Armies of Angels Protect You – by Desmond Ford
Jan 15, 2016 4756
Here is a beautiful scene in the life of Jacob. He has just met Laban, who has been pursuing him and threatening him. Laban has just left, and then we are told that,
Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s army!” So he named that place Mahanaim – Gen 32:1–2. Manahaim means “two armies.”
I remember many years ago my wife would say, “Whenever so-and-so comes to this house you are a different person.” Well, that was because of many emotional experiences that I had had the past with this member of the family group. And what my wife said was true. I was all tense and taut because of memories.
Jacob had been tense and taut with the visit of Laban, who wanted to kill him. It seems like now it is the next day, when Jacob becomes aware that he is surrounded by angels. There are two armies of angels in two camps; one behind him to protect him from Laban, and another in front of him to protect him from he knows now what.
It is as if God is condescending to say to Jacob,
Jacob, you just had a tough time with Laban, but please remember, I am for you. I am not against you. I will guard your rear and I will guard your front. I will give you armies of protection. There will be a camp behind you, and there will be a camp in front of you.
It is beautiful how it says that the angels of God met him. They were there purposely to give him a welcome. See, Jacob is coming to the borders of Canaan. After 20 years he is coming back to the Promised Land!
In John Bunyan’s book, Pilgrim’s Progress, just before they get to the Holy City, Christian comes to a beautiful stretch of land where the birds sing more sweetly and the grass is greener and the sky is more blue. In this Beulah land it is as though the pilgrims feel the beginnings of eternity.
In the same way, as we mature in the Christian life God should be more real to us,, more present to us. There should not be a conscious hour where we have not spoken to God. If we really know God, we would talk to Him much more than to our wife or husband, or son or daughter. Heaven should become more real to us, and more present every day.
So the angels greet Jacob and tell him that they are protecting him, front and rear. Relax, rest, you are going to be OK. And in the same way, the angels are there for us who trust in God today.
– Des Ford. Rom 8:27–32. Adapted from “The Night of Wrestling.”
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