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More on when God appeared as an angel in scriptures February 28, 2008

Posted by mercedescoleen in God.
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I was shown that there were occasions in scripture where God appeared in the form of an angel. Here are some examples:

a. God speaking to Hagar as she fled from Sarah (Gen 21: 17-19)

“And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven,and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand;  for I will make him a great nation.

And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink”.

Here are clues:

  1. God spoke to Hagar about her situation. It is not immediately shown to us that the angel and God in verse 17 are one and the same.
  2. God referred to Himself in the third person in verse 17 when He told Hagar that “God hath heard the voice of the lad..”
  3. However, we are soon shown that the angel speaking to Hagar is really God Himself when He became personal told her that  I will make him (Ishmael) a great nation.

b. God speaks to Abraham preventing him from killing his son Isaac (Gen 22: 10-12).

“And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.”

Here are the clues:

  1.  God, appearing in the form of the angel, referred to Himself in the third person, as if speaking about someone else, when He said to Abraham, “for now I know that thou fearest God…” 
  2. However, He exhaled with pleasure  in the same sentence and reverted to the first person when He told Abraham that “thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.” .
  3. I believe that God used the third person (now I know that thou fearest God) to instill the fear of God in His servant Abraham. At the same time, however, He was so pleased with Abraham’s obedience that He became more personal by referring to Himself as “me” in the end. Remember that God called Abraham His friend (Gen 18: 19).
  5. Why does God use this style of speaking and writing? I believe that the style points us to His Greatness and Majesty.  For example, in Deuteronomy 32: 40, God spoke of Himself in His majesty and said, “… I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.”

God is great and mighty. His ways and understanding far exceed ours.  God bless you. More examples when I return.

One God Family – three persons February 26, 2008

Posted by mercedescoleen in God.
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I believe that the depicitons in the holy of holies in Moses’ and Solomon’s temples were intended to reveal to us who God really is.  There are three people in the Holy of Holies – 2 cherubims and a symbolic representation of Jesus. In the New Testament, the Holy of Holies is the throne of God and Jesus is the person in the midst of the throne as revealed in John’s visions.

Here’s more:

On many of the occasions when God appeared in the Bible as an angel, the scriptures would refer to Him as the  angel of the Lord then later  twin this angel with God as if the two were separate. For example, scriptures say that “…the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked…” (Ex 3: 2).  Exodus 3: 4 later said that “… when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush…”  This was a typical pattern in scriptures, as if God was really shrouding His identity in the text from people who are just surfing the scriptures.

God and Abraham

One of the clearest connections between the revelation of God as an angel was  to Abraham in the plains of Mamre (Gen 18). God called Abraham His friend, so when the three men appeared, Abraham’s response was to bow down in worship. He would not have bowed to the heathen and Genesis 19: 1, 2  clearly stated that the Lord appeared to  him:

“And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day

And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground”

God appeared in the form of the three men,  visited with Abraham and was entertained in fine style. They spoke of the birth of his son Isaac as well as the destruction of Sodom and the cities of the plain. Genesis 18 and 19 then gives a fascinating description of the Oneness of God as revealed in the progression of events, as well as the way He deals with those who are GREATLY BELOVED:

  • The three men (God) rose up to go on to Sodom (Gen 18:16).
  • God decided to reveal the impending destruction of the cities to Abraham (Gen 18: 15-21) 
  • Gen 18: 22 then said that two of the members of the family God went on to Sodom and that Abraham remained there with the LORD. There is no contradication here. In human terms our limited understanding cannot grasp the greatness of One God family (three people)  having the same  characteristics. 
  • Abraham interceded with the remaining member of the Godhead on the fate of Sodom (Gen 18: 22-32).
  • The LORD went His way at the end of Abraham’s intercession.  Abraham understood that the cities would be destroyed since ten righteous men did not even live there (Gen 18: 33).
  • Meantime, the discourse continued into Genesis 19 so that we could see how God functions  in the affairs of men.  Verse one is a continuation of the journey of the two other members of the Godhead – “And there came two angels to Sodom at even”. They appeared now as  angels, although Lot did not know they were angels. The sin of the city was so great that the men of Sodom did not even know that God was among them.
  • The agreement of God is revealed in their pleas to Lot to escape since the Lord had sent them to destroy the cities.

