Messengers

Angels are believed to be the messengers of God.

War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming, “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death. Rejoice then, you heavens and those who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you with great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” - Revelation 12:7-12

Today is the feast day for Michael, the Archangel.  It is known as Michaelmas, the celebration day for him and a day of remembrance of all God's messengers.

The word angel comes from the Hebrew malach, which in Greek is angelos, meaning message or news.  They are the beings which can take human form and appear to us to help us understand God's purpose for us.

Here, in the Book of Revelation, Michael leads his angel fleet in battle against the dragon, who loses and is banished from heaven, sent to earth to be among us.

It doesn't seem fair that he would be sent to dwell amongst us, does it?

Is that our punishment for disobeying God in the garden?

So this hostile planet we live on is the home of the one who is so angry with God that he will do anything to hurt Him, and that means getting to us.  

With his messenger angels, Satan, or the forces of evil, prey on us to lead us away from God.  So God sends his messengers to protect us and guide us home.

So, I wonder.  What would the world be like without these evil ones?

We may never know.  We just have to learn to live with them, and do all we can to defeat them when they try to take control of us.

More to come...