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ANGELS IN THE BIBLE: The word"aggelos" in Greek ("malakh" in Hebrew) is used in the Bible to describe a "messenger." It refers more to an angelic "office" than to a specific "being." Angels are mentioned 103 times in the OT and 175 in the NT. 34 books of the Bible attest to their existence (17 in each).Cherubim and seraphim are most commonly mentioned but the terms can also refer to earthly men, such as human prophets (1 Kings 19:2) or the "angels" of the churches in Revelation 2, 3. The main idea is that angels were made to serve as messengers of the Creator who also minister to man in serving the Almighty. The Bible makes clear that they dwell in a finite number beyond our count -- "thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, authorities and heavenly host" (Colossians 1:16; also - Luke 2: 13). Yet all are thoroughly subject to the Lord Jesus Christ who created them (I Peter 3:22). The Bible also teaches that angels are invisible so it is natural that man would want to worship them. Paul condemns this in Colossians 2:18. John notes also in Revelation 22:9 that he was admonished by an angel who said "See thou do it (bow down) NOT for I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: WORSHIP GOD." But many continue to have a medieval superstitious notion about them into today. What does the Bible say about their existence? Here is a sampling: Jesus said in Matthew 22:28-30, regarding life in heaven, that "...they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven." David said "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels" (Psalm 68:17). Daniel reported "a thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him" (Daniel 7:10). The shepherds saw a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, saying, "glory to God in the highest" (Luke 2:13,14). John says in Revelation 5:11-12, "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands." |
