Biblical Angelology:

What the Bible has to say about angels

Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations herein
are from the New International Version (NIV).

 

Angelology is a branch of theology that deals with
a hierarchical system of angels, messengers, celestial powers or emanations,
 and the study of these systems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel 

Angel: Definition

The English word angel comes from the Greek word aggelos (pronounced ang-elos). The Greek word implies the function of a messenger. When translating the word from the Greek New Testament documents, most English translators have considered whether the one fulfilling this function is a human, or a supernatural being. If it is a human, the word is usually translated by a word similar to messenger. When it is clearly referring to a supernatural being, it is translated as angel.

Jesus, speaking of John the Baptist, said:

This is the one about whom it is written:  “I will send my messenger [aggelos] ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.” (Mat 11:10) 

John the Baptist was a normal human being, born to a mother and father. He was commissioned by God as a messenger, but he was not a supernatural being who came down from Heaven.

In speaking of the incident in the Old Testament when Israelite spies entered the city of Jericho, and were hidden by a woman named Rahab, James writes:

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies [aggelos; KJV: messengers] and sent them off in a different direction? (Jam 2:25)

This is an obvious reference to human spies sent to gather information from Jericho and bring a message back to human military leaders about its vulnerabilities. So again the term is referring to human messengers.

But in the passage below, the messenger is obviously a supernatural being sent with a message from God Himself, and thus the word is translated angel.

But after he had considered this, an angel [aggelos] of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” (Mat 1:20)

The Hebrew word translated in the Old Testament as “angel” is malak (plural: malakim). Like aggelos, this word also implies a messenger.

As in the New Testament, when the word is obviously referring to a human deputy, it is translated into English as messenger. But when it is obviously a supernatural being representing God Himself, it is translated as angel. You can see both types of meanings in this passage from Genesis:

Jacob also went on his way, and the angels [malakim] of God met him. When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim. Jacob sent messengers [malakim] ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. (Gen 32:1-3)

It is clear that the OT term malak and the NT term aggelos are interchangeable in their meanings, as the incident regarding Rahab and Jericho as it appears in the book of Judges is described this way by Joshua:

The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies [malakim] we sent. (Jos 6:17)

Even though the root of the English word angel is a Greek word that could mean also a human messenger, centuries of the Biblical use of the word have led to the term being used almost exclusively in modern times to designate a supernatural being sent on a mission from Heaven by God.

 

Functions

In the New Testament, the author of the book of Hebrews notes the primary function of angels who come to Earth:

Are not all angels ministering [doing the work of a servant or a benefactor] spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation? (Heb 1:14)

Thus in the New Testament narrative, angels appear particularly in roles of service to key individuals.

Among other activities, an angel or angels:

• Announced the conception of John the Baptist to his father. (Luke 1)

• Announced the conception of Jesus to Mary and Joseph. (Luke 1)

• Announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. (Luke 2)

• Warned Joseph to flee with Mary and the infant Jesus to avoid Herod. (Mat 2)

• Ministered to Jesus after His 40 days of fasting, and His confrontation with Satan. (Luk 4)

• Rolled back the stone from the tomb of Jesus and announced His resurrection to some of His disciples. (Mat 28)

• Rescued the Apostles from prison in Jerusalem. (Acts 5)

• Guided Philip to a meeting with the Ethiopian Eunuch. (Acts 8)

• Rescued Peter another time from prison in Jerusalem. (Acts 12)

• Instructed Cornelius the centurion to send for Peter, leading to the baptism of Cornelius and his household. (Act 10)

The activities of angels described in the Old Testament were often similar. Among other things, an angel or angels:

• Rescued Lot and his daughters from Sodom. (Gen 19)

• Rescued Hagar and Ishmael in the wilderness when they had been banished. (Gen 21)

• Guided the people of Israel to the Promised Land. (Exo 23)

• Delivered to Gideon his commission. (Judg 6)

• Announced the conception of Samson to his parents. (Judg 13)

In both the Old and New Testaments, the angels of God are also said to do battle with evil supernatural forces which are attempting to thwart the plans of God.

In Daniel, an angel comes to bring a message from God to the prophet Daniel.

Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.”  (Dan 10:12-13)

This same “Michael, one of the chief princes” is referred to in the New Testament book of Jude:

But even the archangel [archaggelos: chief angel] Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (Jud 1:9)

And this “archangel Michael” is also referred to in the New Testament book of Revelation. The author, John, sees a vision in which:

… there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon [identified in verse 9 as Satan], and the dragon and his angels fought back. (Rev 12:7)

 This would indicate that Satan has supernatural beings who accept his own authority and assist him in doing his works of evil. For more information on this topic, see “The Devil’s Dark Angels.”

