Angels and the Spiritual Realm - Part 3|Blog: Tree Top Ministries, Inc

The spiritual realm is not a boring place. A great deal of activity is underway, activities relating to God's plans and purposes, the building and molding of Believers, the salvation of the lost, and the interactions between good and evil forces.

AI Generated Woman in the Spiritual Realm

The spiritual realm is all around us. It interacts with us constantly, but we are largely unaware of its influences.
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Hello Everyone,

This blog is part three of a three-part blog about Angels and the Spiritual Realm.

Learning About The Spiritual Dimension

The Bible has much to say about angels and the spiritual world; however, it discusses them "in passing" rather than as a direct subject of conversation. If we want to know more, we must extrapolate the information from the context.

For instance, when Daniel had a vision, it disturbed him, and he prayed to God, asking for an interpretation. The angel Gabriel came to him and said:

Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come.”
Daniel 10:12-14 NLT

We can extract much knowledge about the spiritual world from these three verses. Here are some of them:

Sometimes, it takes time for God’s forces to work in our lives.
Humility before God gets His attention.
Angels are instrumental in answering prayers.
There are evil forces in the spirit realm that try to hinder the work of God.
Countries have powerful spiritual entities that work against God and influence their leaders.

Evil entities are also a part of the spiritual realm because they are spiritual beings.
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Evil in the Spirit World

One of the surprising things about the spiritual realm is that evil and evil beings are still there. One would think they were kicked out in the Fall; however, this was not the case. In the future, during the Great Tribulation, Satan and his angels will be cast to earth (removed from the heaven part of the spiritual realm)(Revelation 12:7-9). However, the problem is that these entities are “spiritual” and will remain that way until cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 19:20, Revelation 20:10, Revelation 20:13-14).

Paul is mindful of the destructive nature of evil and admonishes us to be careful of its rule and authority:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 6:10-12 NIV

Peter also warns Believers about the devil:

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8 NLT

Jesus enlightens us even further:

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8:44 NIV

Jesus says the most significant sign of the end of the age will be the sign of deception (Matthew 24:4). Deception will become the norm, and nearly everything will become lies.

The attributes and capabilities of angels are vast and mind-boggling.
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More Angel Attributes

Angels in Death and Dying
Death represents our graduation, at least for Believers. We are transformed from single-dimensional beings into multidimensional beings. The Bible says we will be given new bodies (2 Corinthians 5:4) and new names (Revelation 2:17).

According to Jesus, in the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16:19-31), angels are active in our transformation. Verse 22 says that angels carried Lazarus to heaven. We are not told how the rich man got to Hades.

There are thousands of documented stories of people on their deathbed seeing angels in the room. Many hospice nurses have reported “odd and peculiar events” with their patients just before and at the moment of death.

Rejoicing At A New Christian
The salvation of a single soul is a big deal in heaven. Jesus says in the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:1-7) and the Parable of the Lost Coin (Luke 15:8-10):

I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
Luke 15:7 NIV

In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Luke 15:10 NIV

The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) is also a story of the rejoicing that takes place in heaven when a single person repents. In fact, all of Luke chapter 15 deals with this subject.

We can extrapolate three things from these parables:

The spirit world has placed much importance on our salvation, and many entities are paying attention to it.
The spirit world is aware of every iota of the life and times of our lives.
Every person is significant to those in the spiritual realm.

This would include both good and evil.

Angels were amazed by the Gospel
The birth and life of Jesus Christ was one of the most perplexing of things for the spiritual world, good and evil. Jesus, who had a glorified body before he was born, gave up some of his divinity temporarily to have a body like ours, becoming weak and frail like us.

Why would God do such a foolish thing?

Peter tells us the angels were mystified:

God revealed to these prophets that their work was not for their own benefit, but for yours, as they spoke about those things which you have now heard from the messengers who announced the Good News by the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things which even the angels would like to understand.
1 Peter 1:12 GNT

When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness (Luke 4:1-13), he only knew that the Son of God was on earth in human form. The Gospel was veiled. Satan and his minions did not know what God was about to do. The temptation of Jesus was also a reconnaissance mission for Satan to attempt to figure out God's plan. If Satan had known God's plan, he would never have allowed the crucifixion of Jesus to happen. The crucifixion and resurrection defeated sin, defeated death, and defeated Satan. What's more, God used the destructive nature of Satan to bring about the most glorious event in all of history: salvation of the lost.

God's plan was brilliant. It was the ultimate chess move. How else could God bring salvation to humanity and still give them the free will to choose? He became like us, lived a perfect life, and then became the absolute sacrifice for our sins, paying the price once and for all.

Angels and other heavenly beings cannot access redemption or the forgiveness of sins. Only humankind has been awarded such grace and mercy:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 NIV

We mostly take for granted this grace and mercy. However, it is an extraordinary privilege and unique to our kind.

Angels have rank, with 'Archangel' being one of them.
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The Archangels

Without discussing archangels, no compendium on angels and the spiritual realm would be complete. Archangels are special angels, given authority, responsibility, and power over other angels and spiritual beings. There is a misconception that archangels are the highest order; however, this idea comes from John Milton’s Paradise Lost, not from scripture or tradition.

Judaism, Islam, and most Christian beliefs recognize two archangels: Michael and Gabriel. Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, and Eastern Orthodox recognize a third archangel, Raphael. The Book of 2 Esdras add yet another archangel, Uriel. The Book of Enoch (Chapter 20) says there are seven archangels: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Sariel, Raguel, and Remiel.

The bottom line is that the Bible and other sources give us almost no information about this rank or their role in God's plan. Nearly everything we know is either tradition or pure speculation.

It's all about God's glory and His brilliant plan to demonstrate His great love for us.
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Final Thoughts

Many of the graphics I've used in the series depict angels with wings and a female gender. There's nowhere in the Bible that says that angels have wings, and the accounts of angels depict them as masculine. The Bible says that cherubim have wings (Exodus 25:20) and so do seraphim (Isaiah 6:2-4), but nothing about angels. The book of Zechariah describes two women who have wings like those of a stork (Zechariah 5:9). This passage distinguishes between the angels and the women, so they are not the same. The two women seem to be yet another special-purpose creature that belongs to the spirit world. In this case, to carry a basket that contained wickedness (Zechariah 5:7).

In this series, my objective was to open your mind and give you a different perspective on everything happening around us. We must remember that God is sovereign. He created the spirit world and everything in it. EVERYTHING is subject to His power and His will.

It's not a battle of good and evil—it never was.

God has been in control the whole time. God created everything with the full knowledge that humans and spiritual entities would corrupt His perfect universe. God the Father knew that He would have to sacrifice His only Son, Jesus Christ, to save humankind and all of creation before He placed the first star in the sky.

This whole dimension and everything about it is an elaborate stage by which God demonstrates to humankind, all of creation, and the heavenly realms how much He loves us.

It is awesome, humbling, and magnificent.

God Bless!

Mark

The Angels and the Spiritual Realm Series