Angels – Who are they?

There are many people today interested in extra-terrestrial life and who wonder if other creatures exist somewhere in the universe. They even wonder if they pay visits to our planet in super-fast spaceships. The Bible reveals that there are other intelligent creatures inhabiting the universe and that those creatures visit our world repeatedly, but not in spaceships. Those creatures are the angels; some are good, and some are bad. The place where the good angels are based is heaven and from there they travel in obedience to God. The place where the evil angels are could be described as anywhere but heaven.

When Samuel Rutherford was a young boy, he fell into a well. His companions went to get help, and when they returned, they found young Samuel sitting beside the well. How did he get out? Samuel’s explanation was that a bonny white man pulled him out. Was his rescuer an angel? John Bunyan includes angelic activity in his Pilgrim’s Progress, and he also described the actions of evil angels in his other book, The Holy War. There have been many accounts of angelic missions to help or protect God’s people, especially of missionaries serving in difficult places.

Adolph Saphir identified three errors regarding how people think about angels:

‘With regard to the angels, I may notice three tendencies to error. The first tendency to error we see in the epistle to the Colossians, and we may call it ‘the Gnostic error,’ when men, following their own speculative reason, endeavour to penetrate mysteries which are not revealed to us, and form erroneous views of the angels as to their nature, and their relation to God and to Christ. 

‘Secondly, the Romish error, according to which the angels are placed in a false mediatory position, and are invoked, when men rely upon their intercession, or call upon their aid. The only case recorded in Scripture of the angels being invoked in any way is when David calls upon them to bless the Lord, and with His other creatures to exalt Him, their God and our God.

‘And the third tendency is what I may call the Protestant one to think too rarely and in too isolated a manner about them; not to consider sufficiently what is said about them in Scripture, and not to feel and remember vividly that they are constantly with us, that we and they are members of one great Family, and that the angelic worship and the worship of the church are harmonious.’

When were the angels created?

According to Exodus 20, in its reference to the Sabbath commandment, God made everything in the universe at the beginning, during the week of creation, part of which is described in Genesis 1. No mention is made of angels in that chapter. Yet since nothing existed before then, they must have been created on one of the six days, probably towards the beginning of the week. That chapter also tells us that, since everything was very good, the fall of some of the angels had not yet taken place.

 

We are told in the Book of Job that they celebrated the work of creation by singing to the Lord as they observed all that their Creator was doing (Job 38:4-7). This response by them tells us that they are intelligent, emotional, harmonious and vocal. They are intelligent in that they can think about what they saw, they are emotional in that they rejoiced over what they saw, they are harmonious because they participated together in praising God, and they are vocal in expressing their praise.

 

They were created as spirit beings, which means that they are different from humans who are physical as well as spiritual. As spirits, they can travel fast (like the winds) while invisible to humans, yet not invisible to God. Like humans, each angel can only be in one place at a time. They were created simultaneously, which means that no angel is older than the others. They were also created separately without a link between them apart from being similar to one another. Moreover, they were created as servants of God, with the purpose of doing his will as it is revealed progressively to them. It is possible for them to take on human form as was the case with the angels who met with Abraham.

 

Types of angels

The word ‘angel’ means messenger and at times it can be used of humans who deliver messages. A possible example of such a use is in Revelation 2 and 3 where it could describe the pastor of each of the seven churches who was passed on to his church the message given to him by Jesus. Perhaps the reason angels have this frequent title is because usually they were and maybe are sent by God to pass on relevant messages to humans.

 

Another description used of angels is heavenly host. This term refers to their number, which is very large. The number in the book of Revelation is said to be ten thousand times ten thousand, which is one hundred million. But the same passage says that there are additional thousands and thousands. Those figures are not literal, but are given to tell us that there many, many angels. The author of Hebrews says that the heavenly city is populated by an innumerable number of angels (Heb. 12:1).

 

Paul describes angels in another way when he says that they are elect angels: ‘In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality’ (1 Tim. 5:21). In calling them elect, Paul makes a distinction between them and angels who are not elect (the fallen angels), which means that divine election guaranteed preservation of some in holiness when other angels fell. The description in that verse also shows that they have been elected to involvement in the execution of divine judgement, a role for them that Jesus mentioned in his teaching. We can also deduce from the description that they have been elected to all their roles.

 

At least two orders of angels are mentioned in the Bible as distinct from angels in general. In Revelation 4, we read of twenty-four elders who sit on thrones. Since that is where they sit, it implies that they have areas of rule for which they are responsible. Near to them, and closer to God, are beings described as four living creatures who engage in ceaseless praise to God. It looks as if the four living creatures lead the praise because the twenty-four elders follow the lead given by the four living creatures.

 

The four living creatures appear elsewhere in the Bible as cherubim and seraphim. When we look at the description of the cherubim in Ezekiel, they are said to be four, with one looking like an ox, a second like a lion, a third like an eagle and a fourth like a man, although their appearance can change. The connection to creatures on earth may indicate that they possess what is expressed in those creatures (an ox has strength, an eagle is swift, a lion is regal, and a man is rational).

 

The cherubim can also be regarded as guardians of God’s throne or of the place where he is worshipped. This could explain why they guarded the way to the tree of life after Adam sinned in the garden of Eden. In some references, such as in Ezekiel, they seem to function as a mobile throne for the Lord. Cherubim were found on the ark of the covenant, on either side of the mercy seat which was a throne used by God as the king of Israel. They also appeared on the curtains in the tabernacle and temple.

 

The seraphim are mentioned only once, in Isaiah 6. They are associated with the divine throne. Isaiah does not say how many seraphs were there, although they were at least two because they cried to one another. The name means ‘burning ones’, burning with purity. The point of the incident is that as guardians of God’s throne they would have prevented intrusion by unwelcome persons, which would have caused a sense of fear for Isaiah.

 

Paul affirms that there are angels with areas of responsibility when he writes In Ephesians 3 about the principalities and powers in the heavenlies. It is not clear if they refer to good or bad angels, or perhaps he refers to both, depending on the context.

 

Only one archangel is mentioned in the Bible and his name is Michael. Although Jewish tradition had seven archangels, there is nothing recorded in the Scriptures which would deny the existence of only one archangel. The activities connected to him are usually to do with resurrection from the dead.

 

We are given the name of one other angel and that is Gabriel who was sent to speak to Joseph and Mary about the birth of Jesus. He also came to speak to Zacharius, the father of John the Baptist. In the conversation with Zacharius, Gabriel says that he stands in the presence of God, which is an explanation of his great dignity, a dignity that Zacharius did not appreciate at the time. Both Gabriel and Michael are mentioned as active in the Book of Daniel.

 

Angelic activity in heaven

The obvious activity in which they engage is praise and there are several references to them participating in the worship of God. They praise God for his work of creation, his activities in providence, and in his provision of salvation. Another activity alluded to is joy when sinners are converted. Jesus also says in his parable of the rich man and Lazarus that angels convey the souls of the righteous to heaven when they die.

 

A common experience for them is accountability at what is termed the heavenly council when they say what they have been doing as those sent out to serve God according to his revealed will. One example of this meeting is given at the start of the Book of Job, and perhaps surprisingly to us, the devil was present and interrogated by God.

 

Some applications

The good angels, having been elected by God, have remained sinless, are faithful to God and they delight to do his will. They are interested in the progress of the gospel and in the development of the church. In this, they are example to us.