Angelology

The angels of God are waiting for our orders

The late Kenneth Hagin taught that the angels of God sent by God to serve us are waiting for our orders. Here is what he wrote in his book I Believe in Visions: ‘They are waiting on you to give them the order, just as the waitress cannot do anything for you until you give her the order” (Kenneth Hagin, I Believe in Visions, page 126). Therefore, according to this teaching, that Hagin claimed that God had revealed to him in 1963, when we need something we can give the angels of God, who protect and serve us, some orders such as, ‘Go and bring me a car!’ or ‘Go, and bring me ten Euro’ and so on.

Confutation

According to the Scripture, angels don’t take orders from us rather they take orders from God alone, as it is written in the Psalms: “Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will” (Psalm 103:20-21 - NIV). We can notice this very clearly in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, for in all the angelic apparitions as well as all the tasks accomplished by angels recorded in the Bible, we never read that they took orders from some human beings, rather some human beings took orders from the angels of God. Let me cite just the New Testament; an angel of the Lord commanded Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary home as his wife (cf. Matthew 1:20); an angel of the Lord commanded him to take the Child Jesus and His mother and to escape to Egypt (cf. Matthew 2:13) and after king Herod died an angel of the Lord commanded Joseph to go to the land of Israel (cf. Matthew 2:20); an angel of the Lord appeared to Peter while he was kept in prison and commanded him to gird himself and to tie on his sandals, to put on his garment and follow him (cf. Acts 12:7-8); an angel of the Lord appeared to Paul on the ship and commanded him not to be afraid (cf. Acts 27:23-24); an angel of God commanded Cornelius the roman centurion to send men to Joppa and call for Simon Peter who would tell him words by which he and all his household would be saved (cf. Acts 11:13-14); an angel of the Lord commanded the evangelist Philip to arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza (cf. Acts 8:26).

Of course, angels are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation (cf. Hebrews 1:14), however, this does not mean that they are at our disposal (they are not at our beck and call) for they are at God’s disposal. In other words, they intervene in our life at God’s command and not at our command. Let me give you an example. If I am in prison because of the Gospel and God has decided to deliver me from prison in a supernatural way through His angels, He will send His angels to deliver me and His angels will deliver me according to His orders. Therefore, when the angels of God to whom God entrusted this task deliver me those who keep the prison will not notice it. Only after my deliverance will they realize that I am no longer in prison. However, while I am waiting for God’s deliverance, the angels of God are not waiting for my orders, that is to say, they are not waiting for me to say to them: ‘Angels, listen to me, deliver me from prison!’.

Brothers, beware of this false doctrine taught by Hagin, because anyone who gives heed to it will surely stop praying to God (or he will pray to God much less than before) and will begin to pray to angels so that they may meet his needs. In other words, he will act like many Roman Catholics who have been taught that they can talk to angels when they need something. And such a conduct is contrary to the sound doctrine. Let no one deceive you with empty words, we must pray to God in the midst of every distress, then God will meet our needs the way He wants. We must pray to Him in faith and then God will send His angels to help us. However, let us not give any orders to the angels of God for they are waiting for God’s orders.

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