The Existence, Number,
and Nature of Angels
by Renald Showers
For many years in the modern world, some people scoffed at the idea of angels. They believed that the concept of angels was started by poor, ignorant people in the Dark Ages who were susceptible to wild imaginations, and that the intelligent people of the modern, enlightened age knew better than to accept such fantasies. As a result, they asserted that belief in the existence of such supernatural beings was a superstition that needed to be rejected.
The Existence of Angels
The Bible clearly presents the existence of angels as reality. At least three facts indicate this. First, 34 of the 66 books of the Bible—more than half—refer to angels by the simple term “angel” (singular and plural), and they refer to them in ways that imply their existence.
It is interesting to note that 17 of these books are located in the Old Testament, and 17 are in the New Testament. Thus, the witness is evenly divided between the testaments.
Second, the simple term “angel” (singular and plural) occurs more than 300 times in the Bible. In addition to these occurrences, the Scriptures refer to angelic beings by other terms, such as “cherubim,” “seraphim,” “archangel,” “prince,” “sons of God,” of the air,” “principalities,” “powers,” “rulers of the darkness of this world,” “spiritual wickedness in high places,” “thrones,” and “dominions.” Thus, through the numerous usages of all these terms, the Bible places considerable emphasis on these beings. In light of this, the existence of angels cannot be lightly brushed aside.
Third, Jesus Christ referred to angels frequently and in a way that made it obvious that He believed in their existence. For example, He talked about the relationship of angels to children (Mt. 18:10), declared that He could have more than twelve legions of angels at His disposal to protect Him from His enemies (Mt. 26:53), and indicated that angels will attend and serve Him at His Second Coming (Mt. 13:39–41; 16:27; 24:30–31; 25:31). To deny the existence of angels is to pose a serious problem concerning the character and truthfulness of Jesus Christ. If He was not accurate in His comments about angels, how can we be certain that He was accurate in other areas of His teaching For those who believe that Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God incarnated in human flesh, His statements concerning angels are conclusive with regard to their existence.
The Number of Angels
How many angels are there The Bible does not give us a total number. No matter how much you search the pages of the Bible, you will never find a statement such as, “There are 2,369,758,219 angels.”
In spite of the fact that the Scriptures do not give a total figure, they do make it clear that there is an enormous host of angelic beings. The Apostle John (Rev. 5:11) saw “ten thousand times ten thousand” plus “thousands of thousands” of angels around God’s throne in heaven (the Greek text indicates that these numbers are plural, not singular). The Prophet Daniel saw a similar thing (Dan. 7:9–10). Multiplying 10,000 times one other 10,000 gives a total of 100,000,000. But John saw “ten thousand [plural] times ten thousand” [plural] plus thousands (plural) times thousands (plural), an indefinite number. Thus, there are hundreds and hundreds of millions, probably billions, of angels. It should be noted that the great host seen by Daniel and John consisted only of holy angels who serve God. It did not include all the fallen angels who follow and serve Satan.
Thus, the Bible confirms the existence of an enormous host of angels.
The Nature of Angels: They are Spirit Beings
What kind of beings are angels? The Bible contains considerable revelation concerning their nature. First, angels are spirit beings by nature. The writer of Hebrews indicated that they are all “ministering spirits” (Heb. 1:14). Because angels are spirit beings, several things are true of them all.
Angels Do Not Have Physical Bodies By Nature: Jesus clearly stated that a spirit
does not have flesh and bones, and He implied, therefore, that by nature a
spirit cannot be touched or seen (Lk. 24:39). It follows, then, that because angels are spirit beings, it is not their nature to have physical bodies of flesh and bones.
The Apostle Paul indicated that the evil angels who fight against Christians are “spiritual” and, therefore, are not “flesh and blood” (Eph. 6:12).
Although angels do not have physical bodies by nature, there have been instances in which angels have temporarily taken on physical bodies that could be seen and touched when it was necessary. The Bible does not indicate how or from where they got those bodies, nor does it reveal what they did with the bodies when they were done with them. It simply records the fact that there have been such instances.
One such instance is found in Genesis 18–19. Three “men” appeared to Abraham on one occasion while he was living in the plains of Mamre (18:1–2). They had physical feet that could be washed with water (v. 4), and they ate food that Abraham had prepared for them (vv. 5–8). One of these “men” was the Lord (vv. 1, 13, 17, 20, 26, 33). While He talked with Abraham, the other two “men” went toward Sodom (vv. 16, 22).
The biblical account reveals that the two “men” who went to Sodom were “angels” (19:1, 15). In spite of this fact, Lot thought that they were men. He offered to wash their feet. When they stated that they would spend the night in the street, Lot pressured them strongly to stay in his house instead. In light of the sexual perversion for which Sodom was notorious, Lot knew that it would be a tragic mistake for two men to stay in the street during the night. After they went to Lot’s house, they ate another meal (vv. 2–3).
