Angelic organization

1. We often hear people use the word “million.”

2. A lottery jackpot may be worth a “million dollars.”

3. In describing a large city someone may tell us, “Approximately a million people live there.”

4. We have television shows with titles like, “who wants to be a millionaire?”

5. Most can count to a million.

6. In fact, we could actually count a million items in just over 30 days using a specific schedule.

7. This schedule would involve 8 hours a day, seven days per week, for a little more than 30 days.

8. If we counted one item per second using this schedule we would literally count a million things.

9. What if we repeated the process for a second thirty days and reached the sum of two million?

10. We would probably not have a problem with the counting, but finding a place for 2 million objects would be an issue.

11. Let’s suppose that we overcame the storage problem.

12. Let’s say we sat at a keyboard and simply typed in a million asterisks.

13. If we did this once, all our work would number would still be less than all the angels.

14. If we did this twice (2 million asterisks), we would likely still not do something equal to all the angels.

15. There are passages in the Bible that say there are millions of angels.

16. In Mt. 26:53 Jesus said He could call “more than 12 legions of angels.”

17. Twelve legions is 72,000. 72,000 heavenly creatures sounds like a lot of firepower.

18. I reality calling down 72,000 angels would have hardly made a dent in the angelic host.

19. Rev. 5:11 seems to describe angels and the figure that is used indicates there are millions of these creatures.

20. Daniel came to this same realization in Dan. 7:10.

21. In Heb. 12:22 the writer says the number of angels is “innumerable.”

KNOWING THAT THERE ARE LITEARLLY MILLIONS OF ANGELS BRINGS US TO THE FIRST POINT WE WANT TO DISCUSS TONIGHT: THE ORGANIZATION OF ANGELS.

Imagine a corporation that has 2 million employees.

My search for the largest corporation at the present time came up with a single name: Wal-mart.

According to the information I accessed, Walmart has about 1.2 million employees.

Heaven it seems has at least double that as far as angels and maybe a whole lot more.

Imagine Wal-mart trying to tend to personally attend to all 1.2 million employees.

They couldn’t do it. Giant numbers like this require organization on varying levels.

God can manage an “innumerable” company of heavenly creatures. He needs no help.

God does manage His angels very, very well (perfectly).

Think back to Mt. 26:53 – Jesus said He could call “twelve legions of angels.”

Legion was a military term. This single word suggests to us that angels are somehow organized.

Just as the military has structure, so such is the case with the heavenly host.

This conclusion is absolutely consistent with 1 Cor. 14:33.

Paul said God is not a God of “confusion but of peace.”

Imagine a few or several million angels wandering about and there is no structure whatsoever.

Paul said God does not operate in this manner.

Angels are organized, and part of the process involves the “arch-angel.”

In Dan. 10:13 Michael (an angel) is referred to as “one of the chief princes.”

In verse 21 he is again referred to as a “prince.”

Then in Dan. 12:1 he is called a “great prince.”

We have shown in previous lessons that some of the Old Testament information is expanded on in the New Testament.

Such is again true with angels. In Jude 9 the name Michael appears again.

Unless we are dealing with a different angel, here he is called an “arch-angel.”

We may never fully understand in this life all that an archangel does or is.

If this creature is a “prince” (Dan. 10), it would seem that this somehow is related to leadership.

It seems most logical to understand Michael as being like a very high official.

Certainly this information is consistent with 1 Thess. 4:16 (READ).

If we use earthly terms, perhaps we could liken him to a prime minister.

If this is the role of the archangel we come to a next logical question.

Is Michael the only one or are there other angels that also serve in this capacity?

Some say there are seven archangels.

If you have heard this you have been introduced to Catholic doctrine.

If there is more than one archangel we do not have that information in our Bibles.

Some might say, “What about Gabriel”? He must be an archangel.

Gabriel is often mentioned, there is no question about that.

We find his name in Dan. 8:16; 9:21; Lk. 1:19, 26.

It is said that this angel “stands in the presence of God” (Lk. 1:19).

One interesting theory that writers often mention is that there may have been two archangels.

One was Michael and the other is the one we now know as Satan.

Michael stayed on the side of good and right and Gabriel chose evil.

Michael is a high angel for God and the saved, and Satan is at the top of evil and condemnation.

That is a very intriguing thought and it may or may not be true.

An argument against there being only one archangel on the side of good (Michael) is Dan. 10:13.

