Categories of Angels

God can speak to us through dreams and visions (for one of many examples see Genesis 41:25), but we can also partner with angels to decree what He reveals to us.

When we see a natural event with a prophetic interpretation we may call in God’s angelic hosts to decree and release the word of the Lord for that event.

The Eternal Family Business

Did you know that believers are heirs to the Kingdom? We are part of God’s royal family because we have been adopted as His sons and daughters; and as such, we get to partake in the governing of the Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven. We are also blessed to have the whole of Heaven backing us in our walk here on earth. While God created angels to help us and minister to us, we do well to heed Colossians 2:18-19 (NIV):

Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

Angels are servants, but they will never inherit what we will inherit as members of God’s family. God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—not angels, is the One we seek after first and foremost.

If we imagine the Kingdom of God to be like an eternal family business, we could liken angels to being employees of the company. Picture a private organization: there is the owner or proprietor of the company, and working for the owner is the CEO. The CEO will never freely inherit the business although he may have an opportunity to buy into it. Then there is the owner’s son who comes in to learn the ropes and be groomed for eventual ownership of the organization. He will freely inherit and take over the company when the time is right. We, as the heirs of God, receive free access to all of the perks from the business owner, God, because one day we will corporately own the family business.

Now, some CEOs are intimidated by this. They signed up to serve the original owner, not his son, and according to their estimation they have more knowledge and experience than the son. I believe there is a parable in this organizational structure that can be used to describe the fall of satan. Satan was delegated to a high level of management in the Kingdom of Heaven; but when the Son of God inherited the Kingdom, satan realized he would never have full control. In jealousy he rebelled, fell from his position, and was cast away.

Mobilizing Angels

As heirs to the Kingdom, believers have all the authority of the Kingdom in Christ Jesus and are seated higher than the angels. This means that believers have the authority to mobilize them as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6:3: “Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?”

Psalm 103:20 states that angels do the bidding of the Word: “Bless the Lord, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word.”

However, we do not exert authority over angels or even demons according on our own carnal opinions. In the King James Bible, the book of Jude 1:8 and 9 says:

Likewise also, these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst [dare] not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke you.

Not even the archangel Michael resorted to slanderous accusations nor spoke out of his own opinion against the devil; he used the Word of the Lord. We, too, are to use the Word of God when we mobilize angels into action, and we should never slander angels nor use them for slanderous works against others. This is true for rebuking fallen angels too. Although we call them demons, they are in fact fallen angels and as such we need to use the Word of the Lord when we rebuke them.

Angels will only respond to our decrees when we declare out of a revelatory understanding of being a son or daughter. When we walk in the fullness of God inside us, recognizing the Kingdom we have inherited, we can decree healings, deliverance, and revival. We can call upon an army of angels to go forth when we release the revelatory Word of God over the people to whom we are ministering.

Ministering Spirits

Some people freak out when I start talking about angels. They think that by talking about them I am worshipping them—but I don’t worship them, I simply understand that they work alongside all of us as ministering spirits.

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? (Hebrews 1:14 KJV)

When your pastor is speaking from the pulpit, he is ministering to you. Do you worship him? Surely not. You don’t worship your pastor, but you do receive from him because he is a minister, releasing the Word of God. Ministering spirits, or angels, exist in the unseen world, that is, the spiritual realm. When they release the Word of the Lord, you can receive from them like you receive from your pastor. Angels will work together with you when you speak out the revelatory word released to you. Just as you would read your Bible for yourself and not just blindly follow what is being taught from the pulpit, you also would test the angels when they release words to you.

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world (1 John 4:1 KJV).

It is for this reason the Scripture exhorts us to “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15 NASB).

Various Angelic Roles

There is a great gallery of angels that operate in different roles. I describe here the most commonly encountered angels that interact with us at God’s command.

As mentioned in the book of Revelation, there are revelatory angels that bring the revelation of Jesus Christ and the spirit of prophecy. Acts 7:38 and 53: Galatians 3:19, and Hebrews 2:2 all refer to angels being used by God to reveal His Word. Angels also announce important messages, such as the births of John the Baptist and Jesus in Luke 1:11 and 26 and Matthew 1:20. In the Last Days, angels will be used to announce key events as mentioned in Revelation 14:6.

I have often received answers to my questions through the ministry of revelatory angels. Commissioned by the Father, their task is to bring insight when natural wisdom doesn’t discern all the layers of a situation. An example of this in my own life took place in 2006, the year before Field of Dreams church was planted. For me, this was a season of fasting and intense prayer in the spirit. I was awakened from sleep to experience my spirit stepping out of my body and go from the bedroom to the living room. It was clear to me that I was not sleepwalking. I knew the difference because my then eight-year-old daughter frequently walked in her sleep at that time. My daughter would be in her body but plainly sound asleep, whereas I was wide awake yet not in my body. My attention was drawn to what I could see outside, through the double glass doors. Manifesting as a mist, like a glory cloud, I could see what seemed to be a great company of angels surrounding the house.

