THE DOCTRINE OF ANGELS
T.P. Simmons
It is reasonable that there should be an ascending scale of life
from man upward toward God, just as there is a descending scale of life from
man downward. A contemplation of the vastness and the wonder of this universe may well raise the question, Is man the only creature that
"has a mind to appreciate and contemplate this workmanship of God"
and to praise Him for it? Without the Bible we should be left to blind
conjecture. But in the Bible we have clear revelation of an order of beings
above man, existing in ascending orders and ranks, called angels.
I. THE NATURE OF ANGELS
1. They Are Created Beings.
In Psa. 148:1-5 angels are among the things exhorted
to praise the Lord on the ground that "he commanded and they were
created." That angels are created beings is also proved by Col. 1:16,
which reads: "For in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon
the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
principalities or powers."
2. They Are Pure Spirits.
We do not mean to affirm here that all angels are sinless; for, as
we shall see later, some are evil. We mean that the nature of angels is spirit
unmixed with materiality. Angels do not possess bodies as a part of their being; even though they may assume bodies for the execution of
certain purposes of God, as in Gen. 19. We affirm that angels are pure spirits
because in Heb. 1:14 they are called spirits. Man is never thus unqualifiedly
designated. Christ said "a spirit hath not flesh and bones" (Luke
24:39).
3. They Constitute an Order of Creatures
Higher than Man.
Of man it is said that he was "made a little lower than the
angel" (Heb. 2:7). Angels are said to be greater than man in might (2 Pet.
2:11). Their superior power is also implied in Matt. 26:53; 28:2; 2 Thess. 1:7.
Yet angels are ministering servants to believers (Heb. 1:14), and shall be
judged by them (1 Cor. 6:3). This last fact would seem to indicate
that man, though now inferior in nature to angels, shall in his glorified
state, as a trophy of God's redeeming grace, be exalted with Christ far above
angels (Eph. 1:20,21; Phil 2:6-9).
4. They are Sexless.
Matt. 22:30 declares that angels do not marry, which proves them
sexless. "Sons of God" in Gen. 6:2 are not angels, but descendants of
Seth: the true worshippers of God, as distinguished from the descendants of
Cain.
Luke 20:36 declares that angels cannot die, which means they
cannot cease to exist.
II CLASSES OF ANGELS
The angels consist of the elect angels and the fallen angels. The
following Scriptures allude to and distinguish these two classes:
"I charge thee in the sight of God, and Christ Jesus, and the
elect angels, that thou observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing by partiality" (1 Tim. 5:21).
"God spared not angels when they sinned but cast them down to
hell and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment"
(2 Peter 2:4).
"And angels that kept not their own
principality, but left their proper habitation, he hath kept in everlasting
bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the great day" (Jude 6).
The elect angels are those whom God chose to preserve in holiness.
The others He permitted to fall and for them no redemption or possibility of
escape has been provided.
III. ORGANIZATIONS, ORDERS, AND RANKS AMONG ANGELS
In Jude 9 we have Michael mentioned as an archangel. See also 1
Thess. 4:16. Archangel means the chief of angels. Gabriel seems also to occupy
a relatively high place among the angels. See Dan. 8:16; 9:16,21; Luke 1:19.
The mention of thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers
among the invisible things in Col. 1:16 implies rank and organization among the
angels. And in Eph. 1:21 and 3:10 we have the mention of rule, authority,
power, and dominion in the heavenly places. Of the orders named in Col. 1:16,
E. C. Dargan, in his commentary, represents
"thrones" as "being the highest next to God and so called either
because they are near and support the throne of God, or because they themselves
sit on thrones approaching nearest to God in glory and dignity; next
'dominions,' or 'lordships,' those who exercise power or lordship over the
lower ones or men; then 'principalities,' or 'princedoms,' those of princely
dignity; and lastly 'powers,' or 'authorities,' those who
exercise power or authority in the lowest angelic order, just above men."
We consider it more satisfactory to view the "cherubim"
of Genesis, Exodus, and Ezekiel with which we would identify also the
"seraphim" of Isaiah and the living creatures of Revelation, not as
actual beings, but as symbolic appearances, illustrating
truths of divine activity and government. The "living creatures" of
Revelation seem to symbolize praise arising from God's lower creation because
of its being "delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of
the glory of the children of God" (Rom 8:21). The twenty-four elders
associated with the living creatures seem to represent redeemed humanity. And
it is well to note that the living creatures do not include
themselves among those redeemed to God. The living creatures, as representative
of the lower creation giving praise to God, fulfill Psa. 145:10, which says:
"All thy works shall praise thee, 0 Lord." *
* Note: We do not agree with Brother Simmons on his symbolic
interpretation of the verses in the paragraph above, but rather we believe these are literal angels.
IV. ANGELS ARE NOT TO BE WORSHIPPED
"And when I heard and saw, I fell down to
worship before the feet of the angel that showed me these things. And he saith
unto me, See thou do it not: I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy
brethren the prophets, and with them that keep the words of this book"
(Rev. 22:9).
