Of the CREATION of angles
John Gill
From considering the creation
in general, I descend to particulars; not to all the creatures that are made;
to treat of the nature, form, figure, and qualities of every creature in
heaven, earth, and sea, would be a work too large and tedious, and what belongs to naturalists and philosophers, and not divines: I
shall only consider angels, the chief of God's works in the heavens; and man,
the principal of his creatures on earth. And begin with the angels.
Though the creation of angels
is not expressly mentioned in the account of the creation by
Moses, yet it is implied in it; for the heavens include all that are in them;
which are said to be created by God; and among these must be the angels:
besides, Moses, in closing the account of the creation, observes, "Thus
the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them", #Ge
2:1. Now of the hosts of heaven, the angels are the principal part; they are
expressly called, the heavenly host, and the armies of
heaven, #Da 4:35 Lu 2:13 and therefore must have been created within the six
days of the creation; though on what particular day is not certain, whether on
the first, second, third, or fourth; all have been pitched upon by one or
another; most probably the first, on which day the heavens were created; and
that first, and then the earth; so that the angels might be created with the
heavens, whose nature is most similar to the heavens, and
the heavens the habitation of them; and accordingly might be present at the
forming and founding of the earth, on the same day, and sing on that occasion,
#Job 38:7 which if the sense of that text, the time of their creation is plainly
pointed out by it; for though they were created very early, some time within
the creation of the six days, since some of them fell before man did; and one of the apostate angels was concerned in the
seduction of our first parents, and was the instrument of their fall and ruin,
quickly after their creation; yet they were not created before the world was,
as some have fancied, and which is a mere fancy; for there was nothing before
the world was, but the supreme Being, the Creator of all things; "Before
the world was", is a phrase expressive of eternity, and that
is peculiar to God, and whose eternity is expressed by the same phrase;
"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the
earth and the world; even from everlasting to everlasting thou art God",
#Ps 90:2. Besides though angels have not bodies, and so are not in place
circumscriptively; yet, as they are creatures, they must have an
"ubi", a somewhere, in which they are definitively; so that they are here, and not there, and much less every where:
now where was there an "ubi", a somewhere, for them to exist in,
before the heavens and the earth were made? it is most reasonable therefore to
conclude, that as God prepared an habitation for all the living creatures before
he made them; as the sea for the fishes; the expanse, or air, for the fowls;
and the earth for men and beasts; so he made the heavens
first, and then the angels to dwell in them: and these were made all at once
and together; not like their kindred, the souls or spirits of men, which are
made one by one, as their bodies are; for they are created, not without them,
but in them, by God, "who formeth the spirit of man within him", #Zec
12:1. But the angelic spirits were made altogether; for "all" those
morning stars, the sons of God, were present, and shouted at
the foundation of the earth; and all the host of heaven, which must be
understood chiefly of angels, were made by the breath of God, when the heavens
were created by his word, #Job 38:7 Ps 33:6 and their numbers are many; there
was a multitude of them at the birth of Christ, #Lu 2:13 and our Lord speaks of
twelve legions of them and more, that he could have had at asking them of his
Father, #Mt 26:53. According to the vision in #Da 7:10
thousand thousands of these ministering spirits, ministered to the Ancient of
days, and which number is greatly exceeded in the vision John saw, #Re 5:11
where those in worship with the living creatures and elders are said to be ten
thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, and may well be called
an innumerable company, #Heb 12:22 and yet the passages referred
to only speak of good angels; the evil angels are many also; we read of a
legion of them in one man, #Mr 5:9 perhaps those that fell, may be as many as
those that stood; and if so, how great must be the number of them all together,
at their creation? Now these are all the creatures of God; "who maketh his
angels spirits", #Ps 104:5 they are made by Jehovah the Father, who is
called from hence, as well as from his making the souls of
men, "the Father of spirits", #Heb 12:9 and by Jehovah the Son,
"for by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in
earth, visible and invisible"; and among the latter, angels must be
reckoned; and who are further described by "thrones, dominions,
principalities, and powers"; these "all were created by him and for
him", #Col 1:16. Nor is Jehovah the Spirit to be
excluded from a concern in the creation of them, since, as "by the word of
the Lord were the heavens made, so all the host of them", the angels,
"by the breath", or Spirit, "of his mouth", #Ps 33:6. Concerning these excellent creatures of God,
the following things may be observed:
1. First,
Their names: as for proper names, though there are many of them in the
Apocryphal and Jewish writings, yet in the sacred scriptures but few, perhaps
no more than one, and that is Gabriel, the name of an angel sent with
dispatches to Daniel, Zacharias, and to the Virgin Mary, #Da 8:16 9:21 Lu
1:19,26 for as for Michael, the Archangel, he seems to be no other than Christ,
the Prince of angels, and Head of all principality and
power; who is as God, like unto him, as his name signifies; yea, equal with
him. The names, titles, and epithets of angels, are chiefly taken from their
nature, qualities, appearances, and offices; some that are ascribed to them, do
not seem to belong to them, as "cherubim" and "seraphim",
which are names and characters of ministers of the word, as I have shown in a
sermon of mine published {1}; and the "Watchers",
in Nebuchadnezzar's dream, thought to be angels by many, more probably are the
divine Persons in the Godhead, the same with the Holy Ones, and the most High,
#Da 4:17,24. The name of Elohim is their principal one, translated "gods",
#Ps 97:7 and interpreted of angels, #Heb 1:6 the same word is translated
angels, #Ps 8:5 and which is justified by the apostle, #Heb 2:9.
