City Life Starter

Written by Scott Fiddler

The Word

The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth ² and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” ³ But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

Genesis 19:1-3 (ESV)

⁹ And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰ And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, ¹¹ and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Acts 1:9-11 (ESV)

Commentary

“Now, the two angels came to Sodom…” 

Why two angels? I couldn’t get past this first phrase in these three verses. I couldn’t figure out why the Lord sent two angels instead of just one. The angels were apparently powerful enough on their own to deal with the citizens of Sodom because when they continued to press against Lot’s door, the angels smote the Sodomites with blindness (Gen. 19:11).

So, I looked at other times in the Bible when two angels were reported being seen together. As I discussed in last week’s post, two angels appeared to Abraham, along with what appears to be the pre-incarnate Jesus (See Genesis 18:1-22). After “the Lord” departed, the two angels went on the Sodom ( Genesis 18:22, 33).

When the women came to Jesus’ tomb on Sunday morning, they found the stone rolled away, so they entered the tomb. When did not find Jesus’ body, they stood there trying to figure out what had happened, when “behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing…” The angels then reminded the women what Jesus said to them about his death and resurrection (Luke 24:4, 6-8).

In Acts 1:9-11, Jesus had just ascended to heaven in the presence of His disciples, and as the disciples were watching Him ascend, “behold two men in white clothing stood beside them.” The two men, presumably angels, told them Jesus had been taken into heaven and that He would return in the same way.

Application

The common denominator in these instances where two angels are seen together is that Jesus is, or had been, nearby. Then consider that when the Lord instructed Moses on the construction of the Ark of the Covenant, He commanded him to mold two gold angels with wings that spread out over the ark, where the presence of God resided (Exodus 25:18-22). 

I have noted here before (see July 4, 2022 post) that God is the Great Auteur of history and uses symbolism and signs to convey His message to humanity. Perhaps God’s design of the Ark of the Covenant, where two angels resided with the presence of God, was symbolic foreshadowing so we would know when two angels appeared later, first to Abraham, then to the women at the tomb and the disciples at the ascension, that the third Person who had been there in their midst was indeed divine.

Prayer

Lord, thank You for taking such care to communicate with mankind, so we can know You and see Your work. Amen.