Questions & Answers

Q. The word “angel” in our Bible is from the Hebrew “Malak” (in the Old Testament) and the Greek “Angelos” (in the New Testament). What does the word mean?

A. The word means “messenger.”

Q. Where is the home of the angels?

A. The home of the angels is in the heavens. They are called “the heavenly host” (Luke 2:13,15; Matthew 22:30).

Q. What is the employment of the angels?

A. Angels worship and praise God in heaven (Nehemiah 9:6; Revelation 7:11,12).

Q. Does the Bible ever speak of female angels?

A. Angels are sexless, as we speak of sex (Matthew 22:30), but they are always spoken of in the masculine gender (Genesis 19:1,2,5,10,12; Luke 24:4).

Q. Are angels able to assume human form and appear as men?

A. Yes (compare John 20:12 and Luke 24:4). God causes angels to assume the shapes or forms that He sees fit.

Q. What leads us to believe that the angels were created before the earth?

A. The angels were present at the creation of the earth (Job 38:3-7).

Q. Is it correct for a believer to say that he wants to be an angel when he goes to heaven?

A. It is not correct, because it is impossible for him to be one. Angels are constituted differently from men. Redemption, new birth and the work of the Holy Spirit, who now dwells in believers, have brought them into a closer relationship with God than angels can ever have.

Q. Are there many angels?

A. There are so many angels that they are spoken of as “an innumerable company” (Hebrews 12:22). In Daniel 7:10 we read: “thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.”

Q. Are the angels all of the same rank or order?

A. The Bible speaks not only of angels, but of an “archangel” (Jude 9), “Cherubim” (Genesis 3:24), “Seraphim” (Isaiah 6:1-7), and “thrones, dominions, principalities, or powers” (Colossians 1:16; Ephesians 1:21).

Q. Can an angel tell what a person is thinking?

A. No, only God can (1 Kings 8:39).

Q. When Elijah was so weak and discouraged that he wanted to die, what service did an angel render to him?

A. An angel woke Elijah from sleep, encouraged him, and gave him food and drink (1 Kings 19:4-8).

Q. How do we know that God used angels in connection with the giving of the law on Mount Sinai?

A. Because we are told so in Acts 7:53, Galatians 3:19, and Hebrews 2:2.

Q. Where do we get the suggestion that there are special angelic princes over nations?

A. In Daniel 10:13,20,21, we get the suggestion that in Daniel’s day there were special angelic princes over Persia, Grecia, and Israel.

Q. Is there any hope of salvation for the fallen or evil angels?

A. There is no hope of salvation for the fallen angels. The Lord Jesus became a Man to die for men, not for angels (Hebrews 2:9,14-17).

–From A Quiz on Angels by F.W.C. Wurst, available from the publisher (164 Q&A).