Psalm 103:20
King James Version
20 Bless the Lord,
ye his angels,
that excel in strength,
that do his commandments,
hearkening unto the voice of his word.
Angels of GOD serve Him, and do His bidding.
They are not to be worshiped.
As apostle John found out when an angel instructed:
Revelation 19:9
King James Version
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.
Seeing that John wanted to worship him, the angel immediately corrected him:
Revelation 19:10
King James Version
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.
In this post, you will see in ONE chapter, TWO instances an angel showed up, smiting a believer, and smiting a non-believer.
To "smite" means to strike heavily, or firmly, either with the hand, or with an implement in hand.
Usually, angels who smite have swords.
Scripture speaks of TWO different kinds of smiting by an angel, on TWO kinds of people.
The BELIEVER:
Acts 12:5-11
King James Version
5 Peter therefore was kept in prison:
but prayer was made without ceasing
of the church unto God for him.
6 And when Herod would have brought him forth,
the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers,
bound with two chains:
and the keepers before the door kept the prison.
7 And, behold,
the angel of the Lord came upon him,
and a light shined in the prison:
and he smote Peter on the side,
and raised him up,
saying,
Arise up quickly.
And his chains fell off from his hands.
8 And the angel said unto him,
Gird thyself,
and bind on thy sandals.
And so he did.
And he saith unto him,
Cast thy garment about thee,
and follow me.
9 And he went out,
and followed him;
and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel;
but thought he saw a vision.
10 When they were past the first and the second ward,
they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city;
which opened to them of his own accord:
and they went out,
and passed on through one street;
and forthwith the angel departed from him.
11 And when Peter was come to himself,
he said,
Now I know of a surety,
that the Lord hath sent his angel,
and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod,
and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.
The NON-BELIEVER.
Acts 12:21-23
King James Version
21 And upon a set day Herod,
arrayed in royal apparel,
sat upon his throne,
and made an oration unto them.
22 And the people gave a shout,
saying,
It is the voice of a god,
and not of a man.
23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him,
because he gave not God the glory:
and he was eaten of worms,
and gave up the ghost.
Just so you know, it's this very same Herod, who put Peter in prison.
Acts 12:1-4
King James Version
12 Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands
to vex certain of the church.
2 And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.
3 And because he saw it pleased the Jews,
he proceeded further to take Peter also.
(Then were the days of unleavened bread.)
4 And when he had apprehended him,
he put him in prison,
and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him;
intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
Which reminds me of the day the enemies came for the LORD, to crucify Him.
Matthew 26:51
King James Version
51 And, behold,
one of them which were with Jesus
stretched out his hand,
and drew his sword,
and struck a servant of the high priest's,
and smote off his ear.
And JESUS admonished:
Matthew 26:52
King James Version
52 Then said Jesus unto him,
Put up again thy sword into his place:
for all they that take the sword
shall perish with the sword.
Further:
Matthew 26:53-54
King James Version
53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father,
and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled,
that thus it must be?
If Herod lived by the sword, he died by the sword.
We are to study Scripture, so we may honor GOD, and know of man's ways, in contrast to GOD's WAYS.
And know, for sure, how TRUE angels SERVE the LORD.
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(Image source: Clipart Library)
