The Bible provides specific references to angels in 34 of its 66 books, and the word “angel” appears nearly 300 times in Scripture. The Bible classifies angels as either good (“elect” or “holy”) or evil. Good angels worship God and serve him faithfully. Evil angels include Satan and demons, who oppose God and his servants. 

In Angels Elect & Evil, C. Fred Dickason writes, “These two armies engage in a great warfare that exceeds human thought and affects the course of nations and the world.”

This brief study of angels focuses, not on subjective human experience or the popular media, but on the Word of God — the only truly reliable source of information on angels and demons.

Who are angels?

Angels are God’s messengers. The Hebrew and Greek words used in Scripture to describe angels simply mean “messenger.” The same words can depict human or divine messengers, and the context of the passage must determine which type of messenger the writer intended.

The commonly used Old Testament (Hebrew) word malak implies more than just a messenger. Sometimes, the messenger also mediates on behalf of the one who sent him.

The Greek word angelos is used nearly 200 times in the New Testament. The main idea is that angels are divine celestial beings with messages from God.

Colin Brown, in The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, writes, “Angels represented Yahweh’s omniscience and omnipresence, formed his court and attendants, and were his messengers. They were linked with the stars, the elements, natural phenomena and powers, which they ruled as God’s representatives … Angels are representatives of the heavenly world and are God’s messengers. When they appear, the supernatural world breaks into this one.” 

As God’s messengers, angels are not the cuddly creatures of common lore, but terrifying beings who bear the glory of God. In the Bible, humans react to angelic appearances with fright – often falling on their faces. That’s why the first words often spoken by angels in Scripture are, “Fear not.” While angels may be feared, they are never to be worshipped, for worship is reserved for God alone.

What do angels look like?

Angels are beings of dazzling light, suggesting that their home is in heaven with God, who is light (1 John 1:5). The presence of God often is manifested in Scripture as a luminous cloud – the shekinah glory. Angels, as God’s messengers, are bearers of that glory. 

The Bible depicts these beings of light in many ways. Hebrews 1:7, for example, calls them “flames of fire.” Revelation 10:1 speaks of a mighty angel whose “face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars.”

The angels who appear on earth in Scripture seem to fall into three broad categories:

(1) Cherubim and seraphim. While not strictly described as angels in Scripture, cherubim are among the first heavenly beings to appear in the Bible. They are the guardians of Eden, and they adorn the golden Ark of the Covenant. They have the form of a man, but with four faces (man, lion, ox, and eagle) and four wings, straight legs, feet like those of a calf, and the hands of a man. Seraphim are similar in description to cherubim and proclaim the holiness of God (Is. 6:1-3; Rev. 4:6-10).

(2) The Angel of the Lord. He appears in the historical books of the Old Testament as a man, or as an unexpected visitor. He is never depicted as having wings. A careful study of this angel’s appearances in Scripture leads to the conclusion that he is the pre-incarnate Christ. (See Jesus Before Bethlehem for a more complete exploration of this divine being.)

(3) Heavenly messengers. They materialize and then vanish. Not much physical detail is presented about them.

We take a closer look at angel names and ranks in our next post.

How many angels are there?

There are precisely 301,655,722 angels, if you believe the obscure calculations of 14^th century mystics. Others have wildly speculated that there are as many as 10,000 billion demons alone.

The Bible does not tell us exactly how many angels there are, but the number is great. Jesus said he could have called down 12 legions of angels – or roughly 72,000 – at the time of his arrest (Matt. 26:53). Moses sang that the Lord came from Sinai “with myriads of holy ones” (Deut. 33:2). 

The prophecy of Enoch recorded in Jude 14-15 gives us a glimpse of the number of angels who return with Christ: “Look! The Lord comes with thousands of His holy ones …” And the Apostle John looks and hears “the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures, and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands” (Rev. 5:11).

It’s clear that there are tens of thousands of angels, but the precise number is not currently known to man. The immense number reflects the vast power and wisdom of God. It appears their number is fixed, since they do not procreate or die (Matt. 22:28-30).

Where do angels come from?

Angels are created beings and, therefore, are not eternal. God created all angels, and the Bible implies that angels were all created at or near the same time. They were created as angels and did not evolve, nor do they have children. Perhaps that is why they are sometimes called “the sons of God” (Job 1:6; 2:1), indicating a direct creation of God.

The exact time of their creation is not certain, but Scripture indicates God created them before He fashioned the earth. We’re told that “all the sons of God” sang with joy at the creation of the earth (Job 38:7). Further, Satan appears in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3.

Norman Geisler, in The Doctrine of Angels & Demons, writes that angels “probably [were] created when God created the ‘heavens and the earth’ (Gen. 1:1) and definitely [were] created before the earth, for they sang when its cornerstone was laid (Job 38:6-7).”

A sequence of “angel history” generally accepted by the church goes like this:

(1) God created the angels and other heavenly beings, but we don’t know exactly when.

(2) Satan, who may have been an archangel, led a rebellion against God and took perhaps one-third of the angelic host with him.

(3) God created the material heavens and earth and everything in them, including humans.

(4) Satan, through his temptation of man, claimed the title deed to earth, over which he rules today as “the god of this age.”

(5) One day Christ returns with the holy angels to reclaim the earth for Himself and His faithful followers, casting Satan and his demons into the lake of fire (hell), where they are tormented night and day forever.

Next: Names and ranks of holy angels