Heavenly Politics

I turn my attention to a small verse in the second chapter of Luke. It is always the little things – things we overlook, things we take for granted or at face value – things that speak volumes.

Here is an angel of God speaking to shepherds in the fields at night. An innumerable host appears with the angel, lighting up the night sky in a fearsome manner. They are promoting the birth of Christ to the locals. A little word of mouth goes a long way. Their advertisement is magnificent and frightening.

It is a small account, but no telling of the Nativity is complete without it. It is heard often at the season of Christmas, it is sung about, and preached in churches, and I suppose – if you focus on the manger or the angels, you might miss the actual wording of the celestial beings.

In the Bible, the words 'host' and 'hosts' refer to armies. To be sure, the hosts of God came to earth in the old testament to fight the armies of the world. So when we talk about the heavenly hosts, we are actually speaking of a war machine. When we turn our thoughts to such matters, politics comes to mind.

We recall that the hosts of heaven once fought among themselves. It was civil war among angelic factions, as one seceded from the union and battled for its own identity. Such are matters that must be solved politically. Just as one such political tool is the crack commando squad of highly trained elite forces, so another tool that has often proved useful is negotiation.

The highest ranking authority will set terms and conditions for a peace treaty. Something is given, and something is expected in return. Wars end with peace treaties. It is through such negotiations that hostilities come to an end so the important things may once again occupy the mind.

When you hear the story of the angels praising God before the shepherds, you might at first be impressed that these celestial beings all worship and serve God. You might think these thoughts in a vacuum, that is, without reference to the politics of Heaven.

Was Christ a peace offering that brought about an end to celestial hostilities? Had some of the angels set themselves against mankind? Were we like the slaves of the American Civil War – property over which some fought to hold and some fought to free?

The wording of the heavenly hosts in the presence of the shepherds is the impetus for this study. They could have said anything. They could have said what they said in a number of different ways. Yet, they chose to use these words: “And on earth peace, good will toward men.”

One has to ask: 'peace' as opposed to what? 'Good will' as opposed to what? Had the tides just turned? Had there not been good will toward men? Had there been, instead, hostility toward mankind? Was earth a battlefield upon which there was now peace, an end to hostilities? Was that peace a peace between warring celestial factions?

And finally, was not the advent or birth of Christ as man as much a boon for the angels as it was for mankind? It certainly seems to have united them in a cause they could all agree on: “Glory to God in the highest.”