{"id":18264,"date":"2019-06-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-16T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/angelology-001\/"},"modified":"2019-06-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-16T05:00:00","slug":"angelology-001","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/angelology-001\/","title":{"rendered":"Angelology 001"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[96],"series_event":[499],"sermon_service_type":[473],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18264","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-colossians","series_event-angelology","sermon_service_type-sunday-school","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Angelology 001","sermon_date":"20190616","sermon_month":"6","sermon_year":"2019","sermon_notes":6819,"sermon_slides":6820,"sermon_mp3":6827,"sermon_id":"616191420142542","series_or_event":499,"service_type":[473],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":96,"chapter_and_verse":"1:16","sermon_transcript":"Dr. Andy Woods\n\nAngelology Lesson 1\n\nColossians 1:16,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 6-16-2019\n\nShall we open with a word of prayer and then we\u2019ll get started.\u00a0 Father, we\u2019re grateful for Your Word, Your Truth; we\u2019re grateful that You have given to us an all sufficient Canon of Scripture that comments on every area of life; it even tells us about an invisible realm, the angelic realm, that we would really know nothing about if You hadn\u2019t seen fit to disclose it.\u00a0 And as we\u2019re going to see in the next service that follows You tell us very matter of factly with no sugar coating how this world without You will end up.\u00a0 So help us to be mindful of these truths that You have given us.\u00a0 Help us to be good stewards of them here at Sugar Land Bible Church and help us to learn these things this morning and apply them to our lives.\u00a0 And we\u2019ll be careful to give You all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026. Amen.\n\nGood morning everybody.\u00a0 Happy Father\u2019s Day.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve ever in your life had a father just raise your hand.\u00a0 [Laughter] So fatherhood is kind of important, right?\u00a0 Amen!\u00a0 \u00a0And so what we\u2019re doing is we\u2019re starting a new series in Sunday School on the doctrine of angels and what we\u2019re doing in Sunday School is something called systematic theology.\u00a0 Why do we need systematic theology? Well, if I wanted to study a certain area of truth, let\u2019s say I wanted to study angelology, I can\u2019t just look in my index and say let\u2019s see, where\u2019s the angel\u2019s book.\u00a0 There\u2019s not one single book that gives you all the data about angels.\u00a0 So, to understand angels you can\u2019t just look at a single book, you\u2019ve got to look everywhere where God has revealed something about angels.\n\nSo that will take you into many, many books of the Bible.\u00a0 And once you go into those many, many books of the Bible and you look at all the Scriptures related to angels how do you put it together in a way that\u2019s meaningful?\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s sort of the work of systematic theology.\u00a0 Systematic theology is sort of like taking pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and kind of putting them together in a way that it makes a meaningful hole.\u00a0 And so once your outline is complete you kind of step back and you say aha, now I have the mind of God on angels.\u00a0 So systematic theologians have done this basically in ten areas and this is a study that we call systematic theology.\u00a0 Don\u2019t let these fancy words scare you, they all come from the Greek language.\n\nYou have number one, Prolegomena. \u201cPro\u201d means first; \u201clegomena\u201d means word. So prolegomena means introductory word.\u00a0 Prolegomena is basically what you have to learn to do systematic theology correctly.\u00a0 So, you go over things like the Bible inerrant, and the Bible is clear, and things like that.\u00a0 Then you have what\u2019s called Theology, Theo means God, ology means the study of.\u00a0 Actually, ology comes from the Greek word logos meaning word.\u00a0 And what do you do with a word?\u00a0 You study it!\u00a0 So from logos we get ology or study of.\u00a0 Theology is the study of God; what does the whole Bible reveal about God, because there\u2019s not a God section, you have to go through the whole Bible to understand what the Bible reveals about God.\n\nThen you have a second area called Christology which is the study of Christ.\u00a0 And then you have another area called Pneumatology, Pneuma in Greek means spirit, so Pneumatology is what does the whole Bible reveal about the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 And most people start there in the Book of Acts but no, you\u2019ve got to start much earlier than that.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to start in Genesis 1:2, where the Spirit of God was hovering on the waters, and you go through the whole Bible and you arrange it, and then you can step back and say I have the mind of God on the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 [Genesis 1:2, \u201cThe earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.\u201d]\n\nAnd then another area of theology is called anthropology, anthropos<\/em> is the Greek word for man, anthropology is what does the Bible reveal about man?\u00a0 Hamartiology, hamartia is the Greek word for sin so hamartiology is what does the whole Bible reveal about sin.\u00a0 And usually hamartiology is followed by soteriology; soterios<\/em> is the Greek word for salvation so what does the whole Bible reveal about salvation?\u00a0 And you would want to study hamartiology before you study soteriology because you can\u2019t get a man saved until you get him what?\u00a0\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to the him lost first.\u00a0 Most people don\u2019t realize they\u2019re lost because they have a poor hamartiology and so once you understand you\u2019re lost then you suddenly see aha, I\u2019ve got a solution here called soteriology.\n\nAngelology, which is the topic we\u2019re moving into, the study of the angels.\u00a0 And then there\u2019s ecclesiology, ekklesia<\/em> is the Greek word for church so ecclesiology is what does the whole Bible reveal about the church.