Now angels have this name because they have been sent with messages from God,
in his name, to men; and they have spoken in his name, and been his
representatives; and may be called so, as magistrates sometimes are, because
God's vicegerents, and act under him, and for a like reason have the names of
"thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers", #Col 1:16. Not
because of any hierarchy, or order of government,
established among themselves, which does not appear; but rather because of the
dignity they are advanced unto, being princes in the court of heaven; and
because of that power and authority which, under God, and by his direction,
they exercise over kingdoms, provinces, and particular persons on earth: and if
the text in #Job 38:7 is to be understood of angels, it furnishes us with other
names and titles of them; as "morning stars", and
"sons of God"; and they may be called "morning stars",
because of the brightness, splendor, and glory of their nature; and because of
the clearness of their light, knowledge, and understanding; in which sense they
are "angels of light"; and into one of which Satan sometimes transforms
himself, who was once a bright morning star: and these may be said to be sons of God; not by grace and adoption, as saints are; much
less by divine generation, as Christ is; "For unto which of the angels
said he at any time, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee?" #Heb
1:5 but by creation, being made in the image of God, which consists in wisdom
and knowledge, in righteousness and holiness; and being his favourites, and
beloved of him. They sometimes have the name of men given
them; because they have appeared in an human form; such were two of those who
appeared like men to Abraham, and afterwards to Lot; and two others seen by the
women at Christ's sepulchre, #Ge 18:2 19:1,5,8 Lu 24:4. The more common name given to these
celestial spirits, is that of angels; the word for which in the Hebrew
language, and which is used of them in the Old Testament, signifies
"messengers"; and so the uncreated Angel, Christ, is called the
Angel, or Messenger of the covenant, #Mal 3:1 and it comes from a root,
preserved in the Ethiopic dialect, which signifies to "send" {2},
because these spirits have been often sent with messages and dispatches to the
children of men: the word "angels" we use, comes from a Greek word
{3}, which signifies the same; and are so called, from their
being sent on, and bringing messages, which they declare, publish, and
proclaim.
2. Secondly, The nature of
angels, which is expressed by the word spirits; so good angels are called
spirits, and ministering spirits, #Heb 1:7,14 and evil angels, unclean
spirits, Christ gave his apostles power to cast out of the bodies of men, #Mt
10:1 #Lu 10:17,20 that is, spiritual subsistences, they are real personal
beings, that subsist of themselves. There was a sect among the Jews, the
Sadducees, who said there was "neither angel nor spirit", #Ac 23:8
and our modern Sadducees are not less absurd, who assert that good and evil
angels are no other than good and evil thoughts; but this
is to be confuted, from the nature and names of angels; from the offices they
bear, and are employed in; from the works and actions ascribed unto them; from
the powers and faculties of will, understanding, and affections they are
possessed of; and from the happiness and misery assigned to them that do well
or ill. From all which it appears, that they are not imaginary, or "entia
rationis"; nor mere qualities, but personal beings;
and they are of a "spiritual" nature; not compounded of parts, as
bodies are; and yet they are not so simple and uncompounded as God is, who is a
Spirit; in comparison to him, they approach nearer to bodies; wherefore
Tertullian, and some other of the fathers, asserted them to be corporeal,
though with respect to bodies they are incorporeal. It is difficult for us to form any idea of a spirit; we rather know what it is
not, than what it is; "A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me
have", says Christ, #Lu 24:39 was it corporeal, a legion of spirits could