Here are examples of how the three people in the Godhead are Lord, Lord and Lord (One God).

  • Scriptures show that God is Lord of the whole earth. God said in Isaiah 45: 23, “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” Anything that is said of One is said of all. Phillipians 2: 10 says  “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth”.
  • I began this discussion by speaking about the two cherubims/the Anointed Ones/the Olive Trees who stand in the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. Isn’t Jesus also the Messiah, the Anointed One (Dan 9: 25-27). Zechariah and John saw Him as the Anointed One in Zech 4 and Rev 5.
  • God is rather like the designer of a Treasure Hunt, hiding Himself with well designed puzzles and revealing Himself in the fullness of time. If the two Anointed Ones stand in the presence of the Lord of the whole earth, the humor really is that they too are Lord and Lord. They agree as One. This is the mystery of the God head.

In upcoming posts, I  will share other scriptures in which God appeared as an angel

I also wrote previously at:

Blessings!

Angels in the house of the Lord February 26, 2008

Posted by mercedescoleen in Angels at work.
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I read 1 Kings 6 last night and the love of God and His angels for His people were demonstrated in this scripture. Firstly, the two larger than life cherubims represented the presence of the Lord covering His people.  David said in Ps 91: 1 that the Lord covers those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High.  The secret place of the Most High is called the oraclein the chapter and is translated as the holy of holies (1  Kings 6:19).  Solomon’s temple was a large replica of the temple that God told Moses to build in the wilderness and points us to the temple of God in heaven  (Rev 15: 5). The ark which the cherubims cover is Jesus the ark of our salvation, represented in a figure by Noah’s ark in the flood (1 Pet 3: 20,21).

Pay attention to Solomon’s choice of wood from which these two cherubims were made. He used olive wood to represent the continual flow of the anointing in the presence of God. Zechariah saw these two cherubims and symbolically called them the two olive trees while the angel instructing him called them the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth  (Zech 4: 1-4, 11-14). 

Zechariah also saw in his vision:

“… a solid gold lampstand with a bowl of oil on top of it. Around the bowl are seven lamps, each one having seven spouts with wicks

And I see two olive trees, one on each side of the bowl

Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive trees on each side of the lampstand?”

“Don’t you know?” the angel asked. “No, my lord,” I replied.

 and what are the two olive branches that pour out golden oil through two gold tubes?”

Don’t you know?” he asked. “No, my lord,” I replied.

Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” (Zech 4: 1-4; 11-14).

 The visions of sevens

Jesus is the bowl out of which the oil flows in Zechariah. He is  revealed  when John saw Him as:

  • the One in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks (Rev 1: 12, 13).
  • the Lamb in the midst of the throne with 7 horns and 7 eyes (Rev 5: 6).

There is much truth hidden in these scriptures. The pattern of the heavenly was represented in the earth by the figures in Solomon’ s temple (as well as Moses’). God dwells not only in physical temples but in the temples of His people. We are His beloved and He covers us with His presence when we seek Him.

I hope that these paltry words will inspire you to worship the God of the earth who covers us and dwells in us. Blessings!

NB: find the two olive trees again in Rev 11

Praying for the release of angels February 21, 2008

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This morning the Lord placed a heavy burden on my heart for St. Vincent and the Grenadines. As I prayed earnestly for the nation, I asked Him to send angels from the sanctuary to destroy the works of the enemy. I had a sister report to me some years ago that she saw a vision of an angel with a sword standing in the streets as we prayed for the nation some years ago. 

