The angel of death

a) About 100 years ago newspaper men made a legend that some of us still recognize.

b) The tale is about Paul Bunyon, a mythical lumberjack who had unbelievable height and strength.

c) Bunyon is said to have had a blue ox.

d) One winter the snow was so cold it turned blue.

e) There was a little ox in the snow and Bunyon found it.

f) Because the blue snow permanently stained the ox, Paul called it “Babe the blue ox.”

2) It is said that if you looked at the ox for just 5 minutes you could see it grow before your eyes.

3) When the ox had an itch, it had to rub against a cliff because it was so big it knocked over trees.

4) The ox was so strong he straightened out roads.

5) Bunyon and his ox were so big their footsteps created the 10,000 lakes in Minnesota.

6) All these details are folklore; a legend; a story; information that is not true.

a) Our world contains of folklore in our world, and some of is religious.

b) If you were to study religious folklore you would find a religious tale involving angels.

7) At times people wonder if there is one or more angels specifically associated with death.

8) A person might come right out and ask this question: Is there literally a “death angel”?

a) Folklore says “yes.” Jewish, Catholic and Islamic folklore abound with references to an angel of death.

b) Between the Old Testament and the New Testament Jews actually gave a name to this angel.

c) They said it is called Azrael. Then the concluded this death angel has an assistant.

d) The assistant’s name is allegedly Sammael.

e) If you were to read the Koran you would find that it refers to Azrael, the angel of death.

9) If this topic is discussed, most first think about the time Israel was in Egypt.

10) We are told how the firstborn of man and beast were slain when the 10^th plague came.

11) Movies have been made about the devastation and generally the scenes are not all that pleasant.

12) Some have tried to depict a death angel as wielding a sword dripping with poison or blood.

13) Tonight we want to separate fact from fiction – truth from error.

14) Does a death angel exist or does it not?

a) The work of such an angel, if it exists, is generally considered to involve collecting souls.

b) If we turn to the Word of God there are some things that we do not find.

15) We do not find a death angel or an assistant to one given a name in the Word of God.

16) We do find, however, some references to an “angel of death.”

a) In fact, some even sing about such an angel.

b) There is a well established hymn titled “The Morning of Joy.”

c) In this hymn there are words describing a future time when the angel of death will destroy no more.

17) A lot of attention has been given to the idea of a special angel of death.

a) Perhaps people have a small part of the concept right, but are wrong on some of the details.

b) Some time ago we studied about various classes of angels, of which consists of the cherubim.

c) After Adam and Eve were driven from the garden cherubim were used to keep them out.

d) Cherubim are generally associated with judgment and punishment.

e) Punishment from God has ranged from unpleasant circumstances to death.

f) Angels have been involved with chastisement and death so these things are not new to them.

18) I can find no reason to see why the cherubim would not be capable of serving as death angels.

19) What people really want to hear about is whether or not there is one angel somehow dedicated to death.

20) The strongest proof (if there is any) for this idea is based back in the book of Exodus, Ex. 12.

21) Here we read about what happened in Egypt.

a) According to Ex. 12:23, devastation was to come upon the people of Egypt.

b) Hebrews were to put blood on the entryway of their houses so death would “Passover” their homes.

c) It is important to pay attention to what is actually said in verse 23 of Ex. 12 – READ.

d) We do not read of a “death angel” in this passage; the Bible says “Jehovah.”

e) God is credited with passing through the land and letting the firstborn live or die.

22) Someone may point to 23b where we have the word “destroyer.”

a) We do have this word, but the text does not say “death angel.”

b) What is the “destroyer.”? This word means “to decay” or “ruin.”

c) This word does appear in other Old Testament verses, one of which is Prov. 28:24.

23) The wise man spoke of a young person who robs his parents and says, “Why is that a bad thing”?

24) Such a person is the companion of a “destroyer” (a person who ruins and hurts others).

25) In Judges 6 we find Israel being delivered into the hands of the Midianites.

26) Israel had foreigners come and “destroy” their crops (Judg. 6:4)—same word.

27) Given these additional passages, we can see why the translators chose the word “destroyer” in Ex. 12.

28) In Egypt the firstborn were destroyed (they died).

a) Someone might ask if the word “destroyer” is ever applied to angels elsewhere in the Old Testament.

b) This would be a good question to ask, and the answer to this question is “yes.”.

c) In Genesis 19 we read about Sodom, Gomorrah, and surrounding areas being destroyed.

d) Gen. 19:29 actually uses the word “destroyed” (the same term found in Ex. 12:23).

e) If we look at Gen. 19, we find that more than one angel was involved.

f) This would seem to suggest that if there is an angel of death, he does not operate by himself.

