Angel

In his late work Conjugal Love he describes, that a soul of a man and a soul of a woman are united by the marriage in heaven to become an angel. Titan is also thought likely to have a subterranean water ocean under the mix of ice and hydrocarbons that forms its outer crust. The Christian mystic Emanuel Swedenborg has a similar imagination. The distribution of these liquid regions will hopefully be better known after the full analysis of data from the Huygens probe of the Cassini-Huygens space mission, which dropped onto Titan's surface in January 2005. The Sufi mystic Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi wrote in his poem Masnavi:. Liquid hydrocarbons are thought to be present on the surface of Titan, though it may be more accurate to describe them as "lakes" rather than an "ocean". When the human body dies, a soul could become an angel. There is currently much debate over whether Mars once had an ocean of water in its northern hemisphere, and over what happened to it if it did; recent findings by the Mars Exploration Rover mission indicate it had some long-term standing water in at least one location, but its extent is not known.

Some mystics believe, that a soul is growing in steps from minerals, plants and animals to men. The planets Uranus and Neptune may also possess large oceans of liquid water under their thick atmospheres, though their internal structure is not well understood at this time. Crowley felt that attaining Knowledge and Conversation was so important, that he staked the claim that any other magical operation was, in a sense, evil. Other icy moons may have once had internal oceans that have now frozen, such as Triton. For Crowley, this event was the single most important goal of any adept:. However, liquid water is thought to be present under the surface of several natural satellites, particularly the Galilean moons of Europa, and, with less certainty, Callisto and Ganymede, as well as the Saturnian moon Enceladus. According to most Thelemites, the single most important goal is to consciously connect with one’s HGA, a process termed “Knowledge and Conversation.” By doing so, the magician becomes fully aware of his own True Will. Earth is the only known planet with liquid water on its surface, and is certainly the only such in our own solar system.

Citing Crowley, people have linked the term with the Genius of the Golden Dawn, the Augoeides of Iamblichus, the Atman of Hinduism, and the Daemon of the gnostics.Guardian Angel. Ancient oceans include:. Within the system of Thelema, the Holy Guardian Angel is representative of one’s truest divine nature. Continental drift has reconfigured the Earth's oceans, joining and splitting ancient oceans to form the current oceans. Aleister Crowley, tried to teach people to attain what he called "the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel". Important ship canals include the Saint Lawrence Seaway, Panama Canal, and Suez Canal. Note that if a particular deva has a widespread cult, like Vishnu or Shiva, he is believed not to be an ordinary deva but equated to Ishvara by his followers. The oceans are essential to transportation: a huge portion of the world's goods are moved by ship between the world's seaports.

Examples of such devas are Indra, Mitra, Ashvins, Varuna, etc. These lifeforms include:. Buddhism and Jainism also believe in the existance of such devas. The oceans are home to the majority of plant and animal life on Earth. They grant material benefits to humans upon praying and sacrificing to them, though they don't carry the message of Ishvara to the humans as in Abrahamic religions (a category of such beings also exit, called "devaduta" or "duta"). The Antarctic Circumpolar Current encircles that continent, influencing the area's climate and connecting currents in several oceans. They are celestial beings with supernatural powers, but also weaknesses. Ocean currents greatly affect Earth's climate by transferring warm or cold air and precipitation to coastal regions, where they may be carried inland by winds.

The Devas may be better translated as angels or demigods. One of the most dramatic forms of weather occurs over the oceans: tropical cyclones (also called "typhoons" and "hurricanes" depending upon where the system forms). Many Hindus now say that this is a poor practice, because the best word for God in Sanskrit is Ishvara (the Supreme Lord). A global image of many underwater features larger than 10 km was created in 1995 based on gravitational distortions of the nearby sea surface. In English, the Sanskrit word Deva is exclusively translated as "god", which certainly gives a polytheistic appearance to Hinduism. Much of the bottom of the world's oceans is unexplored and unmapped. Also, angel-like beings called Tennin and Tenshi appear in Japanese mythology. It was fully surveyed in 1951 by the British naval vessel, "Challenger II" which gave its name to the deepest part of the trench, the "Challenger Deep".

