When one looks at history we find many major religions that
have been started from apparent angelic revelations! The
Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormonism, Islam and almost anything
new is no exception to this. The whole New Age movement receives
their information from Spirit guides through channeling and
automatic writing. The psychics also receive their impressions by
familiar spirits who would be identified as fallen angels. One
could even say Christianity has been started from the angel
Gabriel who brought the message to Mary, Joseph and the shepherds
in the field. However, neither they, nor the apostles, communed
with the angels to get their inspiration for Scripture.
Christianity centers on Christ; it's message content does not
come from angels.
There are some Christian healing ministries started by angelic
visitations. William Branham at the early ages of three and seven
had an angel appear to him. In a cave in 1946 this angel appeared
and stayed with him giving him the power to discern people's
thoughts and illnesses. In his services he would wait for the
angels presence before he could start the meetings. Branham was
led away from orthodoxy, stating that Trinitarianism was of the
devil, that baptism should only be in Jesus' name and he taught
that Eve had sexual relations with the serpent. He also taught
that denominationalism is the mark of the beast and all
denominations would be under the World Council of Churches by
1977. He later proclaimed himself to be the angel of Revelation
3:14, 10:7. Today there are still about 10,000 Branhamites
following his teaching after his death. Those who were influenced
when he was alive were W.V. Grant, A..A. Allen, O.L. Jaggers,
Paul Cain who was a disciple, and Oral Roberts. Many of today's
healing evangelists point back to him as a mentor and influence
such as Hinn, Copeland and Hagin and other Word faith movement
practitioners.
Angels have always been involved in bringing revelation to
mankind. They have also been involved in bringing false
information. It all depends on which spirit you have made contact
with.
42% of Americans believe they have been in contact with someone
who has died and almost 15% endorse the work of spirit
mediums.
All these and other religions have had communion with angels for
their extra-biblical books or are given new revelation for a new
interpretation on the Bible. Can the same angel say two different
things on the same subject and both of them be correct? Obviously
not, yet this is exactly what Islam claims has transpired in the
Koran. They believe the Koran was verbally dictated by the angel
Gabriel based on eternal tablets that are in heaven. Naturally,
if there is a conflict it must be in the Bible and not their own
book. However, there is something else operating here that proves
it is not the angel Gabriel as they claim.
In their own suras (chapters) it states that God's word cannot
change so if an angel several hundreds of years later comes with
a different story, which one are we suppose to believe? Take, for
example, in the Bible the angel Gabriel's announcement of the
Christ to Mary, she is told he would be called the Son of God
(which means having the same nature as God) Lk.1:35 also in
Mt.1:23 He would be called “Emmanuel”, God with us.
This is the same angel that told Mohammed that God has no son,
and that God is unable to incarnate as a man. Suras 16 and 26 of
the Koran tell us that Mohammed's call was from the Holy Spirit
who is supposed to be the angel Gabriel according to Islam. This
too presents a problem, as the Holy Spirit according to the Bible
participated in the creation of the earth and is God.
Obviously these are two contradictory accounts of a major
doctrine, the incarnation and the nature of God. How can God be
the author of both accounts? How can the angel Gabriel give
differing revelations several hundred years apart of which this
quote is from Isaiah 7:14 in the Old Testament, and that God has
a Son is mentioned in other books ( Psalms, Zechariah, Daniel ).
Gen.3:15 promises the seed of the woman would crush the serpent's
head. A Son would be born to a virgin who would be both God and
man and He would crush the power of Satan. So this is not some
obscure concept developed later on, it is foundational to the
Bible.
Ellen G. white of the 7th day Adventist movement was in touch
with an 'accompanying angel' (Present Truth, pp. 21-22, 1849) who
revealed to her the hidden truths of the Bible. On June 27, 1850,
her accompanying angel said, the “time is almost finished
.... that the last 7 plagues were going to be poured out before
the rapture..” (Early Writings, p. 64).
Numerous other so called Christian churches, some significant,
some not so significant, have revelation given by these spirits.
An example would be Moses Berg and the Children of God who
received some their teaching from contact with spirit guides and
angels. They told him of reincarnation and contradicted many
teachings of the Scripture even though they used the Bible.
Another example can be found in Mormonism. Mormonism teaches that
all souls preexisted as angels that were incarnate on earth (much
like Hinduism but more cosmic). It is these that have an
opportunity to progress to become Gods over their own planets.
They believe that Michael the arch-angel as the Ancient of Days
became Adam, the first man on earth. Michael the archangel is
Adam. Yet in their writings Adam was a God. If Michael is Adam
then when he fell into sin, he became like all the angels that
followed the devil and is actually an enemy of God. To the
Mormons, Adam fell upward not backward, it was a blessing not a
curse. He was able to be like God, who happens to be man.
They also believe that Noah is the arch-angel Gabriel (Joseph
Smith taught this), he is next to Adam in the priesthood. (Church
News Mar. 12 1994). Luke says it was Gabriel that appeared to
Mary and Zecharias. (Doctrine and Covenants 27:7). Did Noah come
back from the dead and visit him? Mormons claim Jesus is also the
Spirit brother of Lucifer and another angel. It is this Jesus
that the Mormons worship and hear from. They also believe that we
all were spirit children of Elohim, angels in our pre-existent
life in heaven.
