Angels Watching Over Me? Part Two

A primer on angels. Let me pose questions often asked about angels and offer some answers. This just touches on the topic. There will be two posts sharing insights regarding them.

FROM WHERE DID THEY COME?

Once there were no angels. That means they were created by our Immortal Creator. [READ: PSALM 148: 2 – 5.] “Praise ye Him, all His angels, praise ye Him, all His hosts… Let them praise the name of the Lord; for He commanded, and they were created.”

HOW MANY ARE THERE?

At the birth of Christ “a multitude of the heavenly hosts”(Luke 2: 13) celebrated His advent.

At his arrest “more than twelve legions of angels” were on stand-by to defend Him (Matthew 26: 53). That means He could have called 72 thousand angels.

Revelation 5: 11 describes the number around the throne of the Lamb: “…the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” That means there are billions.

CAN THEY REPRODUCE?

No. In giving us some idea how we will know one another in the afterlife Christ said, “In the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven” (Matthew 22: 30). Neither do they die (Luke 20: 36). Therefore, their number is constant.

ARE THEY ORGANIZED?

There are innumerable beautiful and mighty angels busy at all times carrying out the commands of God. They sweep through space between heaven and earth with great speed to fulfill the will of God.  They are well organized. They are defined in ranks of cherubim (Gen. 3: 24), seraphim (Isa. 6: 2,3), and living creatures (Rev. 4: 6 – 8). They are led by two archangels, Michael (Daniel 10: 21; Jude 9) and Gabriel (Daniel 8: 16).

WHAT IS THEIR NATURE?

The world of angels is just as busy and complex as the human world. There is a difference in that they can see our realm, but we can’t see theirs.

Angels are spoken of as flying, but it is not said they have wings. Seraphim have wings but nowhere does it say angels had wings. The idea of winged angels didn’t appear until the third century when Christian polemicist Tertullian stated that “every angel and demon is winged. Consequently, they are everywhere in a moment.”

Around the fourth century angels began to appear in Christian art. To distinguish them from Jesus and His disciples in their art work they depicted them with wings. 

Angels are spirit beings. In their normal state they don’t have physical bodies. Though they are spirits they are not omnipresent, all present, that is. They are messengers of God. They are not like sweetly spirited Clarence in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “trying to earn their wings.”

They are unlike God in being all present, so they are unlike Him in that they are not all knowing. Peter said not even the angels understand the good news of the gospel. They are so amazed by the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ they “desire to look into it” (I Peter 1: 12). 

Jesus said of His second coming the angels don’t know the time.

Hebrews 2: 9 informs us that Jesus Christ, in becoming a man “was made a little lower than the angels.” Obviously, angels presently occupy a state higher than human beings (Psalm 8:5). 

They do for the present. Someday the saints of Christ will rule over angels: “Do you not know that we shall judge angels?”  (I Cor. 6: 3).

Presently, they are supernatural and we are natural. After death in eternity we will be exalted supernatural saints who rule over angels.