Heavenly Creatures in the Unseen Realm

 

We see though a glass darkly

There are some things we should know

Some things we want to know just because we are curious

So 

• There are things clearly mentioned –  things we do know.
• There are things that seem to connect together – things we might strongly suppose.
• There hints of things – that are possible
• There are many things we do not know
• There are things that we must be prepared to leave alone until we get to heaven ourselves.
• There are things we must avoid at all cost

Tonight we go over the certain things we know about Angels and the heavenly beings.

The Certain Things

There is a heavenly realm inhabited by creatures created by God to fulfil roles that he has determined.

There are some hints as to the size of this creation but there is no reason to suppose that it is less diverse than ours in this world and we may well be only seeing the tiny tip of the iceberg.

We have descriptors of about nine or ten of such types of beings, but it is confused by a lack of understanding about the way that the categories work, are they about intrinsic nature or roles they play?

For example we might talk about men and soldiers. Men is what they are, soldiers is what they do – the role they play.

When it comes to Angels, angels means messenger. 

What we don’t know is whether every time the word is used, it is about the same type of being or not.

The best example is the term ANGEL OF THE LORD. 

It would seem that this title fits better a different type of heavenly being than ‘ordinary angel’. 

This particular case may require a longer and more detailed explanation than that given in this overview.

But let’s start with what we do know.

There are first of all ANGELS – messengers used by God to deal with men, sometimes as intermediaries sometimes to deliver messages.

Angels

The “angels” or malakhim, i.e. the “plain” angels, angelos, i.e. messenger or envoy).  They are the ones most concerned with the affairs of men. Within the category of the angels, there are many different kinds, with different functions. The angels are sent as messengers to humanity.

• Man is a created being of a different and lower order than this type of heavenly creature.

Hebrews 2: 6-9

“What makes you care about us humans? Why are you concerned for weaklings such as we? You made us lower than the angels, for a while. 

2. They can appear ‘normal’ and ordinary

Hebrews 13:2
Be sure to welcome strangers into your home. By doing this, some people have welcomed angels as guests, without even knowing it.

3. They may have their own languages

1 Corinthians 13:1
The Excellence of Love
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,

Or is this a metaphor? Paul talks about people being a loud gong or noisy symbol. So there is already poetic language in the way that Paul speaks.

4. Angels have different attributes or nature to humans.

They can be physical – they pulled back Lot. They also have “powers”.

Genesis 19:9-11

At the town of Sodom

“Don’t get in our way,” the crowd answered. “You’re an outsider. What right do you have to order us around? We’ll do worse things to you than we’re going to do to them.”

The crowd kept arguing with Lot. Finally, they rushed toward the door to break it down.  But the two angels in the house reached out and pulled Lot safely inside.  Then they struck everyone in the crowd blind, and none of them could even find the door.

5. Angels can be very powerful indeed

Hebrews 11:28

His faith also made him celebrate Passover. He sprinkled the blood of animals on the doorposts, so that the first-born sons of the people of Israel would not be killed by the destroying angel.

2 Samuel 24:15-16

So that morning, the Lord sent an angel to spread a horrible disease everywhere in Israel, from Dan to Beersheba. And before it was over, seventy thousand people had died.

2 Kings 19:35

That same night the Lord sent an angel to the camp of the Assyrians, and he killed one hundred eighty-five thousand of them. And so the next morning, the camp was full of dead bodies.

Is this an individual angel of a different order? Or are all angels capable of doing this?

6. There are many of them

Matthew 26:53

Don’t you know that I could ask my Father, and right away he would send me more than twelve armies (legions) of angels? 

(6000 in a legion at the time of Jesus)

7. They can appear very differently

Matthew 28:3

The Sabbath was over, and it was almost daybreak on Sunday when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. Suddenly a strong earthquake struck, and the Lord’s angel came down from heaven. He rolled away the stone and sat on it. The angel looked as bright as lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.

Hebrews 1:7

And when God speaks about the angels, he says, “I change my angels into wind and my servants into flaming fire.”

8. Seeing an Angel as they are is a fearful thing

The guards shook from fear and fell down, as though they were dead.

