Do angels exist?

What are angels?  Do angels even exist?  If so, who are they?  What do they do and what is their purpose?  What does the Bible have to say about them?  Do we each have a guardian angel?

First, angels are not glorified human beings.  They do not marry or reproduce like humans (Matthew 22:30).  The word angel means messenger.  Angels are spiritual beings created by God sent to serve those who will inherit salvation (Hebrews 1:14). 

There are special categories of angels such as cherubim, seraphim, and the archangel.  It’s not clear when God created them, but we know they were created by the 6^th day of creation, because God was finished with His creation and rested on the 7^th day.  There are angels who carry out commands of God and those who carry out acts of wickedness by Satan.  I think this shows angels have free will. 

There is a big difference in these 2 groups of angels.  One is good and the other is evil so you can’t trust every angel.  The evil angels are those who have fallen since creation.  We read about the ones who fell in Genesis 6:2; Amos 5:26; Revelation 12:4 and that some will fall in the future (also called stars) as mentioned in Revelation 6:13, 8:10-12, 9:1.  Satan is the one who entices them.  They are wicked and work for Satan.  They are called demons, which I think sounds much better than calling them angels.  They can never be redeemed like humans.  Once they rebel against God they are banned permanently from heaven unlike humans who can be forgiven for sins and restored to a relationship with God.  This is because of God’s mercy and grace by sending His Son, Jesus to pay the price for our sins on the cross. Today we are going to talk about angels who are loyal to God. 

Angels don’t have physical bodies like humans, but they can take on the appearance of humans when needed.  Hebrews 13:2 tell us to entertain strangers because some could be angels.  They could appear as dazzling white and in blazing glory (Matthew 28:2-4).

Angels are intelligent, strong, powerful and superior to humans (2 Peter 2:11) and they never die (Luke 20:36).  They are subject to Jesus and are always ready to assist Him (Matthew 4:11; 26:53).

We know from the Bible they do exist, because they are mentioned in many places.  There are many of them, even armies (2 Kings 6:15-17; Psalm 68:17; Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 5:11).  There are legions of angels (Matthew 26:53).  Daniel 7:10 mentions thousands upon thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand.  Daniel 7 and Revelation 5 mention 10,000 times 10,000 angels and thousands of thousands of angels.  That’s over 100,000,000 angels. Revelation mentions 1/3 fallen angels, which means there were at least 50,000,000 demon angels making a total of 150,000,000 angels.  In Matthew 26 Jesus said He could have called twelve legions.  A legion is 6,000 making 12 legions 72,000 angels.  I think you get the picture.  There are many, many angels.

The Old Testament Law was given to men by angels (Galatians 3:19).  We read about them throughout the Bible.  They shut the mouths of lions to protect Daniel in Daniel 6:22.  The angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias about the birth of his son in Luke 1:11-19 and to Mary about the birth of Jesus in Luke 1:26-38.  Angels proclaimed the birth of Jesus to the shepherds in Luke 2:9-15.  They appeared to Mary Magdalene and the other women at the tomb in Matthew 28:2, 5.  They stirred the waters at the Pool of Bethesda in John 5:4.  An angel released Peter from prison in Acts 12:7-11.  I could go on with other mentions of angels in the Bible.

Angels are not named specifically in the Bible except for 2 angels.  The name of Gabriel, whose name means “strong man of God”, appears 4 times in Daniel 8-9; Luke 1:11-20; Luke 1:26-38.  Michael whose name means “Who is like God?” is mentioned in Daniel 10:13, 21, 12:1; Jude 1:9 and Revelation 12:7.  He is an archangel.  An archangel is considered to be the chief angel.  We may not know the names of all the angels, but God does Isaiah 40:26).  He knows the names of all He created.  He knows your name as well.  “But now, this is what the Lord says – he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:  Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” – Isaiah 43:1.

Principle:  Angels are ministering spiritual beings created by God.

What do angels do and what is their purpose? 

These good angels are helpers and guardians.  They serve as messengers to communicate God’s will to men.  They carry out God’s commands with warnings, guidance, protection, comfort, and deliverance of God’s people according to His perfect will (Psalm 91:11; 34:7).  They strengthen and encourage (Matthew 4:11; Acts 5:19-20, 27:23-25).

Angels are beautiful and magnificent creatures.  Angels are worshippers and servants (Hebrews 1:3-14).  Jesus is King and angels are servants.  They are servants of Jesus and servants of Christians.  Jesus is over the church and angels do His bidding for the church.  We are not to worship angels.  God says we are to worship Him alone (Isaiah 42:8).  Angels are messengers and Jesus is our Savior (Hebrews 2:2-3; 9-10; 14-16).

They come together to sing and praise God (Psalm 103:20-21).  They bring messages from God (Acts 27:21-24).  They help God’s people (Acts 12:6-11).  They will gather God’s people at Christ’s return (Mark 13:26-27).  They will be agents of God’s final judgment (Matthew 13:39-42). 

Principle:  Angels are messengers and servants, but Jesus is Savior.

Does each person have a guardian angel? 

The Catholic faith believes each person has a special guardian angel assigned to watch over them, but there is no mention of this in the Bible.  However, we do know the Bible does mention angels as guardians (Psalm 34:7; 91:11; Matthew 18:10).  There is no doubt that God sends angels to help protect and minister to believers.  Even if we don’t have an assigned angel we have the assurance of God if we are His children through faith in Christ that He will work all things together for good (Romans 8:28-30).

Matthew 18:10 talks about “the little ones” and their angels.  These little ones could refer to all believers in Christ and could indicate that all believers do have guardian angels.  Notice it doesn’t say “angel, but “angels” indicating there is more than one angel who cares for and looks after God’s people.  Whether or not we have a special guardian angel we know that God knows our every need and is able to send His ministering angels to assist us when needed.  Rather than only one angel guarding us, God surrounds us with many angels to protect us and go before us and with us wherever we go.

Principle:  God sends His ministering angels to assist His people.

Next time we will talk about the other group of angels, the evil demonic ones who work for the devil.  

Have a blessed day and thanks for visiting my site.  Hope to see you here again.  --  I encourage you to trust in Jesus.

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