In Zoroastrianism, the Amesha Spentas have often been regarded as angels, but this is not strictly correct since they don´t convey messages, but are rather emanations of Ahura Mazda ("Wise Lord", God); they appear in an abstract fashion in the religious thought of Zarathustra and then later (during the Achaemenid period of Zoroastrianism) became personalized, associated with an aspect of the divine creation (fire, plants, water...). It has a maximum depth of 10,923 m (35,838 ft) [1]. Angels are also a part of New Age beliefs. The deepest point in the ocean is the Mariana Trench located in the Pacific Ocean near the Northern Mariana Islands. Michael the archangel was Adam (the first man) when he was mortal, and Gabriel lived on the earth as Noah (the one who built the ark). Travel on the surface of the ocean through the use of boats dates back to prehistoric times, but only in modern times has extensive underwater travel become possible. Names of some known angels who appeared are Moroni, Nephi, Peter, James, John, John the Baptist. One is outgassing of steam from the Earth's interior, which contributed to the atmosphere and, once the young planet had sufficiently cooled, produced rain; the other is the large numbers of comets which impacted with the Earth and added their water to it.

Although Cowdery, Whitmer, and Harris all eventually became disaffected with Smith and left the church, none of them retracted their statement that they had seen and conversed with an angel of the Lord, and indeed, even defended their claim of angelic visitation to their deaths. There are thought to have been two primary sources for the primordial water that formed Earth's oceans, with debate as to their relative importance. People who claimed to have received a visit by an angel include Joseph Smith, Jr., Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, Martin Harris. . described his first angelic encounter thus (Joseph Smith History 1:31-33):. See sea water for a detailed discussion of ocean water composition, most notably its salinity. Joseph Smith, Jr. 0.023 % of the Earth's total mass.

According to the official doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, (Bible Dictionary entry on "Angels"):. The total mass of the hydrosphere is about 1.4 × 10²¹ kg, ca. Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement (Mormonism), and several of his associates, claimed that they were visited by angels on multiple occasions and for a variety of purposes in conjunction with the restoration of the gospel of Jesus. This does not include seas not connected to the World Ocean, such as the Caspian Sea. Humans do not turn into angels upon death, rather they are physically ressurected in body and soul and judged by God on judgement day (and that should they end up in Jannah (heaven), they are given perfect bodies). Nearly half of the world's marine waters are over 3000 m deep. Every human being is assigned two angels to scribe a record of all actions done by the individual throughout their life, which will be used in evidence for or against the person by Allah on the day of judgement. The area of the World Ocean is 361 million km², its volume is 1370 million km³, and its average depth is 3790 m.

There are eight massive angels that support the Throne of God (Surat Al-Haaqqa, 69:17). (The Black Sea is connected to the Mediterranean through the Bosporus, but this is in effect a natural canal cut through continental rock some 7000 years ago, rather than a piece of oceanic sea floor like the Strait of Gibraltar.). The angels Nakir and Munkar are assigned to interrogate the dead before judgement day; and there are nineteen angels over-seeing the punishments of hell unflinchingly (Surat Al-Muddaththir, 74:30). The Mediterranean Sea is very nearly its own "ocean", being connected to the World Ocean through the Strait of Gibraltar, and indeed several times over the last few million years movement of the African Continent has closed the strait off entirely, making the Mediterranean a fourth "ocean". Other angels include Michael (Mikaeel) who discharges control of vegetation and rain, Sarafiel (Israfil) who will blow the trumpet on Yaum al Qiyamah (the day of resurrection), and Azrael (Izra'il), the angel of death. From this point of view, there are three "oceans" today: the World Ocean, and the Black and Caspian Seas that were formed by the collision of Cimmeria with Laurasia. The archangel Jibril is attributed with sending the message of Allah to all the Prophets (including the Psalms, Torah, Bible and Qur'an. Oceanic crust is the thin layer of solidified volcanic basalt that covers the Earth's mantle where there are no continents.

Angels, unlike the fiery nature of jinn, are beings of goodness and cannot choose to disobey God, nor do they possess the ability to do evil. Geologically, an ocean is an area of oceanic crust covered by water. He was one of the jinn..." (Surat Al-Kahf, 18:50). Smaller regions of the oceans are called seas, gulfs, straits and other names. Scholars cite the following Quranic ayat (verse), "And when We said to the Angels; "Prostrate yourselves unto Adam." So they prostrated themselves except Iblis. A few Oceanographers recognize only three oceans also, treating the Arctic Ocean (or the Arctic Sea) as a part of the Atlantic Ocean. According to the majority of Islamic scholars, angels are incapable of commiting sin, and therefore cannot fall from grace, excluding Iblis who chose to do evil because he had free-will and is not considered as a fallen angel, but a separate entity made of fire called jinn. The National Geographic Society and some other leading geographers and cartographers continue to use "South Pacific", "South Atlantic", and "Indian" Ocean for the waters around Antarctica.

