Angels in the Bible
72Angels announce the acension of Christ
In the Bible
Angels are talked about throughout the Bible. We have preconceived images of them, and most any child can draw a recognizable picture of one. They are heavenly beings sent to earth. They give messages, help the righteous and carry out punishment on the wicked. According to Paul (Heb 1:14) they are ministering spirits. They do God’s biding here on earth with regards to mankind.
Sometimes they speak to man as if they are God, as in Gen. 22:12, where an angel of the Lord talks to Abraham and tells him not to sacrifice his son, since Abraham had shown his willingness to obey, even not withholding his only son. The angel said, “thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.”
Rev 22
9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
In Revelations 22, John bows down to worship the messenger who he thought was the Lord. The confusion was understandable because the angel kept referring to himself as the Lord. But he quickly stopped John from reverencing him because he said he was a prophet, a fellow servant of the Lord, and John’s brother (not earthly but spiritually).The Lord must sometimes authorize an angel messenger to speak in first person when delivering a message in certain instances.
Also this reference points out that angels can be given tasks to be responsible for. This particular angel was assigned the keeping of the sayings of that book, meaning the book of Revelations. So the prophesies recorded in Revelations will all come to pass in part by the help of a group of angels that make sure all of the items are carried out. The work of God is so great that He wisely assigns portions of it to others. This would do two things, give a worthy angel a task of importance to keep them involved in the salvation of their fellow brothers and sisters, thus training them for future assignments, and free God up for other tasks that only He can perform.
Another interesting point is brought up in verse 18; since this group of angels is in charge of watching over the text of the book of Revelations, they are assigned to watch over the purity of the text. I would assume all holy books that came from the mouth of God have similar angels assigned to them. Deuteronomy 4:2 says basically the same thing. If any text is changed or new words added to, God takes great offence to this. It would be putting words in His mouth, or censoring Him. In either case, they will report it to God, and there will be action taken at the appropriate time.
Do angels have a body of flesh and bone, or are they spirits? In Gen. 19:15 we see two angels pulling Lot into a house and closing the door to keep him from the angry Sodom town-folk. This would indicate that they do have bodies. But in Rev. 12:1-9 it refers to Michael and Satan’s angels in a war in heaven before mankind was even being sent to earth. So these angels would not yet have a body.
It would seem that angels can be either with or without a physical body. To be with a body, they would have to have lived on earth, died, and been resurrected (some time after Christ was). To be a spirit, they would either not yet have been born, or have received an earthly tabernacle, died, and not yet been resurrected. So the angels with bodies that visited earth before Christ’s resurrection must have received those bodies at another time long before. This is a mystery we may have to get answered after we die.
Do angels really have wings? Most pictures I have seen of angels show wings (note the one above does not!); big, beautiful, muscular ones. Although there are many mentions of angels in the Bible, none of them describe the angels with wings. The angels that helped Lot’s family were surrounded by wicked men, and they treated the angels as normal men, with no mention of their being tipped off by a pair of wings on the two strangers. In Judges 6, Gideon talked with an angel for quite some time, and did not discern him to be a heavenly messenger until the angel left.
Cherubim (found on the arc of the covenant) and seraphim (angelic beings seen in Isaiah’s vision) are described in Exodus and Isaiah as having wings, but these are both referred to in a context of symbolisms. They may be used to provide a desired imagery. Angels are always seen coming and going quite fast. The image of wings would symbolize the ability to transport quickly. So if they do have wings, apparently they have the ability to hide them. Certainly they have the ability to look just like us, and as such can blend in unnoticed. And this leads to some intriguing possibilities.
Paul’s point in Hebrews 13 is that we may have talked to angels ourselves and never known. This brings to mind the thought of guardian angels, those who would be assigned to make sure we do well. They could be invisible or appear as human to us in our daily walk of life. We may pray to Father, and in answer, He might send one of our fellow brethren to our side, whether visible or not. As we approach the day of the Lord, these assignments will be more and more frequent.
2 Kings
17 And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
Here we learn that the Lord can open our eyes that we may see those who others can not. We are always surrounded by members of both Michael’s and Satan’s armies. Just because we can not see them does not mean they are not around. For the most part, they must not interfere with our actions, but when we worthily pray for help, through them it can come our way.
Can you become an angel? Refer to Revelations 22, the angel said that he was John’s fellowservant, and a brother in the gospel. If John’s brother can be an angel, so should John be able to. If John can be an angel, then why can’t any righteous person?