\u00a0 And then probably my personal favorite out of all of them is eschatology, eschatos <\/em>is the Greek word for last, or end, so eschatology is what does the whole Bible reveal about the end.\u00a0 And most people say well that\u2019s just the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 No, no, no, no, eschatology starts as early as Genesis 3:15 where there was going to come one from the seed of the woman who was going to do what to Satan\u2019s head?\u00a0 Crush it.\u00a0 [Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.\u201d] So eschatology starts very early on in the Bible.\n\nAnd you get all the pieces together from the whole Bible and you arrange them and you say aha, now I can have the mind of God on eschatology.\u00a0 So that\u2019s sort of what we\u2019re doing; we\u2019re doing in this class, Sunday School, systematic theology.\u00a0 And at this church we\u2019ve been very fortunate because I\u2019ve already gone through soteriology, the doctrine of salvation and all of that\u2019s archived, if you want to go back and study that.\u00a0 And we\u2019ve also gone through ecclesiology or the doctrine of the church.\n\nAnd then once you think you\u2019ve got everything figured out, people like Arnold Fruchtenbaum come along and he says you forgot one and he writes a book that looks like the GTE phone book, it\u2019s this thick, now when I say GTE phonebook I\u2019m dating myself a little bit, because I say GTE phone book to my daughters and they don\u2019t know what I\u2019m talking about.\u00a0 But he wrote a book called, and it was part of his dissertation at NYU, his doctoral dissertation.\u00a0 \u201cIsraelology, The Missing Link in \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Systematic Theology, so he went through the whole Bible and he tried to figure out what does the whole Bible reveal about Israel.\u00a0 And it\u2019s sort of like you slap your forehead and say duh, how do we forget that one since Israel is such a big part of God\u2019s program.\n\nSo, there you have it, you have about ten, if you throw in Fruchtenbaum, eleven major areas of systematic theology.\u00a0 And what it is just getting the mind of God on these big-ticket items.\u00a0 So, what we\u2019re moving into here is angelology or what does the Bible reveal about angels.\u00a0 And angelology basically has four parts to it.\u00a0 The first thing we talk about is the good angels; there\u2019s two-thirds of the angels on our side (aren\u2019t you glad we have two \u2013thirds on our side). \u00a0And then Satan originally was a high-ranking angel so then you have to talk about what\u2019s called Satanology.\u00a0 I mean, who is Satan, where did he come from, what does he do, what are his methods, what is his future, etc.\u00a0 And then when Satan fell he deceived a third of the angels into falling with him and they became the demons so now you have to get into the whole subject of demonology.\u00a0 And you get into topics like what is all this stuff we read in the Bible about demon possession, are people demon possessed today, can they be demon possessed, things like can a Christian be demon possessed, those sorts of topics under demonology.\n\nAnd then most people stop there but I throw in a fourth one, the Genesis 6:1-4 controversy, the sons of God and the daughters of men that created that race of people called the Nephilim, just prior to the flood.\u00a0 And I think this should be covered under angelology because I see the fallen angels at work there.\u00a0 And that is a big, big topic today, was there really an angelic rebellion in Genesis 6:1-4?\u00a0 And if there wasn\u2019t an angelic rebellion of some kind in Genesis 6:1-4 and Jesus said \u201cAs it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be again.\u201d\u00a0 Is that going to resurface in the last days?\n\n[Genesis 6:1, \u201cNow it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them,\u00a0 [2] that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose\u00a0 [3] Then the LORD said, \u2018My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.\u2019 [4] The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.\u201d]\n\nAnd a lot of people max out conferences and auditoriums telling people the Nephilim are going to come back and these kinds of things.\u00a0 So, we deal with those kind of subjects when we get to number four.\n\nProlegomena \u2013 Introduction\n\nTheology \u2013 Study of God\n\nChristology \u2013 Study of Christ\n\nPneumatology \u2013 Study of the Holy Spirit\n\nAnthropology \u2013 Study of Man\n\nHamartiology \u2013 Study of sin\n\nSoteriology \u2013 Study of salvation\n\nAngelology \u2013 Study of angels\n\nEcclesiology \u2013 Study of the Church\n\nEschatology \u2013 Study of the end\n\nSo that\u2019s sort of the lay of the land, and what\u2019 we\u2019re starting off with here is the good angels and so here\u2019s the outline that we\u2019re going to follow related to part one, the good angels.\n
    \n \t
  1. Existence<\/li>\n \t
  2. Origin \u2013 where did they come from<\/li>\n \t
  3. Nature \u2013what are they like<\/li>\n \t
  4. Appearance-- what do they appear as<\/li>\n \t
  5. Names and classifications<\/li>\n \t
  6. Abode -- where do they live<\/li>\n \t
  7. Activities \u2013 what have they done in the past, what do they do in the present, what are they going to do in the future<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nWe look at A, their existence.\u00a0 B, their origin, where did they come from.\u00a0 C, their nature, what are they like.\u00a0 D, their appearance, what do they appear as.\u00a0 E, their names and classifications. F. their abode, where do they live.\u00a0 And then the last one, their Activities, what do they do.\u00a0 What have they done in the past, what do they do in the present, what are they going to do in the future.\u00a0 And it\u2019s somewhat shocking to go through the Bible and discover how much of God\u2019s Word is devoted to the subject of angels.\u00a0 Probably a very good book I could recommend to you on it is Billy Graham\u2019s book, and I have the title, Angels, God\u2019s Secret Agents<\/em>.\u00a0 And even if I don\u2019t agree with every little thing in the book it\u2019s a very helpful book because it\u2019s sort of a shock when you read it how much of the Bible is devoted to the subject of angels.\u00a0 So if you\u2019re kind of looking for a primer on it and you\u2019ve never studied this before you might think about getting Billy Graham\u2019s book.