And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" – Revelation 5:2

Today's Scripture Reading (June 1, 2021): Revelation 5

Bohemian-Austrian poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, writes that "every angel is terrifying" (Rainer Maria Rilke, "Duino Elegies"). I can't say that I disagree. I am not sure what it might be like to be suddenly confronted with a heavenly being. Angels are not us. As much as we like to believe that we become angels when we die and go to heaven, that isn't how it works. Angels are a separate category of created beings, and we are not transformed into angels at death any more than I believe that it is possible to die and then be transformed into a cow. Angels don't earn their wings; they are created with them. So, to be confronted by an angel would be a terrifying experience because an angel is so different from who we are. They are not cute little figurines that we place on our shelves. They are genuine, powerful beings who are alien to everything that we are.

The best known of the angels are Michael, who seems to serve as God's warrior, and Gabriel, who fills the role of a messenger during the Christmas incarnation story.  There are others. Raphael is thought to personify God's healing force, and, of course, Samael, whose name means the Venom of God, serves as the angel of death.

But we do not know the identity of the angel mentioned here in Revelation. John tells us only that it was a mighty angel that he heard ask the question. Some have guessed that this mighty angel might have been Gabriel, the same messenger that brought the news of the births of Jesus and John the Baptist, But Gabriel is just a guess. Another suggestion is the warrior Michael, who seems to be characterized by great strength. Or maybe it is one of the other archangels, a list of angelic beings that changes according to the different branches of the Christian faith. The non-canonical Jewish Book of Enoch, which some argue is nothing more than a work of fiction, argues that Metatron is the mightiest of angels, so maybe Metatron deserves mention on this list of possibilities.

I like the idea that this mighty angel might be Jophiel, the angel who was left responsible for guarding the Garden of Eden with his flaming sword and who punishes those who violate the will of God. But we really don't know the identity of the angel that John saw in his vision because he doesn't tell us.

But we do know the answer to the question that this mighty angel asks. There is no one, among the created beings, either angel or human, who is worthy of breaking the seal and opening the scroll. Metatron might be the mightiest and most terrifying of all of the angels, but even he could not open the scroll. That task had to be left to someone else.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Revelation 6