Then a single angel, who seemed to me to be the one in charge, appeared before me in the room and handed me a leather-bound book. The cover of the book was embossed with the word “Resolve.” I opened the book and 2007 appeared at the top of the page, like a diary. There were other writings but they were all in a foreign language that I couldn’t understand. Suddenly, there was an instant download of the language into my understanding and a massive impartation into my being. I received understanding of what I would be doing in 2007.

After that experience things changed. During 2007, my friend Todd Weatherly planted Field of Dreams and asked me to come onboard to assist him. I started having dramatic prophetic insight and revelation, having visions and receiving understanding for dream interpretation. This was the beginning of the flow for understanding and interpreting other people’s dreams. My ability to interpret went to another level. That same angel who came to me the night my spirit left my body now stands with me as I receive visions and dream interpretations.

I don’t see this angel with my natural sight; but when I sense him standing behind me, the visions come quickly. Some dreams are quite abstract, but this angel gives me insight so that I know what the Holy Spirit is saying. Sometimes the interpretation is literal; sometimes it comes as a parable, which is when I get the personal details of people’s lives—details that only the Holy Spirit could tell me. This is when He unlocks the secrets and mysteries of people’s hearts.

In this highly charged atmosphere, faith manifests in response to words of knowledge and ministry is effortless. When the Spirit prompts me to give information—details about someone’s child, for example: the circumstances of the birth or a particular physical condition—and God heals the person, that is when the room is primed by faith and a domino effect of miracles takes place. It’s fair to say that when the angelic realm is activated, anyone can act on words of knowledge like this. The key is in knowing how to activate the angelic realm.

I want to qualify that encounter by standing it alongside the Scriptures concerning Daniel. When Daniel had a troubling vision of the future of his people, an angel came to Daniel saying,

Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words (Daniel 10:12 NASB).

Daniel desired understanding and the angel came to give him revelation. Angels will do that: minister understanding of dreams and their interpretation. In the same way we, too, can ask the Lord to instruct ministering spirits to minister to us. The Holy Spirit is the One who gives the interpretation, but the ministering spirits equip you by bringing the atmosphere of revelation that increases insight.

There are healing angels, as made clear in the account of the sick man who waited by the Pool of Bethesda:

For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatever disease he had (John 5:4 KJV).

In the pre-New Testament era, people were familiar with locational portals, such as the Pool of Bethesda, where they could wait for a sign that a healing angel had ascended and descended with healing gifts. At the Pool of Bethesda, the sign was the water beginning to ripple, stirred up by the arrival of the angel. This is not a quaint folk tale—it is real. There are many of these healing angels. When I have visions about those who need healing, I immediately begin to decree the healing power of Yeshua. When I see the healing angel standing beside someone, I declare the Word of the Lord and the miraculous begins to take place.

When I am ministering, the revelatory angels open the eyes of my spirit so that I see visions of the healing angels standing behind people who are afflicted with disease and infirmity. Then, with the word of knowledge I can call out these people for prayer. I see this all around the world; but in this instance, I will use an example that took place in Brisbane, Australia. I was ministering with my good friend and coauthor Adrian Beale when I saw the healing angel standing in the crowded room. I called forward a woman with a word of knowledge that she had a lump in her throat. I began to decree Isaiah 53, “By Your stripes, Lord, this woman is healed! I decree for the healing angel to usher in the healing power of Yeshua!” Later, this woman testified she had been afflicted with the lump for ten years, but after prayer the lump melted away and she was completely healed. You can see her giving her testimony and glorifying God on video.1

There are angels that impart physical strength. In Daniel 10 we see how angels can strengthen a man. Daniel was overwhelmed to the point of physical weakness by the vision he had of the future of his people. When he saw the magnificent angel he declared,

…Oh my lord, as a result of the vision anguish has come upon me, and I have retained no strength. For how can this servant of my lord talk with you, my lord? For how can such a servant of my lord talk with such as my lord? As for me, there remains just now no strength in me, nor has any breath been left in me (Daniel 10:16-17 NASB).

Then the angelic being who, interestingly, had the appearance of a man, touched Daniel and strengthened him, saying, “‘O man of high esteem, do not be afraid. Peace be with you; take courage and be courageous!’ Now as soon as he spoke to me I received strength and said, ‘Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me’” (Daniel 10:16-19 NASB).

There are two recorded occasions where angels ministered strength to Jesus. The first took place during the wilderness temptation, “And He [Jesus] was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him” (Mark 1:13).

The second occasion was in the Garden of Gethsemane, “‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.’ Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him (Luke 22:42-43).

There are deliverance, or protective, angels. These deliverance angels are all around us, as are all the serving beings of the heavenly realms. They are just waiting for us to activate them with God’s Word. The Bible is full of Scriptures that confirm their presence. The following are two examples:

For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone (Psalm 91:11-12).

The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them (Psalm 34:7).

An angel set Peter free from prison and delivered him from the hands of Herod and from the expectations of the Jewish people:

Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him (Acts 12:7-10).

The Bible is full of examples of these delivering angels; the following is a selection:

My God sent His angel and shut the lion’s mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him… (Daniel 6:22).

Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? (Matthew 26:53)

and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, “Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life” (Acts 5:18-20).

