Essay on Angelology: Bible and Angels

Systematic Theology

Gary Hampton

Angelology

Jacob Cecil

The Origin of Angels

The Angels are created beings, of the reader can be sure. Only members of the Godhead possesses the quality of eternality (1 Timothy 6:16). Nehemiah 9:6 shows that God made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host…and the Host of heaven worships you. We can observe from Ephesians 3:14-15 that God has a family which are dispersed both on heaven and on earth. In Job 38: 4-7 we see that when the world’s foundation was laid that the sons of God shouted for joy. Since man was not yet created this is without doubt referring to the angelic beings. Since also they shouted for joy when the foundation was laid we can also assume that this took place either prior or most likely at the commencement of creation week. (Jackson: The Growing Interest in Angels) Some speculate this creation of the Heavenly Host might of took place on the 2nd (Being Spirits”/”Winds”, Psalm 104:4) or 5th day (Isaiah 6:2, presumably because of the wings of the Seraphim). Some others even contend that they are created daily for the sole purpose of raising the praises of God (appealing to Lamentations 3:23). (Edersheim, Appendix 13) The Bible speaks of God being the creator of all things (Nehemiah 9:6, Psalm 148, Colossians 1:15-17) which undoubtedly includes the host of Heaven being the Angels as they are described in these very texts. (Myers, 2) Whenever the exact time of their creation seems irrelevant at the point that we recognize that they were created before the foundations of the world which would not allow past the second day of creation as this reader can find. Anything beyond this point is wasted on the words and time spent to postulate the various theories.

The Form of Angels

The first fact to understand when discussing the idea of Angels is the aspect of their spiritual or incorporeal nature. Since Angels possess this quality we cannot limit them to a physical state or body. (Hodge, Chapter 8) They often take on that form in the Bible but it is only for the beholder that they assume these material forms. These forms are always taken for a purpose and that can be seen in the type of form that they take. Another aspect needed in this discussion is the fact that these forms are always masculine. There is never one instance of a feminine angel or even a feminine pronoun used in correlation with an Angel; they are always presented in the masculine sense. This is especially troubling in that the majority of depictions that one finds today of Angels involve a very pretty female with wings. When in fact this is troubling as well since the only Angels depicted with wings are the Seraphim in Isaiah 6:2 and Cherubim as depicted on the Ark of the Covenant in Exodus 37:9. We are told of Gabriel flying in Daniel 9:21, and an Angel in flight overhead in Revelation 14:6, possibly a cherubim flying in psalm 18:10 and Ezekiel 10:5, 16, 19, &21 but that does not necessitate wings. As eluded to before the only Angel recorded using wings for flight is the Seraphim and Cherubim. There is one occurrence where Zechariah has a vision of two women with wings carrying a basket of wickedness to Shinar. We are not told they are Angels and in fact they are more likely a symbol of Babylon taking evil and wickedness into themselves and building it an house. Angels have used many different forms which have included the appearance of a man, chariots and horses of fire, a burning bush, and a pillar of fire and cloud leading Israel. We also gather from scripture that Angels are only visible to the aided human eye. Some examples of this include the occasion of Balaam and his donkey in Numbers 22. There the Angel of the LORD is standing in the way of Balaam to kill him and his donkey able to see him avoided the Angel three times. Again we have an clear example of this in 2 Kings 6:14-17 where Elisha is surrounded by a mountain full of chariots and horses of fire invisible to

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