The Doctrine of Angels

RV103-01

John's Exile on the Isle of Patmos

Domitian

The Book of the Revelation

So, this book came out of that kind of an agonizing background. John has been struck in a vision by one magnificent future scene after another of God's throne room, as the curtain is about to rise on the portrayal of the final days of mankind under Satan's rule. That future is recorded in the book, which John sees being held in the Father's hand. The book has seven seals upon it, which mark off major sections of the revelation. This book contains the divine judgments by God upon mankind for the rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ and the divine viewpoint of Scripture. The seven-sealed book is the record of events by which Jesus Christ will become the King of Kings and Lord of Lords upon the earth. It is, in fact, His title deed to the earth. No one is found who is qualified to break the seals and to claim the authority over the earth except Jesus Christ. He is declared worthy in the heavenly scene because He died on the cross as the sinless Lamb of God to pay the penalty of death for human sin.

John actually stands speechless and awed by the glorious things that he is seeing and hearing in God's heavenly throne room. The dramatic scene continues where we pick it up now. In Revelation 5:11, John says, "And I beheld and heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the living creatures and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands." Verse 11 begins with the word "and" which indicates John's continuing description of the heavenly throne room.

John says that he "beheld" something. The word "beheld" is an important word. It looks like this in the Greek Bible: "horao." The word "horao" refers to the physical act of seeing something with the human eye. It connotes an overall panoramic type of observation rather than one that is focused in on a single object. The Greek language has another word that talks about focusing in on a single object. This word "horao" is the overall view. So, John is still taking in the big picture in his vision – the overall scene in the throne room. Each new facet of the big picture adds to John's amazement and to his awe in the overall scene that he is viewing. He sees the scene clearly, and he mentally grasps what is before him. That's what the word means. He actually is seeing this.

In the Greek language, the tense is aorist, which indicates that he's taking this whole thing in as a glance. It's in active voice, which tells us that John is actually seeing something. He is not having a hallucination. These things are actually taking place. He is actually there in the midst of them. It is a statement of fact that he is an observer in the throne room. This word "horao" is used 44 times in the book of the Revelation. It's a word that is repeatedly used to stress that John is a spectator. He is a spectator on the scene.

Then he says not only does he see something, but he hears. The word "hear" in the Greek Bible looks like this "akouo." "Akouo" refers to the physical act of hearing sounds with the human ear. John, in his trance, hears a chorus of voices in a mighty chant. Again, the tense indicates that he's listening to the chant as a whole. Active voice means that John actually does hear the voices. He is not having an illusion in his ears. It's a statement of fact – that John is an auditor in the throne room. This word is used 27 times in the book of the Revelation.

When you have these words together ("horao" and "akouo" – "I saw and I heard"), as they repeatedly occur in this book, you have a phrase that is indicating a new feature of John's vision. Every time he comes to say, "Now, I'm going to add something new; here is something more; here is another piece of information; or, here is another facet, he introduces it pretty frequently with the expression, "I saw and I heard." This constitutes, as a matter of fact, John's personal testimony that he actually saw and heard the things in his vision, just as in the tradition of the Old Testament prophets. They actually did heard God speak, and they actually did see the things that God was revealing to them.

The reality of this testimony is stressed by John in Revelation 22:8, when John says, "And I, John, saw these things and heard them, and when I had heard and seen (he emphasizes that combination twice in this one verse), I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things." That verse stresses again that John is talking about an actual personal experience. He is not hallucinating.

This is the same thing that he indicates in the little letter that he wrote, the first epistle of John. The first verse says, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, and which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of Life." There he is referring to Jesus Christ. It is the same concept. He uses the same words. He is saying, "What I have experienced on the island of Patmos was just as real as when I would sit down with Jesus Christ, and I would listen to Him talk, and I would look at Him, and I would see Him, and I would touch Him." There was that human relationship. It was for real.

