Brother Angel

Galatians 4:13-15 Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me.

As an aside, I wish to point to the clue embedded in the verses listed above. The clue is not about angels, but about Paul. Paul was blinded on the road to Damascus. It could well be, that after that life changing event, he never enjoyed the full power of his eyes. The infirmity and trial of his flesh is referenced against the Galatians in such a manner as to suggest ailing eyesight. The Galatians were not willing to rip off their arms or legs for Paul's sake, but to pluck out their eyes.

Paul's reception impressed him, and it seems that for some telling reason, both angels of God, and Jesus Christ are mentioned in what may be considered the same breath.

It is evident, in the writing, that man adopted a close mental association with his more advanced brother, the angel. Apostles justified their station thus. In the line-up of spiritually evolved types, apostles felt as though they stood out.

1 Corinthians 4:9 For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.

After all, they were men. For that matter, angels were men. It can be argued that even God is a man.

Exodus 15:3 The Lord is a man of war: the Lord is his name.

Section Three: The nature of angels. We seek the parameters of the angelic constitution. We will find it. We will study it. We will turn it over and over in our hands until we become quite familiar with it. We will discover, I think, that the nature of angels rubs shoulders with the nature of God. Likewise, we will come to understand that the nature of angels rubs shoulders with the nature of man.

Man has concluded that certain manifestations of God should fall under the general header of angelic. Such angels are necessary vehicles for the conveyance of an invisible spirit. We will be more picayune in our naming of angels. Without refuting the angelic properties of the vehicles of God, we will create a separate classification for the humanoid angel.

Our first task will be to compare angels with God. In order to accomplish such a thing, we must deal with the fundamentals of the nature of God, and we already hold the first piece of this puzzle. Piece one: God is an invisible spirit. Of his basic nature, God has no similitude.

Deuteronomy 4:12 And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.

The above is an example of God, the invisible spirit, acting through an elemental vehicle. It is obvious in the example that God controls what people see and hear, and yet, what they see is not God. The non-human angelic form is actually a manipulation of the elements. That, in and of itself, is a major indicator of the nature of God. All matter may be included in the composition of God, but for the purposes of our investigation of an invisible, and I might add, intangible God, matter may be viewed as external to him.

Men have considered such apparitions as angelic, and despite our present-day state of advancement, we would marvel at such displays no less than our primitive forefathers. We have to admit – talking fire is cool; we would definitely be impressed.

Men gave two names to those apparitions. They called them angels, and they called them 'Lord'. Apparitions of fire and smoke did communicate to man through sight and sound, but touching is not noted in those accounts. The writers of those accounts pretty much agreed that God had no similitude, yet, when humanoid entities represented God, they, too, were called Lord.

Jeremiah 1:9 Then the Lord put forth his hand, And touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

We are going on the assumption that God has no similitude. God, himself, may not be seen. God is unique – one of a kind. There is no comparison of the whole, but we may compare attributes and constituent members.

Jesus told us that God could be seen, that if our eyes beheld the visible son, our eyes beheld the invisible father.

In our investigation, it is necessary to clarify our view of the nature of God. We must look past the whole to see the parts. In doing this, we must explore and define the nature of spirit. We have called God a spirit, and the Lord of all spirits.

In other words, God is able to manipulate both the tangible corporeal element, and the intangible spirit. We may then initially view God as a spirit around which orbit lesser spirits, and these spirits may be viewed as vehicles no less than the elements. Read below.

Zechariah 6:4-5 And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

It may be that angels revolve around the lesser spirits. It may be that angels are the vehicles, or manifestations of lesser spirits. Or, we might view them as care takers and guardians. We will leave our minds open to the possibility that there are many orbits around God – spirits, spirits of spirits, angels of spirits, etc.

Our main investigation here will center around the humanoid angel. We will examine the various descriptions of them to determine their nature. The pieces to our puzzle will fall into place.

We name our new classification the 'Brother Angel'. Angels in this category are like men in that they share with us certain familiar traits. They are also notably different in certain respects. We identify with their more human traits, and we aspire to their superior attributes. Angels are routinely described with the traits that most impress those who see the apparitions.

For instance, the following verse describes an angel with impressive attributes. We who study such accounts, accept that the descriptions submitted were filtered through comparison. In other words, an angel is seen. He is basically like a man – so, if there is something more to be said, the angel is thus described by comparing him to a man.