Several years ago while praying for a woman at Field of Dreams church, a revelatory angel gave me a vision of this woman’s friend. I saw that the friend had a teenage son who was depressed and suicidal. The woman I was praying for confirmed this and became very emotional about this situation. So we prayed God’s Word together, decreeing and prophesying over the boy. We called for a delivering angel to minister the delivering power of Yeshua to him. We decreed Isaiah 61 and Luke 4:18 concerning setting the captive free and binding up the brokenhearted. The angels respond at the speed of thought to the Word of the Lord, and we knew immediately that something had shifted in the spirit. Three days later the boy attempted to hang himself, but he was not successful and he suffered no significant injury. We believe a delivering angel intervened to release him from a spirit of death. All glory to God!

There are angels that provide or bring prosperity. Genesis 24:40 tells us the story of Abraham sending his servant out to find and bring back a bride for Isaac with these words,

“The Lord, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house.”

First Kings 19:5-6 (KJV) tells of the provision of bread and water for Elijah:

And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baked on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.

Matthew 4:11 shows that angels attended to Jesus after being tempted by satan for 40 days. Then the devil left Him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto Him.

There are angels that bring judgment. Angels that bring judgment are also sometimes called destroying angels. Remember Sodom and Gomorrah? It only took two angels to wipe out sin and destroy a whole city:

When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city” (Genesis 19:15; see Genesis 19:1-25).

I’m not sure I would want those angels hanging out with me! The following are additional examples of angels bringing judgment:

And when the angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house” (2 Samuel 24:16-17).

And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead (2 Kings 19:35 and Isaiah 37:36).

And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was destroying, the Lord looked and relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite (1 Chronicles 21:15).

Then the Lord sent an angel who cut down every mighty man of valor, leader, and captain in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he [the king] returned shamefaced to his own land. And when he had gone into the temple of his god, some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword there (2 Chronicles 32:21).

Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him [Herod], because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died (Acts 12:23).

It was an angel who brought resurrection power on the third day:

And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow: And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men (Matthew 28:2-4).

This angel ushered in the dunamis power of God, which was witnessed as Christ was crucified and raised from the dead:

Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many (Matthew 27:51-53).

(More examples may be read in Ezekiel 9:2,5,7; Matthew 13:41-42, 49-50; 24:30; and Revelation 7:1-2; 8:2-13; 9:15; 15:1.)

What an intense revival these people witnessed. We are yet to see such resurrection power in this modern age.

Angels are used to release words of encouragement. When you speak to release the revelation of Jesus Christ and the Word of the Lord, you can be confident that the angels will activate it, or act on it. This is demonstrated in much of the Bible, including the following examples:

And God heard the voice of the lad. Then the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation” (Genesis 21:17-18).

Then behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. …Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words” (Daniel 10:10,12 NASB).

For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, “Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you” (Acts 27:23-24).

Both the Old and New Testaments are full of examples of angels that give instruction and bring direction. The angel Gabriel was sent to tell Zacharias that a son would be born to his wife Elizabeth. This son was to be named John and was the one who would prepare the people for the coming of Messiah. And the angel said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings” (Luke 1:19).

Then we read about the same angel, Gabriel, appearing to Mary to announce the birth and naming of Jesus:

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:26-33).

An angel told Joseph to accept as from God everything that was happening to Mary:

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20).

The angel also warned Joseph about Herod’s plan to kill the newborns and instructed him how to protect Jesus until the danger passed:

…behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and his mother, flee to Egypt and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him” (Matthew 2:13-23).

An angel instructed Philip to go to a desert road south of Jerusalem for a divine encounter with the Ethiopian court official (Acts 8:26); and in Acts 10:3-22 we learn an angel instructed Cornelius the Roman centurion to seek out Peter and invite him to speak to his family and household.

​In the Old Testament, the angel Gabriel was sent to Daniel to give him understanding of the visions of the ram and goat:

Then it happened, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision and was seeking the meaning, that suddenly there stood before me one having the appearance of a man. And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of the Ulai, who called, and said, “Gabriel, make this man understand the vision” (Daniel 8:15-16).

And so Gabriel proceeded to explain the significance of the ram and goat in the symbolic description of latter times (Daniel 8:17-27).

An angel came to Zechariah and brought an awakening (Zechariah 4:1-2). This angel working with the Holy Spirit ushers in an awakening that primes the minds and hearts of God’s people to receive eternal insight.

There are many other examples of instruction angels in the Old Testament, including those written about in Zechariah 1:8-10; 4:11-14; Daniel 7:15-16; and Job 33:22-26.

Summary

• We are heirs to the eternal family business.

• Angels are employees of the company.

• The Son is groomed to take over the business.

• In Him we are part of that corporate ownership.

• Believers mobilize angels when we decree out of revelatory understanding.

• Angels work alongside us as ministering spirits.

• Angel roles include:

  • Revelatory angels

  • Healing angels

  • Deliverance angels

  • Protective angels

  • Prosperity angels

  • Judgment/Destroying angels

  • Angels that bring instruction/direction/warning

  • An awakening angel