The angel warriors

The Spirit takes Ezekiel on a tour of the seedy side of Jerusalem (chapter 8), a part of religious life never seen—abominations being done in the dark, behind closed doors, in the inner rooms of the temple.

Then the heavenly tour guide cries out before Ezekiel: “Bring near the executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand” (9:1, ESV), or “Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand” (NKJV). At first I am wondering who these men are, but then I realize they are not men at all but angelic warriors, perhaps the same who will at the end of history ride out with the four horses of the Apocalypse to be the final executioners (Revelation 6).

God’s Word often reminds us that our seemingly mundane daily lives are affected by beings operating in a realm parallel but invisible to ours. These do their strange business working as close to you as the person on the other side of the door from you right now, but out of sight.

Daniel has been praying (Daniel 9:20) for help for his people Israel, but answer to prayer is detained. In the next chapter we find out why:

“Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia” (Daniel 10:12-13)

These are angelic beings, too. And so are the beings who watch over your own dear children:

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10).

“Their angels”? Do our children have angels assigned to them? Evidently. If there are angels “who have charge over the city,” as we learn in Ezekiel and Daniel, then why would it be so strange that there are angels who have charge over your children? They are ministering spirits for their sakes (Hebrews 1:14).