Angels

This topic comes from our Sermon Suggestion box.

If you had to bet what environment on earth would not support life, you could do worse than guessing someplace at the bottom of the ocean, where there’s  crushing pressure and no light, near a thermal vent on the sea floor where the water is boiling and the area is filled with dissolved minerals and noxious chemicals. And you’d lose that bet. There are in fact myriads of creatures which thrive in this environment. There are bacteria which live on the otherwise toxic chemicals spewing out of the earth’s mantle, using a process called chemosynthesis. There are creatures that feed on these bacteria and 8 foot long tube worms that feed on them and in which the bacteria live. There are crabs and millions of shrimp who feed on the tube worms. There is apparently no place in our world where life cannot and does not exist.

If God is so prolific in populating the creation we see (although we did not see the sea vent ecosystem until relatively recently), how about the creation we do not see? According to the Bible, the spiritual realm is filled with angels. Unfortunately, most of what you know about angels is probably wrong. They are not the spirits of people who have died. They are not fat, cuddly, flying babies. They are not winged humanoids. They don’t live on clouds, carrying harps. They don’t have glowing rings floating over their heads. Most of those images come from classical art and cartoons.

Both the Greek and Hebrew words for “angel” mean the same thing: messenger. The primary function of angels is to communicate God’s message. In the heavenly court, they behold his face and praise him. On earth they are his ambassadors, listening to and carrying out his word (Psalm 103:20). As such, they are his servants.

Angels' first appearance in the Bible might be as the audience or heavenly court to whom God is speaking in Genesis 1:26: “Let us make humanity in our image, after our likeness…” But they are definitely referred to in Genesis 3 where God sets the cherubim to guard the Tree of Life after the expulsion of the first humans from the Garden of Eden. That seems to be the primary function of cherubim. They are guardians and their name possibly means “mighty.” They are depicted on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant, which held the stone tablets, a bowl of manna and the first priest Aaron’s flowering staff. The ark was kept in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. The curtains of this inner sanctum also depicted cherubim and in Solomon’s Temple, there were 2 cherubim carved of olivewood and covered with gold, 10 cubits or 15 feet high with 7 ½ foot wings. Ezekiel sees a vision of them supporting God’s throne, or perhaps serving as his living throne,  and his description of these creatures is terrifying and disorienting, perhaps indicating how hard it is to describe them in words.

From what we see, there are hierarchies of angels and various functions, though the Bible never lays these out in any systematic way. The elaborate angelology you might read about in some sources is often derived from the period between and after the 2 Testaments and in the Middle Ages. But there is Biblical evidence for a few distinctions. There are angels and archangels, there are Cherubim, of course, and the Seraphim, which Isaiah saw in a vision. They have 6 wings and fly around God’s throne singing “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Their name means literally “the burning ones.” The Seraphim and Cherubim are the only angels with wings.

Aside from these 2 types, the angels whom people encounter look human. They often have to say, “Be not afraid,” perhaps because they are dazzlingly bright. Most are not given any individual characteristics. Three, however, stand out.

One is Michael, one of only 2 named angelic beings. His name means “Who is like God?” He is an archangel, described as a great prince by Daniel and appears to be the defender of the people of Israel. He is described as fighting Satan, expelling him and his angels from heaven. In Catholic iconology, he is depicted as armored and fighting the dragon from Revelation.    

The other named angel is Gabriel. His name means “strong man of God.” He appears 4 times in the Bible. Twice he appears to Daniel to interpret a vision and to give a prophesy. In the New Testament, he announces the conceptions of John the Baptist and then Jesus. 

The third angel who is an important figure in the Bible is the Angel of the Lord. This angel is so close to God that he acts as his personal agent and spokesman. He speaks not only for God but as God using the first person singular. The line between him and God himself is blurred, leading some to see him as a theophany or manifestation of God. Alternately some think he is the pre-Incarnated Christ, though this could only be true for his appearances in the Old Testament, obviously. Or he might be Gabriel, who describes himself as standing in the presence of God . Isaiah calls the Angel of the Lord “the angel of his presence.” Whoever he is, the Angel of the Lord is so close to God that in dealing with or speaking to him, one is essentially dealing with or speaking to God.