As such, angels do not eat, procreate or commit sin as humans do. (The US authority is the United States Board on Geographic Names.) The IHO officially sanctioned the Southern Ocean name only in 2000, but its definition by a line of latitude (with IHO members widely disputing which line of latitude) has left its acceptance as a fifth ocean open to question. They can take on human form, but only in appearance. Some geographers and some governments but not the US, recognize the IHO as defining official water body names and boundaries. Angels are described as being excessively beautiful and have different numbers of wings (for example, Gabriel is attributed as having six-hundred wings in his natural form). This global, interconnected body of salt water, called the World Ocean, is divided by the continents and archipelagos into the following bodies, from the largest to the smallest: the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean (according to some authorities such as International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), and the Arctic Ocean. They are completely devoted to the worship of God (Allah) and carry out certain functions on His command, such as recording every human being's actions, placing a soul in a newborn child, maintaining certain environmental conditions of the planet (such as nurturing vegetation and distributing the rain) and taking the soul at the time of death. Ocean (from Okeanos, Greek for river, the ancient Greeks noticed that a strong current flowed off Gibraltar, and assumed it was a great river); covers almost three quarters (71%) of the surface of the Earth, and nearly half of the world's marine waters are over 3000 m deep.

In Islam, angels are benevolent beings created from light and do not possess free will. Iapetus Ocean, the southern hemisphere ocean between Baltica and Avalonia. Angels are thus the ministers of God, as well as the agents of revelation in Islam. Tethys Ocean, the ocean between the ancient continents of Gondwana and Laurasia. The belief in angels is central to the religion of Islam, beginning with the belief that the Qur'an was dictated to the Prophet Muhammad by the chief of all angels, the archangel Jibril (Gabriel). Panthalassa, the vast world ocean that surrounded the Pangaea supercontinent. Official doctrines of most Christian churches teach that the virtuous are resurrected in the end of times, having a physical body again, unlike angels (see Swedenborgianism for a church that does officially and systematically teach that people enter heaven immediately after death). krill.

The statement of 1Cor 11:10 could be interpreted, as if male angels could be vulnerable to the female attractiveness of worshipping woman. plankton. (Zechariah 5,9) could be interpreted, that there are also female angels. marine worms. male and female. crustaceans such as lobsters and shrimp. Flavius Josephus (Discourse to the Greeks concerning Hades, VI) teaches of ressurected men and woman, i.e. cephalopods such as the octopus.

The Bible does state that at the resurrection, people will be like the angels with regard to marriage and immortality (Luke 20:35-36), and teaches such a transformation for instance at 1Cor 15:51; it states that the saints (all believers) will judge angels (1 Cor 6:3). cetacea such as whales, dolphins and porpoises,. In many informal folk beliefs among Christians concerning the afterlife, the souls of the virtuous dead ascend into Heaven to be converted into angels. fish. Satan and the demons are thought by Christians to be angels who rebelled against God and were expelled from Heaven. However, for all practical purposes most Christian lay people know little or nothing of these views, and do not accept them.

Today, these views of angels are still technically acceptable within many mainstream Christian denominations. Some medieval Christian philosophers were influenced by the views of Maimonides, and accepted his view of angels. Certain Christian traditions, especially the Reformed tradition within Protestantism hold that references to the "Angel of the Lord" are references to pre-Incarnation appearances of Jesus. In the story of the 40 martyrs of Sebaste, in which 40 Christian Roman soldiers were made to stand naked on a frozen lake in the snow until they renounced their faith, angels were seen descending from Heaven placing the crowns of martyrs on their heads.

Each consecrated altar has at least one angel always present offering up prayers, and a number of angels join the congregation when they meet to pray. For instance, each Christian may be assigned a guardian angel at their baptism (although never defined by the Catholic or Orthodox churches, nevertheless it is personally held by many church members and most theologians). Some Christian traditions also hold that angels play a variety of specific roles in the lives of believers. For example the verse in Paul "our struggle is not with earthly things but with principalities and powers" (meaning according to most theologians the fallen angels of those choirs, used as an example of all the fallen angels).

Many of these names come from verses in the bible which would appear at first to be referencing a literal thing, although retroactively suggesting that they really mention angels can also make sense in the context. In this hierarchy, the Cherubim and Seraphim are typically closest to God, while the Angels and Archangels are most active in human affairs. The Celestial Hierarchy is the source of the names that have become part of tradition: Angels, Archangels, Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Dominions, Thrones, Cherubim, and Seraphim. Some Christian traditions hold that angels are organized into three major hierarchies which are subdivided into orders called "Choirs", and list as many as ten orders of angels.

