........................................
The
Angelic Legions
Twelve Legions of Angels
Rick Renner
“Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” — Matthew 26:53
How much strength do
you think one angel possesses?
Today I’d like for us
to consider the full impact of Jesus’ words in Matthew 26:53, where He said, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my
Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?”
Let’s look at three
questions:
·
What is a “legion”?
·
How many angels would there be
in twelve legions?
·
What would be the combined
strength of this number of angels?
It is important to know the answers to these questions, because
the answers reveal the full might that was available to Jesus had He requested
supernatural help in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Actually, when we take into account the power that was already
demonstrated in the Garden and then add the potential assistance and impact of
twelve legions of angels, it becomes obvious that there was no human force on earth
strong enough to take Jesus against His will.
The only way He was going to be taken was if He allowed Himself to
be taken!
This is why He later told Pilate, “…Thou couldest have no power at all against
me, except it were given thee from above…” (John 19:11).
Let’s begin with our first
question: What is a “legion”?
The word “legion” is a
military term that was taken from the Roman army.
A legion denoted a group of at least 6,000 Roman soldiers,
although the total number could be higher.
This means that anytime we read about a legion of anything, we can
know it always refers to at least 6,000 of something.
An amazing example of this is found in Mark 5:9, where the Bible
tells us that the demon-possessed man of the Gadarenes had a legion of demons.
That means this man had an infestation of at least 6,000 demons
residing inside him!
Let’s now contemplate the second
question: How many angels would there be in twelve
legions?
Since the word “legion”
refers to at least 6,000, it means a
legion of angels would be at least 6,000
angels.
However, Jesus said the Father would give Him “more than” twelve legions of angels if He requested it.
Because it would be pure speculation to try to figure out how many
“more than” twelve legions would be,
let’s just stick with the figure of twelve legions to see how many angels that
entails.
One legion is 6,000 angels, so if you simply multiply that number
by twelve, you’ll discover that twelve legions of angels would include a
minimum of 72,000 angels.
But Jesus said the Father would give Him “more than” twelve legions of angels; therefore,
you can conclude that there were potentially many additional thousands of
angels available to Jesus the night He was arrested!
Finally, let’s look at our third question: What would be the combined strength in this number of
angels?
Angels are powerful! In fact, Isaiah 37:36 records that a single
angel obliterated 185,000 men in one night.
So if a single angel had that kind of power, how much combined
strength would there be in twelve legions of angels?
Since a single angel was able to obliterate 185,000 men in one
night, it would mean the combined strength in a legion of 6,000 angels would be
enough to destroy 1,110,000,000 men (that is, one billion, one hundred ten
million men) — and that’s just the combined power in one legion of angels!
Now let’s multiply this same number 185,000 by twelve legions, or
at least 72,000 angels, which was the number of angels Jesus said was available
to Him on the night of His arrest.
When we do, we find that there was enough combined strength at
Jesus’ disposal to have annihilated at least 13,320,000,000 men (that is,
thirteen billion, three hundred twenty million men) — which is more than twice
the number of people living on the earth right now!
Jesus didn’t need Peter’s little sword that night.
Had He chosen to do so, Jesus could have summoned 72,000
magnificent, mighty, dazzling, glorious, overwhelmingly powerful angels to the
Garden to obliterate the Roman soldiers and the temple police who had come to
arrest Him.
In fact, the combined strength in twelve legions of angels could
have wiped out the entire human race!
But Jesus didn’t call on
the supernatural help that was available to Him. Why? Because He knew it was
time for Him to voluntarily lay down His life for the sin of the human race.
Learn a lesson from Jesus and from the apostle Peter.
Jesus didn’t need Peter’s undersized, insignificant sword to deal
with His situation.
What good would a single sword have been against all the troops
assembled in the Garden that night anyway?
Peter’s actions were a perfect example of how the flesh tries in
vain to solve its own problems but cannot. Jesus had all the power that was
required to conquer those troops.
As you face your own challenges in life, always keep in mind that
Jesus has the power to fix any problem you’ll ever come across.
Before you jump in and make things worse by taking matters into
your own hands, remember the story of Peter!
The next time you’re tempted to “grab a sword and start swinging,”
take a few minutes to remind yourself that Jesus can handle the problem without
your intervention.
Before you do anything else, pray and ask
the Lord what you are supposed to do.
Then after you receive your answer and follow His instructions,
just watch His supernatural power swing into action to solve the dilemma you
are facing!
My Prayer for Today
“Lord, I am so glad You have the power to put
an end to my problems! So many times I’ve acted just like Peter, swinging
furiously in the strength of my own flesh as I’ve tried to solve my problems
without Your help. Forgive me for wasting so much time and energy! Today I ask
You to speak to my heart and tell me what I am supposed to do; then help me
follow Your instructions to the letter. Give me the patience to wait while You
supernaturally work behind the scenes to resolve my questions.
I
pray this in Jesus’ name!”
My Confession for
Today
“I boldly and joyfully affirm that Jesus Christ has all the power
needed to fix my problems! I am not smart enough by myself to figure out how to
get out of my messes, so I turn to Him to give me wisdom, insight, power, and
the answers I need to get from where I am to where I need to be. His power
works mightily through me, and that divine power is being released right now to
tackle the challenges I face in life and bring me to a peaceful place of
resolution in every situation.
I declare this by faith in Jesus’ name!”
Questions to Answer
1. Has there ever been a moment in your
life when you got in a hurry and acted too fast — and then later regretted your
actions?
2. When you candidly examine your life,
do you find that the same problems keep resurfacing again and again? Does this
indicate that you are trying to solve those problems in the strength of your
flesh instead of relying on the power of Jesus to help you?
3. How does today’s Sparkling Gem cause you to look differently at
your challenges? What are you going to do differently as a result of what you
have read and learned today?
Over the years,
Rick and Denise Renner pioneered three churches, a Bible school, and a
ministerial association that serves thousands of Russian-speaking pastors
throughout the former USSR as well as parts of the Middle East. As Rick began
training and mentoring leaders in the early days, Denise also developed a
women’s ministry that is actively involved in changing the lives of women and
their families today. Specifically, they minister to the needs of orphans,
women prisoners, the homeless, and drug-and-alcohol addicts.
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