guardian angels
Aside from one or two occurrences in The New English Bible, the phrase Guardian Angels rarely if ever occurs in Scripture. And even though there is not a lot of direct testimony to lend support or credence to the doctrine, there is quite a lot of circumstantial evidence. Perhaps one of the most significant passages respecting this institution is found in Matthew's gospel.
- MATTHEW 18:10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
Apparently, according to Yeshua's (Jesus') own testimony, these particular "little ones" evidently had angels, their own angels, watching over them. Howbeit, the real thrust of His teaching here was not about children having guardian angels, but rather Yeshua was simply using the humble disposition (verse 4) of this child to teach His disciples about how they should be treating and behaving towards one another.
That was the plain context of His words, that they should "become as little children" ( verse 3). As such, He was not necessarily instituting or suggesting a doctrine here that all children had these guardian angels, but rather He was explaining to His disciples that they should behave towards each other as inoffensively as a little child. If this youngster had his own guardian angel, then perhaps so did some of their fellow disciples. Thus, they should quit trying to elbow one another out of the way so as to climb up some imaginary ladder, because each one who believed in Him (verse 6) was special to the Father (verse 14), even this seemingly insignificant child.
These comments of His arose because the disciples had been disputing between themselves "who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (verse 1). In a rebuke to their thinking He placed a little child before them so as to demonstrate the right mental attitude which they should maintain. As His disciples they should not be disparaging or belittling one another, for if this particular child had his own protecting angel, surely did others as well. They should not then be slighting each other. Instead, they should be humble and as inoffensive as was this particular child.
Yet we go beyond His words if we assume that He was teaching that everyone, even every child had this protective agent, this Guardian Angel. That was surely not what Yeshua was trying to teach them, for we read elsewhere that when Herod was thwarted by the Magi when seeking to slay Yeshua when He was only a child, the king was still able to have many of the other children in Bethlehem killed (MATTHEW 2:16). One might then wonder, Where were their guardian angels?
So even though Yeshua had intimated that some children might have had this heavenly and powerful protective shield, these guardian angels, not all did. The determining factor between the two groups, those with these guardian angels and those without, was apparently whether or not they believed, or would believe, in Yeshua. That is undoubtedly what He had taught (18:6).
Another related and significant passage regarding these guardian angels is in the Epistle to the Hebrews.
- HEBREWS 1:13-14 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits [breaths or winds], sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
As noted and developed in another Study (Angels and Spirits), these angels were not spirit beings in that sense, but rather they were heavenly ministers (MATTHEW 4:11), sometimes even functioning like the forces of nature (Epistle of the Priesthood, by Alexander Narne, page 266). As such, GOD's angels could manifest themselves in several different ways. They often appeared as men (GENESIS 19 & MATTHEW 24:4 HEBREWS 13:1); but then on other occasions they might have been manifested as the wind (EXODUS 14:19) or even fire (EXODUS 3:2 JUDGES 13:20 ACTS 7:30, 35).
Nevertheless, the relevant point for us to recognize in this passage from HEBREWS is that on frequent occasions angels were ministers for those who were to be heirs of salvation. As such, these heavenly powers were there not necessarily only for children, but they were to minister to all those who were to be heirs of salvation. That evidently meant that these angels were there to protect and nourish and sustain certain individuals in their quest to be saved, in their quest to know the truth. But there is no evidence in scripture that everyone had or has these guardian angels.
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We are given scores of occurrences in the Bible where angels are said to be both protecting and instructing believers. On numerous occasions of the hundreds of incidences where angels are mentioned, we often find them shielding and sustaining believers. An apt example is this early incident with the family of Abraham's nephew.
- GENESIS 19:15-16 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city [Sodom]. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
Even though Lot hesitated, not recognizing the perilous situation he was in, the angels, in the form of men, physically grabbed him and led him and his family out of the doomed city.
Then in the psalms we read that "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them" (PSALM 34:7). Mark told us in his Gospel that it was angels who ministered unto Yeshua after His temptations in the wilderness (MARK 1:13); and Yeshua Himself revealed that He had twelve legions of angels at His disposal if need be (MATTHEW 26:53).
We read elsewhere that the prophet Elisha asked GOD to open the eyes of his servant that he might see the heavenly host that were spread out on the mountain protecting them.
- 2 KINGS 6:17 And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
Also in psalms we learn that GOD would "give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone" (PSALM 91:11-12). According to this psalm, he who was thus to be afforded this care and safe-keeping was he that "dwelled in the secret place of the most High" and "under the shadow of the Almighty" (verse 1). He was the one who had made the Lord his refuge and habitation (verse 9). It was to him who had set his love upon GOD and known HIS name (verse 14), to this one was GOD's angelic protection given.
