Thank you all for being here :) A few weeks ago, someone asked me if we could do a study on "all we know about angels." I told him that would take a series... and it would. Even in just choosing three basic areas to examine for a start, this week's segment may run a little long :) I will try to go quickly without losing anyone, and if I see we're getting short on time, I'll try to do some on-the-fly editing. So... angels. What are their names? What are their characteristics? What do they do? These are the three areas we'll look at tonight. Maybe in the next session on this topic we can get into specifics, but today we will just stick to the real surface-stuff.

So here we go.
Section A: What are their names?

Most people will say we know the names of two angels from the Bible.

"Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, 'The Lord rebuke thee.'" (Jude 1:9)

"And the angel answering said unto him, 'I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.'" (Luke 1:19) It's important how Gabriel describes himself, as one of those "that stand in the Presence of God." That may become important in a later study :)

For now, let's look at those names. "Michael." That word means "The Likeness of El." El, of course, is the singular form of Elohim, or "The Almighty One," or more simply... God. Some translators make His name a question: "Who is Like El?" but there's no real punctuation in Hebrew, and I have yet to have it explained to me why they did that. Someone asked me once when this Angel's name came up in a study why it was sometimes listed as a question. I don't really know :) But I don't see any good reason why it was. So then until further notice, Michael is "(One in) The Likeness of El."

Gabriel is less disputed. "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth." (Gen 10:8)

Now, what does that verse have to do with Gabriel? Well, the phrase "a mighty one" is the Hebrew "Gibbowr." It's the same root we get this second angel's name from. Gibbowr-El. Gabriel is, a "Mighty One of El."

These, Michael and Gabriel, some say, are the only angel names we have in the Bible. Well... that's not exactly true, especially not if you go to the Apocrypha. In the book of Tobit we also find one named "Raphael," the "Healing of El." But we don't even need to leave the Canonized Scriptures to find a few more names. Of course, by now you're starting to notice a pattern: the names tend to end in "iel," or "el." All the angels we find tend to be "of God," and no surprise there :) My own name that I use here: "Za'akiel," means, "Loud Cry of El."

Heres another name we find for angels in the Bible: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!" (Isa 14:12)

Well, most of us know what "Lucifer" there signifies... but why doesn't it end with an "El?" Well, let's run it through the Hebrew Names Version and see what we can come up with: "How you are fallen from heaven, Heylel, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low!" (Isa 14:12 HNV)

In Hebrew the name is "Heylel," or "Helel," as it's more commonly transliterated. The name is the same, "Glory/Light/Praise." "I will call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies." (2Sam 22:4)

This is from the same root, "to be praised." We say it often: "Hallelu-Yah." Helel (Glory/Light)-lu (to)-YaH (the first two letters of the Sacred Name). I think it's interesting that Lucifer is reminded of his former name, every time a Christian praises the Lord.

He has another name, however. And this is also in Scripture. "And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat." (Lev 16:8)

This is in describing the ritual of the Day of Atonement, and if anyone would like to see a pattern of what Judgment Day will look like, Leviticus 16 is the foreshadowing of it; how the High Priest takes the sins of the people, and cleanses the Tabernacle of Yah, and then puts the sins on a "scapegoat" who wanders off into the wilderness. But for now, let's just look at this verse. In fact, let's run this verse through the RSV :) "And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for Aza'zel." (Lev 16:8 RSV)

Now, generally speaking, I don't like the RSV much. It's Creation account, for example, is... very compromising. "God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day." (Gen 1:5 RSV)

See that? "one day," instead of "the FIRST day" which is the translation found in the KJV, NKJV, NIV and many others.

I have one, though, because it has an Apocrypha in it, and I think there are some interesting historical facts we can gather from it. But here it's actually useful :) The phrase translated "scapegoat," or literally "goat of wandering," is the Hebrew "Azazel." That name comes from the same root as "Assyria," "Asshur," and so on... and it's almost the same as Gabriel. It means "Strong One of El." It can also mean, "Strengthened _against_ El."

