How Should Christians View Angels?
Shepherds Field Chapel; image from Wikimedia Commons.
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The author of Hebrews states that the Son is greater than angels. Jesus is superior to angels, as he inherited a better name than the angels (Heb. 1:4). In other parts of the New Testament, though, Jesus isn’t compared to angels. In fact, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, angels don’t get a lot of airtime.
Scripture always assumes that angels serve God. They show up in a few passages as guides for the prophets in visions, but the Bible gives us no extensive information on angels. So, why does the author of Hebrews make the point of Jesus being superior to angels?
The author of Hebrews was addressing the temptation for early Christians to go back to Judaism.
In Hebrews 1:3-9, we read,
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God's angels worship him.” Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.” But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.”
For students of the New Testament, this seems rather obvious that Jesus is greater than angels, even redundant. This passage seems to be pointed at the major temptation the congregation is struggling with—the temptation to go back to Judaism. And within Judaism, during the inter-testamental period (the 400 year time period between the writing of the Old Testament and New Testament), the role of angels increased. Both the interest and preoccupation with angels significantly multiplied in Judaism compared to the Old Testament. In fact, in the Book of Tobit, angels present the prayers of the saints to God. In the First Book of Enoch, angels hold a priestly function. And, in the Testament of Levi, angels offer propitiatory sacrifices for the people.
The author of Hebrews doesn’t denigrate angels, but he does want to put them in their proper place.
Angels were generally more present and significant in the everyday piety of Judaism of the time. In this way, Judaism became more like the polytheism that surrounded it. It gave increasingly more reverence and interest to divine spirits to help them, and the author of Hebrews wants to hold this unhealthy development in check.
The author doesn’t denigrate angels, but he does want to put them in their proper place, especially with respect to the Son. Thus, he moves to expand on, and give evidence for, the Son being much more excellent than the angels. He does it with an elaborate string of Old Testament quotes, which itself is noteworthy.
In the opening verse of the book of Hebrews, the author underlines the better-ness of God speaking in the Son over the prophets of the Old Testament. But this superiority doesn’t weaken the authority or veracity of the Old Testament; instead, the Old Testament proclaims with clarity the identity and glory of the Son. So, to magnify the honor and significance of the Son over angels, the author employs the Word of God from the Old Testament.
Hebrews 1:5 references the Davidic covenant, declaring “God’s son” as a royal title bestowed on each Davidic king upon coronation.
The author begins in Hebrews 1:5 with a pair of quotes from the Old Testament. To which of the angels did God say such things? To none of them, but God did say this about Jesus. And the author of Hebrews cites Psalm 2:7 and 2 Samuel 7:14, which lands us dead-center in the Davidic covenant:
“You are my Son;
today I have begotten you. (Heb. 1:5; see also Ps. 2:7)“I will be to him a father,
and he shall be to me a son.” (Heb. 1:5; see also 2 Sam. 7:14)
In 2 Samuel 7 the Lord promised David and his son an eternal kingdom, a permanent throne and never-ending dynasty as ruler over God’s kingdom on earth. Moreover, the intimacy between God and the kingly son would be as close as kin. I will be to him a father, and he my Son. Now, this line resembles the adoption formula.
This is the legal phraseology of a dad adopting himself a son. It is covenantal language, so it assumes legality and intimacy. The key point being that this verse doesn’t focus on the divine nature of Jesus, but on his office as Messiah. Within the Davidic covenant, God’s son was a royal title bestowed on each Davidic king upon coronation.
The Son is greater than angels, because he fulfilled the Davidic covenant—no angel did or could do this.
The Davidic covenant fits perfectly with the verse from Psalm 2:7, You are my Son; today, I have begotten you. Psalm 2 is an enthronement song. It was sung in celebration of a new king in the line of David being coronated and taking his seat on the throne. Thus, this language of begetting isn’t referring to the eternal relationship between the Father and Son, per se.
Rather, begetting here means that God crowned him king, laid on him the title of Son of God, and ratified the close relationship. Simply put, then, the Son is greater than the angels because he fulfilled the Davidic covenant. He was crowned king; he received the title, Son of God. And he is bound to the bosom of the Father like a son to his father. The Son is greater than angels because no angel did or could do this.
In Hebrews 1:6, the author has in mind the official enthronement of the Son after the resurrection and ascension.