The principle of continuity, however, seems to require the existence of beings intermediate between man and God. The creeds and confessions do not formulate any authoritative doctrine of angels; and modern rationalism has tended to deny the existence of such beings, or to regard the subject as one on which we can have no certain knowledge. Religious thought about the angels during the middle ages was much influenced by the theory of the angelic hierarchy set forth in The Celestial Hierarchy, a work of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, an unknown 5th century author or authors writing in the style of Dionysius the Areopagite. Furthermore, there are more angels than there are anything else in the universe (although when first written this would have probably not included atoms since atomic structure was not known).

Angels possess the beatific vision, or the unencumbered understanding of God (the essence of the pleasure of heaven). They also teach that angels are intermediaries to some forces that would otherwise be natural forces of the universe, such as the rotation of planets and the motion of stars. Scholastic theologians teach that angels are able to reason instantly, and to move instantly. Starting with the end of the 4th century, angels were depicted with wings, presumably to give an easy explanation for them travelling to and from heaven.

(Hence the frequently recounted tale of Scholastics arguing about how many angels could fit on a pinhead; if angels possess physical bodies, the answer is "at most a finite number", if they do not, then we rule out any finite number greater than zero as the answer.) Seraphim are often depicted as six wings radiating from a center — either concealing a body, or without a body. Angels are frequently depicted as human in appearance, though many theologians have argued that they have no physical existence. Indeed, the term "angel" frequently appears to describe not beings of power, but simply announcers of events. An interpretation of the angels in the gospels is that angels are simply humans carrying a divine message.

Among other things, they are seen gathered around the Throne of God singing the thrice-holy hymn. Angels fill a number of different roles in the Book of Revelation. When Peter was imprisoned, an angel put his guards to sleep, released him from his chains, and led him out of the prison. Two angels witnessed Jesus' ascent into Heaven and prophesied his return.

Alternately, in Mark 16:5 the angel is not seen until the women enter the already-opened tomb, and he is described simply as "a young man." In Luke's version of the resurrection tale (Luke 24:4), two angels suddenly apparate next to the women within the tomb; they are described as being clothed in "dazzling apparel." This is most similar to the version in John 20:12, where Mary alone speaks to "two angels in white" within the tomb of Jesus. 28:2, an angel appeared at Jesus' tomb, frightened the Roman guards, rolled away the stone from the tomb, and later told the myrrh-bearing women of Jesus' resurrection. In Matt. The archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary in the traditional role of messenger to inform her that her child would be the Messiah, and other angels were present to herald his birth.

There seems, however, no parallel to such a use of "angel", and it is doubtful whether the monarchical government of churches was fully developed when the Apocalypse was written. A less likely view is that the "angels" are the human representatives of the churches, the bishops or chief presbyters. These are probably guardian angels, standing to the churches in the same relation that the "princes" in Daniel stand to the nations; practically the "angels" are personifications of the churches. we meet with the "Angels" of the Seven Churches of Asia Minor.

1-3. In Rev. Angels occur in groups of four or seven (Rev 7:1). 2:10), thrones and dominions (Col 1:16).

8:38; Col. 9:11); ranks are implied, archangels (Michael, Jude 9), principalities and powers (Rom. The distinction of good and bad angels is recognized; we have names, Gabriel (Luke 1:19), and Michael (Daniel 12:1), and the evil angels Beelzebub, (Mark 3:22) and Satan (Mark 1:13); while the allegiance of some angels are more ambiguous, such as Abaddon or Apollyon (Rev. The New Testament takes little interest in the idea of the angelic hierarchy, but there are traces of the doctrine.

Naturally angels are most prominent in the Apocalypse. (to Jesus), Luke 1:26 (to Mary), Acts 12:7 (to Peter)); and Jesus speaks of angels as fulfilling such functions (E.g. Mark 8:38, 13:27), implying in one saying that they neither marry nor are given in marriage (Mark 12:25). In the New Testament angels appear frequently as the ministers of God and the agents of revelation (E.g. Matthew 1:20 (to Joseph), 4:11. Others might perhaps view Maimonides's statements as being perfectly in keeping with the continued evolvement of Jewish thought over a period of several millennia.

One can perhaps say that Maimonides thus presents a virtual rejection of the "classical" Jewish view of miracles; he and others substitute a rationalism that seems more appropriate for 20th and 21st century religious rationalists. This is explained in his Guide of the Perplexed II:4 and II:6. Instead, he says, the wise man sees that what the Bible and Talmud refer to as "angels" are actually metaphors for the various laws of nature, or the principles by which the physical universe operates, or kinds of platonic eternal forms. Even this can be highly misleading: Maimonides harshly states that the average person's understanding of the term "angel" is ignorant in the extreme.