I believe that change is coming to the nation.  Angels are active there right now. I call on believers to pray earnestly for the land at this time. God is in control.

Blessings and peace.

Angels around the island February 19, 2008

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Last night I dreamt that I was looking at the shores of a land mass. I may have been looking at the west end since I was standing in a southerly direction and the island was directly in front of me (I was standing as if in front of a mirror). I saw waves washing up on the shore and a band of white around that area of the sea shore. I knew that this band of white represented angels.

How did I know this? In  2002, the Caribbean was threatened by Tropical Storm Lili. As I prayed for the nation to be delivered from the effects of the storm, I saw a band of white around the entire island. We were indeed hit by the storm, but the outcomes were not as devastating as expected.

I do not know where this sea coast is located, but be comforted, angels of the Lord are protecting you. Blessings.

Prayer releases angels February 18, 2008

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People who pray sincerely and earnestly to God obtain the help of angels in time of trouble. Jesus Himself set the example and scripture reveals that they were active in His life, ministering to Him in times of physical weakness.  The Lord Himself revealed  one of the most  compelling truths about the relationship between angels and prayer when He was arrested prior to His death:

“Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt 26: 53).

HOW MANY ANGELS ARE THERE IN A LEGION?

According to the Blueletterbible.org, a legion of soldiers was comprised of about 6826 men.   Jesus said that His Father could send Him more than 12 legions. Therefore, He would have easily hadmore than  81,912 angels at His disposal. Since the scriptures teach  that God has an innumerable company of angels, Jesus our Lord could have been referring to the fact that His Father could easily send Him millions of angels without breaking into a sweat. Maybe the US Government needs to enlist angelic help for the wars that they are fighting against terror.

THE SPEED OF AN ANGEL’S RESPONSE

Jesus revealed to us that He would not have to wait for eons in order to have the troops deployed to His assistance. He told those arresting Him that he could pray and His Father would respond IMMEDIATELY.

We learnt from Daniel’s life that Chief Prince Gabriel “flew swiftly” (Dan 9: 21) as the prophet prayed and repented on behalf of His people. Think of the prophet’s experience in the den of lions. Angels must have already been present on site to prevent Daniel from coming to harm. Alternatively, they would have flown speedily to prevent those teeth from tearing him apart.

Persons have reported seeing angels flying from heaven to earth in visions and dreams. If you hear an angel say, “I’m coming”, they are there or at least with you almost immediately.

ANGELS AND YOUR WORDS

Believe it or not, angels take our words when we pray and respond in several ways.  Chief Prince Gabriel told Daniel:

“… Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words” (Dan 10: 12).

The Angel of the Lord was waiting to respond to Daniel’s words. In fact, angels were always on the edge of their seats waiting for Daniel’s words, because he was a man of prayer and faithfulness to God.  This explains the reason why  Chief Prince Gabriel referred to him three times as a man who was  “greatly beloved” by God and His angels (Dan 9: 23; 10: 11; 10: 19).  We learn in Daniel 9: 23 that God had commanded the Angel of the Lord to go to his assistance swiftly from the time that he began to pray.

WHAT DO ANGELS DO WITH YOUR WORDS? 

They

  1. carry them to God and those prayers are offered up as sweet sacrifices in the temple of God in heaven  (Rev 8: 3-4)
  2. carry out vengeance against our enemies as a result of our prayers and also praises. In Rev 8: 5, the angel punished the earth as a result of the prayers that had been offered up to God. 
  3. teach the understanding of mysteries (Dan 9: 22,23; Dan 10: 12, 21).
  4. bring answers to prayer, telling you exactly what to do (Acts 10: 3-7; Acts 27: 21-26).
  5. provide protection (2 Kings 6).

Psalm 68: 18 teaches that a great multitude publishes the words that God speaks.  Based on Daniel’s experience (Dan 9: 23), God gave a command when the prophet prayed and Chief Prince Gabriel was sent forth with the response. Think of the multiplied effect and the multitudes of angels that are released to our aid when when multitudes of God’s people pray earnestly.

