Four features of angels

What features come to mind when we think of angels. Perhaps we think of their number, or their power, or their age. No doubt, those details are important, although it is impossible for us to say how many of them there are, or how powerful they are, or how old they are. Yet there are some features that we can consider in a more precise way, although in a brief and respectful manner. 

The lowliness of angels

The first sin of the devil when he rebelled against God was to replace lowliness with pride when he tried to rise to a height that did not belong to him and which he could not reach. He refused to acknowledge the authority of God but discovered that was impossible. His wrong action shows that angels are humble and reverent towards the Lord.

 

In the Book of Job, angels are described as the sons of God, yet in the references to them in Job 1 and 2 it is obvious that they are servants gathered to give a report to God. Another Bible passage that points to them as servants is the vision that Jacob had of a stairway between heaven and earth on which angels were ascending and descending as they engaged in missions required by God (Gen. 28). The impression of the stairway is that such activities are constant.

 

Some commentators also believe that we see the humility of angels in the vision of the seraphim described in Isaiah 6, especially regarding their wings. They hide their face with two, they hide their feet with two, and they hover with two. Hiding the face shows they were dazzled by the sight of God, hiding their feet shows they did not promote to others their service for God, and hovering shows their ongoing availability for service.

 

The servanthood of angels is taken up by the author of Hebrews in his first two chapters in which he contrasts them with the divine dignity of the Son of God. In Hebrews 1:14, the author mentions an aspect of their common service: ‘Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?’ He does not say that this activity is reserved for some of them. Rather, he says that it is the role of all of them. Of course, although they serve us, they are not our servants. They are God’s servants, and they serve him by ministering to us as Christians. It is also important to notice that all the angels serve all the people of God. They are never guilty of favouritism or preferences.

 

The longings of angels

One well-known verse that connects to this detail is the statement of Peter in 1 Peter 1:12 in which he mentions Old Testament prophets, New Testament believers and the angels: ‘It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.’

 

Angels want to know more about the salvation of sinners and the formation of the church. Thomas Boston describes their longing in these words: ‘The angels in heaven are perfect in knowledge; but their knowledge was, and is, capable of increase, and did receive increase by the more open setting up of the kingdom of Christ in the world by the gospel, whereby many folds of the wisdom of God in this mystery were opened to them which they saw not before.’ Boston links this discovery with Paul’s words in Ephesians 3:9-10: ‘and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.’

 

The limitations of angels

We may be surprised to think of this aspect of angels. Yet they have some obvious limitations. First, they do not have any divine attributes, which means that they are not omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. Yet they know more than we do, they are more powerful than we are, and they can travel rapidly between places.

 

When they speak about future events, they can do so only because they have been told about them; they don’t know the date of the second coming of Jesus (Mark 13:22). They also need to be told regarding whom to say particular messages, as we can see many times in the Bible.

 

Obviously, an angel is much more powerful than us – one angel killed an entire army, and an angel slew the firstborn in Egypt. There seems to be different degrees of power among angels: one angel in the book of Daniel had difficulty defeating a hostile angel and had to be helped by Michael.

 

With regard to omnipresence, an angel can only be in one place at a time, although they can travel very quickly between places. Yet sometimes, as with the two angels sent to rescue Lot from Sodom after they met with Abraham, they can travel at a slower rate when required.

 

Although angels are perfect, they are not sources of grace, either here in the world of sin or in heaven the world of glory. Thomas Boston put it this way: ‘The saints and angels in heaven have but each one their measure of holiness, the fulness of a vessel; they have none to communicate to others: but in [Jesus] there is the fulness of a fountain, to fill all with holiness.’

 

The lyrics of angels

By this, I have in mind what they say in heaven as worshippers of God. Several passages state the words and themes that they concentrate on. One well known passage is Isaiah 6 where the seraphim say to one another repeatedly, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’ (Isa. 6:3). In heaven, they speak to one another about God. The repetition shows that the phrase encompasses the greatness of God, and that nothing higher can be said about him. It is not the number of words that matter, but the content of the sentence. Calvin commented that ‘the holiness of God supplies us with inexhaustible reasons’ for praising God. We can say that thinking about the holiness of God is a good preparation for worship and for participating in worship.

 

We also have an example of the praise of angels in Revelation 4 and 5. In that passage, the cherubim praise God constantly for his holiness (like the seraphim in Isaiah). They also mention his eternal existence. A response is made by other angels who mention the fact that the Lord is the Creator and Preserver of all things, and those divine actions are pointers to his worthiness of praise by his creatures who should gladly acknowledge him by confessing he is always worthy of glory, honour and power.

 

In Revelation 4, the object of worship is God the Father, but in Revelation 5 we see that the angels also worship Jesus because he redeemed sinners by his death and paid the penalty that they were due to pay. They also worship Jesus for his ingathering of those sinners and for the amazing royal position he has given to them. Such activity by the Lamb means he is due the same exalted status as the Father even although he is receiving divine blessings from the Father. He receives power, wealth, wisdom, might, honour, glory and blessing, perhaps in order to engage in his saving activities. The outcome of the angelic song is that the whole creation praises God, a picture of what will yet take place.

 

The angels also praise God for his acts of judgement (Rev. 14 and 19) as well as for bringing about the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19). Those descriptions are concerned with future events, but they do provide us with information about what the angels will yet sing about.

 

Of course, the four distinctives that I have mentioned are not the only ones that could have been said. We could have spoken about their love and their loyalty and no doubt other features. But what can we say about the four matters mentioned? Their lowliness is a reminder that the Lord dwells with the humble, their longings reveal their interests, their limitations remind us to think biblically about them, and their lyrics show what gives them great joy.