The only angel the Bible writes about that wanted to become as
God is Satan. We are told specifically not to worship angels in
Col.1:18. Obviously, the early church had to address this
problem. The appearance of an angel can be awesome and cause
fear. John The Apostle mistakenly fell down to worship this
creature as recorded in Rev.22:8-9. He is told not to do that,
but to worship God only. Mormons worship a God who was a man who
previously before that was an angel (Spirit child as they like to
put it). In either case it is idolatry, since they are not
worshipping the eternal Creator but an angel who incarnated
becomes a god after formerly being an exalted man. This is all
simply confusion.
Jehovah Witnesses say that Michael the Arch-angel is none other
than the only-begotten Son of God, now Jesus Christ. It is this
same Michael that became flesh and died for the sins of the J. W.
’s. He was disintegrated after he died and then copied by
the Father by memory and raised in spirit again as Michael. This
Michael / Jesus came back in 1874 invisibly and then came to the
Watchtower headquarters in New York in 1914 to inspect
Jehovah’s organization to see if everything is running
right. The good news of their earthly kingdom is under angelic
direction and support (Watchtower April,1 1972 p.200). While the
Jehovah Witnesses has said there is to be no spirit communication
“… “the remnant cannot see these agents or
ambassadors of the Lord and can have no direct or audible
communication with them”(Watchtower Sept.1,1932 p.236).
They seem to change their mind when it seems fit “It was a
message of the Lord sent through his invisible angels, because
without a doubt these are clothed with authority to direct the
course of earthly members of God's organization.(Light vol.1 1930
p.106). (In 'Speaking of the angels') - No doubt they first hear
the instruction which the Lord issues to his remnant and then
these invisible messengers pass on such instruction on to the
remnant. “…That does not mean that those who prepare
the manuscript for the Watchtower are inspired, but rather it
means that the Lord through his angels sees to it that the
information is given to his people in due time.” There are
many more quotes that can be supportive in this angelic treadmill
from God to angels to the Watchtower. (Riches 1936 p.316). The
Bible commands us to not seek after spirits but to hear from his
Son only. Heb.1:1. While God has used angels to bring messages to
mankind and Israel, this is not a normative way, nor do we have a
relationship with them. We do not communicate with angels for our
revelation. It is through God’s Son the Father is made
known and understood, He is the final revelation to all.
During his trial in Scotland, F.W. Franz was asked this question
(p.39-40) by the attorney: "...But is there any unique element in
association between the belief in the existence of the various
ranks of angels and their activities in relation to Jehovah's
Witnesses?" Franz replied, "Well we believe that the angels of
God are used in directing Jehovah's Witnesses."
Here we find them breaking their own rulings and those of the the
Bible regarding having no communication with spirits. This fact
is blatantly clear when they used Greber's Translation of Jn.1:1
"a god". Greber and his wife were spirit mediums who received
this translation by the words passing before his eyes. The
Watchtower supported him as a scholar, running a full page in
their Feb.15 1956 W.T. and quoting his translation in 1962 p.5
9/15 1962, The Word p.554, Make Sure of All Things, p.489 1965,
Aid to Bible Understanding 1969, the Word p.1134 and1669. Even as
late as Watchtower p.640 8/15 1975, they quoted him knowing he
was trafficking in the Occult.
So the Jesus of the Watchtower is really an angel, yet they
receive revelation not only from him but from other angels
(whatever their secret names may be). What is even more
confounding is their current opinion on who Jesus is. In 1917
they held a closer to orthodox view that Apollyon in Rev.9:11 was
the destroyer whose name is Satan (Finished Mystery). However, in
the 1992 Watchtower May1, it said “A plague of locusts,
sent forth by Jehovah under a king, the angel of the abyss
“ who is none other than Jesus Christ. His names Abaddon
(Hebrew) and Apollyon (Greek) mean destruction and destroyer.
These locusts picture the anointed remnant of Christians who, now
in the Lord’s day, go forth to devastate
Christendom’s pastures by completely exposing false
religion and proclaiming Jehovah’s vengeance upon
it.” We find that it is the “remaining anointed
Christians are reinforced by more than 4 million “other
sheep” together making up an irresistible cavalry”!
(Shades of Joel’s army of the vineyard movement!)
This means the Jehovah Witnesses admittingly are following the
angel of the abyss who has deceived them to fight against the
Christian Church! Despite the fact that they once believed
Appollyon was Satan he is now currently Jesus the king of the
Abyss. Once again, the light they claim to follow is getting
dimmer instead of brighter; the light of Scripture never changes
unless of course the light bearer is Lucifer who is bringing
it.
Both Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses have violated the
instruction of the Holy Spirit through Paul when in Gal. 1:8 he
warns that if we 'or an angel from heaven preaches any other
Gospel to you let them be accursed' (doomed to destruction). Not
only do they have another Gospel which removes them from having a
covenant with God but it is an angel that has delivered it. For
the Mormons and J.W.'s, it is the angel 'Jesus' which they have
received their instruction from and are speaking about. Yet this
is assuredly not the Jesus of the Bible, neither is it the same
message.
It is not an angel who said: “I will build my
church…” nor an angel who incarnated and died for
our sins. These groups need nothing less than a revelation like
Peter, in which he said “Thou art the Christ the Son of the
living God.” Meaning He is the same nature as the Father.
To deny this is exactly what Jude wrote, “Denying the only
God and Sovereign, our Lord Jesus Christ.”