FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT THE ANGEL GABRIEL

11 Fascinating Facts about the Angel Gabriel by Jeffery Kranz

1.Gabriel isn’t called an archangel in the Bible

Did you know that every month, 12,000 people Google “archangel Gabriel”? What’s interesting about this is that the Protestant Bible never once calls Gabriel an archangel. The only named angel specifically called an archangel in the Bible is Michael (Jude 9). So why does everyone think of Gabriel as an archangel? Well, a long time ago someone wrote a piece of literature called the book of Enoch. This is, as far as we can tell, a work written between the Old and New Testaments. It was super influential—so influential that the book of Jude even quotes it (Jude 14–15)!

2. Gabriel is one of two named (good) angels in the Protestant Bible

The Bible mentions many angels—sometimes seers see tens of thousands at a time. But for all the angels in the Bible, only two are explicitly named. Gabriel is the first. The other is Michael. Granted, there are a few more divine creatures and critters with names in the Bible. But they’re not so clearly on God’s side. Caveat: This only goes for the Protestant Bible. My Catholic and Orthodox friends can cite Raphael as another biblical angel (from the book of Tobit).

3. Gabriel first appears in Daniel’s vision

In the eighth chapter of Daniel, the prophet has a vision about a ram and a goat—and a lot of crazy stuff happening with their respective horns. I’ll let you check out the bizarre details yourself. Suffice it to say Daniel has a hard time understanding this vision. So someone “who looked like a man” comes to explain it to him. This person’s name is Gabriel.

4. Gabriel stands in the presence of God

Gabriel’s second appearance in the Bible is in the book of Luke. He’s the one who announces to Zechariah the priest that he is going to have a son (John the Baptist). Zechariah is confused by this—more on that later. He asks Gabriel how he can be sure that this is going to happen. Gabriel responds with a mic drop (and I paraphrase): “I’m Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God and he sent me to tell you this good news.” (Lk1:19)

The Bible mentions some other divine beings who stand in the presence of God. For example, Isaiah sees seraphim, a group of six-winged beings flying around God’s throne in the temple (Is 6:1–2). Ezekiel sees cherubim, a group of four angels with four faces who transport God’s throne (Ezek 10:20). Even an agent called “the satan,” an angelic prosecutor, stands before God on a few occasions (Zec 3:1).

5. Gabriel only speaks to three Bible characters

Gabriel speaks with Daniel, the prophet and sage. God sends Gabriel to Daniel in response to Daniel’s prayers (and confusion about those visions). Gabriel next speaks to Zechariah the priest, to tell him about the coming birth of John the Baptist. The last person Gabriel speaks with is Mary, the mother of Jesus. He famously announces that even though she is a virgin, she will bear the Son of God.

6. Gabriel’s messages all point to the coming Messiah

Every time Gabriel shows up in Scripture, he makes some mention of Jesus. The first time he speaks with Daniel, Gabriel explains that one of the horns in Daniel’s vision represents a “fierce-looking king” (Da 8:21–23). Gabriel tells Daniel that this king will destroy many, and take his stand against the Prince of princes (8:25). Daniel is understandably vexed by this. Later, he prays to God for mercy. Once again, Gabriel is sent to Daniel. This time, Gabriel tells Daniel that the Messiah, the ruler, will be put to death (9:25–26). Both of these messages point to a conflict between a coming “fierce-looking king” and Messiah—and for a time, it will look like the Messiah is the loser of this conflict. Fast-forward to the New Testament. Gabriel tells Zechariah that he will have a baby boy in his old age. And this isn’t just any son: this is the one who will “go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah […] to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (Lk 1:17). The “Lord” here is Jesus. And then of course, there’s the announcement of Jesus’ birth to the virgin Mary.

7. Gabriel looks like a (really scary-looking) man

When Daniel first describes Gabriel, he says that the angel looks like a man (Da 8:15). In fact, when Gabriel shows up afterward in chapter 9, Daniel doesn’t describe Gabriel as an angel—instead he calls Gabriel “the man I had seen in the earlier vision” (9:21). But he doesn’t seem to just come off as your average dude. When Gabriel shows up, his appearance frightens people. For example, when Gabriel first approaches Daniel, the seer is terrified (8:17). Zechariah is likewise “startled and gripped with fear” (Lk 1:12). Now, to be fair, Gabriel did show up unannounced in what was supposed to be an empty temple. So I can imagine that Zechariah may have been less spooked by Gabriel’s looks than he was by Gabriel’s sudden appearance. Oh, and while we’re talking about Gabriel’s appearance …

