This is a small “shout out” to those who are Marines, Semper Fi. And, as we all know, there is no such thing as a retired Marine, there are only Marines who are not currently on active duty. No, I am not going to say that the Marines are guardian angels. I have known enough Marines that this would be extending the truth somewhat. They are certainly guardians, but, uhm, they are not exactly angels. GRIN. However, they are most effective at what they do, and that is to protect and defend. And, they are not half-bad at attacking either.
Actually, real guardian angels are more frightening than even Marines, and that is something we do not often realize. Most folk do not realize that the people of Israel had an appointed guardian. In fact, he is still an appointed guardian, though he works with New Israel now. Who is that guardian angel? The Archangel Michael. You can find his first appearance in his role as the appointed guardian angel of an entire nation in the Book of Joshua, though he is not mentioned by name. There it says:
Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord[a] have for his servant?”
The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
The Archangel Michael turns up by name later in the Scriptures. In the Book of Daniel it says:
But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.
He is mentioned several more times. But, here is what is true. Guardian angels are not simply cute androgenous beings. They are guardians and warriors. Some are assigned to people and some are assigned to entire nations. We do not know all of what they do, as they are shrouded behind a wall of mystery. They are found in Scripture several times, and Michael, the Archangel is seen again in the Book of Revelation as he leads the host of heaven in one of the wars against Satan, the deceiver, the accuser of the brethren. But, other than that we do not actually know a lot.
What is clear is what I said at the beginning. Guardian angels are not simply cute androgenous beings. They are part of the host of heaven, the Army of God. And, in that sense maybe they are somewhat like Marines. Certainly they are indeed always faithful, semper fi.
[Late note: What do the Orthodox think of the Archangel Michael? Well, look at your “deacon” doors on the iconostas. The Archangel Michael will be on one of them. Every Orthodox iconostas in the world has (or should have) the Archangel Michael. We invoke him every time we go in and out of the holy place. He is now assigned to protect New Israel, and stands at the gate of the holy place to remind us that the unconfessed ought not to enter therein.]
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