THE preceding section of this study we examined the information available concerning Gabriel as set forth in the Bible and the writings of Ellen G. White, with special attention to Gabriel's relationship to Christ's earthly life. We now proceed to examine some of Gabriel's other relationships.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the office and ministry of the angel Gabriel is his relationship to the people of God, especially His prophets. It has already been shown that he was sent to the prophets Daniel and John the revelator. A statement found in Testimonies, volume 3, page 80, declares:
The humble tasks before us are to be taken up by someone; and those who do them should feel that they are doing a necessary and honorable work, and that in their mission, humble though it may be, they are doing the work of God just as surely as was Gabriel when sent to the prophets.
Compare this statement with the statement in The Desire of Ages, page 99, which says, "And to John the angel [Gabriel] declared, 'I am a fellow servant with thee and with thy brethren the prophets.' Rev. 22:9, R.V. Wonderful thought—that the angel who stands next in honor to the Son of God is the one chosen to open the purposes of God to sinful men." The conclusion seems quite reasonable that Gabriel is the only being God employs in giving the messages to the prophets. But such a conclusion does not necessarily follow in every instance, as will be shown presently. Ellen G. White manuscript 59, 1900, makes this quite plain: The mighty angel who instructed John was no less a personage than Jesus Christ. Setting His right foot on the sea, and His left upon the dry land, shows the part which He is acting in the closing scenes of the great controversy with Satan. (Quoted in The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 7, p. 971.)
Taken by itself, the sentence which says that it was Jesus Christ Himself who instructed John, might seem to contradict the statement in The Desire of Ages, page 99, which shows that Gabriel, Christ's angel, was the one who opened the purposes of God to John. However, an examination of the context shows that it is speaking specifically of the angel of Revelation 10. It is entirely possible that Christ assisted Gabriel in giving certain portions of the Revelation to John, even as He assisted Gabriel in giving certain portions of the book of Daniel.
The statement which follows, taken from the Review and Herald, February 8, 1881, has this to say:
No less a personage than the Son of God appeared to Daniel. This description is similar to that given by John when Christ was revealed to him upon the Isle of Patmos. Our Lord now comes with another heavenly messenger to teach Daniel what would take place in the latter days.
Ellen G. White letter 201, 1899, identifies the other heavenly messenger:
The king of Persia was controlled by the highest of all evil angels. He refused, as did Pharaoh, to obey the word of the Lord. Gabriel declared, He withstood me twenty-one days by his representations against the Jews. But Michael came to his help, and then he remained with the kings of Persia, holding the powers in check, giving right counsel against evil counsel. (Quoted in The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 4, p. 1173.)
Apparently there was the same sort of cooperation between Christ and "His angel" in the giving of certain portions of Revelation as there was in the giving of certain portions of Daniel. The fact remains, however, that Gabriel was the angel sent to the prophets to open the purposes of God to sinful men. We may therefore add this fact to the list.
28. Gabriel was sent to the prophets.
When we come to the nineteenth and twenty-second chapters of Revelation we have definite evidence that the angel who was giving the vision to John was Gabriel. Spiritual Gifts, volume 1, page 131, states:
The countenance of the angel grew radiant with joy, and was exceeding glorious, as he showed to John the final triumph of the church of God. John was enraptured as he beheld the final deliverance of the church, and as he was carried away with the glory of the scene, with deep reverence and awe he fell at the feet of the angel to worship him. The angel instantly raised him up, and gently reproved him, saying, See thou do it not; I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus; worship God; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. The angel then showed John the heavenly city with all its splendor and dazzling glory. John was enraptured and overwhelmed with the glory of the city. He did not bear in mind his former reproof from the angel, but again fell to worship before the feet of the angel, who again gave the gentle reproof, See thou do it not; for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them that keep the sayings of this book; worship God.
The simple fact that this angel refused worship and directed John to worship God proves that he was not Christ. The Desire of Ages, page 99, states that the angel who spoke to John the words of Revelation 22: 9 was Gabriel. Not only was Gabriel the angel of Revelation 22:9, but he was also the angel of Revelation 19:10. This latter fact may now be added to the list.