In Israel, the kings were not divine, but they used international language of divinity for the Davidic kings, God’s son. What was not the case for the Old Testament kings did become the reality in Jesus, which the author points out in verse 6:
And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let all God's angels worship him.” (Heb. 1:6)
Likewise, the royal title “firstborn” is a reference to another Old Testament text, Psalm 89:
“I will appoint him firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.” (Ps. 89:27)
As a title of supremacy, grandeur, and splendor, Jesus is the firstborn—the highest king of all, the king of kings. Yet, the question is, what time is the author thinking of here? When did the firstborn come into the world?
Well, our first guess would be the incarnation, the birth of Jesus by Mary. This seems natural, but Hebrews has another time in mind, for the author uses this word for ‘world’ to point to the world to come. The undying realm of heaven, the enduring age of glory is the world to come. Thus, the moment in view here is the resurrection and ascension.
When Jesus rose victorious over death and ascended to the right hand, this was the official enthronement of the Son. In the resurrection, God declared of Jesus, “you are my Son in power” (Rom. 1:4). In mounting the right hand throne, the firstborn entered the everlasting age. Hence, at this moment, God called the angels to worship the Son.
All heavenly beings must bow down to the Son.
All the angels bowed the knee to the Son at his ascension. Now, this line the author pulls from two places in the Old Testament. First, it is found in Deuteronomy 32:43, where the heavens and the angels are called to honor and praise the kingship of Yahweh, which identifies the kingship of the Son with that of Yahweh:
“Rejoice with him, O heavens;
bow down to him, all gods,
for he avenges the blood of his children
and takes vengeance on his adversaries.
He repays those who hate him
and cleanses his people's land.”
Yet, in context, the angels or sons of God refer to the non-gods of idols. The idols that Israel fell into worshipping are exposed in Deuteronomy 32 to be nothing but angels—spirits—who must worship the Lord. The prostrate angels condemn idolatry. And this is brought out even more in the second passage where this verse is found, Psalm 97:7, which presents the coming of Yahweh in the last days as universal judge.
All worshipers of images are put to shame,
who make their boast in worthless idols;
worship him, all you gods!
Psalm 97 sings of the ideal and international rule established by the Lord, a perfect match for Christ’s exaltation at the right hand. Thus, in Psalm 97:7, all idolaters cast aside their idols in terror and dismay, and all heavenly beings bow down to the Son.
“Angels of God” (Heb. 1:6) refers to the heavenly spirits that lay behind idolatry. They are the nothing-gods that are subdued to praise the Lord in act of self-undivining that frees the people from slavery to idols and their ability to invoke the name of spirits/angels. Therefore, this worshipping of the Son by the angels explicitly denies them any honor belonging to God.
By citing Psalm 97, the author of Hebrews shows that the angels worship Jesus as the Davidic King, who was the Son of God both in his fulfillment of the covenant and in his very divine self, which in turn bars any veneration, prayer, or devotion going to angels. If the angels worship the glorified Son, then none of our worship should go to them.
The author of Hebrews cuts off any interest the saints might have with venerating angels.
Venerating angels is an ingredient of idolatry; hence, we direct our devotion not to angels, but we do join the angels to worship the Son, Jesus Christ. And driving this point home about the proper place of angels, Hebrews cites another Old Testament text, Psalm 104, a hymn magnifying God as the Creator of all:
Of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels winds,
and his ministers a flame of fire.” (Heb. 1:7; see also Ps. 104:4))
After praising the Lord for stretching out the heavens and his riding the clouds as his chariot, the Psalmist sings of God making his angels winds and his ministers flames of fire. The angels are equated with wind and fire, which proves several things. One, this expresses that angels are created beings.
Angels are not eternal or uncreated, but they too are part of God’s handiwork. Next, wind and fire were common forces used by God to accomplish his will, to execute justice, to destroy his foes. Thus, behind the wind and fire were angels carrying out the command of God.
Finally, during the Old Testament period, Israel’s pagan neighbors worshipped flame and fire as minor deities. This is another polemic against idolatry—what the nations worship as gods are in reality nothing but spirits heeding the beck and call of the Lord. Once again, the author is cutting off any interest the saints might have with angels and venerating them.
Hebrews 1:8-9 affirms the stipulation of the Davidic covenant that only the righteous son would merit a forever kingdom.
And to contrast what God said to angels as his created servants, the author cites another passage; this time from Psalm 45:
But of the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” (Heb. 1:8-9; see also Ps. 45:6-7)
This psalm is a hymn of a royal wedding. It rejoiced in the Lord for the Davidic King on his wedding day, and it summons the bride to have eyes only for the King. In extolling the King, the psalm links the monarch to God himself. It speaks of God addressing the Davidic king. The throne is God’s everlasting rule, but this eternal reign is granted to the man on the seat of David. The Lord exercises the power of his eternal kingdom by means of the Son’s throne. It is the same with the scepter.