It is apparent that the men of Sodom thought that the two visitors to their city were men. Later that night men of all ages came from the entire city, surrounded Lot’s house, and demanded that he turn over the two “men” to them so that they could abuse them with their wicked practice. When Lot begged the men of Sodom not to make him turn over his two guests, they threatened to abuse him even worse and to break the door of his house in order to get at the two visitors (vv. 4–9).
In response to this threat, Lot’s guests reached out their “hand,” pulled Lot back into the house, and shut the door. From inside the house, separated by a door from the men of Sodom outside, they supernaturally inflicted blindness upon the Sodomites (vv. 10–11) without physically touching them. It is obvious that Lot’s two visitors were not mere men.
The writer of Hebrews wrote, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (13:2). Surely he had in mind these instances in which two angels in physical bodies were shown hospitality by Abraham and Lot.
Angels Do Not Have Sexuality By Nature: It is not the nature of angels to have sexuality. This conclusion is based on two things. First, our sexuality is a very real part of our physical bodies, and sexual relationships involve physical body relationships — the two become one flesh (Mt. 19:4–6; 1 Cor. 6:13–20; 7:1–5). In light of this, because angels by nature do not have physical bodies, it should be evident that they do not by nature have sexuality.
Second, Jesus taught that when humans are resurrected from the dead, they will be like the angels in heaven in that they will neither marry nor be given in marriage (Mk. 12:25).
In His Matthew 19 teaching about marriage, Jesus indicated that God created humans “male and female” (with sexuality as part of their nature) and said, “For this cause [because I created humans with sexuality, here is how they are to use their sexuality] shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave [shall join himself sexually] to his wife, and they two shall be one flesh Wherefore, they are no more two, but one flesh. What, therefore, God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (vv. 4–6). Through this teaching, Jesus indicated two things. First, God instituted marriage because He created humans with sexuality. In other words, marriage exists because of sexuality. Because marriage exists because of sexuality, it is inferred that if angels had sexuality by nature, marriage would exist among them. The fact that angels in heaven never marry strongly implies that they do not have sexuality by nature.
The second thing indicated by Jesus’ teaching is that God created sexuality to be used in marriage. It would appear that because there is no marriage for angels in heaven, there is no reason for them to have sexuality.
Angels Do Not Die: Two things indicate that angels do not die. First, as noted earlier, angels do not have a physical body by nature. Humans die because they have physical bodies that are under a curse of sin (Gen. 2:17; 3:19; 5:3–5; Rom. 5:12; 6:23; 1 Cor. 15:56). Because angels do not have physical bodies, they do not experience physical death. Even the fallen angels, in spite of their sinful rebellion against God, do not die.
Second, Jesus taught that resurrected humans will be like angels in that they
will not be able to die (Lk. 20:36). He thereby indicated that angels cannot die.
It can then be concluded that it is impossible to kill an angel. Later we shall see that holy and evil angels wage war against each other (Rev. 12:7). In this warfare, although they can inflict certain results on each other, no angel can kill another.
Angels Are Invisible By Nature: It is the nature of angels to be invisible to
humans while humans are in their present mortal state. Two things prompt this
conclusion. First, as noted earlier, Jesus implied that by nature a spirit
cannot be touched or seen (Lk. 24:39). Because angels are spirits, it is their nature to be invisible to humans.
Second, the Apostle Paul indicated that in contrast with the things of earth that are visible, the thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers (terms for angels) in heaven are invisible (Col. 1:16).
According to the Scriptures, there are two exceptions to the rule of angels being invisible to mortal humans. First, on those occasions when angels have taken on physical bodies, they have been visible to mortal humans. An example of this is found in Genesis 18–19, where two angels appeared in physical bodies to Abraham and Lot.
The second exception is when God has given a special vision of angels to humans. A good example of this is found in 2 Kings 6:15–17. Syria waged war against Israel. The king of Syria, together with his military advisers, planned their strategy in secret. It appears that they purposely placed their forces in ambush along the routes where the king of Israel would travel. Their goal was to capture him. However, each time they did this, the king of Israel did not travel that route, thereby frustrating the Syrian plans (vv. 8–10).
The king of Syria suspected that one of his advisers was a traitor. He demanded to know which one of them was revealing their secret plans to the king of Israel. One of the advisers insisted that none of them was a traitor. Instead, the king of Israel was learning their plans through an Israelite prophet, Elisha. The implication was that God listened to their secret planning sessions, revealed their plans to Elisha, and then Elisha informed the king of Israel (vv. 11–12).
The king of Syria sent a spy party into Israel to learn where Elisha was located. When he was told that the prophet was in the city of Dothan, the king sent a large force of soldiers, horses, and chariots to capture him. They surrounded the city at night (vv. 13–14).
The next morning Elisha’s servant rose early, walked to the wall of the city, and looked out. He was not prepared for what he saw. The presence of the large Syrian military force around Dothan terrified him. He ran back to Elisha and blurted out, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” (v. 15).
