The Exorcist's Bestiary

In a deliverance session, you have to discern between the voices of demons, the Holy Spirit, and the participant. But in one particular case, we seemed to bump into a few angels. After counseling the participant through some childhood pain, the angels remarked, “We have seen and we will judge. There’s a weight to watch. And yet we bear it. There will be justice. Do you accept?”

The participant accepted the offer, was told to leave it in God’s hands, and then looked at me with confusion. “Do angels judge?” they asked.

“They do,” I responded. It’s always fun when someone experiences the dynamics of Scriptural elements they’re unaware of.

In Genesis 18-19, angels were sent to check out Sodom and Gomorrah and report back on what they see. In the book of Job, an angel that was assigned to roam the earth came back and expressed his frustration with humanity’s unfaithfulness. In 1 Kings 22, God’s divine council gave God ideas on how to successfully end King Ahab’s reign. In Daniel 4, King Nebuchadnezzar was given a verdict created by the angels. In Zechariah 1, angels are seen patrolling the earth. And perhaps most specifically to my participant’s experience, in Matthew 18, Jesus gives a stern warning to those who oppress children, inferring that the angels are watching them and will give a report of their behavior directly to God.

It’s no wonder the angel in Job is so bitter toward humanity. The stories I hear in deliverance sessions are weighty. How heavy a job it must be for immortal beings to witness our sins throughout the eons and have to weigh in on how to deal with our oppression. May a generation arise that is so transformed by the Holy Spirit that the remaining faithful angels catch a break.