An interesting example of angels pre-arranging events to help accomplish GOD's end is with another early incident in GENESIS. Abraham was needing to acquire a wife for his son Isaac, but it was critical that she be from his own family and not from the Philistines of the Land in which he then resided. He therefore sent his most trusted servant back to Mesopotamia with this admonition,
- GENESIS 24:7 The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.
As the record unfolds we see that this servant prayed an almost impossible prayer (12-14), asking that many incredible and amazing details be accomplished so as to make his journey prosperous and complete. This angel which went before him must therefore have arranged a string of astounding coincidences, which are a marvel when fully considered. Thus, throughout the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) we see that angels had the power and authority to organize events and situations so as to accomplish GOD's purposes.
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In the Christian Scriptures (the New Testament) we also see angels busily at work guiding and protecting believers.
- ACTS 12:7-11 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.
- And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.
- When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.
- And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.
Thus, throughout the ages angels were frequently ministering to believers. Howbeit, the angels were not only active in securing the believer's salvation, but in many cases they simply were sent to reveal GOD's intentions, oftentimes in dreams and visions.
- MATTHEW 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. (2:13,19)
- ACTS 10:3-5 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. . . . And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:
- REVELATION 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John. (see also 22:16)
Even so, aside from guiding and directing the believers unto salvation, and revealing GOD's intentions, angels were frequently sent to administer HIS wrath.
- 2 SAMUEL 24:16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. . . .
- 2 KINGS 19:35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
- MATTHEW 13:49-50 So shall it be at the end of the world [age]: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
- ACTS 12:23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him [Herod], because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
- REVELATION 14:19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
- REVELATION 16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
Thus, these angels were powerful agents sent by GOD to not only protect and sustain, to instruct and guide believers, but on occasion they also dispensed HIS wrath.
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As noted above in MATTHEW 18, it was stated that this child, this little one, did believe in Him and thus had his own guardian angel. Howbeit, elsewhere it was written that others, even before they were ever born, apparently had this protective agent, these guardian angels.
- GENESIS 16:10-11 And the angel of the Lord said unto her [Hagar], I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.
This is of course the remarkable account of GOD's angel instructing the distressed maid of Abraham's wife that her unborn child would not only survive their current affliction, but become an exceedingly great multitude. To accomplish this, the child, both before and after his birth, would probably need one or more of these guardian angels to watch over him, protecting and shielding him from serious harm, not only in the womb but then also when faced with the dangers of life.
Thus, evidently not only did guardian angels minister to believers, but on certain occasions they might have been sent for the protection of individuals not yet even born. Next we come to a passage in the psalms which attributes the same foreknowledge and protection to king David.
- PSALM 22:9-10 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: Thou art my God from my mother’s belly.
We are thus led to expect that the only way any of these phrases could be true was if there was a guardian angel watching over and protecting these unborn children. We can surmise that often countless details would need to be gathered and arranged for a fetus or even an infant to grow and mature into an individual, who would then be able and willing to do GOD's bidding.
The prophet Isaiah was in this very same class, for he was called from the womb, even before he was born.
- ISAIAH 49:1 Listen, O isles, unto me; And hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; From the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.
The exact same reality was the case for the prophet Jeremiah.
- JEREMIAH 1:4-5 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Next we have the curious incident where an angel appeared unto the mother of Samson, promising the barren woman that she would first conceive and then bear a son who would eventually deliver Israel out of the hands of their adversaries.
- JUDGES 13:3 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
We note that this woman was not yet even pregnant, yet the angel promised her that her barrenness would not only be overturned, but also that she would give birth to a son. This suggests that this angelic protection was sometimes to be afforded to those not yet even conceived. For a similar account with Abraham's wife Sarah, see GENESIS 18.
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In the Christian scriptures we find the same thing reiterated. Concerning John the Baptist we read again of a barren woman, Elizabeth, unto whose husband the angel spoke promises pertaining to a child not yet born. This strongly suggested the guiding presence of a guardian angel so as to bring to fruition Zacharias' prayer.
- LUKE 1:13-14 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.
It would obviously require the sustaining and protecting influence of angelic powers to accomplish all that would be necessary in bringing to pass these promises. Somehow, many and substantial circumstances would need to be arranged and ordered for John to grow and mature so as to accomplish GOD's purposes.
Most importantly in the scriptures we also have several references to Yeshua, where Mary and Joseph were each promised a child who was destined to save his people from their sins.
- MATTHEW 1:20-21 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
- LUKE 1:30-31 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Finally we are told of the apostle Paul, who said that he was separated from his mother's womb, that he might preach salvation to the heathen.
- GALATIANS 1:15-16 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen . . . .
