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Angels and Ministers of Grace

THE veneration of angels and the attribution to them of especial days or months, as well as the idea that they were guardians of those born on those days or during those months, was the result of many factors. The belief in the existence of angels is present in all parts of the Bible, but in the earlier portions they are not individualized in any way. The angel of God, or of the Lord (malach Elohim or malach Yahveh) was simply a messenger of God, employed to communicate his will or else to accomplish some act of divine justice. It is quite possible that the greater prominence given to angels among the Jews after the Babylonian Captivity was not solely dependent upon Babylonian Captivity was not solely dependent upon Babylonian or Persian influence. We learn from the historical and prophetical books of the Old Testament that the Jews had, from the earliest times, worshipped other gods besides the God of Israel, and were ever ready to assimilate the religious superstitions of the heathen world. Several of the divinities that were worshipped in Babylonia and Assyria were also objects of adoration in Israel, not indeed by the chosen spirits of the nation from whom we receive our records, but by the masses of the people. This very fact, however, served in a certain sense to maintain the purity of the national religion. As the superstitious inclinations of the populace were so fully satisfied from without, there was no necessity to develop or distort the national religion in this direction. The Babylonian Captivity changed all this. It was the elite of the Jewish nation that was deported, and the sufferings and humiliations to which they were subjected in a foreign land only served to strengthen their faith in Yahveh and in his Law. Hence it is, that when this tried and purified remnant returned to Judaea, rebuilt the fallen temple and reorganized the state, the latter became a theocracy in a much stricter sense than ever before, and from this time we can really speak of Judaism as the religion of the whole people. But the inevitable tendency to split up the unity of the divine force, a tendency that makes itself felt in all religions and among all peoples, soon asserted itself anew and in a different direction. As the people were no longer allowed, we may even say were no longer inclined, to go after foreign gods, they proceeded to develop the idea of divine messengers or intermediaries which had always formed part of the national faith, but had never been fully evolved. While Isaiah and Ezekiel both knew of a division of the angels into certain categories as, for example, cherubim, seraphim, hayyot (living creatures), ofanim (wheels) and arelim, there is no attempt at individualization, and the first mention of an angel's name occurs in the Book of Daniel, which later critics are disposed to assign to the second century B.C. It is most natural to suppose that such names were known and were familiar to the people long before that time. When we read in the Book of Daniel, xii, 1: "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of Israel," it is easy to see that the idea that certain special qualities were attributed to this angel was deeply rooted in the popular mind. In a previous verse, x, 13, we read: "Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me,"--a conclusive proof that a hierarchy of angels had already been thought out.

The great source of information in regard to angelology is the Rabbinical literature which had its rise about the first century B.C. and culminated in the Talmuds of Babylon and Jerusalem in the fifth century A.D. As these compilations, although nominally commentaries on the books of the Old Testament, are almost encyclopedic in their character, they throw much light on this subject. In a monograph of Kohut, entitled "Judische Angelologie," many extracts, belonging to an early period, are given. Seven princes of heaven were recognized and among these four were especially favored. They occupied a place near to the Throne of Light and were bathed in its radiance. We are told that "God surrounded his Throne of Light with four angels: Michael, 'Who is like God?' at the right; Gabriel, 'Might of God,' at the left; Uriel, 'Splendor of God,' before it; and Raphael, 'Salvation of God,' at the west" (Numeri Rabba, c. 2). They represented various attributes of the divine: Michael, goodness and mercy; Gabriel, punitive justice; Uriel, the majesty of God, and Raphael, his providence. Michael and Gabriel are particularly prominent and are called Royal Angels; they have especial care of Israel. As we have seen, Michael was singled out by Daniel and he was commonly regarded as chief prince. Gabriel was looked upon as the avenger and the executor of divine judgments and occupied the next place, while Uriel and Raphael are less frequently alluded to, although the latter appears prominently in the Book of Tobit.

In the New Testament, also, Michael and Gabriel are evidently regarded as the chief angels, and Revelation places Michael at the head of the hosts of the good angels in their conflict with Satan and his followers. We can see in the Gospels how widespread was the belief in demoniacal possession, and in the existence of evil spirits; it was almost inevitable that the aid of good spirits should be invoked to counteract them, and although both Christianity and Judaism sternly rebuked any direct worship of angels, they were regarded as ministering spirits, and it was only natural that the masses should be led to use their names on amulets and talismans, and little by little to arrive at the belief that a particular angel was entrusted with the welfare of each individual. The same tendencies were at work in both religions, but a new development was initiated for the Christian church by the growing veneration of the early martyrs and of their relics. When this became more pronounced, the saints to a great extent took the place of the angels; a passage from the writings of St. Ambrose composed in 377 A.D. shows us that this transformation of belief had already begun to make itself felt at that time. St. Ambrose writes: "We should address our supplications to the angels who are appointed to guard us; we should also address them to the martyrs, whose patronage seems assured to us by a physical pledge" (their relics).