What a sweet musical cherub with rose colored wings and a lyre. It look as though he is sitting in front to a city and perhaps that i the ocean in the back ground as well.
This is a painting by Frerico Zuri, and it does capture your imagination as to what the pensive little angel is doing there. he appears to have something on his mind, was he sent as a ministering spirit, waiting for his charge to come up the road?
Rebecca Jones
Like many of my posts, I decided to make my own version of a detail from a painting. I cropped this to highlight the cherub, am not sure where it is from.
Using a child as model is not unusual, and even for a cherub. This painting is by Sir Joshua Reynolds. It is in the Tate Museum. It was painted in 1786-7. It shows the head of a five year old Lady Frances Gordon from five angels, making her appear to be five different angels,
It was actually painted as four then five, so there were two sittings. In different years. The mother outlived the daughter by ten years and donated the picture in 1841, to the National Gallery, It was copied over as many as 314 times for an ivory prayer book cover. There were many reproductions, titled The Cherub Choir, and even carvings into memorials.
Recently, the picture was used on a First Day Cover to promote the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’s ‘Year of the Child’. The most unusual is the use of the image in on badges awarded to student midwives at St. Mary’s Hospital, Manchester.
Iti s also said that reynolds, who had no children, and was somewhat deaf paid little attention when his miniature models complained of getting tired.
Frances passed away in 1831 at only 49, I have yet to learn what happened to her. Thought this is public domain I am leaving the Tate’s link as asked regarding a CCO license.
May the angels of God guide you to His angelic and peaceful rest, away from all the chaos and confusion that burden our souls. May He grant you His peace that he left you as a gift, unlike the world’s peace, it is sacred, holy and precious. John 14:27
You can trust Him and rely on Him and rest in His favor and grace, knowing He keeps His promises and that no weapon of the enemy will prosper or even come near you as He begins to deliver you seven ways. Job 5:19
You can rest because His peace and presence are near. His Spirit resides in every believer, and His heart is close to your broken heart. He restores souls and mend hearts and calms us the with balm of His Spirit and the beauty of His words.
If you are in a hard place today and need His rest, I pray He charges angels to send to you and that you sleep in angelic rest and repose with no fear.
He loves with an everlasting love, and we should rest in that gift of peace, what the enemy would destroy, destroys him instead. I pray you all rest, and sleep the sleep of the beloved. Psalm 127:2
If you visit the Basilica di Santa Cecilia in Trastevere façade, and gently ring the bell, you’ll be admitted the entrance to the Monastery of Benedectine nuns. From there, you’ll ascend to the “Coro delle monache”, where some remains of the medieval frescoes of Christ and angels painted by Pietro Cavallini and assistants still disclose the beauty of their vivid colors to visitors’ admiration.
Here is a more complete version, this would be a wonderful stop if you visited Italy. Basilica di Santa Cecilia in Trastevere.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Cecilia_in_Trastevere
What a great image of an angel comforting Pilate’s wife, likely Procula Claudia, a title. although the Bible doesn’t specify that, either the name or the angel, The name is tradition. “Le Rêve de la femme de Pilate” (“The dream of Pilate’s wife”). Engraving by Alphonse François (1814-1888) after Gustave Doré, an earlier painter, it is amazing, isn’t it?
Of course, we remember this lady the crucifixion story. She was so troubled by a dream that she has a message sent to her husband, Pilate, who is ruling over Jesus’ trial. She tells him of her troubling dream.
Of course, Pilate will wash his hands of it, being familiar with Jewish customs. Still people will debate who killed Jesus, the Romans or Jews, the truth is we all did, because we are just born with a sinful nature after the fall, and also no one, since He willingly gave His life.
No one could have taken Him without His consent, even after Gethsemane, the power of God knocks over those sent to get Him, He can still heal an ear and get Peter off the hook. Let’s look at the dream in the word.
While Pilate was still seated on the bench, his wife sent him a message, ‘Have nothing to do with that righteous man. I suffered much in a dream today because of him.’” Matthew 27:19
One verse, that says it all. It doesn’t actually tell what the dream is about. Claudia’s story has been told as a play and in story form. People will naturally, use their own interpretation.
Whether or not she was tempted to stop the crucifixion, or knew He was the Son of God, and didn’t want her husband to take part in it isn’t clear, but God doesn’t do anything without a reason.
We know that even some high ranking officials thought He was innocent, many did become followers. Notice she uses the word righteous, righteousness is what He gave us by taking on the cross.
Galatians 3:13, say, you are cursed to hang from a tree. And Jesus took our curses to give us blessings. Our unrighteousness, to give us His righteousness, and access to His Father, see why it is so important as a believer to understand righteousness and not condemnation,
Still the Spirit will bring conviction and you must believe. To prove His love, He was crucified, when the Jewish punishment was stoning. And even before, beaten and scourged, when it should have been one or the other. His trial was held at night, that never happened before. They broke a lot of rules to crucify Him, and He in return broke curses.
