What are Angels?

The Bible often speaks of angels without really defining them. For this reason, many people have set forth their beliefs and theories in the attempt to fill the gaps in Scripture. It can be difficult to discern which beliefs are correct and which are not. No one has all the answers, of course, because “we know in part and we prophesy in part” (1 Corinthians 13:9). Yet many have had angelic encounters of one kind or another, each of which have contributed to our understanding of the nature of angels.

In Acts 23:7, 8 tells us that the Sadducees and Pharisees themselves were divided on this issue:

⁷ As he [Paul] said this, there occurred a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. ⁸ For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.

Angels often appear as men, so it is likely that the Sadducees believed that these were indeed just men. The apostles sided with the Pharisees in these particular issues. Speaking of angels, Hebrews 1:14 says,

¹⁴ Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

A ministering spirit is one who serves, and angels are therefore sent to minister on behalf of “those who will inherit salvation.”

Angels and Men

Genesis 32:24 tells us about the “man” that Jacob wrestled,

²⁴ Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

Was this just a man? No, because years later, when Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph, he said in Genesis 48:16, “The angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads… and may my name [Israel] live on in them.” It was the angel who gave Jacob the name Israel and redeemed him from all the evil that Esau intended to inflict upon him the next day.

The Hebrew word translated angel is malak. It literally means “messenger.” Men often send messengers to deliver messages. God does the same. “The man Gabriel” was the angel who delivered God’s message to the prophet in Daniel 9:21, 22,

²¹ While I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. ²² He gave me instruction and talked with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding.”

Was Gabriel really just a man in Daniel’s vision? Look at Daniel 8:15, 16,

¹⁵ When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man. ¹⁶ And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, and he called out and said, “Gabriel, give this man [i.e., Daniel] an understanding of the vision.”

There are three personages who are involved in this, one unseen with “the voice of a man”, a second being Gabriel, who “looked like a man,” and the prophet who was the man receiving the revelation. What is the man’s voice? Is it not the type or quality of tone that one might expect from a man who is speaking? This does not necessarily mean that the speaker is indeed a man, for it may be that this was God speaking with a man’s voice in order to be intelligible.

Samson’s Mother Sees an Angel

In Judges 13:3 we read,

³ Then the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son.”

What did this angel look like? Judges 13:6 says,

⁶ Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome…”

The woman’s husband, Manoah, then prayed, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again.” His prayer was answered. Judges 13:9 says,

⁹ God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field…

It became very clear that this was indeed an angel when “He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on, for it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar” (Judges 13:19, 20). When they asked his name, the angel replied in Judges 13:18, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?" The Hebrew name is Pili, "secret, incomprehensible, wonderful, extraordinary." I believe this was the angel of the secret, yet wonderful strength of Samson.

It is clear, then, that this angel was identified as “a man of God,” which is a term that was also applied to prophets. In Deuteronomy 33:1, Moses was said to be “the man of God.” Likewise, “a man of God came to Eli” (1 Samuel 2:27), not an angel, but a nameless prophet who was God’s messenger to convey a message to Eli, the high priest.

No doubt this was partly why the Pharisees and Sadducees disagreed on the nature of angels. The Pharisees believed they were superhuman agents, while the Sadducees believed they were just earthly messengers sent by God to convey a message to other men.

Gabriel’s Appearance to Zacharias

Zacharias, a priest in Jerusalem, was the father of John the Baptist. His wife Elizabeth was barren for many years. It came about that the lot fell to Zacharias to be the one who was to offer the incense in the temple, and while he was ministering, Gabriel appeared to him with a message. Luke 1:11 says,

¹¹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.

The angel identified himself in Luke 1:19,

¹⁹ The angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.”

No one else was allowed into the Holy Place while the chosen priest of the day was offering up the incense on the Altar of incense. So from that standpoint, it is highly unlikely that this angel was just a man (priest), for there is no indication that any of the priests awaiting Zacharias’ return had any knowledge that one of their number had gone into the Holy Place to talk to him.

Gabriel says that he “stands in the presence of God,” represented, of course, by the physical location where he was standing in front of the Most Holy Place. The Ark, of course, was not in the Most Holy Place, for it had disappeared just before the Babylonian captivity. Even so, the Altar of Incense stood at the door of the room where God’s presence was supposed to be.

It is clear from this encounter that the Pharisees were correct in their understanding that angels were spiritual beings.

