The word 'angel,' in both testaments, is translated from words meaning simply 'messenger,' words that are commonly applied to everyday human messengers as well.
In the Old Testament, that word is 'malak,' and it is applied to a specific group of Heavenly Beings that we haven't talked about very much at all yet.
In the New Testament, the word is 'aggelos.' By the time of the New Testament, 'messenger' as a spiritual term had superseded its original meaning and was frequently applied to any type of Heavenly Being, or even demons (Matthew 25:41).
But what concerns this article are the Malakim, the original messenger spirits of Yahweh.
It's become fairly common knowledge by now that angels don't actually have wings in the Bible.
The closest thing is the two women with stork's wings in Zechariah.
Zechariah 5:7-11 : And behold, the cover of lead was raised, and there was a woman sitting inside the basket. “This is Wickedness,” he said. And he shoved her down into the basket, pushing down the lead cover over its opening.
Then I lifted up my eyes and saw two women approaching, with the wind in their wings. Their wings were like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth. “Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking with me. “To build a house for it in the land of Shinar,” he told me. “And when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its pedestal.”
Though it is often assumed that these are angels, there's really no textual justification for that belief. It's not even entirely clear if they're good!
And if they are some type of Heavenly Being, they're clearly not anything we've seen elsewhere. Their wings are specifically described as something notable and anomalitic, when there's lots of angels in the book and one standing right there, and none of them are ascribed any such feature.
Why make such a big deal out of it with these two and not mention it at all with any of the others?
Besides, while these are specifically called 'women,' angels seem to be male. When the Sons of God fell in Genesis 6, they went after the daughters of man. There is no description anywhere of the Daughters of God lusting after the sons of mankind, or anything of the sort.
It rather seems as though the angelic kingdom is run like the priesthood- only men, and none can be married.
Why? I don't know. It does seem that, in the New Heavens and the New Earth, celibacy will be the way of life for everyone, humans and angels alike.
Matthew 22:30 : At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.
This isn't to say that marriage is bad- in fact it is a God ordained institution. But it won't be necessary in the life to come. We will become like the angels are now, except of course that there will still be female humans.
First we're going to talk about Gabriel.
Though often thought to be an Archangel, there is no scriptural evidence for this idea. He is, however, the only named messenger other than Michael. Some has suggested that, as Michael is the angelic form of Jesus, so Gabriel is the angelic form of the Holy Spirit.
Let's look at what the Bible says about Gabriel.
Daniel 8:15-17 : While I, Daniel, was watching the vision and trying to understand it, there before me stood one who looked like a man. And I heard a man’s voice from the Ulai calling, “Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of the vision.” As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate. “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.”
Gabriel is Daniel's guide throughout the rest of the book, showing him visions and interpreting them, as well as telling him about the events taking place in the spiritual world, particularly those pertaining to Michael.
Daniel 9:21-22 : Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.
Gabriel proceeds to tell Daniel about the coming kingdom of the Messiah, the Son of Man. And that's the last we see of him until the New Testament.
Luke 1:11-13: Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John."
This angel (as yet unnamed) proceeds to predict the details of John the Baptist's life, particularly insofar as he will prepare the way of the Messiah and help Christ lead many of the people back to Yahweh.
Luke 1:18-20 : And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. 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. And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
Later on in the same chapter, Gabriel is sent once more, this time to Mary.
Luke 1:26-31 : And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin... and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee.... Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
Another angel appears in the next chapter to announce Jesus' birth to the shepherds, which it seems is identified by the author as being the same angel just talked about (namely, Gabriel).
If you haven't picked up on it yet, the unifying theme of Gabriel's messages is the Messiah. And that seems a pretty good summary of Gabriel's role- he is God's baby announcer. With this in mind, it is interesting to speculate whether the iconic Star of Bethehem was not Gabriel's star, guiding the Magi just as, in earthly form, he had guided the shepherds.
But there's an interesting piece of information in Luke chapter one. Gabriel identifies himself as being one who stands 'in the presence of God.' When he first appears, he is standing next to the altar of incense.
The Altar of Incense was in the Holy Place, the room just outside the Holy of Holies, separated by a thick curtain. The two other objects in the Holy Place were the table of shewbread and the golden candlestick, which was probably a menorah with seven candles.
Compare this to the throneroom of God in Revelation.
In the center is God's throne, surrounded by the living creatures, which rings similar to the description of the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place.
Exodus 25:19-22a: Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end.... The cherubim shall have wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat... the faces of the cherubim are to be toward the mercy seat. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark.... There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you.
Of course, at the time of Jesus and John, the Ark was long gone, replaced by a raised square of the floor to indicate where it had once been. But God's presence was still within, if invisible and faded. Though the earthly marker had been removed, the spiritual reality behind it was very much alive and existent.
