Heralding the Christmas Angels

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What did the first angel that appeared to the shepherds look like?

The angel is not described, but it must have been a being clothed in celestial light. The Bible says, "The glory of the Lord shone around them, and the shepherds were terrified" (Luke 2:9). When the multitude of heavenly hosts filled the sky, the heavens must have been filled with a spectacular light show.

Did the angels that later appeared to the shepherds sing?

"Hark the Herald angels sing..." are the lyrics to a beloved carol. But do angels really sing? Luke 2:13 portrays the heavenly hosts "praising God and

saying

" (King James Version). The New International version says "praising God

proclaiming

." In fact when the Bible quotes the words of an angel, the New Testament Greek always uses the introductory words "saying." This doesn’t mean angels never sing. The Apostle John heard the angels sing in Revelation 14:3. He wrote, "and the angels sang a new song, saying," but he introduces the words "they sang" with "saying." On that first Christmas the heavenly hosts could have been a verse-speaking choir. More likely it was a great anthem of joyful praise. Angels have a lot of experience doing that. In fact, according to Job, the angels sang for joy at the creation of the world (Job 38:7).

What was the meaning of the message the shepherds heard from the angels?

The familiar King James translation of Luke 2:14 was "peace, good will toward men." The King James translators were using the best available Greek text at the time based on a Greek manuscript which used the word

eudokia

(a

nominative noun

). Now scholars have discovered earlier Greek manuscripts that all have an extra

s

added to

eudokia

changing it to

eudokias

, a

genitive noun

. The New International Version correctly uses this new insight and translates the angel’s anthem of praise as "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom

his favor rests.

"

How did the angel appear to Joseph?

The angel appeared to Joseph in a dream three times. The Bible does not tell us why Mary was awake when Gabriel appeared to her, just that the angels always came to Joseph in dreams.

How often did Mary see angels?

There is no account in the Bible that Mary ever saw an angel again. By faith she had to face the difficult events surrounding her pregnancy such as the journey to Bethlehem and the search for a room. It must have been a tremendous joy for Mary when the shepherds arrived and said the angels announced the news about the birth of Jesus.