Firm Foundations: God Created Angels
Scripture Reading
Job 38: Then Yahweh answered Job out of the [a]whirlwind and said, 2 “Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge? 3 Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you make Me know! 4 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you know understanding, 5 Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? 6 On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8 “Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb, 9 When I made a cloud its garment And dense gloom its swaddling band, 10 And I [b]placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, 11 And I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop’?
We began a few weeks ago on a study entitled, “Firm Foundations.” The study is designed to take us from the beginning of Scripture through to the end. It is designed to give us an overview of the message of the Word of God. And of course, Scripture begins by telling us how everything came into existence. It came into existence because God chose to make the world, and the universes, the animals, and people.
Now let me pause for a moment to address an issue before we continue our study. I am well aware of the fact that some in the scientific community, and in the community of atheists, would brand me a fool, an idiot, and a Neanderthal for believing in a God who created all that we see in six days. In fact, our country and even our churches are divided on this issue. I found a Gallup poll from 1993.
A recent Gallup Poll found that the greatest number of Americans (47% of those expressing an opinion) hold to the strict creationist view, that God created man pretty much in his present form within the last 10,000 years. Most other Americans believe in some combination of evolution and creationism, and only nine percent of Americans believe in strict evolution.
Christian News, May, 1993, , p. 3, from the Evangelical Press.
More recently…
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Forty percent of U.S. adults ascribe to a strictly creationist view of human origins, believing that God created them in their present form within roughly the past 10,000 years. However, more Americans continue to think that humans evolved over millions of years -- either with God's guidance (33%) or, increasingly, without God's involvement at all (22%).
https://news.gallup.com/poll/261680/americans-believe-creationism.aspx
The evolutionary view is that life came into existence 3.7 billion years ago. And life began as microscopic orgasms. Over the next 3.7 billion years, those organisms evolved slowly into higher and higher forms of life driven by survival of the fittest.
Now, as you can see, the percentage of those who hold to a strict creationist view has gone down 7% in the last 30 or so years. The numbers seem to be going against belief in a strict Biblical view of creation.
With that said, some may ask why I continue to hold to a belief that seems to be waning. Well I am not going to completely address that issue today. But I am going to present a message addressing that issue in a few weeks. More specifically I want to give an answer to the question; “Why don’t you believe in evolution?” And here, for your listening enjoyment, is a preview of that answer. I don’t believe in evolution because 1. There is no fossil evidence for evolution. 2. There is no mechanism that could power evolution. 3. Evolution contradicts proven laws of science. 4. There has not been enough time for evolution to have occurred. 5. Scientific evidence supports a young earth. 6. There is no experimental evidence for evolution. 7. Evolution is built on uniformitarianism, which is a flawed system of thought. And, whatever else I come up with before that message comes.
Now that is just a beginning list of practical reasons why I don’t believe in evolution. Add to that the spiritual reason;
8. Evolution is a complete contradiction of the Bible.
So, we will get there. But we are not quite ready yet. Today we are going to continue with our study of Scripture and creation.
Let us pray.
So, today, while we are exploring the creation narrative, we are going to address a question that often arises about some other beings that God created. We’ve talked about the creation of the earth, its seas, oceans and continents, and its plants. We’ve talked about the creation of birds, fish, land animals, and mankind. But there are certain beings that are not mentioned in chapter 1 or 2 of Genesis. Those beings belong to the spirit world. They are called angels. And because we will encounter them in chapter 3, we need to know when they came into existence.
Before we do so, let me give you a Biblical definition of an angel.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/angel/
Superhuman or heavenly being who serves as God's messenger. Both the Hebrew malak [J; 'm] and the Greek angelos [a [ggelo"] indicate that these beings also act decisively in fulfilling God's will in the world. But these two terms also apply to human beings as messengers ( 1 Kings 19:2 ; Hag 1:13 ; Luke 7:24 ). "Angels" are mentioned almost three hundred times in Scripture, and are only noticeably absent from books such as Ruth, Nehemiah, Esther, the letters of John, and James.
