In university towns like Loma Linda, California, people are always coming and going. Milton and Bernice Corwin ran a small property management business there.
“Who are the tall, powerful men you hire to guard your house?” a young man asked Milton.
He’d hung around Corwin’s office the day before, noting the cashbox and Milton’s frail condition. He’d followed the short distance to their home; watched Bernice leave on an errand, and saw that Milton was alone. An easy heist. Easy to separate Milton (who’d suffered a severe case of polio in 1951) from his life-sustaining oxygen…except for the sudden appearance of those guards!
Next morning he approached Milton with his question—and possible renewed intentions to harm.
“I hire no one, except a student who comes at 9 p.m. to help my wife ready me for bed.”
“I was there at 8 p.m.,” said the man. “I intended to over-power you and rob you…until I saw those guards.” “
God knew your plans and sent his angels to stop you…even as he’s doing now,” Milton replied calmly.
Turning suddenly pale, the man rushed out exclaiming: “This town isn’t for me!”
Prophet Elisha
One of my favorite Bible accounts is 2 Kings 6:8-23. The Lord revealed to Prophet Elisha the secret plans of the king of Syria to make war against Israel. Elisha passed the information to Israel’s king, enabling him to avoid the enemy ambushes. When Syria’s king accused his officers of a spy being among them, they told him that Elisha knew what he said even in his bed chamber.
They learned that Elisha was in Dothan and the king sent his army of horses and chariots to capture him. They surrounded Dothan during the night. In the morning, Elisha’s servant went out, only to discover the enemy siege.
“Alas! My master, what shall we do?”
Elisha calmly answered: “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (v.16) He then asked God to open the eyes of the servant. He did, and the young man discovered that “the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
Angels are a higher order of being than humans (Hebrews 1:6, 7). They are God’s “ministering spirits” with a very special purpose when it relates to humans. (Hebrews 1:14) They are protectors, messengers, and helpers.
Like the young man in Dothan, we are generally unaware of angelic presence in our lives. We might even adopt the popular concept of angels as chubby little “cherubs” or willowy, young women. Cute and romantic, but not the angels described in the Bible. Surely not the mighty army with “horses and chariots of fire” depicted above, or the “tall, powerful men” seen by Milton’s would-be assailant.
“The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers then,” (Psalm 34:7 ).
“For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways,” (Psalm 91:11).
