ANGELOLOGY # 2: DOCTRINE OF ANGELS, SATAN, AND DEMONS CREATION AND NATURE OF ANGELS Angels are created beings just as everything else that exists outside the Godhead has been created. Colossians 1:16 16For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. Paul included the angelic realm in Christ’s creative work. His reference to invisible things refers, in part, to identifying things through which the angelic realm is identified— thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities. Paul also identified the reason angels were created and that was “for Him.” Angels were created to serve God and glorify His name, which happens to be the same reason why mankind was created by God. As dispensationalists, we believe the primary motivation for God’s creative and redemptive work is to glorify Him. Whether it is man, angels, or creation, everything exists to glorify Him. Psalm 148 is a praise Psalm in which the entire creation praises God. Included among those singing God’s praises are the angels. This Psalm specifically says all the angels, the heavenly hosts, were created by God. Psalm 148:2, 5 2Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! … 5Let them praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created. John revealed the fact that Christ was the agent of the actual creation and “all things” were created by Him. “All things” has to refer to everything that exists outside of the godhead which must also include the angelic realm. John 1:3 3All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Revelation, the concept of angels worshiping God and praising Him for His magnificent glory is vividly portrayed. Revelation 4:6–11 6and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. 7The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. 8And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.” 9And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to 1 Him who lives forever and ever, 10the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” The Bible does suggest that the primary purpose of angels is to worship and glorify God. One of the ways they glorify God is by doing His will through performing His Word and obeying His Word. There is an application in that for us; we glorify God by obeying and following His Word. Psalm 103:20–21 20Bless the LORD, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word! 21Bless the LORD, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will. Hebrews 1:6 6And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM.” Since angels cannot reproduce, it follows that every angel in existence was individually created by God. This may be why angels are referred to as sons of God while humans are generally referred to as sons of men although those in Christ are referred to as sons of God. Adam was referred to as the son of God, but he was the result of a direct creative act. Context is the determining factor. Galatians 3:26 26For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Luke 3:38 38… the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. came to present [בְּנֵי אֱלהִים] Job 1:6 6Now there was a day when the sons of God themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. Ecclesiastes 2:3 3I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives. clearly refers to angels. The TANAKH interprets this to read ,בְּנֵי אֱלהִים ,In Job, sons of God “divine beings” and the Septuagint interprets it to read “angels.” All of our English translations translate it “sons of God.” Lucifer, who became Satan, was also individually created by God, and we will discuss him later. Ezekiel has some interesting things to say about the devil’s creation. People are not angels and people do not become angels when they die. That error is frequently made when people refer to departed loved ones as an “angel.” When the body dies, the person who inhabited that body continues to live and they live as a real person. The only question is, where are they living? There are only two options for that— they are either in the presence of the Lord for eternity or they are separated from the Lord for eternity. While supposing a deceased loved one is now an angel may be a 2 nice thought, it is a thought not based on biblical truth. People are still people when they die and go into the Lord’s presence—which is a much more exalted status than being an angel because believers are part of the body of Christ. Born-again people do not become angels when they die. They remain human beings and they will one day receive a glorified human body fit for living an eternal life. Just this week there was two examples of this erroneous concept expressed in obituaries in the local Marble Falls paper. We do not know what angels look like; they are spirits after all. Some of them are described in the Bible, but whether or not every angel of their class looks like the ones in Bible is not known. It is possible the descriptions provided in the Bible for those angels was a unique situation with unique angels. Once we receive our glorified bodies, will we be able to see them? I suspect we will be enabled to see them at that time, but I don’t know for certain. We may have our eyes opened and be enabled to see spiritual things we cannot see right now. We do know that some of them, the cherubim and seraphim, have wings, at least at times, but we do not know whether or not that is a common feature throughout the angelic realm. We don’t even know whether or not all the seraphim and cherubim have wings. plural] stood above Him, each having six wings ,שְׂרָ פִים ;singular ,שָׂרָף] Isaiah 6:2 2Seraphim with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he :[כָּנָף] flew. [כָּנָף] plural] shall have their wings ,כְּרֻ בִים ;singular ,כְּרוּב] Exodus 25:20 20“The cherubim ;and facing one another [כָּנָף] spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the mercy seat. refers to that part of the structure of a creature that flies, a ,כָּנָף ,Wing, in this context wing. The description of these beings includes wings, but I wouldn’t make that a distinguishing characteristic of all the angels in the angelic realm. It may be; it may not be. We are not told, but most people assume, perhaps erroneously and certainly on slim evidence, that all angels have wings. We also know they can have some features that we find to be somewhat extraordinary. Ezekiel 1:5-11 had a description of some cherubim (identified as such in Ezekiel 10:1) that was quite different from the description of the cherubim that were carved in gold and resided on the ark of the covenant in the Tabernacle. Perhaps the features of the cherubim differed among them according to their individual assignments, but that information is not revealed in the Bible. Ezekiel 1:5–11 5Within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human form. 6Each of them had four faces and four wings. 7Their legs were straight and their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they gleamed like burnished bronze. 8Under their wings on their four sides were human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, 9their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn when they moved, each went straight forward. 10As for the form of their faces, each had the face of a man; all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and all four had the face of an eagle. 11Such were their faces. Their 3 wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and two covering their bodies.