Gratitude for God's Holy Angels

Where can we begin as we thank God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit for telling us what we need to know about the true identity of the Triune God and what each Person of the Godhead has done and will do in the created universe?

First, the Father, through Christ the Son, as revealed by the Spirit in the Bible, created millions of wonderful spirit-beings called angels. The Lord asked Job:

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (NKJV, Job 38:4, 7; Job 1:6 informs us that “the sons of God” were angels).

How many angels did God create? Approximately 600 million—because one-third of all angels, led by Satan, rebelled against their Creator (Rev. 12:4), and their number was 200 million (Rev. 9:16). That is a large number—but praise God, twice that many remained faithful to Him, in contrast to mankind, where:

All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way. (Isa. 53:6)

Now, this is the focus of our Thanksgiving meditation this year: We, being limited human beings, need the help of God’s holy angels. “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” (Heb. 1:14).

Of course, we all understand that, ultimately, God does not need angels to help Him—any more than He needs us to evangelize the world. As He states through one of His Major Prophets: “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” (Jer. 32:27).

But, amazingly, when our great Creator came to Earth 2,000 years ago, after He successfully resisted Satan’s temptations, “behold, angels came and ministered to Him” (Matt. 4:11). When Judas led a small army to capture Him at Gethsemane, He said to his terrified disciples, “Do you
think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions [scores of thousands] of angels?” (Matt. 26:53).

If, then, our Creator and Savior, who is infinitely higher than angels (see Heb. 1:4-13), used their help from time to time, how much more do we need their help!

Here is God’s plan for believers today: we need families, we need friends, we need pastors and teachers, we need doctors and nurses, we need police officers, we need a government.

But some day, we will not need these concentric circles of authority and protection. And we will not even need angels, because, “He has not put the world to come…in subjection to angels” (Heb. 2:5).

In fact, we will be their judges (1 Cor. 6:3)!

But for now, we need them, and we thank God for them. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). There is an invisible war going on all around us, and our guardian angels are constantly in conflict with evil angels (under Satan) to protect us.

At this Thanksgiving season, then, let us add holy angels to our “Thank You, God” list!

“For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways” (Ps. 91:11).

And what about our little children? Jesus said, “I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 18:10).

God has indeed described to us many things about the angelic world around us. Thank You, God!

But above them all is His Son: “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15).