Angels

The word “angel” simply means “messenger “ in both the Old and New Testaments.  The Hebrew word for “angel” is Malakh, and the Greek word is Anggelos.  

We usually think of angels as these super beings who can conquer evil, overthrow armies, and serve at the pleasure of God.  That’s accurate most of the time, but when the word “angel” appears in Scripture it doesn’t necessarily mean a super being like Gabriel or Michael.  Sometimes, the word just means a messenger, even a human messenger.  We see this in Luke 17:24a:

²⁴ When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John

The word “messengers” here is aggelos, angels.  So, we shouldn’t be surprised when we see even Jesus called an angel.  In John 8:58, Jesus identifies Himself as the Person in the burning bush of Ex. 3.

 John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

Exodus 3:14  (ESV)  God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”

So, “I Am” is the divine name given to Moses and the name Jesus took when speaking to the Jews in John 8.  The reaction of the Jews in John 8:59 helps us understand what was being said by Jesus. They wanted to stone Him:

⁵⁹ So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

The Jews saw what Jesus had claimed and believed it as blasphemy. Now look at Acts 7:30:

 “Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in a flame of fire in a bush.

So, we know the person in the burning bush in Exodus 3 was Jesus.  Exodus tells us He is God.  Acts 7:30 tells us He was an angel.  How do we answer this?

Jesus is submissive to the Father and probably has been at least since creation (Phil. 2:8).  As such, God the Father sent God the Son as a messenger (angel) to speak to Moses.

Many believe the term “Angel of the Lord” in the Old Testament is really Jesus.  No confirmation on that, though.

So, if angels are messengers, what are archangels?  Archangels are chief angels.  They’re the commanders of a body of angels.  We see this in Revelation:

Rev 12:7 (ESV) Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back.

When Jesus returns, He’ll be accompanied by at least one archangel.

1 Thess. 4:16 (ESV) For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

So, how many archangels are there?  We don’t know for sure.  We know Michael is an archangel (Jude 1:9).  We aren’t told of any other.  In fact, only two other angels are actually mentioned by name: Gabriel (Luke 1:19) and Lucifer (Isa. 14:12).  Lucifer’s name comes from the Latin translation of “Day Star” in Isa. 14:12.  Lucifer, of course, had his name changed to Satan upon his fall from heaven.  We believe Satan was an archangel  because he is in charge of a host of fallen angels. He is the dragon Michael will fight in Rev. 12:7. Satan’s “angels” are fallen as is he.

So, how many archangels?  We know Michael is an archangel according to Jude 9.  Daniel calls both angels and demons “princes.”  So when we look at Daniel, we see Michael fighting against another fallen angel called “the prince of the kingdom of Persia.”  An angel comes to answer Daniel’s prayer and explain why it has taken him so long to arrive.  In this verse we find Michael is just “one of the chief princes.”  So, there are more than one archangel.  We’re just not sure of their names other than Michael’s or how many:

Daniel 10:13 (ESV)   The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia

Why is this important?

Sometimes we are confused when comparing Scriptures.  When we see Jesus called God then called an angel, we might think there is a problem there.  It’s a simple issue of language, not a problem.

I’ve always wondered if we have guardian angels, personal bodyguards keeping an eye on us.  I haven’t seen any evidence of that, but angels are in our midst:

Heb. 13:2  (ESV) Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.