ANGELOLOGY: THE STUDY OF ANGELS

Angelology is the branch of Christian systematic theology that focuses on the angels, both the elect angels and the demons. Demonology is the subdivision of angelology that studies Satan and the demons. Angelology seeks to answer the following questions:

What are angels?
What is the difference between God, angels and humans?
What are the types of angels?
What do angels do?
Has anyone ever seen angels before?
Does the Devil really exists?
How did some angels become evil?
How do angels travel between heaven and earth?
How do humans benefit from angels?
Do "Guardian Angels" really exists?

Angels are living spirit beings, immaterial creatures that are superior to humans but vastly inferior to the triune God. Humans are described as being "a little lower than the angels" (Psalm 8:5; Hebrews 2:7). This means angels are a higher order of creatures that are intrinsically more powerful than humans. Angels are not the spirits or souls of dead humans. Angels are an entirely different order of creation from humans, because angels were designed to exist without a body, while humans were designed to be a dichotomy of body and soul; therefore humans are incomplete without a body. In addition, humans were created with more of the image of God than angels were. Furthermore, God has not provided a means of salvation for fallen angels, but God has indeed provided a means of salvation for fallen human beings through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 2:16). Despite these differences, angels do have some things in common with human beings. Like humans, angels are able to communicate with each other, with God, and with humans. Angels also have a will, intellectual ability, skills, and apparently express a variety of emotions. Angels know the difference between good and evil, between holy and unholy, and between that which is of God and that which is not of God. Although there is much debate as to whether or not angels have free will, it is universally agreed that angels are not like robots or programmed computers that automatically function only according to specific commands or programming. The Devil is described as having a "will" at 2 Timothy 2:26.

In the Bible, the word "angel" in Hebrew (מַלְאָך = malak) and Greek (ἄγγελος = angelos) simply means "messenger." The original Hebrew and Greek words for "angel" may be used for created spirit beings, humans that deliver messages, or the second Person of the Trinity (Jesus). In fact, if Federal Express or USPS messengers had existed during Bible times, they would have been called Federal Express angels or USPS angels, because the word "angel" simply meant "messenger." The word "angel" in Hebrew and Greek is both generic and categorical. The generic angels are the spirit beings created by God in the spirit world. Human messengers and the second Person of the Trinity are considered angels only in the categorical sense, in terms of their service, office or occupation as "messengers." The context of the Bible passage determines exactly which category is being referenced by the Hebrew or Greek word for angel. In the Old Testament, the title "angel of Yahweh" or "angel of the LORD" usually refers to the Word or eternal Son of God (Jesus) in His preincarnate occupation as God's chief mouthpiece or chief messenger (Genesis 22:11-18; Exodus 3:2; 23:20, 21; Judges 13:18). Sometimes the "Shekinah Glory" and other theophanies of God were manifested to humanity through the preincarnate Jesus as the "angel of the LORD." This particular post about angelology (theological study of angels) will be limited only to generic angels, that order of spirit beings commonly associated with the word "angel."

In the Bible, angels are mentioned more than 250 times. The angels are mentioned in the book of Revelation more than any other book in the Bible. Since angels are invisible spirits, humans cannot see them unless the angels make themselves visible, as it was in the case of Balaam in Numbers 22:31-33, or Elisha's servant in 2 Kings 6:16, 17. Since angels do not have a physical body, they are not limited to any specific appearance. The Bible depicts some classes of angels, like cherubim and seraphim, as having wings, but not all angels are depicted with wings. Halos are never associated with angels in the Bible. The idea of halos originated from occultic mythology. God gave some of His angels the ability to materialize into fleshly bodies in order to accomplish certain tasks, and Hebrews 13:2 states that some people, through their hospitality, entertained angels without knowing it.

It appears as if God created the angels before He created anything else. The angels were present when God created the heavens and the earth, and they shouted for joy as God did His creation work (Job 38:7). God created all of His angels to faithfully serve Him as "ministering spirits" (Psalm 104:4; Hebrews 1:7, 14) that attend to a wide variety of tasks or duties. God organized His vast army of angels into ranks of power, chains of command, and specifically assigned duties. The Bible describes this organization among the angels (and also human governments) as "thrones, dominions, principalities, authorities, and powers" (Colossians 1:16; Romans 13:1). This same organized pattern is reflected in Satan's dark kingdom of demonic forces (Ephesians 6:12). Angels are not only assigned by God to deliver messages; they are also assigned to serve and protect any human beings who are faithful to the Lord in righteousness (Psalm 34:7; 91:11, 12; Acts 12:5-11). As God's ministering spirits, the holy angels assisted Jesus Christ during His ministry on earth (Matthew 4:11; Luke 22:43), plus they do various types of service for all those who will inherit salvation (Hebrews 1:14). While God's angels do all kinds of helpful things for believers, angels work as God’s executioners of judgment on unbelievers, like the 185,000 of King Sennacharib's army (Isaiah 37:36), or King Herod's being struck by an angel and eaten by worms (Acts 12:23), or the judgments that will be inflicted by God's angels upon the wicked during the Great Tribulation. The term "Guardian Angel" never appears in the Bible, however, there are a few scriptures that seem to support the idea of specific angels being assigned to specific people or nations (Job 33:23-26; Daniel 10:13; 11:1; Matthew 18:10; Acts 12:12-15).

