This is a similar idea to Christ's Parable of the Wheat and Weeds. Stand back and let both grow side by side, and by the time of the harvest, it'll be clearer which is which.
The Parable of the Wheat and the Darnel Weeds
Another passage in the Bible that describes the role of angels can be found in the Parable of the Wheat and the Darnel Weeds, Christ revealed that the wicked will be destroyed at the end of this Age, and that the angels will burn up the wicked when commanded to do so. However, the the righteous will 'shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father'. Christ explained the meaning of his Parable to His disciples:
Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. His disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the darnel weeds of the field." He answered them, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil.
The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear." (Matthew 13:36-43)
"To Babylon you must go and there you will be rescued; there God will ransom you out of the power of your enemies." (Micah 4:10)
"For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve." (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)
"To Babylon you must go and there you will be rescued; there God will ransom you out of the power of your enemies." (Micah 4:10)
Robo wrote: ↑Fri Apr 28, 2023 9:27 pm
There's nothing in the Bible to suggest that we may seek the appearance of an angel... they always appear unsought-for, but it wouldn’t be inappropriate to ask God for their help in times of need. This would be in-line with asking God to fulfil his promise of Psalm 91:11 ("For he commands his angels with regard to you, to guard you wherever you go. With their hands they shall support you, lest you strike your foot against a stone.")
James Burton Coffman (1905-2006) was a renowned American minister, biblical scholar. He wrote my favourite commentary on the Bible. His commentary on Psalm 91:10-11 has a great overview of the role of angels as guardians:
“There shall no evil befall thee,
Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent.
For he will give his angels charge over thee,
To keep thee in all thy ways.” (Psalm 91:10-11)
"There shall no evil befall thee" (Psalms 91:10)
Promises just as glorious as these are provided for the Christians in the New Testament, as for example, in Romans 8:35-39; but as Kidner cautioned, "The assurance here is that nothing can touch God's servant except by God's permission, and that no rebel (Psalms 91:8) can escape God's punishment."
Kidner also quoted Luke 21:19 in this connection, indicating that there actually is no exemption whatever to Christians regarding the common dangers and disasters of all men, the great difference for the child of God being that, "The Lord will preserve him through every experience, even death itself."
"He will give his angels charge over thee" (Psalms 91:11)
This promise has its New Testament echo in Hebrews 1:13-14, where it is stated that "all," the entire host of the heavenly angels, are charged with the duty of ministering unto them that shall be the heirs of salvation.
The following things which angels do for the redeemed are mentioned in the Bible:
1) They bear away the souls of the righteous in death (Luke 16:22)
2) They oppose purposes and designs of Satan, not in their own names, but in the name of the Lord (Jude 1:1:6)
3) They execute God's judgments upon the incorrigibly wicked (2 Kings 19:35; Acts 12:23)
4) They exert influence upon rulers and governments (Daniel 10:20)
5) They aid providentially in bringing the unsaved to hear the saving gospel of Christ (Acts 10:3)
6) They exercise watchful care over little children (Matthew 18:10)
7) They maintain perpetually the availability of the Word of God for the human race. The Rainbow Angel stands upon the land and the sea, having in his hand "a little book, OPEN." That little BOOK is the New Testament (Revelation 10)
"To Babylon you must go and there you will be rescued; there God will ransom you out of the power of your enemies." (Micah 4:10)
I've been wanting to post about this, but I've had a really tough time lately.
A couple weeks before my mom died, I was sitting outside...and roughly a few blocks away I saw something white flapping around and flying...I thought maybe it was a kite, or some piece of trash maybe caught in the wind...which there wasn't much wind to speak of.
It looked almost like a white poster.
It kept doing loops, and bigger loops, and intricate aerial maneuvers.
It kept going higher and higher.
Eventually a plane passed under it.
And it turned into a bright star for about 10 minutes and disappeared.
Kites and pieces of trash, don't just get sucked into space with a slight breeze.
I've never seen anything like that before.
And I do think it was an angel.
