Entertaining Angels…
Entertaining Angels…
[Posted February 24, 2021]
Hi Mike,
What I would like to know is if there’s a way to know when we’re entertaining angels. I know angels can appear in human form, so how would we know when we’re talking to one?
Thanks, R____
Hi R____,
Thank you for this question concerning the meaning of this verse:
Heb 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels [G32: aggelos] unawares.
There is a story in the Bible where a woman entertained angels, which explains the meaning of this verse. That story is referenced in the very next book after the book of Hebrews:
Jas 2:25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers [G32: aggelos], and had sent them out another way?
Here is Strong’s definition of this Greek word:
G32
ἄγγελος
aggelos
ang’-el-os
From ἀγγέλλω aggellō (probably derived from G71; compare G34; to bring tidings); a messenger; especially an “angel”; by implication a pastor: – angel, messenger.
Total KJV occurrences: 186
This is the definition of G71:
G71
ἄγω
agō
ag’-o
A primary verb; properly to lead; by implication to bring, drive, (reflexively) go, (specifically) pass (time), or (figuratively) induce: – be, bring (forth), carry, (let) go, keep, lead away, be open.
Total KJV occurrences: 71
So the ‘aggelos’ we can “entertain unawares” is simply someone who ‘brings’ us a ‘message’. It is a ‘messenger’ and whether that ‘messenger’ is a spirit messenger or a man is determined only by the context. The ‘messenger… angels’ entertained by Rahab the harlot in Jericho were two Israelite spies, whereas the ‘angels… messengers’ that appeared to the shepherds announcing the birth of Christ were spirits:
Luk 2:15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
Now, look at who the angel that had poured out one of the vials containing the last plagues and had shown the apostle John the judgment of the great whore, tells John he symbolizes:
Rev 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
Rev 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
A second witness to these words is repeated in:
Rev 22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Rev 22:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
I hope this helps you to see that any messenger of Christ is one of His ‘angels’. You, and everyone who “keeps the sayings of this book”, are an angel whom this world ‘entertains unaware’ of whom they are entertaining.
YbitC, Mike
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