And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, "Arise and eat." 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you." 8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. (1 Ki 19:5-8 ESV)
The prophet of God, Elijah, had just accomplished a most remarkable feat on Mount Carmel, decisively defeating the 450 prophets of Baal that had led the people of Israel into apostasy. At Carmel, the true God of all the earth, rained fire from the sky and consumed the offering on the altar, leading the entire assembly of Israel to fall on their faces and confess, “The Lord, he is God.” But despite this incredible victory, the wicked queen Jezebel threatened Elijah’s life, and in fear and exhaustion, the prophet fled. But though the weary prophet felt into despondency and wished for death, God in his mercy, sent an angel to care for his wounded child.
There in the loneliness of the wilderness without another soul in sight, the prophet was treated to a warm, cooked meal and enough water to slake his desert-induced thirst. And after he had been allowed a good rest, the prophet was given yet another meal from the kitchens of heaven that gave him such strength that he traveled for forty days without any additional sustenance.
Believer, is it not wonderful to know that the angels of God are ministering spirits who have been sent out to serve those of us who are to inherit the salvation of God (Heb 1:14)? These angelic warriors guard the very lives of God’s precious chosen ones and our feet will never slip and injure themselves against a pavement stone if the Lord dispatches them to our aid (Ps 91:12). They roam the whole earth with tears in their eyes of love that are directed towards the people of God, longing for God to unleash his justice for the sake of his chosen people (Zech 1:11-13). They rejoice over the repentance of sinners (Luke 15:10), they observe the worship services of God’s faithful (1 Cor 11:10), and they gaze with longing and wonder at the salvific works of God amongst Adam’s race (1 Pet 1:12).
The angels of God serve us with joy and pleasure, for they are ministering spirits, servants in the house, but they are not born-again sons and daughters. When they sinned, God cast them into hell with no hope of redemption, but to Adam’s race, he gave the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. For now, we are made a little lower than the angels, but one day in glory, we will rise, and they will take their rightful place below us. What a wonderful thing it is to be touched by an angel of God who has been sent to our aid when we as children have cried to our God in prayer!
To be touched by a heaven-sent angel, is to be touched by the hand of God, but we should also remember that to be touched by an angel is a tangible reminder that the greater is always served by the lesser, and that we alone are the heirs of God’s great and precious promises.
Believer, thank God for these angelic servants who have defended you from terrible harm and ministered to your needs. But most of all, let us thank our Lord and Saviour for the precious gift of becoming his children through his death on the cross.
Article by: Samuel Chua
