What has been a significant assignment in your life? Perhaps it was in school or at your place of work. Assignments don’t originate with us, but with someone in authority over us. In Scripture, the Lord directs angels on assignment.
Hebrews 1:14 Therefore, angels are only servants—spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation. [1] Angels are dispatched by God from His throne in heaven and are servants of God who care for people who have faith or will come to faith. Angels mostly operate in the spiritual realm, although they may become visible if that is needed as part of their assignment.
Angelic Assignments in Scripture
The Lord’s first assignment to the angels was to guard the tree of life after the fall into sin. Genesis 3:23 So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. 24 After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. [2]
Later in the book of Genesis, two angels accompanied the Lord when they visited Abraham. They brought a message of a coming child for Abraham and Sarah. Genesis 18:1The Lord appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day. 2 He looked up and noticed three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran to meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground.[3]
Later, these two angels that complemented the Lord, would go to Sodom and Gomorrah to rescue Lot and his family before Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed. Genesis 18:22 The other men turned and headed toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham.[4]
Angels Assigned to Us
You may not realize that angels are on assignment all around you, watching over you because you are precious to God. They may be assigned to give us messages or bring protection like the two examples above. They may care for us in other ways as God assigns them. God’s children are incredibly special to Him and receive special attention.
We can be thankful that angels are all around us as we journey through life because they are an extension of the ministry of the Lord in this world. To hear more about the message of angels to Sarah and Abraham, listen here: https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/faith-makes-a-difference-sarah
[1-4] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.