never have a place in one man; nor penetrate and pass through bodies, through
doors bolted and barred, as these angelic beings have: nor is it any objection
to their being "incorporeal", that they have sometimes appeared as men, since they have only seemed so; or they have
assumed bodies only for a time, and then laid them aside: nor that they ascend
and descend, and move from place to place; for this is said of the souls of
men, which are incorporeal; and being spirits, or of a spiritual nature, they
are possessed of great agility, and with great swiftness and speed descend from
heaven, on occasion; as Gabriel did, who flew swiftly,
having his order to carry a message to Daniel, at the beginning of his prayer,
and was with him before it was ended; who must move as swift as light from the
sun, or lightning from the heavens: and being without bodies, they are invisible,
and are among the invisible things created by the Son of God, as before
observed; and though it was a notion that obtained among the Jews in Christ's
time, and does among the common people with us, that a
spirit may be seen; it is a vulgar error, #Lu 24:37. Indeed, when angels have
assumed an human form they may be seen, as they were by Abraham and Lot; and so
when they appeared in the forms of chariots and horses of fire, around Elisha,
they were seen by his servant, when his eyes were opened; but then these bodies
seen were not their own; and these appearances were different
from what they really were in themselves. Once more, being incorporeal and
immaterial, they are "immortal"; they do not consist of parts of
matter capable of being disunited or dissolved; and hence the saints in the
resurrection will be like them in this respect, that "neither can they die
any more", #Lu 20:36. God, who only has immortality originally and of
himself, has conferred immortality on the angelic spirits;
and though he can annihilate them, he will not; for even the evil spirits that
have rebelled against him, though they die a moral and an eternal death, yet
their beings, their substances, continue and perish not; everlasting fire,
eternal punishment, is prepared for the devil and his angels.
3.
Thirdly, The qualities and excellencies of angels may be next considered; and
they are more especially three, holiness, wisdom, or knowledge, and power.
3a. Holiness; they are holy
creatures, called "holy angels", #Mr 8:38 and so they were created,
even all of them: not indeed so holy as God is; for "there is none holy as the Lord", #1Sa 2:2 in comparison of him all creatures
are unholy; "the heavens are not clean in his sight", #Job 15:15 that
is, the inhabitants of them, the angels; nor were they created immutably holy,
but so as that they were capable of sinning, as some of them did; who, being
left to the mutability of their own free will, departed from their "first
estate", which was a state of holiness, as well as happiness;
and "abode not in the truth", in the truth of holiness, in that
uprightness and righteousness in which they were created; and they are called
the "angels that sinned", #2Pe 2:4 Jude 1:6 Joh 8:44. But others of
them stood in their integrity, and are become impeccable; not owing to the
power of their free will, and their better use of it than the rest; but to the
electing grace of God, and the confirming grace of Christ,
who is the Head of all principality and power, #1Ti 5:21 Col 2:10. These now,
as they persist in their obedience, they are perfect in it; hence the petition
Christ directed his disciples to; "Thy will be done in earth as it is in
heaven", #Mt 6:10 they are subject to the same laws and rules of morality
and righteousness that men are, excepting such as are not suitable to their
nature; as some duties belonging to the fourth, fifth,
seventh, eighth, and tenth commands of the Decalogue; but to the rest in such
manner as their nature will admit of; with all other orders, prescriptions, and
directions of the divine will, they cheerfully and constantly yield an
obedience to; for they "do his commandments, hearkening to the voice of
his word", #Ps 103:20.
