Angels

A recent Time magazine poll revealed that approximately 69% of Americans believe in
angels and 46% believe they have their own guardian angel or angels. The word "angel"
actually comes from the Greek word aggelos, which means "messenger." The matching
Hebrew word mal'ak has the same exact meaning. Angels are mentioned at least 108
times in the Old Testament and 165 times in the New Testament. The Bible does speak
about several classes of angelic beings. In fact the Scriptures describe the whole range of
spirits whom God has created which includes both good and evil angels, and special
categories of them such as cherubim (Ezekiel 1), seraphim (Isaiah 6), and the archangel
(Luke 1:11-20; 26-38).We also know the names of two notable angels: Michael (Daniel
10:13; Jude 9) and Gabriel (Daniel 9:21; Luke 1:19,26). In the Bible we can read that
there are a vast number of angels, but there are no definite count of them. Though highly
intelligent spiritual beings and great in power, the angels can take on the appearance of
men or other forms at will. They will never die and often guard or encompass the people
of God (Psalms 34:7; 91:10-12; Luke 20:35-36).
Angels carry out a variety of tasks—all designed to serve God. Here's a list of the tasks
which they complete: Worship and praise (Isaiah 6:1-3; Revelation 4-5). As the carriers
of messages or revelation. (Acts 7:52-53). Strengthening and encouraging the followers
of God (Matthew 4:11; Acts 5:19-20). Answering prayers of the saints (Daniel 9:20-24;
10:10-12; Acts 12:1-17). Caring for believers at the moment of death (Luke 16:22). Each
of the seven church ages is assigned a particular angel over it.
The book of Enoch mentions the "Watchers" (angelic entities) over mankind. While not
fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, chapter two is found in the book of Jude. The book
relays the message that all human action is being recorded by heavenly spirits.
Throughout the ages and even today people have had encounters with heavenly beings.
Here are a few of the encounters. Perhaps you have a story where you entertained angels
unwares.
"Approximately 12 years ago my boyfriend left me for another woman. I was very hurt
over that. I got up one morning and prayed for God to show me He was there. I went to
work that morning, and approximately four hours later I heard the sound of flocking
wings. I looked up and saw angels everywhere. They were very bright white angels. I was
sitting at this long table. They moved towards me very fast on both sides of the table. I
felt one touch me on the shoulder. As they moved in, they disappeared. I wasn't able to
see their faces because they were moving so fast. This forever changed my life. I will
never forget it." - Debra
"My daughter was age 3 when I was taking her to daycare. I had left the house and
traveled 2 blocks when I came to a major intersection that was being widened. I was the
first car at the light, my daughter was in her child seat in the front. The light turned green,
as I readied to go through the intersection, loud and clear 'Don't Go' it was so clear that I
thought someone was in my backseat, I checked the rear view mirror, there was no one,
at that point I thought, oh, I am holding up traffic and started to proceed through the
intersection when a dump truck full of hot asphalt ran the red light." - Linda
"In the dead of the night an angel whispered loud and urgent to me, "I smell smoke." It
woke me up and saved my life, my husband's life and my dog. We lost the house and
everything we owned!" - Anonymous
"The accident happened around 1979. My girlfriend Donna was driving the car on Bronx
Expressway one evening with another friend and myself. We were in the left lane when
the car decided to stall. Normally you would glide over but Donna hit her brake. That is
all I remember until someone called my name 'Veronica, wake up.' I was in the back seat
and we were hit from behind. The person pulled me out of the car. When we got to the
hospital I asked for the man that pulled me from the car and the policeman said that
nobody pulled me out of the car. He said, 'You woke up and got out yourself.' Someone
helped me and I believed it was an angel or my guardian angel. I'll never forget that
moment." - Veronica
"I had a old boyfriend who broke my heart by leaving one day without explanation. Years
later I received a phone call from his mother, that he was dying of brain cancer. She feels
seeing me would bring comfort to him. This was a very emotional situation I found
myself in. I decided to visit him and ended up being committed to him in a nurturing way
for the rest of his life, which ended up being a year. This time was an emotional roller
coaster and I often felt confused. One day while going to the train station, an old woman
dressed in black stopped right in front of me and said 'God loves you, you are doing the
right thing' and she walked away. I quickly turned around and she was nowhere to be
found. After my friend passed away, I saw the same woman again, dressed the same way,
this time she said 'God loves you and you did the right thing.'" - Kathy
"One morning as I woke up I heard a voice saying over and over, 'don't get on the boat,
don't get on the boat.' So I told my husband about it. That day we were going boating
with a friend who was bringing another friend that we had not met yet with their own
boat as well. My husband and I talked about what I had heard and we made a decision to
go met with them on the beach, but not to get on any of the boats that day. However at
the end of the day after not getting on any of the boats, my friend talked me and my
husband into getting on the boat for just a ride only. We gave in and went. While they
were pulling a tuber in a double tube, the new ski rope, snapped. It snapped because the
tuber had fell off the tube and the boat driver who had been drinking continued to drive
the boat at over 30 mph even after we repeatedly yelled at him to stop. The tube
submerged and held fast in the water, the ski rope had an estimated 4,000 pounds of
pressure place on it and it snapped. At first everyone thought someone was shooting at
us. It sounded like two gun shots. The first of the two gun shot sounds were when the
rope snapped and the second one, when it hit me in the head. It knocked me out and cause
great bodily injury to me. I am disabled now due to what happened. I wish I had listened
to my guardian angel. So everyone out there don't make the mistake that I did. Listen to
your guardian angel. Even if you feel stupid or foolish, don't give in to other's wishes
around you. Let God lead the way for you." - Anonymous
"I don't know if this was an Angel but I was stationed in Vietnam from 1970 to 1971. At
the time that the United States was beginning to pull out of the country. I was a First
Lieutenant in charge of a 5 ton truck company running convoys to bring goods,
equipment, weapons, jet fuel and supplies to different bases in the lower three Corps. I
was assigned to bring an artillery company out of the mountains back to my base at Long
Bien. While leading the convoy on the road back to Long Bien, I felt a cool breeze run up
my back. We were in the sweltering jungle, there shouldn't have been a cool breeze. I
immediately felt that my convoy was to be ambushed down the road. I halted the convoy
in the middle of the jungle to review my ambush instructions with the troops. We
mounted our vehicles and proceeded down the road. Not 30 minutes later, we were
ambushed. Because we were aware of the possibility of the ambush and were just
recently prepared with instructions, we were able to get through it without incident. We
returned fire and drove back the Vietcong giving us the time to escape the ambush zone.
This happened 3 times in the year that I was there. I credit this cool breeze for the
survival of myself and my troops." - Vietnam Veteran