\n\nBut anyway, let\u2019s start here with our first sub category under good angels and number one, we talk about their existence.\u00a0 Do angels really exist?\u00a0 You ask the average person today if they believe in angels and if they say yes, most people would think they\u2019re crazy but the fact of the matter is if you believe the Word of God and you assign any authority at all to the Scripture, you learn very quickly that angels are in existence. \u00a0The Bible, it\u2019s interesting, doesn\u2019t try to defend the existence of angels, it simply tells us that they\u2019re there.\u00a0 And the Bible is like that with the existence of God, it\u2019s not going to spend a lot of time defending the existence of God.\u00a0 There are some passages that defend the existence of God but by and large you open the Bible and you learn God is real, God exists, and He is presented very matter of fact.\u00a0 So that\u2019s how it is with this subject of angels.\n\nIn Lewis Sperry Chafers Systematic Theology which I recommend to you as well, Volume 2, page 3, he says, \u201cIn the Old Testament there are a hundred and eight references to angels.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s a lot of information, isn\u2019t it, a lot of references.\u00a0 And then in the New Testament you\u2019ve got about a hundred and sixty-five references to angels.\u00a0 And the Old Testament word for angel is Molech, a Hebrew word.\u00a0\u00a0 Molech means messenger or my messenger.\u00a0 In fact, there\u2019s a prophet in the Old Testament, the very last one in the Protestant canon kind of named after this name, called the Prophet Malachi.\u00a0 I used to think when I got saved his name was ma-la-chi, I must have thought he was the first Italian prophet but no.\u00a0 [Laughter] His name is actually Malachi, messenger.\u00a0 Malachi is sort of a derivative of Moloch.\n\nAnd then in the New Testament, of course the Old Testament is written primarily in Hebrew, the New Testament is written primarily in Greek, the word for angel is angelos.\u00a0 Now do you recognize the \u201ceu\u201d prefix, the letters \u201ceu\u201d as in euthanasia, good death; euphoria, good feeling.\u00a0 When you put the \u201ceu\u201d prefix in front of angelos what Greek word do you get?\u00a0 You get the word euangelizo<\/em>, which means to evangelize.\u00a0 So evangelism is a message.\u00a0 And so, it\u2019s very interesting to me that angelos<\/em> is very connected to the concept of a message.\u00a0 And in the Old Testament Molech is very much connected to the concept of a message as in Malachi.\u00a0 So, the name in Hebrew and Greek for angels is sort of a clue as to why these beings exist.\u00a0 These beings exist primarily for the purpose of giving messages, primarily from God to man.\n\nIn other words, as you go through the Bible angels are very prominent in that regard.\u00a0 It was the angel Gabriel that gave to Daniel, back in the sixth century, the message of the seventy weeks.\u00a0 Daniel 9:20-23.\u00a0 [Daniel 9:20-23, \u201cNow while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, [21] while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my<\/em> extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. [22] He gave me<\/em> instruction and talked with me and said, \u201cO Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. [23]\u201cAt the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you,<\/em> for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.\u201d]\n\nHow could Daniel have known of that very important prophecy of the seventy weeks unless it had been delivered to him from God to Daniel via Gabriel.\u00a0 And Gabriel is very active in the New Testament.\u00a0 You go into Luke chapter 1 and you learn that Gabriel is very involved in giving messages to both Jesus\u2019 mother and John the Baptist\u2019s mother concerning what was happening in their womb.\u00a0 I mean, how would they know these special children that they were pregnant with unless Gabriel hadn\u2019t disclosed that information from God to Gabriel to the parents of Jesus and John the Baptist.\u00a0 I guess what I\u2019m trying to say is the word \u201cangel\u201d itself, Old Testament and New Testament, Hebrews and Greek, relates to message.\u00a0 And their name itself gives you sort of a clue as to what one of the primary purposes of angels are; they are to deliver messages.\u00a0 More on that later.\u00a0 But all of this to say that angels very clearly exist if you believe the Bible.\n\nAnd this takes us to number two and that\u2019s why I had you open your Bibles to the Book of Colossians, chapter 1 and verse 16, and here we get into the origin of the angels.\u00a0 I mean, where exactly did these angels come from.\u00a0 And take a look if you could at Colossians 1:16 because that verse in and of itself discloses massive amounts of information about angels, because what people were doing at Colossae is they were basically saying Jesus was no different than an angel.\u00a0 It\u2019s called the Colossian heresy.\u00a0 And Paul sort of corrects the record here and he says Jesus was not an angel, Jesus is the One that created angels.\n\nAnd notice what it says here in Colossians 1:16. \u201cFor by Him\u201d that\u2019s Jesus, \u201call things\u201d that would include angels, \u201cwere created, both in the heavens\u201d that would be things above in the heavens, \u201cand on earth, visible and invisible,\u201d and then it says, \u201cwhether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 In other words, don\u2019t reduce Jesus to something that He\u2019s not in this Colossae heresy.\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t reduce Him to an angel!\u00a0 Jesus is the one that actually created the angels.\u00a0 In fact, He created everything, things above, things on the earth, things visible, things invisible for Himself.\u00a0 And so, what we learn here is that angels have not always been in existence.\u00a0 Angels are, in fact, created beings.\n\nNow when you understand this, this is sort of the foolishness of trying to contact an angel; a lot of people are into that and I think that TV show, Touched by an Angel<\/em> didn\u2019t help things because we have kind of an angel mania culture.\u00a0 People are very interested in angels, they\u2019re just not going to the Bible to discover what God says about angels.\u00a0 Why would I get in contact with an angel?