Where Are the Angels? — A LifeWords Devotion

We read about angels appearing in the Bible and don’t bat an eyelid. But if someone today tells us they have encountered an angel we believe it to be extraordinary. And we may not believe it at all. So, do we conclude that angels were a feature of the biblical era but have now been superseded?

It is a bit dangerous to conclude like that. If they are indeed spiritual beings who help care for us, we can’t so easily render them obsolete. Maybe they are at work helping us without our seeing them. Maybe they help us in the form of other human beings: the word “angel” means messenger so a person can be such a messenger or angel.

We do not want to have an unhealthy focus on trying to see spiritual beings all the time. Nor do we want to assume angels are the winged creatures of popular mythology. But it would seem odd if angels somehow became extinct just because we live in a more scientifically advanced age. Or if we figured the written Bible made angels irrelevant.

What seemed natural in biblical times seems exceptional today. It is rather arrogant to suggest those earlier believers were superstitious simpletons. Maybe it is we, shaped by our rationalistic and materialistic mindsets, who are the simpletons. Maybe it is time we got on the lookout for angels.

David