Chapter 13
SOME HAVE ENTERTAINED ANGELS UNAWARES
Angels and Us
Mutsuko Hasegawa came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ through the ministry of a young American missionary, Mabel Francis. Mutsuko's father was the mayor of Hiroshima, Japan. Her desire was to be a missionary like Miss Francis. That desire was dashed, however, when she learned that her parents had already arranged her marriage to a non-Christian man.
In time Mutsuko received assurance in her heart that the Lord would work even in this event for her good and for his glory. Three daughters were born to Mutsuko and her husband. Then World War II began. Her husband went into the army to fight for the emperor and eventually lost his life in the war.
The day Mutsuko learned of her husband's death, her first
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thought was to commit suicide. But suddenly Mutsuko heard the Lord's voice in her mind. "You wanted to be a missionary, didn't you? Can't you raise these girls to be missionaries for me?"
She returned to Hiroshima and began to work for her sister-in-law, a doctor in the city. Her life seemed back on track. But soon she began to sense another command. It was so persistent that it seemed almost audible: "Escape to the mountain, escape to the mountain"
Hiroshima had not been a military target at any time during the war, and yet Mutsuko knew that Japan was preparing a final stand as the Allied forces drew nearer. The insistent words kept coming: "Escape to the mountain, escape to the mountain!" Finally Mutsuko obeyed. She gathered up her children and a few belongings and, in a hired truck, left Hiroshima.
At 8:16 the next morning, a blinding flash and a mushroom cloud engulfed Hiroshima. Like Lot and his family in the Old Testament, Mutsuko watched the destruction from the far-off mountains. She believed that God's angels had led her and her three potential missionaries to safety.1
The primary work of angels for us believers is guarding and protecting us. But we find glimpses of several other ministries as we read the pages of Scripture. One of those ministries is the ministry of guidance — a work that Mutsuko Hasegawa will never forget.
Angels and Guidance
Several times in Scripture God used angels to direct his people. As the Israelites left Egypt to go to the land of Canaan, God promised supernatural guidance for their journey. "See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared" (Exodus 23:20;
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see also Exodus 32:34; 33:2; Isaiah 63:9).
Individual believers also benefit from angelic direction. Three times an angel appeared to Joseph to give him specific instructions about the protection and care of Jesus. Twice in the book of Acts angels guided the expanding outreach of the gospel to the Gentiles. First, an angel directed Philip to go to the road between Jerusalem and Gaza. On that road the Holy Spirit led Philip to an Ethiopian eunuch, who, in response to Philip's witness, believed in Christ and then took the message of the gospel to his own people (Acts 8:26-29). On the other occasion, an angel told Cornelius, a Gentile who was seeking after God, to send for Peter, who would tell him how to be saved (Acts 10:3-6; 11:13-14). But specific instruction came to Peter by the Holy Spirit (10:19-20; 11:12).
It is significant in each case that an angel relayed instructions, but the Holy Spirit is the one who spoke with true authority. When the Spirit told Peter that three men were waiting to take him to Cornelius, he added, "Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them" (Acts 10:20). Believers are guided primarily by the Spirit of God (Acts 16:6-7; Galatians 5:18). It would be a serious mistake to wait for guidance from an angel when you are faced with a serious decision. God certainly can use angels to give us direction if he chooses, but his preferred method of guidance is the voice of the Spirit within us.
Angels are not a substitute for the Holy Spirit. (What a poor substitute they would be!) The ministry of angels is primarily external, while the Spirit's ministry is internal. Angels focus on the physical realm as they guard our bodies and pathways. The Spirit focuses on the spiritual realm as he guards our spirits and leads us in the right way. The angels may be agents to answer prayer, but the Spirit prompts and directs prayer within us (Romans 8:26-27; Jude 20).2
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Angels and Prayer
There's another ministry of angels that I do not fully understand, but God's Word reveals its truth. In addition to being used of God to answer the prayers of believers, holy angels also assist those prayers in some way as they are offered to God. Please do not conclude from this statement that we are to pray to angels. The New Testament pattern is to pray to God the Father through the Lord Jesus in the power of the Spirit. But somehow as we offer prayer up to God, the angels assist in that process.
