beanpie

what exactly are angels?


LET US LOOK AT THE BIBLE, TO FIND OUT...
Gen.19
[1] 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, ...


Exod.14
[19] Then the angel of God who went before the host of Israel moved
and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them
and stood behind them, ...


Num.22
[22] But God's anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of
the LORD took his stand in the way as his adversary. Now he was
riding on the ass, and his two servants were with him.
[23] And the ass saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road, with
a drawn sword in his hand; and the ass turned aside out of the road,
and went into the field; and Balaam struck the ass, to turn her into
the road.
[24] Then the angel of the LORD stood in a narrow path between the
vineyards, with a wall on either side.
[25] And when the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she pushed against
the wall, and pressed Balaam's foot against the wall; so he struck
her again.
[26] Then the angel of the LORD went ahead, and stood in a narrow
place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the
left.
[27] When the ass saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under
Balaam; and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the ass with
his staff.
[31] Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of
the LORD standing in the way, with his drawn sword in his hand; and
he bowed his head, and fell on his face.
[32] And the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why have you struck your
ass these three times? Behold, I have come forth to withstand you,
because your way is perverse before me;
[34] Then Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned, for I
did not know that thou didst stand in the road against me. Now
therefore, if it is evil in thy sight, I will go back again."
[35] And the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men; but
only the word which I bid you, that shall you speak." So Balaam went
on with the princes of Balak.
Gen.19
[1] 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,

ANGELS CAN BE SEEN


Gen.28
[12] And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and
the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were
ascending and descending on it!

IN THE DREAM, THEY CAN CLIMB STAIRS







Judg.6
[11] Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak at Ophrah,
which belonged to Jo'ash the Abiez'rite, as his son Gideon was
beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Mid'ianites.
[12] And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The
LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor."
[20] And the angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the
unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over
them." And he did so.
[21] Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that
was in his hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes; and
there sprang up fire from the rock and consumed the flesh and the
unleavened cakes; and the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.
[22] Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD; and
Gideon said, "Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the
LORD face to face."

IN THIS INSTANCE, THE ANGEL HAD A ROD, IN HIS HAND


Exod.3
[2] And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out
of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and lo, the bush was burning,
yet it was not consumed.

AN EXAMPLE, OF AN ANGEL "APPEARING", TO
SOMEONE


Judg.13
[3] And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to
her, "Behold, you are barren and have no children; but you shall
conceive and bear a son.
[6] Then the woman came and told her husband, "A man of God came to
me, and his countenance was like the countenance of the angel of God,
very terrible; I did not ask him whence he was, and he did not tell
me his name;
[9] And God listened to the voice of Mano'ah, and the angel of God
came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but Mano'ah her
husband was not with her.
[13] And the angel of the LORD said to Mano'ah, "Of all that I said
to the woman let her beware.
[15] Mano'ah said to the angel of the LORD, "Pray, let us detain you,
and prepare a kid for you."
[16] And the angel of the LORD said to Mano'ah, "If you detain me, I
will not eat of your food; but if you make ready a burnt offering,
then offer it to the LORD." (For Mano'ah did not know that he was the
angel of the LORD.)
[17] And Mano'ah said to the angel of the LORD, "What is your name,
so that, when your words come true, we may honor you?"
[18] And the angel of the LORD said to him, "Why do you ask my name,
seeing it is wonderful?"
[20] And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the
angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar while Mano'ah
and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground.
[21] The angel of the LORD appeared no more to Mano'ah and to his
wife. Then Mano'ah knew that he was the angel of the LORD.

IN VERSE
TWO, THE WIFE DESCRIBES THE ANGEL AS A "MAN"


2Sam.24
[16] And when the angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to
destroy it, the LORD repented of the evil, and said to the angel who
was working destruction among the people, "It is enough; now stay
your hand." And the angel of the LORD was by the threshing floor of
Arau'nah the Jeb'usite.
[17] Then David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel who was
smiting the people, and said, "Lo, I have sinned, and I have done
wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let thy hand, I pray
thee, be against me and against my father's house."
Wis.16
[20] Instead of these things thou didst give thy
people food of angels,
and without their toil thou didst supply them
from heaven with bread ready to eat,
providing every pleasure and suited to every taste.

