Angel (a spirit)

Angels are created spirits who serve Yahweh, ministering to the righteous, executing his judgments, attending the Son of Man, and worshiping at the throne. They appear as messengers in patriarchal narrative, as the angel of Yahweh in covenant moments, as the surrounding host of heaven, as named princes such as Michael and Gabriel, as cherubim and seraphim around throne and mercy-seat, and as the visionary cast of Revelation.

Angels in the Patriarchal Narrative

The first encounters set the pattern: messengers appear, find, call, gather, and rescue. By a desert spring "the angel of Yahweh found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur" (Gen 16:7). At Mamre Abraham looks up "and noticed three men stood across from him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth" (Gen 18:2); the same narrative arc carries into Sodom, where "the two angels came to Sodom at evening; and Lot sat in the gate" (Gen 19:1) and where, at dawn, "the men laid hold on his hand, and on the hand of his wife, and on the hand of his two daughters, Yahweh being merciful to him; and they brought him forth, and set him outside the city" (Gen 19:16).

On the mountain in Moriah the rescue comes again from heaven: "the angel of Yahweh called to him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham" (Gen 22:11), and "the angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time out of heaven" (Gen 22:15) to confirm the oath. Jacob meets two converging angelic encounters. At Bethel he dreams "a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And look, the angels of God ascending and descending on it" (Gen 28:12). Returning to the land "the angels of God met him. And Jacob said when he saw them, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim" (Gen 32:1-2). At Peniel "there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day" (Gen 32:24), and at the day-break Jacob receives the new name Israel and confesses, "I have seen God face to face, and my soul is preserved" (Gen 32:30).

The Angel of Yahweh

A distinct figure speaks and acts in covenant moments — the angel of Yahweh, who carries Yahweh's voice and Yahweh's deliverance. To Moses "the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and noticed that the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed" (Ex 3:2). At the sea "the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud removed from before them, and stood behind them" (Ex 14:19). The covenant promise echoes the same figure: "Look, I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared" (Ex 23:20).

In Numbers the angel turns adversary on the road: "the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand" (Num 22:23), and only when "Yahweh opened the eyes of Balaam" did "he saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on his face" (Num 22:31). At the start of Judges "the angel of Yahweh came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, I made you⁺ to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you⁺ to the land which I swore to your⁺ fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you⁺" (Judg 2:1). To Gideon "the angel of Yahweh appeared to him, and said to him, [the Speech of] Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor" (Judg 6:12). To Manoah's wife "the angel of Yahweh appeared to the woman, and said to her, Look now, you are barren, and have not given birth; but you will become pregnant, and give birth to a son" (Judg 13:3); and the angel charges Manoah, "Of all that I said to the woman let her beware" (Judg 13:13). The retrospective Isaian word reads the whole history through this figure: "in all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bore them, and carried them all the days of old" (Isa 63:9).

The Host of Heaven

Beyond individual messengers stands an innumerable company. Micaiah sees Yahweh "sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left" (1 Kgs 22:19). At creation's foundation "the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy" (Job 38:7). The Psalter calls the host to praise: "Bless Yahweh, you⁺ his angels, Who are mighty in strength, who fulfill his word, Listening to the voice of his word. Bless Yahweh, all you⁺ his hosts, You⁺ ministers of his, who do his pleasure" (Ps 103:20-21), and again, "Praise⁺ him, all his angels: Praise⁺ him, all his host" (Ps 148:2).

Daniel sees the same court: "thousands of thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened" (Dan 7:10). Sirach speaks the same theology of host: "the holy ones of God do not have the power To recount the wondrous works of his might; [Yet] God has given strength to his hosts To stand in the presence of his glory" (Sir 42:17). The Mahanaim naming — "this is God's host" (Gen 32:2) — gathers patriarchal experience under the same word.

Michael and Gabriel

Two angels are named. Gabriel comes to Daniel as interpreter of vision and prayer: a voice calls, "Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision" (Dan 8:16); and "while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation" (Dan 9:21).

Michael is named as a chief prince and Israel's defender. "The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days; but, look, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me" (Dan 10:13); "there is none who holds with me against these, but Michael your⁺ prince" (Dan 10:21). At the end "Michael will stand up, the great prince who stands for the sons of your people; and there will be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time your people will be delivered, everyone who will be found written in the book" (Dan 12:1). The figure clothed in linen who appears in the same vision is described, "his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as flaming torches, and his arms and his feet like burnished bronze, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude" (Dan 10:5-6).

