The Kindest Words in the Bible

1 Kings 19:5-8 says:

Then [Elijah] lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree. But suddenly an angel touched him and said to him: “Get up and eat.” When he looked, there at his head was a round loaf on heated stones and a jug of water. He ate and drank and lay down again. Later the angel of Jehovah came back a second time and touched him and said:

“Get up and eat, for the journey will be too much for you.”

So he got up and ate and drank, and in the strength of that nourishment he went on for 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of the true God.

Notice, the angel not only showed great sympathy for him, but also provided materially with a jug of water!

But that’s not all. In Zechariah 1:12, 13, God replies to someone who should have known better. Does he do so with burning anger?

So the angel of Jehovah said: “O Jehovah of armies, how long will you withhold your mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with whom you have been indignant these 70 years?” Jehovah answered the angel who was speaking with me, with

kind and comforting words.

Lastly, notice how an angel talked to Daniel. Daniel 9:23:

When you began your entreaty the word went out, and I have come to report it to you, because

you are someone very precious.

Daniel 10:18-19 says:

The one who looked like a man touched me again and strengthened me. Then he said: “Do not be afraid,

O very precious man.

May you have peace. Be strong, yes, be strong.”

The NET Bible for 9:23 has the angel saying “you are of great value in God’s sight,” with “precious treasure” in the footnote. Similarly, in 10:19 he is called “highly valued” and a “treasured man” in the footnote.

These kind choices of words reflect the kind personalities in the spirit realm, personalities of patience and kindness we can do well to imitate.

See also:

• Jesus’ Kind Counsel
  jimspace3000.blogspot.com/2014/10/jesus-kind-counsel.html
• Who was the Interceding Angel?
  jimspace3000.blogspot.com/2015/01/who-was-interceding-angel.html
• Psalms of Despair and Rejoicing
  jimspace3000.blogspot.com/2020/01/psalms-of-despair-and-rejoicing.html

Credits:

• Opening picture from: https://www.koralmartin.com/photography/art_print_products/yellow-wildflower-sunburst-0121