By George Card
The Bible tells us that the universe is not empty, that it is full of life everywhere. The cosmos is heavily populated with angelic beings, of various ranks which God created
Nehemiah 9:6, Colossians 1:16
There are millions of them Revelation 5:11, Hebrews 12:22
These supernatural angelic personalities seem to be divided into several groups
Angels, Archangels, Cherubim, Seraphim, Others
Years later Jacob would wrestle with an angel.
A higher rank of angels is the archangel.
The Cherubim in the hierarchy of the angels as revealed to us in Scripture are the greatest and mightiest. They are remarkable creatures, described in detail by the prophet Ezekiel, during the Babylonian captivity.
Cherubim with a whirling, flaming sword guarded the gate of access back into Eden after Adam and Eve were expelled.
Two figures of cherubim with outstretched arms covered the mercy seat which sat on the top of the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle of Moses and later in the Temple of Solomon.
Isaiah Speaks about other angels called Seraphim, these are a very high class of angels, The Hebrew word Seraphim, means ("burning ones").
FUNCTIONS
The word "angel" literally means "messenger," and this is the principal activity of several of the holy angels mentioned in the Scriptures.
However, angels can also perform other duties, such as:
They worship and praise God. Psalm 148:2
They are ministers of God Psalms 104:4
They are used to execute the purposes of God. Psalms 103:21
Watch and protect the Children of God. Psalms 91:11
They bring Judgment Genesis 19:1-29
Help in the giving of the Law. Acts 7:53
Reveal the future to prophets Daniel 4:13-17
They gather the souls at harvest time Matthew 13:39
God lives and dwells between them Psalm 80:1
ATRIBUTES
Angels are usually invisible, to humans because they live in a different plane or dimension but they have the ability to become visible in human form, and it is entirely possible you may have spoken to one of them, so be careful how you treat strangers! Hebrews 13:2
Angels can speak Revelation 5:2
They are wise. 2 Samuel 14:20
Have great strength. Psalms 103:20
Although the Israelites were aware of the existence of angels they were forbidden from worshiping them. But a few Jews gave excessive praise to angels bordering on worship.
Some had created an elaborate ranking of angels and a whole doctrine of angelology.
We Christians DO NOT worship angels! Colossians 2:18, Revelation 19:10
We are to worship God only. Angels were created to worship God, as we were, but that is as far as the similarity goes. One day, we, the Redeemed from sin through the sacrificial blood of Jesus, will rule with Christ in Heaven, and judge the angels.
I Corinthians 6:3, Romans 8:17
COMPARISON
In the order of creation human beings were created a "little lower than the angels"
Psalms 8:5
Here it is appropriate to state that humans do not command angels. Angels are God's beings and respond to God's commands.
Ordinarily when angels appear among men, they take on human form and may even be mistaken for ordinary men, but they are not human.
ANGELS IN THE BIBLE
An Angel with a flaming sword guards the entrance to Eden Genesis 3:24
Angels came to Abraham Genesis 19:15
Angels were with the children of Israel Exodus 33:2.
Angels were in the ark of God Ark 1 Samuel 4:4 4
An angel ministered to Elijah. 1 Kings 19:5
Angels saved the life of Elisha the prophet 2 Kings 6
An angel spoke to Mary. Luke 1:26-27
An Angel foretold the birth of John the Baptist Luke 1:11.
An Angel instructed Joseph Matthew 1: 20, 2:13, 2:20
An angel told the wise men to go another way
Angels sung when Jesus was born Luke 2:13
Angels carried Lazarus to heaven Luke 16:22
An angel was at the tomb of Christ Matthew 28:2
An angel liberated the apostles Acts 5:20
An angel saved Peter Acts 12:5-7
An angel guided Phillip Acts 8:26
An angel spoke to Cornelious Acts 10:5
An angel spoke with Paul Acts 27:23
An angel came to John Revelation 1:1
We see that Jesus was attended by angels in Matthew 4:11
Yet Jesus did not call upon the angels to save him.
When the chief priests and elders of Jerusalem came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, his disciples were ready to attack. One even drew his sword and the cut off the ear of the high priest's slave. Jesus admonished him, saying that he could pray to God to send 12 legions of angels to rescue Him Matthew 26:47-54
But he will bring those legions with him at his second coming. Matthew 16:27, Matthew 25:31, Mark 8:38, 2 Thessalonians 1:7
WARNING There are some bad angels
Not all angels are of God. Fallen angels, one-third of all angels, often are described as devils or demons Jesus told his disciples that Satan has his angels also, and God has prepared a place of punishment for them Matthew 25:41.
Angels had freedom of choice and a third of them chose to side with Satan.
Satan himself was an angel, who for his own reasons decided to rebel against God.
Paul tells us that the devil himself often appears as an angel of light deceiving those not grounded in God's Word II Corinthians 11:12-15.
God's angels will never say, do or suggest anything that is contrary to God's Word.
Demonic Angels
The current angel rage that has produced a rash of books, movies and tv episodes that somehow involve angels, appear to be more the work of those dark angels called demons. What most people seem to be unaware is that Angels are beautiful creatures and very spiritual, there is nowhere in the Bible that says angels look like horrifying creatures. Perhaps some look horrifying but there are no basis in the scriptures for such an image.
Daniel had been fasting before God for three weeks, seeking understanding about the future. The Archangel Gabriel came to deliver a message to Daniel and explained that he had been detained for twenty-one days by angelic beings one was the "prince of the kingdom of Persia" until Michael, a warring Archangel came to help him.
Gabriel states that he must return to continue the fight, and he expects to be involved with the patron angel of Greece (a devil) also.
That those evil demonic forces tried to withstand him suggests that they did not want Daniel to be told the things which were to happen in days yet to come. Daniel 10:11-14
Ezekiel’s vision
Ezekiel had a vision that some have taken to be of some type of angels, but the beings he describes appear different than how angels have been described in the scriptures. It is possible that he is describing angels, but it could also be that he is describing some different type of creatures that also inhabits the celestial kingdom.
The scriptures tell us that we can expect angels to intervene in our affairs, to help us when we need help.
Without the intervention of God's angels today to fight our spiritual battles for us we can never hope to attain our goal of our promised land as Children of God--Heaven.
Paul the apostle said that we should judge angels, that is a little puzzling, did he mean we would judge the fallen angels? Or did he mean that we would execute judgment among the angelic beings of God. Would angels have disputes?
Now how did Satan manage to get himself kicked out of heaven? There was war in heaven, how did they fight? Why have a war at all?
Perhaps there is more to this angels’ business that what we gather from the scriptures.
Although the Angels play an important role from the book of Genesis forward, they seem to be very involved in the end, the book of Revelation. In this book they play a major role, for their presence is involved in just about every chapter in this book.
There are some other people who have written on Angels and even some have elaborated on some esoterical teachings on angels. However none of those can be relied upon for they are teachings not found in the biblical texts. There is really no way to prove or disprove their teachings for we would then threading upon terrain where even angels fear to thread upon.