A Study On Angels, Part 1
As I said in my last post, I received a prophet prayer a few weeks ago that went like this.
“When I was called for my turn, I was escorted to a small office room and met my two very sweet people, a man and a woman, who had me sit across from them and knew only my name, nothing else. The man said I could record their time together with me on my phone, and once I had it recording, he said they were just going to ask the Lord for a word for me and began praying. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I didn’t want any of my own skepticism hinder their prayers, so simultaneously I asked the Lord to let whatever needed to happen wash over me like waves. I also sensed an angel of protection or provision standing behind and above me, as if I had given permission for my spirit to connect to their hearts and minds in prayer, in God.
My expectations were smashed to pieces in the best way possible. The woman, who spoke first, gave her word for me. That I could see into the Spirit. Angels. Faithful in the small things. Then the man spoke his word for me. To trust in the Lord as my shield and buckler. Another word. Break chains. Discern.”
So, I’m taking my next study into these words, I already started with Shield and Buckler and now I turn to angels and the Stong’s Lexicon.
What is an Angel?
Let’s look at the Original Hebrew and Greek words used to describe angels in the Bible.
malak: Angel, messenger (G32 angelos)
Original Word: מֲלְאָךְ
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: mal'ak
Pronunciation: mah-lahk
Phonetic Spelling: (mal-awk')
Definition: Angel, messenger
Meaning: a messenger, of God, an angel
Word Origin: Derived from the root verb לָאַךְ (la'akh), meaning "to send."
Corresponding Greek Entries: - G32 (ἄγγελος, angelos) – Often used in the New Testament to refer to angels or messengers.
Usage: The Hebrew word "malak" primarily refers to a messenger or envoy, often used to describe both human and divine messengers. In the context of divine messengers, "malak" is commonly translated as "angel" in English Bibles. These beings are depicted as servants of God, carrying out His will and delivering His messages to humans. The term can also refer to human messengers, such as those sent by a king or leader.
Cultural and Historical Background: In ancient Near Eastern cultures, messengers played a crucial role in communication, especially in diplomatic and military contexts. The concept of divine messengers or angels is prevalent in the Hebrew Bible, reflecting a belief in spiritual beings who serve as intermediaries between God and humanity. Angels are often depicted as powerful and awe-inspiring, yet obedient to God's commands. They appear in various forms, sometimes indistinguishable from humans, and are involved in significant biblical events, such as delivering messages, providing guidance, and executing divine judgment.
abbir: Mighty, Strong, Powerful
Original Word: אַבִּיר
Part of Speech: Adjective Masculine
Transliteration: abbiyr
Pronunciation: ah-beer'
Phonetic Spelling: (ab-beer')
Definition: Mighty, Strong, Powerful
Meaning: mighty
Word Origin: Derived from the root אָבַר (abar), meaning "to be strong" or "to be mighty."
Corresponding Greek / Hebrew Entries: While there is no direct Greek equivalent in Strong's Concordance, the concept of might and strength can be related to Greek words like "δυνατός" (dunatos - Strong's G1415) meaning "powerful" or "mighty."
Usage: The Hebrew word "abbir" is used to describe strength and might, often in the context of warriors, leaders, or even animals like bulls. It conveys a sense of power and majesty, frequently associated with divine or kingly attributes. In some contexts, it is used metaphorically to describe God's strength or the strength of His people.
Cultural and Historical Background: In ancient Near Eastern cultures, strength and might were highly valued attributes, often associated with leadership and divinity. The term "abbir" would have resonated with the Israelites as a descriptor of both human and divine power. Bulls, known for their strength, were common symbols of power and fertility in the region, which may explain the metaphorical use of "abbir" in describing them.
archaggelos: Archangel
Original Word: ἀρχάγγελος
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: archaggelos
Pronunciation: ar-KHAN-ghel-os
Phonetic Spelling: (ar-khang'-el-os)
Definition: Archangel
Meaning: a ruler of angels, a superior angel, an archangel.
Word Origin: From ἀρχή (archē, meaning "beginning" or "chief") and ἄγγελος (angelos, meaning "angel" or "messenger")
Usage: The term "archangel" refers to a chief or principal angel, one who holds a position of authority among the heavenly hosts. In the New Testament, the archangel is depicted as a powerful messenger of God, often associated with significant divine interventions or announcements.
Cultural and Historical Background: In Jewish and early Christian thought, angels were considered messengers and servants of God, playing crucial roles in the spiritual realm. The concept of an archangel, a leading angel, is rooted in Jewish apocalyptic literature, where certain angels are given specific roles and hierarchies. The archangel is often seen as a warrior or herald, executing God's will with authority and power.
HELPS Word-studies
743 arxággelos (from 758 /árxōn, "of the first order, chief" and 32 /ággelos, "angel") – an archangel; an angel of the highest rank (see Dan 10:13, 12:1; see also Lk 1:19; Rev 8:2, 12:7); "a ruler of angels, a superior angel, an archangel" (Souter).
So Let’s Recap…
Angels are mighty and valiant messengers of God, and conflated with gods or Sons of God themselves in some form.
Angels in Scripture
Genesis 19:1
The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth, 2and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” 3But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.4But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. 5And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” 6Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, 7and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.8Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” 9But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. 10But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. 11And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.
12Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. 13For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it.” 14So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up! Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.
