[PART THREE} The Flurry of Wings: What Angels Know

Angels, are big business. There are books about various angels; there are angel computer networks, and angel “channelers.” And even angel prayer groups.

“If there is anything new about this wave of angel-mania,” says Brooks Alexander, “it is the breadth of its appeal, and the depth of its deception. It is more intense, more pervasive, more deceived, and more deceiving than those that came before it...”

We’ve already learned that there just might be a difference between the angels of popular culture and God’s “ministering spirits.” In chapter 4 we shall consider this in more detail. We shall learn that the atmosphere is filled with both good angels and evil angels; care must be taken that we are not deceived.

In the previous chapter we answered the question: what do angels do? In this chapter we answer the question: what do angels know? They are not omniscient like God; they know much, but they don’t know everything. They have three sources of information.

Often God sends angels to communicate His message to a person or group. In the case of Gabriel, God sent him several times with explicit instructions. Whether it was a message given to Daniel or Mary, Gabriel was privy to information given to him by God. We can speculate, quite confidently, that all the angels learn by listening to what God has to say. They are on hand for those official pronouncements, either of judgment on the world or blessing. For all we know God might give them regular briefings.

Just think of how privileged the angels must feel to be given a message that could not possibly be known on their own. They receive their messages from the One who has knowledge of all things both actual and possible. The information they receive is always on target; it is always correct.

Example: When Gabriel brought a message to Mary, he could predict her future because he had received his message directly from the Almighty. Angels knew Christ before He had a human body; they knew Him in His glory. They saw Christ high; now they were about to see Him low. Gabriel says to Mary, “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His Father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end.” (Luke 1:32, 33).

Months later, when Christ was born, angels announced the news to shepherds. Why shepherds? If God had committed the task of announcing Christ’s birth to media mongrels they would have blitzed the world with the news. It would have been packaged for the masses with unforgettable slogans and eye-catching sound bites. But God did it differently.

Here is a beautiful example of the angels doing what was asked of them; they were sent by God on their favorite errand, to bear witness to the wonder of the Redemption story. As we have learned, these angels were with Christ before His incarnation; they had seen His riches, His glory and majesty. They were, quite probably, astounded that Christ would consent to be born into such poverty. And despite their prominence in heaven, the angels were not ashamed to bring the good news to the humble shepherds.

Though not mentioned by name, Gabriel was likely the leader who actually announced the good news. With him appeared “a multitude of the heavenly host.” The entire choir of angels chimed in to shout the good news. “Glory to God in the highest!”

God is glorified in every dew drop. He is magnified in every flower. Although the universe can sing until it has exhausted itself; it cannot sing a song as sweet as the incarnation — that Christ should lay aside His kingly robes and become a man—that surely is the wonder of God. Here is His mercy, wisdom, power, and faithfulness all converge.

The message of the angels was profound, “Peace to men on whom his favor rests.” (NIV). Those whom God had chosen would experience the blessing of God’s favor. The angels said it was so.

Angels have been on hand for every major event that has taken place on planet earth. They observed creation, that cataclysmic event which began God’s extensive program for this universe. They saw what happened when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. They were on hand for Israel’s slavery in Egypt and the dramatic crossing of the Red Sea.

They announced the birth of Christ and watched incredulously when Christ died on the cross. Here was both sadness and glory. Sadness, because it appeared as if the Son of God was capitulating to Satan. Glory, because the angels must have known that at least a portion of humanity was being redeemed.

When Christ was in Gethsamane, angels were poised for intervention. When Peter tried to defend Christ with a sword, our Lord responded, “Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53). Imagine the self-control it must have taken for them to withhold their help. Surely the angels had to be restrained. They remembered what Christ was like in heaven, now they saw Him confronted by the torments of hell. They learned much from what they observed.

Our obedience or disobedience is observed by the angels. Paul says we “have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men” (1 Corinthians 4:9). They might not always know what we are thinking, but they observe our actions. When Paul says that women in the church at Corinth should worship in subjection (which for them meant that they should have their heads covered), he says that this should be done “because of the angels.” (1 Corinthians 11:10). Angels had observed disobedience before; they want to see everything done in the church decently and in order.

The angels saw the lovely response of Mary, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). If she had disobeyed, they would have seen that, too. They are even watching when someone comes to saving faith in Christ.

When Jesus was criticized for hobnobbing with some rather notorious sinners, He defended Himself by telling a few stories. First, He said that if you had a hundred sheep and lost one of them, would you not leave the ninety-nine and go find the lost one? And when you find the lost one, you return rejoicing, glad that the lost sheep has been found. In fact, you throw a party and you invite others to rejoice with you. Then He adds, “I tell you in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7).

