From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 43 of a series. Read part 42.

At His first advent the Messiah invaded Satan's territory at the head of an army of heavenly soldiers.

And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying... (Luke 2: 13)

As we continue our studies of the Scriptures that form the libretto of Handel's Messiah, we next come to the appearance of a multitude of angels who now joined the one who had first appeared to the shepherds bringing the "good tidings of great joy," the birth of the great Deliverer.

God's Army Comes

Who were these angels? Let us first of all be certain who they were not. These were not the angels we see depicted on greeting cards and posters at Christmas. They were not the often-feminized misrepresentations of angels that we so often see in advertisements, greeting cards, Christmas displays, and in many works of art. These angels were nothing like the caricatures that Satan the great deceiver has put into the heart of man in place of God's truth about angels.

Who, then, were they? The answer is that they were God's supernatural army. The term that is used in Luke chapter two is a military one - "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly host." The force of the original Greek is much stronger: Literally, it reads, "And suddenly there was with the angel an innumerable company of supernatural beings, composed of the ranks of the Heavenly army." When William Tyndale translated the New Testament in the early 1500s, that is how he rendered it: "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of Heavenly soldiers." The angelic army of God.

Why Did They Come?

This naturally raises a second question: Why did these angels come? Why did God send the soldiers of the supernatural army of Heaven to accompany the announcement of the incarnation of God the Son?

The answer is that when the Second Person of the Trinity came into this world in human form, He invaded the territory of the Devil. Ephesians 2:2 tells us that Satan is "the prince of the power of the air"- a reference, literally, to earth's physical atmosphere. This is the domain of Satan's power and might. Second Corinthian 4:4 tells us that he is "the god of this age," the inventor and purveyor of the mindset and values of this present world-system . He has blinded the minds of the unbelieving to the Gospel.

As we consider the question of why the angels came, we must remind ourselves why the Messiah came into this world. First John 3:8 tells us: "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested" - came into the world in visible, human form - "that He might destroy the works of the Devil." He came so that He might break the hold of Satan on this world at large, and on the elect of God in particular. The Deliverer came that He might free men from the bondage of the Devil and from the curse brought on by the Devil. He came to loose the force of the Devil's hold upon them.

And so, a supernatural army came with Him as Jesus came into Satan's realm - "a multitude of Heavenly soldiers." In Luke chapter 2 we see the angelic army of God, coming, it would appear, to do battle with the forces of Satan that we see our Lord Himself dealing with so often in the Gospels, as He cast out demons and rebuked evil spirits. We do not know all of the ways in which that Heavenly army operates. But we do have glimpses of these things at various places in the Word of God.

In Second Kings chapter 6 we find that the prophet Elisha asked the Lord to give his servant the ability, for a moment, to see the angelic army of the Lord when Elisha and his servant were surrounded by a physical army of horses and chariots. And we read in Second Kings chapter six that Elijah's servant

said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?" So [Elisha] answered, "Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, and said, "Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see." Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha" (2 Kings 6:14-17).

Just as the Lord's army came to defend Elisha and the physical nation of Israel, the Lord's army came with Christ when He entered this world to accomplish the redemption of the Israel of God, the people of the Body of Christ.

Lucifer, Gabriel, Michael

In Scripture, the angels are always spoken of as masculine. The three angels were named for us in Scripture all have masculine names.
Scripture tells us that Lucifer, who rebelled against God and became Satan, was God's "anointed cherub" (Ezekiel 28:14) - a mighty angel. Even in his fallen state, Lucifer is referred to in Isaiah chapter 14 beginning at verse 16 as the one "who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed its cities..."

Christians are to put on the whole armor of God, in order that we may be able to stand against the "wiles" - the deceit and trickery - of the Devil, the great slanderer (Ephesians 6:11). Peter exhorts believers, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the Devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith..." (1 Peter 5:8-9). Lucifer, Satan, the Devil, is still a mighty angel, even in his fallen state.

We also read in Scripture of two other angels by name, Michael and Gabriel, who remained loyal to our Lord and to his Christ and were sent to do mighty works for Him.

We read in the eighth and ninth chapters of Daniel that God commanded the angel Gabriel to give Daniel an understanding of the prophetic vision of the end times that he had seen. We read in Luke chapter 1, beginning at verse 11, that it was the angel Gabriel who appeared to Zacharias to announce to him that he was about to become the father of John the Baptist, and to tell him what the work and ministry of John the Baptist would be as the forerunner of Jesus Christ. We also read in the first chapter of Luke that it was the angel Gabriel who announced to Mary that she was to become the virgin mother of the incarnate Christ.

We read in the tenth chapter of Daniel that an angel who is not named, but is possibly also Gabriel, was engaged in warfare against the forces of Satan who tried to prevent him from coming to minister to Daniel, and we read in Daniel 10:13 that Michael the archangel came to assist Gabriel in the battle. We find in Daniel chapter 12 that Michael has a special relationship with the people of God, the Israel of God, as their protector. We are also told in the ninth verse of the book of Jude that Michael the Archangel contended with Satan, disputing about the body of Moses.

In Revelation chapter 12 we are told of warfare in Heaven, and Michael and his angels - the angels that have remained loyal to God - are seen fighting against Satan and the angels that rebelled with him against God. We are told that Michael and his angels prevailed in this battle, and that Satan and his angels were cast out of Heaven, and cast down to the earth.

Mighty Beings at Messiah's Command

The angels who came to the shepherds in Luke chapter 2 were mighty beings. Aside from God himself, they are the most mighty beings in the universe.

Several times in Scripture the angels are spoken of as creatures of great power. We are told in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 14 that the angels, the soldiers of the angelic army of God, are "ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation." Once again, just as in Luke chapter 2, the language of this verse is military terminology. The force of the original language is that the angels are spirits under orders, who are sent out by God to carry out His orders on behalf of the redeemed. They operate at Christ's command on our behalf and for His glory. And so, operating at the command of Christ as He came into this world, a supernatural army came with Him, at His disposal and at His command.

"Operating at His command?" you may ask. "At the command of an infant?" We must remember what the Holy Spirit tells us through the Apostle Paul, about the Lord Jesus Christ who came into this world, in Colossians chapter 1, beginning at verse 15:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in Heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

Furthermore, as we have already noted in several contexts, Colossians 2:9 declares that "in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form." All the fullness of the Godhead dwelled in the body of a newborn baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger in Bethlehem. All the fullness of the Godhead dwelled in the body of the boy of twelve who asked questions of the teachers of the law at the temple in Jerusalem. All the fullness of the Godhead dwelled in the body of the thirty-three-year-old man who stood before Pontius Pilate before He went to the Cross, and said, "Do you think that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He will provide me with more than twelve legions of angels?"

The angels of whom we read in Luke chapter 2 were an army, legions of angels, operating at the command of the Second Person of the Trinity as He came into the world, taking on a body of human flesh, beginning as an infant.

It is absolutely vital that we understand clearly and exactly the message of these mighty creatures, operating at the command of Almighty God. What was the message they shouted forth at their great Sovereign's command? What is the significance of that message for mankind? Why is this the great turning point of history? Why is mankind's general disinterest in this message so very tragic? Those questions will be the focus of our next article, as we continue to examine the greatest turning point in history, which we find unfolding before us in Luke chapter 2.

Next: The Proclamation from Heaven

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