The Christ in Prophecy Journal

The Mighty Angels of Revelation 4 Continued

MP3: The Mighty Angels of Revelation 1-6
Hosts: Nathan Jones & Vic Batista

The Cherub Angels

Nathan Jones: The angels in the Bible called cherubim are not fat, little, naked babies with cupid-type bows and arrows. I don’t know if that imagery came from the Medieval or Renaissance time periods where in paintings cherubim were portrayed as fat little babies who float around on clouds in Heaven. I don’t find that imagery anywhere in the Bible.

Vic Batista: Not at all. In fact, what I find are mighty angels, to the extent that every time they appear to people, they can’t help but fall on their faces.

Nathan Jones: That’s a good reason why we shouldn’t mess with the spirit realm, especially the dark and evil side of the spirit realm, because these are not creatures who we should be trifling with. There are super-powered angels given powers beyond our abilities and who live in another dimension, or existence, beyond our senses.

And yet, interestingly enough, angels are exempt from salvation. Jesus only died for mankind and not for the angel kind. There is no redemption for the fallen angels. God calls only humanity His children. His heirs are not the angels.

Nathan Jones: There is no redemption for fallen #angels. #God calls only humanity His children. Click To Tweet

Angels are definitely a different class of creation apart from humanity. Mankind does not become angels. Angels are a separate creation. The Bible says we will judge angels, so that means that we will not become angels.

Vic Batista: Back in Genesis 3:24, after Adam and Eve sinned and were cast out of Eden, God placed cherubim with flaming swords by the entrance so that nobody could enter.

Nathan Jones: When Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, an angel with a sword was put before the Garden of Eden. This cherubim held a giant flaming sword so that mankind couldn’t go back into the Garden. Now, I don’t know about you, but if these cherubim were fat little babies with those tiny bows and arrows with a heart on the tip, they wouldn’t be too scary. No, these are giant angels!

Of interest, this is the first weapon we read about in all of human history, and it was an actual weapon from Heaven. It guards the entrance to the Garden of Eden so that Adam and Eve and their decedents could not go back in. Therefore, the cherubim are not cuddly, cute, little babies. Rather, they are mighty warriors!

Vic Batista: That is a good point. A chubby little angel wouldn’t be very scary, would it?

Nathan Jones: No, they’d be too tiny to hold swords, unless they used little daggers or a pocket knife. But, seriously, I think Hollywood and story books in general have really done cherubim a disservice.

The Servant Angels

Vic Batista: Interestingly, when we receive our glorified bodies, we will become more powerful than the angels. Now that’s something we can look forward to!

Vic Batista: When #Christians receive our glorified bodies, we will become more powerful than the #angels! Click To Tweet

Angels are there by God’s authority to also serve mankind. It is sad that certain religions have chosen to worship angels, as that isn’t biblical, either.

Nathan Jones: No, just like the example of Joshua with the angel over the armies of God, and John later in the book of Revelation, just as soon as they saw an angel that was so amazing their first impulse was to fall to their knees and worship it. Each time the angel vehemently responds, “No, no, no, don’t do that. I’m a fellow servant with you. I serve the Lord, so worship Him.” We’ve got to remember that, as well, and not get into worshiping angels. True, there are some religions out there, and different cults within Christianity as well, that are obsessed over angels and angel worship, but that is not what people are called to do. Angels are also created beings and so they don’t deserve worship, only God.

Vic Batista: That reminds me of what it says in Hebrews 1:6, “But when He again brings the first born into the world he says, ‘Let all the angels of God worship him.'” Jesus Christ is the ultimate and the only one we should worship.

Nathan Jones: Exactly! The angels exist to worship and serve the Lord. They don’t exist to be worshiped, but that is what Satan and the fallen angels wish of us. Satan longs to be worshiped He must be like, “Wait a minute, I deserve worship because I am mightier than the humans.” The demons want more than to be just heirs, they long to usurp God and take His throne. We glean a lot of understanding from the book of Revelation concerning what motivates Satan.

Vic Batista: After learning that, I’m very encouraged that the angels are on our side.

Nathan Jones: The Bible says that Jesus Christ died so that humanity could be restored to Him, so that we would have that right relationship with God again, just like in the Garden of Eden where man walked and talked with God. I pray that all may accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and have that fellowship restored once more.

For those who have yet to accept Jesus as their Savior, pray in your hearts something like, “Dear, Jesus, please forgive me of my sins and be my Savior.” Jesus promises to do just that. He will forgive you of your sins, get rid of your guilt, and you will have a whole new life in perfect fellowship with God.

The Worshiping Angels

Vic Batista: We are continuing our study of God’s mighty angels in the book of Revelation and their declarations from God of impending judgment. We are in such dire need of sound prophetic biblical teachings in these last days.

In previous segments, we looked at what angels are really like and what they are not like and worked our way up to Revelation 4. Nathan, could you recap a little bit on Revelation 4 as we learn about God’s mighty angels?

Nathan Jones: There are 72 references to angels in the book of Revelation, according to the New King James version. We learned from the Apostle John, who was brought by the Holy Spirit up to Heaven, about how there are so many different varieties of angels. John actually saw what Heaven is like!

