Do we have guardian angels?

We would say, then, that Scripture does not warrant the thought of special guardian angels. They are all ministering spirits, engaged, unseen by human eye, in errands of providential care and mercy for the heirs of salvation. They are not prominently brought forward in the New Testament, doubtless for the simple reason that Scripture, foreseeing the misuse by men of this ministry, putting it in the place of Christ and the Holy Ghost, has kept them in the background. Christ, the Sun, has eclipsed the other lights which in darker days might come more prominently into view.

And our Lord continues: "See that ye do not despise one of these little ones; for I say unto you that their angels in the heavens continually behold the face of my Father who is in the heavens" (verse 10). It would take many pages to follow or state all the different interpretations of these words and the various theories and doctrines which have been built upon it. That there are difficulties here none would deny.

Much has been made of this passage in teaching that there is a "guardian angel" for every believer. That angels have ministries which we cannot fully grasp now, cannot be denied.

"Are they not all ministering spirits sent out for service on account of those who shall inherit salvation?" (Heb. 1:14). Faith can enjoy it, child-like faith, without going into speculation. However the passage does not teach that every believer has an angel who guards and protects him and who sees the Father.

The question is, does the Lord still speak of believers or does He now refer to actual little ones? We believe the latter is the case. With the tenth verse ends properly the exhortation of the Lord in answer to the question of the disciples. The little child He had put in their midst was most likely still there, and it is now concerning little ones, little children, He speaks, that they should not be despised. Children are subjects in the kingdom of the heavens. How little the disciples understood their Lord and how they needed the very exhortation not to despise one of these little ones is seen in the next chapter, when they brought little children to the Lord and the disciples rebuked them. The Lord then declared: "Suffer little children, and do not hinder them from coming to me; for the kingdom of heaven is of such" (chapter 19:13, 14). And when the Lord now speaks of "their angels in the heavens continually behold the face of my Father," what does He mean by it?

The first great source of offense to others, and which must be first removed, is that which is a stumbling-block to our own souls. We must begin with self-judgment. But there is also the despising the little ones that belong to God. "Take heed," says our Lord, "that ye despise not one of these little ones: for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven.* For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost" (vers. 10, 11). A beautiful word, especially as it is so broadly stated by our Lord as to take in literally a little child as well as the little ones that believe in Him. I believe this chapter was meant to give encouragement touching little ones. The plea on which our Lord goes is, not that they were innocent (which is the way in which they are so often spoken of among men), but that the Son of Man came to save that which was lost. It supposes the taint of sin, but that the Son of Man came to meet it: so that we are entitled to have confidence in the Lord, not for our own souls only, but for the little ones too.

What our Lord calls here "their angels" seem to be the spirits of children now in heaven — the spirit representing the person in the present state until the resurrection. Compare Acts 12:15; Heb. 12:23, and Rev. 1:20 — this last representing the assembly. A "guardian angel," of which some speak as the meaning here, does not seem to give a good reason for the Lord's warning; nor is it anywhere mentioned in Scripture. [Ed.

In answer to their inquiry, who should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, our Lord placed a little child in their midst, and said that only those with the childlike, humble spirit could have any place in the kingdom. Such little ones were not to be offended—better far to be drowned, to lose an eye, a foot, or a hand, than to be occasion of stumbling. Nor were these little ones, insignificant as they might be in men's eyes, to be despised. On earth they were thrust aside, forbidden to approach the Lord; but how different in heaven! There they had the place of closest access into the immediate presence of God. This brings us to the expression “their angels.” The meaning of the whole passage being clear, we have only to ask what construction of the words in question is most scriptural. Does “their angels” mean guardian angels, those who are appointed to care for the little ones? In support of this view, Dan.10:13,20,21 is cited, to show that there were special angelic princes over nations, as Grecia, Persia, and Israel. Hebrews 1:14, it is claimed, would show the same guardianship in the case of individuals. Of course, it is perfectly clear that angels do minister to the people of God, more especially in the preceding dispensation, as now we have the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit. But is the thought of individual guardianship a scriptural one? Does it not rather savor of Rome? National oversight is something different, and hinted at in the mention of “principalities and powers;” but, then, do individuals have evil guardians as well as holy? No other Scripture has a hint of such a thing.

Nor is such a thought suggested in the passage we are considering; indeed, it would do violence to the context. On earth little ones may be despised; in heaven their angels behold the face of God. “Their angels,” then, simply means the little ones themselves, but in spirit, not in body. We have this use of the word angel for the disembodied spirit in Acts 12:15. Peter had been shut up in prison under threat of death. The saints had come together to pray for his deliverance; and while so engaged, Peter, set free by the angel of the Lord, came and knocked at the gate where the saints were. On being assured that it was Peter himself, they said, “It is his angel;” that is, he has been slain, and this is his spirit.