In view of this, it is really unbelievable that the followers of Christianity (leaders and followers alike) actually pay so little attention to the book of the Revelation which stresses the genuineness of its previews, and the importance of the future which it reveals concerning mankind. I have on several occasions found teachers; preachers of the Word of God; or, pastors of churches, such that when I would mention that we are studying Revelation, that they would just throw their hands up, and roll their eyes to heaven, and say, "Oh, boy, good luck" – the implication being: "How are you going to get anything out of that book? I'm glad I'm not trying to do that. I'm glad that I'm not trying to get involved in that." What they're saying is that here is a book that's completely closed, and you can just be assured that their congregations know exactly nil from this tremendous book. It is amazing that these two words that stress again and again the reality of what John experienced, and they stress it in order to make it clear to us that this book is one of the most important books in the Bible for a Christian to know thoroughly in his study. And it is the only book of the Bible that does promise a special blessing to those who learn it and obey it.

The United States

Christian Schools

In the process of the hearings that followed, there was one of the senators of the Nebraska legislature. Nebraska (you may know) is unicameral. It only has one house. It's very interesting that this is happening in a state that has one house. One house means that you have nobody else to counter; no balance of power; and no control over what one side is doing. That is unwise. It is a terrible arrangement, and it is the only state that has it. But one of the senators who was involved in the court issue said to Dr. Sullivan, "You're not going to win." Dr. Sullivan said, "I'm going to tell you that you are not going to win. You will not get our children. We will not yield to you. You have the forces on your side, but we had the forces of God." The senator said, "I'm a humanist. I want to tell you, Dr. Sullivan, that in the state of Nebraska, we are preparing our children for the year 2000, when the United States will be a socialist country, and we will be functioning on the principles of humanism, and you are going to be licensed to function in the same way.

So, don't kid yourself that these things are not taking place. They're taking place everywhere. It is deliberate; it is calculated; and, the forces are out there. The word "liberalism" is a word that belongs to the satanic camp. It once used to mean "freedom," but it has been perverted, and you have to use words in terms of what they mean. The senator from Nebraska is a liberal in the finest sense of that word today. But when you study the book of the Revelation, then you understand why we see on the horizon today for the United States the things that we do. When you study this book, you realize the destruction that must be brought upon this finest; the most generous; and, the client nation of God in this day for the propagating and the access of the Word of God to all nations of the world. That's our role. That's why we were raised up. In the systematic destruction of that role, certain things are taking place. That is why we are having these enormous budget deficits.

The government spending is out of control. Don't kid yourself. That is why we are going to have double-digit inflation in the very near future. That is why unemployment is going to continue to get worse. That is why moral perversions are going to be continued to be found, as you heard this week, in the highest echelons of the Congress. And I mean those kind of things. That's why there is going to be continuing rampant and fearful diseases that sweep across this society. That's why there are going to be areas of considerable hunger; shortages; and, government controls increasing for the purpose of restricting your privacy. And that's what government controls are for. Some people would have you believe that government controls are so that you'll be honest. They're in order to increase your observation to Big Brother, and to deny you access to your privacy.

But we understand that that has to be the way it is. There are going to be increasing attempts at government licensing of churches and Christian schools. The state of Nebraska is the battleground. It is the test case. Watch and see if they don't carry that up to the Supreme Court in order to get a federal statement against Christian schools requiring to be licensed because they have already set the groundwork in the Bob Jones case, that the thing that determines whether you are tax-exempt is whether you comply with what is called "public policy," which means the government decides what is acceptable conduct for a Christian organization. They're going to license, and they're going to press that battle. The government's power is going to be increasingly called upon to enforce jealousy, which says, "You have something, and I'm going to take it away from you." Jealousy rules this nation today. It has to if we're going to be fitting in the antichrist world. We have to be jealous of those who have things (those who produce), and we have to use government power to keep taking it away from them.

In a socialist state, now we have come to the point where the rulers are in panic, because it's harder and harder to tax people more. It's harder and harder to take more and more away from people. Government is not only going to be used to promote jealousy, but it is also increasingly going to be used to promote envy. "Envy" means: "You've got something. I can't take it away from you. Therefore, I'm going to destroy what you have. I'm going to see to it that you don't have it."

Government

There was a time when no politician would have stood up there and said, "Government is wonderful." That is because there was a time when Americans knew enough history, and they knew that our founding fathers understood the basic principle that the Bible says that government is a useful servant, but a fearful master. And government always seeks to become the master. It never wants to remain as a servant. Americans used to know that our founding fathers, therefore, restricted the federal government in an enormous way in order to keep it from becoming our master.

So, when some politician stands up and says, "Government is not the problem," don't you take it. If you've got any self-respect as a Christian, rise up in indignation and say, "That's wrong. That is not true. You are lying to us, and you are leading us down the path to prepare this people for the antichrist world."

