Angels in the Bible

Jeff Justus

December 28, 2002 

With all the popularity of angels, I wanted to put some of my thoughts and observations down for others to read.  There are a lot of misconceptions about angels.  Many people have romanticized the idea of angels to the point that they have overlooked their creator.

In fact, the popular notion of angels seems to have eclipsed the biblical information about angels.  So, lets take a look at what the Bible says about angels and hopefully, you will finish this article with a more well-rounded knowledge of the truth about angels.

The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew.  This was, of course, an ancient form of the Hebrew in the world today.  Nevertheless, scholars have devoted lifetimes to understanding the original text and linguistics of ancient Hebrew. 

I have included several examples here that will help illustrate the writings about angels in the Old Testament. 

First, let me explain that the word that is typically translated as angel in the ancient Hebrew is “mal’ak” (this is the anglicized spelling, of course).  This word is generally applied to any form of messenger.  Keep in mind that the ancients did not have a postal service and therefore messages were sent by way of a messenger.  The message itself was either orally transmitted or the messenger carried a written document.

The first use of mal’ak that is translated as angel appears in Genesis 16. 

(Genesis 16:9 KJV)  And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.

In this passage, Sarah, Abraham’s wife, has banished Hagar (Sarah’s handmaiden) who has just born Ishmael.  Hagar is crying in the wilderness, no doubt sure of the death of her child as well as her own death.  The “Angel of the Lord” appears and instructs her to return to Sarah.

This reference includes two Hebrew words, “mal’ak yahovah.”  These two words are consistently translated as “Angel of the Lord” in the Old Testament and it is fairly universally agreed that this is a reference to the pre-incarnate Jesus.

Another angel mentioned in Genesis 21 is the “Angel of God,” which are the Hebrew words “mal'ak  'elohiym.”  Note the difference in character.  ‘Elohiym (or Elohim) is consistently translated as God and “mal’ak ‘elohiym” is consistently translated as “angel of God.”

Other verses use mal’ak but are not translated as angel:

(Gen 32:3 KJV)  And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

In each case where mal’ak is not translated as angel, there is no indication that the messenger is from God, or super-human.

In the New Testament, however, which is primarily written in Greek, we do have a unique word for angel.  The Greek word translated to angel is “aggelos.”  This word in itself suggests a super-human quality that is never used to describe any human.

(Matthew 1:20 KJV)  But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

The Greek words used here are “aggelos kurios.”  Kurios, is a word used to describe a figure in dominion – a curator we might say, a lord.

Just as in the Old Testament, the New Testament also mentions the “angel of God”:

(Acts 10:3 KJV)  He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.

Greek: aggelos theos: angel God

There does not seem to be (or at least, I am not aware of) any strong distinction of “angel of the Lord” and “angel of God” as in the Old Testament.  It would not make sense to refer to the angel of the Lord in the New Testament as the reincarnate Jesus.  And we do not have any indication that Jesus appeared as anything but Himself after His resurrection.

The only angels named in the Bible are Gabriel and Michael.

(Luke 1:26 KJV)  And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

(Greek: aggelos Gabriel … theos: angel Gabriel … God)

(Jude 1:9 KJV)  Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

(Greek: Michael archaggelos: Michael archangel)

Popular and traditional literature have named as many as 9 archangels including Uriel and Raphael.  But none of these have any Biblical basis.

I tried to find some information regarding the appearance of angels and only came up with a few examples.  There are very few physical descriptions of angels.  In some cases they are described with light.  In most cases, if a posture is mentioned, they are standing.  There are no accounts of angels with wings, and only two accounts of angels flying – and at least one of those is widely considered to be an eagle rather than an angel.

(Acts 12:7 KJV)  And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.

(Acts 27:23 KJV)  For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,

(Revelations 8:3 KJV)  And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

(Rev 8:13 KJV)  And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!

(this is the reference that is footnoted to imply eagle rather than angel)

(Rev 22:8 KJV)  And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things.

In the last quote above, John fell to worship the angel, but the angel strictly forbade it.  This is important as angels, that is, holy angels will always point to Jesus.  For an angel to accept worship is out-right rebellion against God.  And remember that Satan was cursed for desiring worship (presuming himself above God).