Rather, all such interactions are by way of angels. The rationalist view of angels, as held by Maimonides, Gersonides, Samuel Ibn Tibbon, etc., states that God's actions are never mediated by a violation of the laws of nature. In the Middle Ages, some Jews developed a rationalist view of angels that is still accepted by many Jews today. Gabriel and Michael are mentioned in the book of Daniel, Raphael in the book of Tobit (from the Protestant Apocrypha or Catholic and Orthodox Deuterocanon) and the remaining four in the book of Enoch from the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox).

The archangels named in post-exile Judaism are Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Uriel, Raguel, Sariel, and Jerahmeel. Such a differing perspective on angels is discovered in the Book of Ezekiel, where these angels bear no relation whatsoever to the former understanding of what an angel was. Later biblical books in the Tanakh present a stunningly different view of angels, as the Jewish beliefs about such things developed over the many years covered in the Bible. The earliest Biblical books present angels as heavenly beings created by God, some of whom apparently are endowed with free will.

Traditional Jewish biblical commentators have a variety of ways of explaining what an angel is. Many Bible chapters mention an "angry God" who sends His angel to smite the enemies of the Israelites. These include the warning to Lot of the imminent destruction of Sodom. Angels appear in several Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) stories, in addition to the ones previously mentioned above.

2). ix. 10) may have been affected by the representation of the seven archangels and also possibly by the seven amesha spentas of Zoroastrianism (compare Ezek. 9, iv.

iii. The notion of the seven eyes (Zech. More than three hundred years before the Book of Daniel was written, Zechariah graded the angels according to their rank, but did not name them. Michael is Israel's representative in Heaven, where other nations—the Persians, for instance—were also represented by angelic princes.

In Daniel, however, there occur the names Michael and Gabriel. 30, the angels, when questioned, refuse to give their names. xxxii. 18, and Gen.

Consequently, they did not individualize or denominate them; and in Judges, xiii. The earlier Biblical writings did not speculate about them; simply regarding them, in their relations to man, as God's agents. 7). 26; Job, xxxviii.

i. In some places, it is implied that angels existed before the Creation (Gen. 18, an angel brought the divine word to the prophet. It is noteworthy that in I Kings, xiii.

Thus the prophet Haggai was called God's messenger (angel); and it is known that "Malachi" is not a real name, but means "messenger" or "angel". In the prophetic books, angels appear as representatives of the prophetic spirit, and bring to the prophets God's word. 7). vi.

This conception was developed after the Exile; and in the Zechariah, angels of various shapes are delegated "to walk to and fro through the earth" in order to find out and report what happens (Zech. 7). 2; Job, xxxviii. xxxiii.

They accompany God as His attendants, when He appears to man (Deut. "assembly of the saints"). V. V.; A.

7, R. lxxxix. 1); hence they are called His "council of the holy ones" (Ps. 6, ii.

19; Job, i. They constitute God's court, sitting in council with Him (I Kings, xxii. 2 et seq.). vi.

2; compare Isa. 20, cxlviii. 1, ciii. xxix.

They glorify God, whence the term "glorifying angels" comes (Ps. "Evil" is here to be taken in the causative sense, as "producing evil"; for, as stated above, angels are generally considered to be by nature beneficent to man. 49 are to be regarded as personifications of this kind. lxxviii.

It would seem that the pestilence was personified, and that the "evil angels" mentioned in Ps. 15, who annihilates thousands. xxiv. Avenging angels are mentioned, such as the one in II Sam.

5, 6). xxxv. 9); the enemy is scattered before the angel like chaff (Ps. xxx.

35); messengers go forth from God "in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid" (Ezek. There are angels militant, one of whom smites in one night the whole Assyrian army of 185,000 men (II Kings, xix. 11). 7, xci.

xxxiv. 5); and as God watched over Jacob, so is every pious person protected by an angel, who cares for him in all his ways (Ps. An angel brought Elijah meat and drink (I Kings, xix. 1), a human messenger of God is meant—addressed the whole people, swearing to bring them to the promised land.

iii. 13, Mal. i. 19, Ḥag.

xlii. 1) an angel of the Lord—unless here and in the preceding instances (compare Isa. In Judges (ii. 20.16).

23.20, Num. God sent an angel to protect the Hebrew people after their exodus from Egypt, to lead them to the promised land, and to destroy the hostile tribes in their way (Ex. Guardian angels were mentioned, but not, as was later the case, as guardian spirits of individuals and nations. Angels foretold to Abraham the birth of Isaac, to Manoah the birth of Samson, and to Abraham the destruction of Sodom.

Angels reveal themselves to individuals as well as to the whole nation, in order to announce events, either good or bad, affecting humans. In the Bible, angels are a medium of God's power; they exist to execute God's will. 10]; certainly in Daniel), and there came to be various kinds of angels; some even being provided with names, as will be shown below. 9, iv.

