The term “angel” immediately conjures up a heavenly, spiritual being with wings. This reflexive image has long been conditioned. Yet, the angel is primarily a messenger. Only in context does it become clear whether the person in question is actually referring to a heavenly being or someone else entirely.
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Angel is not always an angel
The term “angel” automatically conjures up images of a heavenly, spiritual being, luminous and with two or more wings. In many places, they are depicted as female, although in the Bible, the only two names mentioned, Michael and Gabriel, both indicate masculinity. A special depiction can be found in the Roman Catholic Church.
According to their Babylonian-pagan tradition, also adopted from the mythology of Hellenistic Greece, small, fat, even naked children (putti) can be found in Catholic churches. A pagan depiction of childlike Eros figures (Erotes). In ancient Egypt, they were also known as the “child god” Hor-pa-chered. The equivalent in Ptolemaic Greece is Harpocrates. Small, fat child angels have also been found in excavations in the sunken city of Pompeii.
This depiction of putti as supposed angels, i.e., heavenly inhabitants, by the papacy with the Roman Catholic Church should not really come as a big surprise. For the beast from the sea (Revelation 13) blasphemes everything and everyone that has a connection with heaven (Info). Revelation 13:6 clearly states:
“And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.“
One is conditioned by the term angel
It’s understandable that the term “angel” immediately brings to mind a winged heavenly being. However, this isn’t automatically the case when the term angel appears in the Bible. “Angel” primarily means a messenger—nothing more, nothing less. The Greek word behind the term angel is “angelos.” This also applies to the Hebrew word “malak,” translated as angel. Both describe a messenger, or a bearer of a message. Now, it depends on the context whether it is actually a heavenly spiritual being, a direct servant of God, that usually comes to mind first, or someone completely different.
Angels – Also elders or pastors
Numerous examples demonstrate that the term “angel” is indeed used purely as a messenger, but has nothing in common with this winged heavenly being. Seven such “angels” are named in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. The seven letters to the churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea are each addressed to the “angel of the church.” It is clear that these are not heavenly beings who act as “doorkeepers” in front of such a church or are present there as heavenly representatives and contact persons. They are the church elders, or the current pastor.
The task of God’s people as ambassadors
Revelation 14 tells of three successive angels, each proclaiming their own warning message (Three Angels’ Messages). Here, too, these are not literal angelic beings from heaven, but other messengers. The proclamation of the warnings falls to none other than the last remaining believers who have remained faithful to God — the true people of God. It is their task, and so it is and will continue to be, to warn and admonish people. In short, to proclaim the truth of the gospel, as messengers, or in Greek, “angelos.”
Jesus Christ called an angel
The fact that even Jesus Christ is referred to as an angel in Revelation regularly provokes an outcry. This is blasphemy, a reduction of the Son of God to such a created, inferior being. If one only has such a created heavenly being in mind, then this would be true. But “angel” is primarily a messenger. And Jesus Christ is precisely such a messenger, proclaiming the will of the Father. This is also evident in Revelation. The very first verses make this clear:
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.” (Revelation 1:1-2)
Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Undoubtedly true. But also a messenger of God who also acts as a witness to the gospel. Jesus is the only one worthy to open the seven seals of the book. For He is also a “faithful witness” (Revelation 1:5) and a “true witness” (Revelation 3:14), who knows how to testify to the truth and also to report it. In other words, a messenger.
Revelation 22:18;20:
“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book:
He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen.“
Jesus Christ in Revelation 8
Revelation 8 contains a striking passage that clearly describes Jesus Christ with the “angel” mentioned there, Revelation 8:3-5:
“And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand. And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.“
The altar described is made of gold. This, in conjunction with the incense, undoubtedly refers to the incense altar, which stands in the sanctuary in front of the curtain leading to the Holy of Holies (Info). This “angel” performs the duties of the High Priest, and this can be none other than Jesus Christ. Furthermore, this excerpt also clarifies that people’s prayers should be spoken “in the name of Jesus Christ.” For it is Jesus who allows people’s prayers to flow and ascend through His hands, His incense, so to speak, in order to prepare them for a harmonious sound for the Father. Here, the forgiving and reconciling sacrifice of Jesus is at work.
His casting the censer to the earth at this point marks the end of His ministry as High Priest and Mediator. It is the end of the time of grace. “Voices, thunder, lightning, earthquakes, and even hail” also appear in this constellation in Revelation 11:19 after the sounding of the 7th trumpet and in Revelation 16:18-21 during the last plague. Clearly, this is the moment when all cases of life or destruction are decided and the gate is closed. The finale is ushered in, with the return of Jesus Christ as its climax.
Jesus Christ in Revelation 10
Revelation 10 also mentions an angel, but this angel can be none other than Jesus Christ himself. Revelation 10:1:
“And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:“
The rainbow is a sign of God’s covenant with humanity. This attribute belongs to no created angel, but only to God or Jesus Christ himself. The same applies to the “face of a sun.” The cloud and the pillars of fire parallel the guidance of the ancient people of Israel during their wanderings through the desert. By day, they followed the cloud, and by night, the visibly shining pillar of fire. Exodus 13:21-22:
“ And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.“
“The Lord” went before them, in a pillar of cloud or fire. Not a “simple” angel, but the Lord himself.
Jesus Christ and Michael
When discussing the topic of “angels” in connection with Jesus Christ, one inevitably encounters the Archangel Michael (Info). He is, incidentally, the only archangel described in the Bible. Other versions also describe Gabriel as an archangel, as well as other named angels. However, these only appear in the fantasy writings of the Apocrypha and other poems by Gnostics written under pseudonyms (Info). Thus, the canon of the Roman Catholic Church and also the “infamous Book of Enoch” contain content that is much closer to fables than to the Gospel.
“Michael and his angels fought against the dragon,” according to Revelation 12. The battle in heaven began, and Satan and his angels were thrown out of heaven, straight into the abyss, to the earth. Michael, from the Hebrew, means “he who is like God.” What created angelic being is or has ever been like God? None. There is only one who wanted to be. But this is the “ancient serpent, the devil, Satan, who deceives the whole world,” also described in Revelation 12. There is only one who is truly “like God,” and that is Jesus Christ.
Symbolic language is not a romantic design
This also shows that heavenly angelic beings, when referred to as such by the term “angels,” are also symbolized as stars. The messengers of God, the “stars of heaven” in symbolic language. When Satan cast himself down to earth, he took a third of the angels with him, as in Revelation 12:4. These fallen angels are also known as demons.
The language of biblical prophecy, especially in Revelation, is full of symbols (Info). Therefore, it is always worthwhile to consider the attributes of an “angel” and to observe the context in order to understand who or what it actually is, and why the term “angel” is used at all. In the Gospel, there are no colorful elaborations of the text to provide more variety and a better reading flow, as in a novel. Rather, every word given by God has its own specific meaning.
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:4
Bible verses from King James Version (1611)