One aspect of angels that I want to stress is their purpose.  We see angels proclaiming the coming of Jesus in the New Testament.  In Revelations, we see armies of angels and throngs of singing angels.  Angels were created to be worshipers and servants of God.

Everything they do is by request of, and for God.  They are sent.  Many scripture passages bear this out.  While on their mission, they may have authority to exercise some discretion, however, in contrast to popular belief; angels do not just hang out doing their own thing.  They are sent by God to attend to our needs or to bear witness to us.

(Exo 23:20 KJV)  Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

(Exo 33:2 KJV)  And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite:

(Num 20:16 KJV)  And when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border:

Now, two other creatures are mentioned in the Bible that we would generally classify as angels, however, they are distinct creations from the angels and serve different purposes.  The first is the Seraphim.    There are two references to seraphim, and both are found in Isaiah chapter 6.

(Isaiah 6:2 KJV)  Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

These creatures do have wings, in fact, six of them. 

The other of the creatures is the cherubim (or cherubs).  Popular literature and art shows cherubs as basically babies with wings.  This may have been popularized by Raphael’s paintings of babies with wings.

But cherubs are different than that.  In fact, I am not left with the impression that cherubs have any human characteristics.  Cherubs are always shown as guardians of sorts.  They are to be feared if not revered.

(Gen 3:24 KJV)  So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

(Exo 25:20 KJV)  And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.

(1 Ki 8:7 KJV)  For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

Many New Age beliefs hold that Jesus is now an angel.  This would allow a New Ager to believe in a post-death Jesus without having to commit to a resurrection.  And in like manner, they generate all sorts of lies regarding what Jesus, as an angel, is supposedly communicating to man.

It is important, however, to realize and understand that Jesus was never an angel and never will be an angel.  As a side-note: even though the Old Testament (English versions) read “angel of the Lord” meaning the pre-incarnate Jesus, the ancient Hebrew is literally “messenger Lord.”  So don’t let those references confuse you.  

Jesus was and is God.

John 1 gives us a poignant reminder of this.

(John 1:1-4 NASB)  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

²He was in the beginning with God.

³All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

⁴In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

The writer of Hebrews points out Jesus’ position in heaven:

(Hebrews 1:1-4 NASB)  God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, ²in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.  ³And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; ⁴having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.

Further information about Jesus is that he became human to minister, suffer and save.

(Hebrews 2:9 KJV)  But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

I mention this only to address the apparent contrast between Hebrews 2:9 and Hebrews 1:4.

Furthermore, humans do not become angels.  A popular belief is that our deceased relatives become our guardian angels.  This is not Biblically supported.  Again in Hebrews, the writer makes reference to a passage in Psalms 8:

(Hebrews 2:5-7 KJV)  For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.  But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?  Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:

We saw earlier that Jesus is higher than the angels, and here we see that man is lower than the angels.  This is not to say less important, but rather lesser in their order of creation.

Another passage that helps us understand the limitations of humanity and mortality is the story of the beggar and the rich man.  Jesus tells this story of Lazarus, a beggar who only wanted to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table.  The rich man had no mercy on him.  They both, in time, died.

(Luke 16:22-23 KJV)  And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

The rich man, in his torment, begged Abraham to give him just a drop of water, but Abraham explained the limitations:

(Luke 16:26 KJV)  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

Abraham pointed out that no one could leave hell or heaven to travel about.

The rich man then pleads for Lazarus to be sent to tell his father and brothers about hell and to avoid it.

(Luke 16:27 KJV)  Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:

(Luke 16:30 KJV)  And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

(Luke 16:31 KJV)  And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. (resurrected)

Again Abraham points out the limitations, but this time what we see is that if a human were to appear on earth after death, it would only be by means of resurrection, not angelic visitation.

In conclusion, let me say that the popular notion of angels is inaccurate.  Angels do appear to humans, but even by Biblical accounts, they are rare!  Further, angels are messengers that are sent to do God’s bidding.  They do have volition, but a true holy angel will only do the work of God, nothing more.

A holy angel will not accept worship.  Any angel who does, is a demon.

Any message (supposedly) given by an angel should pass the test of scripture.  You are obligated to test every message that is alleged to be from angels.  That angel should give all glory to God and acknowledge Jesus as Lord.  Anything else is a liar and a demon.