- Sep 10, 2021
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The "Wisdom" Of Blaspheming Angels, The Instruments Of God's Wrath
Just how much destruction can one angel of God bring? Scripture states that it was the angels of God who brought judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and as covered in the previous study this likely involved opening up the fault line that runs through that region, known today as the Dead Sea Transform Fault. What is astonishing, however, is that the text actually states it was two angels alone who brought all the destruction that eventually annihilated five entire cities.
1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground... 12 Then the men said to Lot, "Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city - take them out of this place! 13 For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord,and the Lord has sent us to destroy it." (Genesis 19:1, 12-13)
Another Biblical account states that one angel alone killed over 185,000 Assyrian soldiers, when the armies of Sennacherib were closing in on Jerusalem. King Hezekiah appealed to the Lord for help, and He sent in one angel alone. That's all that was needed to do the job.
15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said,... 16 "Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear. Open Your eyes, O Lord, and see, and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. 17 Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste to the nations and their lands, 18 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands - wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. 19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone."... 35 And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses - all dead. (2 Kings 19:15-19, 35)
The same occurred when Satan tried to seduce King David into depending upon Israel's strength of numbers rather than God's power. Judgment came, and one angel alone killed 70,000 men.
1 Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel... 7 And God was displeased with this thing, therefore He... sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. 15 And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was destroying, the Lord looked and relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, "It is enough. Now restrain your hand." And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 Then David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. (1 Chronicles 21:1,7, 14-16)
This, then, is the context behind Peter's next statements, where he now pointed out how ridiculous it was for the Gnostics to audaciously blaspheme God and His angels, presuming there was no reason to fear them. The word he used was literally "to blaspheme" (βλασφημέω), though here it carried more the sense of simply "to defame." But Peter's point was that those who actually knew what kind of destruction the angels of God could dish out would not be nearly so quick to be asking for it.
9 The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those walking after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and who have contempt for lordship. Daring and audacious, they do not tremble at blaspheming glorious angels, 11 whereas angels who are greater in strength and power do not bring against them a blasphemous charge before the Lord. 12 But these, as irrational beasts of nature, having been born for capture and corruption, blaspheme what they know nothing of, and will utterly perish in their own corruption. (2 Peter 3:9-12)
As stated in previous studies, the Gnostics taught that the God of the Jews and His angels "ruled the world ill because each one of them coveted the principal power for themselves," and that a man's actions were "not righteous in the nature of things, but by mere accident, as those angels who made the world thought fit to constitute them, seeking by means of such precepts to bring men into bondage." (Ireneaus, Against Heresies, XXII, 3). Satan used their ability to practice witchcraft to delude them into thinking they had the same powers as Jesus had, whom scripture says once calmed the seas.
Carpocrates, again, and his followers maintain that the world and the things which are therein were created by angels greatly inferior to the unbegotten Father.... The soul, therefore, which is like that of Christ can despise those rulers who were the creators of the world, and, in like manner, receives power for accomplishing the same results. This idea has raised them to such a pitch of pride, that some of them declare themselves similar to Jesus, while others, still more mighty, maintain that they are superior to his disciples such as Peter and Paul... For their souls, descending from the same sphere as ("Jesus" had) and therefore despising in like manner the creators of the world, are deemed worthy of the same power. (Ireneaus, Against Heresies XXV, 1-2)
They proclaim themselves as being perfect, so that no one can be compared to them with respect to the immensity of their knowledge, nor even were you to mention Paul or Peter or any other of the apostles... They also maintain that they have attained to a height above all power, and therefore they are free in every respect to act as they please, having no one to fear in anything. (Ireneaus, Against Heresies, XIII. 6)
This then was the ultimate deception, for scripture states that at Christ's return, it will be the very angels of God - those they thought had no power over them - who will round them up and throw them into the Lake of Fire.
38 The tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the Devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:38-42)
Biting Off A Piece
A curious question comes up at this point, however. What was Peter's point in bringing up how "angels who are greater in strength and power do not bring against them a blasphemous charge before the Lord"? The epistle of Jude is essentially a rewriting of 2nd Peter Chapter 2, and Jude worded it like this:
8 Likewise also these dreamers defile flesh, disregard lordship, and blaspheme glorious angels. 9 Yet in contending with the Devil as he disputed about the body of Moses, Michael the archangel dared not bring a reviling accusation against him, but said,"The Lord rebuke you!" 10 But these blaspheme what they do not know, yet like irrational beasts they become corrupted through what they observe naturally. (Jude 1:8-10)
Jewish tradition fills in most of the details here. Satan claimed that Moses should not receive a proper burial because he had killed an Egyptian man and didn't bury him, so he should reap what he had sown. His motivations for trying to keep the body from being buried were to bring it down to the Israelites, declare that Moses had been a sorcerer, and then turn the Israelites towards idolatry and the practice of magic with it. Michael by his power did not allow this, however, and in response replied, "The Lord rebuke you!"
But at the end of the same year in the twelfth month, on the seventh day, Moses the servant of God died and was buried on the fourth of the month of September on a certain mountain by the chief captain Michael. For the Devil contended with the angel, and would not permit his body to be buried, saying, "Moses is a murderer. He slew a man in Egypt and hid him in the sand." Then Michael prayed to God, and there was thunder and lightning, and suddenly the Devil disappeared. But Michael buried him with his hands. (The Slavonic Life of Moses 16)
Samael [i.e. Satan] tried to bring the body down to the people, so that they might make him a god. But Michael the chief captain, by the command of God, came to take him and removed him. Samael resisted him, and they fought. So the chief captain was angry and rebuked him, saying, "May the Lord rebuke you, Devil!" And so the adversary was defeated and took flight, but the archangel removed the body, and no one saw the burial place. (Palaea Historica)
Just how much destruction can one angel of God bring? Scripture states that it was the angels of God who brought judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and as covered in the previous study this likely involved opening up the fault line that runs through that region, known today as the Dead Sea Transform Fault. What is astonishing, however, is that the text actually states it was two angels alone who brought all the destruction that eventually annihilated five entire cities.
