Dan Phillips Reflects on Angels

I occasionally lead our family in a little sanctified speculation about angelic activity.  What does it look like that the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him (Psalm 34:7)?  Or, that God commands his angels concerning his people (Psalm 91:11)?

I tell the children, “We never know how an angel might have saved us.  Perhaps, there was a bullet flying our way and an angel snatched it between his thumb and forefinger and flicked it into the nearest trash can.”  I’m sure angels are environmentally conscious.

My kids like the picture of an angel punching in and getting marching orders to go watch out for the Brauns family.

So long as we call it the speculation that it is, there is value in reflecting on the presence of angels.  All of which is to say that one of the Pyro types (Dan Phillips) has written a worthwhile reflection on angels which is a bit more biblically informed than some of my speculation.  Dan begins:

We know a lot about angels, and that we don’t know a lot about angels. There is a great deal of Biblical material, on the one hand; but there are many gaps, holes, and lacunae.

We know that angels are spirit beings of great knowledge, antiquity and power. They can move quickly (Daniel 9:21; Luke 2:13), can appear on earth (Genesis 18:2), or in the throne room of God (Job 1:6). They are spirits (Hebrews 1:7), but can take tangible form and interact with matter (Daniel 10:10). They have consciousness of self and of others (Luke 1:19).

Artists have represented angels often, but almost always clearly wrongly.

FYI: Dan lives on the West Coast and uses vocabulary which stretches the people here in the flatlands.  “Lacunae” means “gaps” or “blank spots.”  It has nothing to do with the Lion King song.  That was “hakuna” matata.

Read the whole thing here.