3b. Wisdom and knowledge;
angels are very wise and knowing creatures; it is an high strain of compliment
in the woman of Tekoah to David; "My Lord is wise, according to the wisdom
of an angel of God; to know all things that are in the earth", #2Sa 14:20
yet it shows the general opinion entertained of the wisdom of angels;
though in comparison of the all wise and only wise God, they are by him
chargeable "with folly", #Job 4:18. Very wise and knowing creatures
no doubt they are; but they are not omniscient; they know much, but not
everything; they know much of themselves, through the strength and excellency
of their nature, being rational and intelligent creatures, of the highest form
and class: and by observation and experience, for which
they have had a long time, and great opportunity; and also by divine
revelation, through which they are acquainted with many things they otherwise
would not know: they know much of God, being always in his presence, and
beholding his face, and whose perfections displayed in his works, they have the
clearest knowledge of; and much of their fellow creatures, of the same species
with them, the holy angels; who, having a language peculiar
to themselves, can converse with, and communicate to each other; and much of
the apostate angels, who they are set to oppose, conflict with, and
counterwork; and much of men, of wicked men, on whom, by divine direction, they
inflict the judgments of God; and of good men, the heirs of salvation, to whom
they are sent, as ministering spirits: they know much of the
mysteries of providence, in the execution of which they are often employed; and
of the mysteries of divine grace, not only by divine revelation, but by the
church, and by the ministry of the word, they attending the congregations of
the saints; though it seems that this their knowledge is imperfect, since they
bow their heads, and desire to pry more into these things: and there are many
things which they know not unless by marks and signs, in a
conjectural way, or by a particular revelation; as the thoughts of mens'
hearts, which of others, men themselves know not, only the spirits of men
within them; and which to know, peculiarly belongs to God, the searcher of the
hearts, and trier of the reins of the children of men: nor do they know future
contingencies, or what shall be hereafter, unless such as necessarily
and ordinarily follow from natural causes, or may be guessed at, or are
revealed unto them of God, in order to impart them to others; of the day and
hour of the end of the world, and the last judgment, as no man knoweth, so
neither the angels of heaven, #Mt 24:36 Re 1:1.
3c. Power
is another excellency of the angels; they are called "mighty" angels,
and are said to "excel in strength"; that is, other creatures, #2Th
1:7 Ps 103:20 their strength is great, and their power and authority under God
very large, yet finite and limited; they are not omnipotent, nor sovereign;
they do not preside over the celestial bodies, move the planets, dispose of the
ordinances of heaven; bind or loose their influences, and
set their dominion in the earth; they have not the power of the air, nor the
command of the earth; the world is not in subjection to them: they are capable
indeed, under a divine influence, and by divine direction, help, and
assistance, of doing great and marvellous things; of holding the four winds of
heaven; of quenching the violence of fire; and of stopping the mouths of lions;
and of restraining other hurtful things: they have great
power over the bodies of men, of moving them from place to place; as an evil
spirit, by permission, carried Christ, and set him upon the pinnacle of the
temple; and a good spirit caught away Philip, and carried him to Azotus: they
have power, when they have leave, or are ordered, to smite the bodies of men
with diseases; as the men of Sodom with blindness, yea, with
death itself, as seventy thousand Israelites, on account of David's numbering
the people; and a hundred and forty-five thousand Assyrians in one night, as
they lay encamped against Jerusalem; and Herod the king, who, being smitten by
an angel, was eaten of worms, and died. But the power of angels will still more
appear under the following head, concerning,
4. Fourthly, Their office and
employment.
4a. First, With respect to
God; their work is to praise him, to celebrate the glory of his perfections;
"Praise ye him, all his angels", #Ps 148:2 and to worship him with his saints; we find them sometimes joining with men, with the
living creatures and elders, in John's visions, in ascribing blessing, glory,
wisdom, thanksgiving, honour, power, and might unto God; and the same, in the
same company, to the Lamb that was slain, #Re 5:11,12 7:11,12 and their work
also lies in keeping the commandments of God, and doing his will in heaven and
in earth; these are the four spirits of the heavens, which
go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth, to do his will and
work in it; they wait his orders, and immediately go forth and execute them,
#Zec 6:4,5.
4b. Secondly, With respect to
Christ, on whom they are said to ascend and descend, as
they did on Jacob's ladder, a type of him, #Ge 28:12 Joh 1:51 these attended at
the incarnation of Christ; one informed the Virgin of her conception of him,
removed her doubts about it, and explained to her the mystery of it; another
encouraged Joseph to take her to wife, who thought to put her away, because of
her pregnancy; and a third published the news of his birth to the shepherds;
and who was presently joined with a multitude of them, who
in chorus celebrated the glory of God, displayed therein. Yea, when God brought
him, his first begotten, into the world, and manifested him to it in human
nature, he gave orders to all the angelic host, to do him homage and worship,
saying, "Let all the angels of God worship him", #Lu 1:30-35 #Mt
1:19, 20 Lu 2:10-14 Heb 1:6 these had the care and charge of him
in his state of humiliation; they were solicitous for the preservation of his
life in his infancy; when Herod sought to take it away, an angel gave notice of
it to Joseph, in a dream, and directed him to take the child and his mother,
and flee into Egypt: and I see no reason why those wonderful escapes of Christ
out of the hands of his enemies, in later years, when just going to destroy
him, may not be ascribed to the ministration of angels;
since it is most certain, that God gave his angels charge over him, to keep him
in all his ways; see #Mt 2:13 Lu 4:29,30 #Joh 8:59 Ps 91:11. When he had fasted
forty days and nights in the wilderness, these same excellent creatures came
and ministered food unto him, #Mt 4:11 and one of them attended him in his
agony in the garden, and strengthened and comforted him, #Lu 22:43 they were present at his resurrection, and rolled away the stone from
the sepulchre; and declared to the women at it, that he was risen from the
dead, #Mt 28:2 Lu 24:4,6,23 they accompanied him at his ascension to heaven,
even thousands of them; though only in the Acts of the Apostles two are
mentioned; by whom he was seen, and escorted through the region of the air, the
territory of Satan, in triumph; and was received and
welcomed to heaven, #Ps 68:17,18 Ac 1:10,11 1Ti 3:16 and by whom he will be
attended at his second coming; for they will make a part of his glorious
appearing, which will be in his own glory, and in the glory of his Father, and
in the glory of his holy angels, #2Th 1:7 Lu 9:26.