1 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground... 12 Then the men said to Lot, "Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city - take them out of this place! 13 For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord,and the Lord has sent us to destroy it." (Genesis 19:1, 12-13)
Another Biblical account states that one angel alone killed over 185,000 Assyrian soldiers, when the armies of Sennacherib were closing in on Jerusalem. King Hezekiah appealed to the Lord for help, and He sent in one angel alone. That's all that was needed to do the job.
15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said,... 16 "Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear. Open Your eyes, O Lord, and see, and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. 17 Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste to the nations and their lands, 18 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands - wood and stone. Therefore they destroyed them. 19 Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God, You alone."... 35 And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses - all dead. (2 Kings 19:15-19, 35)
The same occurred when Satan tried to seduce King David into depending upon Israel's strength of numbers rather than God's power. Judgment came, and one angel alone killed 70,000 men.
1 Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel... 7 And God was displeased with this thing, therefore He... sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. 15 And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was destroying, the Lord looked and relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, "It is enough. Now restrain your hand." And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 16 Then David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. (1 Chronicles 21:1,7, 14-16)
This, then, is the context behind Peter's next statements, where he now pointed out how ridiculous it was for the Gnostics to audaciously blaspheme God and His angels, presuming there was no reason to fear them. The word he used was literally "to blaspheme" (βλασφημέω), though here it carried more the sense of simply "to defame." But Peter's point was that those who actually knew what kind of destruction the angels of God could dish out would not be nearly so quick to be asking for it.
9 The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those walking after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and who have contempt for lordship. Daring and audacious, they do not tremble at blaspheming glorious angels, 11 whereas angels who are greater in strength and power do not bring against them a blasphemous charge before the Lord. 12 But these, as irrational beasts of nature, having been born for capture and corruption, blaspheme what they know nothing of, and will utterly perish in their own corruption. (2 Peter 3:9-12)
As stated in previous studies, the Gnostics taught that the God of the Jews and His angels "ruled the world ill because each one of them coveted the principal power for themselves," and that a man's actions were "not righteous in the nature of things, but by mere accident, as those angels who made the world thought fit to constitute them, seeking by means of such precepts to bring men into bondage." (Ireneaus, Against Heresies, XXII, 3). Satan used their ability to practice witchcraft to delude them into thinking they had the same powers as Jesus had, whom scripture says once calmed the seas.
Carpocrates, again, and his followers maintain that the world and the things which are therein were created by angels greatly inferior to the unbegotten Father.... The soul, therefore, which is like that of Christ can despise those rulers who were the creators of the world, and, in like manner, receives power for accomplishing the same results. This idea has raised them to such a pitch of pride, that some of them declare themselves similar to Jesus, while others, still more mighty, maintain that they are superior to his disciples such as Peter and Paul... For their souls, descending from the same sphere as ("Jesus" had) and therefore despising in like manner the creators of the world, are deemed worthy of the same power. (Ireneaus, Against Heresies XXV, 1-2)
They proclaim themselves as being perfect, so that no one can be compared to them with respect to the immensity of their knowledge, nor even were you to mention Paul or Peter or any other of the apostles... They also maintain that they have attained to a height above all power, and therefore they are free in every respect to act as they please, having no one to fear in anything. (Ireneaus, Against Heresies, XIII. 6)
This then was the ultimate deception, for scripture states that at Christ's return, it will be the very angels of God - those they thought had no power over them - who will round them up and throw them into the Lake of Fire.
38 The tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the Devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:38-42)
Biting Off A Piece
A curious question comes up at this point, however. What was Peter's point in bringing up how "angels who are greater in strength and power do not bring against them a blasphemous charge before the Lord"? The epistle of Jude is essentially a rewriting of 2nd Peter Chapter 2, and Jude worded it like this:
8 Likewise also these dreamers defile flesh, disregard lordship, and blaspheme glorious angels. 9 Yet in contending with the Devil as he disputed about the body of Moses, Michael the archangel dared not bring a reviling accusation against him, but said,"The Lord rebuke you!" 10 But these blaspheme what they do not know, yet like irrational beasts they become corrupted through what they observe naturally. (Jude 1:8-10)
Jewish tradition fills in most of the details here. Satan claimed that Moses should not receive a proper burial because he had killed an Egyptian man and didn't bury him, so he should reap what he had sown. His motivations for trying to keep the body from being buried were to bring it down to the Israelites, declare that Moses had been a sorcerer, and then turn the Israelites towards idolatry and the practice of magic with it. Michael by his power did not allow this, however, and in response replied, "The Lord rebuke you!"
But at the end of the same year in the twelfth month, on the seventh day, Moses the servant of God died and was buried on the fourth of the month of September on a certain mountain by the chief captain Michael. For the Devil contended with the angel, and would not permit his body to be buried, saying, "Moses is a murderer. He slew a man in Egypt and hid him in the sand." Then Michael prayed to God, and there was thunder and lightning, and suddenly the Devil disappeared. But Michael buried him with his hands. (The Slavonic Life of Moses 16)
Samael [i.e. Satan] tried to bring the body down to the people, so that they might make him a god. But Michael the chief captain, by the command of God, came to take him and removed him. Samael resisted him, and they fought. So the chief captain was angry and rebuked him, saying, "May the Lord rebuke you, Devil!" And so the adversary was defeated and took flight, but the archangel removed the body, and no one saw the burial place. (Palaea Historica)
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