Pastor’s Pen Pulpit Series: Angels

July 2, 2006

A STUDY OF ANGELS IN THE BOOK OF HEBREWS

Part One

In the month of July I am writing my pen pulpits on the subject Angels in the Book of Hebrews. With some revision in the outline, this study is taken from a paper I wrote while attending Talbot Theological Seminary. We’ll have about four studies in this series.

INTRODUCTION - A casual reading through the Hebrew epistle reveals a very pronounced emphasis on angels in this book. This factor could be accounted for in that angels sustained a significant role in Hebrew thinking, in fact, angels are referred to one hundred and eight times in the Old Testament. There is a Jewish theory that the origin of the physical universe may be traced to angels. Of course this is an unbiblical theory. It is quite evident, therefore, that angels were not to be ignored in the Epistle to the Hebrews. What is found in Hebrews, however, is not an over emphasis in their importance, rather a proper emphasis in their relationship to Christ and the plan of God.

THE DESCRIPTION OF ANGELS IN HEBREWS - It is obvious that angels have designated names and titles that communicate something of their function and/or nature.

They are called Angels. The word angel ANGELOS ( ) primarily means “messenger.” The term is used no less than twelve times in this book. The very title reveals that the servant nature of angels in relation to God is stressed (Hebrews 1:4, 6, 7, 9. 16; 12:22; 13:2), so at best angels are servants.

They are called Winds (1:7) - This reference could be to the incorporeal nature of angels. They are not flesh and blood beings.

They are called Ministers (1:7) - Again the servant feature of angels is emphasized in relation to man and creation.

They are called Flames of Fire (1:7) - This fact points out that angelic ministry is effectual.

They are called Spirits (1:14; 12:9) - Angels are spirit beings. Jesus defined a spirit as not having flesh and blood (Luke 24:39).

They are called Ministering Spirits (1:14) - This is another term pointing out the character of angels in serving. It is in this capacity that angels minister to believers .

THE NATURE OF ANGELS IN HEBREWS - The nature of angels in the epistle to the Hebrews is described in at least two ways.

Angels are created beings - This fact removes the undue prominence that the Hebrew mind tended to give to angels. Their creature-hood is implied in 1:7 where they are referred to as “His angels.” In 12:9, God is referred to as the “the father of spirits.”

Angels are Spirit Beings - (1:7,14; 12:9) - This fact is stressed in the terminology describing them.

The following applications are borrowed from the works of Dr. John Bechtle.

What is the job description for an angel? The unnamed angels who appear most often in Scripture carry out a variety of tasks – all designed to serve God.

• Worship and Praise - This is the main activity portrayed in heaven (Isaiah 6:1-3; Revelation 4-5).

• Revealing – They serve as messengers to communicate God’s will to men. They helped reveal the law to Moses (Acts 7:52-53), and carried God’s message to Daniel, as well as to the Apostle John as we learned in our study of Revelation.

• Guiding – Angels gave instructions to Joseph about the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1,2), to the women at the tomb, to Philip (Acts 8:26), and to Cornelius (Acts 10:1-8),

God bless and we will continue this fascinating study in our next pen pulpit.