Sample Scriptures

Click here for a sampler of scriptures with examples of these five main roles of angels as they interact with the servants of God: protection, provision, comfort, guidance, and deliverance.

 

Named Angels

Only two angels are given specific names in the Bible.

 

The “archangel Michael,” mentioned in the passages above, is the only one who is specifically designated an archangel. 

This illustration is from a typical Eastern Orthodox Icon (picture used in religious worship) that depicts “Saint Michael the Archangel” triumphing over the Devil.

 

 

 

The angel Gabriel announced the conception of Jesus to Mary and Joseph, and of John the Baptist to his father, the priest Zachariah. This is likely the same Gabriel who also delivered a message to the prophet Daniel. The Bible does not specifically state that Gabriel is also an “archangel” like Michael, but this has been the speculation since the earliest centuries after the writing of the New Testament.

 

In Christian artwork, such as the cast shown here of a carving on a cathedral from 1359, he is often represented as a winged figure blowing a trumpet.

 

 

Perhaps this is because of speculation that he is actually the unnamed archangel in I Thessalonians 4:16:

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Some apocryphal and pseudepigraphal writings from shortly before and after the time of Christ on the Earth (see “Where Angels Fear to Tread” for definitions of these words and information on this type of literature) contain elaborate angelologies that name and describe many other angels, and purport to give all sorts of information about their activities, and elaborate details of a hierarchical system of “heavenly government” in which they operate. Most of these writings have never been widely accepted as “inspired scripture” in the same way as have the 66 books of the modern Protestant version of the Bible. But many were, nonetheless, very influential in the thinking of the “early Church Fathers.” Thus many of the details found in them have worked their way into a sort of “Christian mythology” that has built up over the past 2000 years. It is important for the serious Bible student to sort out which of these details are solidly based on the actual canonical scriptures (see "Where Angels Fear to Tread" for definitions of canon, canonical, and extra-canonical) and which are based on writings that are unreliable at best and contrary to the Bible at worst.

Out of these extra-biblical sources of information has come the notion that there are seven archangels. In addition to Michael and Gabriel, the book of Tobit, in the Roman Catholic Apocrypha, mentions one named Raphael. And the pseudepigraphal Book of Enoch adds Uriel, Raguel, Sariel, and Jerahmeel. ("Where Angels Fear to Tread" contains information on the history and reliability of the information in these books.)

 

What Do Angels Look Like?

Paintings and sculpture of angels throughout history have almost invariably represented them as having huge wings and a circular halo of some sort over, around, or behind their heads. Throughout history they have appeared most frequently in artistic representations as either females—or as very delicate, effeminate males. This 15^th century painting by Fra Angelico is typical of such portrayals.

 

 

The only angelic being consistently portrayed at times as a particularly masculine character is the archangel Michael. This is likely because he is named as one who was involved in battles, as he is shown in this 1865 sculpture, doing battle with Satan.

 

 

However, any of the accounts in the Bible that describe a person interacting with an angelic messenger, such as Mary speaking with Gabriel or Gideon speaking with an unnamed angel, never mention anything about wings or a halo. Most of the time angels are just described as looking like men (never women), who have appeared unexpectedly. On a few occasions, particularly in visions, their appearance may be described as “dazzling” or extremely bright, or like fire or blazing jewels. But most of the time there is nothing about their appearance that differentiates them from humans. It is for this reason that the author of Hebrews could write:

Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. (Heb 13:2)

The only heavenly supernatural beings that are described in the Bible as having wings are the cherubim and seraphim. See the next section for details on these beings.

For an exploration of the traditional features of angels as portrayed in popular art, see the articles on:  

Heavenly Halos 

On Wings of Angels?

Effeminate Angels?  

 

A Hierarchy of Angels?

Besides the angels and archangels, the Bible mentions by name two other specific types of heavenly supernatural beings which humans have seen, cherubim and seraphim. Neither is ever given the designation “angel” in the Bible.  Neither is ever portrayed as performing the function of “messenger” implied by the terms malak or aggelos. And neither is ever portrayed as “ministering to the saints” as Hebrews 1:14 defines the role of an angel.

 But for some reason they have been referred to historically as part of an “angelic hierarchy,” and as being, in that hierarchy, a type of angel … above the angels. This seems to make little sense. It might be more useful to refer to them as “celestial beings.” Thus one could say that angels are celestial beings, but not all celestial beings are angels.

Cherub/Cherubim

The English word cherub is derived directly from the Hebrew term kerub used in the Old Testament. We first encounter the word in the account of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. God is said to have stationed guarding cherubim, along with a flaming sword, at the entrance to the Garden, to prevent Adam or Eve (or anyone else from then on) from approaching the Tree of Life in the Garden. (Gen 3:24)  In Hebrew, the addition of the suffix im at the end of a word indicates the plural of that word. So cherubim is the Hebrew word that refers to two or more cherubs. (The translators of the King James Version of the Bible seemed not to have understood this, and chose to use the word cherubims with an unneeded, added “s” on the word.)

