The word "angel" ("angelos" in Greek, "malak" in Hebrew) means a person sent or a messenger. It is a name not of nature but of office, and is applied also to humans in the world who are ambassadors or representatives. In another sense, the word denotes a spiritual being employed in occasional offices; and lastly, men in office as priests or bishops. The "angel of the congregation" among the Jews was the chief of the synagogue. This later usage is also found in Revelation 1 and 2, where the"angel of the church" is regularly addressed. Today, the term is now limited to its principal meaning, and pertains only to the inhabitants of heaven.
Biblical Angels
Mark, the apostle of the Gentiles, speaks of the angels as "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation," in strict keeping with the import of the term itself. In Mark 1:2, it is applied to John the Baptist: "Be-hold I send my messenger (i.e., angel) before my face," and the word is the same ("malak") in the corresponding prophecy of Malachi. In Hebrews 12: 22, 24, we read: "Ye have come to an innumerable company of angels, to the spirits of the just," and this idea of their great number is sustained by the words of the Lord, where, for example, he declares that "twelve legions" of them were ready upon his demand. In the Revelation of St. John, a vast idea of their overwhelming number is indicated. Their song of praise is described as "the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings."
The angels form the armies of heaven, and military terms are commonly quoted. It is mentioned in the Bible that the angel host or army will fight God's cosmic battle. For example, an angel destroyed Sennacherib's army encamped around Jerusalem. They appeared to the shepards to announce the birth of Jesus, and Jesus will lead the armies of God in the final conflict at the end of time (Revelation 19:14). The idea of angelic armies would come to the forefront during World War I in the myth of the Angels of Mons.
As to the nature of angels, it is essentially the same as that of humans, for not only are understanding and will attributed to them, but they have been mistaken for humans when they appear, and seem capable of disobedience (Hebrews 2:7, 16). The latter possibility is exhibited in its greatest extent by Jude, who speaks of the "angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation," and upon this passage would later lay the foundation of the differences and definitions concerning angels and demons. The former term limited its meaning only to the obedient ministers of the will of the Almighty, and the influence of evil angels is concentrated only on the devil or Satan. These ideas were common to the whole Eastern world, and were probably derived by the Jewish people from the Assyrians. The Pharisees charged Jesus with casting out devils "by Beelzebub the prince of the devils." The idea that evil spirits acted in multitudes under one person appears in Mark 5:9, where, when he is asked his name, the evil spirit answers: "My name is 'Legion' for we are many."
In the Bible two orders are mentioned in scripture, "angels" and "archangels;" but the latter only occurs twice, namely, in Jude, where Michael is called "an archangel," and in I Thessalonians 4:16, where it is written: "the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God."
Gabriel and Michael are the only angels mentioned by name. The archangel Michael appeared to Daniel and will lead his angelic army against the people of God (Revelation 12:7). The mention of Michael by name occurs five times in scripture, and always in the character of a chief militant. In Daniel, he is the champion of the Jewish church against Persia; in the Revelation, he overcame the dragon; and in Jude he is mentioned in a personal conflict with the devil about the body of Moses. He is called by Gabriel, "Michael, your prince," meaning the prince of the Jewish church. Gabriel first appeared as an angel to give Daniel an interpretation of a dream (Daniel 8:16-27) but earned his lasting fame as the one to announce both the birth of John the Baptist to Zachariah and the coming birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:11-38).
Developing Notions about Angels
In the intertestimental period (the centuries just prior to the Christian era) as the Jewish notion of angelic orders developed, Michael and Gabriel were named as two of the seven archangels. The alleged prophecy of Enoch states, "Michael, one of the holy angels who, presiding over human virtue, commands the nations." The same volume notes that Raphael, "presides over the spirits of men." And other angels who will become integral to Western angelic and magical lore appear: Uriel, who reigns "over clamor and terror"; and Gabriel, who reigns "over Paradise, and over the cherubims."
As the Roman Catholic mass evolved, Michael, now a saint, was invoked as a "most glorious and warlike prince," "the receiver of souls," and "the vanquisher of evil spirits." His symbol is a banner hanging on a cross; he is armed and represents victory, with a dart in one hand and a cross on his forehead. It may be noted that God himself is called the angel of the Covenant, because he embodied in his own person the whole power and representation of the angelic kingdom, as the messenger, not of separate and temporary commands, but of the whole word in its fullness.
