of being alive throughout time, and also carrying the weight of fighting the world's battles for much too long a time. The lack of hair and teeth are evidence of battles fought to much dismay. I am reminded of the story in the book of Daniel:
             Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. And he said to me, "O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you." While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling. Then he said to me, "Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. (Dan 10:10-13 NKJV)
             How many of these battles must the Angel have been involved with throughout the ages? How much this world's pain can an Angel possibly carry, before it collapses to the ground, in disheveled weariness? The text even states "His huge buzzard wings, dirty and half-plucked, were forever entangled in the mud." What a beautiful image of the Divine overburdened with earthly matters.
             The disheveled appearance is also representative of the bankruptcy of the heart of God. God in His infinite grace and wisdom has still grown weary of a world where even His representatives have turned to butchering everything the name of God stands for. There are precedents for this thought by the author. God destroyed the earth by flood for the wickedness of man in Genesis 6. He also wanted to destroy the Hebrews when talking with Moses on mount Sinai in Exodus 32. Today's church has continually tested the grace of God in perverting His word to allow things that are expressly forbidde...