4c. Thirdly,
With respect to the saints, to whom they are sent as ministering spirits; for
though in some instances they may have a concern with others, yet that is
chiefly in the behalf of the church and people of God, who are more especially
their charge and care, both in respect to things temporal and spiritual.
4c1. With
respect to things temporal, instances of which are,
4c1a.
Preserving them in their infant state; there is a special
providence
concerned with the elect; as soon as they are
born they are
under the particular watch and care of it, and
are
distinguished by it; which is what the apostle means
when he says,
that "God separated him from his mother's
womb",
#Ga 1:15 and which providence may be thought to be
chiefly
executed by the ministry of angels; for though it is
not certain,
which yet some scriptures countenance,
#Mt
18:10 Ac 12:15 that everyone has his guardian angel,
since
sometimes more angels are deputed to one, and sometimes
but one to
many; yet doubtless saints from their birth are under
the care of
angels, and are preserved by them to be called;
it is not
known how many difficulties and dangers they are
preserved
from in infancy, in childhood, and in youth, as
well as in
later years, by means of angels.
4c1b.
Providing food for them when in want of it, or that they
might not
want it; as they ministered food to Christ in the
wilderness;
and prepared manna, called angels' food, because
prepared by
them in the air, and let down by them from
thence, for the
Israelites during their forty years'
travels; and
as an angel dressed food for the prophet
Elijah, and
called upon him to arise and eat, #Mt 4:11
4c1c. Keeping
off diseases from them, and healing of them
according to
the promise, "He shall deliver thee from the
noisome
pestilence--neither shall any plague come nigh thy
dwelling;
for he shall give his angels charge over thee",
&c. #Ps
91:3,7,10,11 and if evil angels can, by divine
permission,
inflict diseases, as appears from the case of
Job, and
doubtless they would oftener do it, was it not for
the
interposition of good angels, why may not good angels be
thought
capable of healing diseases? and those many strange
and wonderful
cures wrought when all means have been
ineffectual,
may be ascribed, at least many of them, to the
good offices
of angels in directing to simple things, whose
nature and
virtue they are well acquainted with; and even
they
have cured diseases in a miraculous way, witness the
pool of
Bethesda, whose healing virtue for all diseases was
owing to the
agitation of its waters by an angel, #Joh 5:4.
4c1d.
Directing and protecting in journeys, and at other times;
thus
Abraham, when he sent his servant to Mesopotamia to
take a wife
for his son Isaac, assured him that God would
send an angel
before him to direct and prosper him, which
the servant
found to be true, and blessed God for it,
#Ge
24:7,27,48 so Jacob, as he was travelling, was met by
the
angels of God, who divided themselves into two hosts for his
guard, and
one went on one side of him and the other on the
other; or one
went before him, and the other behind him;
wherefore he
called the name of the place where they met him
Mahanaim, which
signifies two camps or armies, #Ge 32:1,2
and
even all that fear the Lord have such a guard about
them, for
"the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them
that fear
him", #Ps 34:7.
4c1e. Keeping
from dangers, and helping out of them: when Lot and
his
family were in danger of being destroyed in Sodom, the
angels laid
hold on their hands and brought them forth, and
set them
without the city, and directed them to escape for
their lives
to an adjacent mountain, #Ge 19:15-17 the
preservation
of Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego, in the
furnace
of fire, and of Daniel in the lions' den, is
ascribed to
angels, #Da 3:28 6:22 the opening of the doors
of the prison
where the apostles were, and setting them
free; and the
deliverance of Peter from prison, whose chains
fell from
him, and the gate opened before him, were done by
4c2. With respect to things
spiritual.