\u00a0\u00a0 Why would I try to communicate with an angel when I can communicate directly with the Creator of the angels?\u00a0 I mean, who do you want talk to at the end of the day, the lady behind the counter or the CEO of the whole company? \u00a0And so we discover here that angels are very interesting, they\u2019re very profound creatures but they\u2019re not to be worshipped because they themselves owe their creation and their origin to Jesus Christ.\u00a0 In other words, there was a time when angels didn\u2019t exist.\u00a0 Now was there ever a time when Jesus didn\u2019t exist?\u00a0 Jesus has always existed; Jesus is the eternally existent second member of the Godhead but not so angels.\n\nTake your Bible if you could and let\u2019s go over to the Book of Job for a minute.\u00a0 There\u2019s sort of a discussion, I\u2019ll give you both sides of it, and please don\u2019t get mad at me.\u00a0 When I give people alternative views for some reason when I get to this subject they get real upset and I don\u2019t know why.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s because sometimes something I say interrupts their paradigm.\u00a0 We\u2019re all friends here\u2026 amen!\u00a0 There\u2019s no need to start a new denomination over when the angels were created.\u00a0 Do you guys agree with that?\u00a0 You know, we\u2019re the first church of the angels have been in existence for two million years church kind of thing.\n\nBut the majority view out there is God is eternally existent and at some time in the remote past He created the angels.\u00a0 Now how long ago was it?\u00a0 A hundred years?\u00a0 A thousand years?\u00a0 A million years?\u00a0 A zillion year?\u00a0 When we\u2019re never told but the angels we\u2019re told existed long before the earth existed.\u00a0 And as you look at the literature that\u2019s probably the majority opinion.\u00a0 That\u2019s the way most people think about this and probably the main text they\u2019ve used to support this is the Book of Job, chapter 38.\u00a0 Now you remember the Book of Job, right?\u00a0 The Book of Job is everybody is giving their opinions about everything; you might call the Book of Job \u201cFirst Opinions\u201d because everybody is pontificating as to why Job had these problems.\u00a0 So Job taught his three counselors, I put the word \u201ccounselors\u201d in quotation marks because these guys really weren\u2019t much help.\u00a0 Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar talked and then another guy shows up late in the book named Elihu and he talks and so it\u2019s everybody talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.\n\nAnd we know they have it wrong because we know what happened because we\u2019ve read the first two chapters that the counsellors didn\u2019t see.\u00a0 I mean, Job had his problem because of a conversation between God and Satan that Job really knew nothing of.\u00a0 And all of these counsellors think they know what\u2019s going on.\u00a0 Job thinks he knows what is going on, and none of them have a clue.\u00a0 And so it\u2019s really a book explaining the finitudes of human knowledge and why at the end of the day we don\u2019t know a lot of things; we think we know and so we have to just trust in the sovereignty of God.\n\nBut it is interesting that finally in Job 38 God talks.\u00a0 Up until this point in time everybody else has been talking, now God says it\u2019s my turn.\u00a0 And the first thing God does to Job, who thinks he knows everything, is He gives Job a pop quiz.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing that humbles you more than receiving a pop quiz.\u00a0 Amen!\u00a0 And He starts to ask Job questions about things that Job was never around to see concerning the beginning.\u00a0 And he says to Job, \u201cWhere were you,\u201d verse 4, \u201cwhen I laid the foundations of the earth.\u00a0 Tell me if you know.\u201d\u00a0 Now does Job have an answer to that?\u00a0 No, because he wasn\u2019t around to see creation.\n\nAnd in the process God says this as part of this question and answer session.\u00a0 Verse 7, it says, \u201cWhen the morning stars sang together,\u201d now morning stars here has to be angels because stars in and of themselves don\u2019t sing.\u00a0 \u201cWhen the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?\u201d\u00a0 And there you see that \u201csons of God\u201d in the Book of Job is what you call Hebrew parallelism where the second line repeats what\u2019s in the first line but in different words.\u00a0 But you\u2019ll notice that \u201csons of God\u201d is parallel with \u201cmorning stars\u201d so \u201csons of God\u201d in the Book of Job is used as a reference to angels.\n\nAnd backing up to verse 4 it says, \u201cWhere were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, [35] Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it?\u00a0 [36] On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, [37] When the morning stars\u201d that\u2019s the angels, \u201csang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?\u201d\u00a0 So the majority opinion is you\u2019ve got God eternally in existence, then at some point, we\u2019re not told when, the angels come into existence, and then when God, after a period of time, we\u2019re not told how long, when He finally got around to creating the world in six days the angels were there cheering God.\u00a0 So the majority view out there is that angels existed long before the earth or else they couldn\u2019t have been there to praise God as God brought forth the heavens and the earth in the six days of creation.\n\nSo, the majority view is that the angels, although they are created beings, existed before the earth.\u00a0 And that\u2019s the view that I held to for a long time because I knew of no other view.\u00a0 But it has been very interesting to me to discover the existence of another view, a minority view, a less well-known view that I really knew nothing of and you can find it articulated in the book by Renald Showers, Renald Showers book is entitled, Those Invisible Spirits Called Angels<\/em>.\n\nAnd if you\u2019re a starter on angels the Billy Graham book is good but if you want to go beyond some of the things Billy Graham says I recommend the second book by Renald Showers, who was one time a theologian and so forth, with Friends of Israel, who has passed on recently and is now with the Lord.\u00a0 But he makes the case, and it\u2019s a very interesting case, that the angels did not exist before the earth, in fact, the angels were part of what God brought into existence during the creation week.