Angels - Part 5: Organization, Guardian and Encounters
Posted by Randy | Labels: Angels, Angels in Disguise, Apocrypha, Archangel, Cherubim, Gary Kinnaman, Guardian Angels, Living Creatures, Satan, Seraphim | Posted On Thursday, September 16, 2010 at 12:01 AM
Today I want to look at some miscellaneous topics about angels and wrap up tomorrow looking a fallen angels.
Medieval scholars argued over how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. That was mere speculation, however. So, what can we ascertain about the number, organization and rank of angels?
In terms of numbers of angels, the Bible speaks of “multitudes” of angels praising God at the birth of Jesus, and this was only a part of the heavenly host (Luke 2:13-15). At his betrayal Christ said he could call upon God for twelve legions of angels (Matthew 26:53), which would calculate to about 72,000 angels (6,000 x 12). There are some references in scripture that the number of angels is comparable to the number of stars in the sky. Hebrews 12:22 speaks of “an innumerable company of angels” which probably is as close as we are going to get.
Angels seems to be gathered in an organization. There are hints at assemblies or large gatherings, an army of angels that is obviously organized, and several different titles, probably for various levels of organization for both good and bad angels: thrones, dominions, principalities, authorities, powers, angels, world rulers, wicked spirits (Romans 8:38; 1 Corinthians 15:24; Ephesians 1:21, 3:10, 6:12; Colossians 1:16, 2:10, 15).
The ranking of angels is not very clear from the Bible. There seem to be broad classes of angels with ranking within each class. Classes might include cherubim, seraphim and living creatures. Cherubim seemed to hold the highest position. Among the cherubim, Satan appears to have held the highest rank (Ezekiel 28:12, 14, 16).
Archangel implies a ranking of first among angels, since the Greek prefix arche means first. This title is applied directly only to Michael (Jude 9). However, he is also called “one of the chief princes” (Daniel 10:13), implying that there are others of high rank, but we cannot say for sure whether they are archangels or not.
There is also reason to believe that there is a descending rank among the following: thrones, principalities, authorities, powers, world rulers, wicked spirits, and angels. Some of these titles apply both to good and evil angels.
Guardian angels are probably the most popular kind of angel that most of us are familiar with, because we all know how fragile life is. It is comforting to know they are there to watch over us.
The idea of guardian angels was fairly well developed in Judaism by New Testament times. Judaism taught that each individual had their own personal angel. The early church fathers and later Christian theologians held similar beliefs. Some “Catholic children are still taught that a good angel sits on your right shoulder and a bad one on your left, and you get to choose between the two at every moment of your life.” (Gary Kinnaman, Angels: Dark and Light, p. 83) Catholic beliefs are based on Genesis 48:16, Matthew 18:10 and Tobias 3:25, which is one of the apocryphal books which appear at the end of the Old Testament of Catholic Bibles, but is not included in Protestant Bibles.
While Protestants (and Gateway is a part of the overall Protestant movement) are certainly not opposed to the concept of guardian angels, we have to acknowledge that scripture is not very clear about this. Only a few references suggest the possibility of guardian angels, and none directly states this to be true. Psalm 91:11 says, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” The devil used this passage to try to tempt Jesus. This passage does indicate there are angels around us to protect us, but it is not clear there is one guardian angel assigned to you. In the passage in Acts 12 where Peter is freed by an angel from prison he returns to the house of Mary. The servant girl who answers the gate is startled and rather than let him in she rushes back to tell everyone its Peter. When they say she’s crazy she continues insisting it is him. Then in vs. 15 they respond to her with this: “It must be his angel.” The implication is that the early church believed each person had an accompanying angel that resembled him or her. These passages and a few others hint at guardian angels, but, again, they do not come out and state this as a biblical teaching.
As Protestants we cannot unequivocally say there are guardian angels, at least by biblical standards. Yet, we can acknowledge several allusions to the possibility of them. In addition, there are passages that indicate that angels are there to protect and watch over us, even if no one angel is assigned to each one of us. In this case, each of us will need to draw our own conclusion.
Sometimes, the Bible indicates, angels appear in disguise. In Genesis 18 and 19 Abraham entertains three “men.” They sit with him, talk with him, and eat with him. Only as they share their message with Abraham does it become known that they are angels. Two of these “men” then go on to Sodom where Lot provides them shelter. Neither Lot nor the men of the city recognize them as angels. Yet, the men of the city that try to take the two are struck with blindness. Obviously, these angels appeared to be completely human, yet they were angels.
