In the OT, angels occasionally protected people from death in some way (e.g., Gen 19:12–14; Dan 6:22) and were thus “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation” (Heb 1:14). An angel like Michael can have “charge” of a nation (Dan 12:1), and Jesus said that children have angels “in heaven” who “always see the face of my Father,” interceding for them when they are despised (Matt 18:10).

In Acts 12:15, the Christians praying for Peter could not accept that Peter had somehow been released from prison (cf. Acts 12:6–11). When Rhoda announced that Peter was at the door, “They said to her, ‘You are out of your mind.’ But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, ‘It is his angel!’”

Why would they claim, “It is his angel”? Did they believe each person had an angel for some reason? Is this taught somewhere in Scripture?

In exploring the answer to this question, one “non-angelic” conclusion is that his “angel” could have been a human “messenger” since the Greek word angelos could be translated to mean one or the other (e.g., James 2:25).

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