Angels are, seemingly, everywhere. They are in movies, TV programs, songs, books, magazines, art, and even in people’s dreams/imaginations. But in addition to the popular culture, angels are found throughout the pages of the Bible. A search of the KJV1900 resource in Logos Bible Software (ver. 8.16), using the parameters {Label Supernatural Being WHERE Type ~ "Angel"}, returns 1,127 hits in 500 verses.[1] The results occur in no less than 37 of the 66 books of the Bible.[2] Nearly half of the total occurrences are found in these four books alone: Genesis (96 hits in 42 verses), Ezekiel (97 hits in 33 verses), Daniel (117 in 42 verses), and Revelation (272 hits in 110 verses).
Perhaps, this should not be surprising. “The innumerable hosts of angels” (2 Esd. 6:3, RSV; cf. Heb. 12:22), we are told, “desire to look into” (1 Pet. 1:12) certain things concerning our lives, viz. salvation (1 Pet. 1:10).[3] Paul said, “For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men” (1 Cor. 4:9; cf. 1 Tim. 5:21). If we are on stage[4] for angels to observe, then they must be curious creatures which have something to learn from us. Further, it is stated that man, who was created “a little lower than the angels” (Psa. 8:4-5; Heb. 2:6-7), shall, in a future day, “judge angels” (1 Cor. 6:3).
This all serves to illustrate that a close connection between the material and spiritual world does exist. The interests of man and that of angels (who also have ministries of service to us, cf. Heb. 1:14), is plaited together. It is no marvel, then, that numerous testimonies are given of people encountering angels.
Pick up almost any evangelical book on angels, and it will include stories about people who report coming into contact with spirit beings. A brief survey of some books by popular Christian authors reveals that these encounters fall into two broad categories.[5] There are those stories of people (supposed to be angels) who mysteriously show up at just the right time to save a life, and then furtively vanish. The other story line involves those who have a supposed angel appear to them, not in the appearance of flesh, but rather in some angelic form in order to deliver a message directly to them from God. Surprisingly, the ones to whom these “angels” appear do not tremble in fear but feel at peace. This should give us pause in light of the fact that when angelic messengers appeared in Scripture, their first words to their terrified recipients were, of necessity, “Fear not” (Dan. 10:12, 19; Mt. 1:20; Lk. 1:13, 30; 2:10; Mt. 28:5).
In these times of religiosity and renewed spiritualism, especially, one should be skeptical of the appearance of angels. The New Age movement is replete with appearances of spirits/angels who “guide” their adherents into some new “truth.” Many of these spirit guides claim to be angels of God, but in reality, are sycophants and minions of the Devil. They may appear truly “angelic,” but Paul warns: “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). Pay heed to the message: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (Gal. 1:8).
The danger of exalting angels in our thinking is that it tends toward angelolatry. Despite Catholic encyclicals to the contrary, Colossians 2:18 instructs, “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.” Lang observes, “Given the renewed interest in angels in recent years, it may be that some people are dangerously close to worshiping angels, or at least guilty of giving them more attention than they deserve. (Christian tradition is that we worship God alone, not human beings, not things, not even angels.) Colossians 2:18 quotes Paul warning the Christians at Colossae not to worship angels, so apparently this was a temptation [even] in the earliest days of Christianity.”[6]
Paul’s warning against angel-worship is no less significant in our day. The angels themselves would say to those who would bow before them, “See thou do it not…[rather] Worship God” (Rev. 19:10; 22:9).
With such a proliferation of angelic awareness, Christian, be wary of encountering angels. Angels may be everywhere, but we do not have to be numbered among those who see them in every cloud, nor meet them in person, in order to believe. The Bible tells us all that we need to know.
[1] This type of search uses Logos Bible Software proprietary tagging and includes every referent to spirit beings, other than the Holy Spirit (i.e. angel, angels, four beasts, the men, he, him, etc.). The data base used at the time of this search is version: DB:SD-SUPERNATURAL-BEINGS 2019-12-03T22:16:41Z SUPERNATURAL-BEINGS.lbssd. Accessed Sept. 25, 2020.
[2] In the Old Testament, angels are mentioned in 19 out of 39 books; the exceptions beings: Leviticus, Ruth, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, and Malachi.
In the New Testament, angels are mentioned in 18 out of 27 books; the exceptions being: Ephesians, Philippians, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, James, 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John.
[3] All Scriptures quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible.
[4] The Greek word translated “spectacle” in 1 Cor. 4:9 is θέατρον (theatron) from which we get our word “theater.”
[5] Angels: God’s Secret Agents by Billy Graham; The Facts on Angels by John Ankerberg and John Weldon; Angels: A Historical and Prophetic Study by Bob Glaze; Angels: The Strange and Mysterious Truth by David Jeremiah; God, Satan and Angels by John MacArthur, Jr.; The Angel Answer Book, by Robert J. Morgan, etc.
[6] J. Stephen Lang, 1,001 Things You Always Wanted to Know about Angels, Demons, and the Afterlife (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2000), s.v. Angelolatry, entry 476. Logos.