Michael is called the archangel in Jude 9 and the great prince in Daniel 12:1. Michael is the only angel designated archangel, and may possibly be the only one of this rank. The mission of the archangel is protector of Israel. He is called “Michael your prince” in Dan. 10:21 and Dan 10:13 mentions " chief princes", of whom Michael was one, as the highest ranking angels of God. Wile "ruling angels" (Eph. 3:10) are also mentioned, no further details are given.
Gabriel on the other hand appears to be God’s special messenger of His kingdom program in each of the four times he appears in the Bible record … He reveals and interprets God’s purpose and program concerning Messiah and His kingdom to the prophets and people of Israel.” In a highly significant passage, Gabriel explained the events of the seventy weeks for Israel (Dan 9:21–27). In Luk 1:26–27 Gabriel told Mary that the One born to her would be great and rule on the throne of David. In Dan 8:15–16 Gabriel explains to Daniel the succeeding kingdoms of Medo-Persia and Greece as well as the untimely death of Alexander the Great. Gabriel also announced the birth of John the Baptist to Zacharias (Luk 1:11–20).
Though the doctrine of angels holds an important place in the Word of God, it is often viewed as a difficult subject because, while there is abundant mention of angels in the Bible, the nature of this revelation is without the same kind of explicit description we often find with other subjects developed in the Bible:
Every reference to angels is incidental to some other topic. They are not treated in themselves. God’s revelation never aims at informing us regarding the nature of angels. When they are mentioned, it is always in order to inform us further about God, what he does, and how he does it.
Since they are spirit beings, they are usually not seen, unless God gives the ability to see them or unless they manifest themselves. Balaam could not see the angel standing in his way until the Lord opened his eyes (Num. 22:31) and Elisha’s servant could not see the host of angels surrounding him until Elisha prayed for his eyes to be opened (II Kgs 6:17). When angels have been seen as recorded in Scripture, they were often mistaken as men because they were manifested in a man-like appearance (Gen 18:2, 16, 22; 19:1, 5, 10, 12, 15, 16; Jgs 13:6; Mar 16:5; Luk 24:4). Sometimes, they appear in a way that either manifests God’s glory (Luk 2:9; 9:26) or in some form of brilliant apparel (cf. Mat 28:3; Jno 20:12; Act 1:10 with Eze 1:13; Dan 10:6). Consistently, they have appeared as real men, never as ghosts, or as winged animals (cf. Gen 18:2; 19:1; Mar 16:3; Luk 24:4).
They are occasionally pictured in other forms and in other manifestations as with wings, and as a combination of man, beast, and birds as in Eze 1:5f and Isa 6:6. But apparently such manifestations only occurred by way of a vision or special revelation from God. No angel literally appeared in such form.
They also seem to always have appeared as youthful or mature men (Mar 16:5), but never as old men, perhaps because they neither age nor die (Luk 20:36).
The contemporary angel-mania of our culture, the common conception of angels is that of winged creatures and most times as female. Only Zec 5:9 alludes to such possibility, in that The two women mentioned in this passage are not specifically called angels, they are nevertheless clearly agents of God or forces of Satan, like angels, good or evil.
Jesus said, “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (Mat 24:36). From this two things are suggested:
Angels were created as a higher order of creatures in the universe than humans are. Therefore, innately they possess greater knowledge. (2) Angels study the Bible more thoroughly than some humans do and gain knowledge from it (James 2:19; Rev. 12:12). (3) Angels gain knowledge through long observation of human activities. Unlike humans, angels do not have to study the past; they have experienced it. Therefore, they know how others have acted and reacted in situations and can predict with a greater degree of accuracy how we may act in similar circumstances. The experiences of longevity give them greater knowledge - pg. 125Heb 13:2 is interesting, "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." From this it can be inferred that angels can be manifested in our midst without anything to draw attention to themselves. And as such it can be inferred they're not prone to flaunt their powers needlessly. Contrast this with II Cor 11:14, "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." However the latter's motivation is that of deception. Throughout scripture whenever angels manifest with glory, it is stupendously impressive. HOWEVER, the admonition that ALWAYS follows is not to fear, and a message is then given with respect to God's Word. Without that qualification, I'd be highly skeptical about any supernatural manifestation's motivation.
The issue raised in Heb 13:2 shows an aspect of the angels nature: watchfulness. It would be illogical to infer from this verse that scripture is advocating entertaining demons. So then why the apparently clandestine activity of holy angels?