My own personal experience is that angels are released when we pray. Change comes into geographic regions when angels are released. We therefore need to pray earnestly to enlist this help that comes from the sanctuary, according to Psalm 20: 2. Blessings!

Angels can appear and disappear February 14, 2008

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Angels have the ability to appear and disappear because they possess spiritual  bodies, just like Jesus did after He rose from the dead.  So next time you are on a bus or some place and see someone, then look again two seconds later and they are not there – you  could have just been visited by an angel.

Angels, we love you!

I love French February 13, 2008

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Five people met in the aisle of the grocery. They consisted of  a group of four people shopping together and a lone female who was poking about in grains. The other four pushed a partially loaded shopping cart. One of the men in that group was dressed in a blue T-shirt labelled with the words “Union Island”. The lone female struck up a conversation with him as they spoke about the island.  Smiles were exchanged with the other members of the quartet.

The conversation was slow and rather halting on her part, at least, because he spoke French. She said as she reminisced on that encounter later that week, she suddenly remembered that she had promised a week prior to speak with a school child about his French class at school.

She likes to believe that this was no chance encounter and that the  quartet consisted of a group of angels sent to remind her about her promise.

Seen any angels lately? 

Angels encircle you February 9, 2008

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The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them (Psalm 34: 7).

Blessings

Angelic protection February 6, 2008

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On Monday 4th February, 2007, I had a very disturbing dream between 3 and 4 am. In the dream, I saw a man (in his 30s and doctor by profession), being physically abused by a woman in her 30s, who appeared to be his wife. She had a light brown complexion, had neck length relaxed hair which was cut in a blunt hair style.

As I came on the scene, I saw that the man stood there defenselessly, allowing his wife to beat him. I went to his assistance and she ran for cover. For some reason we began to look for her in the house, but she was very elusive. I came upon her in a room and she took up a black object which had two flaps at each side, as well as a central, rectangular box.

As I stood facing her, she pulled a trigger and I heard an explosion, saw a tongue of fire as she shot at me. However, the attack had no  effect and she may as well have not bothered.  She ran off again and I found her lying in a large ice box which was full of ice and water. She surfaced to breathe and her left foot was also protruding from the water.

I know that there is an invisible  shield of protection around me. No weapon formed against me will prosper. Thank God for the protection of His angels.

I spent Monday morning in intercession.  As I pondered on the dream, I began to see two phases of behavior in the woman similar to a bipolar disorder. She was alternately aggressive and then mute, the latter represented by her  submerging herself in the freezing water.

I then learned on Tuesday 6th February that a female had been shot in the island by an unknown assasin on Monday night about 10 p.m.(Tortola).  It was at that time that I realized the significance of the dream, which could have represented the demon involved or even the related situation. 

I  prayed  on Tuesday night for God to give greater revelation of what had really happened.  I then had a subsequent dream involving myself and a family as well as a man who was known to them. The man was a friend of the family, spent time with them. I saw them in the back seat of a car, at which time the man took out a black gun (approximately 4 inches long, two inches wide, with two flaps on each side. The handle was about 3-4 inches long and it was straight and not curved).  

I jumped out of the car and dragged out the occupants, but they went back in. I went to the Police Station to make a report about the gun and the man turned up, claiming that the car had run off the road. He tried to kill me, but I beat him up.  The man was tall, very dark in complexion, with short black hair and narrow features.

I’m written these dreams because of the connection with the shooting incident. I do not think the events are coincidental. Is this  a description of the killer? Is the person known to the deceased’s immediate family (mother, brother and last sister?) They do not know that he has the capacity for murder and may even be housing and/or befriending him unknowingly. What is the motive for murder? Was she helping someone who was at the mercy of this individual?

I hope that the law enforcement agency will find the clues speedily and that God will have mercy on the one who harmed His servant.