four angels named in scripture we understand from scriptures that angels are the messengers of god they are also sent by god to minister to the needs of the saints and all those who are heirs of the common salvation the bible records that there are multitudes of angels in heaven according to hebrews chapter 12 verse 22 the company of angels in heaven are innumerable however we are not so familiar with their names there's another protest which we should like to make ourselves in most of the references to angels which i've seen lately it's very clear that the writers assume that they are the spirits of the dead returning to earth now according to the scripture there's not one word of truth in any such conception angels are created celestial beings created by god they are not the disembodied spirits of human beings psalms 8 verse 5 were made a little lower than the angels we are not even the same order of beings they were brought into existence before men were created when adam and eve sinned and were driven from the garden an angel at the gate prevented them from reentering this paradise home read genesis 3 24 angels were specially created they neither marry nor are given in marriage according to matthew 22 30. so the angels of god were here before men were made by god every single one of them with the exception of the angels who failed and sinned with lucifer god holy angels love their creator and obey all his commandments [Music] you read that in psalms 103 verse 20 there are various orders of the angelic host seraphim and cherubim are mentioned in isaiah 6 2 and psalms 80 verse 1. angels are here to help people men and women boys and girls the bible is a book of angels in the entire scriptures we have only four named angels this includes fallen angels and holy angels we shall take a brief study of each of them in the functions they perform in accordance with the task in which they are divinely assigned let's begin with lucifer the fallen angel isaiah chapter 14 verse 12 made reference to lucifer as one of the angels in heaven before his eventual fall as a result of his pride and conspiracy against the most high when the devil decided to exalt himself we see in isaiah 14 12 to 14.
how are thou fallen from heaven o lucifer son of the morning howard thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations for thou hast said in thine heart i will ascend into heaven i will exalt my throne above the stars of god i will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north i will ascend above the heights of the clouds i will be like the most high lucifer was a beautiful creature in heaven we see this in the bible a magnificent being the prophet ezekiel described him as the seal of perfection full of wisdom and perfect in beauty every precious stone was his covering he was the anointed carob who covers he was perfect in his ways from the day he was created lucifer was fully arrayed by the creator to reflect his glory [Music] now let's go on to michael the archangel michael is known as god's archangel which means chief angel scripture often refers to the archangel michael as a chief prince of the heavenlies angel michael is one of the archangels in heaven which is associated with warfare you may notice that most of the time when he is mentioned in scripture one would notice that there is a battle to be fought michael will hardly be mentioned when there is no warfare he is a spiritual warrior he specializes in fighting battles the archangel michael will play a major role in end time events as you would expect we see in the last days of daniel chapter 12 verse 1 at that time michael shall stand up the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people please notice the choice words of the bible he watches over the sons of your people not only is he the angel associated with warfare but he is also a protector furthermore he might be the angel of 1st thessalonians chapter 4 verse 16 of whom paul writes the lord himself with the cry of command with the archangels called and with the sound of god's trumpet will descend from heaven and the dead in christ will rise first in revelations chapter 12 verses 7 through 9 we read how the angel michael led the battle against the devil and the fallen angels and they were sent out of heaven pride made lucifer attempt to fight against the almighty having discovered that his plans have been uncovered he was hardened by pride and subsequently tried to wage war but pride sponsored his fall angel michael and his host waged war against lucifer until there was no place for him in heaven revelations 12 7 and 8 relates the events of the war in heaven thus and there was war in heaven michael and his angels fought against the dragon and the dragon fought his angels and prevailed not neither was their place found any more in heaven [Music] pride is that path that leads to destruction michael is notable for his great strength when it comes to fighting battles he defeated the devil and sent him out of heaven when iniquity was found in him again michael fulfilled his wartime ministry when daniel had prayed for 21 days but the answer to his prayer was wade laid by the prince of persia the prince of persia ward against another angel who was to bring the answers to the prayers of daniel due to the consistency of daniel in the place of prayers michael had to intervene by rescuing the other angel from the hands of the prince of persia in daniel chapter 10 verses 12-13 the angel finally came to daniel and said 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 but the prince of the kingdom of persia withstood me one in twenty days but lo michael one of the chief princes came to help me and i remained there with the kings of persia michael defeated the prince and persia and also he rebuked the devil in the name of the lord when he thrived for the body of moses in jude chapter 1 verse 9. michael is assigned by god to fight battles and he has never lost one the fact that michael is an archangel proves that there are orders and ranking among the angels for instance it was not only michael that fought the devil and his angels in revelation chapter 12 verses 7 through 9 but he led other angels showing that he is their commander in chief i would also like to highlight the fact that in daniel chapter 10 verse 13 michael is referred to as one of the chief princes which suggests that in heaven there are more the bible is silent about this though the angel gabriel if you've heard the christmas story chances are you recognize gabriel as the name of the angel who brought mary the news that she would become pregnant and give birth to jesus gabriel is one of only two named good angels in the bible the other one being michael who we have just discussed gabriel is sometimes referred to as the archangel gabriel the bible never gives him this title michael is clearly referred to as an archangel in jude but gabriel is not mentioned as such in the holy bible the major function assigned to the angel gabriel is that of delivering good news to the people of god angel gabriel is also associated with good news he was sent to zachariah the priest to deliver the message of the conception of john the baptist who was the forerunner of jesus on a particular day zachariah went into the temple and we see in luke chapter 1 verse 11 an angel of the lord appeared to him standing at the right side of the altar of incense this angel was gabriel gabriel gave zachariah the news that his wife elizabeth would bear a son this news was strange to zechariah as he said to the angel in verse 18 what proof is there for this i'm an old man and my wife is beyond her child bearing years in verse 19 the angel answered him i'm gabriel i stand in god's presence god sent me to tell you this good news and then continuing in verse 20.
