In romantic settings, we call our beloved “angel” with affection. It goes like this, “Oh, you are such an angel to me!”, as to say, “You are so cute”, and “You are so sweet”. Being cute and sweet is synonymously said of being angelic. But I am not sure if real angel is as cute and sweet as one you express your endearment in juxtaposition to an angel.
Perhaps, there is a bit of confusion of an angel
with Cupid in Greek mythology.
In the biblical setting, however, angels are the
celestial hosts, serving God. In biblical Greek, the world “angel” means “a
messenger”( ἄγγελος/angelos).
And its equivalent word in the biblical Hebrew is מֲלְאָךְ /malach, which literally means an ambassador, as well as,
a messenger.
As God’s ambassadors, angels are sent from heaven
for our benefits. They also assist the Christ and are present with him (e.g.
Luke 22:43). In fact, Jesus himself said of these heavenly hosts descending
from heaven on him and ascending from him to heaven (Luke 1:51).
Perhaps, angels may not be visible to human eyes.
But we may hear their important voices. In some situations, angels can appear
to us in our dreams, as it occurred to Joseph (e.g. Matthew 1:20-24; 2:13).
Though not all angels necessarily have names, the
seven archangels certainly have their names: Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel,
Saraqael, Raguel, and Remiel, according to the Book of Enoch.
Out of the seven archangels, the Church honors these
three archangels on September 29. Though the feast specifies for three
archangels: Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the readings for this feast day
(Daniel 7, 9-10. 13-14, or Revelation 12:7-12; John 1:47-51) rather reflect on
the angels in general, except for the optional First Reading (Revelation
12:7-12).
The First Reading (Daniel 7, 9-10. 13-14) describes
the presence of angels in the heavenly court of judgement in his prophetic and
eschatological vision (cf. 1 Kings 22:19; Revelation 4:1-11). On the other
hand, the optional First Reading (Revelation 12:7-12) describes the archangel
Michael expelling Lucifer, who is a fallen angel, becoming Satan, from heaven,
by his mighty power, to ensure the victory of Christ’s army, composed of his
Saints, those who endure tribulations and remain loyal to him.
The Gospel Reading (John 1:47-51) is a scene from
Nathaniel’s initial encounter with Jesus, upon Philipp speaking of his meeting
with Jesus to him. Nathaniel is understood as Bartholomew, which is patronymie,
for Nathaniel is personal name.
Philipp just could not contain his excitement to
have met Jesus. So he told Philipp about Jesus (John 1:44-45), as Andrew told
his brother, Peter (Simon), about Jesus (John 1:40-41). While Andrew described
Jesus as the Messiah to Peter (John 1:41), Philipp told Nathaniel that Jesus is
the one whom Moses wrote in the Torah (e.g. Genesis 16:7-13; Deuteronomy 18:15)
and whom the prophets spoke of (e.g. Micah 5:1; Malachi 3:20/4:2), and is son
of Joseph from Nazareth (John 1:45). But Nathaniel’s first reaction to this was
rather skeptical, thinking out of his stereotype on Nazareth, no such a person
would hail from this Galilean village (John 1:46a). But, Philipp obviously
would not let Nathaniel dismiss, and there is no time to lecture against
Nathaniel’s stereotype. So, he told Nathaniel, “come and see” (John 1:46b).
As he was coming to see Jesus, prompted by Philipp, Nathaniel
was greeted by Jesus, who said:
Here
is true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him
(John 1:47).
To this, Nathaniel was amazed at Jesus for knowing
him even before meeting with him and was even more astonished to know that
Jesus could see him even from distance too far for eyes to see (John 1:48-49).
So, Nathaniel came to recognize Jesus as the Son of God, as well as, the King
of Israel (John 1:49).
Then, Jesus further entertained Nathaniel’s
amazement at him, as to indicate more amazing things would follow upon his
encounter with Jesus. So, Jesus said:
Do
you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see
greater things than this. Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man
(John 1:50-51).
The readings (Daniel 7, 9-10. 13-14, or Revelation
12:7-12; John 1:47-51) are to tell us that angels serve God in heaven and on
earth. And on earth, angels are sent down to assist Christ on his salvific
mission for us. Protecting us from Satan’s
attacks is also angels’ mission. So, we have guardian angels to ensure that we
continue to journey on the path that Christ wants us to take. If Satan or his
associates, other fallen angels, attack us, we can call for Michal the mighty
archangel and angels in his heavenly army for our safety, as Michael and his
heavenly army, are for Christ’s mission, as well.
In the Old Testament, Michael, whose name means “being
like God, is described as the great prince and the guardian during the
tribulations (Daniel 10:13-21; 12:1-13). Gabriel, whose name means “God is my
strength”, is described as the trusted interpreter of Daniel’s vision (Daniel
8:15–26, 9:21–27). On the other hand, Raphael, whose name means, “God has
healed”, is not mentioned in Tanakh (the Jewish cannon). However, he is described
as the trusted companion of Tobiah’s journey and as the healer for Tobit and
Sara in the Book of Tobit, which is a Deuterocannonical apocrypha (Tobit
5:4-12:15).
Though angels are pure spiritual being, having no bodies, we tend to personify them. Besides our personification, we also romanticize angels. Perhaps, it is because we have developed our affinity for them. However, angel may not seem to have nothing to do with romance in the biblical setting. If this were the case, then, how come there was no angel, say, in the Song of Songs, which is the most romantic story in the Bible to figuratively reflect God’s affection toward His beloved humans?
Actually, in the Book of Tobit, we see archangel Raphael
acting as a facilitator of romance between Tobiah and Sara, leading the
couple’s courting to their nuptial union, overcoming all possible obstacles by
God’s powerful mercy (Tobit 6:10-8:21). So, perhaps, angels can help us in our
romantic courting process leading to marriage, because God wants men and women
to be in matrimonial union (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:8; Ephesians
5:31).
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