4c2a. Angels
have been employed in revealing the mind and will of
God
to men. They attended at mount Sinai, when the law was
given; yea,
it is said to be ordained by angels, and to be
given by the
disposition of angels, and even to be the word
spoken by
angels, #De 32:2 Ac 7:59 Ga 3:19 Heb 2:2. And an
angel published
the gospel, and brought the good news of the
incarnation
of Christ, and salvation by him, #Lu 2:10,11.
An angel made
known to Daniel the time of the Messiah's
coming; as
well as many other things relating to the state
of the church
and people of God, #Da 8:16-19 9:21-27
#Da 12:5-13.
And an angel was sent to signify to the apostle
John
the things that should come to pass in his time, and in
all ages to
the end of the world, #Re 1:1.
4c2b. Though
the work of conversion is the sole work of God, yet
as he makes
use of instruments in it, as ministers of the
word,
why may he not be thought to make use of angels? they
may suggest
that to the minds of men which may be awakening
to them, and
may improve a conviction by a providence, which
may issue in
conversion. However, this is certain, they are
acquainted
with the conversions of sinners; and there is joy
in
heaven, and in the presence of the angels of God, over
one sinner
that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine
just persons
that need no repentance, #Lu 15:7,10.
4c2c. They
are useful in comforting the saints when in distress;
as
they strengthened and comforted Christ in his human
nature, when
in an agony, so they comfort his members, as
Daniel, when
in great terror, and the apostle Paul, in a
tempest, #Da
9:23 10:11,19 Ac 27:23,24 and as when in
temporal, so
when in spiritual distresses; for if evil
angels
are capable of suggesting terrible and uncomfortable
things, and
of filling the mind with blasphemous thoughts,
and frightful
apprehensions; good angels are surely capable
of suggesting
comfortable things, and what may relieve souls
distressed
with unbelief, doubts, and fears, and the
4c2d. They
are greatly assisting in repelling the temptations of
Satan; for if
they oppose themselves to, and have conflicts
with evil
angels, with respect to things political and
civil,
the affairs of kingdoms and states, in which the
interest and
church of Christ are concerned; see
#Da 10:13,20
Re 12:7 they, no doubt, bestir themselves in
opposition to
evil spirits, when they tempt believers to sin, or
to despair;
so that they are better able to wrestle against
principalities
and powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of
this world, and against spiritual wickednesses
in high
places, #Eph 6:12 Zec 3:1-4.
4c2e. They
are exceeding useful to saints in their dying moments;
they
attend the saints on their dying beds, and whisper
comfortable
things to them against the fears of death; and
keep off the
fiends of hell from disturbing and distressing
them; and
they watch the moment when soul and body are
parted, and
carry their souls to heaven as they carried the
soul
of Lazarus into Abraham's bosom, #Lu 16:22 and thus
Elijah was
carried to heaven, soul and body, in a chariot of
fire, and
horses of fire, which were no other than angels,
which
appeared in such a form, for the conveyance of him,
#2Ki 2:11.
4c2f. Angels,
as they will attend Christ at his second coming,
when the dead
in Christ shall rise first; so they will be
made use of
by him, to gather the risen saints from the four
quarters of
the world, and bring them to him; to gather the
wheat
into his garner, and to take the tares, and even all
things out of
his kingdom that offend, and burn them,
#Mt 13:40,41
24:31. From the whole it appears, that angels
are
creatures, and so not to be worshipped; which kind of
idolatry was
introduced in the apostles' time, but condemned,
#Col
2:18 the angels themselves refuse and forbid it,
#Re 19:10
22:8,9 yet, notwithstanding, they are to be loved,
valued, and
esteemed by the saints, partly on account of the
excellency of
their nature, and partly because of their kind
and friendly
offices; and care should be taken to give them
no
offence, in public or private; see #1Co 11:10 for the
saints are
highly honoured, by having such excellent spirits
to wait upon
them, and minister unto them, and be guards
about them;
and it is no small part of their gospel
privileges,
for which they should be thankful, that they are
come
to an innumerable company of angels, #Heb 1:14 12:22.
{1} Called the Doctrine of the
Cherubim opened and explained from Ezek. x. 20. printed in 1764.
{2} dal "legavit, misit
nuncium", Ludolf. Lexic. Ethiop. p. 19. vid. Hottinger. Smegma
Oriental. l. 1. c. 5. p. 88.
{3} aggellw "nuntio,
nuntium affero", Scapula.