\u00a0 Now why does he think that?\u00a0 Well, take a look at Genesis 1:1, let me just toss a few Scriptures your direction to show you how he gets there because then at least you\u2019ll have two views on it.\n\nYou know Genesis 1:1, it says, \u201cIn the beginning God created the heavens\u201d now is \u201cheavens? There singular or plural?\u00a0 It\u2019s plural, in fact in Hebrew it\u2019s shamayim<\/em> and when you have an \u201cim\u201d ending in Hebrew it\u2019s the equivalent of putting the \u201cs\u201d at the end of a noun in English; it\u2019s plurality.\u00a0 So, God in the six days of creation didn\u2019t just create the earth and the first heaven but He created \u201cthe heavens,\u201d plural.\u00a0 And you might remember that Paul, in 2 Corinthians 12, was caught up to the what\u2019s called the third heaven.\u00a0 And there\u2019s a lot of debate on what he means by the third heaven; it could work this way: the first heaven is the distance from the earth to the clouds.\u00a0 The second heaven is the distance from the clouds to the stars.\u00a0 And the third heaven is beyond the stars, where God dwells.\u00a0 And that\u2019s how the Greeks sort of divided up the atmosphere.\u00a0 And so what I think this is saying is when God brought everything into existence in the six days of creation He brought into existence the earth, the \u2019eretz<\/em>, and not just the first heaven but \u201cthe heavens,\u201d plural.\n\nNow \u201cthe heavens,\u201d plural would also include the who?\u00a0 It would include the angels, wouldn\u2019t it.\u00a0 And this expression here \u201cIn the beginning God created the heavens and the earth\u201d that\u2019s what you call a merism in figures of speech.\u00a0 A merism is where you identify the outer boundaries and then the outer boundaries would encompass everything in between.\u00a0 So, it\u2019s like saying the Lord watches me when I wake up and when I lie down.\u00a0 Now does that mean God only watches me two times a day, in the morning when I get up and at night when I put my head down.\u00a0 No, it\u2019s a merism because it would encompass what?\u00a0 Everything in between, God is always watching me.\u00a0 And so that\u2019s how Genesis 1:1 functions; it functions as a merism.\u00a0 \u201cIn the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,\u201d the outer edges in other words, which would include everything in between.\n\nNow \u201cheavens and earth\u201d is used to describe the space where God indwells.\u00a0 For example, holding your place there in Genesis 1:1 notice Jeremiah 23:24.\u00a0 Look at what it says about midway through the verse, \u2018\u201cDo I not fill the heavens and the earth?\u201d declares the Lord.\u201d God is omnipresent, isn\u2019t He?\u00a0 He\u2019s everywhere so \u201cheavens and earth\u201d is a merism or it\u2019s a figure of speech for everything.\u00a0 So, if that is true, in Genesis 1:1 when it says \u201cIn the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,\u201d and it begins talking about what He did in the six days of creation, it very well could mean that in the six days of creation He brought everything into existence, including the angels themselves.\n\nAnd if you go over to Exodus 20:11 it\u2019s a description of what God did in the six-day week of creation. Exodus 20:11 says, \u201cFor in six days\u201d now what does six days mean?\u00a0 I think it means six days!\u00a0 For example, in the Book of Joshua it talks about how they walked around the walls of Jericho for seven days, and didn\u2019t the walls fall on the seventh day.\u00a0 Now I don\u2019t interpret that as they were out there for seven million years walking around.\u00a0 And particular with Esther, the Book of Esther talks about how she fasted for what?\u00a0 Three days or six days, something like that.\u00a0 If she\u2019s fasting for six million years that\u2019s a heck of a fast!\u00a0 So I think six days means six days.\n\n\u201cFor in six days the LORD made\u201d what? here comes the merism, \u201cthe heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore, the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.\u201d\u00a0 This verse gives you the impression that everything God did, everything that God created He brought the whole thing together in the six days of creation which would also include the angels.\n\nNotice, if you will, Psalm 148:2-5, and this is why I gave you that warning at the beginning that when we do systematic theology you\u2019ve got to have your Bible ready because you\u2019ve got to look at all the verses that deal with the subject because there\u2019s no one verse that puts it all together for you.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we need systematic theology.\n\nNotice, if you will, Psalm 148 and notice verses 2-5 which is speaking of things that God brought into existence in the six days of creation.\u00a0 Notice verse 2, \u201cPraise Him, all His angels;\u201d Hebrew parallelism, \u201cPraise Him, all His hosts!\u201d\u00a0 Hosts\u201d (as we\u2019re going to see in a minute\u201d is a synonym for angels.\u00a0 \u201cPraise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light! \u00a0[4] Praise Him, highest heavens,\u201d oh no, look at this, verse 4, \u201cAnd the waters that are above the heavens!\u201d\u00a0 What in the world is that talking about, \u201cwaters above the heavens\u201d? \u00a0Well, you might cross reference that with Genesis 1:6-7 which talks about the sky, it talks about the waters below (that\u2019s easy, below the sky, that\u2019s the ocean).\u00a0 And then it makes this peculiar statement about the \u201cwaters above\u201d the sky.\n\nAnd there\u2019s a lot of conjecture as to what in the world is the \u201cwaters above\u201d the sky?\u00a0 Well, I\u2019m sort of the persuasion, I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s in the majority opinion or not, but at one time this planet had around it a giant ball of water.\u00a0 And when God brought the flood He simply released this water canopy.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I kind of get a chuckle at critics of the Bible that say you believe in a global flood, there\u2019s not even enough moisture in the clouds to cause a global flood.\u00a0 My answer is well how do you know God used the clouds to cause the flood; just because rain is caused by clouds today that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that\u2019s what God used in the global deluge.