29) A second passage that speaks about the destroyer in conjunction with the word angel is 2 Sam. 24.

a) An angel stretched out its hand and was ready to “destroy” (same word) Jerusalem.

b) In this verse (2 Sam. 24:16) we also read about the Angel of Jehovah.

c) Previously we showed that the Angel of Jehovah was a way of describing Jesus.

d) If the Angel of Jehovah is the angel that was ready to destroy Jerusalem, the destroyer in this case was Jesus.

30) What we really find with the word “destroyer” is that it was a general word.

31) It could be applied to some things Jesus did in the Old Testament as well as what regular angels did.

32) We can find the Angel of Death in folklore, but it is very hard to find in the Bible.

33) There is no good proof text for this idea in the Old Testament.

a) In spite of this people have made some very interesting attempts to prove that such an angel exists.

b) One attempt is based on Lk. 16:22.

c) Jesus once said that two men died; one was rich and one was poor.

d) Both were taken to the Hadean realm where one was punished and the other was blessed.

e) Jesus tells us how Lazarus arrived in a part of the Hadean realm known as Paradise.

f) Verse 22 – READ.

g) Jesus said angels carried away Lazarus to this place.

34) It has been claimed that the Angel of Death met Lazarus and whisked him away.

a) This is an interesting theory, but it has some problems.

b) An Angel of Death is singular; here Jesus spoke about “angels” (plural).

c) Too, consider the alleged work about a death angel.

35) If Ex. 12 describes his work, then the angel’s role is to end the physical lives of people.

36) In Lk. 16 we find the angelic activity related to transporting Lazarus from an earthly to a spiritual realm.

a) This proof text fails to provide any proof of a death angel.

b) If Luke 16 does not convince people, another attempt is often based on 1 Cor. 10.

c) In the first ten verses of this chapter Paul spoke of Israel.

d) He referred to times when the nation had lived in a very ungodly way.

e) In 1 Cor. 10:5 he speaks of the nation’s being “overthrown” in the wilderness.

f) Israel lusted, was involved with idolatry, committed fornication, made trial of God, and murmured.

g) Then we come to verse 10 – READ.

37) Israel “perished by the destroyer.”

a) For many, this is a solid proof text for a death angel.

b) It may appear that way initially, but let’s look at the facts.

c) First, to what incident does this passage refer? We are not told.

d) Most believe it relates to the situation described in Num. 16.

e) A man named Korah and some others decided to rebel again Moses and Aaron.

f) These men died. These people died by an earthquake, plague, and fire.

38) If this what Paul had in mind, and that seems to be the case, the destroyer was not a death angel.

39) The destroyer constituted of the three natural disasters just mentioned.

40) If this is the key verse to prove a death angel, it is not solid proof. It is a “maybe” text at best.

a) 1 Cor. 10:10 is a good place to point out the need to have and use reliable versions of the Bible.

b) A person can probably find fault with any translation.

c) Some versions have really gone beyond what the text says in 1 Cor. 10:10.

d) The NIV says “killed by the destroying angel.”

e) “Killed by the destroying angel” is also used in the Contemporary English Version.”

f) In the Living New Testament we have God sending “His Angel to destroy them.”

g) If a person uses these versions, they would automatically conclude God has a death angel.

41) Translators were too zealous; there was a destroyer – a destroying force, and that was likely natural disasters.

a) A third New Testament reference to prove a death angel is Heb. 11:28.

b) We do not know who wrote this passage and book, but we do know what he was discussing.

c) He referred to someone or something that destroyed the firstborn – READ.

d) Here again is a passage where some versions have gone far a field.

e) In Today’s Living Bible (a paraphrase) the text says “God’s terrible death angel.”

f) When a translation is a paraphrase, we need to understand that paraphrase means paraphrase.

g) When a paraphrase gives the gist of a thought, it can be far different than what a writer meant.

h) The writer simply meant there was a destroyer—some type of destroying force.

i) Since he does not identify this as angel, we have no right to conclude it was an angel.

j) It like saying Adam and Eve ate an apple for the first sin.

k) We know the food was a fruit (Gen. 3:3), but we cannot go any further than that.

42) A final “angel of death” passage is Rev. 9:11.

a) At the beginning of the chapter (9:2) we read of an “abyss” (pit).

b) The king of this pit is described as the “Destroyer” in Rev. 9:11.

c) This is not some heavenly angel somehow involved with death.

d) It is most likely a reference to Satan; the devil and his helpers would be defeated.

e) Rome’s persecution would finally become overcome; the destroyer would be brought down.

43) No matter how hard we look, there is really no good reason to believe there is a special angel of death.

44) In the end it really does not matter. We do not need an angel to end life.

45) Sin has created a world where all people must one day die.

46) Rather than be concerned about an angel of death, our concern needs to be on our relationship with God.