The clearest example of this ministry is found in Revelation 8:
Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. (vv. 3-4; compare also Revelation 5:8)
While the angel is involved in presenting the prayers of the saints to God, the angel does not make them acceptable to God in any way. Some Jewish writers of the New Testament era taught that angels acted as mediators between God and human beings, but the New Testament writers totally reject that idea.3 Angels do not plead our cause before the Father or intercede for us, but they do play a part in offering our prayers up to God.
Angels and Death
As Jesus told the story of a wealthy man and Lazarus, a poor beggar, he gave us a wonderful insight into the ministry of angels to us at the time of death. Angels carry the spirits of believers who have died to a place of rest and blessing. In Jesus' story Lazarus was a believer. He was poor materially but
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had been declared righteous before God. When he died, "the angels carried him to Abraham's side" (Luke 16:22). I believe that is still a ministry of angels to those who are saved by God's grace. Today the spirits of believers who die go immediately into the presence of Christ (Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8), but we don't leave this life alone. God sends powerful invisible agents who transport us to the realm of heaven, to the Father's house.
Angels Around Us
The final ministry of angels toward us is the one that captivates our interest the most. Angels can, at times, appear in human form to help or to comfort believers. The writer of Hebrews, who knew so much about angels, added this admonition about them at the end of his letter:
Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. (Hebrews 13:1-2)
Some interpreters of Scripture believe that the writer of Hebrews is simply referring back to Abraham's visit from angels in Genesis 18 and Lot's encounter with the angels in Genesis 19 as illustrations of how we should show hospitality to each other. I think that interpretation restricts the passage too much. It seems clear to me that the writer accepted the possibility that we may at times encounter angels who appear as human beings but who are present to help us or to bless us in some way. Our response to that stranger we meet may determine whether the blessing or help is received or lost. Don't ignore the possibility that God may send an angel into your path.
Dave Thompson pastors a growing church in Pocatello, Idaho. In 1977, when Dave lived in Kalamazoo, Michigan, one of our winter storms blasted through the area. He drove
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his wife to a nearby grocery store to replenish their milk and munchies supply at home. The store parking lot was almost deserted, and they parked close to the door. As soon as his wife entered the store, Dave was startled by a knock on the window of his car. He rolled the window down a crack and an elderly woman asked him if he knew of a place where she could get a flat tire fixed. He said, "Well, there's an Amoco station down the street. I'm sure there is a phone in the store here. You could call them." The woman went into the grocery store, and instantly Dave felt convicted by the Lord. He should have offered to help. He got out of the car, intending to find the woman and offer his assistance. When he entered the store, however, no one was at the pay phone inside the door. Dave searched the aisles of the nearly empty store looking for the woman. He even sent his wife, Mary, into the ladies' restroom, but the woman wasn't found. No one he asked had even seen the woman he described. Dave and Mary drove all around the area of the store, looking for a vehicle with a flat tire, but they found none. Dave is convinced that the woman was an angel who had come to minister to him in some way, but the opportunity was now lost. "I had to confess to God," he says, "that I had been in the presence of an angel and had blown it!"
I'm not advocating that you pick up every hitchhiker in the hope that you will find an angel sitting beside you. We are always to exercise wisdom. But when God opens a door for you to entertain or care for a stranger, embrace that opportunity as a wonderful privilege. You will reap the blessing of obedience to God, and you may discover yourself blessed richly in return.
I grew up in a pastor's home. We never had much money, but my parents were always bringing new people home from church for Sunday dinner or using my bedroom to house a
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missionary family who was traveling through the area. My parents still consider it a special privilege to have missionaries or conference speakers into their home. They never ask for recognition or reimbursement. They just do it for the joy of serving. I'm certain that over the years some angels have found lodging and fellowship in their gracious home.
I hope that this study of angels has helped you to understand these marvelous beings better. I hope too, that you will appreciate more than ever before all that God has done for your blessing and benefit through his angels. Most of all, I hope you will be more open each day to the possibility of angelic ministry in your life. Angels are all around us!
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