- Chapters: [[Hebrews 13]]:2 - What are [[Angel]]s? Not entirely obvious - Angels definitely exist as they are mentioned in the Bible, and [[God]] created them for various purposes: soldiers, messengers, helpers - They appear to have a hierarchy, as well as other associated things like [[Seraphim]] - [[Old Testament]] mentions that man are created lower than angels, but [[New Testament]] says that only humans can experience salvation - [[Billy Graham]] mentions that they were created beings (not to be confused as objects of worship) - They are also ageless and timeless and powerful - therefore it can be tempting to interpret the passage as "always show hospitality in case they are angels" - but not necessarily the correct take - more important may be the fact that there is a spiritual world we are alive to # Three spiritual realities ## - the speaker is from [[India]] so hospitality for her is "everything to the max" - they would often host for instance cousins brothers friend for multiple months as they do an internship or something - they had a principle to their hospitality -- willing to do whatever to help another get a leg up economically - consider what unites us -- the Kingdom of God is the principle that brings us together, and we should strongly consider inconveniencing ourselves to help others approach it - consider also [[Genesis 18]], where [[Abraham]] has a conversation regarding [[Sodom]] and [[Gomorrah]] about if He will save the towns if there are at least 1 good people - this is a form of hospitality as well ## - in [[Genesis 31]], [[Jacob]] decides to flee [[Laban]] but [[Rachel]] still packs some household idols - [[Laban]] is upset but doesn't seek vengeance due to a dream from [[God]], but accuses them of stealing the household gods - [[Bible]] doesn't say what happened to the idols but later in the story [[Rachel]] does die an untimely death giving birth to [[Benjamin]] - consider also [[Joshua 7]] -- they have taken and plundered the city of [[Jericho]], but [[God]] is very clear to not take anything devoted to other gods - one of the men takes for himself some of the idols because they are quite nice, and buries them under his tent - following that they try to take another story and are badly devoted - [[God]] is "burning in anger", and gives specific instructions to identify the guy who took the idols - they then stone him to death - it's sobering then to think "OMG what is in my house?" [[God]] does not tolerate the idols of other gods in his tent - so what are some relics of our lives before [[Jesus]] that we are hosting in our houses? - the people above knew the [[God]] of [[Israel]] but that wasn't good enough ## - in [[2 Samuel]], a guy instantly dies from touching the [[Ark of the Covenant]] -- it's too holy - [[David]] wasn't willing to bring the ark into the city but took it into a guys house - then the [[Lord]] blessed that guys house - and then [[David]] took the ark into the city after seeing that # step back - there's no neutral ground -- you can't say you love [[God]] and live the ways of the world, and you can't let things by and not host [[God]]s purposes - we have to figure out what we need to lean more into and what we need to lean away from - two responses, considering these are [[Old Testament]] stories before [[Jesus]] died on the cross for us - thank [[God]] he gave us [[Jesus]], giving us a way out of these scenarios and lean into his blessings - His character has not changed and is equally holy as the incidents above, but in his mercy he has given us a way to repent of what makes us unclean and access his spirit - we have full access to him, not just via [[Angel]]a - so even when we have been hosting dark practices and such, we still have a way to step into his blessings - when [[Rahab]] is hospitable to the invaders, recognizing their [[God]], she was remembered and blessed -