Nearly every Advent season for several years now I’ve enjoyed reading my way through the book, “O Come All Ye Faithful”.
A collaborative effort by Joni Eareckson Tada, John MacArthur, and Robert and Bobbie Wolgemuth, the book highlights some of the carols of the season with devotionals and a history of each. I love the music of the season, but I also love the words of these old hymns of the faith.
One of my favorite, but rarely sung, Advent songs is, “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”. It’s from one of the stanzas that I took the title for today’s blog:
“Rank on rank the host of heaven spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the light of light descendeth from the realms of endless day,
That the pow’rs of hell may vanish as the darkness clears away.”
What are these angelic ranks mentioned in the carol?
In Billy Graham’s book “Angels”, he lists four angelic ranks spoken of in the Bible.
The first is Archangel
The prefix “arch” refers to a principle or chief or great angel.
Michael, is the only angel specifically named in the Bible as an archangel.
Most often when we read about him, it’s in the context of a battle between him and the forces of darkness.
In Jude 9 he’s contending with the devil over the body of Moses.
In Revelation 12:7-12 Michael is leading the heavenly armies that battle Satan at the great battle of Armageddon before the return of Jesus. At the end of the battle he will be victorious and Satan will be defeated.
In I Thessalonians 4:16 we read that when the Lord returns it will be Michael who announces His coming:
· “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”
The 2nd rank is “angel”. As was mentioned in a previous blog, there are many, innumerable angels, but only Gabriel is specifically named in the Bible.
o His name means, “God’s hero”, or “the mighty one”
o The Bible often refers to him as, “the Lord’s messenger”
Whenever we read of him in the Bible, he’s always bringing good news.
In Daniel 8:15-16, he announces the vision of God for the “end time”.
· In chapter 9, verse 23, while Daniel is praying, Gabriel reveals the sequence of events at the end time – including the return of Jesus.
In the New Testament book of Luke 1:19 – Gabriel appears to Zachariah to announce the birth of John the Baptist.
In Luke 1:30-31 He appears to Mary to announce the birth of the Messiah, Jesus.
Do angels and archangels have wings? It’s interesting to note that the Bible doesn’t mention that either Michael or Gabriel has wings.
· Commentators speculate that people probably believe they do because it explains in their minds how angels manage to move so quickly from one place to another. We don’t know about archangel or angel wings, but there are ranks of angels that are described in the Bible as having wings.
The next rank down in angelic authority – the seraphim.
Seraphim are only mentioned in Isaiah 6:1-6. In this passage Isaiah sees a vision of the Lord:
“I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above Him were the seraphim, each with 6 wings:
· with two they covered their faces,
· with two they covered their feet and
· with two they were flying.
And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory’. At the sound of their voices, the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.”
The primary ministry of seraphim as we read of it here, is to praise the name and the character of God in heaven. Their ministry relates directly to God because they are positioned above God’s throne, constantly glorifying Him.
We also see the seraphim cleansing and purifying the prophet Isaiah in this response to the vision he saw.
Isaiah 6:7
· “Woe to me!”, Isaiah cried, “I am ruined. For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty”.
· Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips, your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
The final rank of angel mentioned specifically in the Bible are the Cherubim .
Let me ask you a question. When you hear the word “cherub”, what comes to mind? Chubby babies with wings, right? Are YOU in for a surprise!
The first time we read about cherubim is in Genesis 3:24:
· “After God drove the man out (of the Garden of Eden), he placed on the east side of the garden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.”
Okay, so already cherubim aren’t living up to our image, right? This doesn't sound like a chubby baby with wings, does it?
In the Old Testament prophetic book of Ezekiel, chapter 10, the prophet Ezekiel describes cherubim flying toward the south side of the temple in Jerusalem.
Their movement out of God’s temple represents the departure of God’s glory because of the sin of the people of Israel.
Read the following verses and take a minute to jot down what you learn about cherubim.
· Ezekiel 10:5 “The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far away as the outer court (of the temple), like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks.”
