Angels

Around the Christmas story there are lots of angels so I thought it would be a good thing to cover for one of my Christmas blogs plus this was another idea Kaleb my son suggested. 

9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.(Luke 2)

The glory of the lord is another way of saying the Shekinah glory of God is on them.  Remember Moses,  he had a glow on his face after he talked with God and the people were scared of him so he wrapped his face so the Israelites would not be scared of him.  Exodus 34:29-33.

The Shining Face of Moses

²⁹ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, as he came down from the mountain Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.³⁰ Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.³¹ But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them.³² Afterward all the people of Israel came near, he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.³³ And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

Just like the Israelite’s of the Moses time the Shepard’s are scared also of the glow on the angles. 

In Isaiah 6:2 describes angles like this.

² Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

First they give them a different name they call them Seraphim which in Hebrew means burning one, Angel in Hebrew mean messenger.  You see again the idea that they are very bright.  The next is they are not like the pictures we normally see in painting because they have 6 wings.  Notice they only need two wings to fly and they use the other wings to show respect to God by covering there face and a better translation of the word be the privet area if you get my drift. 

There is also another form of angelic being we see described in Ezekiel 1
⁴ As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal.⁵ And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness,⁶ but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings.⁷ Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze.⁸ Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus:⁹ their wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without turning as they went.¹⁰ As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle.¹¹ Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies.¹² And each went straight forward. Wherever the spirit would go, they went, without turning as they went.¹³ As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.¹⁴ And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.
¹⁵ Now as I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, one for each of the four of them.¹⁶ As for the appearance of the wheels and their construction: their appearance was like the gleaming of beryl. And the four had the same likeness, their appearance and construction being as it were a wheel within a wheel.¹⁷ When they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went.¹⁸ And their rims were tall and awesome, and the rims of all four were full of eyes all around.¹⁹ And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose.²⁰ Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, and the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.²¹ When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
²² Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads.²³ And under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward another. And each creature had two wings covering its body.²⁴ And when they went, I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army. When they stood still, they let down their wings.²⁵ And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings.
²⁶ And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance.²⁷ And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.²⁸ Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.
Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

This is what latter in the Bible are called Cherubim. They are some very odd looking creatures. They are also very bright one of the described words is like lighting.  They only have 4 wings but 4 faces that are different but they also look human.  The other thing is that they also have wheels (a wheel in a wheel) that have eyes all over the wheels.  Again this is not like any painting of any angel I have ever seen. 

I point this out to show you why the first word’s an angle says to someone is almost always fear not.  I do not know about you but if I saw something like this all of a sudden like we read in the Bible, I would be scared and have to change my pants.  I am sure it would scare me. 

A couple of more points about the different kinds of angels, it is believed the Seraphim are the angelic being that do the announcements.  Cherubim we normally see in the service of God like here in Ezekiel also seen in Revelations.  Therefore the angels in the Christmas story are the Seraphim the burning ones.