About Angels


“The Angel of the North” follows a long artistic tradition: From the time of the early Christians angels have been a popular motif, reaching their peak in the Renaissance with the works of Raphael and Michelangelo.

Stephen Lamb writes: “The winged messengers of God have captivated people's imagination for centuries. Whether as chubby cherubim or sword-wielding arch-angels, they have decorated parchments and palaces, cathedrals and Christmas trees.”
“ The Angel of the North is to serve as a welcoming figure to travellers entering Tyneside. Other tasks that have been assigned to angels (by a higher power than the Gateshead Council) include guarding the tomb of Christ and barring human entry to the Garden of Eden. They have also been portrayed in the Old Testament as God's warriors, fighting on the side of the ancient Israelites.”
(The Journal, 16/2/98)

The word ‘angel’ means ‘messenger’ (from the Greek angelos). In the Bible it is used of the supernatural beings who surround the throne of God. Jesus tells us that they share in God's joy “over one sinner who repents”.

Angels are also referred to as ‘sons of God’or ‘heavenly beings’ and ‘heavenly powers’, the ‘servants of God’. Their work is to serve God. In heaven they worship God and on earth they act as God's messengers, bringing his word to men and women. They also help people. They took care of Jesus after his temptations and they care for his followers.

Ancient Judaic tradition believed there to be a complex hierarchy of angels, all of whom had their own names. The Bible has no clear reference to such a system, although it is implied. There are around 1,000 references to angels throughout the Bible, although only three are named specifically: Gabriel, Michael and Lucifer (who fell from grace and became known as Satan). It was Gabriel who brought news of the birth of Jesus Christ.

The phrase ‘the angel of the Lord’ is often used in the Old Testament as a way of describing how God sometimes came to people in human form, to give them a special message. The ‘angel of the Lord’ is also God’s agent of judgement.

In recent years there has been a widely-reported resurgence of occultism in the West. This has coincided with a strong movement, in other parts of the world, to return to traditional religious practices. Far more people are now aware of the reality of the spirit world than a generation or two ago. And when we look at the Bible, we find that God has created a universe of which non-material beings form a very real part.

Today most people would acknowledge the influence of outside forces on human beings. We are not so autonomous as we once supposed. To an extent, we can be controlled, and sometimes we are. People's experience, in many parts of the world today, goes along with Jesus’ teaching to suggest that personal outside forces (angels, demons, spirits) can and do influence the behaviour of human beings.
(main sources: David Gillett and Tite Tienou, in The Lion Handbook to the Bible)

Angels in the Bible


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