Ghosts, Angels & Spirits
Did an angel appear to Moses, or was it God?
Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, "I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up." When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then he said, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." He said further, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord said, "I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" He said, "I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain." - Exod. 3:1-12
Angels are God's messengers. But they also appear in The Bible in other roles, from warriors and protectors to servants and worshippers. So, today's reading is intriguing because it starts out by saying that an angel appeared to Moses in the fire, and then God spoke to him from the fire.
If we look closely, the Angel prepares Moses for God, telling him this is holy ground. It is almost as if the angel says, "Please hold for God."
What God tells Moses is very interesting. God says He will go with Moses. He doesn't say that His angels will go and protect him on his journey. God will go. "I will be with you," God says.
We Christians believe God presents himself as three distinct persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So, possibly, the Spirit of God goes with Moses. It is still God, no matter what form He takes.
We believe this Spirit lives within us through our Baptism and Confirmation. So, angels and spirits do exist.
I was listening to a podcast yesterday. My nephew, Joey, sent me a link to Shawn Ryan's interview with Lee Strobel, noted atheist-turned-Christian author. Strobel talks about his latest book, "The Case for Jesus," and during the three-hour podcast, Ryan hits him with a lot of insightful questions about his faith.
One thing Strobel said was that Angels exist and are sent from God. But he said Ghosts, the spirits of people who have died, are demonic.
Later on, though, he says that people who are dying see the spirits of dead relatives, some of whom they have never met. Those are ghosts, aren't they?
In The Bible, Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus on the mount during the Transfiguration. They aren't demons but spirits.
And in 1 Samuel, King Saul uses a medium to summon Samuel's spirit, so the Bible does have some references to what we call ghosts. I grew up calling the Holy Spirit the Holy Ghost, so I have history with this issue.
Maybe someday, when my novels become popular, I will be invited on Shawn's show and I can talk about the Ghost in "The Old Cranberry Ladies Garden Club: The Ghost and the Key" which I will independently publish this month. (gratuitous plug)
In the meantime, I would love to know what you faithful readers think about Ghosts, Spirits and Angels.
More to come...