02.13. Angels

Chapter 13

Angels

1. What are the different senses in which the wordαγγελο angel, or messenger, is used Scripture?

“Ordinary messengers, Job 1:14; Luke 7:24; Luke 9:52; prophets, Is. 13:19; Malachi 3:1; priests, Malachi 2:7; ministers of the New Testament, Revelation 1:20; also impersonal agents, as pillar of cloud, Exodus 14:19; pestilence, 2 Samuel 24:16-17; winds, Psalms 104:4; plagues, called, ‘evil angels,’Psalms 78:49; Paul’s thorn in the flesh, ‘angel of Satan,’2 Corinthians 12:7.” Also the second person of the Trinity, “Angel of his presence;”“Angel of the Covenant,”Isaiah 63:9; Malachi 3:1. But the term is chiefly applied to the heavenly intelligences, Matthew 25:31.—See Kitto’s “Bib. Ency.”

2. What are the Scriptural designations of angels, and how far are those designations expressive of their nature and offices?

Good angels (for evil spirits, see Question 15) are designated in Scripture as to their nature, dignity, and power, as “spirits,”Hebrews 1:14; “thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, mights,”Ephesians 1:21, and Colossians 1:16; “sons of God,”Luke 20:36; Job 1:6; “mighty angels,” and “powerful in strength,”2 Thessalonians 1:7; Psalms 103:20; “holy angels,”“elect angels,”Luke 9:26; 1 Timothy 5:21; and as to the offices they sustain in relation to God and man, they are designated as “angels or messengers,” and as “ministering spirits,”Hebrews 1:13-14.

3. What were the cherubim?

“They were ideal creatures, compounded of four parts, those namely, of a man, an ox, a lion, and an eagle.”“The predominant appearance was that of a man, but the number of faces, feet, and hands differed according to circumstances.”—Ezekiel 1:6, compare with Ezekiel 12:18-19, and Exodus 25:20. To the same ideal beings is applied the designation “living creatures” (Ezekiel 1:5-22; Ezekiel 10:15; Ezekiel 10:17; Revelation 4:6-9; Revelation 5:6-14; Revelation 6:1-7; Revelation 7:11; Revelation 14:3; Revelation 15:7; Revelation 19:4), rendered in our version “beasts,” they were symbolic of the highest properties of creature life, and of these as the outgoings and manifestation of the divine life; but they were typical of redeemed and glorified manhood, or prophetical representations of it, as that in which these properties were to be combined and exhibited.

“They were appointed immediately after the fall to man’s original place in the garden, and to his office in connection with the tree of life.”—Genesis 3:24.

“The other and more common connection in which the cherub appears is with the throne or peculiar dwelling place of God. In the holy of holies in the tabernacle, Exodus 25:22, he was called the God who dwelleth between and sitteth upon the cherubim, 1 Samuel 4:4; Psalms 80:1; Ezekiel 1:26; Ezekiel 1:28; whose glory is above the cherubim. In Revelation 4:6, we read of the living creatures who were in the midst of the throne and around about it.”

“What does this bespeak but the wonderful fact brought out in the history of redemption, that man’s nature is to be exalted to the dwelling place of the Godhead? In Christ it is taken, so to speak, into the very bosom of the Deity; and because it is so highly honored in him, it shall attain to more than angelic glory in his members.”—Fairbairn’s “Typology,” Pt. 2., Chapter 1., Section 3. See also “Imperial Bible Dictionary,” Art. Cherubim.

4. What is the etymology (linguistic development) of the word seraphim, and what is taught in Scripture concerning them? The word signifies burning, bright, dazzling. It occurs in the Bible only once.—Isaiah 6:2; Isaiah 6:6. It probably presents, under a different aspect, the ideal beings commonly designated cherubim and living creatures.