\u00a0 He could have very easily released the water canopy above the earth.\n\nAnd that\u2019s why people in the post flood world are living into their 900\u2019s; Methuselah is the oldest man that ever lived and he lived to the ripe old age of 969.\u00a0 Adam lived to the ripe old age of 930.\u00a0 So people were dying but they were certainly living a lot longer. Why is that?\u00a0 Maybe (and again this is not something to start a new church over necessarily but it\u2019s just my model that I\u2019m working with) maybe God released this water canopy and there was nothing left to filter the harmful rays of the sun and that\u2019s why post floods people start dying faster.\u00a0 Suddenly you look at the post flood genealogies and they\u2019re not living into their 900\u2019s anymore, their life starts getting cut back around 175 years, etc. Bu these \u201cwaters above\u201d were part of the original creation.\n\nBack to Psalm 148.\u00a0 [3] \u201cPraise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light! [4] Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens!\u201d\u00a0 And then verse 5 says, \u201cLet them praise the name of the LORD, For He commanded and they were created.\u201d\u00a0 Now what have these verses done here in Psalm 148?\u00a0 They\u2019ve articulated all of the things that God brought into existence in the creation week.\u00a0 Did God bring the sun and the moon into existence during the creation week?\u00a0 Yes, day four.\u00a0 Did God bring the stars or the luminaries into existence in the creation week?\u00a0 Yes, day four.\u00a0 Did God bring the waters above into existence during the creation week?\u00a0 Yes, He did, Genesis 1:6-7 [Genesis 1:6-7, \u201cHe has also established them forever and ever; He has made a decree which will not pass away. [7] Praise the LORD from the earth, Sea monsters and all deeps;\u201d and you\u2019ll notice what\u2019s first on the list here?\u00a0 Verse 2, \u201cPraise Him all His angels,\u201d now if God brought everything else into existence in these six days of creation (and that\u2019s how we interpret these verses) and angels is the first on the list, why would we say the angels were not also brought into existence during the creation week itself.\n\nAnd see, what I\u2019m giving you is just an evidence for a second view that perhaps the angels themselves came into existence during the creation week.\u00a0 Now having said all of that go to Genesis 2:1. It\u2019s kind of a review of the creation week and it says this, \u201cThus the heavens and the earth were completed\u201d what\u2019s the last expression there, \u201cand all their\u201d what? \u201chosts.\u201d\u00a0 Now most people, and probably if you\u2019re using a study Bible it will tell you that the \u201chosts\u201d are stars, and that could be, host is used as a synonym for stars but I would challenge you to do a word study on the word hosts.\u00a0 What you\u2019ll discover is many times the word host is used of angels.\u00a0 In fact, didn\u2019t we just see that back in Psalm 148:2, \u201cPraise Him all His angels, praise Him all His hosts.\u201d\u00a0 So, when it says there in Genesis 2:1 of the creation week, \u201cThus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.\u201d\u00a0 That may be an additional clue that the \u201chosts\u201d are the angels themselves were brought into existence during the creation week.\n\nYou might want to hold your place in Genesis and just take a fast look at 1 Kings 22:19.\u00a0 \u201cMicaiah said, \u2018Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the\u201d what? \u201chost of\u201d what? \u201cheaven\u201d that\u2019s got to be a reference to angels, \u201cwere standing by Him on His right and on His left.\u201d\u00a0 And you\u2019ll discover this in the Bible that \u201chosts\u201d is used many, many times to describe angels.\u00a0 So Genesis 2:1 when you look at that word \u201chost\u201d that means that may have to do with angelic beings, just as another piece of evidence that maybe we\u2019ve had it wrong and the angels came into existence during the creation week itself.\n\nBy the way, we\u2019re going to be getting to this, probably not today but what is one of the purposes of angels?\u00a0 Well not only are they messengers but when you look at the Book of Hebrews, chapter 1 and verse 14 you learn that one of their purposes is to assist human beings, particularly believers and those who will inherit salvation.\u00a0 Notice Hebrews 1:14, it says, \u201cAre they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?\u201d\u00a0 Angels exist, even though we can\u2019t see them, they exist to help us, and I say \u201cAmen\u201d to that because I need all the help I can get.\u00a0 So one of the purposes of angels is to serve human beings or serve believers.\u00a0 Now if you believe that angels existed a million years or a billion years prior to the earth then you\u2019ve got angels existing outside of why they were created so that may be another piece of evidence as to why angels could have possibly come into existence during the creation week.\n\nSo there you have it, two views on it: the majority view is they existed long before the earth, the primary passage is Job 38:4-7.\u00a0 [Job 38:4, \u201cWhere were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?\nTell Me<\/em>, if you have understanding, [5]\u00a0 Who set its measurements? Since you know.\u00a0 Or who stretched the line on it?\u00a0 [6] On what were its bases sunk?\u00a0 Or who laid its cornerstone? \u201c\n\nAnd then you have the Renald Showers view and I tried to explain that the best I know how, that the angels could have come into existence during the creation week.\u00a0 By the way, how would Renald Showers explain Job 38:7?\u00a0 Let\u2019s go back to Job 38:7 for just a moment.\u00a0 God is creating the heavens and the earth. \u00a0\u201c<\/sup>When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?\u201d\u00a0 The earth was originally\u2026 everything was water, right?\u00a0 Day one, day two, and if I remember right wasn\u2019t it in day three that the land came up through the water?\u00a0 And so maybe the angels were created in those first two days and they were there in existence to watch what God did in day 3.\u00a0 I think that\u2019s how Renald Showers would try to handle Job 38:7.