Although many people in the stories throughout the Bible believed in God, some of those people had a stronger faith than others. Those with unshakeable faith who taught the word of God to others came to be known as prophets. Not only did the prophets advocated for God, but they often had spiritual visions and knew details of the future. There are many instances in the Bible where Angels have appeared to provide guidance or help to these prophets. Here are three of those stories:

The story of the prophet Moses and the Exodus of the Hebrew people is perhaps one of the most well-known stories from the Bible. Although many people remember Moses parting the sea, most can’t recall that an Angel from God appeared to guide and protect Moses and the people fleeing to the promised land.

Though the Angel is not named in the story many people believe it was either God himself appearing as an angel or the Archangel Metatron, who is closely associated with God’s name.

The Angel travels with the Hebrew people appearing as a cloud in the daytime and as a pillar of fire at night. From Exodus 13:21 – 22:

By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

God reaffirms to Moses that he is sending one of his Angels to protect his people in Exodus 23:20 – 26:

See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you.

The appearance of the Angel to Moses serves as a reminder that God helps those whose faith is unwavering.

In the story of the prophet Daniel from the Bible, God sends down an Angel to help Daniel, whose strong faith has garnered punishment from King Darius. Although King Darius himself praises Daniel for his exceptional qualities, those in the court who are jealous of Daniel conspire to attack Daniel’s faith. These jealous men flatter King Darius and convince him to issue an edict. From Daniel 6:7:

‘that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next 30 days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den’.

Due to Daniel’s strong faith, he could not obey this edict from King Darius. Daniel continued to pray in defiance of the King because he was true to God. From Daniel 6:10:

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Despite wanting to rescue Daniel from his punishment, King Darius is bound by the law to throw Daniel in the den of lions. In Daniel 6:16 King Darius tells Daniel:

‘May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!’

To ensure that Daniel could not escape his fate, the den was sealed with a giant stone. The King was moved by Daniel’s faith in God that he could not sleep through the night. In the morning he rushed to the den and called out to Daniel hoping that his God had saved him. The Angel shut the mouths of the lions and stayed with Daniel throughout the night. In Daniel 6:21 -23 Daniel tells the King:

‘May the king live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.’

King Darius learned a valuable lesson that those faithful to God no matter what would be protected by Him. In Daniel 6:26 – 27, King Darius punishes the men who conspired against Daniel and issues a new edict telling people to fear and revere Daniel’s God, for

‘He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.’

In this Biblical story about the prophet Jacob, a mysterious man, who many believe to either be the Archangel Phanuel or the Angel of the Lord, wrestles with Jacob who refuses to let him go until he receives a blessing.

An archangel is a spiritual being, which again makes them different from spirit guides, and as such they don’t move in time or space as we know it. This means that an archangel can help us and also be helping someone else at the same time, even if they are on the other side of the world! It doesn’t matter how many people need an archangel, if they are called upon then they will be there to help, and because they can help more than one person at once, you needn’t feel guilty that you are taking time or assistance away from someone else. There is more than enough healing, protecting, and nurturing energy to go around.

While Jacob is on his way to visit his estranged brother Esau for a reconciliation, he encounters a strange man on the riverbank at night. The two men engage in a wrestling match that lasts through the night. From Genesis 32:24 – 28:

So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.

Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’ But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’ The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Jacob,’ he answered. Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.’

After the encounter with the Angel, Jacob names the place of the wrestling match Peniel, the Face of God,  saying,

“It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”