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Angels
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Hi, I'm Dave DeWitt and today I'd like to talk about angels. I recently read the best
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short paper I've ever read on angels. I'll be reading excerpts from that paper and adding
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comments on my own. So this is a blend of my comments with those of another author who
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gave me permission to use their paper, but would like to remain anonymous. So let's talk
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about the existence of angels. That they're spiritual beings distinct from the Godhead
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and humanity is mentioned at least 108 times in the Old Testament and 165 times in the
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New Testament. So this is not based on fables or myths, but upon biblical revelation. For
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example, in the Old Testament, Lot was delivered from Sodom by angels. In the New Testament,
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Mary was told by an angel that the baby she would be carrying was the Messiah. When Jesus'
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tomb was found empty, it was an angel who gave the news he is risen, mentioned in all
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four Gospels. The angels ministered to Jesus. Jesus taught about their existence. He spoke
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of their involvement in the end times. They're genuine personal beings who are messengers
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and ministers of God. They're either good or evil, depending on whether they serve God
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or Satan. Oh, and by the way, although there's zero evidence for extraterrestrial aliens
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from outer space in our universe, zero evidence, we are not alone. Daniel 7.10 says, a river
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of fire was flowing and coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands were attending
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him and myriads upon myriads were standing before him. Hebrews 12.22, but you've come
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to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and to myriads
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of angels. Revelation 5.11, and I looked and heard and behold many angels around the throne
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and the living creatures and the elders and the number of them was myriads and myriads
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and thousands of thousands. Let me repeat, we're not alone. Now let's talk about the
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origin of angels. At this command, God created angels. Praise him, all angels, for he commanded
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and they were created and they also established them forever and ever. That's from Psalm 148.2-6.
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Christ was a creative agent. He was the creative agent of the angels. Because we read that
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for by him all things were created, both in heavens and on earth, visible and invisible,
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all things have been created through him and for him. The exact time of the creation of
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angels is not known, but we do know that it predated the creation of the earth. When Jesus
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laid the foundation of the earth, all the sons of God shouted for joy, as it says in Job 38,
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4-7. And in the garden of Eden, the fallen angel Satan already existed, tempting Eve.
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Originally, all angels were created good and holy, just as God made and pronounced all creation good.
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His holy character cannot create anything wicked. Jesus said his angels were holy. They
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were also surrounded by every good thing and influenced by every holy thing. Jesus said,
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angels in heaven continue to see the face of my Father who is in heaven. The specific angels we
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know about in the Bible, Michael in Daniel 10, 13, and Gabriel in Luke 1, 19,
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were individuals. Probably no two angels are alike. For example, there's a strong angel in
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Revelation 10, 1. At God's bidding, they assembled and were counted before him.
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There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord. That's in Job
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1, 6. But angels have limitations. They're creatures, so they're limited to space. They do
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not possess omnipresence, which belongs to God alone. An angel must move spatially from one
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location to another, as in Daniel 9, 21-23. And this involves a lapse of time, even delays,
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as in Daniel 10, 10-14. Angels are located at one position at one time and are always somewhere,
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like points in space. However, they can also be present in great numbers in a very limited space,
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as the many demons who entered into one man's body in Luke 8, 30.
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Another limitation is their power. Only God's omnipotent. But angels do have power greater than
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humans. And by God's power, they can control some elements of nature. Revelation 7, 1 and 16,
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89. Their authority is limited, Job 1, 12 and 2, 16 and 2, 6. They're good angels with evil
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angels, and they need assistance. Angels get their power from God, but it's restricted.
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For example, they cannot create or read our minds or our hearts. They may influence humans,
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as one creature may influence another. An angel may even get divine assistance when it
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conflicts with other angels or other angelic beings. But God assigned angels. When angels
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assigned by God, angels had the power to destroy 885,000 Assyrians in one night in 2 Kings 19.
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They have a whole lot of power we don't know about. Jesus could pray. God would send him 12
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legions of angels. That's calculated to be about 72,000. That's in Matthew 26, 53.