Now, that is a Biblical definition of angel. We are well aware that people use that word to mean other things as well. I looked up songs with angel in the title.
“Lips of an angel” I don’t think that is about God’s heavenly messengers. “Angel of the morning” “Don’t call me angel” by Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Lana Del Rey. I wasn’t gonna call you angel. None of these are about God’s heavenly messengers.
So today, let’s explore some Biblical definition points about God’s heavenly messengers. Here’s what we are going to go over.
1.They were created by God. 2. They were created before the earth. 3. They are not departed humans. 4. They were created for service. 5. They were created perfect.
I. They were created by God.
We read this passage in a previous message.
Colossians 1:16 For [u]in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
Now, a little bit about this verse. It refers to things being created, but it is specifically referring to “God the Son; Jesus Christ” as the creator of all things. The “Him” of this verse is Jesus. It is saying that Jesus created all things. But hold on, didn’t we say earlier that God created everything? Yes, but we also noted that God is a trinity. He is Father, Son, and Spirit. Father, Son, and Spirit together were creating the world in the beginning. And here the author of the letter to the church at Colossae, Paul, is explaining Jesus’s elevated position. He is the Creator of all things.
But notice what it is that it says He created; “For [u]in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible,” He created everything, and all beings of both heaven and earth. The beings of heaven are angels. And He created all things, “visible and invisible.” He created all beings who have physical bodies, who can be seen, and all beings without physical bodies, who cannot be seen.
Paul is saying that He didn’t just create visible lowly creatures, like dogs, cows, and humans. He also created invisible, heavenly creatures; the angels.
Paul goes on to say that He created the highest order of all creatures: thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. Thrones, dominions, rulers and authorities among people; the visible world. And thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities in the invisible world; the angelic hierarchy. So, God the Son created the angels.
They were created by God. The Bible tells us that in a number of places.
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, Exodus 20:11.
Okay, so God created angels. But when did He create them? The Bible does not specify exactly when they were created. Except to say…
II. They were created before the earth.
Let’s look back at the Scripture passage that we read at the start of my message.
Job 38:4-7 4 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
I referred to this last week. This is God speaking to Job after Job gets a little cheeky with God. Job has demanded that God give him answers to his questions about life, and this is God’s answer.
4 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you know understanding, 5 Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? 6 On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone,
I think God’s response is similar to sometimes when I talk to my students. Every once in a while, I’ll get a student who thinks they already know whatever it is that we are learning in math class. And they will argue with me about the answer to a certain problem. And I have explained and explained. But they address me with an air of arrogance. And every once in a while, if I think they might actually listen, I will ask them, “How old are you? (14)” So you’ve been in school 9 years, and you are presently in 8th grade math, right? Well, I’ve passed, 9th grade algebra, 10th grade Geometry, I passed College Algebra, Trigonometry, Geometry, and Calculus. I’ve been teaching Middle School math for 10 years now. Now, between the two of us, who do you think is more likely to know the way to solve this problem?” (you)
That’s what God says here to Job. “Where were you when I created the world?” Well then God gives us a detail about the creation of angels. 4 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?.... 6 On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
“The morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy?” What are the morning stars and the sons of God? Well, remember that this is talking about when God created the earth. This is day three of creation. Mankind isn’t created until day six. So, what are the morning stars? Well, it could just mean stars, like the stars in the sky. Do stars sing?
Surprisingly stars make a lot of noise, and the Kepler spacecraft has recorded the sounds from over 500 sun-like stars so far. Even more surprisingly perhaps, it turns out you can weigh stars based on the sounds they make! The movement inside a star makes them vibrate like a musical instrument and so make sounds.
Or, stars may be angels. There are some verses in Scripture that use the word star, or stars to refer to angels. So, God created the earth, and the morning stars sang. And the sons of God shouted for joy. These can’t be people. They aren’t created until day 6. And even when they were created, there was only two of them. There is at least one place in the Old Testament where sons of God definitely refer to angels. It is earlier in the book of Job.
Job 1:6 6 Now it was the day that the sons of God came to stand before [b]Yahweh, and [c]Satan also came among them.
