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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
An absolute favorite story I remember hearing as a child was the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den. It is hard to say why that particular story appealed to me, but it was likely due to the “larger than life” adventure that was involved. Today’s devotional will deal with that aspect of the story and then make some observations regarding this story and implications it may have in our lives.
We join the story just after the king had been skilfully maneuvered into a position of having to command Daniel to be put in the lion’s den. The Divine record states the following: “Now the king [Darius] went to his palace and spent the night fasting; and no musicians were brought before him. Also his sleep went [fled –KJV] from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions. And when he came to the den, he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?’ Then Daniel said to the king, ‘O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.’ Then the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God.” (Daniel 6.18-23).
The key phrase upon which we will focus our thoughts is the word angel. Literally, the word angel means messenger. Any further definition must come from the context in which the word is found. For instance, in the 78th Psalm, the writer uses the term “angels of destruction” to refer to the ten plagues that were inflicted upon Egypt (Psalm 78.49). The King James Version translates this same phrase as “evil angels.” The context clearly shows that the matters being spoken of in these terms were destructive events (the ten plagues) that God brought into the lives of the Egyptians in order to try to get them to release the Israelites from their status as slaves. The angels (as far as we know) were not living beings, but merely events that God sent for His own purposes. Such could well have been the case with Daniel when he said, “God sent His angel.”
The translators of the Bible made choices, based on the context, of how to translate the Hebrew and Greek words that are primarily thought of as angel. For instance, 2 Samuel 11.1 says, “It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.” The word kings (in bold, above) is the exact same Hebrew word that is translated angels the majority of the time. In the New Testament, the same is true. James 2.25 reads, “Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?” The word messengers (in bold, above) is the Greek word that is usually translated angels. Again, the point is this: The Hebrew and Greek words frequently translated angels simply mean messenger. This is true of a heavenly messenger, an earthly messenger, a satanic messenger (as in 2 Corinthians 12.7, or events which God sends into our lives for specific purposes.
The Hebrews writer cautioned his readers, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.” (Hebrews 13.2). I believe it is true that God yet sends angels (as defined above) to do His bidding. It is our responsibility to treat people and events in our lives with due reverence and respect for in so doing we may be entertaining angels unwittingly!
Questions:
1. What does the word angel mean as it appears in the Bible (Old and New Testaments)?
2. What were the evil angels of Psalm 78.49?
3. Is it possible that an event can be referred to as an angel? If events can be angels, how can one know whether or not a particular event is sent from God for a specific purpose?
4. RESEARCH QUESTION: Who entertained angels unwittingly in the Old Testament (Note: There are several correct answers that are possible to this question)?
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