9. The Role of Angels

In general 

Hebrews 1:14

Angels are merely spirits sent to serve people who are going to be saved.

But they also carry out commands from God and we see their power

Matt 18 v 10

With children

“See that you do not despise or think less of one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually look upon the face of My Father who is in heaven.  

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10. The people at the time of Jesus thought that our ’personal angels’ looked like us 

Acts 12:15

As Peter is seen escaped from the jail

“You are crazy!” everyone told her. But she kept saying that it was Peter. Then they said, “It must be his angel.”

But this is just a Jewish myth or common view at that time that is being quoted, rather than a scriptural endorsement of the view

11. Do we have personal guardian angels ?

Because we see that children have ‘angels’, because of the example of Peter the traditional built up that we have personal angels.

There is no real evidence for it and it leads to strange doctrine.

Psalm 91

For He will command His angels in regard to you,

To protect and defend and guard you in all your ways [of obedience and service].

This is often quoted but this was a prophecy about Christ. The Devil quotes it in relationship to Jesus.

Luke 4:9-11

Then he led Jesus to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle (highest point) of the temple, and said [mockingly] to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; for it is written and forever remains written,

‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard and protect You,’

and, ‘they will lift You up on their hands, So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

12. Other roles that angels play

Luke 15:10

In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents”

13. They have a role at the death of a human

Luke 16:22

Now it happened that the poor man died and his spirit was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom (paradise); and the rich man also died and was buried.

14. They will have a role in the future judgement of humanity

Matthew 13:39

and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.

Matthew 13:49

So it will be at the end of the age; the angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous

15. They were there at creation

Job 38:7

When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God (angels) shouted for joy?

16. The Angels sing God’s Praises

Psalm 89:5
The heavens (angels) praise Your wonders, O Lord, Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones

Psalm 103:20
Bless the Lord, you His angels, You mighty ones who do His commandments, Obeying the voice of His word!
Psalm 148:2
Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts (armies)!

17. Angels roles in the Old Testament

Acts 7:30

Forty years later, an angel appeared to Moses from a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai.

Acts 7:35

This was the same Moses that the people rejected by saying, “Who made you our leader and judge?” God’s angel had spoken to Moses from the bush. And God had even sent the angel to help Moses rescue the people and be their leader.

Acts 7:38
Moses brought our people together in the desert, and the angel spoke to him on Mount Sinai. There he was given these life-giving words to pass on to us

Acts 7:53
Angels gave you God’s Law, but you still don’t obey it.

This is all in Stephen’s preaching before they killed him. He would have been quoting Aramaic or Greek translations of the text.

Exodus 33:2-3

It is a land rich with milk and honey, and I will send an angel to force out those people who live there—the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. I would go with my people, but they are so rebellious that I would destroy them before they get there.

Again is this a special angel or THE ANGEL OF THE LORD?

Jesus appears in the Old Testament as the visible form of the Godhead.

A pre incarnate appearance of the Lord

We are NOT saying that Jesus was a created angel, even a powerful one and then became God.  We ARE saying that the Triune God – in the form of the Logos, the Word of God, became visible and encountered people in the Old Testament.

And is described with a title THE ANGEL OF THE LORD.

Or in other words the LORD APPEARING AS A MESSENGER TO CERTAIN PEOPLE.

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18. Angels know the difference between right and wrong

2 Samuel 14:17

I can rest easy now that you have given your decision. You know the difference between right and wrong just like an angel of God, and I pray that the Lord your God will be with you.

19. Angels can sin, and did.

Job 4:18

‘God puts no trust or confidence, even in His [heavenly] servants, And He charges His angels with error.

Job 15:15

“Behold, God puts no trust in His holy ones (angels); Indeed, the heavens are not pure in His sight—

Isaiah 24:21

So it will happen in that day That the Lord will visit and punish the host (fallen angels) of heaven on high, And the kings of the earth on the earth.

