THE SCRIPTURE DOCTRINE OF AN GETS. 



515 



angel who represents God's presence, and an 

 angel of a lower kind who does not do so. The 

 notion (long current in dogmatic theology, and 

 which goes back to the earliest controversies be- 

 tween Jews and Christians) that " the angel of 

 the Lord," as contradistinguished from created 

 angels, is the Logos — the second person of the 

 Trinity — has found defenders down to the pres- 

 ent day (Ilengstenberg, Keil, etc.), but certainly 

 does not express the sense of the Old Testament 

 writers. And it seems equally unprofitable to 

 base on such passages as we have cited a con- 

 troversy whether " the angel of Jehovah" is one 

 special angel charged throughout history with 

 special functions toward the covenant people, or 

 is any angel who from time to time has a special 

 commission, or is to be viewed, at least in some 

 cases, not as a hypostatic being, but simply as a 

 momentary sinking of the invisible God into the 

 sphere of visibility. The function of the angel 

 so entirely overshadows his personality that the 

 Old Testament does not ask who or what this 

 angel is, but what he does. And the answer to 

 this last question is, that he represents God to 

 man so directly and fully that, when he speaks 

 or acts, God himself is felt to speak or act. The 

 strongest passage perhaps is Genesis xlviii. 

 15, sq. 



The disposition to look away from the per- 

 sonality of the angels, and concentrate attention 

 on their ministry, runs more or less through the 

 whole Old Testament angelology. It is indeed 

 certain — to pass to the second side of the doc- 

 trine — that the angelic figures of the Bible narra- 

 tive are not mere allegories of divine providence, 

 but were regarded as possessing a certain super- 

 human reality. But this reality is matter of 

 assumption rather than of direct teaching. No- 

 where do we find a clear statement as to the 

 creation of the angels [Genesis ii. 1 is ambiguous, 

 and it is scarcely legitimate in Psalm cxlviii. to 

 connect verse 2 with verse 5]. That they are 

 endowed with special goodness and insight, anal- 

 ogous to human qualities, appears as a popular 

 assumption, not as a doctrine of revelation (1 

 Samuel xxix. 9; 2 Samuel xiv. 17, xix. 27). 

 Most characteristic for the nature of the angels 

 is the poetic title " sons of God " (Bne Elo- 

 him, or, with a slight modification, Bne Elim, 

 in English version incorrectly " mighty," "sons 

 of the mighty," Psalm xxix. 1, lxxxix. 6), which, 

 in accordance with the idiomatic force of the 

 word sons, may be paraphrased, " Beings who in 

 a subordinate way share something of divine 

 majesty." Perhaps in Psalm lxxxii. the name 



Elohim itself varies with the more usual " sons 

 of Elohim." 



Taken collectively, the angels form the hosts 

 of Jehovah (Psalm ciii. 21, etc.), or the host of 

 heaven (1 Kings xxii. 19), names correlative to 

 the new title of God, which springs up at the 

 close of the period of the Judges, " Jehovah 

 [God of] hosts." The notion of angels as divine 

 armies is not like that of the individual " mes- 

 senger " closely connected with the theophanic 

 history (yet compare Genesis xxxii. 1, 2; Joshua 

 v. 13, sqq.), but belongs rather to the delineation 

 of the majesty of God in poetry and prophecy. 

 As the whole conception of the heavenly palace 

 and throne is obviously symbolical, we must 

 allow for conscious poetic art when the angels 

 are represented surrounding God's throne in the 

 form of an assembly or privy council of holy ones 

 (consecrated servants), praising his name, or re- 

 ceiving his commands, and reporting their exe- 

 cution (Psalms xxix., lxxxix. 6-8 ; 1 Kings xxii. 

 19, sqq. ; Job i.). Similarly much must be allowed 

 for the free play of fancy when in the last judg- 

 ment against the enemies of his people Jehovah 

 descends to battle with his heroes (Joel iv. 11), 

 his holy ones (Zechariah xiv. 5), or when he tri- 

 umphantly enters Zion amid myriads of heavenly 

 war-chariots (Psalm lxviii. 17). Compare Isaiah 

 lxvi. 15, Habakkuk hi., which show how closely 

 such imagery is connected with the physical 

 phenomena of the thunder-storm. 



With the development of the idea of count- 

 less hosts of divine ministers is naturally associ- 

 ated, in place of the old angelic theophany, the 

 conception of an invisible agency of angels, who 

 are henceforth seen only in vision or to eyes spe- 

 cially opened (Numbers xxii. 31 ; 2 Kings vi. 17). 

 To the guidance of Israel by the angel of Jeho- 

 vah succeeds the belief in angelic guidance of 

 individuals (Psalm xxxiv. 7), more or less poet- 

 ically worked out (Psalm xci. 11). Conversely, 

 pestilence and other judgments are angelic vis- 

 itations (2 Samuel xxiv. ; 2 Kings xix. 35 ; 

 Psalm Ixxviii. 49, where the " evil angels " of 

 the English version are not wicked angels, but 

 angels of evil). At length this is carried so far 

 that all natural forces that serve God are viewed 

 as his messengers — Psalm civ. 4 : "He makes 

 winds his messengers flaming fire his ministers." 

 This passage clearly shows the elasticity of the 

 whole conception. Similar is the way in which 

 the stars, which share with the angels the name 

 " host of heaven," appear associated with the 

 latter (Job xxxviii. 7). Hence the later elemental 

 angels. 