Dionysius, or St. Denis, the supposed Areopagite (sixth century C.E.), describes three hierarchies of angels in nine choirs: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Angels, and Archangels. These were created by assembling various biblical passages (such as Exodus 25:18-20; Isaiah 6:2-3; Ephesians 3:10) and the book of Enoch. Vartan (or Vertabied), the thirteenth-century Armenian poet and historian, described them under the same terms, but expressly stated: "these orders differ from one another in situation and degree of glory, just as there are different ranks among men, though they are all of one nature."
This description, and all others resembling it (the twelve heavenly worlds of Plato, and the heaven of the Chinese, for example), can be understood as landmarks serving to denote the heights human intelligence has reached at various times in the attempt to represent the eternal and infinite in precise terms. Seventeenth-century mystic Jakob Boehme recognized the "whole deep between the stars," as the heaven of one of the three hierarchies, and placed the other two above it; "in the midst of all which," he says, "is the Son of God; no part of either is farther or nearer to him, yet are the three kingdoms circular about him." The visions of Emanuel Swedenborg date a century later, and describe his intimacy with the angelic world. The angels described to him in great detail a level of spiritual existence qualitatively different from the visible world of sensation.
Angelic Realms in Jewish Thought
Jewish teachers have developed an elaborate doctrine of a heavenly hierarchy. Some, such as Bechai and Joshua, teach that "every day ministering angels are created out of the river Dinor, or fiery stream, and they sing an anthem and cease to exist; as it is written, they are new every morning." This idea appears to be a misunderstanding of biblical intent—to be "renewed" or "created" in the scriptural sense is to be regenerated. Thus, to be renewed every morning is to be kept in a regenerate state; the fiery stream is the baptism by fire or divine love.
In later doctrine, the angelic hierarchies were understood in correspondence to the ten divine names. Both Christian and astrological elements eventually could be discerned in the presentation that reached its height in the teachings of the Kabala.
The following represents the angelic hierarchies answering to the ten divine names: 1. Jehovah, attributed to God the Father, being the pure and simple essence of the divinity, flowing through Hajoth Hakados to the angel Metratton and to the ministering spirit, Reschith Hajalalim, who guides the primum mobile, and bestows the gift of being on all. These names are to be understood as pure essences, or as spheres of angels and blessed spirits, by whose agency the divine providence extends.
2. Jah, attributed to the person of the Messiah or Logos, whose power and influence descends through the angel Masleh into the sphere of the Zodiac. This is the spirit or word that actuated the chaos and ultimately produced the four elements and all creatures, by the agency of a spirit named Raziel, who was the ruler of Adam.
3. Ehjeh, attributed to the Holy Spirit, whose divine light is received by the angel Sabbathi, and communicated from him through the sphere of Saturn. It denotes the beginning of the supernatural generation, and hence of all living souls.
The ancient Jews considered the three superior names to be those above, to be attributed to the divine essence as personal or proper names, while the seven noted below denote the measures (middoth) or attributes that are visible in the works of God. But modern Jews, in opposition to the tripersonalists, consider the whole as attributes. The higher three denote the heavens, and the succeeding ones the seven planets or worlds, to each of which a presiding angel is assigned.
4. El, strength, power, and light, through which flows grace, goodness, mercy, piety, and munificence to the angel Zadkiel, and passing through the sphere of Jupiter, fashions the images of all bodies, bestowing clemency, benevolence and justice on all.
5. Elohi, the upholder of the sword and left hand of God. Its influence penetrates the angel Geburah (or Gamaliel) and descends through the sphere of Mars. It imparts fortitude in times of war and affliction.
6. Tsebaoth, the title of God as Lord of hosts. The angel is Raphael, through whom its mighty power passes into the sphere of the sun, giving motion, heat, and brightness to it.
7. Elion, the title of God as the highest. The angel is Michael. The sphere to which he imparts its influence is Mercury, giving benignity, motion, and intelligence, with elegance and consonance of speech.
8. Adonai, master or lord, governing the angel Haniel, and the sphere of Venus.
9. Shaddai. The virtue of this name is conveyed by Cherubim to the angel Gabriel and influences the sphere of the moon. It causes increase and decrease, and rules the jinn and protecting spirits.