Luke 20
34 And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:
35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.
So if you are worthy of “that world”, or the world of the angels, then you may become an angel. But those who stay at the angel status are not married. They have heavenly tasks assigned to them as recorded in the Bible. They become intimately involved in the salvation of their fellow man, as directed by God.
Is an angel the best you can be?
I Corr 15
40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.
41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead….
Paul explains that upon resurrection, there is more then one glory. Each glory would be a world. So one world may be that of the angels; another world is above or below the angel’s world. In Isaiah 34:16 it says that those who find their names written in the book of Life will be with their mate. This implies that the book of life promises us a world where there is marriage. So the world of the angels is not the best world, there is better. Paul tells the Hebrews a little more:
Heb 1
13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
This status of “heirs of salvation” appears to be the best world. The angels are blessed beyond belief, but they are ministering spirits to the ones who have their names in the book of life. These are the ones who sit on the right hand of God. These are the ones with all the great promises. If you will strive for the best, live in such a manner that your name is written in the book of life.
I am grateful for angels and all that they do for us to allow us a chance at becoming heirs to salvation. But it looks like the road to true eternal fulfillment lies in being an heir of salvation, and trying for the glory of the sun, the celestial kingdom. Their job is to help others be in the book of Life. This is done through studying, believing, repenting, and receiving the saving ordinances of the gospel by one who has authority to administer them. Just as Jesus sought out one who had authority, namely John, to baptize Him, it is our job to seek out one with God’s authority. Angels will help us in this task. Angels are always there to help. We have but to ask in faith, and in time it shall be done.
In the Bible, angels came to minister to man in behalf of the Lord many times:
Gen. 18 Three holy men appeared to Abraham, speaking in behalf of the Lord
Gen. 19 Two men offered to help Lot out of Sodom safely
Gen. 21 An angel helps Hagar and Ishmael to survive in the desert
Gen. 27 An angel helps Abraham’s servant find Isaac’s bride, Rebecca
Gen. 31 An angel, in a dream, helps Jacob get a fair deal from Rachel and Leah’s father, Laban
Gen. 32 Jacob wrestled an angel all night and asked for a blessing, which was granted
Num. 20 An angel led Moses and Israel out of Egypt
Judges 6 An angel helps Gideon free Israel from the Midianites rule
1King 19 An angel saves Elijah’s life with food and drink
Ps. 91 Angels will protect those who make the Lord their god
Zech 1 An angel interprets a vision for Zechariah
Matt 4 Angels ministered to Jesus after his forty day fast and the temptations of Satan
Matt 13 At the end of the world, the Lord will send His angels to destroy the wicked
Matt 24 The Lord’s angels shall gather the elect of the earth
Matt 28 An angel rolled back the stone for the risen Christ to leave the tomb
Luke 1 The angel Gabriel came to Zacharias, father of John, with glad tidings
Luke 2 Angels announce Jesus’ birth to shepherds
Luke 15 Angels have joy over one sinner that repents
Luke 16 Angels carry the righteous to heaven
Luke 20 Those righteous who marry under earthly ceremonies are only joined on earth and become angels, servants to others in heaven
Acts 5 Peter and John are released from prison by an angel
Acts 10 Cornelius fasted and prayed, and an angel was sent to him to answer his prayers
Acts 12 King Herod was smitten by an angel and died
Acts 27 An angel gave Paul comfort
2 Cor 11 Satan has the power to deceive, appearing as an angel of light
Heb 1 Angels are ultimately servants to those who are heirs of salvation (who keep all the laws and ordinances)
Heb 12 An innumerable company of angels will dwell in the city of the living God
Heb 13 There are those who have talked to angels and did not know it
2 Pet. 2 Angels can sin, and those that have will receive punishment in the judgment day
Jude 1 Some angels are left in chains and darkness till judgment
Rev 12 There was a war in heaven and angels took sides and fought
Rev 14 An angel will bring the gospel to the earth for all kindred, tongue and people
Rev 22 Angels can be dead prophets, fellow servants, our brothers
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Thanks, I think that people know of angels, but do not expect to either see or be affected by one. That is not true. They are on the earth daily. They do good deeds. They save us. And when someone says they saw an angel, it just might be true!
Much confusion about angels comes from trying to include Cherubims and Seraphims in the category. Cherubims and Seraphims work in heaven with the Father and are not supposed to be dealing with the earthly aspects we know. The angels are messengers sent to us. They have direct knowledge of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
What can be forgotten is that a third of the angels however, have fallen - or personally want worship and praise - and distort the truth they were sent to deliver.
