ANGELS
57
15=^, where Judas is said to have prayed : ' O sovereign Lord, send a good angel before us to bring terror and trembling.'
6. Angels render aid at death. Lk 16^ ' Lazarus ■was carried away by the angels into Abraham's bosom.' We come liere upon a widespread belief among Jews and Jewish Christians — that angels convey the soul.s of tlie righteous to Paradise. Michael is usually the one entrusted with this duty. If he has a companion, it is Gabriel. The Gospel of Nkodemus records that when Jesus de- scended into Hades and released the righteous dead from captivity. He delivered Adam and all the righteous to the archangel Michael, and all the saints followed Michael ; and he led them all into the glorious gate of Paradise : among them being the penitent thief. Tlie History of Joseph the Carpenter records that Michael and Gabriel drew out the soul of Joseph and wrapped it in a silken napkin, and amid the songs of angels took him to his good Father, even to the dwelling-place of the just. In the Testament of Abraham we have a similar account of the death of Abraham. The Ascension of Isaiah (1'^) affirms that ' those who love the Most High and His Beloved will ascend to heaven by the Angel of the Holy Spirit.'
7. Angels are to be the ministrants of Christ at His Seeond Advent. 'The reapers' in tlie great Harvest ' are angels ' ; and they separate the tares from the wheat (Mt 13'-'). 'Tlie Son of Man will send forth his angels to gather out all that offend ' (Mt 13^'). ' He shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him' (Mt 25^'). ' He shall send forth his angels with the great sound of a trumpet to gather the elect ' (Mt 243' ; cf. 1 Th 4", 2Th 1').
8. To complete our survey, we must add one word as to the appeai-ance of angels when men •were conscious of their presence. It is taken for granted that there needs to be a preparation of vision before man can recognize tlieir presence. As Balaam was unaware that the angel con- fronted him until the Lord opened his eyes (Nu 22^'), and as Klislia inayud that God would open the eyes of his sL'ivan't (2 K 6"), so when the risen Jesus appeared to Sua I of Tarsus, those who travelled with him 'saw no man' (Ac 9'). («) Angels had a manlike appearance. As Abraham and Manoah's wife mistook them for men (On IS"^, Jg 13^), so, in describing the Resurrection, St. Mark says that the women ' saw a young man ' ( 16''), and St. Luke that ' two men stood by them ' (24^).— (6) Their appearance was usually with brilliant light or 'glory.' When the .anp'l appeared to tlie slu-p- herds, 'the glory of tin- Lord -linni- i(,uuil alumt them'(Lk2''), and wlirii tie- Sm, ,,i Man c.niieth. He will come 'in the uloi \ ,,f \\„- li.,lv .uejols' (Lk
92«). So in To :\"\ both was hear. I 1 Raphael' ; in ■_: M.i 'notable in tlieir > glory ' ; and the I^i that 'an angel of light to Joachim. '- luminousness. Mt
ills
rer oi great L'ared,
reat
lightning, and his raiment ~ «, Ezk v, :
_ „ 5 snow ' ; cf.
Dn 10«, Ezk V\ Rev 1» 19'^ So Apoc. of Peter says of the angels, ' their body was whiter than any snow.'
iii. Differences between NT and Rabbinism AS TO Angels.— We undertook to show that ' in Mie main Christ and His Apostles appropriated the Angelology of Judaism ' ; and the above sys- tematic treatment has surely rendered this evi- dent. It has often been observed that ' Jesus says very little about angels' ; and, so far as the bulk of His sayings is concerned, this is quite true ; but when we classify His utterances, we find that they constitute almost a complete Angelology ; and so
far as it goes, it is in harmony with the Jewish beliefs of the period. The Jews believed all that the NT says of angels, but they al.so believed nmch more.
1. It is very significant that the Gospels are silent as to the mediation of angels. In Judaism this was very prominent. In Tobit, e.g., one great function of angels is said to be to cany tlie prayers
ot saints within tl Holy One (1
lie
Aj,„r.ofl:,nnl,(, great receptacle i placed to be carrie( sence of the Divii i. 100). In the Mi.
before the glory of the
■ cer says :
intercede iipplicate he Greek II have a men are otliepre- Iddies, V.
Ivash Exvduiillabba 21 an angel set o\ei- tie' inaycrs of men is said to weave them into iio\\ ii~ 1. 11 I lie Most High.— But not only are the (:o.-.i.(l,-. (/'/(/ as to the need of angels to be mediatuis in caiiyiiig the prayers and necessities of saints into the unapproaeli.il lie c!i;iinlier of the Most High, the teaching of .le.-n,, \\.i> .li M;;iied to counteract such a view of Goil. \\ leiL our Lord said : ' Your heavenly Father knowetli that ye have need of all these things' (Mt 6^-); 'Your heavenly Father feedeth the fowls ' (6^'') ; ' Thy Father seeth in secret' (6'*) ; ' Pray to thy Father Avho is in secret ' (6'*),— He certainly wished to break down the barriers which the Jewish mind had placed between itself and God, and encourage men to come direct to the Father in childlike confidence.