10. Elohim, the source of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, received by the angel Jesodoth, and imparted to the sphere of the Earth.
The division of angels into nine orders or three hierarchies, as derived from Dionysius Areopagus, was made in the Middle Ages, which gave the prevalent division much of its symbolism. With it was held the doctrine of their separate creation; the tradition of the rebellious hierarchy, headed by Lucifer, was rendered familiar to society by the epic poetry of John Milton. The medieval development of angelology was passed on to occultists and a description of the angelic orders became integral to magic and in the practices of magical rituals.
Angels and Giants
Another leading belief, not so much interwoven with the popular theology, was that of angels' intercourse with women, producing the race of giants. The idea derived from Genesis 4:2, in the adoption of which the Christian fathers followed the opinion of ancient Jewish interpreters, Philo-Judaeus, and Josephus. A particular account of the circumstances is given in the book of Enoch, which makes the angels—Uriel, Gabriel, and Michael—the chief instruments in the subjugation of the adulterers and their formidable offspring. The classic writers have perpetuated similar beliefs of the "hero" race, all of them born either from the love of the gods for women, or of the preference shown for a goddess by some mortal man.
The Persian, Jewish, and Muslim accounts of angels all evince a common origin, and they alike admit a difference of sex. In the latter, the name of Azazil is given to the hierarchy nearest the throne of God, to which the Mohammedan Satan (Eblis or Haris) is supposed to have belonged; also Azreal, the angel of death, and Asrafil (probably the same as Israfil), the angel of the resurrection. The examiners, Moukir and Nakir, are subordinate angels who are armed with whips of iron and fire, and interrogate recently deceased souls as to their lives.
The parallel belief in the Talmud is an account of seven angels who beset the paths of death. The Koran also assigns two angels to every man—one to record his good and the other his evil actions. They are so merciful that if an evil action has been done, it is not recorded until the man has slept, and if at that time he repents, they place on the record that God has pardoned him. The Siamese, besides holding the difference of sex, imagine angels have offspring; but their beliefs concerning the government of the world and the guardianship of the human race are similar to those of other nations.
The Christian fathers, for the most part, believed angels possessed bodies of heavenly substance (Tertullian calls it "angelified flesh"), and, if not, they could assume a corporeal presence at their pleasure. In fact, all the actions recorded of angels in Scripture imply human bodies and attributes.
Some Theosophists regard angels as related to fairy life, part of the "Devic" kingdom (from the Sanskrit term "deva," or "divine being"). Reports of encounters with visitors from flying saucers often suggest a secular form of angel life.
Contemporary Interest in Angels
The existence of angels, especially guardian angels, has been a common theme of popular Western lore. It has been the subject of numerous Christian texts and been championed in metaphysical lore by the likes of Flower A. Newhouse, founder of Christward Ministry in Escondido, California. In the late 1980s a significant revival of interest in angels occurred and a number of new books and reprints of old books began to appear. While many of these repeated traditional themes, the majority flowed out of the New Age movement and concerned present contact and channeling of messages from angelic beings—a source more acceptable and familiar to many with a Christian background than communication with spirits of the deceased.
One interesting variation on the current interest in angels are the writings of artist Leilah Wendell, who has written a series of books concerning her communications with Azrael, the angel of death, and who created a popular museum built around artistic representations of death in New Orleans.
Sources:
Clayton, Rev. George. Angelology; Agency & Ministry of Holy Angels. New York, 1851.
Davidson, Gustav. A Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels. New York: Free Press, 1967.
Duke, H. H. The Holy Angels: Their Nature & Employments. London, 1875.
Hodson, Geoffrey. The Kingdom of Faerie. London, 1927.
Miller, C. Leslie. All About Angels: The Other Side of the Spirit World. Glendale: G/L Regal Books, 1973.
Newhouse, Flower A. Natives of Eternity. Vista, Calif.: The Author, 1950.
O'Kennedy, Rev. R. Book of the Holy Angels. London, 1887.
Swedenborg, Emanuel. Earths in Planets & in Starry Heavens: Inhabitants, Spirits & Angels. London, 1758.
Wendell, Leilah. The Book of Azrael. New York: Westgate Press, 1988.
