20 Bless Yahweh, you His angels, mighty in strength, who perform His word, obeying the voice of His word!
21 Bless Yahweh, all you His hosts, you who serve Him, doing His will.
22 Bless Yahweh, all you works of His, in all places of His dominion; bless Yahweh, O my soul!” – Ps 103.20-22 (NASB – I have rendered LORD as “Yahweh,” since in each occurrence it refers to the personal name of God.)

Most evangelicals, it seems to me, give little thought or study to the ministry of one of the two created, living beings that God has produced: angels. David, in contrast, was clearly aware of them and understood their role and place in God’s work of and in creation. They are “mighty in strength,” he says, and are faithful to obey and perform His word, i.e., His commands and purposes in creation. Angels, being without sin and holy (or elect), exist only to serve God and to do his will: they take no thought for themselves nor pursue their own interests, if they have any. They, along with everything under God’s dominion, bless Yahweh in their perfect obedience to Him.

It is understandable – and perhaps even desirable to some extent – that evangelicals tend to neglect the ministry of angels in the world. First, the Bible does not emphasize or draw attention to angels, mentioning them typically in a passing, matter-of-fact way. This is, I think, quite intentional: our focus is to be upon the Lord GOD and not upon His servants and messengers.

At the time of the writing of the Bible (an undertaking that spanned roughly 1600 years), cultures adjacent to the people of God were involved in their own forms of worship. Some of these practices involved the worship of angels: this seems to be central to the Colossian heresy that prompted Paul to write to the church there and warn them about those who would “keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels” (Col 2.18). This particular cult appeared to have established a hierarchy of angels or demiurges through which one approached God; Christ Jesus, in their system, was the highest of the demiurges but had to first be approached through lesser beings. But even as the highest of demiurges or angels, Christ was not God.

It is for that reason that Paul states earlier in the letter that “in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete” (Col 2.9-10). In other words, it was unnecessary to focus on angels or demiurges in order to gain access to God: Jesus is God, and as Christians we have all that we need (i.e., are complete) to approach the throne of the Eternal One.

Second, when believers do focus on angels, they tend to focus more on the fallen or non-elect angels. Questions arise about whether or not believers can be possessed, controlled, or influenced by demons (as the New Testament calls fallen angels). Much energy and speculation is spent on exorcisms, although nowhere does the NT command that demons must be cast out of believers (even if one accepts the longer reading of Mk 16, it is not necessarily referring to believers being possessed). As Cook1 notes, “Nowhere is the Christian commissioned to cast out demons” – he obviously does not accept the longer, debated conclusion of Mark’s history of the ministry of Christ.

The purpose of this post, therefore, is not to encourage Christians to spend an undue amount of time or energy focusing on the existence, presence, and ministry of elect angels; the purpose is to provide an introduction into this race of beings with whom we share a spiritual nature.

Others in the history of the Church have, in fact, stepped over the line. Justin Martyr (Second Century A.D.) believed that Christians would do well to worship angels: he apparently understood passages such as Col 2.18 in an unusual fashion. Aquinas seemed to be quite fascinated by angels; he stands in sharp contrast to such later theologians as Bultmann, Barth, and Tillich. Bultmann, with his demythologizing hermeneutic, eliminated such spiritual beings from God’s creation. Barth, more orthodox than Bultmann, saw the origin of angels as emanating from “nothingness, chaos, darkness.” Tillich, says Cook, believed angels to be “nothing more than ‘concrete-poetic symbols of the structures or powers of being. They are not beings . . . ‘” (emphasis mine).

Whether in Greek or in Hebrew, the word for angel refers to a being that is a messenger. It usually, but not always, refers to created spirit beings (whether elect or not). In the OT it at times refers to a theophany, i.e., the appearance of the Second Member of the Godhead in physical form (e.g., Gen 18). In addition to having the meaning of one who bears a message, however, the words for angels have the additional notion of describing a being who serves – Someone or someone.

That angels are created beings and not eternal is evident from passages such as Jn 1 and Col 1:

All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” – Jn 1.3 (”Him” being Christ)

“For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” – Col 1.16 ( “Him” again being a reference to Jesus Christ)

As created beings, then, the angels – holy or fallen – are subject and accountable to God, even as all people – saved or unsaved – are under the authority of God. As to when they were created, Scripture is not clear. Job 38.4-7 indicates that they came into existence prior to the formation of the physical world; further, it is likely – but not definite – that they were all created at the same time.