The scepter of the Lord’s authority forged with uprightness has been placed in the hand of David’s son. That is, every aspect of God’s reign, all that he does, is performed with the perfection of holiness, with supreme integrity and blamelessness. Pristine wisdom and justice permeate every last atom of God’s scepter. It is for this reason that this scepter is laid in the palm of the Son.
As the psalm says next, you have loved righteousness, which refers to the Messianic king. The Son lived up to, conformed to, and matched the righteousness of God. Namely, Jesus loved righteousness to fulfill the whole law and to earn the imperishable throne of God.
This was part of the very DNA of the Davidic covenant. The Lord promised to David that one of his sons would always rest on his throne, but only that righteous son would merit an eternal kingdom. For Hebrews to quote this psalm about Christ means that Jesus is this upright Son; he is the One, the long-awaited-for Son.
Of course, paired with loving righteousness is hating wickedness. These two go hand in hand, but this does remind us of our disposition towards wickedness. Today, for many good reasons, hatred is taboo, untouchable; we should love our neighbor and not hate. Yet, righteousness’s attitude towards lawlessness and depraved evil is holy dislike and disgust.
As we love our neighbors, even our enemies, and seek to evangelize them, we should also not be shy about despising the wickedness of the world. Jesus was a friend to sinners, even as he hated all lawlessness and sin. Yet, for the absolute perfection of the Son’s righteousness, what was he given? Therefore, God has anointed you.
In his anointment Jesus ascended above all other humans, beyond all the Davidic kings before him, and even far above every last angel.
The reward for his golden obedience was to be anointed by God as the everlasting King of the Lord’s heavenly kingdom. Now, the Father’s anointing the Son might make us think of Jesus’ baptism, or when the woman anointed Jesus near his death. These do express his anointment, but the goal and end of anointment is the elevation of one’s legal status.
It transfers you from one state to another, from a lower one to a higher. Thus, the visible manifestation of Christ’s anointment was again his resurrection and glorification on high. By loving righteousness, Christ won an anointment as the firstborn of the dead and the crown of heaven.
Hence, as Psalm 45 continues, Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness above his companions. The anointing placed Jesus above all others. During his earthly ministry, Jesus was made lower than the angels; he was humbled beneath other humans like a slave executed on the cross. But, in his resurrection, God’s anointing raised him to the highest place.
Jesus ascended above all other humans, beyond all the Davidic kings before him, and even far above every last angel. Moreover, the oil poured on the Son by the Father was the oil of gladness. It belonged to the occasion of rejoicing, praise, and thanksgiving. When happy oil is poured on the true Son and King, all of God’s people worship in gladness.
The perfume of such oil summons us to give all the glory to the Son, as our Lord and Savior, as our God and King. This oil reminds us, then, why we direct no such worship or veneration towards angels. Why do we not pray to angels? Why are angels denied homage and adoration? Because to do so is an ugly step towards idolatry.
Angels are God’s creations; they are spiritual servants of God to do his bidding. They are not gods or divine in any way. Additionally, angels receive not our exaltation, because no angel fulfilled the Davidic covenant. Instead, only Jesus Christ, being fully God and fully man, loved all righteousness to make the promises of David, “yes and amen in him” (2 Cor. 1:20).
The Son was anointed by God to be your only Savior, your one King, and your sole mediator.
And this is the greatest news because our entire salvation is wrapped up in the Davidic covenant. How are you freed from your enemy of Death? How are you saved from the slavery to sin? How are you granted an inheritance in heaven? It is all by the obedience of Jesus Christ to conquer all your enemies and to bring you to glory.
Yes, being declared openly the Son of God in power in the resurrection, God anointed his Son to be your only Savior, your one King, and your sole mediator. This is why our worship is directed to the Son and it is why prayers in the name of Jesus are so radically wonderful. Saints, you don’t need the help of dead ancestors or angels in your prayers—you have the Son of God.
You don’t need some spiritual back door, some angel to sneak you a meeting with Jesus. No. Instead, because he is the Son, because he fulfilled all righteousness for our eternal life, you can go directly in prayer to the Son and Jesus takes you directly to the Father, with boldness and confidence. Let us, then, not dabble in matters dealing with angels.
Certainly, there are angels and they are fellow servants, but all of our attention, devotion, faith, and worship should joyfully rest in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our forever king, and never-ending Savior. Praise the Lord for Jesus Christ. Glory be to the Father for giving us the Son all of grace. And may the Spirit ever keep us united to Jesus.
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