When the Alien Armies Show Up and Cheer on Christmas
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.“ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, ”Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
Luke 2:11–14 ESV Read More
There aren’t many times in the Bible where men see angels. One is when Jacob sees angels ascending and descending a ladder or a staircase to heaven. Another is when Elisha and his servant look around at the armies and see chariots of fire all around the mountainside. (2 Kings 6) Isaiah saw angels when he got his mouth burnt and John saw angels at the end of the world around the throne in Heaven.
This moment in Luke is different than all of those. All of the angels in those scenes were in heaven. They were around the throne and they were worshipping God. Also in all of those scenes, they were in a vision to a prophet, not necessarily performing the current action in real time.
Except for that time with Elisha. When Elisha saw angels all over the mountainside, it was because there was a war on and they came to fight. Chuck Missler said ”Whenever the Bible mentions the heavenly host, you should hear armor clanking together. That’s a word used for an army.” In other words, when the angels show up around Elisha, they are there for war, and it’s the same for when they appear over the shepherds on Christmas night.
But these soldiers aren’t fighting, they are cheering.
Imagine being suddenly surrounded by an alien army, defenseless and mesmerized by their unfathomable power. (Pick your cheesy sci-fi action movie.) A dozen star destroyers come out of hyperdrive right over your campfire and your sheep. These angels were that alien to those guys.
You know you are doomed and the earth is destroyed, and then it begins.
Cheering
Not just cheering, but the most ecstatic, ludicrous, shoot your gun in the air and cry-cheering of all time.
Aliens, soldiers, angels, only cheer like that when the war is over. They only rejoice like that when there is no more fighting to do and the last battle is done.
That is what the shepherds got to see. They got the news: God has won and made peace with Mankind and then they saw the party in heaven. It was a throw-all-your-paper-off-your-desk-and-in-the-air party. It was a sailor-kiss-the-nearest-nurse party. It was an all-of-the-angels-in-heaven-show-up-on-earth-and-holler party. (There is no mention of angels being a choir, it is as likely that they were rowdy like teenagers after winning state as it is that they were a choir!)
This Christmas, know that there was a war, but it ended in a manger. Angels didn’t show up to do battle that night, they showed up to drink champagne. We have even more reason to celebrate ever since.
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