Other details of Yahweh's court are consistent with the temple as well- the altar (Revelation 6:9-11) is parallel to the Altar of Sacrifice. The souls of the martyrs (sacrificed for God) cried out from under the altar because, in the earthly temple, that is where the blood of the sacrifices would flow down to.
Then we meet a rather strange character. Whereas elsewhere in the Bible, the Holy Spirit has been more or less unified, Revelation depicts her as 'sevenfold.'
Revelation 1:4b-5a : Grace unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come, [God the Father] and from the sevenfold spirit which is before his throne, [the Holy Spirit] and from Jesus Christ. [the Logos]
If this isn't the Holy Spirit, then these beings sending blessings of grace and peace are two members of the Trinity and some random other dude. This same 'sevenfold spirit' is later found standing before the Throne.
Revelation 4:5b : there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which were the Sevenfold Spirit of God.
So... what is this talking about?
Well, as you saw in that diagram, one of the objects in the Holy Place was the Golden Lampstand- also known as the Menorah. It symbolized the Tree of Life.
Exodus 25:31-40 : Make a lampstand of pure gold.... Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch... and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. And on the lampstand are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it. Its wick trimmers and trays are to be of pure gold.
The Menorah was lit daily with consecrated olive oil and burned all night long (Exodus 27:21). According to the Talmud, the Menorah was a sign and symbol of God's Shekinah Presence (that is, the Holy Spirit) resting on the nation of Israel. This makes the Menorah a perfect symbol for the Holy Spirit in Revelation.
The Menorah is also perfect for demonstrating this strange new doctrine of the Sevenfold Spirit- the Menorah was one lamp, but at the same time it was seven lamps. Even within the Trinity, one of the three is actually seven persons in one person.
I think we can conclude that the court before God's throne, just beyond the square of the living creatures, represents the Holy Place, the room just outside the Holy of Holies.
Revelation 8:2 : And I saw the seven angels which stand before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
Using our comparison between the temple and God's court, these 'seven angels which stand before God' were in approximately the same place where Gabriel, the angel who stands in the presence of God, first appeared to Zacharias.
From this I believe we can conclude that Gabriel is most likely one of these seven angels. But what exactly is the nature of these angels? Well, judging from Gabriel, they are messengers.
Let me pose a question: how many normal, messenger Malakim are there?
Thousands? Hundreds? No, you're thinking of the armies. Would you accept seven?
My personal theory is that Gabriel and those other six Malakim that stand in the presence of God are all the Malakim there are. I would also suggest that the reason Gabriel suddenly becomes the main one is because the Messenger Yahweh has taken a different post.
Michael has passed the mantle to Gabriel.
There always seems to be one 'main' angel. In the Old Testament, it was the Messenger Yahweh. But in the New Testament, even when Jesus is no longer in angelic form, there is still a specific angel that is referred to as being God's angel. In Acts 12, Peter declares that God has sent 'his angel,' not 'one of his angels.'
It is only logical to conclude that this was Gabriel, who has taken the position of 'God's angel' (a change being set up all the way back in Daniel) as Jesus has ascended to a higher place. But don't get me wrong- Michael is still the Archangel. He just isn't functioning in that capacity any more, and leaves the remaining messages and missions for Gabriel to accomplish.
At any rate, it does seem that there are other spirits similar enough to the messenger Malakim (however many there may be) to fall under the category 'messenger of peace,' and even be called 'Malakim.'
Matthew 18:10 : See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
Acts 12: 13-15 : Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.
Psalm 91:11-14 : For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. “Because he loves me,” says Yahweh, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
Hebrews 1:14 : Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Many theologians have used these four passages to create the doctrine that every Christian has an angel assigned to them to protect them and deliver their prayers to God.
I mean, Matthew 18:10 definitely says that there are angels attached in some way to specific humans (or groups of humans). Acts 12 seems to add to this doctrine the idea that these angels take the form of their respective humans. Psalm 91 clearly states that God's angels protect believers, and Hebrews repeats the message with a more servile tint to the role of angels.
Personally, I think we're dealing with two separate concepts. With the "serve and protect" motif of Psalm 91 and Hebrews 1:14, there is no indication of a one-to-one person-to-angel ratio. If anything it rather seems to indicate multiple angels helping one person- "they will lift you up in their hands" talking to the one of whom Yahweh says "he acknowledges my name."
But this isn't to say that each human has a squad of guardian angels, it more seems to indicate that angels are assigned to guard believers as a whole. This is not a matter of everybody having their own special angel, almost akin to a spirit guide.
The episode in Acts, rather than demonstrating a new doctrine, rather serves to show a superstition prevalent among early Christians, one that still pervades the church today. Notice that they were astonished to actually see Peter when they opened the door. They had concluded, based on the knocking and the voice (which they recognized as Peter's) that Peter's invisible angelic form was passing.
That is, his ghost. His shade, in Greco-Roman terminology.