5. Is there any evidence that angels are of various orders a ranks? That such distinctions certainly exist appears evident—

1st. From the language of Scripture. Gabriel is distinguished as one that stands in the presence of God (Luke 1:19), evidently in some preeminent sense; and Michael as one of the chief princes.—Daniel 10:13. Observe also the epithets archangel, thrones, dominions, principalities, powers.—Jude 1:9; Ephesians 1:21.

2nd. From the analogy of the fallen angels.—See Ephesians 2:2; Matthew 9:34.

3rd. From the analogy of human society and of the universal creation. Throughout all God’s works gradation of rank prevails.

6. Do the Scriptures speak of more than one archangel, and is he to be considered a creature? This term occurs but twice in the New Testament, and in both instances it is used in the singular number, and preceded by the definite article ο. —1 Thessalonians 4:16; Jude 1:9. Thus the term is evidently restricted to one person, called, Jude 1:9, Michael, who, in Daniel 10:13; Daniel 12:1, is called “one of the chief princes,” and “the great prince,” and in Revelation 12:7, is said to have fought with his angels against the dragon and his “angels.”

Many suppose that the archangel is the Son of God. Others suppose that he is one of the highest class of creatures, since he is called “one of the chief princes,”Daniel 10:13; and since divine attributes are never ascribed to him.

7. What do the Scriptures teach concerning the number and power of angels?

1st. Concerning their number, revelation determines only that it is very great. “Thousand thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand.”—Daniel 7:10. “More than twelve legions of angels.”—Matthew 26:53. “Multitude of the heavenly host.”Luke 2:13; “Myriads of angels.”—Hebrews 12:22.

2nd. Concerning their power, the Scriptures teach that it is very great when exercised both in the material and in the spiritual worlds. They are called “mighty angels,” and are said to “excel in strength.”—2 Thessalonians 1:7; Psalms 103:20; 2 Kings 19:35. Their power, however, is not creative, but, like that of man, it can be exercised only coordinately with the general laws of nature, in the absolute sense of that word.

8. What are their employments?

1st. They behold the face of God in heaven, adore the divine perfections, study every revelation he makes of himself in providence and redemption, and are perfectly blessed in his presence and service.—Matthew 18:10; Revelation 5:11; 1 Peter 1:12.

2nd. God employs them as his instruments in administering the affairs of his providence.—Genesis 28:12; Daniel 10:13.

(1.) The law “was ordained by angels.”—Galatians 3:19; Acts 7:53; Hebrews 2:2.

(2.) They are instruments of good to God’s people.—Hebrews 1:14; Acts 12:7; Psalms 91:10-12.

(3.) They execute judgment upon God’s enemies.—Acts 2:23; 2 Kings 19:35; 1 Chronicles 21:16.

(4.) They will officiate in the final judgment in separating the good from the bad, in gathering the elect, and in bearing them up to meet the Lord in the air. Matthew 13:30; Matthew 13:39; Matthew 24:31; 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

9. Have angels bodies, and how are the apparitions of angels to be accounted for?

Angels are called in the Scriptures “spirits”πνευματα, Hebrews 1:14, a word which is also used to designate the souls of men when separate from the body.—1 Peter 3:19. There is however nothing in that word, nor in the opinions of the Jews at the time of Christ, nor in anything which is told us of the nature or the employments of angels in the Scriptures, which prove that angels are absolutely destitute of proper material bodies of any kind. Indeed as the Son of God is to have “a glorious body,”“a spiritual body” forever, and since all the redeemed are to have bodies like his, and since the angels are associated with redeemed men as members of the same infinitely exalted kingdom, it may appear probable that angels may have been created with physical organizations not altogether dissimilar to the “spiritual bodies” of the redeemed. They always appeared and spoke to men in Bible times in the bodily form of men, and as such they ate food and lodged in houses like common men.—Genesis 18:1-33 and Genesis 19:3.

It has hence been supposed by some that angels have bodies like the present “natural” or animal bodies of men σωμα ψυχικον, 1 Corinthians 15:44, of flesh, bones, and blood, of head and features, hands and feet, and that the apparition of an angel involved no change in him, but only a coming within the sphere of the sense perception of the observer, when the angel appeared just as he habitually is.