When you study the book of the Revelation, and you see where things are going, then you understand this. I don't think we're going to reverse it. I don't think it's going to get better. I don't want to be non-optimistic, and I don't intend to fail to resist, but I think the Lord's return is near. And I think that the things we are reading in this book are on the immediate horizon – no longer the distant horizon. Therefore, things are happening in this country that every rational person, even if he isn't a Christian, stands back in awe. There are attempts everywhere to keep the producer from producing, and to squelch the entrepreneur from moving forward; to being an achiever; and, to bringing everybody down. When people are in need; when people are in poverty; and, when people have desperate circumstances, then they always say, "Give us somebody to solve it." And the scene is set for the political dictator to come on the scene. Those who study history know that you cannot bring a nation like the United States to its knees until you have brought it to economic desperation. Then, and only then, will this country be set to say, "Our pain is so great that the antichrist is welcome. His promises will solve the problems."

The Voice of Many Angels

Furthermore, I want you to observe that John, taking in this panoramic overall picture, says that he not only sees something that is very dramatic, but he hears something. What he hears, we know, is not just a jumble of voices, as if somebody had walked into a huge auditorium where everybody is talking to one another, and he hears this mumbo jumbo rumble. It is very clear in verse 12 that he tells you specifically what he hears. What he actually hears is a huge voice choir. They are not singing. Angels don't sing, but they are saying something, or making a statement. And they make it altogether so that it is a tremendous booming sound. All these voices are speaking as one. The words are very specific. You see in verse 12, "Saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.'" Here are seven glorious qualities that are now the possession of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Understandable Language

This principle is one of the great evidences of the satanic deception that possesses the charismatic movement today with its practice of gibberish tongues and saying that this is communication from God. This is a significant point. John is claiming that what he hears is of dramatic importance, and he is very specific in telling us what he hears. And he tells us we better act upon it. Now, I wouldn't want to trust somebody with that kind of demand upon me who was telling me that what he heard was this rumble of voices, and then he got a feeling of what it meant; that he got a sense of what it was saying; or, that he got a communication someplace from deep within himself which is what these words mean.

You may have attended a charismatic meeting, and if you haven't, you should. Don't do it right after you've eaten, but do it sometime and see what it's like. If you've been in there, what you will hear is this gibberish speaking. Somebody stands up and says, "The Lord has said, O how great art Thou. Come down. Thou Lord. Great Lord. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord." That's the interpretation. You say, "Gee, that's wonderful. I have to listen more carefully. I missed most of that." I guarantee you that they've lost something in the translation as well. But this is the kind of thing that is being claimed as communication from God. That's a blasphemy. It's funny, but it's very serious. It's an enormous blasphemy to a God who communicates in intelligible terms, and never any other way. God's messengers, the angels, communicate in the same way.

The angelic host in heaven breaks out in a chant of praise upon hearing the new song of the elders, which we read in Revelation 5:9-10. Upon this proclamation of the elders concerning the worthiness of Jesus Christ to break the seals on the scroll; to loose the divine judgments on the tribulation world; and, to establish His worldwide kingdom. He is worthy because of His own self-sacrifice to provide redemption, and for the exaltation of the church to the position of royalty and priesthood.

Remember that the angels are not omniscient. Angels are like ourselves. They are personalities. They have minds. Consequently, they have wills and they have emotions. And with their minds, they do have to learn things. This is why the angels break out in this dramatic chant here concerning Jesus Christ after they hear the praise of the elders. They are constantly learning, and they are constantly excited about the things that exalt the person of Christ.

In 1 Peter 1:10-12, this principle of angel learning is laid out for us: "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who is in them did signify, when He testified beforehand concerning the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed that, not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel to you with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, which things the angels desire to look into."

What this passage is saying is that the Old Testament prophets told about the salvation that was coming. They told about what God was going to do for a lost, sinful human race. They laid out some of the details as God revealed it to them, and they were talking about things that not only were being applied to themselves, but Peter says that what the prophets of the Old Testament were saying concerning God's salvation provision also applied to us. And these marvelous things of the gospel, which are revealed by the Holy Spirit are things which the angels don't know about, but which they are eager to learn about. So, the angels, as they hear these prophetic utterances, also look into them for the purpose of learning.

