Men’s Study Group
Been a bit since I’ve written. My sister in Christ Debbie says I have a calling for this, and I agree in that I feel led to do it, but life has been busy! To be honest, I’ve not been the studying person lately that I know I should be. Yes, daily I have recommitted to Christ, but I’ve also fallen down on that, and my ‘ministry,’ of sorts, has suffered for it.
So, jumping right in! Our men’s study group is reading and discussing a book by Dr. David Jeremiah called Angels.
I more or less lead this discussion every other Tuesday, and I have made notes with the intent of sharing them. I’ll go ahead and say that not everything I note makes it into the Tuesday night sessions. As I make notes, I feel some of them are led to share there, and others are specifically for here. This will perhaps become evident as I proceed.
Background
For background, Dr. David Jeremiah is a well known speaker, pastor and author. When our pastor made the suggestion of moving to this book, I commented that I thought it would be an interesting one to read and that, on a personal note, it would prompt me to study more. Why? Because I don’t personally agree with everything that Jeremiah has to say.
If I agreed with him 100%, it would be an echo chamber. It would simply be “amen!” and “that’s right” and I wouldn’t learn anything. Since I don’t agree completely with him on SOME things, it will cause what I do read to be evaluated and tested against the Scripture. Think of the Bereans and how they are well known for DAILY searching the Scriptures, even testing Paul’s teachings to make sure they aligned with God’s Word.
Acts 17:11 NIRV — The Berean Jews were very glad to receive Paul’s message. They studied the Scriptures carefully every day. They wanted to see if what Paul said was true. Many of them believed. A number of important Greek women and many Greek men also believed.
Now, do I want you to take what I say and simply believe it? NO! Test it! Compare it with the Word of God. Find where I am wrong and tell me so! Allow me to challenge your beliefs and please challenge mine as well!
Another Book
There is another book on Angels I had started reading as well. Very well written, even though I haven’t finished it yet. I set it aside to start on this one to be able to stay with the group. I do reference it from time to time though.
Like Jeremiah, Gilhooly attempts to share what is in the Bible ONLY and not pull from popular culture or historical beliefs. We find from BOTH authors that there is really not as much information as we would expect, based on the popularity of angels in the world.
Another World
On page 15, Jeremiah is discussing the DANGERS of belief in Angels. Sounds weird, right? Well, let’s follow along. People are turning to spirituality for answers that science and rational thought can’t give them. Much like in the days of the Romans or the Greeks, or even going back to the Egyptians, they had a knowledge of things that we call science. How water works, the rain cycle, making machinery to power things with wind or water - the list goes on. But they also had ‘many gods’ - that’s lower case “g” - to look to for things that they could not explain. Are we any different today?
Mankind wants to explain things - the human race wants to explore and learn. What if there is no scientific explanation for something? Then a dimension beyond the one we have in front of us is a possible answer. Lately, mainstream science fiction has turned toward ‘the multiverse’ to explain other realms we can’t see. Now lest you be deceived in this, this is NOT something that Marvel came up with for the movies. The idea of a multiverse, or infinite realities, is something that science fiction writers have used for a long time.
Remember that I enjoy time travel stories and movies? One of the explanations of time travel in these is the ‘alternate reality’ explanation. That is that if you were to travel into the past, it’s not your own past you’re going into, but an alternative one. Now as a young science fiction reader, I saw nothing wrong with this. As I’ve matured in my spiritual walk, I still see it as complete fantasy, just like any fiction you read or watch.
Mission Impossible might deal with current events, but it’s not ‘our world’ because we don’t actually have a guy that looks like Tom Cruise riding motorcycles and saving the world. Same with sitcoms… There is no Jerry Seinfeld living in New York with a neighbor across the hall. There might be SIMILAR things, but that sitcom takes place in an ‘alternate world.’
Geeking Out
Okay - sorry for the geek out there. Those of you that read this and know me in real life know I can get like that, and I apologize. Where I’m going with this is that a Biblical Worldview says that God is the Creator and Sustainer of all that is. This includes the spiritual realm as well. If God’s Throne Room that the Tabernacle was to be a copy of exists somewhere, then it’s not on this earthly plane of existence.
Hebrews 8:5 NIRV — They serve at a sacred tent that is only a copy and a shadow of what is in heaven. That is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tent. God said, “Be sure to make everything just like the pattern I showed you on the mountain.” (Exodus 25:40)
If in Daniel when the angel mentioned ‘fighting’ with the Prince of Persia and being delayed, this obviously doesn’t happen in a way that we would have seen the fight itself, so it was in another plane of existence. Same for when the Angel appeared to Mary before God became man to be born of her and Joseph - and the dreams that Joseph and the Wise Men had… I could go on and on with examples.
Daniel 10:13 NIRV — But the prince of Persia fought against me for 21 days. Then Michael, one of the most important angels, came to help me. I was left there with the kings of Persia.
Luke 1:26-38 NIRV — In the sixth month after Elizabeth had become pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee. He was sent to a virgin. The girl was engaged to a man named Joseph. He came from the family line of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel greeted her and said, “The Lord has blessed you in a special way. He is with you.” Mary was very upset because of his words. She wondered what kind of greeting this could be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary. God is very pleased with you. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. You must call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a king like his father David of long ago. The Son of the Most High God will rule forever over his people, who came from Jacob’s family. That kingdom will never end.” “How can this happen?” Mary asked the angel. “I am a virgin.” The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come to you. The power of the Most High God will cover you. So the holy one that is born will be called the Son of God. Your relative Elizabeth is old. But even she is going to have a child. It is said that she cannot have children. But she has been pregnant for six months. That’s because what God says will always come true.” “I serve the Lord,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me just as you said it would.” Then the angel left her.