20. Hell was created for the angels that sinned

Matthew 25:41

“Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Leave Me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (demons);

It may be best THAT before we start to reach more fundamental conclusions that we LOOK AT other heaven beings we read about in the Bible

The following are categories claimed from earliest times about the range of heavenly beings

1. Seraphim, 

2. Cherubim, 

3. Aeons, 

4. Hosts, 

5. Powers (=Virtues, Greek dynameis), 

6. Authorities, 

7. Principalities, 

8. Dominions, 

9. Thrones, 

10. Archangels, 

11. Angels.

And either in that list or separate to it IS ALSO

The 24 Elders

The 4 Living Beasts

As mentioned in Revelation.

DON’T FORGET THAT THESE TERMS ARE USED IN THE SCRIPTURES BUT WE DO NOT KNOW IF SOMEOF THEM ARE SYNONYMS FOR EACH OTHER.

21. Seraphim

Seraphim (singular “Seraph”) are, literally translated, “burning ones”. The word seraph is normally a synonym for serpents when used in the Hebrew Bible.

Mentioned in Isaiah 6:1–7, Seraphim are the highest angelic class and they serve as the caretakers of God’s throne and continuously shout praises: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!”

Isaiah 6: 1-7

Above Him seraphim (heavenly beings) stood; each one had six wings: with two wings he covered his face, with two wings he covered his feet, and with two wings he flew. 

 …Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs.  He touched my mouth with it and said, “Listen carefully, this has touched your lips; your wickedness is taken away and your sin atoned for and forgiven.”

So they can speak and be physical like Angels

22. Cherubim

Cherubim have four faces: one of a man, an ox, a lion, and an eagle (later adopted as the symbols of the four evangelists). They have four conjoined wings covered with eyes (although Revelation 4:8 appears to describe them with six wings like the seraphim), a lion’s body, and the feet of oxen. 

Cherubim guard the way to the tree of life in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24) and the throne of God (Ezekiel 28:14–16).

The cherubim are mentioned in Genesis 3:24,  Exodus 25:17–22, 2 Chronicles 3:7–14, Ezekiel 10:12–14 and 28:14–16, and 1 Kings 6:23–28.

St. Thomas Aquinas imagined Satan as a fallen Cherub. But does the Seraph = serpent give another clue? Or are we seeing a mix between categories and roles? WE CAN NOT KNOW

ARE THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES BEFORE THE THRONE OF GOD – SERAPHIM?

23. Thrones

The “Thrones” (Greek: thronoi, pl. of thronos), or Elders, are a class of celestial beings mentioned by Paul the Apostle in Colossians 1:16. They are living symbols of God’s justice and authority, and have as one of their symbols the throne.

Daniel 7:9

“As I looked,

“thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat.

His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze.

The Twenty-Four Elders in the Book of Revelation are usually thought to be part of this group of angels. AGAIN IT IS A SUPPOSITION

24. Dominations or Lordships

The “Dominations”] (lat. dominatio, plural dominationes, also translated from the Greek term kyriotētes, pl. of kyriotēs, as “Lordships”) or “Dominions” are presented as the hierarchy of celestial beings “Lordships” in some English translations of the De Coelesti Hierarchia. IT IS CLAIMED WITHOUT ANY AUTHORITY OTHER THAN IMPLIED HIERARCHY IN THE NAMES THEMSELVES that Dominations regulate the duties of lower angels. But it is a reasonable supposition otherwise what else does the idea of Lordships convey

25. Virtues or Strongholds

The term appears to be linked to the attribute “might”, from the Greek root dynamis (pl. dynameis) in Ephesians 1:21, which is also translated as “Virtue” or “Power”. 

26. Powers or Authorities

The “Powers” (lat. potestas (f), pl. potestates), or “Authorities” (from the Greek exousiai or exusiai, the plural of exousia, see the Greek root in Eph 3:10) 

27. Principalities or Rulers

The “Principalities” (Latin: principatus), also translated as “Princedoms” and “Rulers”, from the Greek archai, pl. of archē (see Greek root in Eph 3:10), are the angels that guide and protect nations, or groups of peoples. The Principalities preside over the bands of angels and charge them with fulfilling the divine ministry. 