Jesus gives John His final message about the end of the world and the beginning of a new one. During that interaction, Jesus also used His messengers — His angels — to share a number of His messages. He also has them pour out His wrath and a number of His judgments upon the world during a future time period called the Tribulation.

Revelation 4 reveals quite a number of different types of angels who stand before the throne of God. There are angels who look like men. There are angels who look like giants. There are angels who look like forces of nature.

There are even four angels who are called “Living Creatures” that stand before the throne of God and sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. Who was, and is and is to come.” Interestingly, these seraphim are covered all in eyes, possibly representing the omnipresence of God, meaning how He can see all that is going on in the universe all at the same time. The first seraphim had a face like a lion, the second like a calf, the third a face of man, and the fourth has a face that looks like an eagle.

We are given quite a variety of descriptions of angels in Revelation 4, so angels are not all just white dudes with blonde curly hair as Hollywood portrays. They have quite a number of wings, and some have no wings. Angels come in all different shapes and sizes. They are all meant to serve the Lord in part by delivering His messages and proclaiming the glory of the Lord.

Vic Batista: Nathan, you just shattered my picture of angels on Valentine’s Day. They are not fat little babies with tiny bows and arrows tipped with little hearts?

Nathan Jones: I don’t know where we got that imagery of cherubim. Maybe it was from Renaissance paintings. No, rather the angels of the Bible were creatures who were not to be trifled with. For example, in the story of Joshua, when he saw the Commander of the Lord’s Army, Joshua immediately fell at the feet of the angel and was about to worship it. Also, John in the book of Revelation, after seeing all the glory of God, still falls in front of the feet of an angel and attempts to worship it. Each time the angels exclaim, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you. Worship the Lord and the Lord only!”

Worshiping the Lord is in part what the angels are meant to do. Even Satan before he fell was an angel who protected the throne of God. His name was Lucifer, which meant light-bearer. Angels are meant to serve the Lord, though not all of the angels were willing to serve.

Vic Batista: It is a dangerous act when we try to worship angels, because they are not perfect, and worship is for God alone. That’s why we caution certain Christian denominations that encourage the worship of angels. We need to be careful and not do that.

Vic Batista: It is a dangerous act when we try to worship #angels, because worship is for God alone. Click To Tweet

Nathan Jones: I don’t know what it is about human nature, but we always want a mediator between us and God. We don’t want to speak to God directly. Jesus died on the cross in order to provide forgiveness for our sins. He opened the way so that we can talk directly to the Father through the Holy Spirit. We don’t need a human mediator anymore, for we can speak directly to God via the Holy Spirit. People want to put Mary, the Apostles, angels, and even priests between us and God, maybe because we don’t feel worthy. But, that is totally unnecessary!

We are not to deify Man, nor are we to deify angels, for they are only servants of the Lord, just like we are. Actually, Man has a higher place than the angels in God’s hierarchy, because we are heirs and co-heirs with Jesus Christ through His death. Only mankind has a chance at redemption, while angels do not.

The Divided Angels

Vic Batista: Ephesians 6 says that we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood alone, but there is also a spiritual battle being waged.

Nathan Jones: Yes, exactly. We live in an earthly realm that we can see, feel and touch. But, Ephesians 6 reveals that there is a spirit realm beyond the earthly realm. In other words, we see world politics raging on, but there are also angelic politics being waged as God’s forces battle Satan’s forces.

Praise the Lord we know that God’s forces are two times bigger than Satan’s forces! Only a third of the angels, which we will read about later in Revelation, followed Satan and fell and remain in rebellion against God. So, God’s forces are always stronger.

Not only are His angelic forces stronger, but Jesus Christ — God Himself and part of the Trinity — is beyond power. Jesus’ power is infinitely beyond anything Satan can hope to attain. Therefore, it should be very encouraging for Christians to know that we are on the winning side!

Vic Batista: All those who have placed their trust in Jesus Christ are on the right team. I really appreciate that.

Revelation 4 describes these angelic beings of different orders whom God has created for the glory and the worship of God. Revelation 4:11 ends this chapter with one of the angelic worship songs, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for you created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”

In the fifth segment of our series “The Mighty Angels of Revelation,” we’ll look at the angels found in Revelation 5-6.

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ABOUT AUTHOR View all posts Author Website

Dr. Nathan E. Jones

As the Internet Evangelist at Lamb & Lion Ministries, Nathan reaches out to the over 4.5 billion people accessible over the Internet with the Good News of Jesus Christ. He also co-hosts the ministry's television program Christ in Prophecy and podcast The Truth Will Set You Free.

1 CommentLeave a Comment

  • I agree with the idea that people see some angels as gods. I am actually thinking this is what the greek and other cultures gods were. Fallen angels. To man they would seem like gods. Notice that many of the mythological gods have only one thing they can do or reign over. Just like angels. Zeus lighting. A god of war. A god of the underworld. In the bible they also say that the fallen angels taught people to paint themselves, war and weapons and of course witchcraft. There are LOTS of similarities. Then they go on to speak of half gods. gods who had children with women. Hercules… Also described in the bible. Nephalim. What do you think?

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