{"id":79164,"date":"2025-12-20T06:34:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T11:34:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/?p=79164"},"modified":"2025-12-20T06:35:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T11:35:18","slug":"79164-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/79164-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Angels Don&#8217;t Just Sit Atop Christmas Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"198\">Angels are larger-than-life spirits woven into Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"198\">Milton described them as flaming seraphs and medieval theologians believed angels spun the planets and moved the stars.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"200\" data-end=\"1130\">Although New Agers try to make angels into cream puffs\u2014nearly cosmic pets\u2014their business is often serious stuff. Their business is saving us from Satan.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"200\" data-end=\"1130\">They love us too much to see us stray into Hell.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"200\" data-end=\"1130\">From the first they have come to warn and, when necessary, to carry forth correction or punishment. It\u2019s another of their functions.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"200\" data-end=\"1130\">To deny this\u2014especially to ignore their connection to warnings and prophecy\u2014is to deny one of their main biblical roles.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1132\" data-end=\"1250\">When Herod committed idolatry, giving glory to man instead of God, <em data-start=\"1199\" data-end=\"1234\">\u201cThe angel of the Lord smote him\u201d<\/em> (<em data-start=\"1236\" data-end=\"1248\">Acts 12:22<\/em>).<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1252\" data-end=\"1530\">So too did God warn the Egyptians that He would send plagues if the Pharaoh did not let His people go. When God was not obeyed, Egypt suffered lice, locusts, disease, hail, and darkness. God used nature to right the many wrongs. The storms devastated Egypt\u2019s trees and farmland.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1532\" data-end=\"1997\">In the Book of Numbers an angel is again seen with a sword (22:23) and in the Book of Judges there is an angel associated once more with fire (6:21). We also see that warnings are <em data-start=\"1712\" data-end=\"1725\">conditional<\/em>. God often plans to chastise us but relents when He sees signs of improvement. Or He lessens what He planned. We see in <em data-start=\"1846\" data-end=\"1862\">2 Samuel 24:16<\/em> how He sent a plague that killed 70,000 from Dan to Beersheba but called off punishment when the angel was ready to destroy Jerusalem. <em>[scroll for more:]<\/em><br \/>\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><!-- spiritdaily.org --><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6350947343102800\" data-ad-slot=\"9237292177\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1999\" data-end=\"2540\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">To think that angels<\/span> are innocuous winged creatures who are meant to set atop a Christmas tree\u2014to see them only as dimply, chubby, and babylike cherubim\u2014is a misreading of Scripture, for their purpose, as much as anything, is to set us straight. This is not an act of heavenly venom. This is not an act of callousness. This is an act of mercy. It is far better to save sinners through earthly chastisement than to present them with the greatest chastisement\u2014Hell.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2584\" data-end=\"3515\">God is using angels, as always He has used angels, to direct, inspire, and apprise us.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2584\" data-end=\"3515\">The earthly developments are but a shadow of what\u2019s going on in the heavenlies.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2584\" data-end=\"3515\">There is a war being fought, a spiritual war, and often the locutions of visionaries and pastors\u2014the prophetic inspiration from worship services and Pentecostal revivals\u2014signify events more in a spiritual than a physical realm.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2584\" data-end=\"3515\">There were even signs in outer space. You may recall that at Medjugorje, peasants once saw the word for peace\u2014<em data-start=\"3304\" data-end=\"3309\">MIR<\/em>\u2014scrawled supernaturally in the sky.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2584\" data-end=\"3515\">Five years after that, the Soviets launched a new space station to replace the Salyut. The date was February 13, 1986, and the name of the new Soviet station was \u201c<em data-start=\"3508\" data-end=\"3513\">MIR<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3517\" data-end=\"4921\">The sense of supernatural presence\u2014that something was going on\u2014even extended to tabloid writers who often manufacture articles.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3517\" data-end=\"4921\">According to one such report, which was given greater currency when <em data-start=\"3713\" data-end=\"3721\">Parade<\/em> magazine facetiously reprinted it on January 6, 1986, six Soviet cosmonauts witnessed what looked like a band of glowing angels in outer space while aboard the orbiting \u201c<em data-start=\"3892\" data-end=\"3902\">Salyut 7<\/em>\u201d space station.&lt;[scroll for more:]<br \/>\n<script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><!-- spiritdaily.org --><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6350947343102800\" data-ad-slot=\"9237292177\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><script>(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3517\" data-end=\"4921\">Although there was no reason to believe that report (which first appeared in an especially outrageous supermarket tabloid), there were other reports, far less sensational but equally interesting, in credible periodicals, of strange goings-on up there.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3517\" data-end=\"4921\">The observations in space seemed to possess a nearly mystical dimension.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3517\" data-end=\"4921\">\u201cThere&#8217;s a gal I know who&#8217;s a very spiritual woman and has apparitions of an angel who suddenly appears next to her in an empty church when she\u2019s praying,\u201d said one highly respected priest.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3517\" data-end=\"4921\">\u201cHe\u2019s garbed something like a monk, in a robe, and he tells her a lot of things about me, what I\u2019m going to be doing. She gets information about me and is told to pray for me and all priests. I asked her, \u2018Will I ever see this person?\u2019 She said, \u2018Eventually, some time, you will.\u2019 I asked, \u2018What does he look like?\u2019 She said, \u2018He\u2019s very calm, somewhat swarthy complexion, very, very handsome. And very tall and husky, an appealing person who looks very human.\u2019<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3517\" data-end=\"4921\">\u201cShe said the angel has spent hours with her, talking to her and telling her to pray for priests. That\u2019s the main thing he does. She said, \u2018You know, he told me you\u2019re going to be in a certain church next Wednesday and there\u2019s going to be five priests on the altar with you, concelebrating the Mass.\u2019 I said, \u2018Well, he\u2019s wrong. It\u2019s not going to be Wednesday. It\u2019s going to be Tuesday.\u2019 She said, \u2018No, no. He said it\u2019s Wednesday.\u2019 I said, \u2018Well, I know my schedule, and it\u2019s going to be Tuesday.\u2019 I didn\u2019t know about this concelebration. She said five priests would be there and he\u2014the angel\u2014would also be there.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3517\" data-end=\"4921\">\u201cWell, after the phone call, after she said this, I went and checked my schedule. I was certain she was wrong. But she was right: It was a Wednesday, not a Tuesday. So I went to the church that night for the charismatic Mass. We had four priests concelebrating, not five. And I thought, well, this is where the revelation is wrong. After we began the Mass a fifth priest came on just a few minutes late. The chances of that happening were just astronomical. She had said her angel would be there and I was looking for someone of the angel\u2019s description. And way in the back of the church, in the last pew, there was someone who fit that description perfectly. I sort of glanced back there and when I looked up again he was completely gone\u2014disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3517\" data-end=\"4921\">[adapted from <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bookstore.spiritdaily.com\/products\/br-the-trumpet-of-gabriel-by-michael-h-brown?_pos=1&amp;_sid=2258ef2b5&amp;_ss=r\"><em>The Trumpet of Gabriel<\/em><\/a><\/span>]<\/p>\n<div class=\"gsp_post_data\" \r\n\t            data-post_type=\"post\" \r\n\t            data-cat=\"angels\" \r\n\t            data-modified=\"120\"\r\n\t            data-created=\"1766212470\"\r\n\t            data-title=\"Angels Don&#8217;t Just Sit Atop Christmas Trees\" \r\n\t            data-home=\"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Angels are larger-than-life spirits woven into Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Milton described them as flaming seraphs and medieval theologians believed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-79164","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-angels","7":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79164\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spiritdaily.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}