At the present time believers are under the guardian care of angels, as we read, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” In the world to come they will still exercise their guardian care, for they stand at the gates of the heavenly city, and will pass between heaven and earth, ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.

Angels are the divine guardians of God's people and will have this special service in the world to come. Psalm 34:7 presents this guardian care. There we read, “The angel of the Lord encamps round about them that fear Him, and delivers them.” The history of Elisha illustrates this guardian care. When he was compassed about by his enemies at Dothan, his servant was in great fear, but, says Elisha, “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” The Lord, in answer to prayer, opened the young man's eyes to see that the whole mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha (2 Kings 6:17). Elisha had already come to them by faith; the young man came to them by sight. Daniel, in his day, knew the guardian care of angels, for one was sent to shut the lions' mouths that he should not be hurt (Daniel 7).

He therefore is in the place of absolute authority, but angels are "all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation." Theirs is the place of servants simply, their place infinitely lower than His, just as in person they are as much lower. But it is nevertheless a blessed place they occupy, in being delegated to minister in temporal protection, comfort, sustenance, to those destined to eternal glory. Doubtless we owe to angelic ministry far more than we discern in matters of physical strength and wellbeing, yet as spirit beings their ministry is completely veiled, and they are content to remain unknown to us, that glory for this may be given only to God. Blessed service indeed! Compare their ministry to the Lord Jesus in Mark 1:13, and an angel strengthening Him (physically of course) in Luke 22:43.

This leads us to the great text of Hebrews 1:14, which clearly indicates the service that angels render to the Lord’s people. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”

Indeed the epistle to the Hebrews is full of allusions to the angels, for their ministry was well-known in the olden times. The verse quoted clearly establishes the fact that angels are active on behalf of the “heirs of salvation.” We are not told in what way, save that they protect us providentially. If details had been given we should have the door opened for the imagination of ill-balanced minds. Rather are we left with with this great comfort, that angels, unseen and unnoticed, minister to us in a way that is sufficient for our needs and that they are directed of God in His love and wisdom.

(3) But His heart turns to what is more congenial: "See that ye despise not one of these little ones: for I say unto you that their angels in heaven continually behold the face of My Father who is in heaven." Well, then, may they be held in loving regard by men. But the doctrine of the passage has its difficulty. De Wette, as quoted by Lange, says with regard to it: "In the Old Testament we only read of guardian angels of empires (Dan. 10:13, 20). But at a later period the Jews believed also in the existence of guardian angels for individuals (Targum of Jonathan on Gen. 33:10, Gen. 35:10, Gen. 48:16). Similarly also the New Testament (Acts 12:7?)" Yet he takes it as figurative, in which way it would be hard to understand it. Meyer, approved by Lange, in opposition to this says, "The belief in guardian angels is clearly admitted by Christ." Probably most agree with this; Dr. Brown remarks: Among men, those who nurse and rear the royal children; however humble in themselves, are allowed free entrance with their charge, and a degree of familiarity which even the highest state ministers dare not assume. Probably our Lord means that, in virtue of their charge over His disciples (Heb. 1:14; John 1:51), the angels have errands to the Throne, a welcome there, and a dear familiarity in dealing with His Father which is in heaven; which on their own matters they could not assume." This, however, seems too much like the state of an earthly court, from which it is rash to draw analogies for heaven. The difficulty as to interpreting our Lord's words as referring to guardian angels is that it seems a very indecisive passage to stand alone for the doctrine, which assuredly the verses in Hebrews and in John's Gospel do not teach. Daniel more nearly approaches it, though the angels representing; the empires there seem all to be evil, and only Michael as "prince" of the Jewish people is really in any sense a "guardian" (see Dan. 10:21).

By the visit of two to Sodom, Lot was rescued, and by one Peter was brought out of prison. By the destroying angel the first-born of the Egyptians were smitten, and by an angel was Israel chastised in the reign of David. An angel ministered to Elijah in the desert, and appeared to Paul on board ship in the storm. The angels of God met Jacob at Mahanaim, and surrounded Elisha and his young man on the mount. An angel was sent to Daniel to tell him about the future, and the revelation of Jesus Christ was signified to John by one of those heavenly messengers. To men in general, without distinction of race or spiritual condition, do they attend, it would appear; for the Lord acquaints us with the fact about little children, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of His Father in heaven. But to God's people in particular do they minister. Thus Messiah was to be the object of their providential care, as the Psalmist declared (Ps. 91:11); and the nation of Israel, as God's earthly people, is specially cared for by Michael their prince (Dan. 10:21; 12:1). And now, that Israel and God's people are not one and the same class, we learn from Hebrews 1:14 that the angels are all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation. Thus men, Israel, and God's saints, though inferior to angels in rank, intelligence, and power, are cared for by them.