For many of us, the word “angel” conjures up an image of a perfect divine creature who offers us spiritual guidance. An angel is the essence of selflessness and generosity. We even praise someone who has done something nice by saying “You are such an angel”. However, if we open the Bible, we find quite a different picture of what it means to be an angel.
Angels are found hundreds of times throughout the Bible, yet there is a great deal of confusion surrounding them. The angelic image of beautiful creatures with wings and a halo of light, is the creation of Renaissance artists and is completely different from the Bible’s image of an angel.
In original Hebrew the root of the word meaning angel is another word meaning "going back and forth." The implication is that this is hard work; giving rise to another Hebrew word meaning “physical labor”. An angel therefor is a messenger or intermediary who tirelessly goes back and forth between heaven and earth delivering information. And, come to find out, they do so without the benefit of wings.
Now, if you really want to talk about wings mentioned in the Bible, let's talk about the "wings of a dove"...but that's another story.
Angels are found hundreds of times throughout the Bible, yet there is a great deal of confusion surrounding them. The angelic image of beautiful creatures with wings and a halo of light, is the creation of Renaissance artists and is completely different from the Bible’s image of an angel.
In original Hebrew the root of the word meaning angel is another word meaning "going back and forth." The implication is that this is hard work; giving rise to another Hebrew word meaning “physical labor”. An angel therefor is a messenger or intermediary who tirelessly goes back and forth between heaven and earth delivering information. And, come to find out, they do so without the benefit of wings.
Now, if you really want to talk about wings mentioned in the Bible, let's talk about the "wings of a dove"...but that's another story.
No comments:
Post a Comment