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They're limited in intellect, only God's omniscient. They need God's revelation,
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such as when Christ will return, they learn about aspects of our salvation. They're limited
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in holiness. Their holiness was not absolute as God's is. Some of them fell into sin
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through defection from God's will. Angels are morally accountable to God.
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Failure and rebellion require judgment. Satan has been and will again be judged, as
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will the demonic angels who rebelled. Let's talk about the nature of angels. Angels have personality,
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if one defines personality as intellect, emotion, and will.
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God created both angels and humans as self-conscious, self-determining, free will to
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choose moral individuals. Angels have intelligence. They communicate intelligently, Matthew 28, 5.
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The fallen angel, Satan, was full of wisdom, but God said, you corrupted your wisdom.
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Even though the angels have a part in the tribulation and Christ's second coming,
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they do not know the timing of it. Angels have emotions. They rejoice at the
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salvation of the repentant sinner. They're received in the worship of God, crying,
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they cry, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.
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The worship extends to Jesus. To him, it says, sits on the throne and to the Lamb,
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be blessed, honored, glory, dominion forever and ever, that in Revelation 5, 13.
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All angels were created individually. In other words, they do not procreate. There are no angel babies.
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They are not subject to death or extinction, so they do not decrease either, Luke 20, 36.
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They're immortal and incorruptible. They're eternal beings as humans are, but they do not
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reproduce. They are forever locked in the consciousness of their own choice.
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They are never redeemed. Jesus did not die for angels. There's an old song that used to go,
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when I sing redemption story, they will fold their wings for angels never knew the joy that
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our salvation brings. They are not redeemable. They're either good or bad, demons or good angels.
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Angels are without sex. They're not a race. They're usually referred to as masculine.
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When they appear, they generally appear in the form of a man, walk as a man, talk as a man,
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even eat as a man. Humans were made in the image of God. Angels were not. Why are angels not seen by
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humans? Well, we don't know, but most likely it's because they would be worshiped as John did. He
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said, I fell down to worship at the feet of angels, but he said to me, don't do that. Worship God in
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Revelation 22, 8 and 9. Angels are spiritual beings. Yet when God desires, they're able to
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pass as human men. Also, their appearance is sometimes dazzling white and blazing glory.
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Yet apart from specific assignments from God, humans do not have communication or even a
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consciousness of angels, according to 2 Kings 6, 17. Yes, angels have wings, but when wings are
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mentioned, they seem to be symbolic of swiftness or to obey God or a covering of their faces to
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symbolize reverence in the presence of God. Each angel had a free will choice to stay holy and not
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follow Lucifer, who is Satan, into rebellion against God. They were then locked into that
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choice. Jesus did not and could not take upon himself the nature of angels. Their very nature
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forbids it. They're spirit beings and already God is spirit, according to John 4, 24. Also,
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they are not a race into which additions may enter. They're each individually separate creations
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of God and do not procreate. So, Christ could not become one of them by birth or creation,
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since whereas by Jesus becoming human, he entered into the whole of the human race,
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dying for them all. Christ created the lake of fire as an eternal destruction for fallen angels.
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As a conclusion, here's a few reviews about angels compared to humans. First,
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some similarities between humans and angels. Both are creatures limited in time and space.
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Both are dependent on God for existence and well-being. Both have responsibility to God
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and are accountable to him. Just as no two humans are alike, no two angels are alike,
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in those like snowflakes. And there are believing and unbelieving humans and good and bad angels.
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Both the wicked humans and fallen angels will spend eternity in the lake of fire, Matthew 25,
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41. Some differences between humans and angels. Angels are spirits, while humans are
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spirits in a material body. The normal state of angels is invisible in this universe or dimension
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where humans are visible in this universe. Because angels do not reproduce, they're not a race,
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so they're not related to each other as humans are. Humans can trace their lineage back to Adam.
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Humans are subject to death, angels are not. Humans will one day judge angels, according to
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1 Corinthians 6, 3. Angels cannot become human, and humans cannot become angels.
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They're distinct in their nature, just as humans cannot become a flower.
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Well, thanks for listening. The paper on angels is available on our website, relationalconcepts.org.
