Most of us believers tend to underestimate the powerful role the angels play in our lives.
Hebrews 1:14 says, “Are they not all [angels] ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” You and I are the heirs of salvation, so this means that angels are sent forth to minister to you and me. But what exactly does the phrase “sent forth to minister for them” mean?
The verse includes the word “minister” in some form twice. It says, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” In both cases, the words “ministering” and “minister” are a translation of the Greek word diakonos, which depicts high-level, top-notch service of various kinds. As we look at the ministry of angels in the New Testament, we find that angels provided especially high-level, top-notch service to the saints when they experienced various types of need.
The following is a condensed list of activities that angels perform. Please keep in mind that this sparkling gem is about God’s care over us when we are oblivious to things that are happening around us. In such moments, angels step in to provide certain kinds of high-level, top-notch service for us — including the list of angelic assignments that follow in this teaching. Of course, angels also have other roles, but for the purposes of this discussion, we will focus on the role of angels to minister to us believers, heirs of salvation.
The first role of angels is that they meet physical needs
Matthew 4:11 and Mark 1:13 tell us that when Jesus concluded His 40-day fast in the wilderness, angels appeared to Him and ministered to Him, thereby meeting Jesus’ physical needs after that 40 days of fasting and being tempted by the devil. In both of these verses, the word “ministered” is a translation of the Greek word diakonos. Wherever this word is used in the New Testament, it pictures a servant whose chief occupation is to meet some kind of physical or tangible need.
The other role of angels is the provision of strength
The Bible provides many examples of angels strengthening the weary, but the best New Testament example is found in Luke 22:43, where an angel strengthened Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane during the most difficult time of His earthly life. It says, “And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.” This word comes from the Greek word enischuo, a compound of the words en and ischuos. The word en means in, and the word ischuos is the Greek word for might or strength. When these two words are compounded, the new word means to impart strength; to empower someone; to fill a person with physical vigor; or to give someone renewed vitality. In other words, a person may have been feeling exhausted and depleted, but suddenly he receives a robust blast of energy that instantly recharges him.
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This means that when Jesus’ disciples and friends couldn’t be depended on in His hour of need, God provided an angel who empowered, recharged, and imparted strength to Jesus, thus renewing His vitality so He could victoriously face the most difficult hour of His life. Thus, Luke 22:43 provides a vivid New Testament example of how angels strengthen the weary.
Angels can also give supernatural guidance
Examples of how angels provide supernatural guidance are abundant in the New Testament. Matthew 2:13 says an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to quickly take Mary and the young Christ Child into Egypt because Herod would seek to kill Jesus. Later when Herod died, an angel appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, informing him that Herod was dead and that he and his family could return to Israel (Matthew 2:19-23). In both of those instances, the supernatural angelic guidance occurred in dreams.
In Act 10:3, we find an example of angelic guidance that also changed the course of history. An angel appeared in a vision to an Italian centurion named Cornelius who lived in Caesarea.
Although Cornelius was unsaved at that moment, God heard this man’s prayers and intervened on his behalf by providing angelic guidance. The angel who appeared to Cornelius instructed him to send his servants to Joppa to summon Peter and his companions to come to him. When Peter arrived at Cornelius’ residence, the apostle preached the Gospel to those who were present. All who heard Peter, repented and were filled with the Holy Spirit. At that historic moment, the door to salvation was opened to the Gentiles, and the Gospel message began to go forth into the Gentile world.
Furthermore, angels provide protection and deliverance.
The Old and New Testaments are filled with evidence that God assigns angels to guard and protect His people. For instance, Psalm 34:7 says that angels encamp around those who fear the Lord to deliver them. Psalm 91:11 promises that God will give His angels charge over His people to keep them in all their ways. We see a New Testament example of how angels guard and protect God’s people in Acts 5:17-20. In this account, the high priest rose up against the apostles and had them arrested and thrown into prison. Verses 19 and 20 say, “But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.”
A few chapters later in Acts 12, we find the story of Peter being arrested and thrown into prison. After Herod ordered the beheading of James (see Acts 12:1,2), he saw that many Jews approved of his action. Therefore, in order to garner more support and popularity with the angry mob of Christian-haters, Herod gave the order for the apostle Peter to be arrested next. The authorities may have recalled the previous time when a group of apostles miraculously escaped from prison because this time Peter was delivered to “four quaternions of soldiers” (Acts 12:4).
A “quaternion” refers to a group of four Roman soldiers. So four quaternions — or four different groups containing four soldiers each — successively took turns guarding Peter throughout the night. Verse 6 tells us that Peter was sleeping between two guards in that prison while two other guards stood watch at the prison door. Suddenly the angel of the Lord came into the prison cell and awoke Peter from his sleep, telling him to rise up quickly and leave the prison. Instantly, the chains that held Peter were loosened and fell to the ground.
Not only did the angel of the Lord set Peter free from the chains that held him, but it seems the angel also temporarily blinded the guards so they were unaware of what was happening. Peter followed the angel through the first and second ward until he came to an iron gate, which supernaturally opened in front of him without anyone touching it. An angel delivered the apostle from the horrible destiny that had awaited him at the hands of Herod.
Angels also perform superhuman feats.
Perhaps the best New Testament example of angels performing superhuman feats is when the angels rolled away the massive stone that lay before Jesus’ garden tomb. Matthew 28:2 says, “…the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.” The word “stone” is the Greek word lithos, which simply means a stone. It is known, however, that the stones placed in front of such tombs were immense in their dimensions — impossible for a human being to move without the assistance of several people.
If you look back over your own life, I’m sure it won’t be difficult to recall moments when you experienced angelic assistance to help you overcome in the midst of what you were enduring. You may not have seen those ministering spirits with your physical eyes or even felt their presence, but it is certain they were there, for that is God’s promise to you and to me in Hebrews 1:14. Oh how our Father loves us!
