Evidence of Angels God’s Messengers
Photography By Lonnie Paulson http://www.lonniepaulsonphoto.com
Why Write About Angels?
It seems whether you are a Christian or a secular humanist you may have an interest in angels. Angels have been immensely popular in literature, movies, and the television and the internet, podcasts and so on. Tens of millions of entries of the subject of angels grace the internet. The large city of Los Angeles, California is named the city of angels. If you live in California if someone mentions angels to you, you are probably thinking of the Los Angeles Baseball Team. To make sure that we are both on the same page; I am referring to angels as messengers from God. Writers have written entertaining literature and movies and television scripts about the subject of angels. I find these entertaining, but not biblically accurate. In this article I want to share with you the truth of angels and separate fantasy from fact.
Nonbiblical Views of Angels
There are also nonbiblical religious views that I want to point out to you. These views are more dangerous than the entertaining fantasies we see or read about in our popular culture. There are nonfiction Christian books that you will find on angels that are not biblical. Be careful! Many of these books are written by false teachers who can lead you into the occult. False teachers will claim to find your angel you must meditate. This is demonic. We should not be looking for angels. The dictionary definition of meditation is the act of contemplating on a subject where you are engaging your mind to think on that subject to generate ideas. This does not have to be on theology. It could be about your school assignments, your grocery list, or about your career or hobby. Occultic groups have an opposite definition of meditation. They believe that emptying your mind of everything is the first step to meditation. They may tell you to chant a mantra or a word repeatedly until your mind goes blank. The only angels you will find in what a false teacher may call spiritual meditation is a demon. If you want more of a better definition of spiritual meditation look to the Bible. Turn to the first Psalm. “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night” (Psalm 1:2 NKJV).
Stay away from these heretics. In the first epistle of John, John tells the believers: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1 NKJV). These false teachers may believe they are Christian, but they do not submit to the biblical text. They may use scripture, but they take it out of context or read something into it that is not there. There are two kingdoms. One kingdom is ruled by the triune Holy God and his holy angels in heaven. This second kingdom which is of the earth is ruled by Satan and his demons. Before the first sin of Adam, an angel who was named Lucifer who is also called Satan rebelled against God and persuaded other angels to join him to war against God. As Christians we do not need to be looking for angels. We better not be praying to angels or worshiping them. We are to worship Christ. Jesus is not an angel. Jesus the Christ is God in the flesh and the second person in the holy trinity. In the book of Revelation, the Apostle John wrote about the future end times that he heard about from an angel and kneeled before the angel to worship him, but this is what the angel told the Apostle John and you better do the same. “Then he said to me, ‘See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God’” (Revelation 22:9 NKJV).
What is an Angel?
Angels are not physical beings like humans. Humans will never change into an angel after death. Angels are called spirits. “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14 NKJV). An angel is a created being. Angels were created at the beginning of creation and reside in heaven. “For by Him [Jesus] all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16 NKJV). In this verse the words thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers indicated various orders of angels to the first century Jewish mind. 1 Also in the above verse, angels can be visible or invisible. Let me share with you two physical appearances that angels have made. Let us not forget the angel who visited the virgin, Mary. This angel appeared physically to Mary to tell her that she would give birth to the Son of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. You can read about this event in Luke 1:26–38. After the resurrection of Jesus, Mary Magdalene saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain. You can read about this in John 20:11–18.
Angels can also be invisible to human sight; we have no idea how the angels are ministering to us. “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels” (Hebrews 13:2 NKJV). Here is an example where angels were not visible to humans. The prophet Elisha and his servant were surrounded by the Syrian army with chariots and horses. Elisha’s servant asked, “What shall we do?” Elisha prayed that God would open the eyes of his servant. Elisha’s servant then saw on the mountainside numerous chariots of fire and horses of a multitude of angelic beings protecting these two from the Syrians. Read about this in 2 Kings 6:8–23. Angels are holy and completely dedicated to God for praise and ministry. It is true that angels have wings. Not every angel may have wings. Various classifications of angels may designate a specific number of wings for their work.
“As Christians, we should take great comfort in how God has set up His universe. For He has ordained various authority structures—including that of the entire angelic realm—for the optimum benefit of His creatures and for the outworking of His sovereign will in the universe.”2
—Ron Rhodes, Theologian https://www.ronrhodes.org
Classification of Angels
In Henry C. Thiessen’s Systematic theology titled, Lectures in Systematic Theology Thiessen identifies seven classifications of angels.
Angels: The first classification he gives is just angels. Thiessen references the book of Daniel. These messengers are of an enormous number. In Daniel’s vision of the ancient of days the prophecy makes note of “a thousand thousands ministered to Him and Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.” Read the whole account in Daniel 7:9–14. Another of Thiessen’s examples of angels described as many in number which I like is found in the book of Hebrews. “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels” (Hebrews 12:22 NKJV).
