God created all things both in earth and heaven, both things visible and invisible (Colossians 1:16). Angels are created beings that have a special part to play in service to God and to human beings. There are thousands upon thousands of them that stand before God’s throne worshiping Him (Revelation 5:11; Daniel 7:10). But they don’t just stay in heaven. The word for angel in the Old and the New Testament means “messenger.” Angels have many roles and jobs that they perform for God, but one of them is to be messengers between heaven and earth, between the invisible and the visible.

But what do angels do? What do they look like? Are there different kinds of angels? Are there good and evil angels? The Bible has many answers to these and many other questions.

Good Angels vs. Evil Angels

The Bible tells the story of a perfect heaven with perfect angels and perfect harmony… until evil was found in one of the most powerful angels in all of heaven. Lucifer was one of the covering angels of the throne of God (Ezekiel 28:14), but the Bible says that unrighteousness was found in him (Ezekiel 28:15) and, not content with being a chosen angel, he desired to be like God Himself (Isaiah 14:13-14).

Eventually, Lucifer, who was later called Satan, decided to rebel and even convinced other perfect angels to join him in rebellion against the Most High God. “And there was war in heaven… and, Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” (Revelation 12:7 & 9). Satan was defeated, but he and his angels were allowed to exist on this earth. Satan’s evil angels became the demons which compete with God’s angels for influence over human beings.

The New Testament is full of stories of demons possessing human beings. But God is still in control, and when Jesus came to live on this earth, He showed his power over every demon by casting them out of humans and controlling the actions of the demons. In the gospels, He saved a possessed man from a legion of demons. The demons recognized His identity and authority over them by calling Him the Son of God and pleading with Him to not cast them into the abyss. (Read the story in Luke 8:26-31.)

But ultimately, Satan will be defeated once and for all. Isaiah 14:15 warns, “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.” In fact, the Bible says that eternal destruction in hell is prepared for Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41). Jesus will ultimately win! We can be sure of it!

What Do Angels Look Like?

Angels can appear as humans, such as when two angels came to visit Abraham and stayed for lunch (see Genesis 19). Who knows, you may have seen an angel yourself sometime in your life without realizing it (Hebrews 13:2)!

However, the Bible records some encounters between humans and angels when they did not appear as humans. These encounters usually inspired some sort of fear or awe. Humans are not accustomed to seeing the glory of heaven appear in earthly settings. The angel that rolled away the stone at Jesus’ resurrection had a face “like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.” The Roman soldier guards were so afraid of his appearance that they fell on the ground like dead men (Matthew 28:2-4). The angels stationed at the entrance of the Garden of Eden possessed a flaming sword to keep Adam and Eve from reentering their former home and eating from the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). Manoah’s wife described the angel who came to announce Samson’s birth as, “very awesome” (Judges 13:6), Mary was “very perplexed” (Luke 1:29, NASB) when the angel Gabriel announced that she, a virgin, would have a son, and Zechariah “was troubled, and fear fell upon him” when he saw the angel Gabriel standing at the right hand of the altar in the temple (see Luke 1:5-25).

The prophets Ezekiel, Isaiah and Daniel saw more angels than any other Bible characters, except for John the Revelator. Ezekiel saw four beings that he called cherubim that seemed to support and transport God’s throne. He describes them as shining like polished bronze and having four faces, four wings, feet like calves’ feet and hands like human hands (see Ezekiel chapter 1). Isaiah called the angels he saw seraphim and described them as having six wings. Daniel saw the angel Gabriel several times (Daniel 8:16; 9:21) and also seemed transfixed by a scene in heaven where he saw a multitude of angels too vast to count (Daniel 7:10). He had to content himself with estimating their number at “…a thousand thousands…” and “…ten thousand times ten thousand…” (Daniel 7:10).

What Do Angels Do?

As mentioned before, the main job of the angels is to be messengers for God. They live to obey His every command and fully execute His plans. Psalm 103:20 says, “Bless the Lord, you His angels, mighty in strength, who perform His word, obeying the voice of His word!” (Psalm 103:20, NASB). They are mighty and strong to help in whatever God needs done, especially when it comes to human beings.

The Bible has many examples of angels fulfilling the directives of God regarding human beings. Angels protected Daniel from lions (Daniel chapter 6), brought food to Elijah in the desert (1 Kings 17:2-16) , surrounded the enemy when Elisha was under siege (2 Kings 6:8-23), broke Peter out of prison (Acts 12:7-10), told Cornelius to ask for help to learn about salvation (Acts chapter 10), ministered to Jesus after His temptation in the wilderness (Matthew 4:11), strengthened Him on His way to the cross (Luke 22:43), and comforted Mary when she saw the empty tomb.

But angels did not just help people long ago in the Bible. Even today, it seems that there is a specific angel, or maybe several angels, assigned to protect and care for each human being. Matthew 18:10 says, “Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.”

Psalms 91 describes how angels protect us:
“Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.”
(Psalm 91:10-12).

Angels also love to help us encounter salvation. Hebrews 1:14 says, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” And Peter talks about how angels long to understand salvation for themselves. “… but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look” (2 Peter 1:12).

Angels at the Second Coming

The Apostle John, in the book of Revelation, describes more angels than any other Bible writer. All the angels that he describes are somehow involved in bringing about the end of evil and the final salvation of human beings. He described each of the seven churches as having an angel to help them (Revelation chapters 1-3), he saw a strong angel asking a question in heaven (Revelation 5:2), an angel with a loud voice possesses the seal of the Living God (Revelation 7:2), four angels have power to harm the earth and the sea and to hold back the four winds of the earth (Revelation 7:2); there is an angel in charge of the incense on the heavenly altar (Revelation 8:3), seven angels blow seven trumpets (Revelation chapters 8 & 9), three angels proclaim a very special last-day message (Revelation 14:6-9), seven angels are in charge of the seven bowls of the last seven plagues (Revelation 16) and twelve angels are at the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem. These are only a few examples of the angels mentioned in the book of Revelation!

Angels will also come back to earth with Jesus at His second coming. “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels…” (Matthew 16:27, NASB). And angels will have a special role in helping Jesus gather all humans to take them to heaven. Jesus, speaking about Himself, said, “[the Son of Man] … will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other” (Matthew 24:31, NASB).

Conclusion

Angels are special heavenly beings that love to obey God and assist Him in His plan to save human beings once and for all. They have exceptional powers to protect us and teach us about God’s love and salvation. Someday, in heaven, we will have the opportunity to meet all the angels that have served us and hear about how they have safeguarded us and our friends and family here on earth.