In post-Biblical times, the heavenly hosts became more highly organized (possibly as early as Zechariah [iii. 5 et seq.) and ofanim as heavenly beings who carry God's throne. i. 2) as having six wings; and Ezekiel describes the ḥayyot (Ezek.

The seraphim are described by Isaiah (vi. 24). iii. 2, Gen.

lxxx. 4, Ps. iv. God is described as riding on the cherubim and as "the Lord of hosts, who dwelleth between the cherubim"; while the latter guard the way of the Tree of Life (I Sam.

When, however, the heavenly host is regarded in its most comprehensive aspect, a distinction may be made between cherubim, seraphim, ḥayyot ("living creatures"), ofanim ("wheels"), and arelim (another name for Thrones). V.). 49, R. lxxviii.

9; Ps. lxiii. 1; Isa. iii.

16; Mal. xxiv. 23; II Sam. 16; Job, xxxiii.

xlviii. Angels are referred to in connection with their special missions as, for instance, the "angel which hath redeemed," "an interpreter," "the angel that destroyed," "messenger of the covenant," "angel of his presence," and "a band of angels of evil" (Gen. The inference, however, is not to be drawn that God Himself or one particular angel was designated: the expression was given simply to God's power to accomplish through but one angel any deed, however wonderful. Though the older writings usually mention one angel of the Lord, embassies to men as a rule comprised several messengers.

3): "Is there any number of his armies?" In the book of Revelation, the number is "a thousand thousands, and many tens of thousands". The general conception is the one of Job (xxv. 23). 6; Job, xxxiii.

lxxxix. 1; Ps. 6, ii. 19; Job, i.

14, 15; I Kings, xxii. v. 2; Josh. xxxii.

Jacob meets a host of angels; Joshua sees the "captain of the host of the Lord"; God sits on His throne, "all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on his left"; the sons of God come "to present themselves before the Lord" (Gen. The number of angels is enormous. 2). 18, xxv.

5; Job, iv. xiv. 28; Zech. 17, 20, xix.

xiv. 25; II Sam. 20, lxxviii. ciii.

When their duties are not punitive, angels are beneficent to man (Ps. Angels are portrayed as powerful and dreadful, endowed with wisdom and with knowledge of all earthly events, correct in their judgment, holy, but not infallible: they strive against each other, and God has to make peace between them. The use of wings suggests an original artistic convention merely intended to denote the figure as a spirit. Images of angels in Christian art are identical to prior depictions of gods such as Zeus, Eos, Eros, Thanatos and Nike, in pre-Christian classical art, and some divine beings in Mesopotamian art.

They are commonly depicted with halos. 21), as they are described in the Bible, and depicted in Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian art. ix. Angels are thought to possess wings (Dan.

This imagery is very similar to the description of Jesus in the book of Revelation. 5, 6). x. In the Book of Daniel, reference is made to an angel "clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude" (Dan.

16, 30, as standing "between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand". xxi. A terrible angel is the one mentioned in I Chron. It is worth noting that these angels carry items that are contempory to the time in which they visit (perhaps angels are bound by the technology which humans have achieved).

8 et seq.). i. 2, Zech. ix.

13, Ezek. v. 23, Josh. xxii.

Angels bear drawn swords or other destroying weapons in their hands—one carries an ink-horn by his side—and ride on horses (Num. Gradually, and especially in post-Biblical times, angels came to be bodied forth in a form corresponding to the nature of the mission to be fulfilled—generally, however, the human form. Though superhuman, angels can assume human form; this is the earliest conception. V.): "Who makes winds his messengers; his ministers a flaming fire." Some verses in the Apographya depict angels wearing blue or red robes but no such refrence occurs in the Protestant books.

4, R. civ. 15), as the Psalmist said (Ps. They are described as pure and bright as Heaven; consequently, they are said to be formed of fire, and encompassed by light (Job, xv.

2). iii. 11; Ex. 21, 22; II Kings, ii.

13; Judges, vi. xvi. Angels, or the Angel, appeared in the flames of the thorn bush (Gen. 9); some fly through the air; some become invisible; sacrifices touched by them are consumed by fire; and they may disappear in sacrificial fire, like Elijah, who rode to heaven in a fiery chariot.

xxix. 6; II Sam. 17, xiii. 5; Judges, vi.

2, xix. xviii. In the Hebrew Bible, angels often appear to people in the shape of humans of extraordinary beauty, and often are not immediately recognized as angels (Gen. In Jewish apocalypses especially, the imagination ran riot on the rank, classes and names of angels; and such works as the various books of Enoch and the Ascension of Isaiah supply much information on this subject.

