Fantasy is popular – always was.  I grew up with stories from the imaginary and illusionary world with entirely farfetched realms of witches, fairies, kings and queens, princes and princesses, dwarves and gnomes, both good and bad.  In the last volume of an encyclopedia in our home there were stories from various parts of the world – the Babajaka in Russia with her house on chicken feet, Bluebeard the murderer, and Red Rooster, which I was crazy about.  My dad would never skip story-time, no matter how tired he was.  My mom would tell me that he sometimes fell asleep under his own reading, then I would come down the stairs to ask her to finish my story.

Stories were even more important in the ancient world.  The entire history of nations and people was retold, and although it was written down, ordinary people did not have free access to the scrolls.  It was a luxury limited to palaces and temples, accessible to the royals, scholars, and high officials.  For ordinary people, the oral retellings of the elders were the key to history.

The limitations of the availability of scrolls and the high standards of precision and carefulness of the scribes who wrote the scrolls made them scarce but accurate.  For this, everyone interested in ancient history is very grateful.  So much has been written about the wonder of the composition of our Bible. I  will always recommend Josh McDowell’s Evidence that Demands a Verdict.

I can imagine that the stories of the heroes of history were the most important factor in the establishment of faith in children.  Parents were obliged to tell their children about the miracles of God, or else the tragedy of Judges 2:10 would happen.

When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers [the generation of Joshua who lived to 110] , another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.

Of course, it also happened in the oral retellings, that facts sometimes got lost and events were exaggerated.  So it was that the Jews developed an extensive angelology and attributed tasks to angels that were not actually endorsed.

The Jews were deeply impressed by angels and all things supernatural. The transcendence of God and the gap between God and humanity became more and more important in Jewish thinking.  As a result, they viewed angels as intermediaries between God and humans.

They believed that angels could bridge the gap between God and humans and bring the prayers of humans into the presence of God.  Moses received the Law of God without any heavenly agent.  By the time of Jesus, the Jews taught that angels had brought the Law to Moses. (Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19)

God is surrounded by the glory of His heavenly beings. (Isaiah 6:1-13; 1 Kings 22:19)  Angels are God’s army and messengers.  The meaning of the word for angel in both Hebrew and Greek is messenger.  They were the instruments of God who ruled on earth and carried out His will.

Ezekiel described four human-like beings with wheels (1:15-21) that are always around the Throne, with four faces and four wings.  The description of these beings is reminiscent of the four living creatures in Revelation 4.

There were millions and millions of angels.  Later in history, the Jews assigned names to them, especially the seven angels in the Presence, who were archangels.  Among these, the most important were Raphael, Uriel, Phanuel, Gabriel, the angel who brought God’s messages to people, and Michael, the angel who ruled over the fate of Israel.  Only three angels, Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer, are mentioned in the Bible.

Angels are part of God’s invisible workings.  They deliver messages to people and intervene in the events of history. (2 Kings 19:35-36; throughout Revelation)

According to Jewish tradition – some from authoritative scriptures and some arising from traditions and legends – there were: 

• Two hundred angels who controlled the movements of the stars and kept them in their orbits. 
• An angel who controlled the continuous succession of years, months, and days. 
• An angel, a mighty prince, who ruled over the sea. 
• Angels of the dew, the mist, the rain, the snow, the hail, thunder, and lightning. 
• Angels who recorded every single word spoken by every human. 
• Angels who were wardens of hell and torturers of the damned. 
• Angels of destruction and angels of punishment. 
• Satan, the accuser, who brought continuous accusations against humans before God every day except on the Day of Atonement. 
• The Angel of Death, who went out only by God’s command and distributed death equally to good and bad people. 
• Every nation had its guardian angel who ruled over it, according to Daniel’s account of his conversation with an angel who had to overcome the Prince of Persia and later fight with the (evil) angel over Greece. Michael, who watched over Israel (Daniel 10). 
• Every individual had a guardian angel. Even small children had their angels (Matthew 18:10).

There were so many angels that the rabbis even said, “Every blade of grass has its angel.“

With this extensive angelology, there was a real danger that the doctrine of angels could be elevated to such a powerful position that they would interfere in people’s faith as intermediaries between God and them.

It was necessary to show that the Son was far greater than they were and that anyone who knew the Son did not need an angel to act as an intermediary with God.

Hebrews proves that Jesus is greater than the angels. It does so by quoting Scripture. For example:

• Psalms 2:7: “I will declare the decree:
  The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.

• Deuteronomy 32:43: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people;
  For He will avenge the blood of His servants,
  And render vengeance to His adversaries;
  He will provide atonement for His land and His people.”

• Psalms 104:4: Who makes His angels spirits,
  His ministers a flame of fire.

• Psalms 110:1: The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand,
  Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”

The doctrine of angels inherently carries a significant danger.  It glorifies a series of mystical beings other than Jesus, through whom humans can approach God.

In Christianity, there is no need for anyone else to intercede.  Because of Jesus and what He has done, we have direct access to God.  Jesus Christ has broken every barrier and opened a direct path for us to God.

The Angel (capitalized) of the Lord in the Old Testament is the pre-incarnate Jesus.  It is Jesus Himself who appeared to humans on very special occasions. (Genesis 16, Hagar; Genesis 22, Abraham’s offering of Isaac; Exodus 2, Moses and the burning bush; Numbers 22, Balaam; Judges 2 and 6, Gideon; Judges 13, Samson’s mother; Zechariah 1:3 and 12)

The distinction between the Angel of the Lord and ordinary angels is that the former welcomes worship (Joshua 5), while ordinary angels do not accept worship and instead warn against it.

Revelation 22:8-9 makes it clear:

Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.

Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”