They Shook And Became Like Dead Men

In the Bible, every time an angel appears to a person or to a group of people, their first reaction is almost always great fear.

For example, the Bible says that when Jesus was resurrected from the dead, there was a violent earthquake because an angel of the Lord had come down from Heaven and had rolled back the stone that blocked the entrance to the tomb where Jesus' body was laid. It was as if the stone were made of styrofoam! And when the angel had finished moving the stone, he sat upon it. (Wouldn't you have loved to have been there?) When the guards who stood outside of the tomb saw the angel sitting there, they were so afraid of him they shook and became like dead men.

"There was a violent earthquake,

 for an angel of the Lord came down from Heaven

and, going to the tomb,

rolled back the stone and sat on it.

His appearance was like lightning,

and his clothes were white as snow.

The guards were so afraid of him

that they shook and became like dead men."

Matthew 28:2-4 (NIV)

Movies, Christmas cards, and children's books usually portray angels as feminine, beautiful, fluffy, sweet, and delicate creatures, and sometimes even as infants. This is far from the truth!

Angels are very frightening to look upon, extremely strong, and large in stature. Not only that, whenever an angel appears in the Bible, he is always depicted as male, not female. A more accurate picture of an angel would be one who is large, powerful, muscular, masculine, authoritative-looking, bold, and confident — in other words, a warrior-type figure.

Sometimes I wonder why we have strayed in the complete opposite direction from the true image of angels. Is it because we like to imagine God as a wimp with a bunch of singing cheerleaders instead of a host of warriors who await His command? I'm not sure.