15As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” 18And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords. 19Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. 20Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!” 21He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.a
Psalms 78:25
Man ate the bread of angels. He sent them food to the full…
Distinguishable by appearance to be Lords but look like men
Eat Food
Struck men with blindness
destroyers, can overthrow great cities
conflated with the LORD
can grant requests
bound by agreements
Genesis 28:12
He dreamed. Behold, a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
John 1:51
He said to him, "Most certainly, I tell you, hereafter you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
seen in dreams/visions
cross boundary of heaven and earth/spiritual and material planes
Genesis 32:1
Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him…24And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. 25When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. 26Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” 27And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” 28Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,f for you have striven with God (’ĕ·lō·hîm) and with men, and have prevailed.” 29Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. 30So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel,gsaying, “For I have seen God (’ĕ·lō·hîm) face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”
make camp in our world
wrestle like men
touch with the power to dislocate
Job 4:18
Behold, he puts no trust in his servants. He charges his angels with error.
can sin, do wrong
Job 38:7
When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Revelation 1:20
the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven assemblies. The seven lampstands are seven assemblies.
associated with stars
there at the creation of the earth
Psalms 8:5
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
are slightly superior to mankind (physically? spiritually? mentally?)
Psalms 78:49
He threw on them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, indignation, and trouble, and a band of angels of evil.
2 Peter 2:4
For if God didn't spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
can do evil, bad
Psalms 91:11
For he will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you in all your ways.
Matthew 4:6
and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,'He will put his angels in charge of you.' and,'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don't dash your foot against a stone.'"
guardians
Psalms 103:20
Praise Yahweh, you angels of his, who are mighty in strength, who fulfill his word, obeying the voice of his word.
mighty in strength
bring about God’s word
obedient to God/Jesus’s voice
Psalms 104:4
Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:
made into spirits
minister
fiery
Daniel 10:13
But the angel of the kingdom of Persia put himself against me for twenty-one days; but Michael, one of the chief angels, came to my help; and when I came he was still there with the angel of the kings of Persia.
Jude 1:9
Now when Michael, one of the chief angels, was fighting against the Evil One for the body of Moses, fearing to make use of violent words against him, he only said, May the Lord be your judge.
hierarchy of angels with chiefs
they have names
assigned to geographical domains and authorities of men
Fight internally with each other
Matthew 4:11
Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.
Serve Jesus in wilderness
Matthew 13:39
The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.
Matthew 13:41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, Matthew 13:49 So will it be in the end of the world. The angels will come forth, and separate the wicked from among the righteous,
Matthew 16:27
For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds.
Matthew 24:31
He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
coming at the end of the age as reapers, gatherers and separators
the cohort of Christ
Matthew 18:10
See that you don't despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
assigned to all children and/or all believers
see God and live
Matthew 22:30
For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like God's angels in heaven.
don’t marry nor given in marriage
suggests there are female angels (given in marriage)
classifications; these are assigned to God and stationed in heaven
Matthew 24:36
But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Mark 13:32
But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Not omniscient
Matthew 25:41
Then he will say also to those on the left hand,'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels;
Cohort of satan
cursed
Luke 2:15
It happened, when the angels went away from them into the sky, that the shepherds said one to another, "Let's go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us."
appear/disappear into the sky
Luke 15:10
Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting."
care for human salvation
emotional beings
Luke 16:22
It happened that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried.
transport souls/spirits
Luke 20:36
For they can't die any more, for they are like the angels, and are children of God, being children of the resurrection.
immortal
John 20:12
and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
wear white
physical bodies
Acts 7:53
You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn't keep it!"
Galatians 3:19
What then is the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the promise has been made. It was ordained through angels by the hand of a mediator.
ordained (arranged, ordered, commanded, directed) the law to humanity
Acts 23:8
For the Sadducees say that there is no coming back from the dead, and no angels or spirits: but the Pharisees have belief in all these.
have been creatures of debate for milennia
Romans 8:38
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,39nor 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.
1 Corinthians 4:9
For, I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last of all, like men sentenced to death. For we are made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men.
1 Corinthians 6:3
Don't you know that we will judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?
subservient to God’s power, love and purposes for humanity in Christ
to be judged by the redeemed
1 Corinthians 11:10
For this cause the woman ought to have authority on her head, because of the angels.
are tempted by beautiful and available women
1 Corinthians 13:1
If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don't have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.
have language
1 Timothy 5:21
I command you in the sight of God, and Christ Jesus, and the chosen angels, that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing by partiality.
hierarchy; chosen
Hebrews 1:4
having become so much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they have.
Hebrews 1:5
For to which of the angels did he say at any time, "You are my Son. Today have I become your father?" and again, "I will be to him a Father, and he will be to me a Son?"
Hebrews 1-2
1 Peter 3:22
who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.
Christ’s name and position exalted above all angels
all angels/messangers are not sons of God (but some sons of God act as angels*)
Hebrews 12:22
But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable multitudes of angels,
innumerable numbers in heaven
Hebrews 13:2
Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.
disguised among us on earth
1 Peter 1:3-12
3…According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,5who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,9obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.10Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11inquiring what person or timea the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. To them it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to you, they ministered these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.
desire to look into our faith and salvation
2 Peter 2:11
whereas angels, though greater in might and power, don't bring a railing judgment against them before the Lord.
Jude 1:9
Now when Michael, one of the chief angels, was fighting against the Evil One for the body of Moses, fearing to make use of violent words against him, he only said, ‘May the Lord be your judge.’
don’t curse or speak ill of sons of God, glorious ones, the evil one
Jude 1:6
Angels who didn't keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.
intended domains
deserters await judgement
The Angels of John’s Revelation will get their own post, along with the Sons of God.
See Part 2 and 3. Coming soon!