The Armor of Angels
Do angels wear armor? There are many known pictures of angels wearing armor, mainly the Archangel Michael.
Exodus 23:20-23 says this, “Behold, I send an angel before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place which I have prepared. Give heed to him and hearken to his voice, do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for My name is in him. But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. When my angel goes before you, and I blot them out.”
Psalm 91:4-6,11-12 tells us this, “God’s faithfulness is a protecting shield. You shall not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that roams in darkness, nor the plague that ravages at noon. For God commands the angels to guard you in all your ways. With their hands they shall support you, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”
So is our guardian angel not only the one who guards us but also the one who fights our spiritual battles? Let’s take a closer look.
The name “angel” comes from the Latin, from the Greek word angelos or the Hebrew word malakh, both meaning “messenger”. But not all angels are messengers. Angels are God’s agents. They do God’s work in many different capacities.
Psalm 104:4 says this about God’s angels.“ He makes the winds His messengers, flaming fire His ministers.”
Hebrews 1:14 says this, “Are they (angels) not all ministering spirits, sent out to provide service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?”
There are guardian angels who are called Cherubim who guarded the Tree of Life who had flaming swords. And of course, angels like Archangel Michael who are warring angels. There are Seraphim who worship God continually in His temple. We know that angels have rank for we are told that Michael is a Chief Prince.
We read about Michael in Daniel 10: 13, 21; Daniel 12:1; Jude 1:9; Revelation 12:7 and Gabriel in Daniel 8:16, Daniel 9:21, Luke 1:19, Luke 1:26 and Raphael – Tobit 5 – 13.
Some religions pray to angels, even though Yeshua tells us to only pray to the Father in His name. Here is one for Michael. “St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.”
So let’s look at times when angels met with man. Genesis 18:1-8 speaks of heavenly visitors to Abraham. “Now the Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the tent door in the heat of the day. When he raised his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed down to the ground, and said, “My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass Your servant by. Please let a little water be brought and wash your feet, and make yourselves comfortable under the tree; and I will bring a piece of bread, so that you may refresh yourselves; after that you may go on, since you have visited your servant.” And they said, “So do as you have said.” So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Quickly, prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it, and make bread cakes.” Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it. He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate.”
Hebrews 13:2 tells us this, “Do not neglect hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.”
Genesis 18:20-21 continues as the three men left, “And the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. I will go down now and see whether they have done entirely as the outcry, which has come to Me indicates; and if not, I will know.”
We see here that the Lord appeared to Abraham before the three men came and then again after they left. So we can gather that God works with His angels or was He one of the strangers as Genesis 19:1-2 only mentions two arriving at Sodom? “Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he stood up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we shall spend the night in the public square.”
Genesis 19:9-11 goes on to tell us about the people attacking Lot. “But they said, ‘Get out of the way!’ They also said, ‘This one came in as a foreigner, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them!’ So they pressed hard against Lot and moved forward to break the door. But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. Then they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from the small to the great, so that they became weary of trying to find the doorway.”
Let’s continue to look at other times angels met with mankind.
Jacob had several encounters with angels but let’s look at this time.
Jacob had returned home and was told that his brother Esau was coming to meet him. Anticipating his revenge he quickly separated his family hoping to maybe save some of them. Genesis 32: 24-31 continues, “Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, ‘Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.’ But he said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ So he said to him, ‘What is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jacob.’ Then he said, ‘Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have contended with God and with men, and have prevailed.’ And Jacob asked him and said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’ And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, ‘I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.’ Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his hip.”
The beginning of Ephesians 6:10-12 which speaks about the armor of God says this, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
Yes, Jacob may have wrestled with the angel of God, but God’s Word wants us to know that we are only to wrestle with the evil forces (fallen angels) in the heavenlies, not each other.
We see from this Scripture that the evil forces of this world also have ranking. There have been so many times angels have appeared to people, but now let’s look at how the angels of God fight the angels of darkness.
Daniel was a righteous, godly man and he had several encounters with angels. Let’s look at Daniels 10:1-9. “In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks. I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed. On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris, I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man dressed in linen, whose waist had a belt of pure gold of Uphaz. His body also was like topaz, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. Now I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, while the men who were with me did not see the vision; nevertheless, a great fear fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves. So I was left alone and saw this great vision; yet no strength was left in me, for my complexion turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength. But I heard the sound of his words; and as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.”
Just the appearance of the angel caused Daniel to lose his strength.
Daniel 10:10-14 continues. “Then behold, a hand touched me and shook me on my hands and knees. And he said to me, “Daniel, you who are treasured, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand at your place, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing in my way for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the latter days, because the vision pertains to the future.”
We are not told the name of the angel, but we see that he had quite the battle with the prince of the kingdom of Persia. Like Michael, he too was a prince. There is a spiritual war that continues to this day. There are heavenly forces who are fighting principalities and powers and rulers of darkness. We think that it is people, but they are only pawns of evil that we fight. Yes, the spiritual battle comes down to us, but we are not to fight people but the darkness that lurks in high places. It is for this reason that we are to put on the armor of God as Ephesians 6:13-18a tells us, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”
This is what Daniel was doing as he waited for his answer. Daniel 10:20-21 goes on to say, ‘Then he said, ‘Do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am leaving, and behold, the prince of Greece is about to come. However, I will tell you what is recorded in the writing of truth. Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces except Michael your prince.”’
Revelation 12:7-9 tells us this, “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they did not prevail, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”
So how do angels fight when they are spiritual beings? The Bible really does not tell us. Pictures that we see are only the artist’s rendering of what they think and at that, as a human. We have seen what we need to do to do our part in the fight. We must live out the armor of God. We know that the angel with Daniel had to ask for help, even while Daniel was praying. So we know that the battle can be fierce and we should never put down our weapons of warfare.
But maybe we can see what Yeshua did when He confronted the devil.
Matthew 4:1-11 says, “Then Yeshua was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’ But He answered and said, It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God’ Then the devil took Him along into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and he said to Him, If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written: ‘He will give His angels order concerning You; and on their hands they will lift you up, so that you do not strike your hand against a stone.’ Yeshua said to him, On the other hand, it is written: ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ Again, the devil took Him along to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me. Then Yeshua said to him, Go away, Satan! For it is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only. Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to serve Him.”’
I believe man and angel both must fight the devil and his evil forces with the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God and stand in faith, believing in the power of God’s spoken Word. Jude 9, says, “But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him an abusive judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
James 4:7 says, “So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil, and he will run away from you.”
We must persevere under trials and tribulations and keep living out our armor in our lives, standing firm as we join God’s warring angels in the fight. Then we will have the victory.
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