Angel
Angel
For he that receives my servants receive me…(T&C 82:17). The word “servants” in this context means “angels.” Angel is derived from the Greek word ággelos [ἄγγελος] which means “messenger.” The messenger must bring a message from the Lord. It does not matter if the messenger is mortal.1 The word describes a category of messenger that includes not only pre-mortal and post-mortal spirits, but also living men. When anyone, man or angel, is entrusted with a message from God, the message is God’s. God makes no distinction between the messenger and Himself.2And now I have spoken the words which the Lord God hath commanded me…(Mosiah 1:19). The angel added nothing. He hid nothing. He delivered what the Lord told him to deliver. These are not merely the words of an angel. Because the angel certifies they originated from God, they are the words of God (T&C 54:7).3 Joseph explained that all angels either have or do belong to this earth: But there are no angels who minister to this earth but those who do belong or have belonged to it… (D&C 130:5),4 meaning angels are called from those who were or are mortals here. Their status as angel comes from the fact they have met with God, gotten both their assignment and authority from Him, and deliver only the message He instructs should be delivered. They are in His service, and the message is confined to what He has told them to do.5 Angels minister to you and confer power, light and truth. They prepare you to receive the Lord.6
1 Preserving the Restoration (Salt Lake City: Mill Creek Press, 2015), 161.
2 “Mosiah 3:23,” June 12, 2012, www.denversnuffer.com/blog.
3 “Mosiah 3:23,” June 12, 2012
4 Section 130 of the LDS Doctrine and Covenants first appeared as canon in the 1876 edition prepared by Orson Pratt under the direction of Brigham Young. Its inclusion here is for reference. For sources see The Words of Joseph Smith, comp. Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1980), 169, 267n3; 171, 268n15. Herein cited as WJS.
5 Passing the Heavenly Gift (Salt Lake City: Mill Creek Press, 2011), 331n419.
6 “Follow-up Question,” Jan. 3, 2012, www.denversnuffer.com/blog.