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Angels & Demons

Overview

Angels in the Mosaic Tradition

Angels are present in many stories of the Mosaic tradition. They carry out orders from God as God's messenger. They act as rescuers of the righteous and punishers of the enemies of God.

The "Angel of God" sometimes is presented as an earthly manifestation of God.

Present at Creation?

When God created the world, it seems it was witnessed by angels.

Then God said: Let us make humankind (Genesis 1:26)

Cf. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. ... when the morning stars sang together and all the "sons of God" shouted for joy? (Job 38:4,7).

Hagar

In the Torah, there is no mention of angels until the days of Abraham. After Hagar had conceived Abraham's child, she was sent out by Sarah, Abraham's wife. The angel of the LORD found Hagar.

The angel of the LORD found her [Hagar] by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur (Genesis 16:7).

Later, when Hagar and Ishmael were sent out by Abraham and Sarah, the Bible says that an angel ministered unto them.

And God heard the voice of the boy. Then the angel of God proceeded to call to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, "What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is" (Genesis 21:17).

Three Angels Visit Abraham

The Torah says that three angels visited Abraham while on their way to Sodom. These angels appeared in the form of men.

He looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground (Genesis 18:2).

Rescue of Lot

Two angels visited Lot:

The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

Cf. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. (Hebrews 13:2)

Two angels rescued Lot from the destruction of Sodom.

But he lingered; so the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and left him outside the city (Genesis 19:16).

Jacob

Is is said that Jacob had a variety of experiences with angels. One of these episodes was his famous dream.

He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it (Genesis 28:12).

An angel appeared to Jacob in another dream.

Then the angel of God said to me in the dream, 'Jacob,' and I said, 'Here I am!' (Genesis 31:11).

Later, angels met Jacob as he traveled.

Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him (Genesis 32:1).

At the end of his life, Jacob said.

The Angel who has delivered me from all harm, may he bless these boys. And may my name live on in them, And the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth (Genesis 48:16).

The Burning Bush

The Angel of the Lord appeared to Moses:

And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.

Passover Angel

The angel of death killed every firstborn, of both humans and animals, of those families who did not have blood placed over the door post. The families of those who placed the blood were passed over (Exodus 12).

Giving of Law

Angels were present at the giving of the law.

The LORD came from Sinai and dawned over them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran. He came with myriads of holy ones from the south, from His mountain slopes (Deuteronomy 33:2).

With mighty chariotry, twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands, the Lord came from Sinai into the holy place (Psalm 68:17).

Cf. Stephen's Speech in the Acts of apostles: "It was this Moses whom they rejected when they said, 'Who made you a ruler and a judge?' and whom God now sent as both ruler and liberator through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors. He received living oracles to give to us. You are the ones that received the law as ordained by angels, but you have not obeyed it" (Acts 7:35,38,53). Paul also emphasized the presence of angels at Sinai: "What purpose then does the Law serve? It was added because of transgressions, until the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator" (Galatians 3:19). And so does the writer f the Letter to the Hebrews: "For if the message declared through angels was valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just punishment" (Hebrews 2:2).

Warning To Balaam

God sent His angel to warn Balaam that he was disobeying the Lord.

But the donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your donkey, which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I been in the habit of treating you this way?" And he said, "No." Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road, with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed down, falling on his face. And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me. (Numbers 22:30-32).

Rebuke of Israel

An angel rebuked Israel for their idolatry.

Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, "I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you into the Land that I had promised to your ancestors. I said, 'I will never break My covenant with you. For your part, do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; tear down their altars.' But you have not obeyed My command. See what you have done! So now I say, I will not drive them out before you; but they shall become adversaries to you, and their gods shall be a snare to you." When the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voices and cried (Judges 2:1-4).

Conquest of the Land

The people of Israel is promise God's assistance in conquering the Land.

I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression; for my name is in him. 22 But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. 23When my angel goes in front of you, and brings you to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, 24you shall not bow down to their gods, or worship them, or follow their practices(Exodus 23:20-22)

At the Tme of the Judges

During the time of the Judges, the angel of the Lord is said to have cursed those who did not help the LORD against His enemies.

Curse Meroz, says the angel of the LORD, curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they did not come to the help of the LORD, to the help of the LORD against the mighty (Judges 5:23).

On the other hand, the angel of the Lord assisted the chiefs of the Israelites:

Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

The Angel of God Judged Israel For David's Sin

When David sinned by numbering the people of Israel, God judged them through the angel of the LORD.

But when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented concerning the evil, and said to the angel who was bringing destruction among the people, "It is enough; now stay your hand." The angel of the LORD was then by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. When David saw the angel who was destroying the people, he said to the LORD, "I alone have sinned, and I alone have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father's house" (2 Samuel 24:16-17).

