What Do The Angels Want From Us?

Léon Bonnat, La Lutte de Jacob (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel), 1876
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:L%C3%A9on_Bonnat,_La_Lutte_de_Jacob_%28Jacob_Wrestling_with_the_Angel%29,_1876,_NGA_86066.jpg

This question was posed to me by a friend.  I never imagined an angel would want anything from humans.  Why?  Were they not assigned by God to be our protectors, benefactors and guides? What duty, if ;any , do we have to them?   

As usual, I turned to the good book to see what I could discover.  Of course I knew about the first angel to visit humans in the Garden -- Lucifer, angel of light and a fallen angel, tempts humans with the apple from the tree of knowledge. A story of pride and prejudice against the authority of God.  But what did Lucifer want? Genesis tells us to separate them from God and usurp their dominion over the earth. They were fooled and they were cast out. 

Later in Genesis Jacob wrestles with an angel desperate to receive a blessing before seeing his brother Esau. The angel injures him leaving him with a permanent limp as a reminder of his faith in God. What did this angel want?  To true up Jacob to his faith?  True him up to himself? 

There are many other instances of angelic encounters (about a dozen or so) but the one that really speaks to me is Lucifer tempting Christ when he was in the desert for 40 days.   Tempting him with food, and power and asking him to test God. We know that Christ is not tempted.  What did Lucifer want this time? He wanted Christ to abandon his mission of salvation and worship Lucifer instead.  

So what do the angels want?  The fallen angels want power for sure, but if we pull back the lens even farther we could say that the angels are asking humans to discern for themselves what is good and right and just by having them check in with themselves.  

• wait before eating the apple
• check in an find your faith
• remember your calling. 

The Quaker idea of discernment is the practice of listening for and aligning with the "Inner Light" (the voice of God or the Divine) to make decisions. Rather than relying solely on human logic, majority votes, or intellectual debate, Quakers view discernment as a deeply spiritual process of uncovering truth together in stillness. 

Could the Angels be asking this of us? Why not?  We are down here on earth really making a mess of things.  A little discernment would go a long way.

~ Joseph Olejak