Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  2024  Day 232

August 18;     Matthew 28:2;    28/260(II);      ‘The Angel and the Soldiers’

Matthew 28:2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.

A squad of 16 Roman soldiers was guarding the tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This was the finest and toughest military force in the world.  Their discipline and training was unmatched.  It was said that if one of the guards fell asleep on their night watch, all 16 of them were put to death.  This was serious stuff.  This verse is so powerful and it is almost humorous.  The angel rolled away the stone that covered the entrance to the tomb and sat on the stone, most likely looking at the soldiers.  The Word goes on to tell us that those mighty soldiers fainted.  Think about that.  The power of man is nothing compared to the power of the Lord.  One angel, in the Old Testament slew an army of 185,000 soldiers.  Elisha the prophet and his servant were in a city and an enemy army wanted to capture Elisha.  They surrounded the city.  Elisha’s servant saw the massive army surrounding the city and was terrified.  Elisha asked the Lord to open the spiritual eyes on his servant.  The Lord did and surrounding the enemy army that surrounded the city were angels on fiery horses and chariots.  Elisha calmly took charge of that army and led them away to a city where the army was fed, taken care of and released. The spiritual realm created and has power over the natural realm.  In end times, the anti-Christ’s 200 million man army will be crushed by the Lord Jesus Christ.  The church and Old Testament saints will be with Jesus, but He alone will destroy the enemy.