CHAPTER FIRST.

THE DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY ANGELS.

§ 60. Of the present state and employment of holy angels.

I. Their present state.

1. Angels are properly regarded, according to the general remarks 59, IV. 2, as beings possessing great intellectual excellence, -intelligence, knowledge, and experience. Hence, whatever is great and excellent is in the Bible compared with them; great wisdom is called the wisdom of angels; excellent food, the food of angels; beautiful appearance, the appearance of angels. Their advice is accordingly said to be asked for by God, they are summoned into council before him, and compose, as it were, his senate or Divan; cf. Job 1. and II. This does not imply, that God needed their council; but rather that he wished to instruct and employ them.

We should beware, however, of exaggerated conceptions of their knowledge, and should never ascribe to them any thing like divine intelligence and wisdom. We should not suppose, for example, that they are acquainted with the thoughts of men, or that they have a knowledge which borders on omniscience. The Bible, while it describes their great superiority over us, still represents their knowledge as very limited and defective in comparison with the knowledge of God, and as capable of great increase. In Job 4: 18, God is said to charge his angels with folly. In Mark 13: 32, the angels of God are said not to know the hour of the destruction of Jerusalem. 1 Pet. 1: 12, εἰς ἃ ἐπιθυμοῦσιν ἄγγελοι παρακύψαι.

2. They are also described as possessing great moral perfection,

which is called their holiness. Thus they are sometimes called ayıoe in opposition to dzáðugτor also ¿xλhexroi, Deo probati, elect, 1 Tim. 5:21. Hence they take their greatest pleasure in witnessing and promoting integrity and virtue. In Luke 15: 10, they are said to rejoice over the repentance of sinners. It is in general true, that the more advanced in holiness one is himself, the more pleasure he takes in that of others, the more interested is he in the diffusion of morality and piety, and the more distressed at the prevalence of vice. And if this is the case with man, how much more with spirits of a higher order! We see here, why the plan of redemption engages the interest of the whole spiritual world, and fills angels with delight and wonder when they contemplate it, as is represented in the New Testament; 1 Pet. 1: 12. Eph. 3: 10. The angels are described as very actively engaged before and at the birth of Christ, Luke 1. They sung praises to God on this occasion, and announced his advent to men, Luke 11. With equal activity and interest they attended him during his life, ministered to his wants, witnessed his passion and resurrection, and were interested in whatever concerned him. The union of so many natural and moral excellences in the angels, is the reason why great wisdom is also ascribed to them.

3. From what has now been said, we may determine what, in a general view, is their condition. It is always described as one of the greatest happiness; for of this, their holiness, which is the essential condition of happiness in moral beings, renders them eminently susceptible; vid. § 51, II. They are said in the Bible to stand in the most intimate connexion with God, and to behold his countenance continually; Matt. 18: 10. When the sacred writers would describe the blessedness of which we shall hereafter be partakers, they do it by saying, that we shall then be like the angels of God,―ináɣyɛhoi, Luke 20: 36.—It is sometimes said, that the angels are now so confirmed in goodness, that they cannot sin. We cannot suppose, however, that there is any absolute impossibility of their sinning; for this would be inconsistent with their freedom. It is true, indeed, that they never will intentionally and deliberately commit sin, or wish to do so. Still to sin must be possible to them, and to all finite beings, in short to all but God himself.

Note. The schoolmen, like the Rabbins before them, proposed many questions on this subject which were wholly unanswerable; and many too which

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were extremely frivolous, which may also be justly said of the answers which they gave; vid. Morus, p. 88, n. 5. Among these questions were the following: Whether an angel could be in more than one place at the same time? whether more than one angel could be in the same place at the same time? Whether they spake the Hebrew language, or, what language was meant by the ylάooai ayyilwr, spoken of 1 Cor. 13: 1?

II. The employments of holy angels.

They are represented in the Bible as the servants of divine providence, and as chiefly employed in promoting the good of men. The text Heb. 1: 14, teaches explicitly, that they are all spirits, engaged in the service of God, and employed by him for the good of those whom he will save. In Matt. 26: 53, we read, that God could have sent more than twelve legions of angels to the service of Christ. Cf. Matt. 18: 10; and also Ps. 34: 7, and 91: 11, where it is said, that they encamp about the righteous, and bear them up in their hands,--both of which are proverbial phrases. These are the general representations contained in the Bible respecting the employments of angels; and beyond these, the teacher of religion should not attempt to go, in the instructions which he gives. There are two cautions which it may be well for him to suggest in connexion with this subject.

(a) We are unable, in any particular cases of providential protection or deliverance which may occur at the present time, to determine, whether the ministration of angels has been employed, or how far their intervention has extended. It is sufficient for us to know, that we are watched over and provided for by the providence of God, and that his angels are employed in our behalf; and it is of no importance to us to be informed of the particular cases in which their agency is exerted. If we may believe, that God is not confined to the established course of nature, that he may sometimes turn aside, and afford us special and extraordinary assistance, protection, deliverance, and instruction, through the instrumentality of his angels, as we are clearly taught to believe in the Bible,-this surely must be sufficient to comfort and encourage us during the dangers and difficulties of life, even if we may not know when and how these services are performed.

