By Gary Ray Branscome
Because
angels are spirit beings, having a body is not part of their nature, although, in
a few cases, they seem to have appeared as men. The words, Look at my hands
and my feet, and see that it is really me: handle me, and see; for a spirit
does not have flesh and bones, as you see me have, tell us that spirits do
not have flesh and bones (Luke 24:39).
We see that again in the words, We wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians
Although
the words, God is a Spirit: and those who worship Him must worship Him in
spirit and in truth, tell us that God is a spirit, the difference between God
and angels is incomprehensibly great (John
Although
men have a spirit, those spirits are incomplete in that they exist in union
with a body. In contrast, angels are complete spirits in that they exist as spirits,
without flesh and bones (Heb.
The
words, The devil took Him up onto a very high mountain, and showed Him all
of the kingdoms of the world, and their splendor; And
said to Him, I will give you all of this, if you will fall down and worship me.
Then Jesus said to him, Go away, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship
the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve, tell us that even the
fallen angels have a will and intelligence (Matthew 4:8-10). And, the words, Your
adversary the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to
devour, tell us that the fallen angels want to destroy us (1Peter 5:8).
Although
any knowledge that angels possess is far less than that of God, the words, My
lord is wise, like the wisdom of an angel of God, knowing everything on earth,
tell us that angels know far more than any man (2Samuel 14:20). The words, The
angel said, I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God; and have
been sent to speak to you, and to tell you this good news, tell us that
angels are capable of becoming acquainted with each other and with men (Luke
1:19). And, the words, Be careful that you do not despise one of these
little ones; for I am telling you, That in heaven their angels continually
behold the face of my Father who is in heaven, tell us that the holy
angels continually look upon the face of God (Matthew 18:10). However, the
words, Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. Therefore it is not
surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as ministers of
righteousness, warn us that Satan and his followers can outwardly appear
to be righteous (2Corinthians
Because
angels are spirits, they do not have body parts (such as arms, legs, lungs
etc.), they are ordinarily invisible, and they are not subject to physical
decay. The words, In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are
given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven, tell us that
angels do not marry or produce young (Matthew
Because
angels are spirits, they can be present without occupying physical space, just
as God is present without taking up space. And, the words, My name is
Legion: for we are many, tell us that because they do not take up space, a
great number of them were able to indwell one man (Matthew 5:9).
The
words, The angels who did not keep their first estate, but went outside
their bounds, tell us that angels have a will, and were not created evil,
but some choose to do evil (Jude 1:6). The words, The angel of the Lord
appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they
were terrified. And the angel said to them, Do not be
afraid: for, I bring you good tidings of great joy, that will be for all people
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising
God, tell us that angels can appear, move about, speak, and praise God
(Luke 2:9-13). And, the words, The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven
with His mighty angels, and Praise the LORD, you His angels,
who excel in strength, tell us that angels are mighty (2Thessalonians 1:7,
Psalm 103:20).
The
words, How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how you are cut down to the ground, O you who laid the
nations low! For you said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will
exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit on the mountain of the
congregation, on the sides of the north: I will ascend above the highest
clouds; I will be like the most High. But you will be brought down to hell, to
the sides of the pit, tell us that Satan or Lucifer fell from his first
estate because of his desire to exalt himself (Isaiah
The
words, Blessed is the LORD God, the God of
The
words, They could not drink the waters, for they were bitter
and
the LORD showed him [Moses] a tree, which he threw into the waters, and the
waters were made sweet, tell of God working a miracle through Moses
(Exodus 15:23-25). The words, As one was felling a log, the axe head fell
into the water
And he [Elisha] cut down a stick, and
threw it in at that place; and the iron floated, tell of God working a
miracle through Elisha (2Kings 6:5-6). The words, Then
Peter said, I have no silver or gold; but what I do have I give you: In the
name of Jesus Christ of
Even though Satan has some strength, just as we have
strength, because it is the God of
The Folly
of Reading Mans Word into Scripture
The
words, Do not go beyond what is written, // We have not written
anything to you, other than what you read // No truth of scripture
comes from any private explanation, tell us that God wants us to believe
and teach exactly what the words of Scripture say, not made up explanations
(1Corinthians 4:6, 2Corinthians 1:13, 2Peter 1:20). Yet because the heart
is deceitful above all things, men usually do the opposite (Jeremiah
17:9). And, one such fairy-tale doctrine is the bogus claim that angels have in
the past mated with humans.
Those
who make this claim have to assume that these angels had bodies [mans
word]. However, God tells us that angels
do not have bodies by saying Are they [angels] not all spirits who
serve Him? // A spirit does not have flesh and bones, (Hebrews
The passage this controversy centers around says, It
came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and
daughters were born to them, That the sons of God saw that the daughters of men
were fair; and they took them wives of all whom they chose
And God saw
that the wickedness of man was great in the earth (Genesis 6:1-5). These
verses should warn every son of God [saved person John
Of
the great-ones or Nephilim spoken of in Gen.
6:4, The Keil
and Delitzsch Commentary, which is generally regarded
as the best in regard to the Hebrew, says, Luther gives the correct meaning,
tyrants: they were called Nephilim because
they fell upon the people and oppressed them (Page 137).
In whatever matter Holy Scripture has
definitely spoken the Christian theologian must suppress his own views,
opinions, and speculations and adhere unwaveringly to the divine truths
revealed in Holy Scripture. In no case is he permitted to inject into the body
of divine truth his own figments and fabrications. (Christian Dogmatics, by J.T. Muller, page
39.)