A Divine Revelation of Angels by Mary K. Baxter Read Free Book Online

elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.(Matthew 24:31)
    I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea.(Revelation 7:1–2)
    So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released to kill a third of mankind.(Revelation 9:15)
    The Number of the Angels
    Next, how many angels are there? There are various references in the Bible to numbers of angels. In Matthew 26:53, Jesus referred to “legions of angels”: “Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” Again, a Roman legion could be made up of between three thousand and twelve thousand soldiers, including cavalry and support staff. Therefore, Jesus was talking about tens of thousands of angels being readily available to come to His aid.
    Daniel had a vision in which he saw “the Ancient of Days” (Daniel 7:9), or God Himself, on His throne. Daniel said that “a thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him” (v. 10). That number comes to more than one hundred million! Yet, even then, apparently not all the angels were present because, in Revelation 5:11, John looked at the angels and elders around God’s throne and said that “the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” (emphasis added). In other words, there were even more than one hundred million. The writer of Hebrews refers to an “innumerable company of angels” (Hebrews 12:22). There are too many angels for us to count!
    Another reason we know there are multitudes of angels is that they are referred to as “hosts” of the Lord. In fact, numerous times in the Old Testament (285 times in the King James Version), God is referred to as the “Lord of hosts” or the “God of hosts.” In the New Testament, the angel choir that was praising God at Jesus’ birth was called “a multitude of the heavenly host” (Luke 2:13). The Hebrew and Greek words that are translated “hosts” or “host” refer to an army, particularly one organized and ready for war. (See Strong’s #H6635; #H4264; #G4756.) Consider these Scriptures that refer to the Lord of hosts:
    [Hannah] made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life.”(1 Samuel 1:11)
    Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”(1 Samuel 17:45)
    Then Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left.”(1 Kings 22:19)
    O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty like You, O Lord?(Psalm 89:8)
    Bless the Lord, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word. Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, you ministers of His, who do His pleasure.(Psalm 103:20–21)
    So the Lord of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion.(Isaiah 31:4)
    O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth.(Isaiah 37:16)
    For thus says the Lord of hosts: “Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory.”(Haggai 2:6–7)
    God saves