One last category of angels that people are interested in are guardian angels. The term never appears in scripture but the concept seems apt, especially to angels like Michael who guards Israel. But Jesus says something interesting in Matthew 18:10, “Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.” Many take this to refer to guardian angels, assigned to each child, or perhaps “little ones” means those with childlike faith. This might account for the story in Acts 12, in which Peter is unexpectedly released from prison and people are so skeptical that when Rhoda the maid says she’s seen Peter at the door, they insist it must be his angel.

If some of the information on angels seems sketchy it is because they are messengers of God and not gods themselves. The Bible generally stays ruthlessly on message and focusing on the trivia of angels is rather like getting a communiqué from the President and being more interested in the messenger than his boss or his boss’s message. What if the shepherds at Christmas had been proclaiming what a great sight the angels were but, if asked what the angels said and sang, replied that they were less interested in that and hadn’t paid attention?

Angels are interesting but their messages are what is crucial. They reveal God’s will at key events in the saga of his working out our redemption. The Angel of the Lord calls to Moses from the burning bush and commissions him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. From this message we learn that God hears his people cry out under oppression, that he is a God who is there for those who call upon his name and obey him, that he has a plan and prepares those he calls to carry it out. Gabriel announces Christ’s conception to Mary. From this we learn that Mary’s son Jesus is God’s son. Angels announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds. From this we learn that God has provided a savior from the line of David, a Messiah who was nevertheless born poor. Angels spoke to the women who came to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body. From them we learn that Jesus is risen. In Revelation an angel reveals the Bride of the Lamb, the new Jerusalem, where God will dwell with his people, where God will wipe the tears from our eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning, pain or crying. That outlines most of the good news.    

Angels are also, as it says in Hebrews, “ministering spirits.” They protect God’s people, such as ushering Lot and his family out of doomed Sodom, and protecting the rear of the Israelites fleeing Pharaoh’s army. Angels feed Elijah in the desert as he flees from Queen Jezebel’s wrath. They minister to Jesus after his 40 days of temptation in the wilderness and at Gethsemane as he prays in anguish before the events of his passion.

The Holman Bible Dictionary summaries the work of angels under 3 categories: proclamation, protection and punishment. As part of the latter function, they carry out God’s judgment on the wicked, such as on Sennacherib’s troops besieging Jerusalem, or on Herod Agrippa 1 for his arrogance, or as the angels dispensing plagues in the end times do in the book of Revelation.

Now because the Bible doesn’t use special words for angels but the regular words for messenger, there are instances where a human being carrying a message is called by the same word used for angels. And it is in that sense alone that we can be angels of God. We can proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, God’s son, our Savior and Lord. We can minister to others like they do.

I do think we need to refrain from their function of punishment. Unlike the first two functions, there seem to be no shortage of people willing to punish other people for their sins or perceived sins. In fact, neurologists have found that people get pleasure out of punishing those they feel are bad. Too much pleasure, judging by the tone some people take when describing, with almost loving detail, the evils others commit and the punishments they deserve. It’s best we leave the judging to Jesus, as it is his job, and we concentrate on our job of proclaiming the good news and ministering to the needs of others.

The updated American Sherlock Holmes series “Elementary” just introduced a Mrs. Hudson, the housekeeper. For us fans, it was a nice touch. But though a character in the books, she is not, strictly speaking, essential to the stories. One other important character, who has only been portrayed once in all the hundreds of TV, movie and radio dramatizations of the Holmes stories, is Stamford. He’s the acquaintance who introduces Watson to Holmes. And he has only ever been shown in the first episode of the updated British series called “Sherlock.” To be fair, he never appears in any of the printed stories except the first, either. Someone had to bring the two main characters together. But it is what those two do together that is the essence of the saga.

Angels are like Stamford. They have functions to perform in serving God. But, like Stamford, they are not at the center of the drama. To get too hung up on them is to skew one’s perception of the main story, which is that of God’s love for us. The very best Best Man and Maid of Honor know not to draw too much attention to themselves at the wedding. It’s all about the lovers, the groom and the bride, committing themselves to love each other faithfully. The groomsmen and the bridesmaids are just happy to be part of it. As are the angels at the wedding of the Lamb and his bride. Because, as scripture tells us, rejoicing is another thing angels do and do well.