The word “watchers” is an Aramaic word which means, “vigilant, waking, watchful.” and seems to used in describing holy angels who are constantly vigilant to serve the Lord and who watch over the rulers of the world and the affairs of men (Dan. 4:13, 17, 23). With the added distinction made concerning “a holy one” in v13, a logical inference could be made that there are unholy watchers, i.e., demonic forces who are watching the affairs of men and seeking to influence and destroy.
Corroboration of this notion can be seen in Dan 10:13 referring to to the “prince of the kingdom of Persia” opposing Michael. This was not the king of Persia but rather a fallen angel under Satan’s control; he was a demon “of high rank, assigned by the chief of demons, Satan, to Persia as his special area of activity” (cf. Rev. 12:7). This then could be reference to a special type of angel (if a special class is intended).
A number of passages speak of the angels as observers. Many would be surprised by this truth, but the Bible teaches us that angels are spectators of God’s activities in the world and that they are especially keen on observing the unfolding of His plan of redemption. A number of passages specifically address the fact angels are spectators of what God does and there certainly must be a reason and a lesson to be learned from this (Job 38:7; Luk 15:10; I Cor 4:9; 11:10; Eph 3:10; Tim 3:16; I Pet 1:12). Study of scripture shows that angels have observed God’s creation and rejoiced (Psa 38:7), the birth of Christ and rejoiced in praise to God (Luk 2:13-14) and they witnessed the entirety of Jesus’ life on earth (I Tim 3:16). They also observe God’s joy when a sinner repents (Luk 15:10). Angels are keenly interested in man’s salvation in Christ and carefully observe God’s manifold wisdom in the unfolding of His redemptive plan (I Pet 1:12; Eph 3:10). In the statement, “things into which the angels long to look,” “things” are those things that belong to our salvation (vs. 10), and “long to look” is the same word used of the actions of John and Peter and Mary when they stooped down to peer into the empty tomb (Luk 24:12; Jno 20:5, 11). The Greek verb, parakuptw “to bend over,” conveys the idea of bending over to see something more clearly or to look intently (see also Jam 1:24).
The angels watched Lucifer kicked out of heaven, and Adam and Eve kicked out of the Garden of Eden, and the curse levied upon the universe, the whole of which "groaneth and travaileth in pain together" (Rom 8:22). They were stupefied at God's comments in Gen 3:15. They stood there with their hands upon their swords, gnashing their teeth, howling like chained pit pulls, totally enraged at the humiliation of their Lord and then crucified to an agonizing death upon the cross. Rev 5:2-14 exemplifies their utter amazement for their Lord.
And yet, despite their intellectual brilliance (they're largely unimpressed), their strength (and angel rolled away the 4 ton stone covering Christ's tomb), they're perpetually astonished by something so extremely mysterious, vast, of such great variety, that they still haven't figured it out completely. ANd so they earnestly desire to "look into these things".
They see a few sentences of a sermon, a Christian's brief testimony, a simple washing ceremony, a mouthful of bread and a gulp of wine, and they're stunned to see the pleasure evidenced in the Lord's countenance. Eph 3:10 gives a clue concerning the school that the angels are attending and why they're so interested in what's going on.
God uses the Church to teach them something of His manifold wisdom. How can these spirit beings learn the significance of the Lordship of Christ, the place of the Church and the significance of the individual believer? These things are an utter mystery to angels. God instructs the angels through object lessons or symbols. This is foundational to the meaning intended to I Tim 2:10. Such a woman becomes a rebuke to the wicked angels (for their sin is rebelling against divine authority). For she is proclaiming an object lesson of submission to divine headship. What a delight it must be to the holy angels to see a congregation of believers worshiping unto the Lord in such fashion, commemorating that sweetsmelling savour of oblation made by Christ upon the cross.
Quite frankly, if UFO's are manifestations of spiritual beings, then I'd posit that they're demons. First off, holy angels don't manifest themselves with power and glory without a definite purpose directed by God's will. Secondly, all accounts of UFO's and encounters with them are at best neutral, and usually have negative consequences. There are many accounts were people have suffered severe psychological trauma as a result of these incidents. Furthermore, purported cattle mutilations and accounts of abductions are postively egregiously heinous, wicked and evil in nature. Frankly I find the argument that these super-sophisticated technologically advanced beings that can travel the enormous distances of the galaxy, and then have to resort to performing such alleged havengod diabolical expirements is not just ludicrous but absurd.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. - Mat 7:20Finally, it should be pointed out that many believe in an eschatological doctrine of the Rapture. And without doubt demons have quoted scripture, as did Satan to Christ during His temptation in the wilderness. And so they'd be quite familiar with that doctrine. And so, knowing that this time is approaching what better means to explain the sudden disappearance of a vast number of the population? That is: the UFO's took 'em.
You’ll never guess who my mom named me after.
What an excellent post!