29. Gabriel is the angel of Revelation 19:10.
Since the third person of the Godhead is not mentioned in Revelation 1:1 in the chain of transmission of divine relation, some have concluded that Gabriel is the Holy Spirit in angelic form. Such a conclusion is contradicted by the facts. A comparison of The Desire of Ages, page 99, where the angel of Revelation 1:1 and 22: 9 is identified as being Gabriel, with Spiritual Gifts, volume 1, page 131, just quoted, reveals that Gabriel is not God, and hence, cannot be the Holy Spirit. This is not to say that the Holy Spirit could not assume angelic form, nor does it mean that Gabriel could not be the representative of the Holy Spirit. It simply means that Gabriel is not the Holy Spirit.
The last glimpse given us of Gabriel in the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy is found in the description of Christ's coronation at the end of the great controversy:
Satan seems paralyzed as he beholds the glory and majesty of Christ. He who was once a covering cherub remembers whence he has fallen. A shining seraph, "son of the morning;" how changed, how degraded! From the council where once he was honored, he is forever excluded. He sees another now standing near to the Father, veiling His glory. He has seen the crown placed upon the head of Christ by an angel of lofty stature and majestic presence, and he knows that the exalted position of this angel might have been his.—The Great Controversy, p. 669.
Two additional facts may be gleaned from this statement:
30. Gabriel is a seraph.
31. He is the angel who places the crown on Christ's head in the coronation scene.
The statements cited thus far do not by any means exhaust the extent of available information, but perhaps they may be considered sufficient to form a basis for further investigation. The facts gleaned from these statements may be summarized according to office and ministry, as follows:
Office
a. Gabriel holds a position of high honor in the heavenly courts.
b. He occupies the position from which Satan fell.
c. He declared that he stood in the presence of God.
d. He is the angel next in honor to the Son of God.
e. He is the highest angel.
f. He is the mightiest angel.
g. He is a seraph.
h. He is the angel chosen to open the purposes of God to sinful men.
i. It was he who told Daniel, "There is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince."
j. He was standing on the right side of the altar of incense when he appeared to Zacharias in the Temple.
k. Christ calls him "His angel."
I. He was a fellow servant with John and with John's brethren the prophets.
Ministry
a. Gabriel was sent to the prophets.
b. He was sent to Daniel to explain the vision of the ram and the he-goat.
c. He was sent to Daniel to explain the vision of the seventy weeks.
d. He announced the birth of John the Baptist to Zacharias.
e. He gave instructions to Zacharias concerning the care of his child similar to the message given to Manoah concerning his child.
f. He announced the birth of Jesus to Mary.
g. He hovered over the chosen city for a time before making the announcement of the birth of Christ to the shepherds.
h. He was the angel who sang the song of triumph at Christ's birth.
i. He was one of the two angels who had been with Christ throughout His life on earth.
j. He was the angel who came to strengthen Christ in Gethsemane.
k. He was the angel who caused the mob to fall back when they were about to arrest Jesus.
l. He was sent from heaven with a commission from the Father on the morning of Christ's resurrection.
m. He was joined by another angel who with his company had been keeping, guard over the Lord's body.
n. He was the angel who rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulcher.
o. He was the angel who announced, "Thy Father calls Thee."
p. He was the angel who said, "Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee."
q. He was one of the two angels who appeared to the disciples at Christ's ascension.
r. He is the angel of Revelation 19:10.
s. He is the angel who places the crown on Christ's head in the coronation scene.
It should be pointed out that the order of these facts has been rearranged in the summary in order to conform to a more chronological sequence. Such an arrangement is, of course, purely arbitrary. Other arrangements would do just as well. Naturally there is some overlapping between these two groupings, for obviously Gabriel's office determines to some extent his ministry, and conversely, his ministry, at least in some degree, determines his office.
On the basis of these identifying characteristics it is possible to identify Gabriel as being certain angels otherwise not named either by the Bible writers or the Spirit of Prophecy writings.
