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superior to men in knowledge, Matt. 24:36. Moreover, they are possessed of moral natures,
and as such are under moral obligation; they are rewarded for obedience, and are punished for
disobedience. The Bible speaks of the angels which remained loyal as “holy angels,” Matt.
25:31; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26; Acts 10:22; Rev. 14:10, and pictures those who fell away as lying
and sinning, John 8:44; I John 3:8-10. The good angels are also immortal in the sense that they
are not subject to death. In that respect the saints in heaven are said to be like them, Luke
20:35,36. In addition to all this, great power is ascribed to them. They form the army of God, a
host of mighty heroes, always ready to do the Lord’s bidding, Ps. 103:20; Col. 1:16; Eph. 1:21;
3:10; Heb. 1:14; and the evil angels form the army of Satan, bent on destroying the work of the
Lord, Luke 11:21; II Thess. 2:9; I Pet. 5:8.
4. THEY ARE PARTLY GOOD AND PARTLY EVIL.
The Bible furnishes very little information
respecting the original state of the angels. We read, however, that at the end of His creative
work God saw everything that He had made and, behold, it was very good. Moreover, John
8:44; II Pet. 2:4; and Jude 6 presupposes an original good condition of all angels. The good
angels are called elect angels in I Tim. 5:21. They evidently received, in addition to the grace
with which all angels were endowed, and which was sufficient to enable them to retain their
position, a special grace of perseverance, by which they were confirmed in their position. There
has been a great deal of useless speculation about the time and character of the fall of the
angels. Protestant theology, however, was generally satisfied with the knowledge that the good
angels retained their original state, were confirmed in their position, and are now incapable of
sinning. They are not only called holy angels, but also angels of light, II Cor. 11:14. They always
behold the face of God, Matt. 18:10, are our exemplars in doing the will of God, Matt. 6:10, and
possess immortal life, Luke 20:36.
D. The Number and Organization of the Angels.
1. THEIR NUMBER.
The Bible contains no definite information respecting the number of the
angels, but indicates very clearly that they constitute a mighty army. They are repeatedly called
the host of heaven or of God, and this term itself already points to a goodly number. In Deut.
33:2 we read that “Jehovah came from Sinai . . . from the ten thousands of holy ones,” and in
Ps. 68:17 the poet sings, “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands upon
thousands: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the sanctuary.” In reply to the question of
Jesus addressed to an unclean spirit, the answer was, “my name is legion; for we are many,”
Mark 5:9,15. The Roman legion was not always the same, but varied at different times all the
way from 3000 to 6000, In Gethsemane Jesus said to the band that came to take him captive,
“Or thinkest thou that I cannot beseech my Father, and He shall even now send me more than
twelve legions of angels?” Matt. 26:53. And, finally, we read in Rev. 5:11, “And I saw, and I