THE PRAYER OF AZARIAH 7, 1:35-41 The heavens, angels, and heavenly bodies praise the Lord 35 "Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever. 36 Bless the Lord, you heavens; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever. At this point, the song (or ode) turns more or less to the order of creation, but this would be difficult to outline since most copies of the poem have the verses in differing orders (see Moore, "Anchor Bible, Additions to Daniel, etc.," p. 71). "Heavens" in general is everything above the land and sea (Genesis 1:1). The ancients use the terms (Hebrew shamayim, Greek ouranos) in three ways. There is the heaven where the birds fly and from which the rains fall (2 Samuel 21:10). Then there is the heaven where the sun, moon, and stars wheel overhead (Isaiah 31:10). Finally, the third heaven is above the stars (Job 22:12) and is where God has his throne (2 Corinthians 12:2). There Paul had a vision and was permitted to hear "inecpressible things," but things he was not permitted to tell (1 Cor. 12:4). Occasionally, God may permit a Christian to have a vision of the same heaven, sometimes without hearing very many things but seeing much. John's vision, his Revelation, is an example of such a vision meant for all to read and hear, "to show his servants what must soon take place" (Revelation 1:1). 37 Bless the Lord, you angels of the Lord; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever. After calling for praise from the highest heaven, it is natural to call for praise from the angels of God. There is no mention of the angels in the account of Genesis 1-2, but Satan appears already in Genesis 3:1. For the day in which the angels were created, see my comments on Ezekiel 28:13-14 and compare, perhaps Colossians 1:16 for an argument that they were created on the Third Day, after their dwelling place was built and furnished. Gerhard says, "though Moses may not have made a clear mention of angels in his account of the six days-- but only mentions those works of God that are most obvious to human eyes-- nevertheless, when he later introduces the angels as servants of God, it is easy to conclude that their creator is God, to whom they offer their services" (VIII§35). Theodoret says, "It is of no importance if you do not know when the angels were created." The angels exist to serve God as his messengers and to do his bidding, and they also praise him. Gerhard again says: "The Father sends the Son to redeem, the Holy Spirit to comfort, and the angels to protect" (VIII§68). 38 Bless the Lord, all you waters above the heavens; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever. The nature of the celestial waters, those above the firmament, sometimes appears to be more than the clouds of the sky (which are in the first heaven). Perhaps this is a reference to the stream of water, the river that makes glad the city of God (Psalm 46:4); "the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb" (Revelation 21:1). But many of the things pictured in Revelation have a spiritual meaning that may or may not include the physical image used to portray the spiritual truth. 39 Bless the Lord, all you powers of the Lord; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever. Here again there is probably another reference to angels, those powers of the Lord that do battle with Satan's demons and imps. The orders of angels are not clear to us regarding rank, and it is possible that the terms used to describe them offer a picture of their work and not any rank at all: "Thrones or powers or rulers or authorities" (Colossians 1:16). Gregory Nazianzen says, "The ranking of angels is known to him who ranked them." Perhaps the angels of verse 37 are meant to be the angels currently in heaven (at any given moment), and the "powers" here are meant to be those angels which at any given moment are on assignment here below, doing God's bidding an protecting mankind from unseen dangers. 40 Bless the Lord, sun and moon; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever. 41 Bless the Lord, stars of heaven; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever. Here we find ourselves in the second heaven (see verse 35-36 comments above). This brings us to the fourth day of creation. The purpose of the sun and moon is to give light and to mark the seasons, days, and years (Genesis 1:14-15). The stars also play a lesser role in this, but the Lord does not want us to bow down to them or to credit them with influencing happenings the ways those who create and use horoscopes do. "When you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars-- all the heavenly array-- do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven" (Deuteronomy 4:19). Use them instead for their light and give God thanks for it. And use them as a calendar and as a clock, for this is the true purpose given for them by God in his infinite wisdom and omniscience. And praise his holy name forever and ever. In Christ, Pastor Tim Smith