More Protected Than You Know

Last Wednesday, my wife and I dropped our daughter off for her first day of school, just like we have every August for the last fourteen years. But this time, instead of saying, “See you after school,” we hugged (and cried a little… OK… more than a little) and said, “Maybe we’ll see you in September.” Because our baby girl, our Joelle, has gone off to college, and for the first time in her life, she’s no longer sleeping under my roof.

I don’t know which was more painful: leaving her on campus or coming home and walking into her half-empty, eerily quiet bedroom. I’ll be ok (eventually), but I confess it’s been kind of a painful and gloomy week for her mother and me.

Maybe you’ve felt the same way lately. You scan the headlines and wonder who – if anyone – is really in charge. You worry about your kids every time they leave the house. You lie awake at night agonizing over someone you love who is struggling. You open a bill that’s outrageously high. Or you wonder why your life hasn’t panned out like you thought it would, and sometimes, even if you believe in God, you can’t help feeling vulnerable and strangely exposed.

With our Revelation message series now underway at The Story, I’ve been astonished by one fascinating mystery after another in this book. One especially intriguing detail in the opening chapters of Revelation has helped me to think differently about the times when I feel vulnerable or alone.

At the end of Revelation 1, John saw a vision of Jesus standing among seven lampstands and holding seven stars in His right hand. Jesus explained the vision this way: “The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches” (Revelation 1:20).

Then, in chapters 2 and 3, every one of Jesus’ seven letters begins the same way: “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write…” “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write…” “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write…” and so on. Seven letters. Seven churches. Seven angels.

So who, exactly, are these “angels”?

Bible scholars are divided on the question. The Greek word for angel – angelō (ἀγγέλῳ) – literally means “messenger,” so some interpreters believe Jesus may have been referring to the human leaders or pastors of the seven churches. That’s certainly plausible.

But a more likely explanation is that, when Jesus said the word angel, he had in mind the same meaning that is reflected throughout Revelation every other time it’s used. The words “angel” and “angels” appear around eighteen times in Revelation (around twenty-five times if you include the seven churches’ angels in chapters 2 and 3), and every single time, they’re plainly referencing actual, supernatural, angelic beings (see Rev. 5:11, 8:13, 14:10).

If the same holds true for the seven angels mentioned in Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus appears to be saying that He has assigned a mighty angel to guard each and every one of those churches. 

If that sounds a little strange, consider something Jesus said years earlier, before His death and resurrection. While teaching His disciples about how much God values even the most vulnerable people among us, Jesus offered this warning:

Did you catch it? Their angels!

Jesus didn’t stop to explain exactly what He meant or how it works, and we should be humble enough to acknowledge that we don’t understand everything He has revealed in Scripture. But Jesus certainly seemed comfortable with a concept that most modern Christians have long dismissed as the stuff of fairy tales and nursery rhymes: that God cares about His people – and His churches – so intensely that He’s willing to assign His angels to guard and defend us against the Enemy’s spiritual attacks.

The Bible describes angels as powerful servants of God who are “sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). I wonder if, when John saw Jesus holding the angels of the seven churches in His hand, God was giving us a glimpse behind the curtain.

If so, you and I are far more protected than we realize.

We tend to evaluate our circumstances almost entirely by what we see. We see the danger, the diagnosis, the debt. We see our daughter’s empty room, our struggling friend, our uncertain future.

But God’s Word consistently reminds us that reality is more than meets the eye. There is an unseen realm all around us, and there are supernatural servants of God – angels – carrying out assignments we may never know about on this side of Heaven. No doubt, there have been countless times in our lives when we were shielded from dangers we never knew were there. On the flipside, there have most likely been many moments when you felt completely alone, but Heaven knew otherwise.

Here’s what we all need to understand: God’s concern and care for you extends far beyond what the visible world. After the week my family just had, I find that profoundly comforting.

No matter how you might feel sometimes, God has not forgotten you. He is not distant from you. On the contrary, He who commands the armies of Heaven has resources for your protection that you can’t begin to comprehend.

Those seven first-century churches were scattered across a very hostile Roman Empire. Rome must have seemed all-powerful to those poor believers. They must have felt vulnerable and exposed.

But then Jesus pulled back the curtain, and there they were: seven supernatural angels standing guard over each of those seven congregations, upheld by the power of Christ’s almighty right hand.

So whatever frightening thing you may be facing this week, remember this: When you’re in Christ, you’re never as alone or as vulnerable as you might feel. You’re more protected than you know.