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Spiritual Beings. Those who serve God. Introduction. Lots of modern ideas of angels Dead people in white robes with wings Cute naked babies with wings Dead people returned to earth to help “Highway to Heaven” Guardian Angels “Touched by an Angel” Scary, “angel of death” Many others.
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Spiritual Beings Those who serve God
Introduction • Lots of modern ideas of angels • Dead people in white robes with wings • Cute naked babies with wings • Dead people returned to earth to help • “Highway to Heaven” • Guardian Angels • “Touched by an Angel” • Scary, “angel of death” • Many others
Introduction • Questions • Are these concepts accurate? • What does the Bible say about angels? • Are angels the only “spiritual beings”? • If not, what other spiritual beings do we know about? • What do angels do? Past? Present? Future? • Are there good and bad angels? • Is a study of “spiritual beings” even necessary? • We’ll start trying to answer these questions
Should we even study this subject? • 1 Tim 4:6-7 • Worldly fables are to be avoided • But “sound doctrine” is to be followed • Sadducees were criticized for not believing in angels, spirits or the resurrection • Acts 23:8 • Matt 22:29-30 • Jesus said they should have known about angels from the Scriptures • The Bible speaks extensively about spirit beings • We should know what the Bible teaches
Defining the terms • Heb malak “angel” found 103 times in OT • Means “messenger” • Can be a spirit being messenger from God • Can be a prophet or priest sent by God • Can be a simple human messenger • The context will have to tell us which is meant • Grk angelos “angel” found 175 times in NT • Has same meaning as the Hebrew word
Defining the terms • Heb cherubim meaning uncertain, root implies “intercessor” • Found 68 times in OT, 1 time in NT • a.k.a. “living creatures” (Ezk 10:20) 13 times in Ezk, 13 times in Rev
Defining terms • Heb seraphim means “fiery or burning ones” • Found 2 times in Isaiah 6 • Grk arkhangelos means “chief angel” archangel • Found 2 times in NT
Other terms • “Sons of God” (Job 1:6) • Seems to refer to all God’s created spiritual beings • Also used of God’s spiritual children on earth • “Holy ones” (Ps 89:5) • God’s faithful, “set apart”, beings • Also used of faithful believers
Other terms • “Watcher” (Dan 4:13, 17) Heb eer means “guardian” • “Host” lit. “a mass or army” • Refers to all those spiritual beings on the Lord’s side • Can also refer to any large body of people • “Prince” used in Dan 10 and 12 could refer to some sort of spiritual being • Of course, is often used to refer to earthly rulers
Some questions answered • Where did they come from? • Col 1:16 • When were they created? • Job 38:4-7 • How many are there? • Heb 12:22; Rev 5:11 (angels) • What is their position relative to man? • Heb 2:5-7
Conclusion • Spiritual beings are real • We can and should examine them as we do other Bible topics • We should set aside our preconceived notions • There are many spiritual beings mentioned • We will look more closely at their functions in the past, present, and future in further lessons