Matthew 1:18-25 NIRV — This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about. His mother Mary and Joseph had promised to get married. But before they started to live together, it became clear that she was going to have a baby. She became pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph was faithful to the law. But he did not want to put her to shame in public. So he planned to divorce her quietly. But as Joseph was thinking about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. The angel said, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary home as your wife. The baby inside her is from the Holy Spirit. She is going to have a son. You must give him the name Jesus. That’s because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to bring about what the Lord had said would happen. He had said through the prophet, “The virgin is going to have a baby. She will give birth to a son. And he will be called Immanuel.” The name Immanuel means “God with us.” Joseph woke up. He did what the angel of the Lord commanded him to do. He took Mary home as his wife. But he did not sleep with her until she gave birth to a son. And Joseph gave him the name Jesus.
Matthew 2:12 NIRV — But God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they returned to their country on a different road.
Matthew 2:13-15 NIRV — When the Wise Men had left, Joseph had a dream. In the dream an angel of the Lord appeared to him. “Get up!” the angel said. “Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you to come back. Herod is going to search for the child. He wants to kill him.” So Joseph got up. During the night, he left for Egypt with the child and his mother Mary. They stayed there until King Herod died. This happened to bring about what the Lord had said would happen. He had said through the prophet, “I brought my son out of Egypt.”
Spiritual Plane
The point in all of this is that there is a spiritual plane of existence. Why do we call it spiritual? Because it’s not physical, or at least not what we call physical. God is often referred to as “the Father” but is also described as a Spirit.
John 4:24 NIRV — God is spirit. His worshipers must worship him in the Spirit and in truth.
So naturally we would call this other reality the spiritual world. It’s just a name - just something we reference it as to describe our relationship with it.
So getting back to how it’s dangerous, Jeremiah says, “the biggest danger may well be greater susceptibility to spirituality’s dark side. Mankind’s mental doorway may be open wider to thinking about religion and eternity, but it’s probably also open wider to Satan’s influence.”’
Now let me clear about something. Spirituality does NOT equate to Christianity. The witch at Endor was VERY spiritual, but she was practicing what God had said not to.
1 Samuel 28:7 NIRV — Saul spoke to his attendants. He said, “Find me a woman who gets messages from those who have died. Then I can go and ask her some questions.” They said, “There’s a woman like that in Endor.”
The Egyptians, as I said, were very scientific, but they were very spiritual as well. They had many gods they would turn to, and they had their own magicians that could duplicate the first few things that Moses and Aaron did.
Exodus 7:22 NIRV — But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by doing their magic tricks. Pharaoh’s heart became stubborn. He wouldn’t listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.
Fast forward to today. We have palm readers, tarot card readers, mediums, diviners - these are all examples of spiritual people, but they don’t turn to the Most High God - The Creator God. Can they encounter the One True God of all Creation this way? Well it’s not the way the Bible says.
John 14:6 NIRV — Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
1 John 4:1 NIRV — Dear friends, don’t believe every spirit. Test the spirits to see if they belong to God. Many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Belief in Angels
Now we are getting to the meat of it all. Jeremiah says, “but a stronger belief in angels is no guarantee of greater understanding of God’s truth. The devil can ensnare us as much through ‘angelism’ as he can through materialism or sexual lust or power-hunger. In fact he has scored some of his greatest triumphs in the disguise of angels.”
He goes on to mention in 610 AD Islam was born when Muhammed was visited by ‘an angel’ and given the Koran. He also mentions Mormonism when “Moroni” came to Joseph Smith.
To be clear here, and this is something Jeremiah hasn’t brought out at this point, the english word angel simply means messenger. So when the Bible mentions that Satan can appear as an “angel of light,” it simply means a messenger of something or someone. In this implication, it means ‘light’ as in “Jesus is the light of the world.”
2 Corinthians 11:14 NIRV — And no wonder! Even Satan himself pretends to be an angel of light.
John 8:12 NIRV — Jesus spoke to the people again. He said, “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in darkness. They will have the light that gives life.”
So if we change the reading of the verse in 2 Corinthians to something we can better understand, it would be - “Satan pretends to be a messenger of God - of Light - of Truth.”
Now we also know that Satan is a liar, so if the messenger we are listening to is Satan or a fallen angel - a messenger of lies - then we know the message is false.
Stay Anchored in the Light
As we’ve seen throughout Scripture - and even in modern examples - not every spiritual experience is from God. Some messengers of “light” are, in reality, messengers of deception. This is why discernment is not just helpful - it is absolutely essential!
I’m not just sharing this with you. I’m preaching it to myself as well. I need it just as much as you do. Let’s commit together to seeking the true Light and testing EVERY message and messenger against the Word of God. Join me in prayer?
Lord Jesus, You are the Light of the world. We ask You now for discernment - not just to recognize truth from error, but to love truth above all else. Guard our hearts against deception, no matter how beautiful or convincing it may seem. Strengthen us to stay grounded in Your Word and quicken our spirits to recognize the voice of the True Shepherd over all others. I pray for each reader, each listener and for myself, that we would not be led astray by false lights, but that we would cling to the One True Light that gives life. In Your powerful and holy name, Jesus Christ, Amen.
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