A Bible lesson by Ivor Jefferies
1. Here are some popular ideas about angels:
- Angels do not exist.
- Angels are super-human creatures with wings.
- Angels are chubby babies who sit on clouds playing their harps.
- Each person has his own guardian angel.
- Humans become angels when they die.
- We can pray to and through angels.
- We can learn the names of angels from sources outside the Bible.1
2. What does the Bible say about angels—who or what are they?
Read Ps. 148:2, 5, Heb. 1:14, 7, 2 Kings 6:17, Luke 24:4, Col. 1:16, Jude 9.
The Greek word for angel means messenger.
3. When were the angels created?
Read Gen. 1:1, Exo. 20:11, Job 38:4-7.
4. How many angels are there?
Read Heb. 12:22, Rev. 5:11.
It is amazing to think that not a single angel will remain in heaven when Jesus returns (Matt. 25:31).
5. What are some other heavenly beings and how are they described?
Read Isa. 6:2, Ezek. 1:4-14, 10:20-22.2
The Hebrew word saraph refers to a fiery serpent. This may be a reason why Eve suspected nothing when Satan came to her in the body of a serpent.
6. How are angels created different from us and how did the incarnation of Christ change this?
Read Ps. 8:5, Luke 20:36, Heb. 2:5-13, 1 Cor. 6:3.
“We are...nearer to Christ than the angels: they are his friends, we his spouse.” (Thomas Watson)3
7. How are angels involved in our lives?
Read Ps. 91:11-12, Dan. 6:22, 10:13, Matt. 4:11, 18:10, 13:41-42, 24:31, Luke 22:43, 15:10, Eph. 3:10, Heb. 1:14, 12:22-23, 13:2, 1 Pet. 1:12.
8. How should we respond to this?
Read Matt. 6:10, 2 Cor. 11:14, Gal. 1:8, Col. 2:18, Rev. 19:10, Heb. 1:5-14.
1 The only two angels explicitly named in Scripture are Gabriel and Michael (Luke 1:26, Rev. 12:7).
2 According to these descriptions cherubim and seraphim have material bodies and wings. Although angels can take on a material body, they are spirits (Heb. 1:14). The Bible never describes angels as having wings.
3 Thomas Watson, A Body of Divinity (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1965 [1692, 1890]), 158.