Cherubim: Cherubim is plural for Cherub. These angels make their first appearance in Genesis 3:24. God placed Cherubim east of the Garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life. On the Ark of the Covenant two golden Cherubs were placed looking at each other guarding the ark. In the old Jewish tabernacle images of the Cherubim were woven into the curtains and veil of the tabernacle. Later when Solomon built the temple the images of cherubim were carved into the doors. The mission of these angels were to guard the throne of God. As Ezekiel describes, the Cherubim had four wings as described in Ezekiel 1:6 and could fly and their wings made a loud sound. “And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even in the outer court, like the voice of Almighty God when He speaks” (Ezekiel 10:5 NKJV). Before Lucifer fell from grace, he was an anointed Cherub. You can read about Satan’s fall in Ezekiel 28:14–19 and Isaiah 14:12–21.
Seraphim: The Seraphim are responsible for worship and holiness of God. They lead heaven in the worship of God. When Isaiah was called to be a prophet he encountered Seraphim angels. Isaiah had a vision of the Lord God sitting on a throne and above that throne stood Seraphim. The book of Isaiah does not tell us how many Seraphim angels, but it was more than one. Each Seraphim had six wings. Let us look at what Isaiah said to the Lord, “Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts’” (Isaiah 6:5 LSB). One of the Seraphim flew up to Isaiah with a burning coal and touched his mouth with it. The Seraphim told Isaiah that since the burning coal had touched his lips his iniquity was taken away, and his sin is atoned for. Isaiah was then ready for ministry.
The Living Creatures: These angels come from the scriptural reference of Revelation 4:6–9. Thiessen does note that many theologians identify these angels with the Cherubim and the Seraphim. But because of the detailed description that the Apostle John gives in the book of Revelation these angels share different physical characteristics. Wayne Grudem in his systematic study of angels also notes that these Living Creatures are also written about in Ezekiel 1:5–14. These creatures have the appearance of a lion, ox, a man, and an eagle. They worship God continually, Revelation 12:7–8.3
The Archangels: This type of angel has specific responsibility to protect and prosper Israel.4 The main Archangel goes by the name of Michael. He is the chief angel of heaven. Michael also has his own angels. The book of Revelation is about the future end times. This is when the wrath of God will punish unbelievers and believers eventually will triumph in glory. “And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found in them in heaven any longer” (Revelation 12:7–8 NKJV). Michael has announced the birth of Jesus and will defeat Satan and his demons. Michael will also herald the return of Christ. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16 NKJV).
The Watchers: These are angels who are sent from God to observe. They may also be engaged to bring a message sent from God to people here on Earth. Theologians may or may not classify this type of angel in a special classification. As Thiessen notes, it is unknown whether these angels are of a special classification. An example of a watcher from scripture would be in the book of Daniel. During the time of the Babylonian captivity, the King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream where he saw a watcher, a holy one. “I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven” (Daniel 4:13 NKJV). The watcher gives the king a message. This continues to verse eighteen. After that the king’s dream is interpreted by Daniel.
Sons of God: This could also refer to faithful Christian believers of the New Covenant. If you are a Bible believing born again Christian, you are a son or daughter of God. In this context, however, it refers to angels. Sons of God was usually used in the Old Testament. It may even cover the scope of both good angels like I am writing about here or demons who are fallen angels. The way I see it is the Sons of God are all part of God’s creation. This term has also been used in the book of Job. Sons of God is also used in Genesis 6:2. A claim is made that these Sons of God were demons who cohabited with women giving birth to giants mentioned in Genesis 6:4.
Last Words
If I were going to add another classification I would add Angel of the Lord. Ron Rhodes devotes an entire chapter to the Angel of the Lord in his book, Angels Among Us. The Angel of the Lord is the preincarnate appearances of Jesus Christ as seen in the Old Testament. These appearances are also called theophanies. Rhodes sites passages of scripture where these theophanies occur.
In Satan’s kingdom his demons which are fallen angels have various ranks also. If you try to search for your heavenly angel which is forbidden, you will find a demon. The Apostle Paul warned the Corinthians, “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14 NKJV). Two books that I recommend you read on angels are Angels Among Us by Ron Rhodes and Angels by Billy Graham. These authors are both biblical authors.
“The angels are the dispensers and administrators of the divine beneficence toward us; they regard our safety, undertake our defense, direct our ways, and exercise a constant solicitude that no evil befall us.”
—John Calvin, Theologian July 10, 1509–May 27, 1564
Institutes of the Christian Religion, I
Written by Lonnie Paulson
Evidence of Angels God’s Messengers: End Notes
1) Ron Rhodes. Angels Among Us, Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR 97402 (2008) p 69.
2) Ibid. p 104.
3) Wayne Grudem. Systematic Theology, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI 49530 (2000) p 398.
4) Henry C. Thiessen. Lectures in Systematic Theology, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI 49508 (1986) p 139.