ANGELS IN THE BIBLE
Angels in Old and New Testaments
The Angel of God, the Angel of Death, Jesus and Angels
- What is an Angel?
- What are the different types of Angels?
- Why do people believe in Angels?
The Cervara Altarpiece by Gerard David, detail of the Angel Gabriel
An angel is a spirit who carries a message, or performs a mission, for God. They are traditionally shown with wings (they bear a message) and as being neither male nor female (they are spirits). Look at the different paintings at ANGELS to see how artists through the centuries have envisaged them.
Angels can be
- messengers between God and human beings
- part of the Heavenly Host
- a special angel such as the Angel of God or the Angel of Death
- a spirit assigned to each person to look after and guide them.
Angels as Messengers
In ancient mythology, the gods often lived in a remote and inaccessible place which they rarely left. So if mortals wanted to contact the gods, they had to use a messenger or go-between.
In the Bible, an angel was often the bearer of a message between God and people. It sometimes took human form and was confused with a man.
Madonna of the Rocks, Leonardo da Vinci, detail of the angel
What did ‘angel’ mean? Paintings of angels are wonderful, but can a modern person really believe in them?
People in the ancient world were not fools. They did not make things up just for the sake of a pretty picture or a reassuring story. What they were trying to do was express an idea by putting it into story form. Angels were real to them because the concept behind the image was real. They knew that sometimes God communicated an idea to them, or was guiding them towards a course of action.
Today, if we were putting this into modern language, we would say that a person prayed and then felt a deep conviction that they should act in a particular way. This would be a real experience for them, a real message from God.
So we have the same idea as people in the ancient world, but express it in a different way.
The Heavenly Host
The Angel Choirs, by Hans Memling, detail of left panel
The Old Testament refers to supernatural beings such as Cherubim, Seraphim, the ‘heavenly host’, the ‘holy ones’, etc.
For example, the cherubim are the keepers of Eden: ‘at the east of the Garden of Eden God place the cherubim, and a sword, flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life’ (Genesis 3:24). Or ‘… iniquity was found in you… and the guardian cherub drove you out ofrom among the stones of fire.’ (Ezekiel 28:11-19).
There were also winged beings who served as the chariot on which God’s glory appears. They followed and worshipped God, glorifying and exalting him – in other words, they are like courtiers to an ancient king.
The Archangel Gabriel Announces the Birth of Jesus to the Shepherds, Leon Francois Comer
The Nine Choirs of the Heavenly Host are:
- the Seraphim
- the Cherubim
- Thrones
- Dominions
- Virtues
- Powers
- Principalities
- Archangels
- Angels
But sometimes the elite angels acted independently, without carrying out the divine will – like Lucifer, who rebelled against the authority of God. In these cases they were probably drawn from ancient pagan sources reflecting the struggle between good and evil.
The Angel of God
Defeat of the Rebel Angels, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder
The Angel of God, a being quite separate from God, occupied a special position.
In a sense, he was the guardian angel of the nation of Israel. He appeared as Israel’s representative in moments of crisis, such as the near-sacrifice of Isaac or the exodus from Egypt. In later tradition he was called Michael, a warrior angel who protected God’s people.
He carried out practical missions: preceding the Israelites in the Exodus, smiting Sennacherib’s army (2 Kings 19:35), guiding Jacob in his dream (Genesis 32).
The Angel of God could not act independently of God, since authority and direction came only from God.
The Angel of Death
Manuscript illumination showing the Angel of Death killing first-born sons of the Egyptians
The Angel of Death was a divine messenger who had the task of taking the soul from the body. It is described in the Apocalypse of John.
In the Old Testament, this angel is one of the host of ‘destroying angels’.
He is mentioned in several Psalms in a way that suggests he was based on the Canaanite god Mot, god of death and the underworld. He was associated with Satan, prince of demons, the tempter – an angel who defied God by choosing evil rather than good.
The biblical writers constantly emphasised that Good (God) rather than Evil (the Devil) would triumph.
Jesus and Angels
The Annunciation, John Collier
At the time of Jesus, people believed that angels
- acted as God’s ambassadors,
- had superhuman powers, and
- were messengers of God.
The sections of Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels describing the birth and infancy of Jesus stress the role of angels and visions as a means by which God made His will known to His servants – such as the angel Gabriel’s meeting with Mary at Nazareth.
The Letter to the Hebrews (2:5-18) lays special emphasis on the fact that angels were created by God and that they are subordinate to Christ.
The Guardian Angel
The Guardian Angel
The gospel of Matthew 18:10 suggests there was a special angel assigned to each person.
In the passage just before the Parable of the Lost Sheep, Jesus says “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.”
This idea, of a spirit who can carry our prayers to God, has brought comfort to many people for hundreds of years.
Look at the different paintings at ANGELS to see how artists through the centuries have envisaged them.