It seems that they thought Peter, at death, would become an angel. This isn't surprising, as Jews from that era believed the Elijah had become the angel Sandalphon, and Enoch the angel Metatron. They probably figured that Peter was on par with those great men, and thus a disembodied voice that sounded like his would be a sign from his new angelic self. Imagine their surprise to open the door and see a perfectly alive, flesh-and-blood man.
However, this superstition has only superficial connection with the angels of children mentioned by Jesus.
Matthew 18:10, I believe, does relate to the idea of guardian angels. But notice that this verse does not necessarily imply a one-to-one relationship from angel-to-human either. In light of the other passages, I find the most reasonable interpretation to be that certain classes of angels are assigned to certain classes of people.
These angels that see the face of God the Father, assigned to protecting children, seem parallel to the seven angels who serve in the presence, among whom is Gabriel. If not the angels standing in his very presence, who else would be specifically denoted as seeing his face?
So it is quite possible that Gabriel is somehow entrusted with protecting children from demonic powers and other troubles. Frankly, the whole things a little mysterious. All we can conclude with absolute certainty is that angels definitely have the role of protecting Christians in some way.
Then there are the 'messengers of Death,' or 'destroyers.'
These lesser spiritual beings were probably subservient to the Destroyer, just as the Erelim were subservient to Michael, the Flames were subservient (possibly) to Resep, the normal Malakim subservient to the Messenger Yahweh, and the Messenger Yahweh and Redeemer Yahweh were subservient to Yahweh Almighty, the Ancient of Days.
But all we really know about them comes from three passages, one in each of the wisdom books.
Job 33:22 : They draw near to the pit, and their life to the messengers of death.
The word translated 'messengers of death' is lammitim, a very mysterious word. It seems that the best translation is 'destroyers.' Though this could be read in a naturalistic way, the context of the 'pit' (sahat), which is a synonym for Abaddon, the Lake of Fire, indicates that this passage refers to the 'staff' working for Apollyon.
Proverbs 16:14 : The fury of a king is like messengers of death, and a wise man pacifies it.
'Messengers of death' is translated from 'mawet malake.' Malake is usually translated 'angels of,' and mawet means 'deadly' or 'of death.' This is the clearest example of the Death Malakim, and it really just tells us that they're bad news. A similar type of spirit appears in the third of the wisdom books- Psalms.
Psalm 78:49 : He unleashed against them his hot anger, his wrath, indignation and hostility-- a band of destroying angels.
The word for 'angels' there is 'malake,' just like in Proverbs. However, the word translated 'destroying' is one which is often translated 'evil.' Some have concluded from this that, while good angels bring blessings, fallen angels execute judgment.
This is theologically unsound, and I believe that this word should here be translated 'distressing' or 'harmful,' as related words are sometimes translated. It isn't a matter of morally bad, it is the more archaic sense of bad as in 'bad luck.' The luck isn't sinful, it's just unfortunate and it's bad news for you.
And that's it. That's all we know about the angels of death, and as you can see it's pretty inconclusive.
Which is interesting.
Though God is entirely just, his judgment comes only as a reaction to sin. His wrath is a reaction to outside problems, it is not an inherent part of his personality. To put it in a bit of a strange way, God is not angry in a vacuum.
So, while the Destroyer is one of Jesus' titles, it doesn't appear very much. While the Death Malakim do seem to exist, they are very rarely mentioned. The Bible focuses on the main point, which is God's love and care for his children, expressed by him deploying his mighty warriors, not primarily to kill the wicked, but to protect the innocent.
And the seemingly lowest of all people, children, are protected by the highest of angels- those who stand in God's Presence, including Gabriel, who took up the mantle of God's Messenger after Michael.
Similarly, of all the Heavenly Beings we've examined, the Malakim are the most earthly. They are mistaken for humans all the time, they are sent down to manifest in the world of sin and humanity, they deliver messages and help believers and have no glory of their own. And yet, of all the beings we've seen (gods, multi-faced rulers of the heavens, flaming serpents, warriors of fire) with the obvious exception of the Messenger Yahweh and Michael, the Malakim are the closest to God.
No other spiritual beings are described as standing in his presence, seeing the very face of the Father of Lights, the Ancient of Days, Yahweh Almighty! A face that we will never see in this life, a face which the Seraphim cover their eyes before, a face so holy that those who see it fall dead- these lowly messengers, tasked with guarding children, see and behold always, every moment of every day in the Kingdom of Heaven.
But that's how God works. Humility brings glory. The Messenger Yahweh became a lowly baby, carried the cross and then died before he rose again and ascended to the right hand of the Father leading captives.
And the proud, the great rulers of the earth, the haughty thrones and powers that seek to raise themselves above God, are utterly destroyed and their kingdoms are given to the Archangel, Jesus Christ our Lord.
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