\n\nAnd we know that the stars came into existence in day four; stars is a synonym for angels and so some people pontificate that maybe the angels came into existence on day four as stars, God creating the physical hosts and the spiritual hosts as well.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know, I liked to be dogmatic when the Bible is dogmatic; I don\u2019t know if a person can be dogmatic on this, when the angels came into existence. Either they were created and they existed long before the earth or perhaps they came into existence during the creation week itself.\u00a0 But at any point, God created them\u2026 Amen!\n\nAnd continuing to move on here as we look at the origin of angels, angels were created as angels.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t created as people; they weren\u2019t created as deity.\u00a0 They have a special classification as angels.\u00a0 And notice, if you will, the Book of Hebrews, chapter 12, verses 22 and 23.\u00a0 Notice what the Book of Hebrews says.\u00a0 Beginning in verse 22, \u201cBut you have come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s category one.\u00a0 \u201cto the general assembly and to the church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven,\u201d that\u2019s category number two, this is naming all of the people I think in the eternal state, and then it says, \u201cto God the judge and all the spirits of the righteous made perfect,\u201d now who would \u201cthe spirits of the righteous made perfect\u201d be?\u00a0 I would guess that would be Old Testament saints and tribulation martyrs, a different group of people.\n\nBut you\u2019ll notice in this list that angels are different from members of the church.\u00a0 Angels are different than Old Testament saints and tribulation martyrs.\u00a0 All of that to say that angels were not created as human beings, angels were not created as people.\u00a0 Angels were created as angels.\u00a0 Now when you get into some of this Hollywood stuff people have this idea that when you die you become an angel.\u00a0 I guess you get your wings and all that kind of stuff.\u00a0 And that\u2019s just not even close to what God says.\u00a0 God says angels are angels, people are people!\n\nIn fact, the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:3 says something amazing to the very carnal Corinthian church as they\u2019re suing each other and he\u2019s telling them to get their act together.\u00a0 And he says, \u201cDo you not know that the day will come when we will judge the\u201d what? \u201cthe angels.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, start acting like your regal authority now that you\u2019re going to possess in the eschaton<\/em> because you, as a member of the church, are going to sit in judgment on the angels. I don\u2019t really know completely what that means other than the fact that we\u2019re destined for authority.\u00a0 But the fact that we sit in judgment on the angels indicates to me that we are not angels; angels are a completely different classification and category.\n\nSo angels\u2026the first thing you have to understand about them is they\u2019re not human beings.\u00a0 And very important to understand is angels are not deity; angels are not to be worshipped!\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s kind of interesting to me how John closes his little epistle in 1 John 5:21 and he says, \u201cLittle children, keep yourself from\u201d what? \u201cfrom idols.\u201d\u00a0 What\u2019s an idol?\u00a0 And idol is something that you worship above God.\u00a0 \u201cLittle children, keep yourselves from idols,\u201d and it\u2019s interesting to me that John really didn\u2019t practice what he preached because in the Book of Revelation he became an idolater, because at the end of the book\u2026 and head over to Revelation 19:10, you get to the end of the Book of Revelation and John is so enthralled with the vision that he has received that what does he want to do?\u00a0 He wants to worship the angel that gave him the vision.\n\nAnd notice what it says in Revelation 19:10. You get to the end of the Book of Revelation and John is so enthralled with the vision that he had received that what does he want to do?\u00a0 He wants to worship the angel that gave him the vision.\u00a0 And notice what it says in Revelation 19:10. \u201cThen I fell at His feet to worship him.\u201d that\u2019s the angel, \u201cBut he\u201d that\u2019s the angel. \u201csaid to me, \u2018Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold to the testimony of Jesus, worship God.\u00a0 For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.\u201d\u00a0 The angel rebukes him, he says knock it off, what are you worshipping me for, I\u2019m just a messenger.\u00a0 Worship God!\u00a0 So very clearly you see there that an angel is not deity, an angel is not something to be worshipped because not only is an angel not a human but an angel is not deity and does not deserve worship.\n\nAnd you would think John would have learned his lesson, right?\u00a0 But he doesn\u2019t!\u00a0 A couple of chapters later, go over to Revelation 22:8-9, and he does it again.\u00a0 This is the same guy that said \u201cLittle children, keep yourself from idols.\u201d\u00a0 He became an idolater two times at the end of the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 \u201cI John, are the one who heard and saw these things.\u201d\u00a0 The contents of the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 \u201cAnd when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. [8] But he\u201d that\u2019s the angel, \u201csaid to me, \u201cDo not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book. Worship God.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, John, two times don\u2019t worship me even though I\u2019m the instrument that gave you the vision that we call the Book of Revelation, worship God!\u00a0 So very clearly an angel is not deity.\n\nMatthew 4:10 quoting the Book of Deuteronomy, says \u201cWorship\u201d who?\u00a0 \u201cThe Lord and serve Him only.\u201d\u00a0 Angels are not there to be worshipped.\u00a0 Now having said that let me throw a little curve ball at you.\u00a0 Go to the Book of Joshua for a minute, chapter 5, verses 13-15 where Joshua is ready to come in, he\u2019s ready to take Canaan, the Battle of Jericho, he\u2019s going to come in and so forth, and there\u2019s somebody there that looks like an angel to me, a manifestation, and notice what happens here in \u201cJoshua 5:13-15.