Jesus is Better Week 2

Angelology 101: What are Angels and What Do They Do?

By Darren Nguyen

“Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.” – Zuzu Bailey, It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

When we read about angels in Hebrews 1:5-14 this week, our minds might conjure up an image of a baby with wings, or we might picture an angel on one shoulder with the devil on the other. We might even think of an old antique angel knick knack in your parents’ basement or a romantic portrait of an angel from the 15th century.
As for what angels do, we might think of guardian angels protecting us or a crowd of angels in heaven worshipping God. Pop culture and media have greatly distorted a biblical view of angels, but there are certainly truthful elements to each of the references above (okay, maybe not the whole bell ringing thing). This article serves to construct a biblical worldview of angels by examining key biblical texts that shed light on the identity and purpose of angels.

What Do Angels Do?

To best understand angels, we must first look at the Hebrew word, mal’ak, that is translated to angel in our bibles. The word mal’ak refers to a messenger, but this messenger can be either a spiritual being or a human being. In Genesis 32:1-3, our English translations make an interpretive decision to help us understand the nuance. It says, “Jacob went on his way, and the angels [mal’ak] of God met him. And when Jacob saw them he said, ‘This is God’s camp!’ So he called the name of that place Mahanaim. And Jacob sent messengers [mal’ak] before him to Esau, his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.”

Angels serve as the spiritual being counterpart to prophets, who are also called mal’ak (2 Chronicles 3:15-16) and deliver messages from God. We see angels in this messenger role often in the biblical narrative. For example, the angel Gabriel shares with Zechariah about his future son John the Baptist in Luke 1. You could also look at the angels who deliver the messages to the seven churches in the early chapters of revelation. However, just like prophets, they are not just message carriers. They also perform wonders and acts of deliverance for God’s people such as when an angel freed Peter from his chains and brought him out of jail in Acts 12. Angels also give comfort or provision such as when an angel provided “a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water” for Elijah in 1 Kings 19 or when angels ministered to Jesus when he was being tempted in the wilderness in Mark 1.

Ultimately, angels serve God and believe it or not, us as Christians. According to Hebrews 1:14, angels are all “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation.” However, in our lives here on earth, we are made lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:7). In the future, we’ll have a higher position of authority than the angels and we’ll have a responsibility to judge them (1 Corinthians 1:3). As for how we should think about angels now, angels are our fellow servants of God. Tim Mackey writes, “The apostles encouraged humble awareness of angels, but they discouraged unhealthy speculation about them… Hebrews chapters 1 and 2 are focused on showing people that angels play an important role in God’s purposes, but followers of Jesus should not elevate their importance or cultivate an unhealthy fascination with them. Rather, angels should be regarded as fellow servants of God who appear at surprising moments to serve followers of Jesus in moments of need. In that sense, they should be treated as fellow members of God’s family to be welcomed and honored.”

What Are Angels?

So, enough about what angels do, what exactly are they? We should first think about angels as created beings, just like us (Colossians 1:16; John 1:3). They point back to God by their very existence and bring glory to God by fulfilling their God-given purpose. However, they differ from us in that they are spiritual beings. In Luke 20:34-36 Jesus says,

“The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.”

This tells us a few things. First, as spiritual beings, angels cannot die. They participate in God’s eternality, and we will alongside them enjoy God forever in eternity. Second, angels do not marry. Marriage (and multiplication) is uniquely given to humans to fill the earth. Angels do not necessarily have bodies, but when they appear on earth they look like regular humans. According to Hebrews 13:2, it’s possible to “unawarely” exercise hospitality to angels. When these spiritual beings appear in dreams or visions, we might be tempted to worship them in their frightening glorified state such as in Daniel 10. As spiritual beings, much of their work is performed unseen to the human eye, but it’s clear that they can interact with things on earth as ministers sent out by God.

Why Does This Matter?

By examining the relationship between humans and angels, we can see that by Christ taking on flesh, he humbled himself by making himself lower than the angels. Christ’s humiliation was not just in his suffering but also through his position in the cosmos, making himself lower than the angels because he loves you. Through his humiliation, Christ lived a perfect life and unjustly suffered and died so that He could bring you back into relationship with Him through his victory over death and sin. “After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.” (Hebrews 1:3-4)

Consider how you can love God in response by performing the role of messenger as sent ones living in everyday faith and everywhere mission.

For Further Study:

What Does the Bible Say About Angels and Cherubim? (Video and Article)

Spiritual Being Series Study Notes (Study Notes)

Angels and Angelology: The Ministering Spirits and Elect ‘sons of God’ (Journal Article)