Satan, being a fallen Cherubim (thus having wings) has his own priesthood in the fallen angels - and they can be transformed into angels of light - or appear to be truthful, glorious and right.
1 John 4:1 'Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they be of Yahweh: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.'
In an image conscious world - the appearance of uprightness, prosperity, and goodness can many times seduce good people away from the truth.
Because people have such an illuminated concept of what an angel is - they might not realize when they are truly in the presence of one - because it is not as glorious as they wanted it to be.
Hebrews 13:1-2 'Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain stangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.'
great hub
Who created the Angels?
How many in exact number are there?
Where were the Angels for Adam and Eve?
Are there Devils?
How do they differ from Angels?
How many devils are there exactly?
What is the purpose of prophecy?
There should be no need to know the future. otherwise God would have known that Eve would fail and take Adam with her away from God.
If you know the result, then why go through the motions.
People have not evolved in six thousand years, end of experiment Earth.
People have been bad ever since Cain killed Abel. They are still bad today, and maybe worse than ever.
God created all things, and thus created the Angels. Their purpose is to help God further His work. What is his work? To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
How many Angels are there? How many people are there? The number keeps growing, so how can we know. We know this, Gods works are endless, I would say his creations are endless. There are as many Angels as He needs to accomplish His end.
The Angels were near Father Adam and Mother Eve. They rejoiced when she partook of the fruit. They knew, as did she later on, that without sin there is no obedience. Without bad, there is no good, without pain there is no joy. The couple had to partake of the fruit to see this truth. As long as they did not, they would have no children. They would have lived forever together in a perfect garden learning nothing, for all was given to them. Thank God the fruit was there to give them a way out.
Devils are fallen Angels. As Isaiah points out, not all Angels obey God. Those who do not choose to follow Lucifer, the leader of fallen angels. How many? As many as the great deceiver can lure away with his lies and half truths.
Prophecy is to teach the lovers of truth things to come. Those who do not believe scoff at the truth. Like the people of Noah's day, they eventually perish in their haughty ignorance, remorseful only when it is too late.
Only the faithful believe in the reveled truth. And in the end, the unbelievers are left with no excuse. Many have failed the test of life. But many have passed. The evil are all on the news. The good are at home, building a good life for their family. It is not newsworthy, so we only see it if we look.
There are people today that are so good, Angels visit them regularly. Voices whisper to them, and they touch lives of many, just as Christ did. If you do not know any of these people, that explains your questions.
Go for a month to an LDS (Mormon) church. You will meet some of these people. You will be amazed! I did, I was, I am.
Very good article on Angles. Thank you.
One thing for sawbotrick's comments. Most of the Bible is written in parables. Adam and Eve were most likely not 2 individual people. What they did was consume from the "tree of knowledge." This probably was not an actual fruit that you ingest, but they sought and obtained knowledge they were not supposed to. Adam and Eve was said to have sons. But no mention of daughters. Where did there sons find there wives? Were there unnamed sisters they were mating with? And at what point did it become insest and start producing deformities? Because the entire race would have been inbreeds and the blood lines would never become far enough apart not to be. There is no mention of these circumstances that I am aware of. And leaves a lot left to be explained. It is very possible that Adam and Eve were 2 races of people that were made. Race of man, and then a race of woman. The lost city of Atlantis was far more advanced race of people than there times, and could very well hold many of these answers, and as they obtained too much knowledge (the tree of knowledge) the city was destroyed and all but wiped off the face of the planet. Leaving only little evidence to its actual existence.
This also bring me to wonder about Noa and his wife and the arch. How did there children reproduce, and when did it become insest and wrong to mate with your brother or sister? This also leaves a lot to be explained. We were created with a natural desire to seek knowledge. And with it being forbidden to eat from the "tree of knowledge" we were doomed from the moment we were created. If the dark angles are able to appear as angles of light, and task is to deceive us, we are given the task of questioning everything we are told, and the need to discern truth from fiction, good from bad, and told we are to have faith in that witch we do not understand. Depending on who gave birth to you determines where your faith is to be placed. As every religion believes it to be the "correct" version. We have no real way of knowing, because every religion leaves so many unanswered questions, and we have to simply have "faith" How do we really know that we have placed our faith in the correct one? Why was it not made more clear and not written is so many parables? Why is it all left open so so many different interpretations? If you are only lucky enough to have placed your faith in the correct place, you may then enter the kingdom of Heaven? It just seems like a lottery drawing to me.
