What About Angels
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
1 Corinthians 2:9
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
John 14:1-3
How many angels are there?
Only three angels are identified by name in the Bible: Gabriel (Daniel 8:16), Michael the archangel (Daniel 10:13), and Lucifer the fallen angel (Isaiah 14:12). Yet angelic beings are mentioned at least 273 times in 34 books of the Bible. While we don’t know exactly how many angels there are, we do know from Scripture that an exceedingly large number of angels exist.
The book of Hebrews describes a multitude of angels in heaven that are too great to count: “You have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering” (Hebrews 12:22, NLT). Other Bible translations use terms like “innumerable” (ESV), “myriads” (CSB), and “thousands upon thousands” (NIV) to quantify this enormous throng of angels. The impressive picture expands in the book of Revelation: “Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders” (Revelation 5:11). Other Bible versions use “myriads of myriads” (ESV) and even “millions” (NLT) here to express how many angels there are in heaven.
While the Bible leaves the precise number of angels unspecified, some believe there could be as many angels in existence as the total number of humans in all of history. This theory is based on Matthew 18:10: “Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father” (NLT). The passage seems to suggest that individual people, or at least children, have guardian angels to protect them. It’s possible, though, that Jesus was speaking here only in general terms regarding the function of angels as protectors of children. In any case, Scripture is clear that angels do guard and protect human beings (Psalm 34:7; 91:11–12; Matthew 18:10; Acts 12:9–15).
The Bible describes different classifications of angels. Some angels—the cherubim and seraphim—are described as winged creatures. Cherubim primarily attend the throne of God as guards, while it seems the seraphim attend His throne by offering worship and praise. (Ezekiel 1:4–28; 10:1–22; Isaiah 6:2–6). The Bible speaks of angels of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) and fallen angels (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6).
Angels perform different tasks in the Bible. Some angels are God’s messengers (Daniel 4:13). Other angels are servants of God (Psalm 103:20; Hebrews 1:7; Psalm 104:4). “Watcher angels” are mentioned in the book of Daniel (Daniel 4:13, 17, 23). Angels are often described as military “hosts” of the celestial armies (Jeremiah 5:14; 38:17; 44:7; Hosea 12:5). Other times angels are called “sons of the mighty” (Psalm 89:6) or “sons of God” (Job 2:1).
A few passages of Scripture describe angels as stars (Revelation 9:1; 12:4; Job 38:7–8; Daniel 8:10; Judges 5:20). The idea of stars may give us our best clue as to how many angels there are. If angels are like the stars in heaven, they are too many to count. Moses says in Deuteronomy 33:2 that the Lord came to speak to him from Sinai with “myriads of holy ones,” or angels. How many are myriads? The primary definition of myriad as an adjective is “innumerable,” or “countless.” Psalm 68:17 says the angels of God number “tens of thousands, thousands and thousands” (CSB). Clearly, the writer has trouble even coming close to estimating the number of angels in existence.
Are angels male or female?
The question of whether angels are male or female is likely moot. Angels are spirit beings (Hebrews 1:14), and therefore assigning them a gender is pointless. The most we can say is that Scripture depicts angels as if they were male.
Every reference to angels in Scripture is in the masculine gender. The Greek word for “angel” in the New Testament, angelos, is in the masculine form. In fact, a feminine form of angelos does not exist. There are three genders in grammar—masculine (he, him, his), feminine (she, her, hers), and neuter (it, its). Angels are never referred to in any gender other than masculine. In the many appearances of angels in the Bible, never is an angel referred to as “she” or “it.” Furthermore, when angels appeared, they were always dressed as human males (Genesis 18:2, 16; Ezekiel 9:2). No angel ever appears in Scripture dressed as a female.
The only named angels in the Bible—Michael and Gabriel—are referred to in the masculine. “Michael and his angels” (Revelation 12:7); “Mary was greatly troubled at his [Gabriel’s] words” (Luke 1:29). Other references to angels are always in the masculine gender. In Judges 6:21, the angel holds a staff in “his” hand. Zechariah asks an angel a question and reports that “he” answered (Zechariah 1:19). The angels in Revelation are all spoken of as “he” and their possessions as “his” (Revelation 10:1, 5; 14:19; 16:2, 4, 17; 19:17; 20:1). The devil, whom we assume is a fallen angel, is also referred to in masculine terms: he is a “father” in John 8:44.
Some people point to Zechariah 5:9 as an example of female angels. That verse says, “Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.” The problem is that the “women” in this prophetic vision are not called angels. They are called nashiym (“women”), as is the woman in the basket representing wickedness in verses 7 and 8. By contrast, the angel that Zechariah was speaking to is called a malak, a completely different word meaning “angel” or “messenger.” The fact that the women have wings in Zechariah’s vision might suggest angels to our minds, but we must be careful about going beyond what the text actually says. A vision does not necessarily depict actual beings or objects—consider the huge flying scroll Zechariah sees earlier in the same chapter (Zechariah 5:1–2).
