How Many Angels?

We’ve all heard the Christmas story so often that I think we sometimes take it for granted. So I would like to share something amazing with you that you probably never thought about before.

Luke 2:8-14 -- And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the Highest Heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.” (NIV)

Now I would like to challenge you with a very simple question. How many angels were there? Thousands? Millions? Trillions?

We don’t actually know the exact number of angels that are part of God’s creation, but this scripture says there was “a great company”. In Matthew 26:53 Jesus spoke of “more than twelve legions”. In Psalms 68:17 the psalmist said that God’s chariots are “tens of thousands”, and His angels are “thousands of thousands”. The passage from Hebrews 12:22 has even been translated as an “innumerable company of angels”. Needless to say the number is massive and unfathomable.

So how many angels do you think there were? Or let me ask you the same question a different way. If we take into account all of the angels of God who did not fall from heaven with satan, how many angels were not there?

Think about it? This was the greatest event that has ever happened in the history of mankind, when God came down to earth to walk among us. Did God have some of His angels stay back to guard some part of heaven that needed to be kept secure? Nope. God doesn’t need angels to guard or protect anything of His. Did God withhold some angels because their singing voices were not up to par for the choir? Of course not. God would never create an angel who couldn’t sing. So why would God hold back even one angel from the multitude who sang above the shepherds?

Did you ever stop to consider what was happening in the heavenlies at the same time that “little baby” was being laid in the manger? Can you even imagine how terrifying it must have been for the forces of evil that day when God emptied the heavens completely? It was like an invasion of all of heaven onto the earth... But then, that’s exactly what it was.

Matthew 1:23 -- “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). (NIV)

Matthew 6:10 -- Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (NIV)

It is so easy to look at that little baby lying in a manger as a nice “little” story, but I’m telling you there was nothing little about it. It was a GREAT BIG GOD doing a GREAT BIG THING, and He did it TO SAVE ALL OF US!

So next time you hear the story about angels singing, remind yourself that it was every angel of God from both heaven and earth who were there. Every angel...

Glory to God in the Highest Heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests!


James :)

How to Not Be Selfish at Christmas…

I was listening to a radio show the other day, and the topic was about a presumably Christian mother who has decided that her children are too selfish in their desires to receive Christmas gifts. Apparently this mother has been boasting her solution on the internet, of how she has chosen to cancel giving her children any gifts this Christmas, and how instead the family will be celebrating through a number of charitable activities where they will give away what would have been spent on presents. The mother even plans to use Santa Clause to scold her children for their selfishness, and then later to praise them for giving up their presents for charity. As I shut off the radio I couldn’t help but feel sad about this poor deceived parent’s attitude.

Selfishness isn’t about wanting to get presents for Christmas. Selfishness is defined by the sinful nature of the heart. If this mother wants to see a perfect example of selfishness all she needs to do is look in the mirror. She has already selfishly lied to her children about Santa Claus for years and intends to continue that lie (see my post from 2010), and now she plans to selfishly take away what she should be giving her own children as their mother, and even more selfishly make them give what should be their own decision away to someone else, and she expects this to be a lesson for them about not being selfish? That isn’t selflessness that is self-righteousness.

Maybe as Christians we need to take a closer look at what Christmas is all about, because it isn’t about selfishness vs. charity like we so often try to turn it into. Christmas is about giving life to somebody who deserves death. Christmas is about giving freedom to somebody who should be locked up. Christmas is about giving a home to somebody who deserves to be left out on the street. Christmas is about unmerited favor, not just about giving gifts when we deserve them for being good little boys and girls, but also about giving gifts when we don’t deserve them because we are selfish rotten brats. Christmas is about God loving us so much that without even giving it a second thought, He invaded the very hell that we had willingly walked into by our own ugly wretched selfishness, where He not only pulled us out of that pit, but He also clothed us in robes of royalty and put us on display for all of Heaven to admire as His priceless treasures.

Christmas is not about the selfishness of man, it is about the selflessness of God giving us what we don’t deserve. If this mother’s children are selfish and greedy, where they see Christmas as about what they get out of it instead of what they give others, that is all the more reason for this mother to do to her children exactly what Jesus would do to them, which is exemplified by everything He did over His entire ministry. He gave, without hesitation, without expectation, without condemnation, and without question. How we teach our children to be kind, generous and selfless is by our example of being kind, generous and selfless to them. That is the lesson of Christmas.

Merry Christmas!


James :)