“Having become as much superior to angels as the name He (Jesus) has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to Him a father, and He shall be to me a son”? And again, when He brings the firstborn into the world, He says, “Let all God's angels worship Him.” Of the angels He says, “He makes his angels wind, and his ministers a flame of fire.”
Hebrews 1:4-7
Throughout history there has been few biblical characters more grossly misrepresented and misunderstood than angels. If you can make it up, you can pretty much believe it and claim it to be true about angels. Angels have made it into our common culture in a way that no other biblical figure has been afforded. They are in movies, pop songs, TV shows, cartoons, and on and on. I think if any of us were to be asked to draw an angel, we would have no problem. It’s a blonde-haired winged woman in a long white robe playing a harp on a cloud, right? The old saying, if you tell a lie long enough it will become the truth, has great merit here.
Mankind’s fascination and obsession with angels stretches as far back as to when man was first introduced to angels in God’s Word. In apostle Paul’s writing period, AD 48-64, there were already many sects that worshipped angels. (Colossians 2:18) In the renaissance period, the great masters loved to paint angels. In fact, many believe that’s where we get our modern physical ideal of angels, by the thousands of images that were painted during the renaissance from the 14th to the 17th century. I was fortunate enough to see the Sistine chapel (painted 1508-1512) and let me tell you, there’s more flying angels on that ceiling than you can shake a stick at!
Margie and I sat down and watched It’s a Wonderful Life over Christmas and even though it is a cinematic masterpiece, it’s downright heresy as far as scripture goes. I found myself cringing at many moments, but hey, it’s a movie right? But therein lies the problem. How many movies about angels are we watching compared to time in God’s Word reading the truth about angels? I spent 2 hours and 10 minutes that night watching a movie about angels, but I did not sit for 2 hours and 10 minutes and read God’s Word about the truth of angels, so guess what my mind was filled with? Yep, some Hollywood guy’s imagining of what an angel is and what it can do. I’m not saying to not watch movies, but what I am saying is that we must be extremely careful with where we get our information about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, His Word (the Bible), His church, prayer, His creation, and life after this physical body. There is only one source of pure truth today and that is God’s Word. So, since Hebrews 1 is focusing on Jesus clearly being superior to angels, let’s look at a few common mistakes involving our perception of angels in our world today.
1) When we die, we become angels. This is 100% unscriptural. When we die, we do not become angels. What happens to us when we die depends completely upon what you do with Jesus Christ on this Earth. If you accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, you will upon either dying or being caught up in the rapture, be given a new glorified body. (1 Corinthians 15:35-58) And this new glorified body will not be that of an old Michaelangelo painting of a winged angel. Nowhere in God’s Word does it say we will all be angels in heaven sitting on clouds, playing harps, and dressed in white. That’s a Bugs Bunny cartoon. I hear this inference way too often when cherished loved ones die. People are hurt, they’re mourning deeply, and because of their lack of knowledge of God’s Word and their strong desire for their loved ones to be exalted in heaven, say something like, “well, he’s an angel with God now” or “God needed a new angel.” As much as that thought might somehow give us comfort, it’s just not rooted in the truth of God’s Word.
2) We all have guardian angels. Nowhere in God’s Word can you find that we each have an angel assigned to protect us. Let me just say this, if you have called upon the name of Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior, you have the absolute best guardian you could possibly ever have. You have the Holy Spirit of the Living God residing within you, guiding you and protecting you. (1 John 2:27) Why in the world do you need an angel? We’re reading in chapter one of Hebrews today that Christ is far superior to all angels, so what’s an angel going to do that the Holy Spirit of God can’t clearly do better? Yes, God may use an angel to protect us at times (Psalm 91:11) but we are never to pray directly to an angel or assume an angel somehow protects us outside of the command and will of God Almighty.
3) All angels fly. Angels are spiritual beings and can take many forms. When Gabriel and Michael appeared in scripture, they appeared in human-like form, sans wings. (side fact, only 3 angels are named in God’s Word, Michael, Gabriel, and the fallen angel, satan). In Isaiah an angel is described as having 6 wings, two covering his face, 2 covering his feet, and 2 made him fly. (Isaiah 6:2) So, we do know from this verse that angels can fly using wings but since they are spiritual beings, wings are not necessary for them to travel. The word angel in Greek is “aggelos” and means messenger. Angels are God’s messengers meant to deliver messages and information for God. And God will have them travel however He sees fit. They are not limited to wings to make them fly. For example, In Revelation 14:6 John mentions an angel flying overhead, but there is no mention of the angel having wings.
4) Angels can or should be worshipped. In the book of Revelation when John was addressed by an angel and fell to his knees in worship, the angel admonished him and clearly instructed John to not worship him. (Revelation 19:10). We must be very careful to understand angels for what they are, messengers for God. They are not above or on the same level of Jesus. They are created beings of God. They are not the perfect sacrifice sent to this planet to die for the sins of all mankind. Jesus is. They were not at the beginning of time, part of a Holy triune three-in-one Godhead. Jesus is. Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, angels are not. If you’re going to worship, worship the One that takes away the sins of the world, not an angel. And to combat this very idea of angel worship, God included Hebrews chapter 1 in His Word.
I pray that today you take time out of your busy day to stop, be still, and meet with God. Just like any other important meeting that you have scheduled today, He is worthy of your time. Schedule a meeting with God, meet him in a quiet place, close the door, and simply meet with Him by spending time in His Word. And just like any other important meeting, reduce all distractions. No phones, no email, no Facebook, no texting. Just you and God. It will be the best meeting you have all day.
Blessings to you ~ Dan
Note: There is a great book on angels by Billy Graham, "Angels, God’s Secret Agents", that I have read and if you’re looking for a good, factual study of angels that is based purely on God’s Word, I would highly recommend it.
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