Angels Saving and Preparing us, Harold B. Lee and Ezra Taft Benson's stories

Art credit:Angels Among Us, by Annie Henrie.

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In a talk entitles "Angels, Chariots, and the Lord of Hosts" by Donald W. Parry, Member of the International Team of Translators of the Dead Sea Scrolls given in July 31, 2012.

"Since the days of Adam and Eve angels have had significant responsibilities in the Lord’s great plan of happiness. Angels figure prominently in ancient and modern scripture. Angels have ministered to or communicated with such notables as Adam, Hagar...

Furthermore, in our own dispensation prophets and apostles have testified of the eminence and considerable standing of angels. In fact, our dispensation has been a period of extraordinary angelic activity. Joseph Smith received dozens of communications from angels. Additional Church authorities and others have been recipients of angelic communications.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland reminded us that it is appropriate to speak about angels. He wrote, “I believe we need to speak of and believe in and bear testimony of the ministry of angels more than we sometimes do.”

How many angels are there? There are hosts of angels. The Old Testament expression “Lord of hosts” sometimes refers to the Lord of hosts of angels. The Bible Dictionary states: “The Lord of Sabaoth was a title of Jehovah; the hosts were the armies of Israel (1 Sam. 17:45), but also included the angelic armies of heaven.”³Hebrew lexicons agree with this interpretation. One prominent Hebrew lexicon states that the term Lord of hosts sometimes refers to “the heavenly beings” of the Lord⁴ or “the heavenly entourage” of the Lord.⁵ Another Hebrew lexicon agrees with this definition, referring to a host as an “(organized body) of angels.”⁶

The title “Lord of hosts” is so important that it is found some 250 times in the Old Testament; Isaiah alone used the term about fifty times. This title, then, is a frequent reminder that the Lord has hosts of angels. How many angels belong to the Lord of hosts of angels? The singular host, by definition, refers to “a large number of people or things.”⁷ The plural, hosts, multiplies this number. The Lord of hosts of angels refers to immense numbers.

Indeed, ten thousand times ten thousand angels, which equals 100 million, symbolizes a great number. To sum up, there are numberless concourses of angels, an innumerable company of angels, and hosts of angels—all of whom are in the service of our Lord and God.

Story of Harold B. Lee, being blessed by unseen hands while on a journey from home:

On the occasion of the 143rd General Conference, Sunday April 8, 1973, President Harold B. Lee related the following:

"Some time ago. . . I was suffering from an ulcer condition that was becoming worse and worse. We had been touring a mission [and] my wife, Joan, and I were impressed the next morning that we should get home as quickly as possible, although we had planned to stay for some other meetings.

On the way across the country, we were sitting in the forward section of the airplane. Some of our Church members were in the next section. As we approached a certain point en route, someone laid his hands upon my head. I looked up; and could see no one. That happened again before we arrived home, again with the same experience. Who it was, by what means or what medium, I may never know, except I knew that I was receiving a blessing that I came a few hours later to know I needed most desperately.

As soon as we arrived home my wife very anxiously called the doctor. It was now about 11 o'clock at night. He called me to come to the telephone, and he asked me how I was. I said, "Well I am very tired; I think I will be all right."

Shortly thereafter, there came a massive hemorrhages which, had they occurred while we were in flight, I would not be here today talking about it.

I know that there are powers divine that reach out when all other help is not available. We see that manifest down in the countries we speak of as the underprivileged countries where there is little medical aid and perhaps no hospitals. If you want to hear of great miracles among these humble people with simple faith, you will see it among them when they are left to themselves.

Yes, I know that there are such powers."

At the end of the talk "Angels, Chariots, and the Lord of Hosts" by Donald W. Parry, accounts this miracle given to the family of Ezra Taft Benson:

The second account of an angel who communicated love comes from President Ezra Taft Benson, who recounted an eternal love story of his wife’s parents. His father-in-law, Carl Christian Amussen, a convert from Denmark, was a watchmaker and jeweler in Utah. He passed away in 1902, leaving his wife, Barbara, a widow for forty years. In 1942 the deceased Carl came to his wife to inform her of her approaching death. What a great blessing it was for her to see her eternal companion for the first time in so many years. Carl appeared to Barbara and informed her that she would pass away on the following Thursday. Barbara had no doubt that her husband had appeared to her, nor did she doubt that she only had less than a week to live; in fact, she began to make concrete plans for her death. On Sunday at church she bore her testimony and bid the ward members good-bye. During the coming days she withdrew her savings from the bank, ordered her casket from a local mortuary, paid her bills, and even had the power and water turned off at her home. Then she went to her daughter Mabel’s home to await her passing.

President Benson concluded:

On the day of her passing, Mabel came into the room where her mother was reclining on the bed. Her mother said, “Mabel, I feel a little bit drowsy. I feel I will go to sleep. Do not disturb me if I sleep until the eventide.”

Those were her last words, and she peacefully passed away.²²

It is my understanding—based on more than twenty years of research—that operations and ministrations of angels are largely unknown to mortals. Angels can move about the earth conducting the Lord’s divine work, and they serve, minister, and mingle among mortals, usually without our awareness. Most of us in mortality will never see an angel. As Parley P. Pratt instructed, angels can “be present without being visible to mortals.”¹⁵ And Paul wrote, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2).

References:

"Angels, Chariots, and the Lord of Hosts" by Donald W. Parry International Team of Translators of the Dead Sea Scrolls given in July 31, 2012

"Harold B. Lee, Remembering the Miracles" p 179-180