The New Testament names Michael in two places: "Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, did not dare bring against him a railing judgment, but said, The Lord rebuke you" (Jude 1:9); and "there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels [going forth] to war with the dragon; and the dragon warred and his angels" (Rev 12:7). The voice of the archangel sounds the resurrection: "the Lord himself will descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ will rise first" (1 Th 4:16).

Cherubim and Seraphim

Two distinct kinds of throne-attendants appear. The cherubim guard, bear, and overshadow. After Eden "he caused the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to stay at the east of the garden of Eden to keep the way of the tree of life" (Gen 3:24). Above the mercy-seat Moses is to "make two cherubim of gold; of beaten work you will make them, at the two ends of the mercy-seat" (Ex 25:18); "the cherubim spread out their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy-seat were the faces of the cherubim" (Ex 37:9). From between them Yahweh speaks: "there [my Speech] will meet with you, and I will commune with you from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the testimony" (Ex 25:22). When Moses enters the tent he hears "[the Speech] speaking to him from above the mercy-seat that was on the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim" (Num 7:89). Israel calls Yahweh "Yahweh of hosts who sits [above] the cherubim" (1 Sam 4:4). The Psalter prays the same enthroning: "give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who sit [above] the cherubim, shine forth" (Ps 80:1); "Yahweh reigns; let the peoples tremble: He sits [above] the cherubim; let the earth be moved" (Ps 99:1).

Solomon's temple builds the same scheme — "in the most holy house he made two cherubim of molten work; and they overlaid them with gold" (2 Chr 3:10), with wings "twenty cubits long" (2 Chr 3:11), and walls carved "[with] cherubim and palm-trees and open flowers" (1 Kgs 6:35); "the other cherub was ten cubits: both the cherubim were of one measure and one form" (1 Kgs 6:25). Hebrews remembers "above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy-seat; of which things we can't now speak severally" (Heb 9:5).

In Ezekiel the cherubim are the living creatures of the throne-chariot. "Out of the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of man. And every one had four faces, and every one of them had four wings" (Ezek 1:5-6); "the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaks" (Ezek 10:5); "this is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim" (Ezek 10:20); "in the firmament that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne" (Ezek 10:1); "the cherubim lifted up their wings, and the wheels were beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above" (Ezek 11:22). "The glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, on which it was, to the threshold of the house" (Ezek 9:3); "the cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took [of it], and put it into the hands of him who was clothed in linen" (Ezek 10:7). A backward-looking lament addresses one of the same kind: "you were the anointed cherub that covers; I set you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you have walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire" (Ezek 28:14).

The seraphim appear once, around the temple-throne. "Above him stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew" (Isa 6:2). Their cry is the trisagion: "and one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory" (Isa 6:3). "Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having a live charcoal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar" (Isa 6:6), and touched Isaiah's mouth, saying, "look, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin forgiven" (Isa 6:7).

Protection and Deliverance

Angels are sent to keep the righteous. "The angel of Yahweh encamps round about those who fear him, And delivers them" (Ps 34:7). "He will give his angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, Or else you would dash your foot against a stone" (Ps 91:11-12). In Dothan, when Elisha prayed, "Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, look, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha" (2 Kgs 6:17). To Elijah under the juniper "an angel touched him, and said to him, Arise and eat" (1 Kgs 19:5).

In Babylon's furnace Nebuchadnezzar confesses, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who has sent his angel, and delivered his slaves who trusted in him" (Dan 3:28). In the lions' den Daniel says, "my God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions' mouths, and they have not hurt me" (Dan 6:22). When Sennacherib threatened Jerusalem "Yahweh sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and captains, in the camp of the king of Assyria" (2 Chr 32:21); "the angel of Yahweh went forth, and struck in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000; and when men arose early in the morning, look, these were all dead bodies" (Isa 37:36). Sirach recalls the same deliverance — "he smote the army of Assyria, And discomfited them by the plague" (Sir 48:21) — and the prayer of 1 Maccabees draws on it: "O Lord, when those who were sent by King Sennacherib blasphemed you, an angel went out, and slew of them a hundred and eighty-five thousand" (1 Macc 7:41).

Lazarus in death is borne by the same ministry: "the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels into Abraham's bosom" (Luke 16:22).