Thus, if one is fore-ordained before his birth, then he must somehow be protected and preserved before he is born. We are further told that sometimes an individual is protected even before he is conceived. And even beyond that, these guardian angels must have been commissioned to arrange and align events not only to bring to pass a believer's physical conception and birth, but they must also have been involved in his infancy and adolescence, consistently moving the chess pieces around on the board so as to bring to pass even the spiritual birth of the believer.
It is thus reasonable for us to surmise that certain individuals must then have these Guardian Angels, bringing them to salvation, oftentimes even before they are conceived. As such, there is then ample evidence in scripture to persuade us that at least some people, both before and after they were born, had a kind of protective agent shielding and sustaining them.
The apostle Paul also wrote to the believers at Ephesus that they too were chosen before they were born, before they were conceived, even before the foundation or overthrow of the world.
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- EPHESIANS 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation [katabole, overthrow] of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.
If Paul's words are true and can be trusted, then it only stands to reason that all believers today must have been chosen in Christ before they were ever born, evidently even before they were conceived in their mother's womb. And if GOD chose them long before they were ever born, then they must have had some kind of protective agent so as to preserve them to thus be born and believe, to be these heirs of salvation.
Howbeit, after their salvation, after they had come to know the truth and believe the gospel, did they necessarily then continue to have the unlimited and everlasting protection of these guardian angels? Does this protective agent continue with them indefinitely? We think not. There must come a time or a situation when an individual is to be held accountable and solely responsible for his own actions.
Isn't this the whole and entire essence of faithfulness. Oftentimes we are warned in scripture of the consequences of a believer walking away from the gospel, of his turning from the truth to the lie (HEBREWS 12:25).
We are also reminded of Yeshua's parable of the four seeds and the four responses to that sown word. Were each of the four groups which had been given the opportunity to hear GOD's word brought to that event by guardian angels? Perhaps so, but only one group remained faithful and attached themselves to the word.
Back in the Hebrew Bible we read of a believer in ancient Persia by the name of Mordecai who had warned his niece that if she shrinked back in fear and didn't take advantage of the unique place where GOD had placed her, so as to save her people from the sword of their enemies, then GOD would find some other way to deliver them (ESTHER 4:14). Howbeit, the consequences of queen Esther's fear and inaction would have been the destruction of her own self, as well as that of her family. Fortunately she rose above her fear and trepidation and acted righteously.
This same message is often repeated in HEBREWS where the believers were being tempted to stand by, or worse, under intense pressure from the old Religion, to abandon the new faith so as to join the Jewish revolt against the Roman occupiers.
- HEBREWS 2:2-3 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him. [see also 3:14; 4:1]
The previous chapter of HEBREWS had closed by stating that these guardian angels had been tasked with bringing believers to salvation, but now, a couple verses later it was declared that some of these believers might not escape if they neglected that salvation. Indeed, even though they had evidently been chosen from before the foundation of the world, they were apparently now in danger of losing that salvation (HEBREWS 3:8-4:2).
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Also in the sixth chapter we read of those who had fallen, but now their renewal and repentance was evidently looking unlikely, perhaps even impossible.
- HEBREWS 6:4-6 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
Here we are told as plainly and as decidedly as it can be said. Even though once enlightened, even though having tasted of the heavenly gift, partakers of Holy Spirit, having also tasted the word of GOD as well as the powers to come, even these were not guaranteed a permanent and unshakable salvation. If they were to fall away and then re-enslave themselves to the power of sin, if they forsook the righteous path, they may not find the road back. They may be too far removed to once again be renewed. The reader may want to consider the Study, The Unforgivable Sin.
Evidently these were the ones referred to in the first chapter who had been appointed heirs of salvation (1:14), but now they were in danger of being thrust aside and cast away for rejecting the promises and warnings of Yeshua and His disciples. They were apparently going to lose their salvation as also did those of ancient Israel referred to in the third chapter, who even though they had been saved from the terrible enslavement of Egypt, they were then to be forbidden entrance into the Promised Land because of their unbelief.
The writer continued this same theme into the tenth chapter.
- HEBREWS 10:26-27 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. [see also 10:29, 38; 12:25]
Willful sin after the knowledge of the truth seems to be the last straw. This evidently is the forbidden line one must not nor never cross where there is danger of no return. Perhaps the great apostle Peter said it most powerfully in his second epistle.
- 2 PETER 2:20-22 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
- For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb,
- The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
As such, guardian angels are evidently powerful agents for bringing certain called and chosen individuals to salvation; howbeit, their enduring salvation is not a guarantee. At some point, evidently after they have received the knowledge of the truth, they must be then held accountable. They must then be fully responsible for their own choices and decisions.
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