Guardian Angels

Daniel 12:1 says,

¹ Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard [amad, “takes a stand, holds his ground”] over the sons of your people, will arise…

Here Michael is called a “prince,” but in Revelation 12:7 we read of “Michael and his angels” who wage war in the heavens against the dragon. Michael is the angel of resurrection, for we read that when he stands up, the dead also stand up with Him (Daniel 12:2). Yet the prophet tells us that Michael “stands guard over the sons of your people.” Perhaps this is the origin of the belief in guardian angels.

I believe that everyone has a guardian angel that is assigned to him from the beginning of time. These angels define people’s callings and assist in some way in bringing those people into their callings. Angels are named by God, giving them specific characteristics that reflect a portion of God’s own nature. Perhaps collectively, they reflect the fullness of God’s nature, and when all is restored, the angelic natures will find their full expression in all who are reconciled to God.

I believe that angels are created beings, but in that they are created in the heavens outside of the realm of time, we cannot speak of them in earthly terms, as if they were temporal. That which is created in the timeless realm of heaven can hardly be said to have a beginning or end, for these are words that define the limitations of earthly time.

Yet in the messages to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, we see that each message is given to “the angel of the church” (Revelation 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14). Some say that this “angel” is actually the pastor or overseer of the church, whose angel delivered the message to him, so that he might pass it on to his flock.

We have already seen that there is a close interaction between angels and the men of God. So perhaps this view has merit, at least on some level. However, there is no doubt that a spiritual angel, ministering to the heirs of salvation, was also involved.

The Function of Guardian Angels

In my view, angels are created by the word of God that He speaks. Each angel is created by a specific word, which becomes his name. Names indicate one’s nature, so the name of each angel is his nature and tells us his function. The angel is then given form through God’s imagination, essentially creating a “thought-form,” as it were.

The angel is then assigned to someone on earth who is destined to take on the same nature given to his/her angel. This allows each one to fulfill that specific calling, so long as the man or woman is able to absorb the angel and essentially become legally one with the angel. It is based on the principle of marriage, where husband and wife are “one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).

Hence, even as Jesus Christ is the logos, “the Word” (John 1:1), so also are we becoming the words of God. In both cases, the word is becoming flesh. For this reason, earthly “messengers” begin to be indistinguishable from heavenly “messengers.” The angel finds its expression through us, and we call this “inspiration.”

It is also pictured as a river rising up within us (John 7:38), a river of life whose origin is in our spirit, which in turn is our point of contact with heaven itself. In the end, this is how God brings heaven to earth and fulfills His will “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

Something like this must have been understood in the early church. In Acts 12 we read how the angel organized a jail break for Peter (Acts 12:7). When he walked out of the prison, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark (Acts 12:12), where they were praying for Peter. He knocked on the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda went to see who was there.

When she saw Peter, she “ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate” (Acts 12:14). Now the crux of the matter is seen in Acts 12:15,

¹⁵ They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is his angel.”

Rhoda said it was Peter himself. The others said, “It is his angel.” Why would they say this? Was it not because Peter’s angel would likely take on his appearance? It seems that this was their rational explanation of Rhoda’s word. They thought Peter was still in prison, so he could not have been standing at the gate. But if Rhoda thought she was seeing Peter, then it must have been his angel who looked like him.

If an angel can manifest as a “man of God,” then perhaps a “man of God” (such as Peter) could manifest as an angel. But how?

Years ago, during my days in the Net of Prayer, I heard how two men on a prophetic mission were walking along a highway in Ohio on their way to “see the president” in Washington. The FBI heard of this and wondered about their motives. They sent agents to watch them. But the men were then instructed to turn aside and do a secret mission in town.

They reported that they felt something odd take place. Angels took some of their DNA and used it to take their forms. The angels continued walking along the highway, while the men turned aside. The FBI agents followed the angels, thinking they were following the two men.

Later, the men took a bus to Pittsburg, PA so they were not late for a scheduled meeting. While they were at the meeting, others came up to them and said, “We saw you walking along the highway.”

“But we took a bus along that route.”

“No, it was you, complete with the staff in your hand, and the red cross on your backpack.”

It took a while to convince them that it was not really them at all. That is when they realized that angels had taken their place.

This illustrates the close connection between us and the angels assigned to us. Angels take upon themselves the form of men (and women), as they will, and we too are coming into unity with our angels as we are formed into His image.