In the Beginning….
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen. 1:1)
It is not in the scope of this book to get into a discussion of creation versus evolution. I do discuss that in a limited way in my e-book Key Social Issues Facing Christians also on free-ebooks.net.
In the biblical account we see that it was God who created the heavens and the earth. We know from the Bible that God created man on day six.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” … Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Gen. 1:26-28, 31)
When Were the Angels Created?
We do not have a definitive answer to that question. God created heaven on the second day.
And God called the firmament heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. (Gen. 1:8) Sea creatures and birds were created on day five. (Gen. 1:21-23) Land animals and man were created on day six. The angelic hosts are not specifically mentioned. Many have speculated that the angels were created on one of the days 2 through 6. God decided not to mention when He created angels. Since He didn’t mention it we can safely assume this information was not important for us to know. God reveals to us in His Word the things we need to know about Him. He chooses what to reveal and gives us only the information we need for our betterment. Our finite minds cannot understand the infinite God and His actions.
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! (Rom. 11:33)
What Are Angels?
Angels are ministering spirits.
Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? (Heb. 1:14) We see in this verse that one of the main purposes of angels is to minister to God’s people who will inherit salvation. As Christians, this should be a comfort to us knowing that angels protect us. How many times have we narrowly escaped an accident that could have been serious or fatal?
Think about all the close calls we have had driving a car.
Perhaps you escaped many accidents because an angel intervened on your behalf.
After Jesus was tempted by Satan and had endured 40 days and nights of fasting, God sent angels to minister to Him.
11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. (Matt. 4:11) When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane right before His arrest and crucifixion, God sent an angel to help Him in His agony.
41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. (Luke 22:43)
Do Angels Procreate?
Angels are not made of flesh and blood. Angels are eternal spiritual beings. They do not marry, have sexual relations, or procreate. They are without gender.
Jesus answered and said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; 36 nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. (Luke 20:34-36) Angels were created as finished beings. They were not babies who grew up to be adults as do humans. They never age or die.
This is because they are spirits without bodies like we have.
Were Angels the Sons of God in Gen. 6:1-4?
Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
3 And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 4 There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
It is my opinion that angels are not being referred to here. We know from Luke 20:34-36 that angels don’t marry and these women are referred to as wives. Angels are also spirits, not flesh and blood, so they could not have had sexual relations with these women. Some think that angels possessed these men and had sexual relations with the women which produced an evil race of beings who were the giants. I would disagree with that explanation. The holy angels in heaven do not possess people, only demons do so. While the holy angels and believers in Christ are referred to as the sons of God, I don’t think that demons would ever be referred to as the sons of God. The following verse in Job does not include Satan as one of the sons of God who came before the Lord that day to discuss Job. It just says he also came there.
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. (Job 1:6)
Perhaps the sons of God refer to those men that came through the line of Seth rather than the evil line of Cain. Over time these godly men became indiscriminate in their choice of women to marry. Instead of marrying believers or godly women, they took as wives any among the daughters of men thus producing an evil line that eventually led to the flood, a punishment from God.
How Many Angels Are There?
We can conclude then that God created all the angels at one moment in time. There are a finite number of angels which are neither increased nor decreased. How many angels are there? They are innumerable.
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,… (Heb. 12:22)
“I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire; 10 A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. (Dan. 7:9-10)
In this vision, Daniel saw one hundred million angels before the throne of God. This probably did not include all the angelic beings as there are no demons here.
When Peter cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Lord spoke the following words to him:
“Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? (Matt. 26:52-53)
In Jesus’ day, a Roman legion could consist of 3,000 to 6,000 soldiers. Therefore, twelve legions of angels could have been anywhere from 36,000 to 72,000 angels. That would have been much more than enough to handle the small force of Roman soldiers and Jewish leaders who arrested Jesus that night, especially when you consider one mighty angel could have protected Jesus from them all.
Who Are the Elect Angels?
I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality. (1 Tim. 5:21) Before God created angels, He had already chosen those angels who would never rebel against Him. These are called the elect angels. Those angels whom God did not choose before their creation are not elect of God. They became the fallen angels or demons (devils). The purpose of election, concerning angels or mankind, is to show God’s sovereignty, rule, and power over His creatures. God is in charge of everything which includes the destiny of angels and men. Can the elect angels ever fall or rebel against God? The answer is no. They would never have been elected by God if they would fall later. For a more in depth treatment of election, read my book Free Grace or Free Will – God’s Free Salvation Plan also on www.free-ebooks.net.
These elect angels are called holy.
For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:26)