Angels and the Spiritual Realm - Part 1

This is part one of a three-part blog on Angels and the Spiritual Realm. You will find this series interesting and informative. We delve into topics not traditionally discussed in the Christian world and dispel some ideas represented in New Age teachings.

The Bible has very little to say about the spiritual realm, so we have a very limited understanding of it. We can extrapolate tidbits of understanding from the scriptures, but one must be looking for them to find them. Jewish literature like the Apocrypha, The Books of Enoch, and the Aggadah, while not scripture, offers some insight into the possibilities of the spirit world based on Jewish traditions passed down through generations. Many of those traditional understandings began with Adam.

One of the most common misconceptions about the spiritual realm is its oversimplification. Many people think it's just God and the angels, with some angels like Gabriel being good and others like Satan being bad. They also envision a throne, a Temple, and everyone being happy there.

Though a minor realm compared to the spiritual world, the natural world is extraordinarily diverse and complex. The spiritual domain must be as complex as ours or even moreso. It must encompass an astonishing variety of creatures, flora, fauna, compounds, elements, systems, and processes that remain beyond our awareness or understanding.

The Bible hints at some of the complexity. The book of Revelation mentions the twenty-four Elders (Revelation 4) and the four living beings (Revelation 19).

They are neither God nor angels. The Bible also mentions cherubim and seraphim. Most Bible teachers simply include them with the angels; however, when you read the context of cherubim and seraphim, they are clearly NOT angels.

The Books of Genesis, Enoch, and Daniel describe another group called the Watchers. Again, they are thrown into the pile with angels. They are clearly not angels. Watchers are capable of having sexual intercourse with humans (Genesis 6:1-4).

The Bible talks about other creatures in the spiritual realm. We will not elaborate on that here but suffice it to say that there is nothing plain or boring about the heavenly dimension.

While I cannot expound on these creatures or the other things that might be going on in the spiritual dimension, I want you to understand that the spiritual realm must be at least as diverse and complex as the natural world and that there is nothing boring about the place. The spiritual realm is much more elaborate and wonderful than we are taught or understand.

MY STORY

It was somewhere around 1965. I was around ten years old. My cousins and I, all around the same age, were hiking through the woods of Dover, Ohio. That area of Ohio has giant hills and deep valleys supposedly formed by the glaciers. Deposited by the receding glaciers throughout the hills are enormous boulders, some as large as a 747 but most about the size of a house. This was the best place in the world for a ten-year-old boy to be.

As we were hiking in a new area, we came across a set of “big rocks” that produced a large cliff between 50 and 60 feet high. Large oak trees grew on the hill above the big rocks, forming a canopy high above them. Grapevines were growing in the oak trees, and some drooped onto the ground near the top of the cliff on the big rocks.

We all walked up to the vines and started pulling on them to see if there was a swinging vine amongst them. I grabbed a vine and pulled. It held. I pulled harder and harder until, finally, it gave way from the canopy. As the vine came crashing to the ground, I lost my balance, and I went over the cliff's edge.

The top of the cliff overhang extended beyond the base of the cliff. In other words, you could not drop a stone from the top of the cliff and hit the base of the cliff. It would land about 12 feet away from the base. The drop was hyperbolic.

To this day, I can't explain exactly what happened to me on the way down, but it happened in slow motion. I felt the presence of God and the hand of an angel (I've always presumed it was an angel) gently lowering me to the ground. No lights, voices, or anything could be detected by any of the senses other than the sense of touch.

I landed on my hands and knees at the exact base of the drop, an impossibility based on gravity and physics. My cousins believed me to be dead or severely injured. There was not a scratch on me nor a bone damaged in any way.

However, 59 years later, thinking about the incident, I can still feel the presence of God's emissary protecting my body, and it still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

The Role of Angels

Psalm 34 suggests that we have guardian angels:

So does Psalm 91:

We know that God’s angels are part of God’s army (the heavenly hosts). In one of the greatest stories of the Bible, Elisha the Prophet prayed that the Lord would open the eyes of his servant so that he could see the spirit realm for a few moments:

• When Jesus was finished being tempted in the wilderness, angels came and attended him. The Greek word in Matthew 4:11 for what the angels did for Jesus is 'diakoneó,' which means ‘to wait a table and offer food and drink to the guests.’
• All angels are sent to serve those who are saved (Hebrews 1:14).

When Hagar, the slave of Sarai (later to be known as Sarah), was pregnant with Abram’s child, she ran away. An angel appeared to her at a spring in the desert. He commanded her to go back to Sarai and submit to her. He also had carried a promise from God that her descendants would be too numerous to count (Genesis 16:7-9).

• In the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, two angels carried out the judgment of God, destroying both cities. They also rescued Lot and his family from the destruction (Genesis 19:1-29).
• In Revelation, angels participate in the collection of people for judgment (Revelation 14:14-20).
• Angels deliver the wrath of God in the form of the seven last plagues (Revelation 15:5-8)

• The Birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah (Luke 1:11-17)
• The Birth of Jesus Christ to Mary (Luke 1:26-38)
• The Birth of Jesus Christ to Joseph (Matthew 1:18-25)
• The Birth of Jesus Christ to the Shepherds (Luke 2:8-12)
• Angels proclaim the Gospel during the Tribulation (Revelation 14:6)

• Angels can control the weather (Revelation 7:1-3)
• They can call down fire from heaven (Revelation 8:7)
• Angels can direct meteors (Revelation 8:8-11)
• Angels can control the atmosphere (Revelation 8:12)

I could continue with even more roles and functions of angels, but you've gotten the point by now. With this new perspective about angels, the question arises:

Next week, we will look into that question.

Final Thoughts

The spiritual world is not a boring place. It is multidimensional and probably has universal laws, colors, sounds, music, and many other things far beyond our comprehension. Yet the Bible says we have ONE conduit to the spiritual plane – Jesus Christ:

We engage with the spiritual realm through one means and one means alone: cultivating a relationship with Jesus Christ. We don't “play” with Ouija boards, horoscopes, tarot cards, crystals, séances, or fortune tellers. These things open doorways to the demonic spirit world. There’s no such thing as a “good witch.” When we open these portals, we invite demons into our lives, our homes, and our families.

Additionally, we don’t pray to, worship, or call upon angels. Angels work for God, not us. We don't pray or talk to our dead parents, grandfathers, and so forth. We don't talk to dead people of ANY kind. All of this activity invites the presence of demons to interact with us.

God Bless!

Mark

• Angels and the Spiritual Realm - Part 1
• Angels and the Spiritual Realm - Part 2
• Angels and the Spiritual Realm - Part 3
• Angels and the Spiritual Realm - Bonus Content