IN THIS VERSE, IT
IS SAID THAT ANGELS HAVE "FOOD". THIS MEANS THEY "EAT"


4Mac.4
[10] and while Apollonius was going up with his armed forces to seize
the money, angels on horseback with lightning flashing from their
weapons appeared from heaven, instilling in them great fear and
trembling.
Matt.18
[10] "See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I
tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my
Father who is in heaven.

ANGELS CAN "SEE", FOR THEY "BEHOLD" THE FACE
OF GOD


Matt.25
[31] "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with
him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
[41] Then he will say to those at his left hand, `Depart from me, you
cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;


IN VERSE TWO, THE DEVIL HAS "ANGELS"




NOWHERE, IN THE BIBLE, HAVE I SEEN AN ANGEL BEING MENTIONED OF AS A
SPIRIT. IF ANYONE HAS, PLEASE, SHARE.
SO, WHERE HAS THIS IDEA OF AN "ANGEL", COME FROM? I HAVE NOT READ,
IN THE BIBLE, OF AN ANGEL BEING CLOTHED IN A ROBE OR HAVING WINGS, AS
THEY ARE PORTRAYED IN PICTURES.

BESIDES KNOWING THAT ANGELS ARE MESSENGERS OF GOD, CAN ANYONE
TRUTHFULLY SAY WHAT AN ANGEL LOOKS LIKE?

AND ALSO, DON'T FORGET, ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE, THE DEVIL ALSO HAS
ANGELS.

judge

Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?
Hebrews 1:14

I'm not sure that everytime "angel" (messenger) is mentioned in the bible it means what we think of as an angel. Context is probably the key.

They seem to be spiritual beings (with spiritual bodies) who cannot die (at least this is how aquinus saw them ...and I think maybe augustine).

May be if we think of them as agents or even sons this kind of captures it.

beanpie

but, are thy spiritual beings, ONLY ?

premjan

perhaps they were real people, astronauts with flying packs.

offa

Angels are Samaritan chief priests. Samaritan chief priests were called "father" and not GOD. Samaritans were not "Jews" even though they were maternally related (Eve had children by more than one husband ... the husbands were brothers). Also, there was a Samaria close to Qumran as opposed to the Samaria 50 miles to the north. There was more than one Galilee.

An Angel is an adult male priest with a wife and children. When an angel knocks up his spouse she goes into hinding after five months and he is not allowed to preach (loses his voice) and his 2nd takes over (Gabriel, the daddy to the virgin).

MortalWombat

Abe Simpson, is that you?

judge

George lamsa who was raised in what used to called mesopotamia speaking Aramaic, transalted the Aramaic OT and NT into english in the 1950's.

On many occaisions he insisted that phrases which english translators have taken literally are not meant to be taken as such but are rather Aramaic idioms.

One of these is the phrase to "wrestle with an angel" which he says means to argue with a pious man.

judge

Spiritual beings seem to be able to transcend two worlds.
Jesus was raised in a spiritual body. In some way His Earhly (unfallen) body was clothed with immortality. Note that after the resurrection He appears and disappears into and out of thin air.
Mark chapt 16 :12(?) says He appeared in a different form.

I don't quite understand this but somehow it is indicated.

John Kesler

Jesus also taught that angels cannot die:

Malachi151

The Christian notion of angels comes from Greek mythology. The word angel is Greek, or comes from Greek, and it has only been imposed back on the Hebrew scriptures. Angels in Greek were the messengers of the gods, like Gabriel in the Gospels.

The Christian depiction of angles also comes from Greek and Roman artwork.