Dr Paul Allen

Isaiah 6:1–3 “Above him stood the seraphim . …And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts ; the whole earth is full of his glory!’” (vv. 2–3). Matthew 12 includes several instances of our Lord’s encounter with demons and His teaching about these wicked spirits (vv. 22, 43–45). The forces of evil, however, are not the only supernatural agents at work during the ministry of Jesus . Matthew also writes of the role of angels in the life of Christ (for example, 1:18–21; 4:11). It would be hard to discount the role of angels in the history of redemption. As an indication of their importance, note that the Greek word for angel, angelos, occurs more frequently in the New Testament than hamartia, the term for sin, and agape, one of the words we translate as “love.” Although angels are frequently mentioned, we must also admit that there is not as much information about them as there is on other topics like salvation and ethic...

Song of the Angels by William Bouguereau, 1881. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Isaiah 6:1–3 “Above him stood the seraphim . …And one called to another and said: ‘ Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts ; the whole earth is full of his glory!’” ( vv. 2–3 ). It would be hard to discount the role of angels in the history of redemption. As an indication of their importance, note that the Greek word for angel, angelos, occurs more frequently in the New Testament than hamartia, the term for sin, and agape, one of the words we translate as “love.” Although angels are frequently mentioned, we must also admit that there is not as much information about them as there is on other topics like salvation and ethics. Angels are mentioned frequently, but the focus is often more on the messages they bring than the nature of the angels themselves. Nevertheless, we can learn much from the descriptions of angelic activity found in Scripture. Isaiah 6 illustrates that at least some of the angels are t...