Angels: God's Secret Agents

Billy Graham presents a systematic biblical study of angels, arguing that they are real, powerful, and actively involved in human affairs as agents of God. The book draws almost exclusively on Scripture to examine the nature, roles, and relevance of angels to contemporary life.

Graham opens with anecdotal accounts that raise the question of angelic intervention. He recounts the story of an illiterate Chinese woman who cried out to Jesus while being attacked by a tigress and was inexplicably spared when the beast fled. He shares the account of a Philadelphia neurologist summoned on a snowy night by a little girl to treat her gravely ill mother, only for the mother to reveal that her daughter had died a month earlier; the girl's coat, found in a closet, was warm and dry. He tells of missionary John G. Paton in the New Hebrides Islands (a Pacific archipelago now called Vanuatu), whose mission station was surrounded by people intent on killing him. After a night of prayer, the attackers withdrew; a chief who later converted explained that his men had seen hundreds of large figures in shining garments with drawn swords guarding the compound. Graham states that he believes in angels not because of such testimonies, nor because of interest in unidentified flying objects (UFOs) or extrasensory perception (ESP), but because the Bible affirms their existence.

He situates his study against modern culture's growing fascination with the occult and supernatural, noting the proliferation of media devoted to Satan and demonism, such as the film The Exorcist and the Rolling Stones' song "Sympathy for the Devil." Polls show a rising percentage of Americans believe in a personal devil, and the growth of ESP research reflects renewed openness to the supernatural. Graham argues that the time has come to focus on the nearly three hundred biblical references to angels commissioned by God to aid believers against Satan.

Graham establishes a foundational theology of angels. He asserts they are created beings, made by and for Christ, who would cease to exist without His sustaining power. Angels are nonmaterial spirit beings who can take on physical bodies for specific tasks but do not possess inherent physical form, do not marry, and cannot reproduce. Their numbers are vast, with Scripture speaking of an innumerable company. While usually invisible, God has on occasion permitted angels to become visible. Graham warns that their typical invisibility is deliberate, since people tend to venerate visible angels in ways that border on worship. He distinguishes angels from the Holy Spirit (the third person of the Christian Trinity), emphasizing that the Holy Spirit indwells believers and is omnipresent, whereas angels are limited beings. He also explains the concept of theophanies: preincarnation appearances of Christ in angelic or human form in the Old Testament.

Graham examines key differences between angels and redeemed humans. Humans are made "a little lower than the angels" yet will be elevated above them at the resurrection. Angels cannot testify to salvation by grace, since they have never sinned and been saved. Unfallen angels need no redemption, and fallen angels, who rebelled without any external tempter, cannot be redeemed. Their total number remains constant, though Graham speculates that perhaps one-third fell with Lucifer, the exalted angel whose pride led him to rebel against God and become Satan.

He describes the organizational hierarchy of angelic beings. Michael, the sole archangel named in Scripture, is identified primarily with the defense of Israel. Gabriel appears four times in the Bible, always bearing good news, including the announcements of the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. The seraphim, found only in Isaiah 6, hover above God's throne and continually praise His name. The cherubim, depicted in Ezekiel 10 with wings, hands, and eyes, are associated with God's glory; they guarded Eden and were incorporated into the design of the Ark of the Covenant, a sacred chest housing the tablets of the Law.

Graham traces the origin of evil to Lucifer's rebellion. Originally the most brilliant of all created beings, Lucifer declared five times "I will" in Isaiah 14, each assertion expressing his desire to usurp God's throne. As many as one-third of the angelic hosts may have joined his revolt. Graham maintains that Satan's primary strategy is to inject doubt, as demonstrated in the Garden of Eden when the serpent questioned God's command and enticed Eve, the first woman, to rationalize disobedience. The consequences of Adam and Eve's fall demonstrate sin's contagious power, and Graham insists that only being "born again" through faith in Christ can overcome Satan's deceptions.

Angels serve as personal messengers and divine protectors. Graham illustrates this through biblical accounts: the prophet Daniel received an angel whose arrival had been delayed by a demon prince until Michael intervened; the patriarch Jacob encountered angels at Mahanaim and wrestled with a mysterious figure who renamed him Israel; and Moses saw a burning bush in which the angel of the Lord appeared and God commissioned him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Graham cites the prophet Elisha, whose servant panicked at a surrounding army until Elisha prayed for his eyes to be opened, revealing hills filled with horses and chariots of fire. He also shares the testimony of Corrie ten Boom, a Christian prisoner at the Nazi Ravensbruck concentration camp, who prayed for angels and successfully smuggled a Bible past multiple guard inspections. Graham distinguishes between those in Hebrews 11 who received miraculous deliverance and those who suffered without visible rescue, arguing that the latter endured by faith alone and will receive greater heavenly reward.

Angels also act as God's agents of judgment. Graham recounts how angels destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, struck an Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers in one night, and slew the firstborn of Egypt during the Exodus, sparing only households that had sprinkled blood on their doorposts. He connects this last episode to the principle of substitutionary atonement, the belief that Christ died in humanity's place.

Though angels cannot preach the gospel themselves, they facilitate its proclamation. An angel directed the evangelist Philip to the Ethiopian nobleman; an angel instructed Cornelius, a Roman soldier, to send for the apostle Peter; and an angel told the apostle Paul during a shipwreck that he must stand trial before Caesar, revealing God's plan for the gospel to reach Rome. Graham surveys angels throughout Jesus' life: Gabriel announced His birth to Mary, the woman chosen to bear Jesus; an angel confirmed the incarnation (God becoming human in Jesus) to Joseph, Mary's betrothed; angels ministered to Jesus after His temptation in the wilderness; and an angel strengthened Him in the Garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion. At the cross, Jesus refused to summon the angels poised to rescue Him, because only through His death could humanity be saved. At the resurrection, an angel rolled away the tomb's stone, and at the ascension, two angels assured the disciples He would return.

Looking toward the future, Graham argues that history moves toward a climax before Christ returns with His holy angels. Angels will separate the righteous from the wicked. In the prophesied final battle, Michael and his angels will fight Satan, an angel will bind him in a bottomless pit, and God will ultimately consign him to the lake of fire forever. Graham envisions a transformed earth after Christ's return, with deserts blooming and humanity's greatest drive becoming a thirst for righteousness.

Graham examines angels at death, arguing they escort believers into God's presence. He recounts his own grandmother's death, during which she reported seeing Jesus, her late husband, and angels as the room filled with heavenly light. He acknowledges that death remains fearsome but insists that Christ cleared a path through Satan's domain at Calvary, the site of Jesus' crucifixion, and that holy angels guard believers through their final passage.

Graham contends that angels are constant spectators of human life, citing the apostle Paul's statement that believers are a "spectacle" to angels. He closes with wartime accounts of apparent angelic provision, including American marines trapped during the Korean War who prayed and found a wild boar that inexplicably dropped dead before them, followed by a Korean stranger who led them to safety and then vanished. Graham urges readers to come to Christ, assuring them that angels rejoice at each conversion and will escort believers into God's presence at death.