07/01/06

A Prayer
of Jesus

I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise
and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will


THE QUESTION (#67)

The Angels of Matthew 18:10

You speak of the children becoming angels in your paper, "Salvation of the Innocents," and I'm trying to understand how you came to the discovery that the children ARE the angels in heaven Jesus is speaking about?

Doctors of the church and modern interpreters have obscured the Truth by teaching that these are "guardian angels."  Jesus spoke much of angels, but never of guardian angels as they are foreign to his Word, having their origins in ancient Greek philosophy. Perhaps it will be helpful if you examine the origin of the concept.  Look at this verse (Matt. 18:10) in context.

Mt.18:10 Be seeing that you do not despise [one] of these little [ones], For I say to you that their angels in [the] heavens always see the face of my father in the heavens.

What I am about to mention was and is, for me, the decisive point in identifying these angels.  We read in the introduction to the chapter:
Mt.18:1 In that hour the disciples came to Jesus saying: Who then is greater in the kingdom of the heavens? 2 And when he called [a] child he stood him in their midst and said: Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become as the child, you will not enter into the kingdom of the heavens.
4 Whoever therefore humbles himself as this child, this is the greater in the kingdom of the heavens. 5 And whoever receives [one] such child in my name receives me.
These disciples were ambitious for great places in the kingdom, as you know.  But as the Lord consistently teaches:

Mt.23:12 But whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Placing Matthew 18:10 in this context, with its object lesson of the humility of the little child, surely makes it mean that such little children, having died in their innocence and humility, will be exalted to the heavens, to so high a position as to be always beholding the face of the Father!  Therefore, I conclude that the angels of 18:10 are the humble children that, having already died, have been exalted to heaven as angels.  So great is their exaltation that they always behold the face of my father. Perhaps there is here a background reference to Exodus where the Lord's servant, Moses, was permitted to behold only the back side of the Lord:
Exodus 33 (RSV)
18: Moses said, "I pray thee, show me thy glory."
19: And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name `The LORD'; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
20: But," he said, "you cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live."
21: And the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand upon the rock;
22: and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by;
23: then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen."
In contrast to Moses, the humble little children, having died, are so highly exalted as to always behold the face of the Father!

"Guardian angels" are believed by many to be real.  Everyone wants one!  This translation even inserts the word "guardian" into the text:
"Never despise one of these little ones; I tell you, they have their guardian angels in heaven, who look continually on the face of my heavenly Father." (New English Bible)
Such are the deceptive ways of the wise and intelligent of this world!  Neither the word "guardian" nor any Greek equivalent appears in the text of the Greek New Testament. These translators have taken onto themselves the task of interpreting, and their Christian brain washing shows.  It is as the Lord asserts:

Lk.10:21 In that hour he exulted in the Holy Spirit and said: I confess to you, father Lord of heaven and [the] earth, that you have hidden these [things] from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed these [things] to children;

It is also of interest to acknowledge that these little children of men that have become exalted angels are not children of God.  In their pristine innocence they have departed the world without having heard and believed the Word as delivered by our Lord Jesus, which is the begetting from above that produces the sons of God the Father.  More tellingly, if they are children of God the Father, the Lord would not have said:

their angels in [the] heavens always see the face of my father in the heavens.

He would have said,

. . .their angels in [the] heavens always see the face of their father in the heavens.

Not to have done so would have been to miss further exalting them, which he surely would have done in this context if they are children of the Father.  There is no place in the Bible where angels are given the status of children of God.  We do, however, have this utterance of the Lord that distinguishes the sons of God from angels, by saying they are like angels.

Lk.20:34  And Jesus said to them: The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those considered worthy to attain that age and the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 For neither are they still able to die, for they are like angels, and they are sons of God being sons of the resurrection,

Some render the text of vs. 36 to read, "for they are equal to angels."  That is misleading because if implies that they are equal in rank and authority.  They are not of equal rank or status to angels, but are similar to angels in that they neither marry nor are given in marriage and are not able to die. To summarize in conclusion: When an innocent little child dies, it goes to the Father in the heavens and there, as an angel, to be exalted to behold His glory.  They are not sons of God.

Brother Ed.