And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw, and he relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. (1 Chronicles 21:15-16)

Elijah Was Strengthened By an Angel

The prophet Elijah was strengthened by an angel who brought him things to eat and drink.

Then he laid down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, "Get up and eat." He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and laid down again. The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, "Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you" (1 Kings 19:5-7).

An Angel Killed The Assyrians

The spread of an illness that killed a large number of the Assyrian army, is attributed to an angel of God:

That very night the angel of the LORD set out and struck down one hundred eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians; when morning dawned, they were all dead bodies (2 Kings 19:35).

How Angels were described

Ancient Israelites imagine angels as winged creatures, the same way in which heavenly creatures were imagines in Babylonian mythology.

Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. (Isaiah 6:2)

And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf's foot. And they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: their wings touched one another. Ezekiel 1:5-9

God's Worshipers

Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word! (Psalm 103:20)

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! (Psalm 148:1-2)

And one called to another and said, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:3)

Angels in the Wisdom Tradition

«Io formo la luce e creo le tenebre, faccio la pace e creo il male.

Io, Yhwh, faccio tutte queste cose [...].

Guai a chi contende con chi l'ha formato,

un frammento di vasi di terra con altri frammenti di vasi di terra.

Dirà l'argilla a chi la forma: “Che fai?”[...]».

[Is.45,7&9]

3 For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die;

a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted;

3 a time to kill and a time to heal;

a time to break down and a time to build up;

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn and a time to dance;

5 a time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 a time to seek and a time to lose;

a time to keep and a time to throw away;

7 a time to tear and a time to sew;

a time to keep silent and a time to speak;

8 a time to love and a time to hate;

a time for war and a time for peace.

[Qohelet 3:1-8]

All things come in pairs, one opposite the other,

[Sirach 42:24]

The Four (or Seven) Archangels

As early as the Book of Watchers, there are lists that include either four (1 En 9:1) or seven archangels (1 En 20:1-8). The names of Gabriel, Michael and Raphael are present in both versions. As for the other archangels, sources offer a diversity of names.

In the Aramaic text of 1 En 9:1, the four archangels are: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Sariel. These are the names that are also attested in the War Scroll (1QM IX 15 16). The Greek version, however, has "Uriel" instead of Sariel (it could be a scribal error or an intentional alteration, due to to the prominent role of Uriel in 1En 19-21; 72-82). In the book of the Parables, "Phanuel" appears instead of "Sariel" / "Uriel" (1En 40:8 9; 53:6; 70:11, 16). By identifying the four archangels with the four heavenly beings known from Ezekiel’s inaugural vision, 1En 40:9 points to Ezek 1 as to the possible biblical background of the concept of four supreme angelic princes. A similar connection between the four archangels and the beings at the four sides of God’s throne is also drawn in Rabbinic writings (Num. Rab. 2:10; Pesiq. Rab. 46:3; Pirqe R. El. 4), with the sole exception that it is again "Uriel" and not "Phanuel" who is included in the lists.

The tradition of seven archangels also seems to come from Ezek 9. Here, the visionary beholds six men with deadly weapons in their hands who are accompanied by a further, different figure with a writing case (Ezek 9:2). The earliest extant list that contains their names is only attested in 1En 20. The chapter provides the names of the angels that accompany Enoch on his eastward journey which is reported in 1En 21 36. It mentions Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Sariel, Gabriel and Remiel. The idea of seven archangels is stated in the Book of Tobit when Raphael reveals himself, declaring: "I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand in the glorious presence of the Lord, ready to serve him." (Tobit 12:15)

The Animal Apocalypse combines the two traditions. As four of the seven archangels are busy with the punishment of the Watchers, the remaining three can show Enoch to his watchtower. Together, all seven return at the time of the final judgment and lead the rebel angels before God’s throne where they are to receive their sentence (90:21). They remain unnamed.

The names of the four or seven archangels remains fluid in the Christian tradition, with the exception of Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Pseudo-Dionysius names the seven archangels as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Camael, Jophiel, and Zadkiel. Pope Saint Gregory I lists them as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel (or Anael), Simiel, Oriphiel, and Raguel. But there many other lists with different names, except the first three. In the Anglican tradition the "fourth" archangel is commonly identified as Uriel.

Bibliography

• The Four (or Seven) Archangels in the First Book of Enoch and Early Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period

In Depth

• Angels & Demons (sources) -- survey of ancient sources

Related categories

• Eschatology / Messiah / Devil

References

• Angels / Carol A. Newsom and Duane F. Watson / In: The Anchor Bible Dictionary (1992 Freedman), dictionary, 1:248-255

• Angels / Archie T. Wright / In: The Eerdmans Dictionary of Early Judaism (2010 Collins / Harlow), dictionary, 328-331

External links

• [ Wikipedia]