(b) We are not to conclude, that because extraordinary appearances and interpositions of angels are recorded in the Holy Scriptures as having taken place in former times, similar occurrences are

to be expected at the present day. The events described in such passages as Matt. 1: 24. 2:13. Luke 1: 11, 26. 2:9. 22: 43. Acts 27: 23, should be exhibited by the religious teacher, as real occur. rences indeed, but as peculiar to that day. This is far better, than to attempt to explain away the obvious meaning of these passages, as has often been done, to the great injury of the interests of truth.

Moreover, the Bible does not teach, that angels are present with men at all times and under all circumstances, and that they are conversant uninterruptedly with our affairs. On the contrary, they are generally represented as present and active only in extraordinary cases, in unexpected events, the occurrence of which cannot easily be explained without supposing their agency; vid. Is. 37: 36. Acts 12: 7. Cf. § 58, and Morus, p. 89. Hence we find them employed at the giving of the law, the last Judgment, and other great events of this nature, as even the Jews supposed; vid. Matt. 13: 39, 41. 16: 27. 25: 31. 2 Thess. 1: 7.--They are frequently exhibited, especially in the prophetic writings, in a symbolical and parabolical manner; and much which is there said concerning them, must be understood as merely figurative representation; e. g. Is. 6: 1, sq. Dan. 10: 13. Zac. 3: 1. Luke 16: 22. But at the ground of all these figurative and parabolical representations lies the truth, that angels are actively employed for the good of men. The source of the imagery contained in these passages has already been pointed out in 58. We cannot, however, leave this subject without considering more fully the opinions which have been entertained respecting two particular offices or works ascribed to angels.

1. One of these offices is that of Guardian angels. The general notion of them is, that they are appointed to superintend particular countries and provinces of the earth, and also to watch over individual men, and administer their concerns. We find no clear

evidence, that this doctrine was held by the Jews before the Babylonian exile; and many suppose, that they adopted it for the first time in Chaldea. The origin of this opinion at that time is accounted for on the supposition, that angels were compared with the viceroys who ruled over the provinces of the vast oriental kingdoms. We find, indeed, the doctrine, that angels were guardian spirits in a general sense, developed in the earlier books of the Old Testament; but not so clearly the opinion, that each particular man and country had an angel, as an appropriate and permanent guardian.

The guardian spirit (77) mentioned Job 33: 23, as promoting the virtue of man, and interceding for him when he lies desperately sick, does not seem to be one among many of the same kind, but altogether extraordinary. He is supposed by some to be a man; vid. Dathe and Schultens, in loc. Those, however, who are spoken of in Dan. 10: 13, 20, are unquestionably guardian angels over particular countries and people. Daniel, in a vision, beholds Michael, the guardian angel of the Jews, contending with the guardian angel of the Persian empire. In whatever way this passage may be interpreted, it discloses the idea, that angels were intrusted with the charge of particular countries and people. This idea was so familiar to the Seventy, and so important in their view, that they introduced it surreptitiously even into their Version of the Pentateuch, and thus contributed to its wider diffusion. E. g. they rendered the passage, Deut, 32: 8, 9, κατὰ ἀριθμὸν ἀγγέλων θεοῦ. And, vioì dov, Gen. 6: 2, is rendered by Philo and Josephus ayyo Deo, cf. Gen. 11: 1, 2, 5, 9. They supposed, that evil spirits reigned over heathen countries,-an opinion respecting which we shall say more hereafter. The Rabbins held, that there are seventy people and as many languages, over which seventy angels preside; vid. the paraphrase of Jonathan on Gen. XI. and Deut. XXXII. This idea was the source of many other representations. Every star, element, plant, and especially every man, was now supposed to have an appropriate angel for a guardian.

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We find some traces of the latter opinion, viz. that every man had his own guardian angel, even in the New Testament. In Acts 12: 15, when they could not believe that it was Peter himself who appeared, they said: 6 ayyelos avrov čotiv. But Luke merely narrates the words of another, without assenting to the opinion expressed; vid. Wetstein, in loc. Some suppose, that in Matt. 18: 10, Christ himself utters and sanctions the opinion in question: "Their (uzov) angels behold the face of my Father." But neither does this passage authorize the opinion, that each particular man has his appropriate guardian angel. Their angels, may mean, those who guard and preserve them, whenever and wherever occasion might require; according to Heb. 1: 14. John 1: 51. It does not necessarily imply, that there is a particular angel, appointed to guard each individual man, and to be his constant attendant. The word xooi, which primarily signifies children, means also, those who