The Truth About Biblical Angels

The Truth About Biblical Angels In The Bible

The other day, my daughter and I were sitting at a family member’s dinner table when the subject of prayer and angels came up. It’s important to note the person we were speaking with identifies as Catholic, therefore she spoke about praying to certain angels. 

This family member told me and my daughter that we should pray to our angels. Immediately the Holy Spirit prompted my daughter and with boldness she said: “I pray only to the One True God”. I can’t explain how proud I was at that moment to witness my daughter who is 9 years old contend for the truth. If you knew my daughter you would know that she is meek and doesn’t like confrontation. She never wants to say anything that could hurt someone’s feelings or offend them in any way. Which is why I was taken aback when I heard her speak with such boldness. 

The person we were speaking to replied to what my daughter said, “I pray to God too, but you can also pray to your angels”, said this family member. My daughter wasn’t having it, she repeated with confidence, “I pray only to the One True God, not angels”. My daughter was right in what she said and as I was reflecting on what happened at the dinner table a few things came to mind. I thought about all the angel imagery that adorned this family member’s house. I also thought about the Catholic teachings about angels that were not in line with scripture. It was no surprise that so many people were misinformed on the truth about angels with constant inaccurate depictions and teachings. While thinking about all these points I was prompted to expand on this topic in a post. 

Inaccurate View Of Angels

If I ask you to envision in your mind what an angel looks like, you would most likely think of glowing heavenly beings whose appearance is in human form. Much like many of the artistic renderings portrayed in paintings throughout time. Kind and attractive, with white wings, topped with halos and carrying a harp in one hand. These are the images that come to the mind of most people if you ask them to describe angels, and it is completely inaccurate. Scripture describes to us the different types of biblical angels and gives us a glimpse into their appearance and most people would be shocked at what the Bible says about angels. 

Duties Of Angels

Angels are servants of The Most High God, they are not timid beings flying around with harps and it would be a disservice to yourself to think of them in that way. In the Bible whenever someone was in the presence of an angel they often fell to their knees or flat onto their faces in terror and awe. Whenever this took place the angel would urge the individual to get up, explaining they are merely a messenger/servant of God. Angels have many roles mentioned throughout the Bible, here are a few of them, but definitely not all.

Messengers of God

This is the most well-known job description in which angels bring God’s messages to man. This can be through answered prayers like in Acts 12: 1-17 when an angel broke Peter out of prison. Angels can likewise reveal God’s will to man through various other means. In Genesis 22, an angel appeared to Abraham and stopped him from sacrificing his son Issac.

Protectors

They protect God’s people, like when Daniel was thrown into the den of lions and angels were sent to shut the mouths of the lions. In Genesis 3:24, Adam and Eve were banished, and an angel was placed to protect the entrance to the Garden of Eden with a flaming sword.

Worshippers

They surround the throne of God declaring praises unto him, which can be found in Revelations and Isaiah. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come”. (Revelation 4:8)

Heavenly Escorts

In Luke 16, angels carried away Lazarus after he had died. Angels escorted Daniel in the spiritual realms during his heavenly visions.

Ministering Angels

Ministering spirits, sent to strengthen and encourage. After Jesus was tempted by Satan ministering spirits were sent unto him. In 1 Kings, they helped Elijah when he was depressed and wanted to die. An angel touched him telling him to eat, and he did and it sustained him during his journey to Mt Sinai.

Warring Angels

These angels are sometimes used to carry out God’s swift judgment and wrath on sin. In 2 Kings, an angel smote the Assyrian camp. Also, the angel of death was brought upon Egypt to kill the first-born son’s. In Revelation 12: 7-12, angels are fighting against Satan and his demons.

The notion that people have about angels is flawed. Scripture reveals the truth of what angels are actually like in Revelations and Ezekiel. There is mention of heavenly creatures referred to as “living creatures” that surround the throne of God. (Ezekiel 1: 5-14). These creatures appear as an ox, an eagle, a lion, and a man. These a representative of the categories of God’s creation of birds, humans, wild beasts and domesticated animals. (Revelation 4: 6-8). When angels appear to mankind, they usually take on the appearance of humans. Often not even recognized as angels. Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels”.

Angel Worship and Idolatry

Like my relative, most religious people adorn their homes in artwork, statues, and souvenirs of angels. You see this most frequently among Catholics. You yourself might have an angel hanging from your rearview mirror in your car that you pray to in asking for protection. Maybe you wear a charm around your neck of an angel and at times you grasp it and pray. What does the Bible say about this? You may be shocked to learn that we are instructed NOT to do these things. Many people assume that it is acceptable for a believer to do these things since angels are heavenly hosts.

Exodus 20:4 says, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of anything] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth,”.

Let’s break this verse down for a better understanding. The first line of Exodus 20:4 says, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image”. We first have to identify what a graven image is. A graven image is anything man-made such as art, statues, pendants, and carvings used for the purpose of worship.

 Now that we recognize what a graven image is, let’s examine the next line in the verse. The verse goes on to explain, “or any likeness [of anything] that [is] in heaven above”. This could be anything from angels to the sun, moon, and stars. There are many religions that worship symbols of such things and it is important that believers do not fall into those same practices. For example, angels are heavenly beings and most assume it is therefore alright to pray to them. Catholics practice this and often carry around or keep cards of angels and departed saints. If you prefer to get really technical, the deceased saints can likewise be considered in this category. Catholic’s believe in praying to the dead saints that are in heaven, if they do this then they are going against what is strictly forbidden. Remember, anything put in place of God is idolatry. If you are praying to angels or dead saints, you are committing idolatry.

The final part of the verse says, “or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth”. It says in the earth, this would be any animals, ox, goat, elephant or cow to mention a few. Lastly, it says “or that [is] in the water under the earth”, like fish and aquatic life as well as the mythical ones like mermaids.

 Many cultures and religions around the world worship animals for their association with a particular deity or solely because they are deemed sacred and holy. Ancient civilizations would worship animals because of their ability to do what humans could not. Whether it be a bird’s ability to fly or the strength or speed of a wild beast of the land. Because of these beliefs, the people of these cultures would make statues of these animals and even build temples as a place to worship them. Whether it is the worship of deities, animals, angels, or saints they are all recognized forms of idol worship and are forbidden by God.