Everything the Bible Says About Angels and Demons

Description

Readers' fascination with angelic beings--both dark and light--continues to grow. Numerous authors have given their ideas about angelic beings, but it's time to hear what God has to say. All the scriptural references on the subject have been collected and explained in a clear and concise format. The book's length and focus make it perfect for readers on the go who love the Word of God.

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 avril 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441270153
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

© 2012 by Bethany House Publishers
Compiled by Bob Newman
Series editor: Andy McGuire
Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com
Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com
Ebook edition created 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-7015-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Scriptures identified God’s Word are taken from God’s Word . God’s Word is a copyrighted work of God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Scriptures identified kjv are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version.
Scriptures identified The Message are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
Scriptures identified nasb are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org
Scriptures identified ncv are taken from the Holy Bible, New Century Version ®, copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.
Scriptures identified NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Scriptures identified nkjv are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations identified nlt are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
The internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Baker Publishing Group does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence.
Cover design by Eri c Walljasper
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Introduction: Angels of Light and Angels of Darkness
Section One: The Old Testament
1. Angels and Demons in the Pentateuch
2. Angels and Demons in the Books of History
3. Angels and Demons in the Books of Poetry
4. Angels and Demons in the Books of the Prophets
Section Two: The New Testament
5. Angels and Demons and Jesus
6. Angels and Demons in Acts and the Epistles
7. Angels and Demons in Revelation
Index of Frequently Asked Questions About Angels and Demons
References Consulted
Back Ad
Back Cover
Introduction
Angels of Light and Angels of Darkness
When it comes to angels and demons, we believe. According to a 2007 Gallup poll, 75 percent of Americans affirm the existence of angels; almost as many (70 percent) believe the devil is real.
While much of that confidence stems from religious beliefs, popular culture also plays a role in advancing the idea that angels are watching over us and that Satan and his demons are active in our world. Various media, however, often take creative liberties with the subject of spirits. Other faiths and cults add their own ideas about these beings. Public perceptions don’t always match the reality described in the Bible.
What might it mean to “sleep like an angel”? Do angels rejoice when a bell sounds or when a lost soul repents? Do they look like chubby-cheeked flying babies or fairy princesses of Christmas décor? Actually, angels often have been mistaken for men; their appearance regularly has frightened those who’ve encountered them; they’ve fulfilled and delivered divine missions and messages as God’s servants, as he’s assigned them.
There’s plenty we can discover in Scripture. Passages in Everything the Bible Says About Angels and Demons are presented in story or event context. Topical headings, summary comments, and background information make it quick and easy to learn what angels and demons are about.

The Pentateuch (or Torah) encompasses the Bible’s first five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. In these we learn about the world’s creation, its introduction to sin, and the early history of God’s chosen people. From Eden through Israel’s exodus from Egypt and journey in the wilderness, angels and demons appear in many memorable stories.
The Fall of Humankind
Genesis 2 says Adam and Eve lived in a garden paradise filled with trees pleasing to the eye and good for food. They lived in a state of innocence, with no knowledge of good and evil, until a being later identified as Satan (see Revelation 12:9; 20:2) successfully tempted them to disobey God.
The serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
The man said, “The woman you put here with me she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (GENESIS 3:1–13 niv ).
Satan tries to convince people that they can defy God and distort his words without suffering adverse consequences.
God Sets Cherubim to Guard Eden
After Adam and Eve brought sin into the world by disobeying what God had told them, they were evicted from Eden, and God put angels known as cherubim on duty to ensure they couldn’t return.
He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. (GENESIS 3:24 nkjv )
Angels enforce God’s laws and can act as guardians to protect sacred places. Satan seeks to separate people from God by enticing disobedience.
Hagar and Ishmael
After Abraham had received a vision that God would give him a son as an heir, his wife, Sarai, began to doubt that the Lord could use her to fulfill his promise. Impatiently, she urged Abraham to sleep with her maidservant, Hagar. Abraham did, and Hagar became pregnant. When the women began to resent each other, Sarai mistreated Hagar, who then fled the household.
The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a spring of water in the desert, by the road to Shur. The angel said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave girl, where have you come from? Where are you going?”
Hagar answered, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.”
The angel of the Lord said to her, “Go home to your mistress and obey her.” The angel also said, “I will give you so many descendants they cannot be counted.”
The angel added,
“You are now pregnant,
and you will have a son.
You will name him Ishmael,
because the Lord has heard your cries.
Ishmael will be like a wild donkey.
He will be against everyone,
and everyone will be against him.
He will attack all his brothers.”
The slave girl gave a name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are ‘God who sees me,’” because she said to herself, “Have I really seen God who sees me?” (GENESIS 16:7 – 13 ncv ).
The angel of the Lord has protected and delivered God’s people and revealed God’s plans for them. Scholarly opinions vary as to the identity of the Lord’s angel. Because he speaks for God in the first person, often saying or promising what only God could say or do, many believe he isn’t just an angelic messenger but a visible manifestation of God himself or of the pre-incarnate Messiah (Son of God, second person of the Trinity). Matthew Henry, for instance, said that the words “I will so increase your descendants” ( kjv ) show this angel to be “the eternal Word and Son of God.” (Others suggest that, as God’s personal messenger, this angel may have been given authority to speak on God’s behalf and to be identified with the one who sent him.) Also see Genesis 21:17; 22:11–12, 15–18; 31:11–13; Exodus 3:1–6; 14:19; Numbers 22:21–35; 2 Samuel 24:16; 2 Kings 1:3; 1 Chronicles 21:16, 18; Zechariah 1:8–9.
Sodom and Gomorrah
In Genesis 18, Abraham pleads with God not to destroy Sodom for the sake of righteous people within its boundaries. The Lord agrees to spare the city if ten can be found, but evidently the ensuing headcount comes up short, because now two angels (who’d already visited Abraham) arrive to round up the righteous. They urge Abraham’s nephew, Lot, to get his family out.
The two angel