Angelology series
The Bible attests the presence and activity of angels in times past and also points to activities of angels in the present, a subject that occupied us last week. What about the future? What will angels be doing when time is no more?
According to the Bible, angels will accompany Christ at His second coming. Jesus put it this way: “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with the angels” (Matt. 16:27). In the same vein, 2 Thessalonians 1:7 speaks of the Second Coming “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels.” When Christ returns, an archangel will join in proclaiming His coming (1 Thess. 4:16).
Involvement of angels
Several passages in Revelation tell of the future involvement of angels in the unfolding of God’s judgment upon the ungodly. For example, Revelation 16:1 describes one vision of that future judgment in these words: “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.’” In a similar way, another vision concerns the role of an angel in a binding of Satan: “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal on him so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished” (Rev. 20:1–3).
Final appearance
The final appearance of an angel in the Bible was in the role of a guide who showed John a glorious vision of the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21:9–27) and the throne of God and the Lamb (Rev. 22:1–5), before offering final assurance of Christ’s Second Coming (Rev. 22:6–11). The climactic mention of angels is the endorsement of Christ upon their witness in relation to the end times: “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches” (Rev. 22:16).
In God’s time
One other aspect of angels in the future is rather astounding inasmuch as it will involve us as believers. Without giving us specific details about how it will unfold, 1 Corinthians 6:2–3 sets forth in the form of two questions: “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?” and “Do you not know that we shall judge angels?” Who are these angels? Good angels or fallen angels? It remains for God to reveal in His time the details surrounding the saints’ participation in a future judging of both the world and angels.
While the Bible witnesses to the participation of angels both in the past and in the climax of human history and the establishment of the eternal order, the Bible did not come into being in order to tell us all we might like to know about angels. It exists to tell us all we need to know about Christ and His saving mission, the Holy Spirit and His role in carrying out that mission, as well as about our Heavenly Father and His ultimate intention in gathering a heavenly family.
As for the present and future activity of angels, admittedly we are looking through darkened glass, but one day all things will be made clear. No questions will remain unanswered, even those that have to do with angels.
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