100. The development of the doctrine of an organized hierarchy of angels belongs to the Jewish literature of the period 200 BC to A.D. The guardian angels of the nations in Daniel probably represent the gods of the heathen, and we have there the first step of the process by which these gods became evil angels, an idea expanded by Milton in Paradise Lost. above), but they belong to a different order of thought from the angels of Judaism and of Christian doctrine; and the passage in no way suggests that the bne Elohim suffered any loss of status through their act.

It is true that the bnē Elohim of that chapter are subordinate superhuman beings (cf. 6:2, as interpreted by the Book of Enoch. The Fall of the Angels is not properly a scriptural doctrine, though it is based on Gen. But in Tobit, we find Asmodeus the evil demon, τὸ πονηρὸν δαιμόνιον, who strangles Sarah's husbands, and also a general reference to "a devil or evil spirit", πνεῦμα (Tobit 3:8, 17; 6:7).

In Daniel, the princes, or guardian angels, of the heathen nations oppose Michael, the guardian angel of Judah. The statement (Job 4:18) that God "charged his angels with folly" applies to all angels. In the canonical Hebrew/Aramaic scriptures, angels may inflict suffering as ministers of God, and Satan may act as accuser or tempter; but they appear as subordinates to God, fulfilling His will, and not as independent, morally evil agents. In Tobit, too, we find the idea of the demon or evil angel.

12:15.). (Tob. Again in Tobit a leading part is played by Raphael, "one of the seven holy angels". 8:16; 10:13, 20-21), he is the guardian of Israel's leading Kingdom of Judah.

160 BC, 71 angels, usually spoken of as "men" or "Angel-princes", appear as guardians or champions of the individual nations, defending them as God sits in council with them over the world; grades are implied, there are "princes" and "chief" or "great princes"; and the names of some angels are known, Gabriel, Michael; the latter is pre-eminent (Dan. In Daniel, c. During the Persian and Greek periods, the doctrine of angels underwent a great development, partly, at any rate, under foreign influences. 400 BC, there is no reference to angels, apart from the possible suggestion in the plural in Genesis 1:26.

In the Priestly Code, c. The latter have been connected by Ewald and others with the later doctrine of seven chief angels (Tobit 12:15; Revelations 8:2), parallel to and influenced by the Ameshaspentas (Amesha Spenta), or seven great spirits of the Persian mythology. The seven angels of Ezekiel may be compared with the seven eyes of Yahweh in Zecharias 3:9, 4:10. In Psalms 78:49 the "evil angels" of the Authorized Version conveys a false impression; it should be "angels of evil", i.e. angels who inflict chastisement as ministers of God.

91:11, 103:20 &c.); they appear as ministers of God. Occasional references to "angels" occur in the Psalter (Pss. I Chronicles 21:1). Cf.

Similarly in the Job the bne Elohim, sons of God, appear as attendants of God, and amongst them, Satan (Hebrew ha satan), again in the role of public prosecutor, the defendant being Job (Job 1, 2. The Satan also appears to prosecute (so to speak) the High Priest before the divine tribunal (Zecharias 3:1). Somewhat later, in the visions of Zechariah, angels play a great part; they are sometimes spoken of as "men", sometimes as mal'akh, and the Mal'akh Yahweh seems to hold a certain primacy among them (Zecharias 1:11). As in Genesis, they are styled "men"; mal'akh, for "angel", does not occur in Ezekiel.

Ezekiel 9 gives elaborate descriptions of cherubim (a class, or type of angels); and in one of his visions, he sees seven angels execute the judgment of God upon Jerusalem. Ezekiel, as a prophet of the Exile, may have been influenced by the hierarchy of supernatural beings in the Babylonian religion, and perhaps even by the angelology of Zoroastrianism (it is not, however, certain that these doctrines of Zoroastrianism were developed at so early a date). Once the doctrine of monotheism was formally expressed, in the period immediately before and during the Exile (Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Isaiah 43:10), we find angels prominent in the Book of Ezekiel. Nevertheless we may well suppose that polytheists in ancient Israel believed in superhuman beings other than Yahweh, but that the inspired writers have mostly suppressed references to them as unedifying.

7, or the passage, at any rate in its present form, may be exilic or post-exilic. An angel of I Kings 13:18 might be the Mal'akh Yahweh, as in 19:5, cf. Thus, the pre-exilic literature rarely mentions angels, or other superhuman beings other than Yahweh and manifestations of Yahweh; the pre-exilic prophets hardly mention angels. In Isaiah 6 the seraphim, superhuman beings with six wings, appear as the attendants of Yahweh.