_________________"If you throw yourself to the wind...
________________________You can ride it.""
In 1765, when William Blake was 8 years old, while walking through a park in Peckham Rye, in South London, he said he saw "a tree filled with angels, bright angelic wings bespangling every bough like stars".
"To Babylon you must go and there you will be rescued; there God will ransom you out of the power of your enemies." (Micah 4:10)
Angels exert influence over the rulers and governments of nations
"But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come." (Daniel 10:13-14)
"Then he said, 'Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come.' " (Daniel 10:20)
James Burton Coffman:
"One of the things of very great interest in this passage is the glimpse of the work of the holy angels striving with the rulers of this world's darkness. This is the only passage in the Bible where this information surfaces. We are not informed just what the nature of such activity really entails; but according to Hebrews 1:14, we are certain that the mightiest of God's angels are diligent to bring about world conditions favorable to the achievement of the purposes of God."
There's no mention of the exact number of angels mentioned in the Bible. The only comments in the Bible about the number of angels can be found in the following verses:
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels..." (Hebrews 12:22)
"'You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.' Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing.'" (Revelation 5:10-12)
From the above verses it's apparent that there are so many angels, they can't be counted. According to the Myriam-Webster dictionary, a myriad comes from Greek myrias, which in turn comes from myrioi, meaning "countless" or "ten thousand". So if there are myriads of myriads that would equal 100,000,000 angels, but biblically, this is probably figuratively meant to mean that there are countless angels.
"To Babylon you must go and there you will be rescued; there God will ransom you out of the power of your enemies." (Micah 4:10)
Felix wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 7:32 am
I've been wanting to post about this, but I've had a really tough time lately.
A couple weeks before my mom died, I was sitting outside...and roughly a few blocks away I saw something white flapping around and flying...I thought maybe it was a kite, or some piece of trash maybe caught in the wind...which there wasn't much wind to speak of.
It looked almost like a white poster.
It kept doing loops, and bigger loops, and intricate aerial maneuvers.
It kept going higher and higher.
Eventually a plane passed under it.
And it turned into a bright star for about 10 minutes and disappeared.
Kites and pieces of trash, don't just get sucked into space with a slight breeze.
I've never seen anything like that before.
And I do think it was an angel.
Sometimes when you are having a very bad time something can happen to lift your spirits. Hope you are feeling a bit better, the loss of a loved one takes a long time to get over but obviously they are never forgotten and your memories of them lives on in your heart for as long as we’re here in this life. Sharing and not keeping things inside and keeping busy is important too.
Neutral angels and those who can't see the difference between good and evil in Dante's Divine Comedy
Summary of Canto III
"Abandon all hope, you who enter here."
Virgil leads Dante up to the Gate of Hell, upon which they read a foreboding inscription that includes the admonition "abandon all hope, you who enter here." As soon as they enter, Dante hears innumerable cries of torment and suffering.
Virgil explains that these cries emanate from the souls of those who did not commit to either good or evil but who lived their lives without making conscious moral choices; therefore, both Heaven and Hell have denied them entry. These souls now reside in the Ante-Inferno, within Hell yet not truly part of it, where they must chase constantly after a blank banner. Flies and wasps continually bite them, and writhing worms consume the blood and tears that flow from them.
The souls of the uncommitted are joined in this torment by the neutral angels - those who sided with neither God nor Satan in the war in Heaven.
Virgil leads Dante to a great river called Acheron, which marks the border of Hell. A crowd of newly dead souls waits to be taken across. A boat approaches with an old man, Charon, at its helm. Charon recognizes Dante as a living soul and tells him to keep away from the dead, but after Virgil informs him that their journey has been ordained from on high, Charon troubles them no longer. He returns to his work of ferrying the miserable souls, wailing and cursing, across the river into Hell.
As he transports Virgil and Dante across, Virgil tells the frightened Dante that Charon’s initial reluctance to ferry him bodes well: only damned souls cross the river. Suddenly, an earthquake shakes the plain; wind and fire rise up from the ground, and Dante, terrified, faints.
