All about angels - Part 2

Jacob's Ladder (pictured here as steps)

Part 1 of this topic contained questions and answers about angels. Here are the questions and answers I didn't have room for in my last post.

What are angels' duties? Angels guard us, as outlined in Psalm 91:11-12. An angel delivered Daniel from the lions when he was in the lions' den (see Daniel 6:22). The Angel of the Lord (the pre-incarnate Jesus) rescued Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego from the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:28). And an angel opened the prison doors so the apostles could escape (Acts 5:19-20). An angel also rescued Peter from prison (Acts 12:7-10).

Angels also explain things to humans, as can be seen in the book of Zechariah. In the book of Revelation, an angel explained to John what was going to occur.  

An angel rolled the stone away from Jesus' tomb and sat inside it. He told the women that Jesus had risen from the dead, and they were to tell Jesus' disciples that He would go before them to Galilee. 

And God has commanded angels to destroy. In 2 Samuel 34:15-16, God sent an angel to destroy the Israelites with a plague due to David's census of the people. In 2 Kings 19:35, the angel of the Lord killed 185,000 of the camp of the Assyrians. 

Do angels eat food? I thought that since angels are heavenly beings, they do not eat, but in Psalm 78:23-25, Asaph states that God rained down manna, which is the bread of heaven, and that men ate angels' food to the fullest. This was in response to the Israelites' complaints to Moses that they were hungry. 

Do we have personal angels? The believers in Acts 12 thought so. Rhoda answered Peter's knock at the gate but didn't let him in because she was so excited. The believers concluded that it had to be Peter's angel. Evidently, our personal angels look like us. In Matthew 18:10, Jesus tells the disciples that they should not despise children, for their angels always see the face of His Father in heaven. 

How many angels are there? The Bible doesn't give us a total number of angels. There are some groups of angels in the Bible that are numbered - for example, the seven angels in the book of Revelation who are in charge of the seven plagues, the seven bowls, etc. Each of the seven churches in the book of Revelation was assigned an angel. In Revelation 5:11, John states that there were ten thousand times ten thousand (100 million), plus thousands of thousands, plus the elders and the living creatures. John was unable to count all the angels, so he gave us a general number. 

Do angels have halos? The New Living Translation of Ezekiel 1:28 refers to a halo-like a rainbow that shone in the sky on a sunny day, but Ezekiel is referring to God, and not to an angel. The Bible contains no references to angels having halos. Halos are of pagan origin.

There are creatures in the Bible who have wings but are not angels, and you can find them in Ezekiel 1, Daniel 7:6 and 7:4, and Rev. 4:8.

Should angels be worshiped? No. In Revelation 19:10 (also in Revelation 22:8-9), John falls at the angel's feet to worship him, but the angel told John not to do that since he was a fellow servant. He told John to worship God. 

I hope you have enjoyed this study about angels. If there is a topic you would like me to cover, let me know in the comments. Thanks as always for reading! See you next time! 

Diane

All about angels - Part 1

Cherubim on the Mercy Seat

There are many fascinating people in the Bible, some of whom are angels. You can read about angels in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. There is a lot of information about angels, so I thought I'd do a question-and-answer type of post to make it easier to understand.

How many types of angels are there? There are cherubim, seraphim, archangels, and the Angel of the Lord. There were two golden cherubim covering the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. They also stood at the gate of the Garden of Eden to keep mankind out. Solomon put golden cherubim in the Temple. There is also a very interesting description of cherubim in Ezekiel 10. 

Seraphim are described in  Isaiah 6:2 as having 6 wings, 2 of which covered their faces, 2 of which covered their feet, and 2 wings that helped them fly. Seraphim are found only in Isaiah 6:2 and Isaiah 6:6. 

Gabriel is a messenger angel - he delivered messages to Elizabeth, Mary, and Zechariah. Gabriel also helped Daniel interpret the vision God gave Daniel in Daniel 8 and 9. 

Michael the archangel is the second-highest angel in the angel hierarchy. Michael is described as the prince of Daniel's people (i.e., Israel) in Daniel 10 and Daniel 12. In Revelation 12, Michael and his angels battle with the dragon. 

When you see the angel/Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament, it refers to a pre-incarnate (pre-bodily) appearance of Jesus Christ. The Angel of the Lord first appears to Hagar as she is running away from Sarah in Genesis 16.  The Angel of the Lord also spoke to Abraham, Moses (in the burning bush), and Gideon. How do we know that the Angel of the Lord is Jesus? In Judges 13, Manoah asks the Angel of the Lord for His name so that they can name the baby after Him. He asked Manoah why he is asking for His name, seeing that it is wonderful. Jesus, of course, is a wonderful name. Go to BlueLetterBible.org or BibleGateway.com and do a search for Angel of the Lord to find many references to the Angel of the Lord. 

Some angels don't have any of these titles. There are holy angels and there are also fallen angels. Per GetQuestions.org:

Holy angels are seen delivering messages and protecting God’s people. They were present at creation and involved in the giving of the law. Angels announced the birth of Christ, ministered to Jesus during His sojourn on earth, and were present at His resurrection and ascension. They will be seen again at the rapture of the church and the second coming of Christ.

Fallen angels are Satan's minions. They fell from Heaven when Satan was kicked out.  There are free fallen angels, who assist Satan in his dastardly deeds, and bound fallen angels, who are chained and awaiting judgment. Revelation 9:14 tells of the four bound angels who are released to kill one-third of mankind.

Do all angels have wings?  No, not all angels have wings - only cherubim and seraphim. In Genesis 28:12, angels ascend and descend on the ladder that Jacob saw in his dream. Michael and Gabriel are not listed as having wings, so how did they get around? My thought is that they have glorified bodies like Jesus did after His resurrection.

Do angels have names? The only angels with personal names in the Bible are Gabriel and Michael. 

I have more questions to be answered, but this post is long enough.  I will answer the rest of the questions in the next blog post. Thanks as always for reading! See you next time! 

Diane

Bibliography: GotQuestions.org: https://www.gotquestions.org/angels-Bible.html