8. There’s no record of Gabriel having wings

Just thought I’d through this one in for fun. While the Bible tells us that Gabriel came to Daniel “in swift flight,” it never mentions wings (Da 9:21). But we can probably cut da Vinci a break: the Bible doesn’t say that he doesn’t have wings either. ;-)

9. Gabriel can tell if someone doesn’t believe him

Gabriel delivers two messages in the book of Luke: one to Zechariah and the other to Mary. Both concern miraculous births. An interesting thing that Luke tells us is that Gabriel can tell whether or not the people he’s talking to believe his message. For example, Zechariah asks Gabriel, “How can I be sure you’re telling me the truth? I mean, Elizabeth and I are pretty old.” And Gabriel replies, “Look, I’m Gabriel. God sent this message, and since you didn’t believe me, you can stay mute for the next nine months.” (Lk 1:18–20 … paraphrasing, obviously.) But later on Mary asks Gabriel the same kind of question: “How can I have a son? I’m a virgin!” But Mary gets an explanation, and no silencing effect.

10. Gabriel comes in response to prayers

The Bible preserves four conversations between Gabriel and people: two with Daniel, one with Zechariah, and one with Mary. Half of these conversations begin with God sending Gabriel in response to a prayer. In Daniel chapter 9, Daniel makes a long, heartfelt prayer to God on behalf of Jerusalem, the temple, and the people of Israel. This is a prayer confessing that Israel has sinned and does not deserve God’s favor—yet Daniel throws himself on God’s mercy to ask for his favor anyway. As soon as Daniel begins praying, Gabriel is sent to Daniel (Da 9:23). And when Gabriel appears to Zechariah, he opens by saying that God has heard his prayer for a son (Lk 1:13).

11. Gabriel names the two greatest humans to ever live

When it comes to baby-naming, Gabriel gets the highest honor. When Gabriel tells Mary that she will bear a son, he tells her that his name is to be Jesus (Lk 1:31). Being that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, and the exact representation of God’s nature (Heb 1:3), it’s safe to say he’s the greatest human to walk the earth. But that’s not the only baby Gabriel names! When Gabriel startles Zechariah in the temple, he tells the priest to name his son John (Lk 1:13). In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus states that among the sons of women, nobody is greater than John the Baptist—although the very least in the kingdom of God would be greater than John (Mt 11:11).

He Came Down

GIVE US THE EYES FOR THE LONELY

Can you see them? Do you know who they are?

They sit among us in the congregation, sometimes at the heart of the body, sometimes on the fringes. They worship on Sundays and gather for Bible studies. Some come to events and activities, hoping that maybe if they come enough and do enough, they will start to belong.

You’re part of the church, we say. They smile and nod. How they desperately want to believe that it’s true — true that they belong, true that the local church feels like home, truly among brothers and sisters in Christ, truly no longer invisible as they are every place else they turn. But if we’re honest, too often this is not true for those among us who are widows and widowers, orphans and strangers, parents without children and children without parents. They feel so alone — in life and even in the body of Christ.

Look with the Eyes of the Lord

As the church gathers this weekend, try to look around with the eyes of Christ. You may be amazed at what you see.For the widow who sits in the same pew each Sunday, the dullest, most ordinary order of worship is full of life compared to the home from which she came and will soon return. It sits quiet and empty day after day. Pictures of her husband adorn the walls, subtle reminders of what she no longer has. She misses the joy of companionship. The loneliness is a fog she can’t seem to break through.

Nearby sit the parents of a child who’s run away. Their home is broken in a different way, but it’s no less broken. They call. She doesn’t answer. They pray. She doesn’t come home. Every time she updates her Facebook they are flooded with emotion — joy that she is alive, sadness at what’s been lost, anxiety about what lies ahead. Sunday is their respite as they fight for faith in God’s goodness.

Behind them sits the fifteen-year-old boy, the only Christian in his house. Every word he hears from the pulpit encourages a life that is vastly different from the one at home. The tension in his family is palpable, and his faith is the source. Even to be here on Sunday is against the grain of everything else in his life. Was being here just a huge mistake?

