Notes
Chapter 3: Are They Not All Ministering Spirits?
1. Some Bible scholars believe that in Zechariah 5:9 the two women who carry away the wickedness of Israel are angels. They are agents of divine judgment, but, in a highly symbolic vision, it is difficult to say that they are angels. The women have the wings of a stork (an unclean bird according to Leviticus 11:19), and they carry a third woman (symbolizing wickedness) to Babylon. Angels do appear in Zechariah's other visions, but they are always identified clearly as angels (compare Zechariah 1:9; 2:3; 3:3; 6:5-6).
Chapter 4: All the Sons of God Shouted for Joy
1. See also Matthew 22:23-33 and Luke 20:27-40. Resurrected human beings will no longer need procreation to sustain the human race. The phrase "neither marry nor be given in marriage" does not refer simply to the relationship of marriage but to the procreative and reproductive aspects within marriage. See Robert Gundry, Matthew: A Commentary on His Literary and Theological Art (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1982), p. 446; and Ezra Gould, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to Mark, International Critical Commentaries (reprint, Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1975), p. 229.
2. This idea of human beings becoming angels also has roots in Jewish and Christian mythology. According to the apocryphal Prayer of Joseph, Jacob was transformed into the angel Uriel, the "archangel of the power of the Lord." Christian legends have St. Francis evolving into the angel Rhamiel, and Anne, the Virgin Mary's mother, becoming the angel Anas.
3. These legends are drawn from Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1968).
4. Many modern commentators on Isaiah reject the idea that this passage contains a cryptic description of Satan's fall. See, for example, John Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 1-39, New International Commentary on the
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Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1986), p. 320. These writers view Isaiah's words as merely the exaggerated claims of the Babylonian king. It seems clearer to me, however (in agreement with early church fathers as well as some contemporary scholars), to see Isaiah moving from a description of the pride and fall of the earthly king to a statement of the pride and fall of the angelic prince of this world. If we believe that the prophets were given divine insight into events future to their time, why can't we accept their insights into events long before their time? See Herbert Wolf, Interpreting Isaiah (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1985), p. 113; and Alfred Martin and John Martin, Isaiah: The Glory of the Messiah (Chicago: Moody Press, 1983), pp. 72ff.
5. You will find a fascinating compilation of angel names and legends from several religions and traditions in Gustav Davidson, A Dictionary of Angels (New York: Macmillan / Free Press, 1967).
Chapter 5: And I Saw a Strong Angel
1. Many Bible teachers believe that Daniel saw a theophany, an appearance of the Lord Jesus in his preincarnate glory. See John Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), pp. 242-45; Renald Showers, The Most High God: A Commentary on the Book of Daniel (Bellmawr, N.J.: The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, 1982), pp. 141ff.; and Ronald Wallace, The Lord Is King: The Message of Daniel (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 19790, pp. 173-74. It is difficult to accept however that God himself was hindered on his mission by an evil angel, "the prince of the Persian kingdom." Some commentators (Walvoord, Wallace) distinguish between the man Daniel saw in 10:5-6 (identified as God) and the man who spoke to Daniel in 10:11—12:13 (identified as an angel). The text certainly doesn't make that distinction. Other students (Showers) see Christ as the man all the way through the passage but insist that even Christ could be hindered by an evil angel if God providentially permitted it. I conclude like other students of Daniel (Joyce Baldwin, Daniel, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries [Downer's Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1978], p. 180; and John Goldingay, Daniel, Word Biblical Commentary [Waco, Texas: 1989], p. 291) that Daniel saw a glorious gangel who came and spoke to him.
Chapter 6: Angelic Majesties
1. Malcolm Godwin, Angels: An Endangered Species (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990), pp. 23ff.
2. The Book of Enoch, trans. R.H. Charles (London: SPCK, 1970), passim.
3. The War Rule (1QM, 4QM), 15. 14; 17. 6-7. G. Vermes, The Dead Sea Scrolls in English, 3rd ed. (London: Penguin Books, 1990).
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4. Several other references to Michael in art and literature can be found in Gustav Davidson, A Dictionary of Angels (New York: Macmillan / Free Press, 1967), pp. 193ff.
5. The complete story of John Paton's life can be found in John G. Paton, Missionary to the New Hebrides (reprint, London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1965).
Chapter 7: The Devil and His Angels
1. See note 4 from chapter 4.
2. I am indebted for some of these insights to Renald Showers, who is on the staff of the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. His teaching was presented in a series of taped lectures at the Moody Keswick Bible Conference in St. Petersburg, Florida.
3. For an entertaining (and sobering) account of the danger of confronting demons in our own power, read Acts 19:11-16.
Chapter 8: Bound with Everlasting Chains
1. See Richard Bauckham, Jude, 2 Peter, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, Texas.: Word, 1983), p. 249.
2. Probably the most reasoned defense of this view is in John Murray, Principles of Conduct (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1957), pp. 243-49.
3. See Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1-15, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, Tex.: Word, 1987), pp. 139-41. For the position that angels possessed human beings, see Allen P. Ross, Creation and Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1988), pp. 181-83. For a presentation of all the possibilities, see Victor Hamilton, The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17, New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1990, pp. 261-72.
4. The book of Enoch is dated about 200 B.C. It is a long, apocryphal book, but it reflects the prevailing opinion among the Jews of that era. The same view (that angels were involved in Genesis 6) is reflected abundantly in other Jewish literature of that period (1 Enoch 6-19; 21; 86-88; 106:13-15, 17; Jubilees 4:15, 22; 5:1; Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan; Testament of Reuben 5:6-7; Testament of Naphtali 3:5; Genesis Apocryphon [1Q apGen] 2:1). See Richard Bauckham, Jude, 2 Peter, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, Texas: Word, 1983), pp. 51ff. for a detailed discussion of this literature and its bearing on this interpretive issue.
5. See Maxwell Coder, Jude: The Acts of the Apostates (Chicago: Moody Press, 1958), p. 38.
Chapter 9: An Angel Strengthened Him
1. An excellent discussion of the correlation between the angel of the Lord
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and Jesus Christ can be found in Ron Rhodes, Christ Before the Manger: The Life and Times of the Preincarnate Christ (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1992), pp. 79ff.
Chapter 11: In the Council of His Holy Ones
1. This insight was expressed by Renald Showers in a series of lectures on angels given at the Moody Keswick Conference in St. Petersburg, Florida.
2. The Book of Common Prayer (1928 ed.), p. 77.
3. The Te Deum can be found in many worship manuals and hymn books. This version came from Hymns for the Family of God (Nashville: Paragon, 1976), #324.
Chapter 12: They Will Lift You Up in Their Hands
1. Craig Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1993), p. 93.
2. This story comes from a personal conversation in 1994 with Johnnie Johnson. It is also recorded in his earlier self-published book about the camp, Barakel: God's Miracle (P.O. Box 157, Fairview, Michigan 48621-0157).
Chapter 13: Some Have Entertained Angels Unawares
1. This story comes from L.W. Northrup, Encounters with Angels (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale, 1988), pp. 45-48.
2. This comparison between the Spirit and angels is drawn from C. Fred Dickason, Angels: Elect and Evil (Chicago: Moody Press, 1975), p. 101.
3. Compare Tobit 12:15; 3 Baruch 11; contrast 1 Timothy 2:5.
