A New Perspective On Angels

Matthew 13:41-42: "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

In our culture today, we have a rather narrow view concerning the role and purpose of angels. Many in society see angels as feminine, starry, fairylike figures that surreptitiously follow us around, tapping us on the shoulder now and then with a magical wand of blessing. Never do we hear the argument that angels are ministers of God's righteous wrath upon the recalcitrant, wicked world.

Whereas we do find in Scripture that angels did attend to the needs of Jesus (Matthew 4:11), Elijah (I Kings 19:5); and Peter (Acts 12:8-10) and whereas there is implicit and explicit reference to angels being personally involved in the lives of followers of Jesus Christ (Matthew 18:10; Luke 16:22; Hebrews 1:14), Jesus' words mentioned above should remind us that angelic beings are not fairylike agents of blessing. In the above passage, Jesus Himself identifies that His angels will be the ones that will carry those who have not submitted to His Lordship into the depths of hell. If we know that "every knee will bow before God" (Romans 14:11), including the reprobate at the Day of Judgment, then we can picture the horror of the unregenerate being carried away against his will by the angels into everlasting torment. Although he will hope for God's eternal blessedness in Heaven, he will be thrown by the angels into the "fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Obviously, this is not a very pleasant picture on which to reflect; nonetheless, it is the future reality of so many who have disavowed allegiance to Jesus Christ. For this reason, we must first be committed to examining ourselves as to our submission to Christ; then, we as believers must be intentional at sharing the Gospel message to those who otherwise have no hope. Today is the day of salvation; tomorrow may be too late. The angels are prepared to carry out the Lord's bidding.