They come to church where there is no belt, bottle, or pill. No yelling, screaming, or fighting. No darkness, no silence, no emptiness. For these precious people, “sanctuary” is not the name of the building. It’s the rest that they find here. They are lonely and wandering, but for a brief time they feel like they belong. They sing with us and pray with us. They stand when we stand, and they sit when we sit. Here, amid all the smiles, handshakes, and hugs, they feel a closeness that’s missing everywhere else.This is the only part of their week that feels right. All of the happy, unbroken, picture-perfect families around them seem oblivious to their struggles. Not that the happy people don’t care — they’re just not paying attention. They’re keeping children quiet, focusing on the sermon, preparing for lunchtime or game-time or nap-time.

Love the Groom — and the Bride

When the service ends, the happy and the lonely go their separate ways.

For widows, orphans, and outliers, the Sunday afternoon journey back home is a portal back to reality. For the lonely, it hardly matters whether their front door opens to a mansion of fine things or a hovel of poverty. Inside is a desolate place. Are these not Jesus’s people — and our people, too?

Stretching out his hand toward his disciples, [Jesus] said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:49–50) O, that we would increasingly love the body of Christ as we grow in our love for the Head (Colossians 1:18); that we would love the branches like we love the Vine (John 15:5), and every living stone that’s joined to the Corner of God’s great church (Ephesians 2:19–22).

Loving his church is an opportunity to love Jesus himself. You cannot divorce the Groom and his Bride. What God has joined together, let no man separate. If every happy, intact family among us took it upon itself to initiate toward and welcome the lonely, making visible those around us who feel invisible, what a joyful place our sanctuaries would be.

Give Your Best Love

Each time we gather, we have a fresh opportunity to be a son to the man whose own won’t see him. Every Sunday is a new chance to be a mother to the teenager whose own mother is unbelieving. Each assembly is an avenue to love the family of God with the same passion and devotion reserved for our own blood.Let the birthday cards and phone calls, Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas feasts, the outings to movies and basketball games flow from the heart of the strong and happy into the wells of the weak and lonely. Will we love them with our best love, and not relegate them to second-class love on account of their not having the same last name? Will we give them the primary love, the best of yourself, the part that the rest of the world holds back?

Thank God that Jesus did not love us with his second best. With nail-pierced hands stretched out in agony, he loved us with his best. And if we belong to him, we have access to the resources to love his people with our best, as well.

Look around you this weekend and look for the lonely — and reach out and love them! Love them with initiative and creativity and energy they would never expect — and never find anywhere else. And when you love them like that, the world will see it and glorify our Father, who empowers such unexpected love.

God, give us eyes to see the lonely.    By Reggie Osborne II

http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/give-us-eyes-for-the-lonely?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedpress.me&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dg-articles

What Is Love? [yHi Promo] on Vimeo

What Is Love? [yHi Promo] on Vimeo

Why Bible Study Doesn’t Transform Us by Jen Wilkin

“When all your favorite preachers are gone, and all their books forgotten, you will have your Bible. Master it. Master it.” — John Piper 

I meet with women all the time who are curious about how they should study the Bible. They hunger for transformation, but it eludes them. Though many have spent years in church, even participating in organized studies, their grasp on the fundamentals of how to approach God's Word is weak to non-existent. And it's probably not their fault. Unless we are taught good study habits, few of us develop them naturally.

Why, with so many study options available, do many professing Christians remain unschooled and unchanged? Scripture teaches clearly that the living and active Word matures us, transforms us, accomplishes what it intends, increases our wisdom, and bears the fruit of right actions. There is no deficit in the ministry of the Word. If our exposure to it fails to result in transformation, particularly over the course of years, there are surely only two possible reasons why: either our Bible studies lack true converts, or our converts lack true Bible study.

I believe the second reason is more accurate than the first. Much of what passes for Bible study in Christian bookstores and church resource libraries just isn't: while it may educate us on a doctrine or a topic, it does little to further our Bible literacy. And left to our own devices, we pursue a host of unsavory (and un-transformative) self-constructed approaches to “spending time in the Word.” Here are several that I encounter on a regular basis.

The Xanax Approach: Feel anxious? Philippians 4:6 says be anxious for nothing. Feel ugly? Psalm 139 says you are fearfully and wonderfully made. Feel tired? Matthew 11:28 says Jesus will give rest to the weary. The Xanax Approach treats the Bible as if it exists to make us feel better. Whether aided by a devotional book or just the topical index in our Bibles, we pronounce our time in the Word successful if we can say, “Wow. That was touching.” The Problem: The Xanax Approach makes the Bible a book about us. We ask how the Bible can serve us, rather than how we can serve the God it proclaims. Actually, the Bible doesn't always make us feel better. Quite often it does just the opposite (feeling awesome? Jeremiah 17:9 says you're a wicked rascal). Yes, there is comfort to be found in the pages of Scripture, but context is what makes that comfort lasting and real. The Xanax Approach guarantees that huge sections of your Bible will remain unread, because they fail to deliver an immediate dose of emotional satisfaction.