So then... why does the KJV and most others translate it "scapegoat?" The truth of the matter is, the words together _also_ mean scapegoat; the Bible always does that when speaking to Satan. The Father most often uses a "play on words" when pronouncing judgments on the accuser of the brethren. For example: "Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces." (Jer 50:2)

That word "Bel," from which we get "Ba'al," a general name for "lord" when applied to a foreign, pagan god, also means "confuser." In other words, Jeremiah is saying, "Confusion to the confuser!" Merodach, another term for the same god, (Marduk) which means "rebellion," also means "Divider," and see Jeremiah here rebuking him, saying, "Merodach is broken in pieces," or in other words, "The divider is divided." The more that we understand of the Bible's language, the more beautiful, poetic, and meaningful, a work of Heaven it becomes :)

But I don't want this to become "Demonology 101," so let's stick to the faithful angels for the rest of this study. For part A we've looked at names of angels in the scriptures. We've seen two obvious ones: Gabriel and Michael, and what their names mean. We've found one in the non-Canonized Scriptures, Raphael, and we've seen what his name means. And we've also found two more hidden in the language of the Sacred Book: Helel and Azazel. And these aren't the only ones either :)

So let's move on to...
Part B: What are their characteristics?

What ARE angels anyway? Well, the English word comes from the Greek Angellos, which means messenger. This is a rather recent application, however, in terms of history. By the time of the New Testament, the religion known as Zoroastriansm had already sort of "prepared" the Gentiles for receiving the bad news, that not all angels were benevolent. This, I think, is another example of Yahweh using something bad (a false religion) to bring about a good result (preparing the world for new light).

Before this, any spiritual being, good or evil, was known in Greek as a "daimon," a demon. By the time of Christ, people had realized a distinction needed to be made, and so "demon" came to refer only to an evil spirit, and "angel" came to be the name applied solely to those sent to do good upon the earth. So now that we know where the name came from, let's see what the Bible says about their characteristics: "And of the angels He saith, 'Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire.'" (Heb 1:7)

This is a quote from the Old Testament: "Who maketh His angels spirits; His ministers a flaming fire." (Psa 104:4)

If you remember the study we did on the Holy Spirit a while ago, you might remember that "fire" when used in a spiritual sense is just another word for bright, powerful glory, which is one of the "faces" that the Spirit of Yah takes (the others being wind, and water). The angels, then, are obviously "spirits," as it says, and are a "burning" manifestation of God's glory.

Of course, they don't always _appear_ to be, "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." (Heb 13:2)

Sometimes they appear to us as simple human beings: "And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground." (Gen 18:1-2)

We know that the spirits that remained with the Father are still faithful, for those who were not were cast out: "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Rev 12:9)

So then we have that the angels are both spiritual beings, and are polar. Notice that at the war in Heaven, there were only two types: good and evil. By the time the Father had made the dividing stroke, there was no question on which side each being was. So it is on earth, and the people who don't understand this ask, "Why do bad things happen to good people? Why is there suffering on earth, if God is all-powerful?"

The answer comes back from the Bible. The Lord says of people, good and evil: "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, 'Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.'" (Mat 13:30)

As it will be in the last days on earth, so it was in Heaven. There was a time given to see which side each being would choose. Would they be faithful, or would they fall away? As it was in Heaven, so it is now with us, just before the Judgment shall come.

This brings us to another important characteristic, one which is commonly misunderstood: angels were created free. Some say that angels were made, and were good, but that those under Satan were forced to fall also when their leader rebelled. Now it's true that Satan took a lot of angels with him when he went: "And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born." (Rev 12:3-4)

However that word "threw" is the Greek "ballo," which means, "to throw or let go, without caring where a thing lands." In other words, Satan decieved the angels in Heaven also, but he certainly did not "force" them to fall. They were free beings, like men, who chose to rebel.

