Angelology, A True History of Angels

By James D. Quiggle

Humankind is not alone in the universe. Our companions are the immaterial spirit-beings we call angels. Angelology, A True History of Angels, discusses the history of the angelic community from their creation, the fall of some, their character and attributes, and the works and appearances of holy and fallen. Special attention is given to the controversial passages Genesis 6, Isaiah 14, and Ezekiel 28. Numerous traditional views of what angels are like in appearance, nature, purpose, and organizational structure are challenged by Scripture. Myths thought to be Biblical are exposed. Five appendices list every appearance, work, and mention of the holy and fallen angels.

• Language: English
• Publisher: James D. Quiggle
• Release date: Sep 14, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370381418

James D. Quiggle

James D. Quiggle was born in 1952 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He grew up in Kansas and the Texas Panhandle. In the early 1970s he joined the United States Air Force. At his first permanent assignment in Indian Springs, Nevada in a small Baptist church, the pastor introduced him to Jesus and soon after he was saved. Over the next ten years those he met in churches from the East Coast to the West Coast, mature Christian men, poured themselves into mentoring him. In the 1970s he was gifted with the Scofield Bible Course from Moody Bible Institute. As he completed his studies his spiritual gift of teaching became even more apparent. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Bethany Bible College during the 1980s while still in the Air Force. Between 2006–2008, after his career in the Air Force and with his children grown up, he decided to continue his education. He enrolled in Bethany Divinity College and Seminary and earned a Master of Arts in Religion and a Master of Theological Studies.As an extension of his spiritual gift of teaching, he was prompted by the Holy Spirit to begin writing books. James Quiggle is now a Christian author with over fifty commentaries on Bible books and doctrines. He is an editor for the Evangelical Dispensational Quarterly Journal published by Scofield Biblical Institute and Theological Seminary.He continues to write and has a vibrant teaching ministry through social media.

Book preview

Angelology

BOOKS BY JAMES D. QUIGGLE

DOCTRINAL SERIES

Biblical History

Adam and Eve, a Biography and Theology

Angelology, a True History of Angels

Essays

Biblical Essays

Biblical Essays II

Biblical Essays III

Biblical Essays IV

Marriage and Family

Marriage and Family: A Biblical Perspective

Biblical Homosexuality

A Biblical Response to Same-gender Marriage

Doctrinal and Practical Christianity

First Steps, Becoming a Follower of Jesus Christ

A Christian Catechism

Thirty-Six Essentials of the Christian Faith

The Literal Hermeneutic, Explained and Illustrated

The Old Ten In the New Covenant

Christian Living and Doctrine

Spiritual Gifts

Why Christians Should Not Tithe

Dispensational Theology

A Primer On Dispensationalism

Understanding Dispensational Theology

Covenants and Dispensations in the Scripture

Dispensational Eschatology, An Explanation and Defense of the Doctrine

Antichrist, His Genealogy, Kingdom, and Religion

God and Man

God’s Choices, Doctrines of Foreordination, Election, Predestination

God Became Incarnate

Life, Death, Eternity

Did Jesus Go To Hell?

COMMENTARY SERIES

The Old Testament

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Judges

A Private Commentary on the Book of Ruth

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Esther

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Song of Solomon

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Daniel

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Jonah

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Habakkuk

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Haggai

The New Testament

The Gospels

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Matthew’s Gospel

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Mark’s Gospel

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Luke 1–12

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Luke 13–24

A Private Commentary on the Bible: John 1–12

A Private Commentary on the Bible: John 13–21

Four Voices, One Testimony

Jesus Said I Am

The Parables and Miracles of Jesus Christ

The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus the Christ

The Christmas Story, As Told By God

Pauline Letters

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Galatians

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Ephesians

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Philippians

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Colossians

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Thessalonians

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Philemon

General Letters

A Private Commentary on the Book of Hebrews

A Private Commentary on the Bible: James

A Private Commentary on the Bible: 1 Peter

A Private Commentary on the Bible: 2 Peter

A Private Commentary on the Bible: John’s Epistles

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Jude

Revelation

A Private Commentary on the Bible: Revelation 1–5 (Author’s Translation)

REFERENCE SERIES

Dictionary of Doctrinal Words

Translation of Select Bible Books

Old and New Testament Chronology (Also in individual volumes: Old Testament Chronology; New Testament Chronology)

TRACTS

A Human Person: Is the Unborn Life a Person?

Biblical Marriage

How Can I Know I am A Christian?

Now That I am A Christian

Thirty-Six Essentials of the Christian Faith

What is a Pastor? / Why is My Pastor Eating the Sheep?

(All tracts are in digital format and cost $0.99)

Formats

Print, Digital, Epub. Search James D. Quiggle or book title.

Angelology

A True History of Angels

James D. Quiggle

Copyright Page

Angelology, a True History of Angels

Copyright © 2017, 2020, 2022 James D. Quiggle. All rights reserved.

Lightly revised, reformatted, minor corrections, August 2020

Revised April 2022 to expand chapter three.