Paul used the term rule and authority in Ephesians 1:21, and rulers and authorities in Ephesians 3:10.

28. Archangels

The word “archangel” comes from the Greek ἀρχάγγελος (archangelos), meaning chief angel, a translation of the Hebrew רַב־מַלְאָך (rav-mal’ákh)  It derives from the Greek archein, meaning to be first in rank or power; and angelos which means messenger or envoy. 

The word is only used twice in the New Testament: 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and Jude 1:9. Only Michael and Gabriel are mentioned by name in the New Testament.

1 Thessalonians 4:16

16For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Jude 1:9

9But when the archangel Michael contended with the devil and disputed about the body of Moses, he did not dare to bring a condemnation of slander against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

Gabriel is also considered an archangel, but there is no direct support for this assumption. 

It is also worth noting that the term “archangel” appears only in the singular, never plural, and only in specific reference to Michael.

Luke 1:26

One month later God sent the angel Gabriel to the town of Nazareth in Galilee

29. In Other Texts not in Protestant Bibles

The name of the archangel Raphael appears only in the Book of Tobit (Tobias). 

Raphael said to Tobias that he was “one of the seven who stand before the Lord”, and it is generally believed that Michael and Gabriel are two of the other six. 

The second Book of Esdras (fourth Books of Esdras in the Latin Vulgate). In the book, he unveils seven prophecies to the prophet Ezra, after whom the book is named.

Catholics accept these books written in the period between the Old Testament and the New. They were not accepted as being ‘scriptures’ but of historic interest. Together they are called the Apocrypha and is found in Catholic and Orthodox churches.

A fourth Archangel is Uriel whose name literally means “Light of God.” Uriel’s name is the only one not mentioned in the Western Christian Bible, but plays a prominent role in an apocryphon read by Russian Orthodox Christians: 

He also plays a role in the apocryphal Book of Enoch, which is considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox, Eritrean Orthodox, and Ethiopian Catholic Churches. 

Another possible interpretation of the seven archangels is that these seven are the seven spirits of God that stand before the throne described in the Book of Enoch, and in the Book of Revelation

Some Warnings

The devil desires to be worshiped (Matthew 4:9), and demons teach false doctrine in order to deceive (1 Timothy 4:1). Those who worship false gods are, wittingly or unwittingly, pledging their allegiance to evil spirits who desire to usurp God’s rightful place in our hearts.

Deuteronomy 32:16–17 

“They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded” (ESV). 

This passage associates pagan gods with “demons” and warns God’s people not to be involved with anything to do with idols

Grammatically, the demons and the foreign gods are the same. The text clearly connects pagan worship with evil spirits. The false gods are in contrast with the true God, the “Rock” in verses 15 and 17.

Leviticus 17:7 adds another important connection: “They shall no more offer their sacrifices to demons, after whom they have played the harlot” (NKJV). 

It is no coincidence that demonic activity is associated with religions that embrace a multitude of gods and goddesses. A desire to have supernatural contact with the “spirit world” often focuses people on supernatural power apart from the power God offers through a relationship with Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. 

The devil desires to be worshiped (Matthew 4:9), and demons teach false doctrine in order to deceive (1 Timothy 4:1). Those who worship false gods are, wittingly or unwittingly, pledging their allegiance to evil spirits who desire to usurp God’s rightful place in our hearts.

To the Christian, an idol is “nothing” (1 Corinthians 8:4). That is, demons and their deceit have no true power over us. Any power they wield pales in comparison with the power of Christ (see Mark 5:7–8).

Colossians 2:18

Don’t be cheated by people who make a show of acting humble and who worship angels. They brag about seeing visions. But it is all nonsense, because their minds are filled with selfish desires.

Galations 1: 6-9

I pray that God will punish anyone who preaches anything different from our message to you! It doesn’t matter if that person is one of us or an angel from heaven.  I have said it before, and I will say it again. I hope God will punish anyone who preaches anything different from what you have already believed.

2 Corinthians 11:13–15

13. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

Finally as we will see next time, a Christian has nothing to fear from creatures opposed to God.

Romans 8:38

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

To Come: Part 2 – The Great War