As it says in Job, where Eliphaz is speaking of the Lord: "Behold, He put no trust in His servants; and His angels He charged with folly:" (Job 4:18)

The word there literally means "error," to make a mistake. Beings that were forced to fall or stay faithful cannot "err" in that sense of the word. Even further, in Jude, the author gives us three examples of entities that fell from grace: "I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." (Jude 1:5-7)

Here we have the three: a people, a set of angels, and a city. And notice that all of these were in the full grace of the Father for a time, but just as the Israelites "afterward" believed not, and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah "gave" themselves over to sins... we see a change in decision. So also the angels are spoken of in a like manner... they left their rightful place, and they fell.

So then, angels are spirits, they are faithful, and they are free. What else do we know about them? This is a good time to move into the third part.

Part C: What do they do?

We could have spoken of the following little sub-section during the part on names of angels, that is, the names of the types also… but there is a reason we left it for now. Angels’ jobs are generally defined by their class, and although there has been a lot of supposition on the Orders (or Choirs) of angels, we can only say for sure what has been revealed in the Scriptures Themselves.

The first mention of angelic classes occurs, interestingly enough, just after the Creation and fall of man. "So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." (Gen 3:24)

Cherubim, which is plural for "Cherub," are angels that seem to have the office of guarding things. They guard the garden in Eden from man, and when we spoke a while ago about the "behind the scenes" factors of Eden, and why man needed to be kept from the Tree of Life, we see that they had a rather important job.

Cherubim again appear as guardians, in symbol, on the Ark of the Covenant. “And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.” (Exo 37:9)

The mercy seat was built on top of the Ark which contained the Decalogue, the stone tablets upon which were written the record of the Law. Over this was placed the region where the bright, fiery presence of the Lord appeared to the congregation: “Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” (Exo 40:34)

The Cherubim "guarded" this fire, so that It would not destroy the humans who entered that place, for it says of the Father, whose presence was manifest in that Flame: “And the Lord said unto Moses, ‘Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.’” (Lev 16:2)

“Wherefore we, receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire.” (Heb 12:28-29)

These sculptures seem to be representatives of what Lucifer actually did before he fell: “By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.” (Ezek 28:16)

As far as general "guardianship" goes, that's where we get the concept of guardian angels from. That concept actually IS Biblical. To the Israelites the Father said: “Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.” (Exo 23:20)

But there is also that promise to individuals also, not only the nation. When a large army of Syrians came to capture the prophet Elisha, his young servant became afraid. “And he answered, ‘Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.’ And Elisha prayed, and said, ‘Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see.’ And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” (2Kings 6:16-17)

It was probably to this incident that the Messiah was referring when they came to arrest Him, and He told His disciples: “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Mat 26:53)

Christ taught that even children have these spiritual protectors: “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.” (Mat 18:10)

Of course, we don't know enough to say that all guardian angels are Cherubim, or that Cherubim are the only angels who _can_ guard things or people, but they do seem to be the best at it :)

Another class is found here, in the prophet Isaiah's vision: “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the Seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.” (Isa 6:1-2)

As far as anyone can tell, the word "Cherub" means "Wise One," or "Near One." A "Seraph," on the other hand, is a "Blazing One." There is some confusion about this word, because it also means "Serpent," but generally, when a specific snake is being referred to they use the term "nahash" instead. This is one of those words you have to get from the context.

Now the purpose of the six-winged Seraphim is unquestionably to praise: “And one cried unto another, and said, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.’” (Isa 6:3)

John the revelator also sees similar beings, although not exactly the same by description, in his vision of the time of the end: “And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.’” (Rev 4:8) Their office, in any case, has not changed.

