The Bible tells us that God sends His angels to protect us. Psalm 91:11-12 says, “For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
Some have then asked if EACH human is assigned his own guardian angel at birth, to protect him. There are some who teach that the Bible does purport this idea. They use a variety of texts to support the idea of individual guardian angels. Matthew 18:10 is one of them.
Matthew 18:10 (NKJV)
10 “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven THEIR ANGELS always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.
Some have taken the phrase “their angels” to mean that little children have SPECIFIC angels assigned to them. But this is not a necessary conclusion from the text. Different angels could be assigned to little children per time, and the angel assigned to them from time to time have access to God’s presence. This is what “always see the face of My Father who is in heaven” means (i.e. His presence). It is actually derived from the monarch practice of Bible days, whereby soldiers gave daily reports to the king.
There is no SPECIFIC ANGEL assigned to guard men ALL THEIR LIVES. The angels might change from time to time. But for the angels protecting children per time, they have access to God, to give reports. That is Jesus’ point here.
Another text used to further the doctrine of individual guardian angels is Acts 12:15. This was after Peter was miraculously released from prison, by an angel. Afterwards, he came to the saints who had been praying for him. The saints refused to believe that it was truly Peter and said it was his “angel.”
Acts 12:15 (NKJV)
15 But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.”
Now, this does not mean that Peter had a special guardian angel given him by God. The saints are referring to the angel guarding Peter at THAT PARTICULAR TIME, in his life. These angels can change from time to them, depending on the circumstance.
Revelation 2&3 also mention “the angels of the Churches.” Some have opined that these angels are the guardian angels of those local assemblies in Asia Minor. But this is not the case. The word “angel” simply means “messenger.” This messenger can be human or divine, depending on the context. In context of Revelation 2&3, those “angels” to the Churches are simply the human messengers sent to them by God (i.e. their pastors). Pastors have the duty of relaying God’s message to the people via preaching and teaching the counsel of God (Jer 3:15, Eph 4:11-16).
So none of these texts can be legitimately used to support the idea of a guardian angel (i.e. angels assigned to EVERY individual man, all their life). There are a MULTITUDE of angels (see Heb 12:22) and you can have as many as you need per time, for the particular situation at hand. There are no “specific guardian angels.”
© Josh Banks Ministries. 2022.