So, the angels are delighted to learn, and that's why they're in this room right now. The elect and holy angels of God gather every time the local church gathers for public worship and for the teaching of the Word of God. They gather both to learn and to rejoice in the exaltation and the glorifying of the Lord Jesus.

Music

The Throne

Zoon

The Elders

Innumerable Angels

Then to stress that even further, John adds one more factor. He says, "And thousands of thousands." That's the word "chilias" in Greek. This word is always used in the plural ("thousands"), but it has a singular meaning; except, here in Revelation 5:11, it does have plural meaning: "thousands upon thousands," expanding the concept of "innumerable."

The Doctrine of Angels

1. Angels are Spirit-Being Messengers

   As we have seen, first of all, the Greek word is "aggelos." Then, of course, this word is in the Hebrew language as well. The Hebrew is "melack." "Aggelos" in Greek and "Melack" in Hebrew both mean "messenger;" that is, "one who is sent." These words occur almost 300 times in the Greek New Testament. The word "angel" (meaning messenger) also has a technical meaning in terms of a class of created non-corporeal, nonphysical personalities. Angels, we are told, are spirit beings. They are not human beings. They are not glorified human beings. So, don't say to your little sweet child, "Why don't you act like an angel?" She can't.

   This is one of the confusions that you discover when you become acquainted with Mormonism. For a while, I couldn't understand how Mormons flittered back and forth between angels and human beings. Moroni was an angel; then Moroni was a man; and, Moroni was a human being: this man. Finally, I asked them one time at Salt Lake City. I said, "Wait a minute. You keep referring to Moroni as an angel which is a spirit thing, and then you call him a man which is a human being. Angels and human beings are different." And as always, amazingly, when it comes to the Bible, within my area of experience, the Mormons then look blank: "Oh, really?" It had never occurred to them that you can't swing back and forth between spirit beings and human beings.

   So, we're talking about spirit beings. 1 Corinthians 6:3 says, "Don't you know that we (human being Christians) shall judge angels (spirit beings). How much more things that pertain to this life?" The time is going to come when we who are human beings are going to be judging these who are spirit beings. Then Hebrews 1:14 says, "Are they not all ministering spirits (speaking about angels) sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" The word "angel" is indeed (because it does mean "messenger") sometimes used in the Bible to refer to human beings, but not in the technical sense as angels – but in the sense of a messenger of God. Malachi 2:7 does that. Haggai 1:13 does that. Of course, Revelation 1:20 does that, as well as other places in the letters to the seven churches which are addressed to angels, which are human beings – the pastor-teachers of those churches.

   So, point number one is that the word for "angel" means "messenger," and refers to a category of beings that God created, which are spirit beings.

2. Angels were Created by God

   Angels were created by God, and evidently all at the same time. It is important to understand that angels were created by God. Satan does not want you to know that. Satan invented the idea of evolution in order to cover the fact that he is a created being; that God is superior to him; and, that God created him. So Satan came up with the idea of evolution – that everything gradually evolves from a lower state, and all that God is, therefore, is someone who has evolved to a higher level than Satan has up to that point. But Psalm 148:2 says, "Praise Him, all His angels. Praise Him, all His hosts." Then compare that to verse 5 that says, "Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded, and they were created." All of these things that are mentioned here, including angels, are clearly declared to have been created by God.

   Colossians 1:16 says, "By him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether it be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by Him and for Him." Those terms refer to ranks of angels.

3. Angels do not Marry

   Angels, we are told in Matthew 22:30, do not marry. Therefore they do not reproduce.

4. Angels are Innumerable

   However, we are told in the Bible, as we have already seen in Revelation 5:11, that the number of angels is beyond counting. They constitute an innumerable number. Hebrews 12:22 and Matthew 26:53 both stress that the angels are enormous in number.

5. Angels Cannot Die

   Furthermore, angels cannot die. Luke 20:36 points that out: "Neither can they die any more, for they are equal unto the angels and are the sons of God, being the sons of the resurrection." There will come a time when human beings will not be able to die anymore, and then they will, in that respect, be equal to the angels.

   So, angels were created by God, evidently, all at the same time. Their number is beyond counting. They do not marry, and therefore do not reproduce. Furthermore, they cannot die.

6. Seraphim and Cherubim

   Those that God made were two basic types: the seraphim angels in Isaiah 6:2, and the cherubim angels in Genesis 3:24.