Take, for example, the sealing angel. In Testimonies to Ministers, pages 444 and 445, the statement is made:
The angels of God do His bidding, holding back the winds of the earth, that the winds should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree, until the servants of God should be sealed in their foreheads. The mighty angel is seen ascending from the east (or sunrising). This mightiest of angels has in his hand the seal of the living God, or of Him who alone can give life, who can inscribe upon the foreheads the mark or inscription, to whom shall be granted immortality, eternal life. It is the voice of this highest angel that had authority to command the four angels to keep in check the four winds until this work was performed, and until he should give the summons to let them loose.
The expression "the mighty angel" is sometimes used of Gabriel (see The Desire of Ages, p. 693; The Youth's Instructor, Aug. 4, 1898, etc.), but it is also used in referring to Christ (Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 419), though here the word Angel is capitalized. Hence, the identification of Gabriel as the sealing angel might be questioned on the basis of this single expression. However, when we add to it the other two which accompany it in this statement —"this mightiest of angels" and "this highest angel"—there is little room left for doubt that the sealing angel is Gabriel.
Having established that Gabriel is the sealing angel, we now quote from Ellen G. White letter 12, 1886:
The angel with the writer's ink horn is to place a mark upon the foreheads of all who are separated from sin and sinners, and the destroying angel follows this angel. (Quoted in The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 4, p. 1161.)
To this we add a quotation from Early Writings, page 279:
I saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven. An angel with a writer's inkhorn by his side returned from the earth and reported to Jesus that his work was done, and the saints were numbered and sealed.
Taken together, these two statements prove that the sealing angel, Gabriel, is also the man clothed in white linen with the writer's inkhorn brought to view in Ezekiel, chapter 9. They also prove that Christ cannot be the sealing angel, since the angel that does the sealing reports to Jesus that his work is done.
In Early Writings, page 89, we find the following intriguing statement:
Said the angel, "The third angel is binding, or sealing them in bundles for the heavenly garner."
And on page 118 we read:
I then saw the third angel. Said my accompanying angel, "Fearful is his work. Awful is his mission. He is the angel that is to select the wheat from the tares, and seal, or bind, the wheat for the heavenly garner."
And Testimonies, volume 6, page 166, declares:
"Who are proclaiming the message of the third angel, calling the world to make ready for the great day of God? The message we bear has the seal of the living God."
Another statement taken from Testimonies, volume 5, page 383, clarifies the symbolism of the third angel:
The third angel, flying in the midst of heaven and heralding the commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus, represents our work.
Taken together, it appears quite conclusive that Gabriel is the angel who represents the people who proclaim the third angel's message. This is at once a thrilling and a sobering thought. That God should have designated the highest angel in heaven to represent His remnant people is indeed a high honor, but at the same time the angel's warning is an indication of the awful solemnity of our message.
This study does not profess to be exhaustive. The following topics are suggested for further study:
1. Why was Gabriel, out of all the myriads of angels, chosen to take Lucifer's place after the Fall?
2. Was Gabriel one of the angels whom Abraham entertained unawares?
3. Is there any significance in the fact that Gabriel appeared to Zacharias on the right side of the altar of incense other than that the right side indicated favor?
4. Is there any significance in Gabriel's declaration, "I am thy [John's] fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book"?
5. Was Gabriel the tall, dignified young man Ellen G. White frequently saw in her visions?
6. What relation, if any, is there between the seal of God which Gabriel places on the foreheads of the 144,000 and the cryptic expression, "Thou sealest up the sum" (Eze. 28:12) ("Thou wast the seal of resemblance," Douay Version), which is applied to Lucifer before his fall?
It must not be imagined that just any angel the Bible or the Spirit of Prophecy happens to mention can be identified with Gabriel. That this cannot be the case has been demonstrated by examples in this study. If there is one thing that the inspired writings teach concerning angels and their activities, it is their individuality and the orderliness of their work. We may with profit study what the servants of God have revealed to us concerning these beings who will be our companions in the ages to come.