Now this is inconsistent with the facts of the inspired record. In certain situations the angels “appeared” precisely like common men, and in other situation) they acted very differently (Acts 12:7-10; Numbers 22:31), in passing through stone walls, appearing and disappearing at will, etc. Besides, one of the three men who appeared to Abraham at Mamre, and whose feet he washed, and who ate the meat he had prepared, was Jehovah, the second Person of the Trinity, who had no body till he acquired it many centuries afterwards in the womb of the Virgin. If the apparent human body of the one angels, was not a real, permanent human body, there is not ground to argue from the recorded phenomena that the others were.—Genesis 18:1-33.

Besides this, the theory in question indicates absurd confusion of thought. The animal human body, as we know it, is a physical organization in equilibrium with certain definite and nicely adjusted physical conditions, and it can exist only under those conditions. The vertebrate type, of which the human body is the highest form, has been continually changed as the physical conditions of the globe have changed, and it ceases always to exist whenever those conditions are changed in any decided degree. If it would be absurd to conceive of a human body existing in water, or in fire, how much more absurd is it to conceive of a warm–blooded, food–consuming animal existing indifferently on earth and in heaven; traversing at will the interstellar spaces, and as a true cosmopolite inhabiting alternately and indifferently all worlds, and all elements, ether, air and water, and all temperatures, from the molten sun to the absolute zero of the starless void. The bodily appearance of angels, therefore, must have been something new assumed, or something preexistent and permanent greatly modified for the purpose of enabling them to hold, upon occasion, profitable interaction with men.

10. What is the Romish doctrine and practice with regard to the worship of angels?

“Catechismus Romanus,” 3. 2, 9, 10.—“For the Holy Spirit who says, Honor and glory unto the only God (1 Timothy 1:17), commands us also to honor our parents and elders (Leviticus 19:32, etc.); and the holy men who worshipped one God only are also said in the sacred Scriptures to have adored (Genesis 23:7; Genesis 23:12, etc.), that is, to have suppliantly venerated, kings. If then kings, by whose agency God governs the world, are treated with so high an honor, shall we not give to the angelic spirits an honor greater in proportion as these blessed minds exceed kings in dignity; [to those angelic spirits] whom God has been pleased to constitute his ministers; whose services he makes use of, not only in the government of the Church, but also of the rest of the universe; by whose aid, although we see them not, we are daily delivered from the greatest dangers both of soul and body? Add to this the charity with which they love us, through which, as Scripture informs us, they pour out their prayers for those countries (Daniel 2:13) over which they are placed by Providence, and for those too, no doubt, whose guardians they are, for they present our prayers and tears before the throne of God (Job 3:25; Job 12:12; Revelation 8:3). Hence our Lord has taught us in the gospel not to scandalize the little ones, because in heaven their angels do always behold the face of his Father which is in heaven.”

“Their intercession, therefore, we must invoke, because they always behold God, and receive from him the most willing advocacy of our salvation. To this, their invocation, the sacred Scriptures bear testimony.—Genesis 48:15-16.”

11. What views have been entertained with respect to “Guardian Angels”?

“It was a favorite opinion of the Christian Fathers that every individual is under the care of a particular angel, who is assigned to him as a guardian. They spoke also of two angels—the one good, the other evil—whom they conceived to be attendant on each individual:the good angel prompting to all good, and averting ill; and the evil angel prompting to all ill, and averting good (Hermas 11. 6). The Jews (excepting the Sadducees) entertained this belief, as do the Moslems. The heathen held it in a modified form—the Greeks having their tutelary demon, and the Romans their genius. There is however nothing to support this notion in the Bible. The passages usually referred to for its support (Psalms 34:7, Matthew 18:10), have assuredly no such meaning. The former simply denotes that God employs the ministry of angels to deliver his people from affliction and danger; and the celebrated passage in Matthew means that the infant children of believers, or the least among the disciples of Christ, whom the ministers of the church might be disposed to neglect, are in such estimation elsewhere, that angels do not think it below their dignity to minister unto them.” Nothing is said of the personal assignment of angels to individual men.—Kitto’s “Bib. Encyclo.”

