ON THE NATURE OF ANGELS

The Psalmist depicts God as riding upon the wings of the wind and describes angels as winds and flames of fire:

“Bless Yahweh, O my soul! O Yahweh my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty, Wrapping Yourself with light as with a cloak, Stretching out the heavens like a tent curtain. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He sets up the clouds to be His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind (ruach); He makes His angels the winds (ruchot), His ministers flaming fire.” Psalm 104:1-4 – Cf. Hebrews 1:7

Certain translations render the Hebrew word ruchot as spirits, meaning that the angels are spirits that appear as fiery beings:

“Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.” Psalm 104:4 New Kings James Version (NKJV)

Similarly, one can also translate the term ruach in v. 3 as spirit.⁽¹⁾

This means that the wings of the spirit, which YHWH walks upon would be the angelic host that accompany YHWH whenever he descends to judge and/or save, since these spirit creatures whom God appears with are said to have wings:

“Now it happened in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the river Chebar among the exiles, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. (On the fifth of the month in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s exile, the word of Yahweh came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and there the hand of Yahweh came upon him.) Then I looked, and behold, a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light all around it, and in its midst something like the gleam of glowing metal in the midst of the fire. And within it there were figures with the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. And each of them had four faces and four wings. And their legs were straight, and their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they sparkled like the gleam of burnished bronze. And under their wings on their four sides were hands of a man. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn as they went; each went straight forward. And as for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and all four had the face of an eagle. And such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and two covering their bodies. And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit (ha ruach) was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and lightning was flashing from the fire. And the living creatures ran to and fro with the appearance of lightning.

“Then I looked at the living creatures, and behold, there was one wheel on the earth beside the living creatures, for each of the four of them. The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like the gleam of beryl, and all four of them had the same likeness, their appearance and workmanship being as if one wheel were within another. Whenever they went, they went in any of their four directions without turning as they went. And as for their rims, they were lofty and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were full of eyes all around. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them. And when the living creatures rose from the earth, the wheels rose also. Wherever the spirit (ha ruach) was about to go, they would go in that direction, where the spirit (ha ruach) was about to go. And the wheels rose alongside of them; for the spirit (ruach) of the living creatures was in the wheels. Whenever those went, these went; and whenever those stood still, these stood still. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit (ruach) of the living creatures was in the wheels.

“Now over the heads of the living creatures there was something with the likeness of an expanse, like the awesome gleam of crystal, spread out over their heads above. And underneath the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward the other; each one also had two wings covering its body on the one side and on the other. I also heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters as they went, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army camp; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings. And there came a sound from above the expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings. Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something in the likeness of a throne, like sapphire stone in appearance; and upon the likeness of the throne, high up, was the likeness of one with the appearance of a man. Then I saw from the appearance of His loins and upward something like the gleam of glowing metal with the appearance of fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something with the appearance of fire; and there was a radiance all around Him. As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the radiance all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. And I saw this, and I fell on my face and heard a sound of a voice speaking.” Ezekiel 1:1-28 – Cf. 10:1-22; Exodus 25:18-22; Revelation 4:1-11; Isaiah 6:1-7

The Scriptures also mention the chariots of God, and that these chariots number in the myriads and thousands upon thousands:

“The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousands; The Lord is among them as at Sinai, in holiness. You have ascended on high, You have led captive Your captives; You have received gifts among men, Even among the rebellious also, that Yah—God—may dwell there.” Psalm 68:17-18

God’s chariots are further described as being composed of fire:

“As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and it separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven.” 2 Kings 2:11

“Then Elisha prayed and said, ‘O Yahweh, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.’ And Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” 2 Kings 6:17

Elsewhere in the God-breathed writings we are told that the expressions “myriads” (“upon myriads”) and/or “thousands upon thousands” refer to God’s angelic hosts:

“I kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His clothing was like white snow And the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with fire, Its wheels were a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The court sat, And the books were opened.”

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.” Hebrews 12:22-24

“And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain and purchased for God with Your blood people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And You made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.’ Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.’” Revelation 5:8-12

This shows that God’s chariots of fire are the heavenly host who accompany God when he comes to judge and/or save.

These heavenly beings can also appear in human form:

“ow on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing, and when the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’… ‘But also some women among us astounded us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and not finding His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also said, but Him they did not see.’” Luke 24:1-7, 22-24

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:2

What this indicates is that God’s angelic host are spirit creatures that have the ability to manifest in various forms, being able to change their shapes and appearances.

Unless indicated otherwise, biblical references taken from the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB).

ENDNOTES

(1) The reference to the wings of the spirit may actually be a description of the Holy Spirit, since the God-breathed Scriptures affirm that the Spirit visibly appeared as a dove:

“and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.’” Luke 3:22 – Cf. Matthew 3:16-17; Mark 1:10-11; John 1:32-33

What the Psalm may be hinting at is that YHWH not only comes with his myriads of angels, but also appears with his Holy Spirit whom he always works with since they are perfectly, inseparably united. This seems to be confirmed by what the inspired writer goes on to say a little later in this same Psalm:

“You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they breathe their last And return to their dust. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the ground.” Psalm 104:29-30  

God recreates the earth and resurrects the dead by his Spirit, highlighting their perfect, inseparable union.