If God is all knowing, and already knows what we will do befor we do it, then why even create the ones he already knows are going to be sinners, and goto hell? Why bother with this whole puppet show we call life? "all knowing" would take away free will. "All according to Gods plan" would mean he already knew Adam and Eve would eat from the tree of knowledge, but the Bible lays it out as if God was surprised by there actions. And We didn't act according to his plan. And then again when he had to flood the earth and start fresh with Noa and his wife. Seems to me that nothing is going "according to his plan" and that we just keep screwing up what ever plan that might be. But this is the way we were created. And he is our creator. We are given free will, but were not "free" to do as we please. We are given an ultimatum. Serve him or burn in hell. We are supposed to accept others and love thy neighbor. But we reject any one who doesn't think and believe as we do, we only want to associate with like minded people, "much like our Lord" God does not want any of us who disagree with him, and cann't even look apon us because we are sinners. He smites those who Go against his word. We were created in his image, and is it any surprise that we act much the same way? We desire praise when we do well, we only want to be around like minded people, and we reject or even condemn those who do not agree with our ways of life. And we have even tried to make people serve us in slavery. We are to either be Gods slaves, and do exactly as he asks us to do, or we burn for eternity. Did Hitler not act much the same way? And every other tyrant in history? God did not simply make us look like him, but gave us the same ways of thinking as he does. There inlies the mistake, and reason we failed as the human race. I do not think we should be held responsible for our failure. Is the mother and father of a child not responsible for there children's actions? Are the parents not responsible for teaching the children the "right" way to live? And responsible for making the teachings understandable to there children. Why he our creator not taking responsibility for that witch he has created?
We are embodied intelligences. Intelligence is eternal. God allowed us the chance to grow by giving us spirit bodies, then, when we proved our worthiness in that existence, He gave us the chance to have physical bodies. Here we stand, proving our worthiness again. When it is all done, we will be judged on our use of His gifts. Since we started out with nothing, any gift we retain plainly puts us ahead of where we started. If we do well, we will be granted greatness. But even those who do poorly (ie Hitler) come out ahead. Just remember that this life is designed for the intent of teaching us through practical experience, giving us a body, and letting us prove to a divine Father that we are ready for more. If we fail to prove our worth to Him, what good are we to anyone. Do your best, be your best. You will never regret it, not in this life or the life to come.
I’ve seen an angel, he showed thousands of peoples as I looked upon them, I thought to myself all lined up to take it in turn to have a go at me, palms 91.7.
Then when I did start reading the holy bible that happened.
The Holy Spirit was convicting me of my sin, as I was praying I wept with intense sorrow remorse, Every time I sinned I offended God. I was so sorrowful for what I had done, and for the way I had treated other people in the past. I wept so much I was exhausted.
God knows my heart, there is nothing I can hide from him, and he knows me.
God change my heart.
Now I am no longer selfish,
I am no longer a lover of money.
I am no longer a liar.
I am no longer a con man and I am no longer a thief.
I have stopped using people to my advantage.
I am no longer spiteful towards others people.
I am no longer sarcastic towards others.
I am no longer rude towards others.
I was praying on my hands and knees, and I started praying for people around me, imagine the power of a volcano irrupting. That’s what it felt like when the Holy Spirit penetrated my heart, for he wants me to love others, to love every person as much as I love my own family. This is the will of God. He wants me to be like that.
I am changing my life and putting right with God. There are things I need to change in my life and I am working on them every day. At the moment I am working with God’s help on these.
1) Being obedient to the word of God and his will for my life.
2) So there are no deceptions in my life.
3 ) To love the Lord thy God with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my strength, and with all my mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
I want to change; it is not me who can control this change in me. Only God can do it, only he can make me grow in love.
I realise I have to be obedient to the word of God, and I am.
One time a person asked me: “I want to be an angel, how do I become one?” I answered: “Angels have one rule. In all your words, actions, behaviours towards others show love,
We are an angels, but we are lost, trying to get back home to heaven.
WHEN I SAW THE ANGEL HE SHOWED ME A BIG SCREEN, I ONLY SAW THE ANGEL HEAD, AND HE WAS IN THE LEFT HAND CORNER AT THE BOTTOM.
The Calling 2 years ago
Great article. Angels are a gift from God and its a comfort to know that they are always there protecting us :)