What The Bible Says About Angels (Part One)
Do angels exist? Many people scoff at the existence of angels just as they scoff at the existence of God. They say that they have never seen an angel so they believe they do not exist. The truth is that I have never seen Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber or Kim Kardashian. Does that mean that they do not exist? I have only seen pictures and footage of them taken by people who claim that that is what they look like. The purpose of this article is to deal with what the Bible says about angels and to clear up some common misconceptions about them. The word “angels” comes from the Bible so it stands to reason that we should see what the Bible says about them. Find out all about angels in the Bible here without the misconceptions caused by human traditions.
There are different types of angels
Some people list all types of angels. However, let us not go further than the Bible leads on a Bible topic. The Bible points out only two types of angels – the cherub or cherubims and the seraph or seraphims. There are those that add “archangel” but we will deal with that in Part 3 of this series.
The Cherubims
Cherubims is the plural of cherub in the King James Version. The word comes from a Hebrew word meaning “sword.” Incidentally, these were the angels that stood with flaming swords guarding the entrance of the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve, having sinned, were driven out. These are the highest form of angels. They are the most mentioned type of angels in the Bible. They are mentioned a total of 69 times! Compare that to the seraphims that are mentioned only twice and that is in the same chapter in the book of Isaiah. The cherubims are mentioned as early as Genesis 3 in the Old Testament and as late as Hebrews 9 in the New Testament.
The Devil is a Cherub
Before the Devil became as evil as the spelling of his name suggests he was once God’s right-hand angel, to coin a phrase. Ezekiel 28:14 calls him an “anointed cherub.” He was known as Lucifer, meaning “Light-bearer.” However, pride got the better of him and he was cast out of Heaven with a host of angels that followed him. You can read about his fall from grace in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 as well as a description of him. Note that he is not beast-like figure with a long tail and a pitchfork. That is the depiction of him that he promotes so that people will not believe he exists and he will be able to do his evil work undetected.
The Seraphims
Seraphims is the plural of seraph. The word “seraph” comes from a Hebrew word meaning “burn.” As said before, they are mentioned only twice by the name “seraph” in the Bible and that is in Isaiah 6:2,6.
Disclaimer
I must state that it is not within the scope of this article to prove that angels exist. I wrote The Divine Inspiration of The Bible (Resources) | Relijournal which I believe will handle that question by giving resources in proving the inspiration of the entire Bible.
In Part Two we will look at how many angels there are, how many good angels compared to evil angels, a misconception about angels and other important facts. In Part Three we will look at who Michael the Archangel is.
Further reading
What Does The Bible Say About Life On Other Planets?
There are different types of angels
Some people list all types of angels. However, let us not go further than the Bible leads on a Bible topic. The Bible points out only two types of angels – the cherub or cherubims and the seraph or seraphims. There are those that add “archangel” but we will deal with that in Part 3 of this series.
The Cherubims
Cherubims is the plural of cherub in the King James Version. The word comes from a Hebrew word meaning “sword.” Incidentally, these were the angels that stood with flaming swords guarding the entrance of the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve, having sinned, were driven out. These are the highest form of angels. They are the most mentioned type of angels in the Bible. They are mentioned a total of 69 times! Compare that to the seraphims that are mentioned only twice and that is in the same chapter in the book of Isaiah. The cherubims are mentioned as early as Genesis 3 in the Old Testament and as late as Hebrews 9 in the New Testament.
The Devil is a Cherub
Before the Devil became as evil as the spelling of his name suggests he was once God’s right-hand angel, to coin a phrase. Ezekiel 28:14 calls him an “anointed cherub.” He was known as Lucifer, meaning “Light-bearer.” However, pride got the better of him and he was cast out of Heaven with a host of angels that followed him. You can read about his fall from grace in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 as well as a description of him. Note that he is not beast-like figure with a long tail and a pitchfork. That is the depiction of him that he promotes so that people will not believe he exists and he will be able to do his evil work undetected.
The Seraphims
Seraphims is the plural of seraph. The word “seraph” comes from a Hebrew word meaning “burn.” As said before, they are mentioned only twice by the name “seraph” in the Bible and that is in Isaiah 6:2,6.
Disclaimer
I must state that it is not within the scope of this article to prove that angels exist. I wrote The Divine Inspiration of The Bible (Resources) | Relijournal which I believe will handle that question by giving resources in proving the inspiration of the entire Bible.
In Part Two we will look at how many angels there are, how many good angels compared to evil angels, a misconception about angels and other important facts. In Part Three we will look at who Michael the Archangel is.
Further reading
What Does The Bible Say About Life On Other Planets?