Just as He touched and healed what was forbidden to, breaking their rules but in reality fulfilling them, and He still does. He is the resurrection and life. The I AM. Such powerful love, He could have let an angel warn or comfort her.
The Archangel Michael who accompanies the Lord on His return, who is above or over Israel, who put the devil out without railin on him, and who will prevail over him before he gets put in the lake of fire.
Michael is one of only four angels named in the Bible, the only one called an archangel but Gabriel could be and even the devil many have been before falling from the third heaven into our atmosphere, the other angel is Abbadon, or Apollyon, the one with the key to the bottomless pit.
It is interesting that Jesus took the keys to death, hell and the grave but not the bottomless pit. Could that be where the lake of fire is. I don’t know. I am only glad that we serve a risen Lord and will not face that end, so if you do not know Jesus, please ask Him into your heart as Lord.
There are many more good angels than bad, and there is a powerful one named Michael, and he defends God’s chosen people and directs and assists other angels.
For your angel study today, we have the story of Balaam. This story had been considered a made up one added later to texts. But Balaam was likely a real person with real problems like many of us. He is mentioned as being summoned by Balak, the king. We are taking God at His word. He had to use people as He could until Jesus came, and people received an indwelling of His Spirit. He was a real but a heathen. God did speak by His spirit to him, divination as the heathen called it is much different to the prophetic words given by God
Now how does a heathen become a prophet? The Holy Spirit came upon people in those days, not like being in us now as believers. He believed in God, and made sacrifices, was a bit hypocritical and perhaps greedy. He was supposed curse Israel but could not.
Now the camp was laid out in a pattern, and not many people know that the twelve tribes had aligned their tents just so. So what did he see when he look at the camp but a cross? He could not curse what God had blessed and the people to whom a Messiah was promised. Instead he tells the king to make peace and mingle, that wasn’t the right thing to do either, he would have brought in idolatry. The story is in Numbers 22,23,24.
In short God tells him to do what He says, and he cannot curse Israel to Balak’s dismay, even for money And the donkey, he has hit her three times because she won’t go past the Angel of the Lord, probably Jesus.
Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish I had a sword in my hand, for then I would kill you.” And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long to this day? Is it my habit to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.”
Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand. And he bowed down and fell on his face. And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me. The donkey saw me and turned aside before me these three times. If she had not turned aside from me, surely just now I would have killed you and let her live.” Then Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood in the road against me. Now therefore, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.” And the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you. Numbers 22:28-35
Now, if this was indeed Jesus, note He says that He would have killed him and let the donkey lived. I am not attempting to add to anything, but allow you to be killed may be a better translation for we know John 10:10, that Jesus give life and live more abundantly, and He obeys the Father, it is the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy. Why an apparent discrepancy, it isn’t. God the blame for a lo in those days as His plan of redemption was being revealed, there were occult practices, even using the words oracle. It is just the way people thought they were heathens for the most part. God used discretion to keep them from following the enemy to hell,
Today, is not a lot different, there are still false doctrines and practices and you need to worship in Spirit and truth and ask the Holy Spirit to discern, that said, here is a bad man used by God for good,
God is not man, that He should lie,
or a son of man, that He should change His mind.
Has He said, and will He not do it?
Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it? Numbers 23:19, the words of a prophet.
Angels probably don’t have hearts like our as spiritual beings but we have spiritual hearts. God created them to be servants and to do His bidding and has commanded them to be in charge of us .
Psalm 103:20 explains how they hearken to His words, while we are children of God and not just servants or slaves, we have works He has appointed for us though we are saved by grace and not works.
He wants to in effect have an angel heart. So let’s purpose this week to be busy with some of the good works he would have us do. To be kinder, gentler and more patient. You could make a list.
Let start with a few of these.
Let’s think more before we speak.
Encourage someone.
Pray for someone, personally.
Phone an old friend.
Write a letter.
Buy someone lunch.
Read some angel verses aloud.
Recognize that angels are near.
Purpose to let His love have room in your heart, it is a place the enemy would love to move in on or oppress. But God is love and He wants us to have a heart like His or even a figurative, ” angel heart. ”
Recently, I wrote about Zechariah and the contradiction of Mary’s faith to his and now I am having to backtrack a little. We have to wonder if what appears to be a punishment is actually a gift?
While Mary, a maiden believed, a priest in the temple had trouble believing. So I am apologizing for my oversight. God really did reach out to him, and allowed him to be mute and not argue with the angel.
It was a sort of vow of silence. I always wondered about those. I like to talk myself, so I know it often hard not to, and if it is for me, it probably is for you and surely a priest would be no different.
It is such a temptation to doubt and question, when you don’t see immediate results, but we can learn a lot from this story, ans even be a little less critical. It is the difference between saved and going to heaven faith, and Abrahamic faith.
The takeaway is a lesson on silence and rest. He should have rested in God’s promise and rested as Mary did. Let’s get into the rest of Hebrews 4, and if we need to, have a bit of holy silence.
Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov
On Angel's Wings 