PROTECTED BY AN ANGEL OF THE LORD

PROCLAMATION

“When they had gone, an angel of The Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.  ‘Get up,’ he said, ‘take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt.  Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill Him.’ ”  Matthew 2:13 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, as recorded by the Apostle Matthew.  After the birth of Jesus, there came wise men, the Magi, from the east to worship Him. (Matthew 2:1-2)  When King Herod heard these things he was disturbed.  He gathered together the chief priests and the scribes and sought information from them regarding the place of the birth of Christ.  They told Herod that the prophets said that Christ would be born in Bethlehem and the Magi told him the exact time of His birth based upon the time the star appeared.  Herod told the Magi to let him know the exact location of the child so that he could go and worship Him, but he really wanted to kill Him. (Matthew 2:4-8)  The Magi left Herod and went to the place where the Christ-child lay.  They worshiped Him and gave Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Afterwards they left and returned to their country by a different route, having been warned by an angel of The Lord not to go back to King Herod. (Matthew 2:12)  Joseph, Mary’s husband, was also warned about King Herod by an angel of The Lord and he took Mary and the Christ-child to Egypt. (Matthew 2:13-15)  The Christ-child was protected from an unseen danger by an angel of The Lord.

APPLICATION

It is clear that in this verse, and in this chapter, the “angel of The Lord” was protecting The Christ-child.  It is also clear that as believers we have angels watching over us. (Matthew 18:10)  When we are under attack, there are a host of angels surrounding us and ready to come to our defense. (2 Kings 6:17)  We have guardian angels who protect us from dangers seen and unseen.  If we are a child of The King, then we have His protection day and night.

Believers Are Protected

"The angel of The LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them."  Psalms 34:7 (NIV)

The Holy Spirit inspired King David to write these words to the people of God to let them know that The Lord God protects and delivers those who love Him and obey Him.  

There is some disagreement among the Bible scholars with respect to the exact meaning of the phrase "the angel of The Lord".  Most of them, like John MacArthur,  F. J. Dake, and C. I. Scofield, suggest that it refers to the special manifestation of Yahweh Himself, the pre-incarnate appearances of The Lord Jesus, The Christ.  While others, like Matthew Henry, suggest that it refers to a guard of angels, but as unanimous in their service as if they were but one, or a guardian angel.  However He does it, it is clear that God protects His people from the malice and powers of evil.  If we believe and confess that Jesus, The Christ, is The Son of The Living God, and that He rose from the dead, then we are also protected. (Romans 10:9-10)  We do not have to understand how The Lord God does what He does, we just have to have faith in Him and trust Him. (Proverbs 3:5)  For it is by faith in Him that we walk this walk. (2 Corinthians 5:7)  So we can rest assured knowing that He has a hedge of protection around us, (Job 1:10), and we are safe in His hand. (John 10:28-29)

Respect The Man Of God, Respect His Position

"So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men.  This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. 'Man of God,' he begged, 'please have respect for my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants!  See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life  The Angel of The LORD said to Elijah, 'Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.'  So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king."  2 Kings 1:13-15 (NIV)  (Read 1:1-18)

After the king fell through some lattice work and injured himself, he wanted to know if he was going to recover from his injuries.  He sent a messenger to go inquire to an idol god, but the prophet Elijah stopped the messenger and told him that the king would die.  Upon learning that Elijah had stopped his messenger, the king sent a captain with fifty men to bring Elijah to him.  When he reached Elijah, the captain ordered Elijah to come down from the hill and come with them to see the king.  Elijah called down fire from heaven and it consumed the captain and all fifty men.  The king sent a second captain and another fifty men, and the same thing happened to them.  The third captain humbly approached Elijah, bowed down before him and asked Elijah to spare his life and the lives of his men.  Then The Angel of The LORD told Elijah to go with the third captain and he went with him.

How we approach someone, what we say, and how we say it can determine the kind of response we will receive.  We need to be very careful in the way that we approach, and how we speak to God, and the man of God.  We may not like the person but we need to always respect who he represents.  Pastors are referred to as the angel of the church.  (Revelation 2:1, 2:8, 2:12, 2:18, 3:1, 3:7, & 3:14)  Even when King Saul was trying to kill him, David still respected Saul and would not harm him, even when he had to opportunity.  (1 Samuel 24:1-11)  The Bible says touch not My anointed, and do My prophets no harm.  (1 Chronicles 16:22 & Psalms 105:15)  You may not like all preachers, but be careful how you approach them, what you say to them, and what you say about them.  You do not want to harm them or harm their reputation.  Respect the man of God, and respect The God that he represents.