Michael is said to be “one” of the “chief princes.”

If chief prince means the same as archangel, saying he is “one of them” may imply there are more.

It seems archangels are at the very top of the angelic order. What about angels below them?

Moving away from the archangel(s) we come to the cherubim.

When we study about angels in the Bible we first read about cherubim, a special class of angels.

This word first occurs in Gen. 3:24.

Adam and Eve were driven from the garden and cherubim were used to keep them away.

Seeing these creatures associated with the lives of Adam and Eve tells us something.

First, angels have been involved with man from almost the beginning of time.

Second, cherubim were involved with some type of “enforcement” in Gen. 3.

They were like guards; there were there to prevent entrance back into the Garden of Eden.

After Gen. 3, cherubim disappear until the Law of Moses comes into effect.

In Ex. 25:17-25 we find them associated with the mercy seat (2 cherubs were put on top of it).

The angels were to be “face down.”

Their downward faces suggest humility as well as their being forces to execute judgment.

These special creatures were placed on the mercy seat and God is said to be over them.

Several times (1 Sam. 4:4; 2 Kgs. 19:15; 1 Chron. 13:6) God is said to be above these creatures.

The position of these creatures, the mercy seat and God all seem to convey a picture.

There was mercy, but not mercy alone. There were also agents of judgment (the cherubim).

Inside the Old Testament tabernacle (Ex. 26:31) the cherubim were used for decoration.

Cherubim were embroidered into the cloth of a curtain separating the holy place from the holy of holies.

Apparently this was one more means of reminding the Hebrews of God’s holiness and justice.

Then in the book of Ezekiel we again encounter these creatures.

In Ezek. 8-10 we read about the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in 586 B.C.

In Ezek. 10 there is a lot of information about cherubim; these creatures are one more joined with judgment.

They have been called the “executioners of God’s wrath.”

A third division among the angels consists of the “seraphim” (this word meant a “burning”).

One of the most well-known to the seraphim is Isa. 6.

I want to read from Isa. 6:4.

As you are turning there I will relate a short story that was passed to me a few weeks ago.

A congregation down south used to have a song leader who had a booming voice.

He began to worship with a congregation that wanted to clap at baptisms.

The clapping was creating a problem so the song leader told the leadership he would put an end to it.

Immediately after people were baptized, he used his loudest voice to start a song.

The song leader literally overcame the clapping with some really good vocal cords.

As strong as this man’s voice was, it could not have matched the seraphim.

Notice Isa. 6:4 – READ. This was the voice of the seraphim (verses 2-3).

Imagine a voice so strong that it shakes the foundations of a building; this is what the prophet described.

Isa. 6 seems to convey some basic but important lessons about seraphim.

First, they have a great zeal for God. God was praised in such a way where the place is said to have shaken.

Second, Isaiah was a man of “unclean lips” (verse 5), but a seraphim was involved in the purification process.

It seems seraphim are more in line with angels of mercy and Cherubim are more associated with judgment.

The seraphim are “above” the throne of God (Isa. 6:1-2) while the cherubim are “below” it (1 Sam. 4:4 and 2 Kgs. 19:15).

These two distinct classes of angels harmonize perfectly with the nature of God.

God is a God of mercy as well as wrath; we see angels involved in each of these areas.

Paul said in Rom. 11:22, “behold then the goodness and severity of God.”

We have seen three basic divisions when it comes to angels.

There may be some additional divisions among the angels.

In Eph. 1:21 Paul spoke of Jesus being “far above all rule.”

Then He said the Lord is above “authority, and power, and dominion.”

We do not know for sure what all the words in this verse describe.

They do seem to have some type of reference to angels or spiritual powers.

Similar verses are in Col. 1:16 and Col. 2:15.

There is some type of division or ranking but we are not given a lot of specific information.

We do have information to draw this conclusion: angels are somehow organized.

There is rank, structure, and a definite plan.

Christ did not die for the angels.

He died for us.

Jesus gave His life for the church.

If God carefully organized those Jesus did NOT die for, what must be true for those who Jesus DID die for?

God also wants them to be organized; He has a structure and plan for them.

This conclusion is exactly right.

Just as God has an organization plan for angels, He has an organization plan for His church.

God has a mission for angels, and He has a mission for us (individually and collectively).

Good angels have been obedient, and this is our role as well. Are we obeying?