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WAS it an angel?

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 1:01 pm
by Philip
Interesting story:

The current coach of the University of SC men's basketball, Frank Martin, once nearly died. Just married, he developed a very serious illness which quickly deteriorated. He couldn't move or speak, had a very high fever, and his organs were beginning to fail. The doctors were clueless, thought he might even have pancreatic cancer, and might not survive. In the midst of all this, his uncle, who had flown in, stood at his bedside and began to pray for Frank's life. Suddenly, a mysterious Asian nurse appeared behind him, and began to pray with him, and blessed all in God's name. The nurse passed his wife on the way out of the room, and she assured her that Martin would be okay. Within hours of this, his fever broke, and by the next day, all of his symptoms were gone. The odd thing is, no staff or doctors knew of any such nurse, insisted they were mistaken, and all were completely baffled. I wonder if it could have been an angel? y:-?

Here's a short ESPN video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mrdXzJeYcw

Re: WAS it an angel?

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 2:23 pm
by RickD
I'm not saying that it couldn't have been an angel, but I'm skeptical.

When we test this story against scripture, do we find anywhere in scripture, that God used angels that appeared as women, to do good?

Re: WAS it an angel?

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 3:46 pm
by Philip
I agree that this would seem unlikely. However, maybe "angel" isn't the correct term.

While we've not been told of female angels - actually, I don't believe there is a feminine form of the word. But consider Zechariah 5:9: "Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! kThe wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven."

So, in this vision, there are chicks with wings. Is the verse merely metaphorical?

Re: WAS it an angel?

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 4:13 pm
by RickD
Philip wrote:I agree that this would seem unlikely. However, maybe "angel" isn't the correct term.

While we've not been told of female angels - actually, I don't believe there is a feminine form of the word. But consider Zechariah 5:9: "Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! kThe wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven."

So, in this vision, there are chicks with wings. Is the verse merely metaphorical?
I tend to think that since it was a vision, the two women are symbolic.

Re: WAS it an angel?

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 4:18 pm
by Philip
Rick: but I'm skeptical.
YOU, skeptical? Nooooooooooo! :pound:

Re: WAS it an angel?

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 4:40 pm
by RickD
Philip wrote:
Rick: but I'm skeptical.
YOU, skeptical? Nooooooooooo! :pound:
I'm definitely a skeptic. But I can morph into a cynic when necessary. ;)

Re: WAS it an angel?

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 6:05 pm
by Philip
The other thing that occurs to me is that God may have miraculously used a human being to accomplish this. Didn't have to be an angel.

Re: WAS it an angel?

Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 7:30 pm
by RickD
Philip wrote:The other thing that occurs to me is that God may have miraculously used a human being to accomplish this. Didn't have to be an angel.
See...you can be reasonable.

Re: WAS it an angel?

Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 9:03 am
by B. W.
Heb 13:2...Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. NKJV

In the bible angelic beings appeared in human form so it is no surprise to me that one came in the image of an Asian nurse.

God changes not, yet chrsitan folks like to simply remove the supernatural elements out of the bible... at all cost.
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Re: WAS it an angel?

Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 9:07 am
by RickD
B. W. wrote:Heb 13:2...Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. NKJV

In the bible angelic beings appeared in human form so it is no surprise to me that one came in the image of an Asian nurse.

God changes not, yet chrsitan folks like to simply remove the supernatural elements out of the bible... at all cost.
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If God changes not, then why did He start using angels who appear as female humans?

Re: WAS it an angel?

Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 2:44 pm
by Storyteller
RickD wrote:
B. W. wrote:Heb 13:2...Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. NKJV

In the bible angelic beings appeared in human form so it is no surprise to me that one came in the image of an Asian nurse.

God changes not, yet chrsitan folks like to simply remove the supernatural elements out of the bible... at all cost.
-
-
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If God changes not, then why did He start using angels who appear as female humans?
Because nurses tend to be female?

Re: WAS it an angel?

Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 2:51 pm
by RickD
Storyteller wrote:
RickD wrote:
B. W. wrote:Heb 13:2...Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. NKJV

In the bible angelic beings appeared in human form so it is no surprise to me that one came in the image of an Asian nurse.

God changes not, yet chrsitan folks like to simply remove the supernatural elements out of the bible... at all cost.
-
-
-
If God changes not, then why did He start using angels who appear as female humans?
Because nurses tend to be female?
Image

Re: WAS it an angel?

Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 8:34 pm
by JButler
B. W. wrote:Heb 13:2...Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. NKJV

In the bible angelic beings appeared in human form so it is no surprise to me that one came in the image of an Asian nurse.

God changes not, yet christian folks like to simply remove the supernatural elements out of the bible... at all cost.
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That is exactly what Dr. Michael Heiser states and that's why he's written a number of books, to put the supernatural back into the Bible. After all, the Bible is pretty much about supernatural and spiritual things in the Unseen Realm. Everything is supernatural and spiritual, even our radar blip physical existence is surrounded by/permeated by spiritual forces 24/7.

It baffles me why people use creeds, doctrines, theologies and philosophies masquerading as theologies. My theory is human nature doesn't understand the deepness of the Scriptures or depth/breadth of God. Because they don't understand they try to strip out anything "weird", odd, mysterious, or that just flat out does not fit their ideas. They like to have God and his message and realm to be packaged and stuffed into a little tidy box, that way they can grasp (they think) the Bible in a logical, explainable configuration. Maybe it gives them a feeling of control, I don't know. I suspect its a human pride issue.

Whatever the exact reason(s) people do this, the fact remains the Bible is so awesome, so deep, so wonderous, so complex yet simple, that it continually awes me. This awe is thanks to right teachers per my prayers to God to lead me to correct learning and keep away false doctrines and beliefs.

Re: WAS it an angel?

Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2018 5:48 am
by RickD
Why must everything be an extreme?

Instead of an extreme statement like, "christian folks like to simply remove the supernatural elements out of the bible... at all cost.", why not be more practical and realize that some people don't look to blame the devil when people sin? Or, when there's a perfectly logical, natural explanation for something, why make it into a miracle?

God works through the natural, and logical, much more than He uses miracles. It's all part of the natural world in which we live.

Re: WAS it an angel?

Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2018 10:16 am
by Philip
God works through the natural, and logical, much more than He uses miracles. It's all part of the natural world in which we live.
And yet, the natural world is all part of a massive, ongoing miracle of sustaining the Creation. Compartmentalizing God's works, or how He might be working - while we often can't know, we shouldn't discount the possible nuances in how he might have done this or that. Of course, to balance that, unless we know or are told differently, we should see cautions about making certainties out of specific incidences. We can't know what we can't know. But we can always be open to how an unlimited God might operate - or how He might operate differently than we've ever previously known of.