Angels of Wrath and Reaping

The same hand that protects also strikes. At Sodom "the two angels came to Sodom at evening" (Gen 19:1), and only after Lot is rescued is the city overthrown. After David's census "when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Yahweh repented of the evil, and said to the angel who destroyed the people, It is enough; now let down your hand. And the angel of Yahweh was by the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite" (2 Sam 24:16); the parallel reads, "God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was about to destroy, Yahweh looked, and he repented of the evil, and said to the destroying angel, It is enough; now let down your hand" (1 Chr 21:15). Deborah's song curses the negligent: "Curse⁺ Meroz, said the angel of Yahweh. Curse⁺ bitterly its inhabitants, Because they didn't come to the help of Yahweh, To the help of Yahweh against the mighty" (Judg 5:23).

At the consummation the Son of Man "will send forth the angels, and will gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven" (Mark 13:27); the same hosts come "at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire" (2 Th 1:7).

Angels Who Wait Upon Christ

The angels' service converges on the Son. To Nathanael he says, "Truly, truly, I say to you⁺, You⁺ will see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man" (John 1:51) — patriarchal Bethel re-located on Christ. In Gethsemane "an angel appeared to him, strengthening him" (Luke 22:43). At the open tomb the women see "a young man sitting on the right side, arrayed in a white robe; and they were amazed. And he says to them, Don't be amazed: you⁺ seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified: he is risen; he is not here: look, the place where they laid him! But go, tell his disciples and Peter, Remember what he told you⁺ while he was still in Galilee" (Mark 16:5-7).

Their knowledge has limit and their worship one direction. "Of that day or that hour knows no one, not even the angels in heaven nor even the Son, but the Father" (Mark 13:32). "When he again brings in the firstborn into the world he says, And let all the angels of God worship him" (Heb 1:6). Heaven echoes with their numbers: "I saw, and I heard a voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was tens of thousands of tens of thousands, and thousands of thousands" (Rev 5:11).

Hebrews on Angels

Hebrews names angels three ways. They are winds and flame: "of the angels he says, Who makes his angels winds, And his ministers a flame of fire" (Heb 1:7). They are servants for the saved: "are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?" (Heb 1:14). They are bypassed for the seed of Abraham: "for truly not to angels does he give help, but he gives help to the seed of Abraham" (Heb 2:16). The pilgrim's destination is among them: "you⁺ have come to mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to tens of thousands of angels in a festive gathering" (Heb 12:22).

Angels in Heaven and on Earth

Heaven's angels track repentance and confession. "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:10); "everyone who will confess me before men, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God" (Luke 12:8). The risen state is theirs in pattern: "for when they rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as angels in heaven" (Mark 12:25).

In Zechariah's night-visions "the angel who talked with me said to me, I will show you what these are" (Zech 1:9); "the angel who talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him" (Zech 2:3). Job's wisdom-tradition acknowledges their fallibility under God: "look, he puts no trust in his slaves; And his angels he charges with folly" (Job 4:18).

Fallen Angels

A line of angels stand under judgment. "God did not spare angels who sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and delivered them to chains of darkness, to be reserved to judgment" (2 Pet 2:4). "Angels who did not keep their own principality, but left their proper habitation, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness to the judgment of the great day" (Jude 1:6). In the war in heaven "the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him" (Rev 12:9).

The Angels of Revelation

Revelation gathers the threads. The four living creatures around the throne — "having each one of them six wings, are full of eyes around and inside: and they have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, [is] Yahweh, the God of hosts, He Who Was and Who Is and Who Is To Come" (Rev 4:8). "All the angels were standing around the throne, and [about] the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell before the throne on their faces, and worshiped God" (Rev 7:11). The seven trumpet-angels — "I saw the seven angels who stand before God; and there were given to them seven trumpets" (Rev 8:2); and "the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound" (Rev 8:6).

A strong angel proclaims, "who is worthy to open the book, and to loose its seals?" (Rev 5:2). Four hold the winds: "I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or on any tree. And I saw another angel ascend from the sunrising, having the seal of the living God" (Rev 7:1-2). One flies in mid-heaven "having eternal good news to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people" (Rev 14:6). Another stands in the sun and summons the birds to "the great supper of God" (Rev 19:17). A last angel "coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand," lays hold on the dragon "and bound him for a thousand years" (Rev 20:1-2).

The seven church-letters are addressed to angels: "the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches" (Rev 1:20) — to Ephesus (Rev 2:1), Smyrna (Rev 2:8), Pergamum (Rev 2:12), Thyatira (Rev 2:18), Sardis (Rev 3:1), Philadelphia (Rev 3:7), and Laodicea (Rev 3:14).