Angels are “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). Put simply, they are servants deployed by God to help those of us who trust in Christ.
That’s a beautiful reality to consider—angels help us. We don’t worship them (Revelation 19:10), nor do they know everything (1 Peter 1:12), nor do we have great insight into exactly how they work (most claims about angels are speculative rather than biblical). Still, what we do know is they serve us who are in Christ.
The question then becomes, How? And for sure there’s many ways. But one answer is clear—repeated three times in the book of Daniel. And it’s very encouraging.
Daniel, “O Man Greatly Loved”
In Daniel chapter 9, Daniel prays one of the most famous prayers in the Bible, confessing his people’s sin and acknowledging that they’re helpless and in need of God’s mercy. It’s a humble prayer and one which acknowledges that Daniel nor the people are righteous. In fact, they’re the opposite:
“O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations…For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy” (Daniel 9:18)
Daniel knows they desperately need God because they’re unrighteous. That’s the main point of the prayer. Which leads to the final words in his petition:
“O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name” (Daniel 9:19)
That’s how the prayer ends. Hear. Forgive. Pay attention. In short, we need help.
In such a setting, what would we assume God would do? Perhaps give Daniel a clear sense of his forgiveness. Or, on the other hand, perhaps let Daniel wait a while. Or any number of options. But in the story, it’s clear what happens right away, even during the prayer: Daniel is visited by the angel Gabriel.
Daniel’s praying this and one of those “ministering spirits sent to serve” arrives on the scene.
So what does Gabriel do? Well, he first tells Daniel why he’s there, which specifically is to aid Daniel in understanding the historical circumstances he’s in. But perhaps most interesting to us is how Gabriel then also right away gives the reason for his arrival—a reason for why he’s helping—serving—Daniel. What’s the reason? “For you are greatly loved” (Daniel 9:23).
This isn’t a one time statement either. In Daniel 10:10 it happens again. But that time, Daniel is addressed as, “O Daniel, man greatly loved.”
Then finally, it happens again, perhaps most climatically, in Daniel 10:19 where Daniel is touched by “one having the appearance of a man,” who Daniel later calls, “my Lord,” and this person (Jesus!?) begins by addressing Daniel as, “O man greatly loved, fear not” (Daniel 10:19).
In summary, Daniel is praying. Repenting. He’s unrighteous. He’s then approached by an angel, and later perhaps even by the Lord Jesus himself. And what’s a repeated theme in all that? How does the angel serve Daniel? By reminding Daniel, over and over, that he is loved. God sent the angel “for [he is] greatly loved.” Daniel’s identity is “O Daniel, man greatly loved.” And because of who Daniel is as a loved man, he need not fear.
Unearned Love
For us in our discouragement, this angelic answer is a balm to our souls.
This is especially something to keep in mind—with Daniel and his example of this happening during repentant prayer!—because we’re prone to feel loved mainly when we’re doing well. But that clearly wasn’t the case here. For Daniel makes it clear, this initial “you are loved” angelic encouragement came “while I was praying, confessing my sin” (Daniel 9:20). So, the angel didn’t tell him this because Daniel was great—the opposite, in fact.
The same is clear if you look at the context of Daniel 10:10 and 10:19. Those “you are loved” encouragements aren’t earned either. The angel (and again, perhaps Jesus himself) doesn’t come to Daniel with the encouragement that he’s loved because Daniel has done something to merit that love. Rather, Daniel simply is loved, by God—that’s the encouragement.
Yes, he is unrighteous. Yes, he’s in this historical predicament along with his people. But who is he? He is a man, defined not by his unrighteousness or lack of goodness, but God’s right, good love. He’s wrapped in God’s love, even in the midst of all his and Israel’s sin.
Do Angels Remind Us We’re Loved?
Which brings us back to the angel. So if that’s what happened back then, and these ministering angels still exist today (Hebrews 1:14, and some of the same exact angels may still be serving today, because, for example, we know Gabriel was still ministering hundreds of years after Daniel in the famous Christmas story)—but if that’s true, then the point for us is that angels may very well serve us as well by reminding us that we’re loved by God. In fact, that may be one of their main jobs—to nail that into our heads and hearts.
It sounds so simple. For when we picture angels roaming the earth, serving the saints, we probably image them fighting evil, swooping back and forth to and fro, and doing “big” or miraculous things. We don’t imagine them engaging in such a seemingly small task as reminding a Christian, “you are loved.”
But God’s people believing God love us is more important than we sometimes realize—for God’s glory, our good, and the world’s good. And not only that, but God’s people believing that is also harder to believe than we sometimes realize.
That’s the case especially when we’ve done wrong. It’s the case when, like Daniel, we’re smack-dab in the middle of realizing our sin. That’s when we struggle with believing we’re loved. But the angel reminds Daniel—and angels probably remind us more than we know—that we are loved. In the midst of our sin, even against the backdrop of our unrighteousness, we are loved by God in Christ—greatly loved.
If we can “entertain angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2), who knows how many times they’ve encouraged us unawares by reminding us we truly are loved.