His second story is of the lost coin. Have you ever lost something and looked a hundred places where it could never be? Jesus says that a woman who loses a precious coin lights a lamp and searches until she finds it. And when she does she calls her neighbors and invites them to rejoice with her.

Now comes the punchline, “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (v. 10). The angels throw a cosmic celebration every time a soul is born again; every time a sinner repents, they share the good news among themselves.

God doesn’t tell the angels everything; nor are they limited to what they can observe. There are some pieces of the puzzle they are expected to put together for themselves. When Peter wanted to emphasize that the prophets didn’t always know the time of their own prophecies, but searched these things diligently, he added that these were things, “into which angels long to look” (1 Peter 1:12). If they knew everything or were told everything, they would lose the wonder and the awe of it all.

Here is another mystery the angels must ponder: the fact that we, who are sinners, will be exhalted above them! No angel can be an heir of God and joint-heir with Christ. No angel will get to sit on Christ’s throne and rule with Him. These privileges are limited to those who are brothers of Christ; you have to be a member of the family to receive the family’s inheritance.

What amazes angels? First, Christ’s humility and second, our pride. They saw Christ in His glory, so they know how far He came; they saw us in our sin, so they know how far we have been brought up. Christ came to serve, yet we want to rule.

I’m sure that what is most puzzling to the heavenly host is the indifference with which we treat the love and redemption of God. They see what we don’t: they see the staggering cost of our redemption. They see the infinite gap between heaven and earth.

Originally, all the angels were good angels. Lucifer was given the responsibility of taking all of the worship of the angels who inhabited planet earth and was to make sure that all the glory went to God. But he began to take some of the glory for himself. He said, “I shall be like the Most High.”

As a result of that rebellion, he fell into disobedience and myriads of angels fell with him. For them there is no redemption. There was no sacrifice made for their reconciliation to God; Christ would have had to become an angel and die for them, to have made the payment that God requires. But we are told explicitly, that Christ did not take upon Himself the nature of angels, but rather the seed of Abraham.

Evil angels have some similarities and some differences with God’s chosen angels. Satanic angels know what Satan tells them, but because his knowledge is limited, they cannot always know that the information received from him is accurate. Since their teacher is fallible, their knowledge is flawed.

So Satan does his own investigation. He and his defeated colleagues have probably done a statistical analysis as to how many of us, when faced with a particular temptation, will yield to it. They know every detail of our lives, whether public or hidden. They have seen human beings act and react for thousands of years. They know us well enough to make an educated guess as to what we might do in certain situations. But their knowledge is fallible. They do not know what we might do, or what God might do for us when we are backed into a corner.

Can Satan know the future? He can know quite a bit, but there is also much that he cannot know. He might know that a man is contemplating to assassinate the President of the United States when he visits Dallas on November 22, 1963. So he knows the event is being planned. What he does not know is whether it will actually happen. The gun might misfire, the assassin might shoot and miss; for all Satan knows, the gunman might be stopped on his way to the sixth floor of the Dallas Textbook Depository Building.

This explains why a fortune teller is occasionally right in his/her prognostications. Satan knows what some people are planning; and he knows what he is planning. And, since his plans often come to pass, the future might happen as predicted. But since Satan is not omnipotent, he cannot control the future. Just as our plans can be changed or smashed, so Satan is also at the mercy of events beyond his control.

Only God can know the future infallibly; only He can take every contingency into account and tell us exactly what is going to happen. And when good angels stand in His presence, God tells them what He wishes them to know. Their knowledge, unlike that of demons, is infallible.

We can be sure that angels do not question God; nor do they struggle with envy. But they must be speechless, trying their best to understand the ways of God. And they are fascinated with the fact that God has chosen to redeem at least some of the fallen humanity; in contrast, He has chosen to allow all of fallen angels to be lost forever.

Here is another mystery the angels must ponder: the fact that we, who are sinners, will be exhalted above them! No angel can be an heir of God and joint-heir with Christ. No angel will get to sit on Christ’s throne and rule with Him. These privileges are limited to those who are brothers of Christ; you have to be a member of the family to receive the family’s inheritance.

What amazes angels? First, Christ’s humility and second, our pride. They saw Christ in His glory, so they know how far He came; they saw us in our sin, so they know how far we have been brought up. Christ came to serve, yet we want to rule.

Enoch was an intermediary between God and the fallen angels. He was recruited by the fallen ones to petition God for a Kings pardon. The Books of Enoch 1 & 2 were both written prior to Moses authoring of a the Hebrew Bible. The third book is probably a mixture of ancient and Kingdom literature. Witness Moses, Abraham and Issac never are mentioned, because Enoch was 1000 years before any of them.Enoch was 600 years old when Adam and Eve Died!!!!!

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