· Ezekiel 10:8 “Under the wings of the cherubim could be seen what looked like the hands of a man”
· Ezekiel 10:9-18
o I saw beside the cherubim four wheels, one beside each
o The four looked alike; like a wheel intersecting a wheel
o As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim faced
o Their entire bodies, including their backs, their hands and their wings, were completely full of eyes, as were their four wheels
o Each of the cherubim had four faces; one face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a man, the third the face of a lion and the fourth the face of an eagle.
o When the cherubim spread their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not leave their side
Admit it, you’ll never think of cherubim in the same way again!
It’s difficult to understand or even imagine these last two orders of angels, but one thing we can say about them is that their primary task has to do with the worship and glorifying of God – with the seraphim above His throne, and the cherubim beside it.
Another intriguing questions about angels is this: what role do angels play when Christians die?
· The Apostle Paul calls death the “last enemy” to be destroyed
o Having been with my mom in the weeks before she died and then walking with my friend Hilda Kohl through some of the last days of her struggle with Lou Gehrig’s disease – I can testify to that. Death IS an enemy.
Paul says in I Corinthians 15:55-57 that the sting of death has been removed by the work of Jesus on the cross, and by His resurrection – a promise that gives us hope of a resurrection for US as well on the other side of death. We cling to that promise and it’s a great encouragement!
It’s the getting there that scares us, doesn't it? It's the process of leaving this life in order to reach the life to come that keeps us up nights!
It will comfort you to know that when the time comes, we don’t make that journey alone – the angels will be there to help us.
In Luke’s gospel, chapter 16, verses 19-26 he contrasts two deaths – that of a beggar named Lazarus with that of a rich man. The rich man was dressed in regal purple and fine linen and lived in luxury, but apparently had no time for God. Lazarus, the beggar and a godly man, laid at the rich man’s gate, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.
When death, the great equalizer came for them, we read this:
· “the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side”
Did you catch that? The angels were not just WITH Lazarus, they CARRIED him to Abraham’s side!
Even though Lazarus was a lowly person in this life, it didn’t disqualify him from having an angelic escort into heaven. But Lazarus wasn't the only one we read of as having been carried to heaven. So was Jesus!
· Mark 16:19 (King James Version) reads: “Jesus was carried up into heaven”
· Luke 24:51 (KJV) “While (Jesus) blessed (his followers), he was parted from them and CARRIED UP into heaven.”
· Acts 1:9 (KJV) “After He said this, (Jesus) was carried up before their very eyes”
WHY do angels provide this service for us at the time of our death?
Authors and pastors, Dr. David Jeremiah, and Dr. Billy Graham, offer similar explanations.
- (The idea of an angelic escort into heaven) may be related to fact that Satan is described as, “the ruler of the kingdom of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). Maybe we have to cross through the kingdom of the enemy to get from earth to heaven, so the angels provide comfort for us as we make the journey.
Reading this explanation takes me back to the carol I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, leading me to an entirely different look at the verse I quoted earlier.
“Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence”
· Rank on rank the host of heaven spreads its vanguard on the way,
· As the Light of light descendeth, from the realms of endless day,
· That the pow’rs of hell may vanish, as the darkness clears away.
Whenever I read that verse before my mind’s eye pictured row on row of angels in dress uniform acting as an honor guard in full salute, as Jesus made his way from the “realms of endless day” down to the earth.
I no longer think of it that way. Now I picture the “host of heaven”, archangel, angels, seraphim and cherubim, a vast multitude of angels, not in dress uniform, but in battle gear. They form a vanguard, which Webster's defines as "the part of an army which goes ahead of the main body in an advance" to make way and escort the Light of Light, Jesus as He breaks through the darkness of “the ruler of the kingdom of the air”.
One day, the Lord Jesus will completely vanquish Satan and vanish the darkness of this world. If I don't live to see that day, then one day the angels will carry me into the presence of Jesus! What a day that will be!
Here's a question to pique your curiosity for blog #9: What is it WE know that angels NEVER will?
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