• Editor’s note: “Spiritual leaders answer” is a weekly column inviting Kaua‘i’s religious and spiritual leaders to share their doctrine’s perspective on a suggested subject. Every Friday, a topic is printed, inviting a response. Due to space limitations, submissions are
• Editor’s note: “Spiritual leaders answer” is a weekly column inviting Kaua‘i’s religious and spiritual leaders to share their doctrine’s perspective on a suggested subject. Every Friday, a topic is printed, inviting a response. Due to space limitations, submissions are edited. Thoughts or suggestions for future topics are always welcome. Next week’s subject is on vengeance. The topic at the end of the column is for the following week.
The Baha’i of Kaua‘i
In the Baha’i Writings there are many references to angels. Here are some that pertain to our spiritual development in the physical world. “By angels is meant divine confirmations and heavenly powers. Angels are also those holy souls who have severed attachment to the earthly world, who are free from the fetters of self and passion and who have attached their hearts to the divine realm and the merciful kingdom.” And, in another passage, “Array yourselves in the perfection of divine virtues. I hope you may be quickened and vivified by the breaths of the Holy Spirit. Then shall ye indeed become the angels of heaven…” The purpose of acquiring divine virtues is not limited to our own spiritual development. “Pray to God that He may strengthen you in divine virtue, so that you may be as angels in the world, and beacons of light to disclose the mysteries of the kingdom to those with understanding hearts.”
Kahu Harold
Kalei Kilborn
Church at Koloa
A few years ago there was such an angel craze in our country. Many were caught with angels and had wrong concepts concerning these disembodied spirits. What I would like to do is give an outline on what the Bible says about angels.
First of all, they are supernatural beings created by God before the creation of the world (cf. Job 38:6-7) and called spirits. (Heb 1:4, 14) They were not created with bodies, but there are times in the Bible when God permitted them to appear in bodily form of a man for a specific task on Earth. (Gen 19:1,5, 15: Acts 1:11) Scripture describes them as personal beings, higher than mankind (Ps 8:4-5) and not mere personifications, or are they glorified human beings. (I Cor 6:3; Heb 1:14)
Individual angels have different endowments and ranks and are highly organized. (Rom 8:38; Eph 1:21; 3:10 Col 1:16)
Two of the most important angels are Gabriel (Dan 8:16; 9:21; Lk 1:19, 26) and Michael the archangel. (Dan 10:13, 21; 12:1: Jude 9; Rev 12:7) Satan at one time was an angel called “the anointed Cherub” and was the highest and most gifted of the heavenly host until he fell and became Satan. His name was originally Lucifer. (Ezk 28:13-15)
The work of angels is varied. Their chief role in the New Testament is that of divine messengers or spokesmen. (cf. Lk 1:11:-20; Lk 1:26-38, Mt 1:20-24: 2:13, 19) Angels minister to the saints giving assistance, protection and deliverance. In this capacity the angels of God are often called “guardian angels,” one being assigned to watch over each believer and to represent him in heaven. (Acts 12:15; Ps 34:7; Mt 18:10)
In closing, angels also had a large part in the life of Christ. Read the New Testament and see how many times angels had a part in the life of Christ.
Kahu Rachel Schwab
Hanapepe Hawaiian
Congregational Church
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:2
“I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for my name is in him.” Exodus 23:20-21
On the TNT network drama, “Saving Grace,” the main character is a complicated woman with a dark past. She doesn’t have room for faith in her life, yet, one day a gruffy middle-aged man named Earl walks into her life and announces he’s her angel. He is there to help save Grace from her road to self-destruction. This series follows her through her job as a detective and how Earl walks with her along her road to recovery and self-discovery. He comes to her not as an angel in white robes with wings, but as a fellow human.
In the Bible an angel’s primary role is as messenger, as when the angel Gabriel came to Mary to tell her she was going to have a child and name him Jesus. Angels also have other roles as protectors and guides to those who are having a crisis of faith or even to be in the presence of suffering or pain.
Angels are a reminder of God’s presence when we begin to lose hope or doubt God is there to save us. We probably have heard stories about folks who have experienced the presence of an angel and find it hard to believe. Yet, God has sent angels through history to guide, protect or be a messenger.
As we struggle to live in a complicated world, remember to make room for angels, because you never know who God will send into your life to restore your faith and hope.
Kahu Dr. James Fung
Lihu‘e Christian Church
God speaks to us through means such as teachers and prophets, through the instructive events of history, through the “still, small voice” that whispers to us. God also sends angels who miraculously and unexplainably appear before us. They pierce the ordinary stuff of our life.
There was a time in my 20s while standing in the cold in a New Jersey snowstorm, waiting for a bus feeling sorry for myself far away from home alone at Christmastime. I don’t know how much time passed as I slipped into what must have been a trance. But in those moments I saw what I determined to be an angel. He (or she) was surrounded by a glow of light and emanated a warm feeling of inner wellness and contentment. And with the most beautiful voice I have ever heard sang Handel’s, “Messiah.”
I was returned to reality when the bus pulled up. I would gladly have preferred standing there for an hour in the cold to savor that moment, but the apparition vanished into the winter night as mysteriously as it had appeared.
As I sat there in the bus riding back to campus where I was a graduate student, my brief sojourn into temporary despair had lifted. I knew that my redeemer lived and that he had a plan and purpose for why I was doing what I was doing.
Topic for two
weeks from today
• Will you speak to us on
youth?
• Spiritual leaders are invited to e-mail responses of three to five paragraphs to pwoolway@kauaipubco.com
• Deadline each week is
Tuesday, by 5 p.m.