Although angels have great power, knowledge and ability, they have limitations just like all other creatures. Angels are more intelligent than humans but they are not omniscient like God. Angels do not have the ability to read hearts and inner thoughts like God can. Angels are not omnipresent; they are not all-powerful or omnipotent; they are not immutable. Also, angels do not have the power to create things out of nothing, nor do they have the power to create life or sustain life. Despite their great power, angels can only operate within the limitations imposed on them by God. Angels are forbidden to rebuke each other or judge each other, instead, they must allow God alone to do all the rebuking and judging (2 Peter 2:11; Jude 1:9).

All the angels were originally created perfect, holy and blameless, but one of them, named Lucifer, rebelled against God and lured other angels to rebel with him. The exact number of angels created by God is unknown (Hebrews 12:22 says they are innumerable), but there is evidence that at least one third of the angels joined Lucifer in rebelling against God (Revelation 12:4). The lead rebel came to called "the original serpent, Devil and Satan," (Revelation 12:9; 20:2) especially after he deceived Adam and Eve into sinning against God (Genesis 3:1-15). The angels that remained faithful to God are called "elect angels" (1 Timothy 5:21) or "holy angels" (Mark 8:38). The angels that sinned and rebelled along with Satan are called "demons" (Matthew 12:24), fallen angels (Jude 1:6), or the angels of the Devil (Matthew 25:41). No one knows exactly for sure when Satan and his demons fell. Some believe they fell before humans were created, and the Genesis Gap Theory is used to support such an idea. Others believe Satan fell in the Garden of Eden while deceiving Eve (Genesis 3:1-15) and that other angels joined him when they sought after the daughters of men in Genesis 6:1-4. Ever since their fall, Satan and his demonic forces have deceived and dominated unregenerate humanity, and they will continue to do so until the Lord demolishes Satan's dominion and cast Satan and his demons into Hell.

Perhaps one reason why God has not allowed the spirit world to be easily visible to human beings is because humans, as prone as they are to idolatry, would worship angels when observing their great glory. For example, the apostle John was rebuked on two occasions by angels when he bowed down to worship them (Revelation 19:10; 22:8, 9). Because of their sin nature, humans have always had a tendency to worship creatures instead of God the Creator (Romans 1:25). God alone should be worshiped, and anyone who worships angels (Colossians 2:18) is practicing idolatry as one of the most heinous sins before God, since it violates the First and Second of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-5). In addition, angels are not to be prayed to, nor served in a sacred manner.

Were the "sons of God" mentioned in Genesis 6:1-4 and Job chapters 1, 2 and 38 angels? Most of those who hold to Catholicism and Reformed Theology believe that the "sons of God" in these Bible passages were redeemed humans who became sons of God. According to this view, God never referred to an angel as His son, therefore angels cannot be sons of God (Hebrews 1:5). This view also teaches that angels were not designed to be sexual beings capable of marriage and sexual relations (Luke 20:34-36). Dispensationalists and other Christian groups argue that angels did in fact materialize into fleshly bodies and procreated with human females before the Great Flood, producing hybrid giants or Nephelim as offspring. The existence of sex demons like succubus spirits and incubus spirits may provide evidence that angels can have sexual feelings. Plus normal human reproduction cannot explain why all of the offspring of those "sons of God" became giant Nephilim. Satan's strategy was to contaminate the human race with foreign genetic material so as to disrupt the arrival of God's promised seed mentioned at Genesis 3:15. God used the Great Flood to remove most of the giant Nephilim from among the human race. Some tribes of Nephilim continued to exist on earth after the Great Flood (Numbers 13:33).

Is there a difference between demons and fallen angels? Some believe there is a difference between demons and fallen angels. Christians among this group believe that all demons are fallen angels but not all fallen angels are demons. These people believe demons take possession of people's minds and bodies while the other types of fallen angels cannot do such a thing. Most Christians, however, do not believe there is a difference between fallen angels and demons.

How do angels travel back and forth between heaven and earth? Actually this is a mystery. One speculation would be that angels travel entirely by supernatural means, disappearing from Heaven and reappearing on earth and vice versa. Supernatural beings are able to bypass the ordinary laws of nature.