THE EXISTENCE OF ANGELS

By Gary Ray Branscome

The Bible tells us that angels are, “Spirits who serve” God (Hebrews 1:14). And, the words, “A spirit does not have flesh and bones,” tell us that they do not have physical bodies (Luke 24:39). While the Bible speaks of angels appearing at various times, conveying messages, and doing the will of God; in learning about them, Scripture must be our sole source of knowledge. The words, “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light,” warn us of the danger in seeking spiritual truth apart from God’s Word (2Corinthians 11:14). And, the words, “If we, or an angel from heaven, preach any gospel to you other than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed,” tell us that any angel (or spirit) that contradicts the gospel is under God’s curse, and is not to be believed (Galatians 1:8).

The words, “All things in heaven and earth, both visible and invisible, were created by Him,” and “Apart from Him nothing was created that was created,” tell us that the angels are created beings (Colossians 1:16, John 1:3). And, even though the Bible does not tell us which day the angels were created on, the words, “In six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything that is in them,” // “Thus the heavens and the earth, and everything in them, were finished,” tell us that the angels were created during the six days (Exodus 20:11, Genesis 2:1).

The words, “You, are LORD alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host,” speak of angels as the “host” of heaven (Nehemiah 9:6). The words, “I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and the entire host of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on His left,” tell us that the angels [host of heaven] have access to God (1Kings 22:19). And, the words, “Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host,” tell us that Jacob recognized the angels as the host of heaven (Genesis 32:1-2).

The words, “I saw the Lord sitting upon a high and lofty throne, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; two to cover his face, two to cover his feet, and two to fly with,” give the name “seraphim” to a specific kind of angel (Isaiah 6:1-2). Here the words, “I saw the Lord,” coupled with the words, “No man has seen God at any time,” tell us that Isaiah did not physically see God, but “saw the Lord” in a dream or vision (compare Isaiah 6:1 with John 1:18). And, the fact that angels are spirits that do “not have flesh and bones,” tell us that Isaiah’s description of them is a description of what he saw in his dream or vision, not what they physically look like (Luke 24:39).

The words, “So He drove out the man; and He placed Cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life,” give the name “Cherubim” to another kind of angel (Genesis 3:24). And, when God told Moses to make the Ark of the Covenant, He said, “You shall make two golden cherubim, you shall make them of hammered work, on the two ends of the mercy seat. One angel on the one end, and the other angel on the other end: making the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat on the two ends of it. And, the cherubim shall spread out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall be facing each other; and looking down toward the mercy seat” (Exodus 25:18-20). Here again, the angels are described as having wings. However, the words, “A spirit does not have flesh and bones,” tell us that this is a figurative way of portraying the cherubim, not a description of physical appearance.

In contrast, when “Two angels came to Sodom… the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, surrounded the house… And they called to Lot, and asked him, Where are the men who came in to you this night?” (Genesis 19:1-5). Those words tell us that the angels who appeared to Lot looked like men. Verse 12 even refers to them as men, saying, “The men said to Lot”. And, none of those verses mention any wings. This leaves us with questions, such as, How were these angels (who are spirit beings) able to appear as men, and even eat food? (See Genesis 18:1-3.) However, since the Bible does not answer such questions, we should never add to God’s Word by making up answers (Proverbs 30:6). What we can say for certain is that because angels are, “spirits” that do “not have flesh and bones,” the bodies that the angels appeared to have when they visited lot, were not a normal part of their nature, but virtual bodies that they assumed for the visit (Hebrews 1:14, Luke 24:39).

The words, “The Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels” // “The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend,” and “The angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,” tell us that God’s angels will play an active part in the final judgment (Matthew 16:27, 13:41, and 13:49).