This is the story we have all learned from our childhood Sunday school class but never thought to ask our teachers:
Were Mary and Joseph actually the only two eyewitnesses of Jesus’ birth? Anno-Domini is the tale of that famous night, but through the eyes of other witnesses— and not one of them is human. Three angels, bound to earth, find themselves caught in a deadly battle for survival against a depthless evil.
It is anything but a silent night as both heaven and hell witness the Son of God invade the world of humankind. Creation holds its breath because it knows that life and death will never be the same. The Dawn Bringer has come, and He brings with Him change. This baby King will one day dare to walk where angels fear to tread. He will challenge the rule of an ancient demon gone mad; not from a throne, but a manger—as a baby wrapped in flesh. He will champion love for the sake of Love alone. But first, he must survive being born. There will be war in Bethlehem this night.
ANGELS
Some consider angels nothing more than myth or legend passed down through the generations of our ancestors, while others believe in their existence with conviction and awe—claiming that these beings are, in fact, directly tied to their faith in an all-powerful God and an eternal after-life as well. It was, after all, an angel who told the Virgin Mary, she would one day give birth to the son of God. It also was angels that informed the shepherds where the divine child would be born. The stories of these ancient beings seem almost endless, and angels continue their prevalence in numerous cultures to this day. It is interesting how some religions that clearly have opposing views often come together on this common ground of belief in angels. Christian, Judaic and Islamic religions all share a common lore of angels. Angels are also recorded in the histories of Assyria and Mesopotamia and many more. In the ancient world, these beings have somehow persisted, taking on strange forms and, over the millennia, called by many names. The name angel comes from angelos— a Greek word that means messenger, while the Old Testament scriptures transliterate the Hebrew form of the word to, Mal’ak. By myself, I’ve counted a staggering 23 out of 66 books in the Bible referencing angels in some fashion or another. In John’s Revelation, angels are mentioned in all but 5 of its 22 chapters. But what is truly remarkable about these unseen beings is that even before the canon of scripture was penned, angels have been recorded the globe over in numerous civilizations. 3,000 years before Christ walked the earth, angels were recorded in caves and on stone by the ancient Sumerians— a civilization using the earliest known forms of writing called cuneiform and pictographs.
Whether angels exist or not is the conjecture of great minds the world over. But the simple fact remains that these supernatural creatures with wings have somehow spanned oceans, and infiltrated the histories of cultures on opposite sides of the planet in an age far removed from technology and the internet. How could this be? This fact alone deserves the consideration of any intelligent mind. Do angels really exist, or are they somehow history’s unparalleled feat of cosmic coincidence? I believe they do, but on whichever side of the fence you land, one thing is for sure: angels and their God represent a better way of existence. In fact or in myth, they have truly captured the imagination of the entire human race, inspiring us to live better lives and to strive for a better world.
Wes
