What Would You Teach About Angels?

[Rushing Jaws]

Off the top of my head --

-- I'm not aware of female angels anywhere in Scripture.

-- Cherubs don't look like little Cupids. (Assuming cherubs are a variety of angel.)

-- I'm not aware of any place in Scripture where angels sing. (Explicitly, at least; some sources include "singing" as a possible implication of "praising" in Luke 2:13.)

-- Scripture does not explicitly identify satan as an angel. That idea is inferred from a variety of OT and NT passages. And some of those passages are in books whose literary styles make literal interpretations problematic.

-- The Protestant Scriptures cite only one archangel by name: Michael. Gabriel is the only other angel identified by name, and he is not referred to as an "arch" angel.

-- Angels are not always scary. Sometimes they go about incognito. (Heb. 13)

[Raphael]

-- Cherubs don't look like little Cupids. (Assuming cherubs are a variety of angel.)

the Biblical descriptions of what the Cherubim and Seraphim look like would make me very scared to see a real one....

[NorrinRadd]

I guess my point was that in Scripture, they always appear as males, even though in the popular culture of my youth (but much less so today) they were usually pictured as beautiful women.

[Adrift]

A few things I haven't seen mentioned yet,

The word "angel" should probably be thought of more as a job description than a proper name.

The label "elohim" in the Old Testament is a generic term for spiritual entities which include angels.

1 Corinthians 6:3 states that believers will one day judge angels through our shared authority with/in Christ.

[Cow Poke]

A few things I haven't seen mentioned yet,

The word "angel" should probably be thought of more as a job description than a proper name.

The label "elohim" in the Old Testament is a generic term for spiritual entities which include angels.

1 Corinthians 6:3 states that believers will one day judge angels through our shared authority with/in Christ.

I have not yet read mossy's treatment - gonna read that this afternoon - some of that may be included there, but, yes....

Has anybody mentioned the letters to the Churches in Revelation, addressed to the "angel" (messenger) of the Churches?

[Sparko]

I don't think Satan is an angel. He appears to be a creature created when the other beasts were. It just he was more crafty that the beasts of the field ... and probably quite a bit different. The big difference is that Satan doesn't seem to be anything of a typical breathing-eating type creature. He doesn't seem to have a "lifespan" typical of biological creatures.

It does seem that he is a 'person' of a sort ... having a mind and creativity. He might be thought of as being supernatural (at least from our perspective) but he doesn't seem to have angelic qualities.

The purpose of this creature ... save this for another day.

um what???

The bible says he is a cherub (Ezekiel 28:12-19) - not some beast created on Earth.

[Adrift]

um what???

The bible says he is a cherub (Ezekiel 28:12-19) - not some beast created on Earth.

It's really popular lately for Old Testament scholars and lay people to disregard Ezekiel 28 as a reference to Satan. I mean, on the face of it, it's obviously referring to a person (the king of Tyre), but the language is harking back to some incident and individual predating the king of Tyre. Some suggest that the person in question is Adam in Eden, but I think Dr. Michael Heiser does a good job dismantling that argument, and makes the case that this reference and the one in Isaiah 14 is in reference to spiritual rebellion and Satan. Here's his podcast to it (includes transcript):

https://nakedbiblepodcast.com/podcas...43-ezekiel-28/

As far as Satan being a beast, I wonder if he has in mind the concept of Leviathan, and chaos monster imagery, which is clearly borrowed from surrounding Mesopotamian mythology.

[rogue06]

A few things I haven't seen mentioned yet,

The word "angel" should probably be thought of more as a job description than a proper name.

Since the Bible provides us with the names for a couple of the angels like Gabriel (ex. Luke 1:19) and Michael (ex. Jude 9)^[1] this oughta be a given.






1. And if you consider Tobit to be a part of Scripture like the RCC and Orthodox churches do, then we can add Raphael (Tobit 12:15)

[Adrift]

Since the Bible provides us with the names for a couple of the angels like Gabriel (ex. Luke 1:19) and Michael (ex. Jude 9)^[1] this oughta be a given.

Oughta be. Unfortunately plenty of lay people seem not so clued in.

[rogue06]

Oughta be. Unfortunately plenty of lay people seem not so clued in.

It's not like you have to deduce it

[Cow Poke]

It's not like you have to deduce it

But I think we're having to offset all the misinformation that Hollywood puts out -- all their dumb angel movies and TV shows, and even my all time favorite It's a Wonderful Life, which has some pretty dumb angel theology. "Angel Second Class", indeed!

[rogue06]

But I think we're having to offset all the misinformation that Hollywood puts out -- all their dumb angel movies and TV shows, and even my all time favorite It's a Wonderful Life, which has some pretty dumb angel theology. "Angel Second Class", indeed!

And now the trend to portray angels as power mad homicidal maniacs (Legion, Constantine, Supernatural ...)

[Adrift]

And now the trend to portray angels as power mad homicidal maniacs (Legion, Constantine, Supernatural ...)

TV would have you think Satan is funny and maybe a little mischievous, but ultimately not that bad of a guy, and that angelic beings are monsters who are either in the midst of their own rebellion (that would make Satan's look like child's play), or are essentially spiritual Storm Troopers working for a Hitler God. The movie Prophecy (and its subsequent sequels) is where I first encountered the "angels are actually evil" meme in film, but I'm sure it goes back before that.

[rogue06]

TV would have you think Satan is funny and maybe a little mischievous, but ultimately not that bad of a guy, and that angelic beings are monsters who are either in the midst of their own rebellion (that would make Satan's look like child's play), or are essentially spiritual Storm Troopers working for a Hitler God. The movie Prophecy (and its subsequent sequels) is where I first encountered the "angels are actually evil" meme in film, but I'm sure it goes back before that.

Yeah, the flipside to the angels are evil is that demons are misunderstood and not so bad. Says an awful lot about Hollyweird and those in control of it.

[One Bad Pig]

I'm attaching it instead of copying and pasting the whole thing. It's long, don't say I didn't warn you!

Use what you'd like if you think it's valuable to your study.

Long?

It'll be a useful diversion from my current reading project, which is making my head hurt.

My Ryrie SB is also NASB.