7. One-Third of the Angels are Sinful Beings

   All angels were created as sinless beings, but Satan drew a third of them into rebellion against God. Genesis 1:31 tells us that God's creation was perfect. God looked at it and said, "It is very good. He would not have said it was very good if some of the creatures He had created were evil, sinful creatures. All angels were sinless at one time. Isaiah 14:12-14 gives us the detail of how Satan, who at the time was the archangel (the chief angel) fell. Revelation 12:3-7 give us further information about the fact that these angels, who were created sinless, have somehow now become very sinful. And they are not just sinful, but they are vile. The Greek uses words to describe the fallen angels that we would only be able to translate in English as "filthy."

   In Revelation 12:3-4, we read, "And there appeared another wonder in heaven. And, behold, a great red dragon, that is the devil, having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his head, and his tail drew a third part of the stars of heaven (a symbolic reference to the angelic host) and did cast them to the earth, and the dragon stood before," and so on. This is referring to the rebellion. Verse 7 says, "And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels." "The dragon" is referring to Satan.

8. Angelic Warfare

   So, now you have two forces on the scene today. Satan, who was once the archangel of God, the highest one-of-a-kind who was in complete charge of the angelic host, has a third of the total innumerable number that God has created as his agents (as demons). On the other hand, there has been elected a new archangel whose name is Michael, who is now the commander of the hosts of the holy angels. These two forces now face one another. This is what we mean by the angelic conflict. This is what we mean by the angelic warfare. These forces are in deadly combat every day of your life, and it swirls around you, and you are caught up in the midst of it, because the target and objective of the attack is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is now in heaven beyond their reach. So, they attack the body. This is one point you should remember about angels, that this conflict does exist; this antagonism does exist; and, the deception upon you (as we shall see as we go through this summary), is enormous. And it will destroy some of your eternity for you if you're not careful.

   Angels or Demons

   The angels who remained loyal to God are now called holy angels (Mark 8:38). The angels who rebelled against God are now referred to as demon angels (Luke 4:33-34). Both are still angel beings, and both still have basic characteristics of angels. One has continued in the holy state which God created. The other has become a vile creature. The response of positive or negative volition toward God during a probationary period has forever determined the status of the angels as holy or as demon.

   This is the same sort of thing that would have existed in the Garden of Eden. Had Adam and Eve continued beyond a certain probationary period without sinning, then they would have been secured in that position forever, and all of their progeny would have automatically been free of sin, and incapable of evil themselves.

   So, the angels went through this same pattern before we did. Before the human beings came on the scene, the angels went through the probationary pattern, and one-third of them failed it. In the case of humanity, since all of us descend from the original two human beings, we have all failed with them.

9. Angels Spend Eternity either in Heaven or Hell

   The holy angels will spend eternity in heaven, while the demon angels will enter the lake of fire forever (Matthew 25:41, Revelation 20:10, Matthew 8:29). The Bible makes it very clear that the lake of fire is no picnic. It is a physical place. It is an object in time and space. It is a place of terrible agony to be described by the word "torments." And reactions to that torment are described by such things as the gnashing of your teeth, and it was never created for human beings. It says it was made for Satan and his angels. But human beings who choose to follow him are following him straight into that hell.

10. Satan's Headquarters is between Heaven and Earth

    Satan, who is the leader of the demon angels, has his headquarters in the realm between heaven and earth. Ephesians 2:2 tells us that.

11. Satan's Access to Heaven

    At the beginning of the tribulation, Satan and the demons will be permanently denied access to heaven (Revelation 12:7-9). Now, Satan has access to heaven. We are told in Revelation 12:10 that he now has access to heaven to call your sins and your shortcomings before God: "I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 'Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ, for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuse them before our God day and night.'" That is why 1 John is such an important book, because it tells us that we have an intercessor who prays for us (Jesus Christ) that we do not sin. And when we fail, we have a lawyer (an advocate) in heaven to plead our case on the basis of His payment for our sins. The reason that is necessary for Jesus Christ to do is because Satan has access to heaven. But what you have revealed here in Revelation 12:7-9 is the time when Satan can no longer enter heaven to accuse us. He can no longer move in to smart-off and to mouth-off before God just like he did in the case of Job, because he has access to heaven. That is going to come to an end.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1982

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