Similarly the "man" who wrestles with Jacob at Peniel is identified with God (Genesis 32:24, 30). In all these cases the angels, like the Mal'akh Yahweh, are connected with or represent a theophany. At Bethel, Jacob sees the angels of God on the ladder (Genesis 28:12), and later on they appear to him at Mahanaim (Genesis 32:1). 18:1 with 18:2, and note change of number in 19:17).

(J) the appearance of Yahweh to Abraham and Lot is connected with three, afterwards two, men or messengers; but possibly in the original form of the story Yahweh appeared alone (Cf. In Genesis 18, 19. There are the cherubim who guard Garden of Eden. However, there are a few passages which speak of subordinate superhuman beings other than the Mal'akh Yahweh or Elohim.

In earlier literature the Mal'akh Yahweh or Elohim is almost the only angel mentioned. Christians think that this foreshadows the doctrine of the Trinity, whereas Kabbalist Jews would show how it developed into kabbalistic theological thought and imagery. The identification of the Mal'akh Yahweh with the Logos, or Second Person of the Trinity, is not indicated by the references in the Hebrew scriptures; but the idea of a Being partly identified with God, and yet in some sense distinct from him, illustrates a tendency of Jewish religious thought to distinguish persons within the unity of the deity. The phrase Mal'akh Yahweh may have been originally a courtly circumlocution for the Divine King; but it readily became a means of avoiding anthropomorphism, and later on, when angels were classified, the Mal'akh Yahweh meant an angel of distinguished rank.

The Mal'akh Yahweh (or Elohim) appears to Abraham, Hagar, Moses, Gideon, &c., and leads the Israelites in the Pillar of Cloud (Exodus 3:2). Those who see the Mal'akh Yahweh say they have seen God (Genesis 32:30; Judges 13:22). Exodus 3:2, with 3:4; 13:21 with 14:19). The Mal'akh Yahweh is an appearance or manifestation of Yahweh in the form of a man, and the term Mal'akh Yahweh is used interchangeably with Yahweh (cf.

Prior to the emergence of monotheism in Israel the idea of an angel was the Mal'akh Yahweh, Angel of the Lord, or Mal'akh Elohim, Angel of God. The New Testament often speaks of "spirits," πνεύματα (Revelation 1:4). It is probable that the "hosts" were also identified with the armies of Israel, whether this army is human, or angelic. However, YHWH is very jealous of the distinction between Himself and angels, and consequently, the Hebrews were forbidden by Moses to worship the "host of heaven".

The identification of the "hosts" with the stars comes to the same thing; the stars were thought of as being closely connected with angels. The "hosts," צבאות Sebaoth in the title Yahweh Sebaoth (alternatively, Adonai Tzivo'ot), Lord of Hosts, were probably at one time identified with the angels. They are spoken of as the "host of heaven" (Deuteronomy 17:3) or of "Yahweh" (Joshua 5:14). Angels are referred to as "holy ones" (Zechariah 14:5) and "watchers" (Daniel 4:13).

See also: Names of God in Judaism. Genesis 6:2; Job 1:6; Psalms 8:5). Hence they came to be used collectively of super-human beings, distinct from Yahweh and, therefore, inferior and ultimately subordinate (e.g. judges or alternately, some kind of super powerful human beings).

members of the class of divine beings) were general terms for beings with great power (i.e. According to Jewish interpretation, 'Elohim is almost entirely reserved for the one true God; but at times 'Elohim (powers), bnē 'Elohim, bnē Elim (sons of gods)(i.e. 6, 8). 1]) and "the Holy Ones" (Psalms lxxxix.

v. V. 6 [R. 4; Job, i.

Other appellations are "Sons of God", (Genesis vi. 8). xii. The Biblical name for angel, מלאך ('malakh"), obtained the further signification of "angel" only through the addition of God's name, as "angel of the Lord," or "angel of God" (Zech.

"Angel" is also used in the English Version of the Bible for the following three Hebrew words:. The closest Hebrew word for angel is מלאך, mal'ach Hebrew word #4397 in Strong's, also meaning "messenger". The English word originated from Latin, angelus, which is itself derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, ángelos, meaning "messenger" (double gamma "γγ" is pronounced "ng" in Greek). .

An angel is an ethereal being found in many religions, whose duties are to assist and serve God or the gods. the obscure שנאן, shin'an Hebrew word #8136 in Strong's, in Psalms 68:17. אלהים, Elohim Hebrew word #430 in Strong's, Psalms 8:5. "mighty").

אביר, abbir Hebrew word #47 in Strong's, Psalms 78:25 (lit.