In Matthew 22:30 Jesus says that there will be no marriage in heaven because we “will be like the angels in heaven.” This verse states that angels do not marry, but it stops short of commenting on their “gender.” Nothing in Jesus’ statement can be taken to imply that angels are masculine, feminine, or neuter.
God is spirit (John 4:4) and does not have a “gender” any more than the angels do. At the same time, God almost always refers to Himself in masculine terms. The exceptions are in certain metaphors and in a couple of constructions in which the Holy Spirit is referred to with a neuter intensive pronoun, in grammatical agreement with the neuter noun pneuma (“spirit”). In like manner, Scripture refers to angels, which are spirit beings, using masculine terminology.
In what ways are angels and humans different?
Angels have captured the human imagination since the beginning of time. Perhaps the most intriguing quality of angels is that they sometimes abandon their unseen existence in the spirit realm to take on human resemblance and interact with us. For many reasons, angels fascinate humans. Angels are different from us; they are unique creations of God that, at present, can only be effectively perceived through the lens of Scripture.
The words for “angel” in Hebrew and Greek signify a “messenger,” which designates the office or official function of such a being. Angels were created to be God’s messengers, sent out to serve His purposes. In some ways, angels are like humans. They are superior beings created by God with intelligence, morality, and spirituality. They worship God and carry out His will on earth (Psalm 103:20). Like humans, angels possess limited knowledge (Matthew 24:36), although the Bible indicates that angels have greater knowledge and higher rank than humans (Hebrews 2:7–9; Mark 13:32). One purpose of angels is to serve God’s people (Hebrews 1:14). God commissions angels to protect His people (Psalm 91:11–12), deliver them from danger (2 Kings 19:35), transmit divine messages (Hebrews 2:2), give guidance (Exodus 23:20), and encourage believers (1 Kings 19:5–7).
The Bible reveals a host of ways angels are different from humans. Angels are spirit beings (Hebrews 1:14), meaning they do not have a physical body. Humans are set apart from all other created beings because they have both a material body and an immaterial soul or spirit. Since angels are immaterial and incorporeal, they do not experience physical suffering and harm like human beings do, nor do they experience physical death (Luke 20:36).
God is also a Spirit being, but His nature is infinite, while angels are finite spirit beings. The spiritual nature of angels does not prevent them from making their presence known to humans; usually, when they appear to people, angels portray themselves in the form of human men (Daniel 8:16; 9:21). They have appeared to people in visions and dreams (Matthew 1:20; Isaiah 6:1–8) and in a conscious, awakened state (Genesis 19:1–8; Mark 16:5; Luke 2:13).
The Bible often ascribes to angels superhuman characteristics quite different from what ordinary people possess. In various places, certain types of angels are said to have “eyes like flaming torches,” legs “like fiery pillars,” and “six wings” (Daniel 10:5–7; Isaiah 6:2; Revelation 10:1–3; 15:6; 18:1). Angels are “far greater in power and strength” than humans (2 Peter 2:11, NLT; see also 2 Thessalonians 1:7). Angels wage spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:12).
The author of Hebrews stresses angels’ swift and subtle nature as they perform God’s will: “He sends his angels like the winds, his servants like flames of fire” (Hebrews 1:7, NLT). In Peter’s dramatic escape from prison, a brightly lit angel appeared out of nowhere, slipped undetected by several guards, released chains, passed through heavy iron gates, and set the apostle free before he knew what had hit him. Just as suddenly, the angel disappeared (Acts 12:6–10).
Unlike humans, who are born with a sin nature (Romans 5:12), all angels were created originally as holy creatures (Jude 1:6; see also Ezekiel 28:15). Some were “the elect angels” who remained faithful to God (1 Timothy. 5:21), while others exercised their free will to rebel against God and sinned (2 Peter 2:4). Christian theology proposes that angels underwent a sort of probationary test in which all had the opportunity to remain in their original state of holiness. The elect—those who successfully passed the test and did not rebel—were confirmed in holiness forever. Those who failed became “unclean spirits” or “demons” (Mark 1:23; Luke 8:2; 11:24) and are now confirmed in their evil, rebellious state.
Angels differ from humans in that they are not the objects of God’s salvation (1 Peter 1:10–12). Although they cannot experience God’s saving grace themselves, angels are intently interested in its application to humans (Luke 15:10; 1 Corinthians 4:9; Ephesians 3:10). Only humans are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26–27) to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). The rebellious angels were not given an opportunity for their sins to be forgiven. Instead, they are awaiting “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). Humans, however, can be forgiven of their sins and redeemed by God’s grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8–9; Romans 10:9–10). Humans were made “a little lower than the angels” (Hebrews 2:7, 9). Yet, once saved, resurrected, and glorified, believers will judge the angels (1 Corinthians 6:3).
Angels and humans are decidedly different, though they share some similarities. Angels are not our dearly departed loved ones. They are not people who have died, nor are they glorified humans (Hebrews 12:22–23). Jesus taught that angels do not marry or procreate as humans do (Matthew 22:30). Angels (and not humans) were present when the earth was created, and they shouted joyfully to God (Job 38:4–7). Although angels are special and unique creations of their own, only humans are recipients of God’s redeeming love, as demonstrated through Jesus Christ (John 3:16).
