Angelic visitation

One of the best books I’ve ever read is Surprised by the Voice of God by Jack Deere. Through a combination of great Bible studies and awesome testimonies, Deere explores what Paul said was the gift we especially should desire: prophecy. Here is an excerpt from pages 137-139, concerning how God can give prophetic messages through angels:

Angels function not only as servants and guardians, they also function as agents of supernatural divine revelation. In the early church, angels were famous for engineering jail breaks (Acts 5:19; 12:7ff.). They also brought supernatural guidance and revelation to God’s servants. Philip was directed by an angel to bring the Gospel to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26). Cornelius, the first gentile convert, was visited by an angel prior to his conversion with instructions for what he should do (Acts 10:3ff.). When Paul and all of his sailing companions were in danger of lsing their lives at sea, God send an angel who brought prophetic revelation to save them (Acts 27:23-26). And the greatest prophetic book, the book of Revelation, was communicated to John through an angel (Rev. 1:1).

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Many people do not report encounters with angel for fear of  what others might think. Early in my ministry a lady in my church told me the following story. Neither the lady nor my church were charismatic. Actually, our church had definite prejudices against the gifts of the Spirit. The woman had never wold anyone this story for fear of being thought crazy.

She had been driving on the interstate in out city when she became so ill she was afraid she might pass out and lose control of the car. Then she saw a handsome young man dressed in a black leather jacket hitchhiking along the side of the road. She pulled off the road and picked him up. “Please sir,” she said, “I’m so sick. If you could just drive me to the west side of town where my doctor’s office is located, I’ll make sure you get a ride to anywhere you want to go.” The young man agreed, and drove her to her doctor’s office. He helped her out of the car and into the doctr’s office, where a nurse took her immediately into one of the examination rooms. A few minutes later the woman realized she had forgotten to thank the young man and make arrangements for him to get another ride. She walked back into the lobby and asked the receptionist where the young man had gone. The receptionist said “What young man?”

“The young man who practically carried me in here”, the lady answered.

“No one carried you in here! You came in here by yourself and put your keys on the counter.” The lady thought she was truly sick! She imagined the whole thing had been a hallucination.

A year or so later, she was shopping at one of the large malls during the Christmas season and came out late at night, just as the stores were closing. She had parked her car in an underground garage adjacent to one of the stores in the very last space in the far corner. Directly in front of her car and along the passanger side was a cement wall. The space next to the driver’s side was empty.

When she entered the garage and began to walk toward her car, the garage was empty. Then she heard footsteps coming out of the dark on her right. She glanced in that direction and saw a man walking toward her. She quickened her pace. The man quickened his pace. She began to run, and so did the attacker. As she ran, she fumbled in her purse for keys. When she got to the door of her car, she realized she wouldn’t have time to open the door before the man reached her. She turned to face her attacker. As she did, she saw him stop about thirty feet from her with a terrified look in his eyes. Abruptly, he turned around and ran out of the garage. The woman turned back to her car, and there standing between the cement wall and her car was the same young man she had picked up a year or so before on the freeway when she was sick. He was dressed in the same black leather jacket and was smiling at her. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure her attacker had gone, and when she turned back to the young man to thank him, he had vanished. She walked all around the car, searching for him. There was no door in the cement wall. He was not under the car. He had simply vanished. Then she knew. She had been visited by an angel. Once again, he had saved her life.