THE CREATION OF ANGELS

      It is clear from Scripture that angels are created intelligences and not beings without a beginning. We have for instance the following passages of Scripture to support this assertion:-

Psalm 104:4 "Who MAKETH (he created them so) his angels spirits; his ministers a flame of fire"

Psalm 148:2-5 "Praise ye him, all his angels;... Let them praise the name of Jehovah, for he it is that commanded, and they were CREATED"

      The question arises as to when the angels were created. The account of creation in Genesis 1 and 2 does not mention them. However some may assume that their creation is covered by the words "and ALL that is in them" in Exodus 20:11 so that the creation of the heavens, earth and sea includes the creation of angels. This is not conclusive however, because the abode of God and his angels is not in the created heavens. They cannot be found in the sky that is visible to man. Space probes and the like have never come across such beings. Paul speaks of the THIRD heaven otherwise called paradise (2 Corinthians 12:1-5). This is clearly a sphere not included in the Genesis creation narrative. That only speaks of the earthly paradise, that is, the garden of Eden.

      The fact that Scripture speaks of the third heaven does tend to confirm that there is a heaven which is not the heavens spoken of in Genesis 1 and 2. Genesis 1 speaks of the creation of the heavens and the earth and not the creation of ALL THINGS as does the New Testament (see John 1:3 and Colossians 1:16). The New Testament passages are all embracing and are in no way limited to the material and visible creation. There are clearly things created that are not part of that creation as it says in Hebrews 9:11 regarding the tabernacle "not of this creation". Other things, such as the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20) were not part of God's creation which he pronounced very good (Genesis 1:31). Although the material creation was finished as it says in Genesis 2:1 this does not mean that other things may not have been created outside of the six days of the creation week. In the New Testament we have New Creation spoken of (2 Corinthians 5:17), this at least showing that there is another creation than that spoken of at the beginning of Genesis.

      Apart from the reasons given above, it may be noticed that in Psalm 104 quoted above, the reference to angels as created occurs in the first part of the Psalm, in the part that speaks of what God DOES rather than in the part of the Psalm which speaks of what he has DONE. This latter begins at verse 5, whereas the creation of angels is spoken of in verse 4. There is clearly that which God has done but there is also that which he continues to do. Both have their place. Angels may not therefore have all been created at a certain point in time as we know it, but may have been created as and when God saw fit to do so.

      As to Psalm 148, the first few verses speak of the heavens and what is in them and it is to be noted that the angels in verse 2 are distinguished from the stars in verse 3. The angels as being those nearest to God are put first, then the physical things such as the sun, moon and stars and then the heavens in which they exist. When we get to verse 7 we come down to the things which are upon the earth. God's majesty is above them all - above the earth and the heavens (verse 13). The whole created sphere - God is above it.

      Another point of importance is that the angels are not simply creatures created by God but are sons of God. The thought in this is that as with Man who received his breath directly from God (Genesis 2:7) they are not simply robots doing what God has programmed them to do. [The proof that angels are sons of God is found in Daniel 3 if we compare verse 25 (son of God) with verse 28 (his angel)]. Luke 20:36 would also appear to confirm this view. Because of this it would seem out of place to include the angels in the creatorial work of God done only by simple command rather than with man whose creation involved special activity on the part of God (Genesis 1:26 & 27; Genesis 2:7).

      Regarding those who consider that the angels were all created during the six days of creation week it may be said that they are unlikely to have been created on the fourth day at the same time as the stars as Job 38:7 tells us that they rejoiced at the founding of the earth which if this means the planet, it was already in existence before the first day and if it means the dry land, that was in existence by the end of the third day. The only basis for saying that they were created at the same time as the stars is that they are heavenly beings and are called a HOST as the stars are (Compare Psalm 148:2 where angels are spoken of and Isaiah 40:26 where the reference is to stars).

      Others have thought that the angels were created on the second day when the heavens were made, but what was created on that day was the atmosphere and we have no reason to believe that the angels dwell in that sphere. In any case if the reference in Job 38:7 is to the planet earth then the angels must have been in existence before the second day and in fact before the first. The same problem arises of it is suggested that the angels were created on the first day.

      Regarding the question of the difference between things CREATED and things MADE, the popular idea is that created means made out of nothing, but made means made out of something already in existence. The scriptural basis for this distinction is extremely weak. It is more likely that created and made are simply alternative words for the production of something with the emphasis in the first case on the fact that something is being brought into existence which had never existed before, as when we say an artist has created a picture, and the simple fact of something being made, which might be a replica of something that has been made before and not the product of an original idea as the thought of a creation would suggest. Man is said to have been made, created and formed (Genesis 1:26 & 27; 2:7 & 8; 6:6 &7) so that all these words are used of him and are simply different aspects of God's work in bringing Man into existence. The same must be true of the other things that God brought into being. Scripture never says that God made anything out of nothing. The writer to the Hebrews says that things did not take their origin from things which appear (Hebrews 11:3), but this simply tells us that things took their origin from hidden things, probably non-material things, but not from nothing. The made out of nothing idea has more in common with the evolutionist' s ideas than with the Bible, although along the way the evolutionist would suggest that things are simply adaptations of visible things already in existence. The evolutionist in effect denies that there is a being with a mind and power capable of producing the creation we see around us and that it all came by accident, which is in effect saying that it came from nothing ! A Scripture that might be used to support the made out of nothing idea is Romans 4:17 which reads: "God... calls the things which be not as being". However there is nothing here about bringing things into existence, but simply treating things that do not exist as if they did. The context would suggest that the point of the passage is that God is able to bring to pass what with men is impossible. The things that do not exist now are going to be made to exist in the future and that this is so certain that God can treat them as already existing !

      The passage in Psalm 148 quoted above raises certain questions to which it does not appear there are easy answers:-

Firstly, the reference to the waters that are above the heavens in verse 4 implies that they still existed above the heavens when the Psalm was written. However, if as many creationists think, the waters above the heavens existed as a water vapour canopy which was used at the time of the flood to inundate the earth they would not still have been above the heavens at the time the Psalm was written.

Secondly, the statement in verse 5 that the angels, heavenly bodies etc were brought into being by divine command is supported by the wording of Genesis 1 so far as the things spoken of in verses 3 and 4 of the Psalm are concerned, but not the angels spoken of in verse 2, for they are not mentioned in the Genesis narrative. Certainly they were created. Colossians 1: 16 would confirm this if we accept that what is spoken of there, is or includes angels, as the references elsewhere to the intelligences spoken of would imply (see for instance: Ephesians 1:21; 3:10; 1 Peter 3:22).

Thirdly, following on from the second point made above, the use of simply a command for the creation of the angels would not appear appropriate for the bringing into being of God's sons, which angels are. Something more than a command would appear to be necessary for them to be God's sons. They must have in some way come forth from God. The above three points would appear to be something for godly enquiry. I say godly enquiry in contrast to the making of them the subject of sceptical thinking.

28 February 1999