What does Satan look like?
The closest the Bible comes to describing what Satan and the demons look like is in 2 Corinthians 11:14, “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” The surrounding verses refer to Satan’s human servants disguising themselves as “apostles of Christ” and “servants of righteousness.” In context, these descriptions are referring to false teachers. But the principle surely applies to demons as well.
One problem—and it’s a big one—with trying to describe what Satan and demons look like is that they are spirits. Spirits are, by definition, non-physical, and it is impossible to assign physical features to a non-physical entity. As spirit beings, demons do not have noses, eyes, hands, feet, tails, or anything else that we might look for in drafting a description. That’s one reason why the Bible never describes Satan’s appearance. Even the “angel of light” description in 2 Corinthians 11:14 is not meant as a sketch of his appearance; rather, it means to emphasize the deceitful nature of Satan. The devil wants us to believe he is truth when in reality he is falsehood.
Now that we’ve established that Satan is an angel, a spirit being, having no physical likeness that can be grasped by our senses, we can do some surmising. Should Satan decide to make a physical appearance—if he manifested himself to us visibly—he would do so in a deceptive manner.
The common, pop culture portrayal of Satan as a scary-looking, goat-like beast with horns is not found in the Bible. Prior to his rebellion against God, Satan was a beautiful, glorious being (see Ezekiel 28:12–15). What Satan “looks like” now is a mystery. Based on 2 Corinthians 11:14, though, we can know one thing for certain: Satan deceives people into thinking he is an angel of light. For Satan to reveal himself as the evil, murderous being that he is would be counterproductive. Most people would not follow the hateful, malicious maniac of conventional portrayals. Just as sin often looks attractive at first—only later revealing that it leads to death—so Satan would seek to deceive us by appearing as something other than evil.
The same is likely true of the demons. What do demons look like? No one in the Bible ever saw one outside of Micaiah’s and John’s divine visions; Micaiah did not provide visual details, and John, using apocalyptic symbolism, wrote of spirits “like frogs” (see 1 Kings 22:21–22 and Revelation 16:13). If demons were to take visible form, they would choose whatever would further their deception. As fallen angels, the demons are intelligent and powerful beings. And they are led by perhaps the most powerful created being (Jude 1:9), Satan, whose example they follow. The demons appearing as the evil beings they really are would hinder their mission of deception and temptation.
What does Satan look like? What do demons look like? There is no way to know for certain. If they did appear, they would put on a masquerade. Deception always wears a mask. Satan and the demons attempt to portray themselves as servants, guides, and “light” for people. But, make no mistake, “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10).
No matter what Satan would like us to think about himself, we know the truth: “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). And we know his end: “And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” (Revelation 12:9).
Do we have guardian angels?
Matthew 18:10 states, “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” In the context, “these little ones” could either apply to those who believe in Him (v. 6) or it could refer to the little children (vs. 3-5). This is the key passage regarding guardian angels. There is no doubt that good angels help protect (Daniel 6:20-23; 2 Kings 6:13-17), reveal information (Acts 7:52-53; Luke 1:11-20), guide (Matthew 1:20-21; Acts 8:26), provide for (Genesis 21:17-20; 1 Kings 19:5-7), and minister to believers in general (Hebrews 1:14).
The question is whether each person—or each believer—has an angel assigned to him/her. In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel had the archangel (Michael) assigned to it (Daniel 10:21; 12:1), but Scripture nowhere states that an angel is “assigned” to an individual (angels were sometimes sent to individuals, but there is no mention of permanent assignment). The Jews fully developed the belief in guardian angels during the time between the Old and New Testament periods. Some early church fathers believed that each person had not only a good angel assigned to him/her, but a demon as well. The belief in guardian angels has been around for a long time, but there is no explicit scriptural basis for it.
To return to Matthew 18:10, the word “their” is a collective pronoun in the Greek and refers to the fact that believers are served by angels in general. These angels are pictured as “always” watching the face of God so as to hear His command to them to help a believer when it is needed. The angels in this passage do not seem to be guarding a person so much as being attentive to the Father in heaven. The active duty or oversight seems, then, to come more from God than from the angels, which makes perfect sense because God alone is omniscient. He sees every believer at every moment, and He alone knows when one of us needs the intervention of an angel. Because they are continually seeing His face, the angels are at His disposal to help one of His “little ones.”
It cannot be emphatically answered from Scripture whether or not each believer has a guardian angel assigned to him/her. But, as stated earlier, God does use angels in ministering to us. It is scriptural to say that He uses them as He uses us; that is, He in no way needs us or them to accomplish His purposes, but chooses to use us and them nevertheless (Hebrews 1:7). In the end, whether or not we have an angel assigned to protect us, we have an even greater assurance from God: if we are His children through faith in Christ, He works all things together for good (Romans 8:28-30), and Jesus Christ will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5-6). If we have an omniscient, omnipotent, all-loving God with us, does it really matter whether or not there is a finite guardian angel protecting us?