12. What are the names by which Satan is distinguished, a what is their import?

Satan, which signifies adversary, Luke 10:18. The Devil ( διαβολος always occurs in the singular) signifying slanderer, Revelation 20:2; Apollyon, which means destroyer, and Abaddon, Revelation 9:11; Beelzebub, the prince of devils, from the god of the Ekronites, chief among the heathen divinities all of which the Jews regarded as devils, 2 Kings 1:2; Matthew 12:24; Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Revelation 9:11 Prince of the World, John 12:31; Prince of Darkness, Ephesians 6:12; A Roaring Lion, 1 Peter 5:8; a Sinner from the Beginning, 1 John 3:8; Accuser, Revelation 12:10; Belial, 2 Corinthians 6:15; Deceiver, Revelation 20:10; Dragon, Revelation 12:7; Liar and Murderer, John 8:44; Leviathan, Isaiah 27:1; Lucifer, Isaiah 14:12; Serpent, Isaiah 27:1; Tormentor; Matthew 18:34; God of this World, 2 Corinthians 4:4; he that hath the Power of Death, Hebrews 2:14.—See Cruden’s “Concordance.”

13. How may it be proved that Satan is a personal being, and not a mere personification of evil?

Throughout all the various books of Scripture Satan is always consistently spoken of as a person, and personal attributes are predicated of him. Such passages as Matthew 4:1-25, and John 8:44, are decisive.

14. What do the Scriptures teach concerning the relation of Satan to other evil spirits and to our world?

Other evil spirits are called “his angels,”Matthew 25:41; and he is called “Prince of Devils,”Matthew 9:34; and “Prince of the powers of the Air,” and “Prince of Darkness,”Ephesians 6:12. This indicates that he is the master spirit of evil. His relation to this world is indicated by the history of the Fall, 2 Corinthians 11:3; Revelation 12:9, and by such expressions as “God of this World,”2 Corinthians 4:4; and “Spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience,”Ephesians 2:2; wicked men are said to be his children, 1 John 3:10; he blinds the minds of those that believe not and leads them captive at his will, 2 Timothy 2:26; he also pains, harasses, and tempts God’s true people as far as is permitted for their ultimate good.—Luke 22:31; 2 Corinthians 12:7; 1 Thessalonians 2:18.

15. What are the terms by which fallen spirits are designated? The Greek word διαβολος, the devil, is in the original applied only to Beelzebub. Other evil spirits are called διαμονες, demons, Mark 5:12(translated devils); unclean spirits, Mark 5:13; angels of the devil, Matthew 25:41; principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, Ephesians 6:12; angels that sinned, 2 Peter 2:4; angels that kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, Jude 1:6 :; lying spirits, 2 Chronicles 18:22.

16. What power or agency over the bodies and souls of men is ascribed to them?

Satan, like all other finite beings, can only be in one place at a time; yet all that is done by his agents being attributed to him, he appears to be practically ubiquitous.

It is certain that at times at least they have exercised an inexplicable influence over the bodies of men, yet that influence is entirely subject to God’s control.—Job 2:1; Luke 13:16; Acts 10:38. They have caused and aggravated diseases, and excited appetites and passions.—1 Corinthians 5:5. Satan, in some sense, has the power of death.—Hebrews 2:14. With respect to the souls of men, Satan and his angels are utterly destitute of any power either to change the heart or to coerce the will, their influence being simply moral, and exercised in the way of deception, suggestion, and persuasion. The descriptive phrases applied by the Scriptures to their working are such as—“the deceivableness of unrighteousness,”“power, signs, lying wonders,”2 Thessalonians 2:9-10; he “transforms himself into an angel of light.”—2 Corinthians 11:14. If he can deceive or persuade he uses “wiles,”Ephesians 6:11; “snares,”1 Timothy 3:7; “depths,”Revelation 2:24; he “blinds the mind,”2 Corinthians 4:4; “leads captive the will,”2 Timothy 2:26; and so “deceives the whole world.”—Revelation 12:9. If he cannot persuade he uses “fiery darts,”Ephesians 6:16; and “buffetings.”—2 Corinthians 12:7. As examples of his influence in tempting men to sin the Scriptures cite the case of Adam, Genesis 3:1-24 :; of David, 1 Chronicles 21:1; of Judas, Luke 22:3; Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5:3, and the temptation of our blessed Lord, Matthew 4:1-25 :