Parts of this book previously appeared in James D. Quiggle, Christian Living and Doctrine.

Bible versions that may be cited or quoted are listed below. The ASV, KJV, HCSB, NASB, NKJV, and NIV were sourced from PC Study Bible®, version 5, release 5.2. Copyright © 1988–2008, by BibleSoft, Inc.

American Standard Version (ASV). Public Domain.

Authorized (King James) Version (KJV). Public Domain.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB), Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, by Holman Bible Publishers. Scripture quotations marked HCSB are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

New King James Version® (NKJV). Copyright © 1982, 1983 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Holy Bible: New International Version (NIV), Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Young's Literal Translation of the Holy Bible (YLT), by Robert Young, Originally Published In 1862, Edinburgh. Revised Edition 1887. Public Domain.

Cover Art: William Blake, Angel of the Revelation, A.D. 1805.

This Digital edition of Angelology, a True History of Angels, contains the same content as the Print and Epub editions of this work.

Contents

Abbreviations

Chapter One: In the Beginning God Created Angels

Chapter Two: The Essence and Nature of the Angels

Chapter Three: The Apostasy of Some of the Angels

Chapter Four: The Imprisonment of Some Fallen Angels

Chapter Five: Genesis 6:2, Angel-Human Sex?

Chapter Six: The Character and Works of the Holy Angels

Chapter Seven: Organization of Holy and Fallen Angels

Chapter Eight: In the End God Judges the Angels

Chapter Nine: Survey of Holy and Fallen Angels in History

Appendix One: Timeline of Angel Appearances and Works (Holy and Fallen)

Appendix Two: Appearances and Mentions of Angels (Except Cherubim and Fallen)

Appendix Three: Appearances and Mentions of Cherubim

Appendix Four: Appearances and Mentions of Fallen Angels

Appendix Five: Appearances and Mentions of the Angel of the Lord as Deity

Sources

Abbreviations

AD … Anno Domini (In the year of the Lord [since Christ was born])

BC … Bello Christo (Before Christ [was born])

ca. … about (an approximate date) (Latin: circa)

cf. … compare (Latin: confer)

JQT … Author’s translation

LXX … Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament completed ca. 130 BC)

s. v. … under the word (Latin: sub verbo)

Chapter One: In the Beginning God Created Angels

Humankind is not alone in the universe. However, our companions are not space aliens or the various creatures that populate mythology, folklore, and imagination. Our companions in the universe are the immaterial spirit-beings we call angels. The source of our knowledge is not anecdotes of visitors heavenly or otherwise, but the Bible. Those who believe God’s testimony in the Bible know there is other intelligent life: angels.

The Bible never makes an argument for the existence of the spirit-beings we know as angels. They appear on the scene, accepted by writer, reader, and those with whom they interact, as genuine personal sentient beings sent by God to do God’s will. Their first appearance in Scripture under the designation angel is Genesis 19:1. Chronologically, in relation to the beginning of the universe (Genesis 1:1) the first mention of angels is Job 38:7. The reader is not given any prior preparation for their existence, no introduction, no explanation. They simply exist and work for God.

God doesn’t tell us when he created angels. The Bible is more concerned with the relationship human beings have with God. However, there is sufficient evidence that we can use to discover their creation, their nature, their character, their organization, their purpose, the fall of some into sin, their works, and their future.

IN THE BEGINNING

Genesis 1:1, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (NKJV). Many view the phrase heavens and earth in Genesis 1:1 as a figure of speech, though whether a hendiadys or merism is still debated [Hamilton, 103, n. 2]. If a figure of speech, it is probably a merism of the whole indicating the totality of the universe by incorporating its parts, the spirit and material domains.

But is heavens and earth a figure of speech, or is it a statement of fact? Revelation 20:11, the earth and the heaven fled away, shows the fulfillment of 2 Peter 3:10–13, the destruction of the current universe and creation of a new universe. The new creation, 21:1, is a little different than the current creation. I have highlighted the difference (NKJV).

Genesis 1:1, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Revelation 21:1, I saw a new heaven and a new earth.

The word translated heavens in Genesis 1:1 is the plural of the Hebrew shāmayin [Harris, s. v. 2407a]. The word translated heaven in Revelation 21:1 is the singular of the Greek word ouranós [Zodhiates, s. v. 3772].

In the current universe there are heavens. In the new universe there is one heaven. In the new universe the current division between the material and spirit domains will cease, Revelation 21:3, 12, 22. In the New Jerusalem, which is on the earth, angels and God (a permanent manifestation of God’s presence) will be face-to-face with humankind. Genesis 1:1 is neither hendiadys nor merism, but a simple statement of fact: God created a universe with heavens: a spirit domain for the spirit-beings he would create, and a material domain for the material beings he would create.

Genesis 1:1, therefore, allows for the creation of angels. The fact God created a suitable habitation for material creatures, and the fact God did create spirit-beings (angels), implies God created a suitable habitation for spirit-beings. Thus, God created a spirit domain and a material domain: the heavens and earth, respectively. Because Genesis 1:1 allows for the creation of angels, it is proper to study the scriptures to see if God says anything about their creation.