In Ezekiel's vision of the Throne, we also see another class of angels, although they are much more easily missed. Along with Cherubim, which accompany the manifestation, we find this: “And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the Cherubims, one wheel by one Cherub, and another wheel by another Cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone.” (Ezek 10:9)

The word for "wheels" there is "Ophanim." But are these glowing, yellow, spiritual "wheels" just wheels? Other verses seem to indicate they are more than this: “And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had.” (Ezek 10:12)

The "wheels" that the Cherubim had with them were covered with eyes, just as the angels themselves were, and just as John's praising-angels are. Further, in verses 20 and 21 it says the "spirit" or the life of the living creatures was in the wheels. Some have therefore said that this gives us a third class of angels, "Ophanim," which has the job of supporting and maintaining the Heavenly order, as they do in this vision: “And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.” (Ezek 1:19)

So far, we have three jobs that angels do: protection, praise and support of Divine orders.

While some have written of seven orders, and some even nine, we'll just look at the five most clearly seen types of angels in this study, and just mention the others. We have three so far, and of course the next two are found in the New Testament, the Principalities and Powers. Paul writes of these: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Eph 6:12)

The words there, "principalities" and "powers," are Greek words which can also be translated the "primarys" and the "authorities." If we read some of Paul's verses concerning these two entities, it seems that sometimes he is referring to human authorities, such as: "Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work..." (Titus 3:1)

Here the NKJV translates the two as "rulers and authorities." However, it is apparent from other verses that Paul uses these terms, at least sometimes, to refer to angelic beings. In Ephesians 3, the apostle writes of one of the reasons that the Father reveals His mysteries to human beings: "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God." (Eph 3:10)

Did you catch that? The Church also has a hand in educating the angels :) No doubt that rebellion by Lucifer all those ages ago must have shaken them up quite a bit. Perhaps we should have listed that under the "characteristics" of angels in Part A. Angels are not omniscient, they don't know everything, and they continue to learn new things even to this day.

It does seem, however, that the purpose of Principalities and Powers are to guide humans. In this, we find another job to add to the list. In addition to protecting, praising God and maintaining the divine order, angels also lead, instruct and teach.

"But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, 'Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.'" (Mat 2:19-20)

Angels have appeared to several Biblical figures in dreams: Jacob, Joseph and the other Joseph, the husband of Mary. In the book of Daniel we also see a variety of angels that guide the "rulers and authorities."

"I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, behold, a watcher and an holy one came down from heaven." (Dan 4:13)

This angel was the one who caused Nebuchadnezzar to go insane for seven years, and his kingdom fell into disrepair. "'Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him.' This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men." (Dan 4:16-17)

In the New Testament, we even see hints of other Orders: "For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him." (Col 1:16)

In reproving the Colossians for allowing heresies in that led to the worship of angelic figures, Paul writes that all of these, in fact all things - both visible and invisible, are subject to Christ, for "all things were created by Him, and for Him." It's good that even as we focus on learning what the Bible says of the specifics of the spiritual world, we remember our true calling, to give glory, as do the angels, to the One Most High.

So to summarize what we've learned tonight, we've seen a variety of angelic names in the Scriptures. Michael, Gabriel, Helel, Azazel and then Raphael if we count the Apocrypha. There are also a few more, such as Legion and Beelzebub, but those aren't their "real" names, as we will see when we look at the fallen angels in another study.

We've looked at some of their characteristics: they are intelligent, spiritual beings that have moral freedom, as do human beings. The ones who remained loyal to the Throne are faithful, and obedient to the commands of the Most High. We also found out that angels continue to learn, and therefore do not have a complete knowledge of all things. "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." (Mat 24:36)

We then looked at some of the classes of angels mentioned in Scripture, and what their jobs were. We found Cherubim, Seraphim, Ophanim, Principalities and Powers (which would be something like: Ikari'im and Ko'achim if we wanted to be consistently Hebrew). We saw that angels were guardians, protectors, guides and teachers. They also spend a lot of time praising: "And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.'" (Rev 4:8)

That seems to be all our time for tonight, but when we return to this topic, we may look at the rebellion and fall of some of the angels. Next week I won't actually be here, but if you'd like the transcripts to this study, so you can ask next time about areas where you're not certain, please do email me at flyingcreature@hotmail.com and I'll send it right to you. Shall we pray?

David.