The Pinball Approach: Lacking a preference or any guidance about what to read, you read whatever Scripture you happen to turn to. Releasing the plunger of your good intentions, you send the pinball of ignorance hurtling toward whatever passage it may hit, ricocheting around to various passages “as the Spirit leads.” The Problem: The Bible was not written to be read this way. The Pinball Approach gives no thought to cultural, historical or textual context, authorship, or original intent of the passage in question. When we read this way, we treat the Bible with less respect than we would give to a simple textbook. Imagine trying to master algebra by randomly reading for ten minutes each day from whatever paragraph in the textbook your eyes happened to fall on. Like that metal pinball, you'd lose momentum fast. And be very bad at algebra.

The Magic 8 Ball Approach: You remember the Magic 8 Ball—it answered your most difficult questions as a child. But you're an adult now and wondering if you should marry Bob, get a new job, or change your hair color. You give your Bible a vigorous shake and open it to a random page. Placing your finger blindly on a verse, you then read it to see if “signs point to yes.” The Problem: The Bible is not magical, and it does not serve our whim. The Magic 8 Ball Approach misconstrues the ministry of the Holy Spirit through the Word, demanding that the Bible tell us what to do rather than who to be. And it's dangerously close to soothsaying, which people used to get stoned for. So, please. No Magic 8 Ball.

The Personal Shopper Approach: You want to know about being a godly woman or how to deal with self-esteem issues, but you don't know where to find verses about that, so you let [insert famous Bible teacher here] do the legwork for you. The Problem: The Personal Shopper Approach doesn't help you build “ownership” of Scripture. Much like the Pinball Approach, you ricochet from passage to passage, gaining fragmentary knowledge of many books of the Bible but mastery of none. Topical studies serve a purpose: they help us integrate broad concepts into our understanding of Scripture. But if they're all we ever do, we're missing out on the richness of learning a book of the Bible from start to finish.

The Jack Sprat Approach: This is where we engage in “picky eating” with the Word of God. We read the New Testament, but other than Psalms and Proverbs we avoid the Old Testament, or we read books with characters, plots, or topics we can easily identify with. The Problem: All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable. All of it. Women, it's time to move beyond Esther, Ruth, and Proverbs 31 to the rest of the meal. Everyone, you can't fully appreciate the sweetness of the New Testament without the savory of the Old Testament. We need a balanced diet to grow to maturity.

Discipleship Defined

Why do these six habits of highly ineffective Bible study persist in the church today? Why does biblical ignorance continue to dog the church, despite the good intentions of leadership to obey the Great Command to make disciples? I believe the answer lies in our definition of a disciple. A disciple is, literally, a learner—one who follows another's teaching. But the modern church has tended to define a disciple as a “doer” instead of as a “learner.” We have been asked to do service projects, join home groups, find an accountability partner, get counseling, fix our marriages, sing on the worship team, get out of debt, help in the nursery, hand out bulletins, go on mission trips, give to the building fund, share the gospel at Starbucks—but we have so rarely been challenged to pursue the most fundamental element of discipleship—earnest study of the Word. Yes, a disciple does, but we're motivated to act by love for the God revealed in the Word. Stop waiting for your community of believers to call you to be what Christ already has. Be a student. Be a good student. Read repetitively and in context, line by line. Keep the God of the gospel at the center of your study. Strive for comprehension before interpretation. Give application ample time to emerge from a passage. Watch ignorance flee and transformation flourish. Study the Word. Master it, master it.

2016 Mother's Day Offering

WE'RE CALLED TO MAKE DISCIPLES...

We’re Called to Make Disciples, not Simply Converts

FROM R.C. Sproul Mar 07, 2016 Category: Articles

We should take notice of what Jesus did not say in the Great Commission. He did not say, “Go therefore and make converts of as many people as possible.”

