What does the Bible teach about angels?

Angels were created by God ( Psalm 148:1-5; Colossians 1:16 ). This tells us that they are not eternal; only God is eternal, having no beginning or end. Concerning the time of their creation, Job 38:4-7 seems to suggest that the time of their creation was before the creation of the earth, because they sang when they saw it.

Revelation 4:11 reminds us that they, like all other things, were created for God’s pleasure, to glorify Him.

1) They are spirit being ( Hebrews 1:13-14 ). 2) They are invisible, but do at times take a visible form or becoming visible when human eyes are opened to see them ( 2 Kings 6:15-17 ). 3) Hebrews 12:22 and Revelation 5:11 tells us that they are innumerable (of tremendous number). 4) They have personality, including intelligence ( Daniel 9:21-22; 10:14 ), will ( Jude 6, 9 ), desires ( 1 Peter 1:12 ), and emotions ( Luke 15:10 ). 5) They are presently superior to man — in strength ( 2 Peter 2:11 ), in intelligence ( Daniel 9:21-22 ), in speed ( Luke 1:19; Daniel 9:21 - probably at the speed of thought). However, there is a possibility that man will be superior to angels one day; the Scriptures seem to point to this idea ( 1 Corinthians 6:3; Romans 8:29 ). 6) Matthew 22:30 tells us one more thing about angels and that is that they do not reproduce or marry each other. They are permanently inferior to God, of course — as a few examples, they are not omnipresent ( Daniel 10:12 ), they are not omnipotent ( Jude 9; Daniel 10:13 ), they are not omniscient ( Mark 13:32 ). They were created perfect but they were also created free to fall ( Genesis 1:31 ). Apparently, about one-third of the angels rebelled with Satan ( Revelation 12:4, 9 ). Revelation 19:10 tells us that even the good angels should not be worshiped.

The good angels (as opposed to demons) are those that serve God, because God is good. Only two of them are named in the Bible: Michael the archangel (His name means "who is like God?” Jude 9 ) and Gabriel. Michael is mentioned four times in the Bible ( Daniel 10:13-21; 12:1; Jude 9; Revelation 12:7 in which he leads the angelic army against Satan in the heavenly realm). 1 Thessalonians 4 says that it is the trumpet of the archangel that will blow at the last day. Gabriel means "the mighty one of God” and he is mentioned by name at least seven times by God ( Daniel 8:16; 9:21; Luke 1:19, 26; Matthew 1:20; 2:13, 19 ). It is clearly said in Luke 1:19 that he is one of the seven angels that stands in the presence of God. It is possible that Gabriel is another one of the archangels, or one of seven that are under Michael. Genesis 3:24 describes another class of angels, the cherubim (also Exodus 5:18-20; Ezekiel 1:4-28; 10:1-22 ). Isaiah 6:1-7 describe the seraphim. Also, there are ruling angels ( Ephesians 1:21; 3:10; Colossians 1:16; 2:10; 1 Peter 3:22 ), in which they are referred to as principalities, powers, dominions, might. These may be, of course, just general references to all angels. Matthew 18:10 and Hebrews 1:14 may suggest the possibility of guardian angels, although certainly not conclusively. Good angels are referred to as ministers/servants ( Psalm 104:4 ), the host of the Lord (his army- Joshua 5:14 ), perhaps as chariots ( 2 Kings 6:16,17 ), watchers ( Daniel 4:13-17 ), the sons of God (only in OT- Job 1:6; 2:1 ), sons of the mighty (speaking of their strength Psalm 89:6 ), holy ones ( Daniel 4:17 ), stars (referring to their number and brightness- Job 38:7; Revelation 12:3-4 ). The destiny of good angels is to continue for eternity with believers and God.