Elisha answered, “Fear not; for they who are with us are more than they who are with them” (v. 16). Elisha prayed and asked the Lord to open the servant’s eyes to see what, by nature, could not be seen by his mortal eyes. God opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha (v. 17). They were there to protect him. Over the years, students of the Bible have been convinced that what the servant saw was angels in the form of fiery horses and chariots. It appears that angels are capable of taking on any shape or form necessary to carry out a ministry. These particular angels were present and protecting Elisha before his servant saw them, but they were invisible to him until God gave him a special vision of them.
A similar incident happened in the 1950s during the MauMau uprisings in Africa. As the result of MauMau threats, the missionaries and African Christians in a particular area moved to a central missionary compound. Sometime later they were forewarned that a large MauMau force intended to attack the compound and massacre its occupants on a certain night. The missionaries and African Christian men erected a barricade around the perimeter of the compound and positioned floodlights to illuminate the area outside the barricade. On the night of the anticipated attack, the men placed their wives and children in the most centralized building of the compound and asked them to pray. Then the men manned the barricade with whatever weapons were available. They waited all night, but the attack never came.
Sometime later one of the missionaries led one of the MauMau men to Christ. The man told the missionary that he had been part of a large MauMau force that surrounded the missionary compound on the night of the anticipated attack. He stated that they intended to overrun the compound and kill all of its occupants.
The missionary asked the new convert why the attack was not launched that night. He replied that just before their leader gave the order to attack, large fiery creatures suddenly appeared around the compound between them and the barricade. He stated that all the MauMaus saw them, and that none of them had seen anything like this before. The MauMaus were so terrified by the sudden appearance of these creatures that they ran away from the compound and were afraid to return.
Although the MauMaus saw the fiery creatures, none of the missionaries or African-Christian men saw them that night. After hearing the MauMau convert’s account, the missionaries and African believers concluded that the fiery creatures were angels whom God had sent to protect His people. Thus, God gave a special vision of these angels to the MauMaus, but they were kept invisible to the Christians.
A Note Concerning Angelic Appearance: In spite of the fact that angels do not by nature have sexuality, when they appeared in normal human form in Bible times (either with a tangible physical body as in Gen. 18–19 or in a vision as in Dan. 8:15; see 9:21), they always appeared as men. The Bible does not explain why this is so; it simply records what happened.
For example, the two angels who visited Lot in Sodom are called “men” (Gen. 19:5, 10, 12, 16). In addition, the men of Sodom viewed the two visitors as male, as indicated by their desire to commit sodomy with them (Gen. 19:4–7).
The angel Gabriel appeared to Daniel in the form of a man (Dan. 8:15; 9:21). The word translated “man” in 8:15 “specifically relates to a male at the height of his powers.” The word in 9:21 usually “denotes any individual male.”
Two angels appeared at Jesus’ sepulcher in conjunction with His resurrection from the dead (Jn. 20:11–12).
Luke indicated that they had the appearance of men (Lk. 24:4). The Greek word translated “men” is masculine in gender and refers to man specifically, “in contrast to woman.”5 Mark described one of these angels as “a young man” (Mk. 16:5). The Greek word translated “a young man” indicates that this angel appeared in the form of a man 24 to 40 years of age.6 In addition, the pronoun in Mark 16:6, which is translated “he” and refers back to the angel of verse 5, is also masculine in gender.
The two angels who were seen at the time of Jesus’ ascension appeared in the form of men (Acts 1:10). The word translated “men” is the same as that in Luke 24:4 which, as noted above, is masculine in gender and refers to a man in contrast to a woman. The pronoun in Acts 1:11, which is translated “Who” and refers back to the angels in verse 10, is also masculine in gender.
Zechariah 5:9 may seem to contradict the concept that when angels appeared in normal human form in Bible times, they always appeared as men. In this passage the prophet was shown a vision of two women with wings like a stork transporting by flight an ephod containing wickedness to the land of Shinar (Babylon).
There are reasons to doubt that these winged beings are angels. First, in every biblical account of angels appearing in normal human form there is no mention of wings being part of their appearance. (If the two angels who visited Lot in Sodom had appeared with wings, would the men of Sodom have regarded them as men?)
Second, the biblical passages that clearly refer to the wings of angels never compare their wings to those of a stork.
Third, the Bible refers to another woman who is given “two wings of a great eagle” (Rev. 12:14). In this instance, this winged woman is not an angel appearing in human form. The description of the woman given in Revelation 12:1–2, 4–5, when compared with Old Testament imagery (see Gen. 37:9–10; Isa. 54:5–6; Ezek. 16:7–14), reveals that she represents the nation of Israel through which the Messiah was born into the world. The fact that this winged woman is not an angel indicates that the presence of winged women in the Bible does not require us to conclude that they are angels appearing in human form.
Next week we will continue with this chapter from Renald Shower's book, Those Invisible Spirits Called Angels
 Dr. Renald E. Showers is an author and an international conference speaker for the Friends of Israel.
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