Various Kinds of Angels

I hope you have been enjoying this series on angels. I felt it was necessary to do one more on the various types of angels. 

One of my favorite books was Angels on Assignment by Charles and Frances Hunter, regarding the supernatural experience with angels that Roland Buck had, who was a pastor that had numerous angelic encounters. In that book, he explains that there are four types of angels -- warring, special forces, ministering, and worship angels. 

Let me begin by saying that angels are not generalists, but specialists. It's the same way in the kingdom of darkness with the devil and his angels, who are all fallen angels. The demons all specialize in something, whatever sin or malice they do, such as alcoholism, drug addiction, murder, greed, bitterness, etc. They all specialize in something, having various ranks, as well as authorities and powers (Eph 6:12). Likewise, the Lord has created the holy angels to specialize in certain areas of expertise, and they too have various ranks and levels of power and authority that the Lord has given to them. Let me just mention a few of them here. 

Warrior angels 
There are angels that specialize in warfare and they fight the Lord's battles. We see this all throughout Scripture where they are involved in battles, and this is one of the types we are most familiar with. A couple examples will suffice:

The angel that brought a message to Daniel the prophet said that the evil prince of Persia had resisted him for twenty-one days, but that Michael came and helped him.

"But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia." (Dan 10:13)

This is referring to Michael the archangel, who is in charge of the Lord's warrior angels. In fact, the angel specifically told Daniel that Michael is the great prince who protects the people of God -- the saints (Dan 12:1). 

"Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven." (Rev 12:7-8)

In my previous article on Angelic Visitations in Scripture, I mentioned the angel who appeared to Joshua, who said he was the commander of the Lord's army (Josh 5:13-15). There are many other references in Scripture, but these will suffice to show that the Lord has an army, and there are obviously warrior angels in that army, fierce, heavily armed, determined to defeat the enemy, and mighty in battle. 

We know there are also guardian angels, and it would stand to reason that since guardians protect us, they are part of the warrior class of angels. But this is merely my opinion, and not explicitly stated in Scripture. 

One thing I will say about guardian angels is that even in the first-century church, the saints believed in guardian angels. In fact, when Peter was rescued by an angel from prison in answer to their prayers, and he knocked at the door to the house where they were praying, they assumed it must be "his angel" at the door (Act 12:15). Our guardian angels are always working for us and have protected us from more trouble and harm than we could every imagine. We should be very thankful to God for them. They are our friends, and they love us dearly, as do all the angels.

"For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone." (Psa 91:11-12). 

The Lord also spoke about the little children having guardian angels who always see the face of the Father in heaven (Mt 18:10).

Special Forces and Messenger angels

There are also angels that specialize in bringing messages from the Lord to the people of God. In fact, the very word angel (Gr., angelos) means messenger, so all angels are messengers in one sense, but this is a primary function of this type of angel. 

We see many instances in Scripture of these types, but the angels that carried messages to Daniel would be one example. We see that Gabriel brought messages to Daniel about the end times. Daniel wrote:

"...while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, 'Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:'" (Dan 9:21-23)

You can read more about the messages that Gabriel brought to Daniel in Daniel chapters 8 - 12. But Gabriel also brought messages to other people at other times in history.

The angel said to [Zechariah the priest], "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news." (Luk 1:19)

"In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary." (Luk 1:26-27)

Of course, there are other messenger angels besides Gabriel, but he plays a very prominent role, since he is the archangel in charge of all the messenger angels.

Worship angels

While all angels praise the Lord, there are angels that specialize in praise and worship, and these are spoken about in Scripture.

"Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will." (Psa 103:20-21)

"Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying: 'Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!'" (Rev 5:11-12)

 

Ministering angels

Another type of angel is the ministering angel. For example, angels ministered to Jesus in the wilderness following His temptation by the devil:

"Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him." (Mat 4:11)

Another example would be the angels that ministered to Him in the garden of Gethsemane:

"An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him." (Luk 22:43)

Still another example of a ministering angel in Scripture would be the one that came and ministered to Elijah when he was running from Jezebel and was so exhausted that he laid down under the broom tree and prayed to die:

"Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, 'Get up and eat.' He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, 'Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.' So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God." (1Ki 19:5-8)

While other angels spend time in heaven before the throne of God in His glory and radiate the glory of God very brightly, it has been said that some ministering angels abide here on earth and do not necessarily have the same brilliance. They may appear as humans and not be recognized as angels by some people who are unaware. They may be dressed in plain and simple clothing and even drive a vehicle. They could appear as a child, a teen age person, an adult, or even an old man. They could appear as a poor person, or as a stranger.

"Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." (Heb 13:2)

There are also angels that specialize in the ministry of healing and miracles, and a number of people have testified to this. But one example in Scripture will suffice, and that is the one where the angel would come to the Pool of Bethesda and stir the waters, at which time the first crippled person to touch the water would be healed.

"Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed -- and they waited for the moving of the waters. From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had." (Joh 5:2-4)

"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." (Joh 5:7)

Cherubim and Seraphim

There are nearly seventy verses in Scripture about the cherubim. God sits enthroned between the cherubim, so they are very close to the Lord, and constantly worship Him. Ezekiel saw the cherubim more than once, and also referred to them as living creatures having wings and four faces each, and he described them as having four wings.

Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved. Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. They each had two wings spreading out upward, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body." (Eze 1:8-11)

Each of the cherubim had four faces: One face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures I had seen by the Kebar River." (Eze 10:14-15)

The prophet Isaiah also saw mighty angelic creatures around the Lord's throne, which he referred to as seraphim. He described them as having six wings.

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.'" (Isa 6:1-3)

The apostle John also saw these four living creatures around the throne of God in heaven. He described them as having six wings. He wrote:

"Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.'" (Rev 4:6-8)

There is so much more we could say about cherubim and seraphim, but it is sufficient for this study to give these few references to them, in order to describe what they are like and what they do.

Closing Words

I hope that this brief study has helped you to understand more about the different kinds of angels. I trust it has helped to show that God has created various types of angels for different purposes. But please remember not to seek angels or pray to them. They cannot accept your worship. 

Be encouraged that God has angels on assignment helping you in your walk with Him, if you are a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus Christ His Son. All the angels, archangels, seraphim, cherubim, powers, and authorities are under His direction. For He sits at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and power in submissions to Him (1 Pe 3:22; Col 2:10). 

Attribution notice: Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright 2011 Zondervan, all rights reserved, used by permission.  "God Has My Back" and "Guardian Angel" paintings © 2022 Danny Hahlbohm of Inspired Art, all rights reserved by the artist.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy Angelic Visitations in Scripture, Angelic Encounters, Activating Your Angels, Angelic Escape from Terrorist Assassins, Gems from Heaven., and Spiritual Warfare. You can find more of my articles on the Home page of this blog. You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org