Time, existence, and the universe began when the eternal ’Ĕlōhîm (the true God; a word occurring only in the Hebrew language), by the simple exercise of his omniscience and omnipotence, created the heavens and earth out of nothing. Before Genesis 1:1 God was alone. In his eternal increate existence he formed a purpose. To complete that purpose he created everything from nothing (ex nihilo), and then shaped what he had created into the universe, its things, and its living creatures, including angels and humankind. Nothing God created was made out of God’s essence, everything God created depends on him for its continued existence, Colossians 1:16–17.

By divine fiat God caused to come into existence all the elementary particles he would need to build a habitat for the spirit-beings he would create, the angels, and a habitat for the material beings he would create. I call these habitats domains: a spirit domain for the angels and a material domain for human beings.

God called the spirit domain heaven. He called that part of the material domain on which he would place physically living beings, earth. The material domain is much larger than the earth, being, at the least, the earth and all observable things in the starry sky—what we think of as the universe. The spirit domain seems contiguous with the material domain at every point, as though overlaying the material domain. Together the spirit and material domains form the universe God created. God did not create material beings with the faculty to perceive visibly or mentally the spirit domain. The angels can perceive the material domain.

That God used the plural heavens, shāmayin, in Genesis 1:1 tells us that God, at the moment indicated by Genesis 1:1, created spirit and material domains. The word shāmayin is used in the scriptures to describe the atmospheric sky, the starry sky, and the abode of God and angels. Birds fly and clouds float in the shāmayin. The earth, other planets, moons, asteroids, comets, gas clouds, our sun, and all the other suns, planets, moons, etc., in the universe are in the shāmayin, the starry sky. The angels live in shāmayin, heaven, which is the spirit domain created for them, a domain or dimension separate from but contiguous with the material domain.

The scriptures describe God’s dwelling place as shāmayin, heaven, e.g., 2 Corinthians 12:2; Revelation 4:1–2. God, of course, exists apart from—totally separate from—the universe he created. God has life-in-himself: he is self-existent, John 5:26. God is eternal. Therefore God is the one and only permanent reality. God created a reality: our universe. Our universe is a temporary reality (Genesis 1:1 with Revelation 21:1), which exists in some relation to God, as being in or on or within the permanent reality that is God, without being part of God—like a post-it note stuck on a wall.

In the context of 2 Corinthians 12:2; Revelation 4:1–2, and other verses, God’s dwelling place in the heaven is a permanent manifestation of himself in that part of the spirit domain known as the third heaven. God dwelling in heaven is an accommodation to finite understanding. In the new heaven and earth—the new universe—his permanent manifestation is Revelation 21:22–23.

God is present in the shāmayin with the angels but does not dwell there because God is omnipresent—not limited to any place nor restricted from any place. To use an expression that will accommodate our limited understanding, God is bigger than the universe he created.

God is infinite because he is beyond any limitation of essence. God is immeasurable because he has no material dimension. God is incomprehensible because he has no all-encompassing boundary. Therefore God is everywhere, because there is no place from which he is excluded and no place where he is included [Ames, 86].

God accommodated himself to finite understanding by naming shāmayin as his dwelling place, giving the finite mind of man a place to fix his thoughts about God.

So what happened after God created the heavens and the earth? The Holy Spirit was hovering over the face of the waters—the entire earth was apparently covered with water—and God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. Moses, guided by the Holy Spirit, and therefore intent telling the story of humankind and its relationship to God, tells how God shaped the earth into a habitat suitable for the material things and beings God would form and place on it.

In the material domain, God shaped the elementary particles of matter he had created ex nihilo into various material non-living things. The planet earth was one of those material non-living things. Then, after Let there be light, 1:3, and the division of light from darkness (day and night) 1:4–5, God transformed the earth into a place suitable as a habitat for the living material beings he would form from the non-living matter he had created (e.g., 1:11, 24, let the earth bring forth; 1:20, let the waters abound, etc.). God made a light-bearer, the sun (not ôr, light, as at 1:3, but mā’ôr a light-bearer), 1:14–18. God consummated his creative activities with the formation of the human body from the elements of the earth, and the ex nihilo creation of the human soul. This is not the history we will pursue (see my book Adam and Eve); I mention it only to set the historical context.

Moses does not tell us, but much happened between God creating the heavens and the earth and God creating light for the earth. After Genesis 1:1, but before Genesis 1:2, God divided the spirit domain from the material domain, shaped the spirit domain to be the habitat for the beings he would create to populate it, and then he created those beings whom we know as angels.

God, at Job 38:4–7, tells us angels were present when God shaped the earth to be the habitat of humankind. The angels saw Genesis 1:2–10.

Genesis 1:2–10. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, Let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and He called the darkness night. Evening came, and then morning: the first day. Then God said, Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water. So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so. God called the expanse sky. Evening came, and then morning: the second day. Then God said, Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear. And it was so. God called the dry land earth, and He called the gathering of the water seas. And God