Angels are Among Us

Click here for audio message of – Genesis 18:1-8 and 19:1-3

In our Scripture reading this morning we continue our look at Angels. Often when we hear people talk about angels we think of the winged creatures flying around in the heavens, watching over us, or doing whatever it is that they do. Rarely do we envision angels looking like people.

However, we see in both of these instances angels appearing in human form to deliver a message. The angels that appear to Abraham had feet that needed washed so Abraham has some water brought to them so they can clean up.

The angels must have looked tired and hungry, because Abraham invites them to rest under a tree while he has a meal prepared for them. Abraham actually prepares quiet a feast and as I have said before food preparation was no quick and easy task in those days, so apparently these angels can eat.

It is also obvious from the Scripture that Abraham and Sarah, later on, are talking to these angels in their normal language. So far, these angels seem pretty much like normal humans. In fact, they are so much like humans that, that is exactly what Abraham thinks they are. We of course know that two of these men were angels and the third was the Lord.

After the angels and the Lord were finished talking to Abraham and Sarah, the two angels went to Sodom to meet and talk with Lot and actually announce judgment on the city and save Lot and his family from the destruction that was coming to the city.

These angels meet up with Lot at the city gate. Lot invites them to his house for some food and typical hospitality. The town gets word of these visitors and heads over to Lot’s house to essentially rape them. They bang on Lot’s door.

Lot goes out to try and calm the crowd down and get them to disperse and leave his visitors alone. In fact, Lot being the righteous person that he was, tells the crowd they can have at his daughters instead! The crowd refuses and presses in on Lot presumably going to attack and rape him now as well.

But the angels who were in the house opened the door, pulled Lot inside, and closed the door. I envision this happening in like a split second. The angels moved at the speed of light we would say and nobody realized what happened.

But then the people start banging on the door still trying to get at these mysterious guests of Lot. The angels now strike the crowd with blindness, but that doesn’t stop them from trying to get into the house. The Scripture says “they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway.” These people wouldn’t give up. They wanted these visitors for their desires.

That is what unrepentant sin does do you. You have the lust and desire to sin and can think of nothing else. That is what this city was like and that is why the angels were there. To announce God’s judgment upon the city and to get Lot out of there.

The angels continue their conversation with Lot and tell him and his family to get out of the city the next day. The next morning the angels urge Lot to get him and his family moving. But Lot was not in any rush.

The angels knew they were there to protect Lot and they knew what they had to do. So the angels literally grabbed Lot, his wife, and their two daughters and drug them out of the city to safety. Of course, we know the story continues with Lot’s wife looking back and turning into a pillar of salt. But that isn’t the end of it, Lot’s two daughters decide to have children with their father to continue the family line. This city has corrupted this family indeed.

So here we see the power of angels. They can appear and act like humans, but they are not humans. People do not turn into angels when they die. Angels have supernatural power from God to do certain things as needed.

Lot thought he was protecting these visitors by offering his daughters to satisfy the desires of the crowd. In reality, the angels protected Lot and his family. Angels have the power to not only take care of us, but they can take care of themselves too.

That doesn’t however leave us off the hook. We are to treat people with hospitality because you never know when one of them may actually be an angel sent from God to help us. Often times God will use angels to protect us. We may not realize it, but angels are among us today.

We can see that God uses angels to rescue the righteous, to show mercy to those whom He wishes to show mercy. But He also uses angels to punish the wicked. We must also keep in mind that direct contact with angels is rare.

We should never try to initiate contact or summon them as you see in TV shows. In fact, in many of the biblical accounts of angels, the angel starts by saying, “Do not be afraid.” So I suppose some angels must be pretty scary looking or at least have a scary presence about them.

But we must, as bible believing Christians, believe in their existence and be aware of their presence and their possible intervention in our lives. Angels can appear like normal human beings to us and we may not even realize it.

I have read of several possible angelic encounters and I can’t say for sure if it was an angel at work or not, only God knows for sure. But I do know the things that have happened in my life and you know the things that have happened in your life.

Think back to those situations in your life where you needed help, a time of critical danger, a near car wreck or other disaster, or whatever.

No doubt there where things that happened to you that you still to this day cannot explain. Or maybe there were people that seemed to appear at just the right time and you never knew who they were, but they helped you out.

Did God send His angels to protect you? I don’t know. But let us make no mistake about it, God still uses angels today for His purposes.

We should be encouraged and strengthened in knowing this. Angels are watching over us in order to serve the Lord so that we may carry out the will of God in our lives. We should always be grateful of the mercy and love that God showers us with and uses angels to protect us.

Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for creating angels to watch over us and act as Your mighty servants. We are also open to Your intervention in our life. Keep us open to Your will so that we may serve You this week.

Keep Your angels close to us so that we may serve You more faithfully.

AMEN.