The author of Genesis gives no description of these cherubim. But the word shows up again when Moses was being given instructions for building the Tabernacle. In Exodus 25 Moses was commanded to have a golden lid made for the Mercy Seat (the Ark of the Covenant chest, holding the Ten Commandments, that would be in the room of the Tabernacle called the Holy of Holies). The lid was to have a cherub at each end of it, facing each other.  Again there is no detailed description of the cherubim, but we do learn that they had wings, and each was to be designed so that his wings arched over the lid. Moses was also commanded to have tapestries made to hang inside the Tabernacle, with images of cherubim embroidered into the fabric. By the time Solomon created the magnificent Temple in Jerusalem to house the Ark of the Covenant, he also ordered the crafting of two huge, free-standing cherubim with spread wings to tower over the Ark.

The only specific evidence we are given in the Bible as to the appearance of any cherubim is in a vision described in the book of Ezekiel. In this instance they seem to be fantastic creatures transporting what appears to be a portable throne for God. There are four in the vision. Each has a body like a man, feet like a calf, four wings—two that are spread when it flies, and two that remain covering its body. Underneath the covering wings are what appear to be a man’s hands. And each of the creatures has four faces, looking in four different directions. One looks like an ox, one like a lion, one like an eagle, and one like a man.

Are these exactly what the carved and embroidered cherubim of the Tabernacle and later the Temple looked like? We have absolutely no way of knowing, as the Bible just doesn’t say. In the Book of Revelation, John has a vision in which he sees four creatures around the throne of God in Heaven:

Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." (Rev 4:6-8)

Were these creatures cherubim, related to the ones that Ezekiel saw, but with slightly different characteristics? Again we have no way of knowing, since the Bible doesn’t elaborate on any connection. There are plenty of extra-biblical myths and legends that may try to make such connections, but without a clear word from the Bible, we can only speculate. And there is a historical speculation that seems to have some merit regarding what the cherubim in the Tabernacle and Temple may have looked like. When God gave directions to Moses regarding making the cherubim, the fact that He gave no specific instructions about what they looked like seems to indicate that He expected that Moses and the Israelite craftsmen who were to make them already knew what they looked like. And archaeological excavations of civilizations in the Middle East that were thriving during the era of ancient Israel, including those of Egypt and Assyria, have unearthed many examples of royal thrones and buildings flanked by and decorated with figures that certainly bear some resemblance to the descriptions in Ezekiel. They are creatures that combine various animal and human body parts, such as the body of a lion, feet of an ox, head of a man, and wings of a bird, or similar combinations and variations.  One such example is this huge winged bull figure with a human head from the Temple of Sargon II of Assyria (c. 700 BC).

 

Another is this small carved ivory plaque representing a winged sphinx-like creature with a lion’s body and human head, in a Phoenician style with Egyptian influence from about 150 years earlier.

Whether the Biblical cherubim looked similar to one of these ancient artifacts or not, one thing is certain: They did not look like the figure that has inherited the label “cherub” in Christian art for over 1000 years, as seen in this section of a painting by Raphael from 1514.

 

 

It isn’t clear historically how or why artists settled on calling these “baby angels” by the name cherub, or how or why they invented the notion of such beings at all! The extremely popular children’s book The Littlest Angel (first published in 1946, but reissued with updated artwork fairly frequently clear into the 21^st century) presents the notion that children who die “become” angels when they arrive in heaven, so perhaps the notion was that babies and toddlers who die become the chubby little winged “cherub” figures that are so popular with collectors even today. Whatever the source of the mythology, the Bible is very clear that humans do not become angels when they die and that biblical cherubs are not chubby babies.

 

Seraphim

It is surprising just how much speculation can be spun out of a tiny portion of one chapter in the Bible, and one or two obscure words. The Hebrew term seraph (plural: seraphim) is like that. It is used only twice in the Bible. The prophet Isaiah saw a vision of God:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
       “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
       the whole earth is full of his glory.”

 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (Isa 6:1-6)

That is the full collection of information in the Bible about seraphim. These beings are never mentioned by name again. All that we can determine from this passage is that they are winged beings that can fly, they can speak, they have hands, and they are intimately connected with God. We know nothing about any specific role or function that they have, other than praising God in this specific instance. The Hebrew word itself gives no clue as to the specific appearance of these beings. It seems to have meant something that is “fiery,” but it is not clear whether this is a reference to a color, a luminance, or what. But this has not stopped commentators for over 1000 years from spinning this sparse information into elaborate theories about the appearance, nature, and function of the seraphim.

