The Purpose of Angels

The devil left [Jesus]; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

–Matthew 4:11

Like us, angels are created beings. They have intellect, emotions, and a will. So what is the purpose of angels? The Bible says angels minister to believers. Look at Hebrews 1:14: “Are [angels] not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?” God dispatches angels to minister to His children. I like to refer to angels as God’s AAA service for believers. In Scripture, we see a few ways angels minister to us.

First of all, God uses angels to sustain and encourage us. We see this in the life of Elijah in 1 Kings 19. After Queen Jezebel announced she was going to kill him, Elijah ran for his life. He ran and ran until, exhausted, he threw himself under a tree and said, “God, take my life. I’m ready to end it all.” Instead, God sent an angel. The angel encouraged Elijah to rest and provided water and food–it was the first recorded example of angel food cake in history!

Has somebody ministered to you in a time of great discouragement, physical need, or spiritual oppression? It may have been an angel, or God may have used an angel to prompt somebody to minister to you. Angels sustain and encourage us.

Second, God occasionally uses angels to reveal His will to us. We see this in Matthew 1. When Joseph discovered that Mary was pregnant, he was tempted to end their engagement. But notice what happened: “When he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins’” (vv. 20–21). Sometimes angels communicate God’s plan to us.

However, we need to be very careful about any so-called angelic revelation. In 2 Corinthians 11:14, Paul said Satan can appear as an angel of light to deceive people. Muhammad, the founder of Islam, and Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, both claimed to receive revelation from angels. I believe they did see angels, but they were angels of Satan. Any angelic revelation we receive must align with God’s Word.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “What Every Christian Should Know About Angels and Demons, Part 1” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2022.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.