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What does
Kabbalah teach about Angels?
Angels play a prominent role in biblical theology.
Therefore, there is angelic doctrine in Kabbalistic teachings as
well. According to Kabbalah writings, angels were created before the earth was made,
at the point when God said, "Let there be light." Angels were used in the
creation of man and are envious of man's free will. There are
good and bad angels in a vast network in the spiritual realm.
Fallen angels are seen more as negative messengers rather than evil
beings. Angels are the intermediaries between the upper worlds
and earth and oversee everything that occurs on earth.
Some of the main angels mentioned in the Zohar
are Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael.1 "Liliel is the Angel of the
Night...Lilith is considered to be the arch she-devil." Sandalphon
is the angel of prayer as is Michael.2
There are angels are of "Grace, healing, justice, love,
mercy, moon, mountains, Paradise, peace, praise, stars, trees,
truth, and water. But there are also angels of confusion,
destruction, fear, fire, hail, insomnia, reptiles, storms, terror,
and thunder." Accusing type angels do their work before
midnight.3
Relative to your position on earth, three hosts of
angels go out to three parts of the universe. The chief angel over
the host is called a hayyah, who is said to be the support for the
divine Throne. These angels can't praises to God.4
Consider what Mr. Cooper says
in his book God is a verb.
"The Midrash [a
compilation of Jewish commentaries of the Old Testament
Scriptures that was gathered between 400 and 1200 A.D.] says that
angels debated
whether or not human beings should be part of creation. The
angel of love felt that it would be a good idea to have humans
in this creation because of our potential for expressing love;
the angel of truth was opposed to human beings because we tend
to tell me lies. During this debate, God exhibited examples of
humans for Angels to see, but included only well-known
characters from biblical lore... next, the angel of Earth
rebelled and would not give the Arctic angel Gabriel in the dust
for God to create humankind. The angel of Earth protested that
the physical earth would be cursed and devastated because of
human thoughtlessness; it insisted that God take personal
responsibility rather than send an Arctic angel as an
intermediary...
"God revealed in the future to Adam and Eve in a
book given to them in the Garden of Eden by the hand of the
angel Raziel (secrets of God) . This book contained sacred
knowledge: 72 branches of wisdom that revealed the formation of
670 inscriptions of higher mysteries. In the middle of the book
was a secret writing explaining 1500 keys to the universe, which
were not revealed even to the holy angels....
"Adam and Eve
obtained this book...
"When Adam and Eve transgressed the
commandments of the Master regarding the Tree of Knowledge, the
book flew away from them. Adam was so distressed, he entered the
river Gihon (one of the rivers of the garden) up to his neck and
stayed there so that his body became wrinkled and his face
haggard...
"God thereupon made a sign to the Archangel Raphael to
return the book, which Adam studied for the rest of his life. He
left it to his son Seth, and it went through the generations to
Abraham. It is still hidden today, somewhere in the world, for
those who know how to read it."1
As you can
see, the explanation of angelology in Kabbalistic writings is rather
fanciful. These teachings are not based on the Bible. They are based
out of human tradition, guesswork, and an effort to unearth the
mystical interpretations of Scripture. The problem is that it
contradicts biblical teaching.
What does the
Bible really say about angels?
Angels are very active in the Bible and are used by God as messengers,
warriors, and servants. The word "angel" comes from the
Greek word "angelos" which means messenger. Angels are
spiritual beings without bodies of flesh and bones, though they apparently
have the ability to appear in human form (Gen.
19:1-22).
Angels had many functions. They praised God (Psalm
103:20), served as
messengers to the world (Luke 1:11-20,
26-38;
Luke 2:9-14), watched over God’s
people (Psalm 91:11-12), and were sometimes instruments of God’s judgment
(Matt. 13:49-50).
The Bible tells us that God created the angels
and that at some time in the distant past there was a rebellion in heaven
and many of the angels fell. Apparently, it was the elect angels
that did not fall (1 Tim. 5:21).
The Bible says that angels were created by Christ (Col.
1:16), that they
carry out the will of God (Psalm 103:20;
Matt. 6:10), they worship God and
Christ (Phil. 2:9-11;
Heb. 1:6), are wise (2
Sam. 14:20), mighty (Psalm 103:20), holy (Matt. 25:31), and innumerable, (Heb.
12:22).
However, angels are not to be
worshipped (Col. 2:18;
Rev. 19:10;
22:9) since they are creatures.
Are there different
kinds of angels?
Apparently,
there are different kinds of angels with different characteristics and
roles: cherubim, seraphim, and archangels. It may also
be that there are "powers" and "principalities" that
further describe ranks in the angelic realm, but it is debated. Nevertheless, I'll focus on the three main groups.
-
"Seraphim stood above Him, each having six
wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet,
and with two he flew" (Isaiah
6:2).
-
They praise God (Isaiah
6:3).
-
The word "seraphim" (singular is seraph)
probably a translation of ‘fiery ones’ and probably stems from the fiery imagery often associated with the Presence of God (cf.
Ezek. 1:27).5
-
"So he drove out the man; and he placed at the
east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned
every way, to keep the way of the tree of life" (Gen.
3:24). See also
Exodus 25:18-22;
Heb. 9:5.
-
Cherubim are typically represented with wings,
feet, and hands, but are described in different forms as having
two faces (Ezek. 41:18) and even four faces (Ezek.
10:21).
-
Cherubim were considered to be angels that guarded
sacred things. In
Gen. 3:24 they guarded the tree of
life. They were over the Ark of the Covenant on the Mercy
Seat (1 Sam. 4:4). See also
Psalm 80:1;
99:1
-
Figures of Cherubs were embroidered on the temple
veil (Exodus 26:31;
2 Chron. 3:7)
and lavished Solomon's temple (1
Kings 6:26ff).
-
"For the Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise
first" (1
Thess. 4:16).
- The
word "archangel" is not found in the Old Testament.
References to Michael archangel appear only in
1
Thess. 4:16 and
Jude 9. However, Gabriel, who is considered an archangel
appears in both the OT and NT. In the OT he is found in
Dan. 8:15-26 and
9:21-27. In the NT he is mentioned in
Luke 1:11-20,
26-38. He seems to be a messenger angel.
- On the other hand,
Michael the archangel seems to be a warrior angel (Rev.
12:7) who
does battle (Dan. 10:13,
21;
12:1 ).
- An interesting
note is that in
Rom.
8:38,
Eph. 1:21, and
Col. 1:16, the
word ‘principalities’ is used. In Greek the word
has the prefix of "arche" suggesting archangel.
Some think this means there is a hierarchy of angels as is
suggested in
1 Pet. 3:22: "who is at the right hand of
God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and
powers had been subjected to Him," (NASB).
_____________
References
- Cooper, David A., God is a Verb. New York, New
York: Riverhead Brooks, 1997, p. 135.
- Ibid, pp. 135-138
- ibid, pp. 141-142
- ibid, p. 143
- Achtemeier, Paul J., Th.D., Harper’s Bible Dictionary, (San Francisco: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc.) 1985.
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