“. . . ministering spirits sent out to serve . . . .” Hebrews 1:14
God sends out angels to serve “those who are to inherit salvation,” as Hebrews 1:14 goes on to say. Before we press toward our full inheritance, these “ministering spirits” are helping us along.
But wait a minute. Why does God use angels at all? If God is all-powerful, and he is, then why does he bother with angels? John Calvin, Institutes 1.14.11, proposes an answer:
“God makes use of angels to comfort our weakness, that we may lack nothing at all that can raise up our minds to good hope or confirm them in security. One thing, indeed, ought to be quite enough for us: that the Lord declares himself to be our protector. But when we see ourselves beset by so many perils, so many harmful things, so many kinds of enemies — such is our softness and frailty — we would sometimes be filled with trepidation or yield to despair if the Lord did not make us realize the presence of his grace according to our capacity.”
So, “out of his immeasurable kindness and gentleness,” as Calvin further says, God uses angels too. Calvin cites 2 Kings 6:8-17 to validate his point.
God alone should be enough to see us through anything. But we are so weak, God throws in angels too, to help us feel even more fully cared for.
“His immeasurable kindness and gentleness.”
