The Unseen World Chapter 8

In looking at Satan we discovered that he is part of the category of angel referred to as “watcher”… in fact he is the archangel of the category. The next named angel is also an Archangel, yet he is of a different category than of Satan. Gabriel is a messenger angel. This is not difficult to see as we observe the appearances of this mighty angel in the scriptures. This archangel appeared twice to Daniel and brought messages of understanding to him. Gabriel appeared to Zechariah the father of John the Baptist to announce that John would be born to him and Elizabeth. The famous words given to Mary, “Thou shalt call his name Jesus” were delivered to the mother of the Lord by this bearer of good news… Gabriel. This archangel has been the messenger who delivered these and, no doubt, many more historical and spiritually significant announcements. While the messenger category of angel is primarily the deliverer of God’s words to various circumstances, these angels are not without resistance from the enemy. There are times when messenger angels must do battle with the opposition. It has been said that spiritual battle is a war of words. This seems to be very likely as words are the vehicles that carry about the varying ideologies that strive to control the cosmos. Words are ideas in transit. Those that engage the task of bearing words of spiritual importance will find themselves in a violent occupation… for it is the spiritual concept of a people that form their political, social, and religious points of view. These points of view become the essence of all conflicts. These differences can take the form of debates and elections or bloodshed and war, but nonetheless spiritual messengers are, by the nature of their duties, cast into violent atmospheres that are home to the unrelenting clash of ideas. Angels are not strangers to this violent kingdom work in as much as the very word “angel” means messenger. We see this is the case as Gabriel attempts to bring the word of understanding to Daniel after the prophet prays to God for that answer in Chapter Ten of his writings. This account of Daniel’s prayer and Gabriel’s battle to deliver the prayer’s answer is an intriguing and yet very revealing look into the world of spiritual conflict. While this event will be examined more in depth later, let it be known that the messenger, Gabriel, could not deliver the message without help… spiritual help. It seems as if Daniel was a source of help to Gabriel as he continued to pray and fast while the angel wrestled with the “Prince of Persia”. This demon spirit tried to withstand the work of the messenger and was effective, until a third (if you count the fallen demon as an angel) angel arrived on the scene. This third angel is representative of the next category of angel… the warrior.