So, we looked at all of that to establish that angels were already created when the earth was being created, and that they shouted for joy when they saw God’s creation.
How long before the earth was created were angels created. Again, there is no definitive answer. Let me read to you the answer to that question I found online.
https://www.gotquestions.org/when-angels-created.html
If we consider the function of angels, we might conclude that God created the angels just prior to the creation of mankind because one of their duties is to be "ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation" (Hebrews 1:14). We also know they existed prior to the garden of Eden, because Satan, who was formerly the angel Lucifer, was already present in the garden in his fallen state. However, because another function of angels is to worship God around His throne (Revelation 5:11-14), they may have been in existence millions of years—as we reckon time—before God created the world, worshiping Him and serving Him.
The long and short of it? We don’t know for sure.
What else do we know about angels?
III. They are not departed human beings.
The idea that human beings die, go to heaven, and then, get sent on errands or missions back to earth does not come from the Bible. It comes from “It’s a Wonderful Life.” That is a common storyline on T.V. and movies. A person dies and then returns to earth as an angel to do God’s bidding for some person. In “It’s a Wonderful Life” it was Clarence Odbody. In “Highway to Heaven” Micheal Landon played an angel who had lived a human life and died of lung cancer, and then returned to earth as an angel, helping people wherever God would send him.
This idea is not found in the Bible. Because angels, in the Bible, are spiritual beings who were created before the earth was, and they do not die. Their numbers do not change. Biblically speaking, there are the same number of angels today as there were when God first created them. Nothing in the Bible indicates otherwise.
And when humans die, they do not become angels at any point in eternity. The Bible indicates that humans leave this world and either immediately enter a place of rest, or a place of judgement, and they remain there until the final judgement day. Incidentally, humans also do not become ghosts who linger around their old houses.
This is basically an argument from silence. In the Bible, Humans are never described as becoming angels. Angels are never described as having been humans. And when angels are spoken of, they are different than humans. Let me show you a few verses that make that difference clear.
Job 4:17-19 ‘Can mankind be right [a]before God? Can a man be pure [b]before his Maker? 18 He (God) puts no trust even in His slaves; And against His angels He charges error.In this verse it refers to mankind, and angels, as different groups.
Psalm 8:4-5 What
is man that You remember him, And the son of man that You care for him?
5 Yet You have made him a little lower
than the [a]angels, And You crown him
with glory and majesty! Here
the Psalmist ranks man as lower than the angels, Jesus
tells a parable, the parable of the tares in the field in Matthew 13. He is telling a symbolic story about good
seed being righteous people, and tares being the unrighteous. His point is that weeds, or tares; the
unrighteous will be among the righteous, even in church, until the final day of
judgement. He explains His parable to
His disciples.Matthew 13:38-40 and
the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these
are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the
evil one; 39 and the enemy who
sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the [a]end of the age; and the reapers are
angels. 40 So
just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be
at the [b]end of the age. 41 The
Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His
kingdom [w]all stumbling
blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will
throw them into the fiery furnace; in that place there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine
forth as the sun in the kingdom of their
Father. He who has ears, [x]let him hear.He distinguishes between angels,
and people. Angels will come in the end
to harvest people. Either to gather the
righteous to eternal life, or the unrighteous to judgement.Jesus goes further in describing
that angels and humans are different. He
says this to a group called the Sadduccees.Matthew 22:29-31 29 But
Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not [a]understanding the Scriptures nor
the power of God. 30 For
in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are
like angels in heaven.Peter
says something interesting about angels in his first letter.
1 Peter 1:12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been declared to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.
Peter indicates that believers; human beings had received the gospel message of salvation, and that angels look on with curiosity about God’s plan of salvation for humanity.
Angels are distinct from human beings. Angels do not have physical bodies like we do, but they can appear to us in a physical body. They are not us. In fact, they are far superior to us in many ways.
They are more powerful.
Psalm 103:20 Bless Yahweh, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word!
They are intelligent.
2Samuel 14:20 Your servant Joab has done this thing to change the face of the matter. And my lord is wise according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all that is in the land.