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matt. 28:18-20)

One of the most exciting times of my life was when I was first converted to Christ. I was filled with a zeal for evangelism. However, much to my consternation, when I told my friends about my conversion to Christ, they thought I was crazy. They were tragically amused, remaining unconvinced despite my sharing the gospel with them. Finally, they asked me, “Why don’t you start a class and teach us what you have learned about Jesus?” They were serious. I was elated. We scheduled a time to meet, and I got there a little bit early—but they never showed up.

Despite my profound desire for evangelism, I was a failure at it. This realization came to me early in my ministry. Yet, I also discovered that there are many people whom Christ has called and whom He has gifted by His Spirit to be particularly effective in evangelism. To this day, I’m surprised if anybody attributes their conversion in some part to my influence. In one respect, I’m glad that the Great Commission is not a commission principally to evangelism.

The words that preceded Jesus’ commission were these: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” He then went on to say, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” When Jesus gave this commission to the church, He was speaking authoritatively. He gave a mandate to the church of all ages not simply to evangelize but to make disciples. That leads us to a significant question: What is a disciple?

The simplest definition of disciple is one who directs his mind toward specific knowledge and conduct. So, we might say that a disciple is a learner or pupil. The Greek philosophers—people such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle—had disciples. Socrates described himself ultimately as a disciple of Homer, the person Socrates regarded as the greatest thinker of all of Greek history.

We tend to think of Homer as a poet rather than a philosopher. But Socrates saw him as the supreme teacher of ancient Greece. Then, of course, Socrates had his own student—his chief disciple—whose name was Plato. Plato had his disciples, the chief one being Aristotle. Aristotle also had his disciples, the most famous being Alexander the Great. It is astonishing to think about how drastically the ancient world was shaped by four men: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Alexander the Great. In fact, it is nearly impossible to understand the history of Western civilization without understanding the influence of those four individuals, who in their own way were each disciples of another.

Aristotle, in particular, was known as a “peripatetic” philosopher. That is, he was a nomadic teacher who walked from place to place, not teaching in a fixed location. The students of Aristotle would follow him as he walked the streets of Athens. In one respect, Aristotle’s disciples lived life with him, learning from him in the course of a normal daily routine.

The aforementioned concepts help illumine the nature of discipleship. However, they fail to capture the full essence of biblical discipleship. Discipleship in the biblical sense involves walking with the Teacher and learning from His words, but it is more than that.

Jesus was a rabbi and, of course, the most important peripatetic teacher and disciple-maker in history. Wherever He walked, His students would follow. At the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, He chose particular individuals to be His disciples. They were required to memorize the teachings that He spoke as He walked. What’s more, people didn’t file an application to get into the School of Jesus. Jesus selected His disciples. He went to prospective disciples where they were, whether in the marketplace or at their place of work, and give this simple command: “Follow me.” The command was literal—He called them to drop their present duties. They had to leave their work, their families, and their friends in order to follow Jesus.

Jesus was more than just a peripatetic teacher however. His disciples called him “Master.” Their entire way of life changed because of their following Jesus not merely as a great teacher, but as the Lord of all. That’s the essence of discipleship—submitting fully to the authority of Christ, the One whose lordship goes beyond just the classroom. Jesus’ lordship encompasses all of life. The Greek philosophers learned from their teachers but then tried to improve on that teaching. Christ’s disciples have no such warrant. We are called to understand and teach only what God has revealed through Christ, including the Old Testament Scriptures, for they point to Christ; and the New Testament Scriptures, for they are the words of those Christ appointed to speak in His name.

The Great Commission is the call of Christ for His disciples to extend His authority over the whole world. We are to share the gospel with everyone so that more and more people might call Him Master. This calling is not simply a call to evangelism. It isn’t merely a call to get students for our seminaries, our colleges, or for Ligonier Ministries. Rather, Christ calls us to make disciples. Disciples are people who have committed in their hearts and minds to follow the thinking and conduct of the Master forever. Such discipleship is a lifelong experience.

When we’re involved in discipleship, we do not graduate until we get to heaven. Discipleship is a lifelong experience of learning the mind of Christ and following the will of Christ, submitting ourselves in complete obedience to His lordship. Thus, when Jesus tells us to go to all nations, we are to go into all the world with His agenda, not our own. The Great Commission calls us to flood this world with knowledgeable, articulate Christians who worship God and follow Jesus Christ passionately. Our mission at Ligonier is discipleship in the biblical sense. By God’s grace, we want to help the church raise up a generation of people who are dedicated in heart and soul to the Master and His authority. We want to call people to obedience and to following Christ in their daily lives.