Angels and Demons Week 1

Week One - Overview – misconceptions and definitions Opening Exercise: On a piece of paper draw a picture of an angel. Turn the page over and draw a picture of Satan. Angels are unseen by human eyes unless God gives us an ability to see them. When angels do appear, they are usually in human form, sometimes brilliant. They do not appear as ghosts or winged animals. When they do have wings it is in a vision, not in a literal viewing. Angels are almost always male. Zach. 5:9 is the lone exception. However, they do not have bodies like us. Hebrews 13:2 “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” Satan is not ugly. He does not have a forked tongue, a tail or horns. Ezekiel 28:12 “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.” Can people who die become angels? No. People remain people after they die. Angels were created by Jesus before man was created. Colossians 1:15-17 “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Do angels marry? Can they have sexual relations? Matt. 22:30, "For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven." Luke 20:34-36, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage; 36for neither can they die anymore, for they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection." Overview: The Hebrew word for angel is mal`ach, and the Greek word is angelos. Both words mean “messenger” and describe one who executes the purpose and will of the one whom they serve. The context must determine if a human messenger is in view, or one of the celestial beings called “angels,” or if it is being used of the second Person of the Trinity. The holy angels are messengers of God, serving Him and doing His bidding. The fallen angels serve Satan, the god of this world. Though other words are used for these spiritual beings, the primary word used in the Bible is angel. Three other terms undoubtedly referring to angels are seraphim (Isa. 6:2), cherubim (Ezek. 10:1-3), and ministering spirits, which is perhaps more of a description than a name (Heb. 1:13). Illustrations of uses that do not refer to celestial beings: (1) For human messengers from one human to another (Luke 7:24; Jam. 2:25). (2) For human messengers bearing a divine message (Hag. 1:13; Gal. 4:14). (3) For an impersonal agent, Paul’s thorn in the flesh described as “a messenger of Satan” (2 Cor. 12:7). (4) For the messengers of the seven churches (Rev. 2-3). It is also used in connection with the seven churches of Asia, “To the angel of the church in …” Some take this to mean a special messenger or delegation to the church as a teaching elder, others take it to refer to a guardian angel. Thus, the term angelos is not only a generic term, pertaining to a special order of beings (i.e., angels), but it is also descriptive and expressive of their office and service. So when we read the word “angel” we should think of it in this way. “Holy Ones” The unfallen angels are also spoken of as “holy ones” (Ps. 89:5, 7). The reason is twofold. First, being the creation of a holy God, they were created perfect without any flaw or sin. Second, they are called holy because of their purpose. They were “set apart” by God and for God as His servants and as attendants to His holiness (cf. Isa. 6). “Host” “Host” is the Hebrew tsaba, “army, armies, hosts.” It is a military term and carries the idea of warfare. Angels are referred to as the “host,” which calls our attention to two ideas. First, it is used to describe God’s angels as the “armies of heaven” who serve in the army of God engaged in spiritual warfare (Ps. 89:6, 8; 1 Sam. 1:11; 17:45). Second, it calls our attention to angels as a multitude of heavenly beings who surround and serve God as seen in the phrase “Lord of hosts” (Isa. 31:4). In addition, tsaba sometimes includes the host of heavenly bodies, the stars of the universe. “Sons of God” In their holy state, unfallen angels are called “sons of God” in the sense that they were brought into existence by the creation of God (Job 1:6; 38:7). Though they are never spoken of as created in the image of God, they may also be called “sons of God” because they possess personality like God. This term is also used in Genesis 6:2 which tells us the “sons of God” took wives from among the “daughters of men.” Some scholars understand “the sons of God” of Genesis 6:2 to refer to the sons of the godly line of Seth and the “daughters of men” to refer to the ungodly line of the Cainites. Others, in keeping with the use of “sons of God” in Job, believe the term refers to fallen angels who mated with the daughters of men to produce an extremely wicked and powerful progeny that led to the extreme wickedness of Noah’s day. Most who hold to this latter view find further support in 2 Peter 2:4-6 and Jude 6-7.7 Still others believe they refer to despots, powerful rulers. “The Angel of the Lord” The second difficulty concerns the identity of “the angel of the Lord” as it is used in the Old Testament. A careful study of the many passages using this term suggests that this is no ordinary angel, but a Theophany, or better, a Christophany, a preincarnate appearance of Christ. The angel is identified as God, speaks as God, and claims to exercise the prerogatives of God. Still, in some passages He distinguishes Himself from Yahweh (Gen. 16:7-14; 21:17-18; 22:11-18; 31:11-13, Ex. 3:2; Judg. 2:1-4; 5:23; 6:11-22; 13:3-22; 2 Sam. 24:16; Zech. 1:12; 3:1; 12:8). That the Angel of the Lord is a Christophany is suggested by the fact a clear reference to “the Angel of the Lord” ceases after the incarnation. References to an angel of the Lord in Luke 1:11; and 2:8 and Acts 5:19 lack the Greek article which would suggest an ordinary angel. Questions?