Just as other stories in the Bible corroborate this truth, that angels do often take on the appearance and activity of humans to accomplish their purposes, so it would appear they continue to do so today, as many individuals will attest. I suspect we really don't have a clue just how active and prevalent angels are in our daily lives on behalf of God.
Medieval scholars argued over how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. That was mere speculation, however. So, what can we ascertain about the number, organization and rank of angels?
In terms of numbers of angels, the Bible speaks of “multitudes” of angels praising God at the birth of Jesus, and this was only a part of the heavenly host (Luke 2:13-15). At his betrayal Christ said he could call upon God for twelve legions of angels (Matthew 26:53), which would calculate to about 72,000 angels (6,000 x 12). There are some references in scripture that the number of angels is comparable to the number of stars in the sky. Hebrews 12:22 speaks of “an innumerable company of angels” which probably is as close as we are going to get.
Angels seems to be gathered in an organization. There are hints at assemblies or large gatherings, an army of angels that is obviously organized, and several different titles, probably for various levels of organization for both good and bad angels: thrones, dominions, principalities, authorities, powers, angels, world rulers, wicked spirits (Romans 8:38; 1 Corinthians 15:24; Ephesians 1:21, 3:10, 6:12; Colossians 1:16, 2:10, 15).
The ranking of angels is not very clear from the Bible. There seem to be broad classes of angels with ranking within each class. Classes might include cherubim, seraphim and living creatures. Cherubim seemed to hold the highest position. Among the cherubim, Satan appears to have held the highest rank (Ezekiel 28:12, 14, 16).
Archangel implies a ranking of first among angels, since the Greek prefix arche means first. This title is applied directly only to Michael (Jude 9). However, he is also called “one of the chief princes” (Daniel 10:13), implying that there are others of high rank, but we cannot say for sure whether they are archangels or not.
There is also reason to believe that there is a descending rank among the following: thrones, principalities, authorities, powers, world rulers, wicked spirits, and angels. Some of these titles apply both to good and evil angels.
Guardian angels are probably the most popular kind of angel that most of us are familiar with, because we all know how fragile life is. It is comforting to know they are there to watch over us.
The idea of guardian angels was fairly well developed in Judaism by New Testament times. Judaism taught that each individual had their own personal angel. The early church fathers and later Christian theologians held similar beliefs. Some “Catholic children are still taught that a good angel sits on your right shoulder and a bad one on your left, and you get to choose between the two at every moment of your life.” (Gary Kinnaman, Angels: Dark and Light, p. 83) Catholic beliefs are based on Genesis 48:16, Matthew 18:10 and Tobias 3:25, which is one of the apocryphal books which appear at the end of the Old Testament of Catholic Bibles, but is not included in Protestant Bibles.
While Protestants (and Gateway is a part of the overall Protestant movement) are certainly not opposed to the concept of guardian angels, we have to acknowledge that scripture is not very clear about this. Only a few references suggest the possibility of guardian angels, and none directly states this to be true. Psalm 91:11 says, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” The devil used this passage to try to tempt Jesus. This passage does indicate there are angels around us to protect us, but it is not clear there is one guardian angel assigned to you. In the passage in Acts 12 where Peter is freed by an angel from prison he returns to the house of Mary. The servant girl who answers the gate is startled and rather than let him in she rushes back to tell everyone its Peter. When they say she’s crazy she continues insisting it is him. Then in vs. 15 they respond to her with this: “It must be his angel.” The implication is that the early church believed each person had an accompanying angel that resembled him or her. These passages and a few others hint at guardian angels, but, again, they do not come out and state this as a biblical teaching.
As Protestants we cannot unequivocally say there are guardian angels, at least by biblical standards. Yet, we can acknowledge several allusions to the possibility of them. In addition, there are passages that indicate that angels are there to protect and watch over us, even if no one angel is assigned to each one of us. In this case, each of us will need to draw our own conclusion.
Sometimes, the Bible indicates, angels appear in disguise. In Genesis 18 and 19 Abraham entertains three “men.” They sit with him, talk with him, and eat with him. Only as they share their message with Abraham does it become known that they are angels. Two of these “men” then go on to Sodom where Lot provides them shelter. Neither Lot nor the men of the city recognize them as angels. Yet, the men of the city that try to take the two are struck with blindness. Obviously, these angels appeared to be completely human, yet they were angels.
Just as other stories in the Bible corroborate this truth, that angels do often take on the appearance and activity of humans to accomplish their purposes, so it would appear they continue to do so today, as many individuals will attest. I suspect we really don't have a clue just how active and prevalent angels are in our daily lives on behalf of God.
