
• The first time Migdal Eder is mentioned in the Bible is in the account of Rachel, who died after giving birth to Benjamin, the youngest son of Jacob. “Then Israel journeyed and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder”, records Genesis 35:21.
• According to the Talmud, all cattle found in the area surrounding Jerusalem “as far as Migdal Eder” were deemed to be holy and consecrated and could only be used for sacrifices in the Temple, for the peace and Passover sacrifices. This means the shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem who first heard the Good News from the angels were not ordinary shepherds but served the sacrificial system of the Temple.