All About Angels

    The word translated "angel" in the English Bible means "messenger" and can refer to a human being or a spiritual being from the heavenly realm. The book of Malachi bears this name">

All About Angels     The word translated "angel" in the English Bible means "messenger" and can refer to a human being or a spiritual being from the heavenly realm. The book of Malachi bears this name, perhaps because God speaks in it of "my messenger" who would go before God and prepare the way for his coming (3:1). In the New Testament as well as the Old, the context usually determines which kind of messenger is under discussion (e.g. 1 Timothy 3:16).     Angels are heavenly beings created by God (Colossians 1:16). They are supposed to be the servants of God and many of them are faithful servants, (Hebrews 1:17, 14; cf., Psalm 104:4). God, however, created them with a free will and some of the angels chose to rebel against God (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6). These angels, along with Satan, are destined to spend eternity in hell, which was prepared for this very purpose (Matthew 25:41).     When the fall of Satan and the rebellious angels occurred is a difficult question. If 2 Peter 2:4 is understood to be in chronological sequence with the events described in the following verses, we know that this fall took place before the time of the flood. The ancient Jews believe that Genesis 6:1-4 was describing this fall and provided the explanation for all of the extreme wickedness in the pre-flood world (Genesis 6:5-7). A difficulty with this understanding is the fact that Satan seems already to be opposed to the purposes of God in Genesis 3. Jesus said he was a murderer and a liar from the beginning (John 8:44; Genesis 3:4). All that we can say with certainty is that sometime in the ancient past, Satan became an enemy of God. He is called the archon or ruler of the spiritual hosts of wickedness (Ephesians 2:2). His position seems to be similar to that of Michael, who is an archangel of God (Revelation 12:7-9). This seems to imply that Satan is an archangel, a great general or commander of angels.     Scripture reveals enough about angels to inform us that angels have varying degrees of rank. The archangels are the most powerful and command other angels below them. They are often spoken of in terms of the "host" or "army" of heaven and are even spoken of as "legions’ in military terminology (2 Kings 6:16-17; Matthew 26:53; Mark 5:9; Revelation 12:7-9). Angels whose names we know from Scripture are Gabriel, Michael, Abaddon, and Satan (Daniel 8:16; 9:21; 10:13; 10:21; 12:1; Luke 1:19, 26; Jude 9:11; 12:7).     In extra-biblical Jewish sources there is much speculation about angels. Since this material has never been accepted as Scripture by the people of God, we cannot know how much truth and error is in it. The Jews in the intertepstamental era seemed to think they knew quite a bit about the angels. For example, in 1 Enoch 20 there are seven archangels listed, including Uriel, Raphael, Michael, Saraqael, Gabriel, and Remiel. In addition, the Jewish literature mentions the names of several of the watchers or fallen angels, including Samjaza, Artaqifa, Armen, Kokabel, Turael, Rumjal, Danjal, Neqael, Baraqel, Azazel, Armaros, Batarjal, Busasejal, Hananel, Turel, Simapesial, Jetrel, Tumamel, Bumael, and more. These are listed with the addendum, "These are the chiefs of the angels and their names . . ." This only strengthens the notions that angels are ranked in military fashion. Both the biblical and non-biblical evidence suggests that different angels fulfill different unique functions in the service of good and evil. Angels, like humans, seem to be distinct persons, unique individuals.     The power of angels in Scripture is very great. They can traverse great distances with no trouble at all. They can kill vast numbers of people or deliver vast numbers from danger. They can appear in human form and perform human functions like eating, etc. Their numbers are vast and their functions important in the eternal plan of God. They do not, however, seem to occupy the center of God’s attention as does man.