Commentary on Psalms - Volume 3 - Bible Study Guides

Comm on Psalms (V3)John Calvinnecessary for us to stay long on these things, since the narrative of Moses gives a more distinct andfuller account of what is here briefly stated. Only I would have my readers to remember that,although God often punished the sins of the heathen by sending upon them hail and other calamities,yet all the plagues which at that time were inflicted upon the Egyptians were of an extraordinarycharacter, and such as were previously unheard-of. A variety of words is therefore employed toenhance these memorable instances of the vengeance of God, as that he sent upon them the fiercenessof his wrath, fury, anger, and affliction This accumulation of words is intended to awaken mindswhich are asleep to a discovery of so many miracles, of which both the number and the excellencemight be perceived even by the blind themselves.In the last place, it is added that God executed these judgments by angels. Although God has,according as it has pleased him, established certain laws, both in heaven and on earth, and governsthe whole order of nature in such a manner as that each creature has assigned to it its own peculiaroffice; yet whenever it seems good to him he makes use of the ministration of angels for executinghis commands, not by ordinary or natural means, but by his secret power, which to us isincomprehensible. Some think that devils are here spoken of, because the epithet evil or hurtful isapplied to angel. 351 This opinion I do not reject; but the ground upon which they rest it has littlesolidity. They say that as God dispenses his benefits to us by the ministry of elect angels, so he alsoexecutes his wrath by the agency of reprobate angels, as if they were his executioners. This I admitis partly true; but I deny that this distinction is always observed. Many passages of Scripture canbe quoted to the contrary. When the army of the Assyrians laid siege to the holy city Jerusalem,who was it that made such havoc among them as compelled them to raise the siege, but the angelwho was appointed at that time for the defense of the Church? (2 Kings 19:35.) In like manner, theangel who slew the first-born in Egypt (Exodus 11:5) was not only a minister and an executor ofthe wrath of God against the Egyptians, but also the agent employed for preserving the Israelites.On the other hand, although the kings of whom Daniel speaks were avaricious and cruel, or ratherrobbers, and turned all things upside down, yet the Prophet declares, (chapter 20:13,) that holyangels were appointed to take charge of them. It is probable that the Egyptians were given overand subjected to reprobate angels, as they deserved; but we may simply consider the angels herespoken of as termed evil, on account of the work in which they were employed, — because theyinflicted upon the enemies of the people of God terrible plagues to repress their tyranny and cruelty.In this way, both the heavenly and elect angels, and the fallen angels, are justly accounted theministers or executors of calamity; but they are to be regarded as such in different senses. Theformer yield a prompt and willing obedience to God; but the latter, as they are always eagerly intentupon doing mischief, and would, if they could, turn the whole world upside down, are fit instrumentsfor inflicting calamities upon men.351 Aben Ezra supposes , malachey raim, to be Moses and Aaron, as messengers of evil to Pharaoh, who are so calledbecause they previously warned him, and denounced the judgments of God against him, just as the Prophet Abijah makes useof a similar expression when the wife of Jeroboam came to him to inquire concerning her son: “I am a messenger to thee of hardthings,” 1 Kings 14:6. Fry also reads “messengers of evil,” and has the following note: “Such is the literal meaning and exactrendering of , and not evil angels, which would be regularly . By these messengers of evil, I make no doubt, nomore is meant than Moses and Aaron, who were charged with denunciations of wrath to Pharaoh, previously to the infliction ofall the several plagues.” Archbishop Secker, however, observes, that although would be the proper expression for evilangels, yet the plural of is sometimes written defectively . The LXX. has, ἀποστολὢν δἰ ἀγγελων πονηρῶν, “a messageby evil angels.”157