Angels

By David Jeremiah, Th.M., D.D.
Senior Pastor, Shadow Mountain Community Church/Turning Point Ministries, El Cajon, California

Plain and simple, angels are created spirit beings from outside this world who exist in an innumerable company, Hebrews 13.22. Within that loose meaning are two broad angel categories: good and bad. The good ones we call God’s angels. The bad ones are fallen angels, Satan and his demons.

Some interpreters believe all angels were created on the second day of creation, see Psalm 104. Regardless of when they were created, some time in that early period for purposes beyond our understanding, Satan instigated an angelic rebellion. (See the article on Fallen Angels.) For the remainder of this article, the angels referred to are good angels.

God’s angels definitely call God’s Heaven their home. These holy angels belong only to the God of the Bible and therefore to Heaven. They do not belong to earth nor to any earthly religion nor philosophy. Through their actions on earth and in Heaven, as revealed in the Scriptures, we observe God using angels in connection with the human race, sometimes to bring protection and blessing and at other times as messengers of judgment, as in the book of Revelation. They are specifically called “ministering spirits,sent forth to minister (serve) for them who shall be heirs of salvation,” or “who will inherit salvation,” Hebrews 1.14.

There are three principles, key warnings actually to guide us to a biblical perspective about angels and our relationship to them.

We must not create nor reshape angels according to our fancy. This is being done in our society, where the creations of mankind’s imagination are sold in the form of figurines and paintings called angels. The angels mentioned in the Bible are created spirit beings, not humans in afterlife. Unlike humans, angels are not permanently housed in physical bodies. They do not have to earn their wings, nor do they act on their own reasoning and volition. Though only two good angels are mentioned by name in Scripture: Gabriel in Daniel 8.16, 9.21 and Luke 1.19,26, and Michael the Archangel in Daniel 10.13,21 and 12.1; Jude 9, Revelation 12.7, wherever gender is mentioned, the angels in the Bible are always male beings.
We must never let angels replace God in our lives. Angels may be other-worldly and powerful, however, they do not act but by the power of Almighty God. In this age where many are consumed with spiritual things apart from the God of the Bible, fascination with angels is one more vain attempt to overcome the spiritual void only a relationship with Christ can fill. Before we desire to be led by angels, we must remember the children of Israel were filled with mourning at the thought they would be led by an angel rather than by the God of Heaven, Exodus 33.1-4.
Angels must never receive our worship, Colossians 2.18. In Heaven all worship is directed only to God, Revelation 19.10 and 22.9.

Nearly every book in the Bible alludes to angels. They are present not only to give new revelations, but also to provide watchcare and protection for God’s people. They are worshippers and warriors, the Lord’s Host; they have different ranks: thrones, powers, rulers, authorities; see Colossians 1.16, Ephesians 1.20-21 and 3.10; and they are immortal