This is also condemned in Col. 2:18
V. THE EMPLOYMENT OF ANGELS
1. Of Holy Angels.
(1) They praise the lord and do His commandments.
Psa. 103:20; 148:2.
(2) They rejoice in the salvation of men. Luke 15:7,10.
(3) They minister to the heirs of salvation.
Heb. 1:14; 1 Kings 19:5-8; Dan. 6:22; Psa. 84:7; 91:11,12; Acts
12:8-11.
(4) They are messengers of Cod to men.
Gen. 19:1-13; Num. 22:22-35; Matt. 1:20; 2:13, 19, 20; Luke
1:11-13, 19; Acts 8:26; 10:3-6; 27:23, 24.
(5) They execute God's purposes.
2 Sam. 24:16; 2 Kings 19:35; 2 Chron. 32:21; Psa. 35:5,6; Matt.
13:41; 13:49,50; 24:31; Acts 12:23; Rev. 7:1,2; 9:15; 15:1.
Acts 7:53; Gal. 3:19; Heb. 2:2.
(7) They ministered to Christ.
Matt. 4:11; Luke 22:43.
(8) They will accompany Christ at His second coming.
Matt. 25:81,32; 2 Thess. 1:7,8
(9) They are present at church services.
1 Cor. 11:10.
(10) They take a great interest in divine truth and learn through the
church.
1 Pet. 1: 12; Eph. 3:10
There is nothing in the above to show that
there is a constant intervention of angels between God and man. They are not in any sense
regularly constituted mediators between God and man. Their intervention is
occasional and exceptional. And their activity is subject to the command and
permission of God.
But it is evident that the average
believer has not attached sufficient importance to the ministry of angels. However, on the other
hand, the notion of a special guardian angel for each individual finds no
certain foundation in the Scripture. J. P. Boyce says:
"Guided by rabinical fables, and led by the peculiar views of
Oriental philosophy, some have conceived that on each person in
this life an angel attends to guard and protect him from evil. This theory
of a guardian angel has been held in various forms. Some have confined his
presence to the good; some have extended it also to the wicked; some have
supposed two angels instead of one, the one good and the other bad. In like
manner has the theory been held of guardian angels over nations; some confining
that also to good nations, others extending it to all. That
such views existed among the Jews, and that they were also prevalent among
earlier Christians may be admitted; but scriptural authority for them is
wanting" (Abstract of Systematic Theology, p. 179).
There are really but two passages that even suggest this doctrine
of a guardian angel for each individual. These two passages are
Matt. 18:10 and Acts 12:15. On Matt. 18: 10 John A. Broadus says:
"There is in this no sufficient warrant for the popular notion of
'guardian angels,' one angel especially assigned to each individual; it is
simply said of believers as a class that there are angels which are their angels;
but there is nothing here or elsewhere to show that one angel has special
charge of one believer" (Commentary on Matthew).
On Acts 12:15 H. B. Hackett says: "It was a common belief
among the Jews, says Lightfoot, that every individual has a guardian angel and
that this angel may assume a visible appearance resembling that of the person
whose destiny is committed to him. This idea appears here, not as a doctrine of
the Scriptures, but as a popular opinion that is neither affirmed
nor denied" (Commentary on Acts). On this passage Broadus also says:
"The disciples who were praying for Peter during his imprisonment,
when the girl insisted that he was at the gate, sprang to the conclusion that
he had just been put to death and this was 'his angel' (Acts 12:15), according
to the notion that a man's guardian angel was apt to appear to friends just
after his death, with his form and voice. But the views of these disciples were
erroneous on many subjects, and are not an authority for us
unless sanctioned by inspiration." We dismiss the subject with this
further comment from Broadus: "It cannot be positively asserted that the
idea of guardian angels is an error, but there is no Scripture which proves it
true, and the passages which merely might be understood that way do not suffice
as a basis of a doctrine."
2. Of Evil Angels.
The work of evil angels will be considered more extensively in the
next chapter, which deals with Satan, their ruler and leader. It will suffice
here to say that evil spirits or angels war against God and His
saints. This is seen in Eph. 6:12 and in the demon possession of early New
Testament days.
As to demon possession, it needs to be said that the record is too
clear and decisive to admit of a mere accommodation on the part of Christ and
the apostles to popular but erroneous notions of the Jews. It
is very probable, however, that demon possession was more prevalent in the
days of Christ's earthly ministry than now. We can see that, according to the
record, it was more prevalent in early than in late New Testament times; yet it
was not entirely absent in later New Testament times (Acts 16:16-18); and it is
probably not absent now. Some physicians today believe that some experiences
and actions of the insane are best explained by the supposition
that the patient's mind is under the control of a foreign power. J. P. Boyce gives
a good reason for the greater prevalence of demon possession in the days of
Christ's earthly ministry: "The great struggle was about to take place
between Christ and Satan, and uncommon freedom was doubtless granted to the
Devil and his assistants."