From Wikipedia.com: article: “Seraphim”

The early medieval writer called Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite included seraphs in his "Celestial Hierarchy" (vii), which helped fix the fiery nature of seraphs in the medieval imagination. It is here that the Seraphim are described as being concerned with keeping Divinity in perfect order, and not limited to chanting the trisagion'. Taking his cue from writings in the Rabbinic tradition he gave an etymology for the Seraphim as "those who kindle or make hot":

"The name Seraphim clearly indicates their ceaseless and eternal revolution about Divine Principles, their heat and keenness, the exuberance of their intense, perpetual, tireless activity, and their elevative and energetic assimilation of those below, kindling them and firing them to their own heat, and wholly purifying them by a burning and all- consuming flame; and by the unhidden, unquenchable, changeless, radiant and enlightening power, dispelling and destroying the shadows of darkness" (Celestial Hierarchy, vii)

… Thomas Aquinas [1200s]  in the Summa Theologiae offers a description of the nature of the Seraphim:

The name "Seraphim" does not come from charity only, but from the excess of charity, expressed by the word ardor or fire. Hence Dionysius (Coel. Hier. vii) expounds the name "Seraphim" according to the properties of fire, containing an excess of heat. Now in fire we may consider three things.

"First, the movement which is upwards and continuous. This signifies that they are borne inflexibly towards God.

"Secondly, the active force which is "heat," which is not found in fire simply, but exists with a certain sharpness, as being of most penetrating action, and reaching even to the smallest things, and as it were, with superabundant fervor; whereby is signified the action of these angels, exercised powerfully upon those who are subject to them, rousing them to a like fervor, and cleansing them wholly by their heat.

"Thirdly we consider in fire the quality of clarity, or brightness; which signifies that these angels have in themselves an inextinguishable light, and that they also perfectly enlighten others."

All of this fanciful interpretation based solely on the meaning of the word seraphim may be interesting, but it is wholly unbiblical and utterly speculative. 

Beyond Seraphim and Cherubim: The “Choirs of Angels”

In Ephesians 1:19-21, the Apostle Paul wrote about the role of Christ after the Resurrection: 

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion [KJV: principality, power, might, and dominion], and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.

Paul also wrote in Colossians 1:16 about some of the things created by God:

For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities [KJV: thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers]; all things were created by him and for him.

It isn’t quite clear from these passages why some would conclude that the terms “principality, power, might, and dominion,” in Ephesians, and the added note regarding “thrones” in the listing in Colossians, as listed in the King James Bible version of this passage, are specific names of “ranks” or “types” of angels in a heavenly angelic hierarchy. But that has historically been an interpretation in many Christian circles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hierarchy_of_angels

According to medieval Christian theologians, the Angels are organized into several orders, or Angelic Choirs. The most influential of these classifications was that put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the Fourth or Fifth century, in his book The Celestial Hierarchy.

In this work, the author drew on passages from the New Testament, specifically Ephesians 6:12 and Colossians 1:16 (considered by modern scholars to be very tentative and ambiguous sources in relation to the construction of such a schema), to construct a schema of three Hierarchies, Spheres or Triads of angels, with each Hierarchy containing three Orders or Choirs. In descending order of power, these were:

• First Hierarchy:

• Seraphim

• Cherubim

• Thrones or Ophanim

• Second Hierarchy:

• Principalities

• Virtues

• Powers

• Third Hierarchy:

• Dominions

• Archangels

• Angels

While it is useful to know that some religious groups accept this theory of angelology, it is also important to realize that this is not something that is clearly revealed in the Bible at all—but is primarily a very strained speculation with no real basis in scripture.

The Bible only directly addresses one “type” of angel, which it calls simply an angel (aggelos or malak), with the term archangel evidently designating a “chief angel.” As mentioned above, cherubim and seraphim appear to be names for other supernatural beings not of the same “type” as angels—which are “messengers” and “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation”—at all.

And thus the elaborate “hierarchy” of angelic “choirs” is not a Biblical notion, but a human invention.

 

In Summary  

In light of the material covered above regarding what we cannot determine about the angelic realm if we rely only on the Old and New Testaments of the Bible as the sole source of information, just what can we know about angels?

• Angels are supernatural beings that are not normally visible to the human eye as they go about their business.

• Angels are able to manifest themselves into the physical realm so that they can be seen by humans, and when they have done so in situations described throughout the Bible, they normally appeared as looking just like men.

• Angels were created by God as a completely separate “kind” of being from man.

• Some angels are involved in warfare with Satan and those supernatural beings who serve him.

• One of the primary roles of angels is to “minister to” those humans whom God calls to be part of his Family.

• Major ways in which angels interact with humans are:

• Delivering messages from God.

• Protecting and defending humans who are God’s servants.

• Guiding and delivering from harm humans who are God’s servants.

• Comforting and providing for humans who are God’s servants.