Archangel Gabriel appears across several major religious texts, both canonical and non-canonical where he adopts similar roles which mainly revolves around conveying God’s message. For this very reason, he is often referred to as the Messenger of God. The name Gabriel means “God is my strength”. He serves as an interpreter between God and mankind. In the Abrahamic religions, Gabriel, is the first archangel described in the Hebrew Bible. Gabriel is described as the guardian angel of Israel, defending its people against the angels of the other nations. The Gospel of Luke relates the stories of the Annunciation, in which the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah and the Virgin Mary, foretelling the births of John the Baptist and Jesus, respectively. Many Christian traditions including Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Roman Catholicism revere Gabriel as a saint. He serves as the patron saint of journalists, teachers, clergy people, diplomats, ambassadors, and postal workers. Sometimes he is associated with childbirth, adoption, and raising children since he delivered news of the upcoming births under God’s command.
It is said Archangel Gabriel has infinite power, so he can be in more than one place at a given time helping those who are needed or conveying God’s messages. He is also believed to be an angel in God’s high court. In Latter-day Saint theology, Gabriel is believed to have lived a mortal life as the prophet Noah. The two are regarded as the same individual; Noah being his mortal name and Gabriel being his heavenly name. In the Book of Daniel, there are many instances that he sought the help of Gabriel understand and interpret his visions and dreams. Gabriel's main function in the book of Daniel is that of a revealer, a role he continues in later literature.
But in the Book of Ezekiel, Gabriel plays a quite vicious role. He is understood to be the angel that was sent to destroy Jerusalem. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Gabriel takes the form of a man, and stands at the left hand of God
. It is believed apart from the “tree of knowledge” there is another tree called the “tree of life” or the “tree of souls” in the garden of eden. This tree is capable of blooming and producing new souls which will fall into Guf. A guf is more like a safe house or a treasury for the newly bloomed souls. The Tree of Souls produces all the souls that have ever existed, or will ever exist. Gabriel reaches into this guf and takes out a soul that comes into his hand. Then Lailah, the Angel of Conception, watches over the embryo until it is born.
In the book of Enoch, Gabriel is mentioned as a destroyer. He was one of the three archangels who were sent down to earth, to destroy the children of the angels who betrayed god.
And the Lord said to Gabriel: "Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against the children of fornication: and destroy the children of the Watchers from amongst men. Send them one against the other that they may destroy each other in battle: for length of days shall they not have."
Enoch 1:9-10
God sent a group of angels who called themselves the watchers to look after mankind. Instead they betrayed their holy cause and lust for the beauty of the women and even sire children. God got furious on this act and sent three of his angels to destroy their offspring.
Again Gabriel is mentioned in the book of Enoch, as one of the four angels of the Lord of Spirits.
And he said to me: 'This first is Michael, the merciful and long-suffering: and the second, who is set over all the diseases and all the wounds of the children of men, is Raphael: and the third, who is set over all the powers, is Gabriel: and the fourth, who is set over the repentance unto hope of those who inherit eternal life, is named Phanuel.' And these are the four angels of the Lord of Spirits and the four voices I heard in those days.
Enoch 4:9
In the new testament of the holy bible the angel Gabriel first appear to Zacharias who is a priest of the course of Abia concerning the birth of John the Baptist. Here the angel identified himself as Gabriel. After Zacharias’s wife Elizabeth completes "five months" of her pregnancy Gabriel is mentioned again. He visits Virgin Mary of Nazareth to foretell the births of Jesus Christ. This time Luke identifies the angel appeared as Gabriel.
Gabriel is venerated as one of the primary archangels and as the Angel of Revelation in Islam. It is said Prophet Muhammad saw Gabriel in his full angelic splendor twice. The first time being when he received his first revelation. As the Bible portrays Gabriel as a celestial messenger sent to Daniel, Mary, and Zechariah, so too Islamic tradition holds that Gabriel was sent to numerous pre-Islamic prophets with revelation and divine injunctions, including Adam, whom Muslims believe was consoled by Gabriel sometime after the Fall. He is known by many names in Islam, such as "keeper of holiness."
Muslims also revere Gabriel for a number of historical events predating the first revelation, found in the Quran. Muslims believe that apart from fortelling the births of John and Jesus; he also was one of three angels who informed Abraham of the birth of Isaac. Gabriel also makes a famous appearance in the Hadith of Gabriel, in which he questions Prophet Muhammad on the core tenets of Islam.
Archangel Gabriel blows his trumpet to indicate the Lord's return to Earth. However, though the Bible mentions a trumpet blast preceding the resurrection of the dead, it never specifies Gabriel as the trumpeter. In related traditions, Gabriel is again not identified as the trumpeter. In Judaism, trumpets are prominent, and they seem to be blown by God himself, or sometimes by Archangel Michael. The earliest known identification of Gabriel as the trumpeter to raise dead comes in John Wycliffe's 1382 tract, De Ecclesiæ Dominio. In the year 1455, in Armenian art, there is an illustration in an Armenian manuscript showing Gabriel sounding his trumpet as the dead climb out of their graves
So there’s a lot of contradictions across many traditions on when the angel actually blows the horn. Anyway Gabriel is often depicted in art blowing a horn. Other symbols that represent Gabriel include a lantern, a mirror, a shield, a lily, a scepter, a spear, and an olive branch. His electromagnetic energy corresponds to the white angel light ray and his aura is a copper color.
The feast of Saint Gabriel was included by Pope Benedict XV in the General Roman Calendar in 1921, for celebration on 24 March. In 1969 the day was officially transferred to 29 September for celebration in conjunction with the feast of the archangels St. Michael and St. Raphael. Baltimore's "Little Italy" has for over 80 years hosted an annual "end of summer" St. Gabriel Festival that features a procession with a statue of the saint carried through the streets.
The presence of Gabriel could be sensed in many forms. It is believed that Gabriel can be recognized by a white or copper light and that he often delivers his messages to people in dreams, acting as their guardian angel. When you get sudden insights that give you valuable guidance for the future, it may be Gabriel sending you a message because communicating a sense of clarity is one of Gabriel's specialties. If an idea about how to solve a challenging problem comes to you, especially after praying for a solution, it may be a sign that Gabriel is with you. Gabriel often visits people while they're dreaming. For example, Christian tradition says that Gabriel is the angel in the Bible who tells Joseph in a dream that he will serve as the father of Jesus Christ on Earth. Gabriel will work during your dreams to solve problems that you’ve been enduring if you invite them to do so before going to sleep. His appearances in people's dreams will inspire them to pursue greater purity in their lives. He is said to enter the dreams both as a male and female angel.
Even though there is a religious contradiction on defining the role of Gabriel, it is undebatable that all religions gives him a prominent place in god’s angelic hierarchy. So he is one of the most angelic beings ever to be encountered. What do you guys think of this angel?
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