St. Michael’s Series on the Guardian Angel: Guardian Angels in Scripture
First, there is a world-view that we should know of (and accept): the spiritual world is real. Related to this, there really are angels – both good and bad. Their story is not our story, but it does intersect in places (especially in worship and spiritual warfare). As you begin to put on this mindset, you will notice signs of their presence in Scripture, worship, and in your daily life (see, for example, Hebrews 13:2). Today we will focus on evidence of a specific role angels play – that of guardian – in Scripture. In the next two lessons, we will turn the place of guardian angels in our worship/Tradition and our daily lives.
A bit of background. While I do not want to spend too much time on this, it is worth pointing out that the Jewish cultures of both the Old and New Testaments (the latter referred to as the “Second Temple” by scholars) not only accepted this world-view, but had special words, symbols, and stories (aka “memes”) that resonated with it. Knowing these memes is not necessary for our salvation, but it does help us understand – and experience – the fullness of the Truth in greater detail.
The term “angel” technically means “messenger”, but it has come to mean a lot of different things. For our purposes, an “angel” is a subset of “elohim” – beings that are considered most at home elsewhere (e.g. in a spiritual plane; more specifically, in heaven). In Scripture, it is difficult to tell the difference between “angels” and the other elohim (e.g. the “sons of god”, “gods”, and “spirits”). This does get a bit easier when Scripture provides the function of the elohim – e.g. the throne deities (Cherubim and Seraphim), the stars, the messengers, the commanders, and, in our present study: the guardians. But even then, there is ambiguity and overlap. For example, one of the best examples of the “guardian angel” in Scripture is the guardian of God’s chosen people, the Archangel Michael, who also serves as the Chief Commander of God’s armies: he is both an “archangel”, “guardian”, and commander. Another example is the “Angel of Great Counsel” – who is no less than Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Himself (e.g. Isaiah 9:6); an elohim, but one that is completely unique (“only begotten”). To complicate matters, the prophets did not always have the ability to distinguish amonst the persons of the Trinity and the greater elohim. It was not until Christ and the Coming of the Holy Spirit that these concepts (which had been developing over centuries) were really clarified (this was one of the functions of the Ecumenical Councils, which were very specific vessels of the Holy Spirit – and of the contemporary Incarnation of Christ).
Why is all this so confusing? Why is it so hard to know about the angels and their roles? 1) our world-view only loosely overlaps that of the inspired writers of Scripture. The Bible was written with a context that gave its stories and poetry great power and meaning. Christ is the most important contextual illuminator and power, but even His words resonate with “Second Temple” memes. Knowing these give us greater understanding. 2) The story of the angels is not our story. The history of salvation presented within the Holy Bible is the history of the fall and redemption of humankind. It really only deals with the angels tangentally. This may be why scripture that provides more detail on these mysteries (e.g. 1 & 2 Enoch, Jubilees) were not included in the Orthodox Canon (i.e. The Holy Bible). More is revealed to us as our paths converge with theirs as we move ever closer to the perfection that is in Christ.
It is also worth noting that the concept of the guardian angel is widespread even outside of Judaism and Christianity. Can you think of any examples? (e.g. domovoi, totems)
Some Hebrew Scriptures on Guardian Angels
(or, more precisely, elohim serving as guardians)
(or, more precisely, elohim serving as guardians)
- Genesis 48:16. St. Basil writes that “It is the teaching of Moses that every believer has an angel to guide him as a teacher and a shepherd.”
- Exodus 23:20-23. St. Gregory of Nyssa and St. Gregory of Milan write that God the Father is refering here to God the Son, the great “I AM”.
- Psalm 33:8. Again, this guardian is recognized as being the Christ.
- Psalm 90:10-11. Now we are getting more towards what we usually mean by a “guardian angel”: an angel that God has sent to protect us from harm.
- 2 Kings 6:17. St. Gregory of Nyssa uses this as a proof text that there are angels protecting the righteous.
- Daniel 3:49; 3:92. The angel (again, a manifestation of “I AM”) protects the three young men (for a similar event, see 6:22).
- Daniel 10:10-14. Here we have both St. Michael and an un-named angel acting as guardians. It also seems as though some nations have less obedient elohim guarding them (see Psalm 81, for example; also Deuteronomy 32: 8-9). This explains why the Psalmist was led to write that “all the gods of the nations are demons.” (Psalm 95:5). This brings up an interesting question: why can’t good angels be the “gods of (good) nations”?
- The concept gets clarified as we move towards the Incarnation: see, for example, 2 Maccabees 3:25, 10:29, 11:6, 15:23; Tobias 3:25). This was the case with other concepts, too (e.g. intercessory prayer, a Godhead with more than one persons, and the resurrection of the body), giving us a greater appreciation for Christ’s Incarnation at “the fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4-5). Of course, this clarification continues through Christ and the Holy Spirit among us.
Some New Testament Scriptures on Guardian Angels (or, more precisely, elohim serving as guardians)
- St. Matthew 4:11. Angels ministered to the God-man Jesus Christ. We do not know if this was only due to His divinity; although the form of their service was certainly changed due to His Incarnation (see also St. Mark 1:13 and St. Luke 22:43).
- St. Matthew 18:10. Children have angels that continually intercede before God in heaven for them (St. Basil the Great thought that this was true only of Christians).
- Acts 12:14-15. This one is a bit weak: all it really points out is that the early disciples believed St. Peter had an angel (compare this with the times Christ reassures His apostles that He is not a ghost). It is bolstered by the times in Acts when angels rescued the apostles (e.g. Acts 5:19).
- Acts 16:9. It is possible that this was a guardian angel (but may have been the Holy Spirit).
- 1 Corinthians 11:10 is interesting. It fits in with the notion that angels join us when we pray.
- Hebrews 1:14. Guardian angels serve for the sake of those who are saved.
- Revelation 1:20. Churches have angels. (also see Revelation 3:1)