As spiritual beings, they do not normally possess physical bodies – although they can take on human form if necessary. They do not reproduce (hence, their number is fixed) and do not die: they will continue into eternity and will even be judged by believers. They have great knowledge but are not all-knowing (a characteristic of God alone); similarly, they have great power but are not omnipotent (also only true of God).

It is important to correct a common misunderstanding about angels, a misconception found among unbelievers and believers alike. Angels are not the spirits of dead or glorified people (cf. Heb 12.22-23, where angels are distinct from the “spirits of righteous men made perfect”). As Cook says, angels

are above the sphere of men (Ps 8.4-5, cf. Heb 2.7) in the sense that they are pure spirit and thus of a different created order; they rejoice over the salvation of men (Lk 15.10); and they will be judged by the saints (1 Cor 6.3) all of which distinguish them from human kind (emphasis mine).

What else may we know about elect, unfallen angels? First, as has been mentioned above, they are holy and separated to God and from sin in order to serve Him. Second, unfallen angels were chosen by God to remain in their original state and, third, they are not redeemed or, if fallen, redeemable. Their abode is in heaven, but it may be the “second heaven” – the first being the physical realm of space and the third the dwelling place of the throne of God.

Much is known about the ministry of angels. Following is a brief but fairly comprehensive list of their activities as compiled by Cook:

a) They minister to the elect, even before salvation (Heb 1.14, although ’salvation’ here could refer to final salvation and thus this would be a statement regarding the ‘guardian angel’ concept).

b) They minister in relation to the church . . .

c) They minister in relation to Israel. According to Dan 12.1, Michael the archangel, ‘who stands guard over the sons of [Daniel's] people,’ has a special concern for Israel . . .

d) They care for children . . .

e) They have special interest in the people of God . . . Among other things they protect and deliver (Gen 19.10-11; 1 Kings 19.5; Dan 3.28; 6.2; Ac 5.19; 12.7-11; cf. 2 Kings 6.1-17) and inform, direct and encourage them (Mt 28.5-7; Ac 8.26; 27.23-24).

f) They had and will have an extensive ministry to Christ: at birth (Lk 2.13); following the temptation (Mt 4.11); at the ascension (Ac 1.10); at the rapture (1 Th 4.16); and at the second coming (Mt 25.31; 2 Th 1.7).

g) They have a ministry to the nations (Dan 10.10-11.1; 12.1). The precise nature of this work is difficult to ascertain but it may be an extension of the ‘guardian angel’ concept. (Eph 6.12 seems to give the negative – evil – side of this truth.)

h) They worship and serve God as He chooses (Ps 148.2; Mt 18.10; Lk 1.19, 26; Heb 1.6; Rev 5.11-12; cf. Ezek 28.14) and sometimes function as instruments of his judgment (Gen 19.12-13; 2 Sam 24.16; 2 Kings 19.35; Ezek 9.1; Mt 13.36-42; 49-50; Ac 12.23; Rev 7.2; 8.6-9.21; 16.4-17).

i) They function as agents of praise . . .

Some angels have been identified by name – Michael and Gabriel (the Angel of Yahweh would be Christ and thus not truly an angel) – or by rank, i.e., archangels (such as Michael), cherubim (perhaps defenders of God’s holiness) and seraphim (who praise God and prepare believers for service).

Finally, and a particular interest and delight for me, is Heb 13.2: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” This reality absolutely is beyond my comprehension. There may have been times in my life – and yours, too – when I have been in the company of angels without knowing it. A purely spiritual being who has temporarily taken human form has perhaps talked and walked with me, eaten with me, shared a ride with me, or found shelter with me for an evening or two.

We live in a physical world that is but a shadow of spiritual realities. And, from time to time, the spiritual slips into the physical and spends time with us without us ever having a clue. This is not to say we should devote time to trying to “uncover” these angels – our devotion is to be to Christ alone – but it is to remind us of the true nature of the world in which we live and breathe and have our being.
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1The material and inspiration for this post is drawn almost exclusively from the unpublished Systematic Theology of Robert Cook, Th.D., which he was kind enough to give to me many years ago. Although I never had the privilege of sitting under his instruction – he was for many years Professor of Systematic Theology at Western Seminary – I have benefited and profited immensely from his work.

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