What else do we know about angels from Scripture?
IV. God created angels for a special purpose; to serve and worship God, and serve humanity according to God’s will.
Psalm 103: 20 Bless Yahweh, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word! 21 Bless Yahweh, all you His hosts, You who serve Him, doing His will.
They were created to worship and serve God. And you can kind of get a notion of that by looking at a word that is often used to describe a large group of angels.
The sum total of all angels are often referred to as the angelic host, or the host of heaven.
In the book of Deuteronomy, God is giving the nation of Israel His law. And the first law was and is always, you only worship God. He is telling them not to make idols or images to worship.Deuteronomy 4:18-20 (Don’t make an image to worship of) the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water below the earth, (now listen)19 and lest you lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which Yahweh your God has apportioned for all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20 But Yahweh has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people for His own inheritance, as today.The angels are called the “hosts” of heaven.
Joshua 5: 13 Now it happened when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” 14 He said, “No! Rather I indeed come now as commander of the host of Yahweh.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and bowed down and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his slave?”
If you want to know what angels were created for, it is summarized in that word “host.” It can be translated “army” or “armies.” They were created to be somewhat of a military unit. They are God’s soldiers. And like soldiers they have differences in rank, responsibility, ability and power. They are vast in number. And they are created to serve, protect, sometimes fight, and to follow the orders of their commander.
So, they are an army. As a side note; how many angels are there. There is not a set number in Scripture. But listen to what the book of Revelation says about their number.Revelation 5:11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,
Myriad in ancient Greek meant 10,000. So, myriad times myriad, Revelation is here saying that the number of angels was 10,000s times 10,000s. 10,000 times 10,000 equals 100,000,000 (100 million) But the text says 10,000s times 10,000s. So, it has to be multiple 100s of million.
But it likely means more than that. Actually, in the ancient Greek language, a myriad myriad was the largest named number, so it was often used to describe things that were too many to count. So, John, the author of Revelation, was probably saying that he saw an innumerable multitude of angels.
Here’s another verse that may shed light on the number of angels.
Matthew 18: 10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.
This is not definite, but this verse may indicate that there is at least one angel for every child of God in the world. That’s where the idea of a “guardian angel” came from.
There’s a point to make here. We don’t pray to angels. Some take the idea of a guardian angel too far and decide to talk to their guardian angel; if they even have one. The Bible never indicates that you are to pray to anyone but God alone. We don’t pray to saints, or angels, or Mary. Jesus said that we pray this way.
John 16:23-24 23 And on that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made complete.
We pray to the Father,
Why don’t we talk to, or pray to anything other than God? Because the Bible says that there is a spirit world that exists, and not all spirits are good, and doing God’s bidding. Satan, the head of the demonic spirits, is a fallen angel. Ezekiel 28:14 You were the anointed cherub who [a]covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
And this is what the Bible says about him.2 Corinthians 11: 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
So, evil spirits; fallen angels pretend to be good spirits. So, we don’t risk beginning a conversation with any spirit, except God. Then we trust God to dispatch His angels to do His will on our behalf.
That brings us to our final point about angels;
V. They were created perfect.
Back to the verse I read about Satan, the head of the fallen angels.
Ezekial 28: 14 You were the anointed cherub who [f]covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you.
It tells us in Genesis 1 that after God completed each day of creation, He looked at His creation and saw that it was good. The same has to be said about the angels. They were good at the creation. But later we will learn that one-third of the angels rebelled against God, headed by Satan, and were cast out of heaven.
In conclusion, we could spend a lot of time on the topic of angels. And we should have a basic understanding of them, because they are part of God’s care for us. But in the end we need to remember the truth we started with; this book is about God. Our spiritual life is built on our relationship with God. We are saved by our faith in God the Son, sent by God the Father, who lives in us as God the Spirit.
Our worship is directed to God, not angels. As one angel in the book of Revelation said to the apostle John, after John started to fall down and worship him,
Revelation 19: 10 Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he *said to me, “[a]Do not do that! I am a fellow slave with you and your brothers who have the witness of Jesus. Worship God! For the witness of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”