Before the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the saved and before the Bible was completed, God used angels to deliver his messages to mankind. Angels could not tell people how to be saved. Angels are not allowed to preach the gospel until the last half of the tribulation period, three and one half years after the rapture. Angels would deliver instructions and various messages from God to mankind. God would use the voice of an angel as his own voice and words. The person who would be talking to an angel would think he was talking to God. In reality, that person would be talking to God through an angel.
The first record we have of an angel talking to mankind is when an angel was sent to Hagar. Hagar was the handmaid of Sarah and Abraham. Hagar was to have a child by Abraham. Sarah was jealous and had Hagar thrown out before the child was born. The angel delivered two messages to Hagar.
Hagar
1. An angel was sent to with two messages.
Genesis 16:7-8
“And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.
8 And he said, Hagar, Sarai’s maid, whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? And she said, I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.”
to question 1.
A. The first message was: "Return to thy mistress, and thyself
under her hands."
Genesis 16:9
"And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands."
to question 1A.
B. The second message was: "I will multiply thy exceedingly, that it
shall not be numbered for multitude. Behold, thou art with child, and
shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name ; because the Lord
hath heard thy affliction. And he will be a man; his hand will be
against every man, and every man’s hand against him; and he shall
dwell in the of all his brethren."
Genesis 16:10-12
"And the angel of the LORD said unto her, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude.
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou [art] with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand [will be] against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."
to question 1B.
Abraham and Sarah
2. There were angels sent to Abraham and Sarah.
Genesis 18:1-3
"And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw [them], he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:"
to question 2.
A. The first message to Abraham was that would have a.
Genesis 18:10
“And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.”
This child would be called Isaac and would father a great nation, Israel, which would be the promised nation of God.
to question 2A.
B. The second message to Abraham was that Sodom and Gomorrah would be .
Genesis 18:20-21, 23
“And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.”
23 “And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the
righteous with the wicked?”
God wanted Abraham to demonstrate what was to happen one thousand, eight hundred years later. God would give his only begotten son, Jesus, to be sacrificed on that same mountain where Abraham offered his son Isaac.
When it came time for Abraham to offer Isaac, while Isaac lay on the altar on Mt. Moriah, God sent an angel to tell him not to offer his son.
to question 2B.
3. An angel was sent to with a message that he was to offer Isaac.
Genesis 22:12
“And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.”
God would provide himself (Jesus) as a lamb to be offered later on the same mountain. Genesis 22:8
to question 3.
Lot
4. Then of these angels went to deliver a message to that
Sodom would be .
Genesis 19:1, 13
1 “And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;”
13 “For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.”
to question 4.
Jacob
5. An angel was sent to with a message that he was to go back home.
Genesis 31:11-13
“And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ringstraked, speckled, and grisled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee.
13 I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.”
to question 5.
Moses
6. An angel was sent to with a message that he was to deliver
out of Egypt.
Exodus 3:1-2, 10
“Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.”
10 “Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.”
to question 6.
Gideon
7. An angel was sent to with a message that he was to deliver
out of the hand of the .
Judges 6:11-14
“And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.
14 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?”
to question 7.
Manoah and his wife
8. An angel was sent to the wife of with a message that she was to
have a .
Judges 13:2-3
‘And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.
3 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.”
to question 8.
A. This child would be called .
Judges 13:24
“And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.”
to question 8A.
B. The angel told Manoah that if he offered a burnt offering it must be to
the .
Judges 13:16
“And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread: and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.”
to question 8B.
Elijah
9. An angel was sent to with a message for the king of Samaria that the king would .
2 Kings 1:15-17
“And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king.
16 And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.
17 So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. And Jehoram reigned in his stead in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah; because he had no son.”
to question 9.
Gad
10. An angel was sent to with a message for to build an altar
on the threshingfloor of .
1 Chronicles 21:18
“Then the angel of the LORD commanded Gad to say to David, that David should go up, and set up an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.”
This would be the place where Solomon would build the Temple.
to question 10.
Daniel
11. An angel by the name of was sent to to explain the vision of the ram and the he goat.
Daniel 8:15-21
“And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.
16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.
17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.
18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.
19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.
20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.
21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.”
to question 11.
A. This same angel was sent later to explain the weeks of Israel.
Daniel 9:20-27
“And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;
21 Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.
23 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
to question 11A.
Zechariah
Zechariah had eight visions.
(1) The man among the myrtle trees and the drove of horses.
Zechariah 1:7-17
(2) The four Horns and the four carpenters. Zechariah 1:18-21
(3) The man with the measuring line. Zechariah 2:1-6
(4) The cleansing of the High Priest. Zechariah 3:1-10
(5) The golden candlestick and the two olive trees. Zechariah 4:1-14
(6) The flying roll. Zechariah 5:1-4
(7) The Woman in the Ephah. Zechariah 5:5-11
(8) The four chariots. Zechariah 6:1-8
12. An angel was sent to to explain the different visions he had.
Zechariah 1:9 (Zechariah 1:19, 2:3, 3:1, 4:5, 5:3, 5:8, 6:5)
“Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.”
