What Does the Bible Say about Spiritual Creatures?

This is an excerpt from Angels & Demons: What the Bible Says about Spiritual Creatures by John R. Gilhooly.

You would expect, perhaps, that Moses would tell us something about the creation of angels in Genesis 1. After all, the book says that God created the heavens and the earth, which is a Hebrew way of saying that God made all the stuff. Yet, Moses’ focus is on physical creation – the world in much the way that we now know it, as well as the land in which he will put Adam and Eve. He talks about all the physical sorts of creatures and features, such as water, sky, and land, that are important for us and our sustenance. He even talks about the sun, moon, and stars, which we need to keep the calendar of festivals and work the land. But he doesn’t say anything about the creation of the angels in the first two chapters of his book. Angels do not make an appearance until the end of chapter 3, where they serve as a message that there is something sacred and powerful in the Garden – something that has been lost.

There may be a lesson in this for us. As long as there have been Christians, there have been questions about why Moses does not describe the creation of the angels in Genesis 1. Sometimes these questions of curiosity have been indulged with speculative answers or by examining what different ancient religions or philosophies say about creatures, gods, and heavenly beings. That is not the wisest approach for Christians.

Instead, we should reframe our questions in light of what the authors of Scripture have already chosen to write down. My favorite example of this method comes from an eighth-century clergyman named Alcuin (Al-Kwin). He wrote a commentary on the book of Genesis that consisted of common questions that he had received about Genesis along with his answers. One of the early questions is about why Moses does not describe the creation of the angels or the subsequent fall of the devil. Alcuin responds by saying that Moses does not describe such things because God had not planned salvation for the angels. In other words, Genesis isn’t about angels or demons; it is about God’s plan for his people. The things that Moses chose to write down are things that contribute to the story that he is inspired by God to tell. That story may not answer all our questions of curiosity, but it is the story that we need to hear.

The first appearance of the host of heaven in the book is in chapter 3, where God sets a cherub to guard the entrance to the Garden of Eden. Notice that the presence of the angel outside the Garden sends a clear message. In fact, as the characters of Genesis approach the boundaries of the land God had promised to his people, we often find an angelic encounter. This becomes a method to highlight the importance of God’s promises.

The first appearance of an angel as a character in Scripture comes in Genesis 16 when the angel meets Hagar on the road. Hagar had recently conceived a child with Abram, but Hagar had fled from his camp because Sarah, Abram’s wife, had dealt with her harshly. Sarah acted this way even though it was her idea for Abram to conceive a child with Hagar. The angel commands her to return to Sarah and tells her that she will be blessed with many children. He also instructs her what name she should give to her firstborn.

Some interpreters believe that this angel is God because the angel speaks at first with a first-person pronoun (“I will surely multiply…” in v. 10). This is a common but mistaken interpretation, for notice that when God hears the voice of Hagar’s child in Genesis 21, we read: “And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is” (v. 17). Moses clearly distinguishes between the LORD and the angel of the LORD. It is true that angels are often representatives of God in much the same way that his prophets are, but they are not God. For now, notice that the motif of birth announcement is marked in this episode. The angel not only confirms that Hagar will bear a child but also that God has specific plans for the child and for his family.

Angels also arrive on the scene in Genesis 18 and 19, surrounding the story of Abraham and Lot. However, they are presented with a great deal of ambiguity. In other words, their description might leave us with many questions. To begin, the figures are not initially called angels, but rather “men,” anakim. In fact, in the whole of chapter 18, the word angel does not appear. Only in the first verse of chapter 19 do we find that these men are malakim (“im” makes the word plural here). Should we take this word to mean messengers or angels? Traditionally, these figures are understood to be angels, and I think that is the right interpretation. Reflecting on this example is a good way to see how a translator could decide how to understand an ambiguous word like malak.

After all, there are good reasons in the text to believe that the figures are not merely human messengers. First, these figures appear and disappear with no significant warning or introduction. Second, they are able to overpower “all the men of the city” (Genesis 19:4) in rescuing Lot (Genesis 19:10). Third, they strike the men of the city with blindness (Genesis 19:5). Considering these details in the story, it is difficult to see these malakim as merely human messengers. Furthermore, the angels fit the pattern: they protect a key figure in the story as well as execute judgment.

These two instances (Genesis 16 and Genesis 18-19) are somewhat conspicuous because the angels not only appear in both, but they appear as central characters of those stories. Even so, the angels are still mentioned in an oblique way. We do not receive specific details about them. There is little discussion of them. However, they remain central, speaking characters. That itself is unusual. More often, we find angels are peripheral or background characters. This fact is because of the central motif of the angels, which is that they bring a significant message to a significant character. Often (but not always) the message is more important than the messenger.