17. What evidence is there that the heathen worship devils?

“The δαιμων is the object of their worship, δεισιδαιμωνια describes their worship itself, and δεισιδαιμων the worshipper.” Paul (Acts 17:22) declared that the men of Athens were δεισιδαιμονεστερου, i. e., too much addicted to demon–worship. David says (Psalms 106:37), “The gods of the heathen are demons,” and Paul (1 Corinthians 10:20), “The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God.” Moses said of apostate Israelites (Deuteronomy 32:17), “They sacrificed to demons and not to God, to gods whom they knew not; to new gods that came newly up; whom your fathers feared not.”—“The Imperial Bible Dictionary.”

18. Where do they reside, and what is the true interpretation of Ephesians 2:2; Ephesians 6:12?

These passages simply declare that evil spirits belong to the unseen spiritual world, and not to our mundane system. Nothing is taught us in Scripture as to the place of their residence, further than that they originally dwelt in and fell from heaven, that they now have access to men on earth, and that they will be finally sealed up in the lake of fire prepared for them.—Revelation 20:10; Matthew 25:41.

19. By what terms were those possessed by evil spirits designated?

They are called “demoniacs,”translated possessed with devils,Matthew 4:24; “having the spirit of an unclean devil,”Luke 4:33; “oppressed of the devil,”Acts 3:8; “lunatics,”Matthew 17:15.

20. What arguments are urged by those who regard the “demoniacs,” mentioned in the New Testament as simply diseased or deranged? That we cannot discriminate between the effects of demoniacal possession and disease. That precisely the same symptoms have, in other cases, been treated as disease and cured.

That, like witchcraft, the experience of such possessions has been confined to the most ignorant ages of the world.

They argue further that this doctrine is inconsistent with clearly revealed principles.

1st. That the souls of dead men go immediately either to heaven or hell.

2nd. That fallen angels are already shut up in chains and darkness in expectation of the final judgment.—2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6.

They attempt to explain away the language of Christ and his apostles upon this subject by affirming, that as it was no part of their design to instruct men in the true science of nature or disease, they conformed their language on such subjects to the prevalent opinions of the people they addressed, calling diseases by the popular name, without intending thereby to countenance the theory of the nature of the disease, out of which the name originated. Just as we now call crazed people “lunatics,” without believing in the influence of the moon upon them.—“Kitto’s Bib. Ency.”

21. How may it be proved that the demoniacs of the New Testament were really possessed of evil spirits? The simple narratives of all the evangelists put it beyond peradventure that Christ and his apostles did believe, and wished others to believe, that the “demoniacs,” were really possessed with devils.

They distinguish between possession and disease.—Mark 1:32; Luke 6:17-18. The “demons,” as distinct from the “possessed,” spoke (Mark 5:12), were addressed, commanded, and rebuked by Christ.—Mark 1:25; Mark 1:34; Mark 9:25; Matthew 8:32; Matthew 17:18. Their desires, requests, and passions are distinguished from those of the possessed.—Matthew 8:31; Mark 9:26, etc. The number of demons in one person is mentioned.—Mark 16:9. They went out of the “possessed” into the swine.—Luke 8:32. We never speak of the moon entering into, and sore vexing a man, or being cast out of a lunatic, or of the moon crying aloud, etc. The argument of those who would explain away the force of Christ’s language on this subject, therefore fails.