\u00a0 Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and behold a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand.\n\nAnd notice what happens here in Joshua 5:13-15 \u201cNow it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, \u201cAre you for us or for our adversaries?\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s a great question to ask somebody, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 [14] \u201cHe said, \u201cNo; rather I indeed come now as<\/em> captain of the\u201d what? \u201chost\u201d interesting, \u201cof the LORD.\u201d And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, \u201cWhat has my lord to say to his servant?\u201d [15] The captain of the LORD\u2019S host said to Joshua, \u201cRemove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.\u201d And Joshua did so.\u201d\n\nNow you might be saying well, pastor, I thought you just told us that an angel will never receive worship; we see that two times in the Book of Revelation and here we are in the Book of Joshua where Joshua appears to be worshiping an angel and not only does the angel receive the worship but he says take off your shoes, you\u2019re standing on holy ground, which sounds an awful lot like what God said to Moses when he revealed himself as the great I AM back in Exodus 3:5.\u00a0 [Exodus 3:5, \u201cThen He said, \u201cDo not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.\u201d]\n\nSo which one is it, I mean, does an angel receive worship or not?\u00a0 Well, I think in this case, in Joshua 5, this is what\u2019s called the angel of the Lord.\u00a0 This is not an ordinary angel.\u00a0 You say well what\u2019s the angel of the Lord?\u00a0 The angel of the Lord is what we would call a theophany or a Christophany which would be a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 So, there are examples in the Bible where I think Jesus, prior to the incarnation, shows up.\u00a0 This would be just one such example.\u00a0 And you know that Joshua is not dealing with an ordinary angel because he worships this angel of the Lord with no rebuke.\u00a0 This is no ordinary angel; the angel would have told Joshua what the angel in the Book of Revelation told John two times about worshipping \u201cMe.\u201d\n\nSo angels are not there to be worshipped, except if it\u2019s a theophany or a Christophany, or a preincarnate appearance of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 So how do you know which one is which?\u00a0 Well you have to just look at the context to help you with that.\u00a0 If you\u2019re interested in this subject I recommend the book by Ron Rhodes, it\u2019s got a wonderful title to it, it\u2019s called Jesus Before the Manger<\/em> and it\u2019s got basically in it every single reference to these Theophanies or these Christophanies in the Old Testament, as the angel of the Lord.\u00a0 But if we\u2019re not dealing with the angel of the Lord and we\u2019re just dealing with ordinary angels the thing to understand is that ordinary angels are not deity.\n\nAnd when God created the angels He created a number of them and they\u2019re in a state of constancy.\u00a0 How many angels did God create?\u00a0 We\u2019re not certain (more on that in just a minute) but whatever the number was the number never changes.\u00a0 The number never fluctuates because angels never die.\u00a0 You say well how do you know that?\u00a0 Look at Luke 20:34-36 where you\u2019re given a key piece of the puzzle related to the doctrine of angels.\u00a0 [Luke 20:34 \u201cBut Jesus said to them, \u2018The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, [35] but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; [36] for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.\u201d]\n\nRemember Jesus, about the person who had seven husbands, was it seven husbands, a lot of husbands, whatever it was, I\u2019m always wondering why would number seven marry her when the other six died, maybe she was putting poison in their breakfast cereal or something.\u00a0 But verse 35 he says, \u201cbut those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead,\u201d watch this, \u201cNeither marry nor are given in marriage; [verse36] for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like\u201d the what? \u201cthe angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.\u201d\n\nSo there you learn that angels don\u2019t marry.\u00a0 I would understand that to mean angels don\u2019t procreate with each other.\u00a0 Just take Genesis 6 and put that out of your mind for a minute because we\u2019ll be explaining that as we go. But related to each other angels don\u2019t procreate with each other so you don\u2019t have baby angels, as cute as a baby angel may be in a movie or a card or something you don\u2019t have baby angels!\u00a0 And you don\u2019t have angels dying; you don\u2019t have angels getting so old they can\u2019t work anymore and they die. So whatever number God created He created in a state of fixity or constancy because they don\u2019t die, and apparently, they don\u2019t reproduce.\u00a0 And just look at Gabriel, for example.\u00a0 Gabriel is active 600 years before the time of Christ, giving the prophecy of the seventy weeks to Daniel, Daniel 9:20-23.\n\nAnd six centuries pass and this same guy, same angel, Gabriel, shows up and he begins to reveal information to the mothers of Jesus and John the Baptist, Luke 1, concerning who these special children are in their womb.\u00a0 And we say well six hundred years passed between Daniel 9 and Luke 1, didn\u2019t Gabriel die?\u00a0 No, he didn\u2019t!\u00a0 Didn\u2019t he get old?\u00a0 No, he didn\u2019t! Didn\u2019t he retire!\u00a0 No he didn\u2019t, because angels we\u2019re told here to not die.\n\nAnd I would say this, God has finished creating; the work that God did in the six days of creation, which I think includes angels, is over!\u00a0 You way well wait a minute, don\u2019t human beings reproduce, don\u2019t animals reproduce?\u00a0 Well, that has to do with the design that God put into\u2026 the reproductive capacity God put into human beings, animals, etc. in the six days of creation.\u00a0 But as far as God doing the original creation, unless God does a miracle, God really is not in the business of creating. We can see that from Genesis 2:3 which says this: \u201cThen God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because He rested<\/u> from all His work\u201d what work? Work in creation, which God had created and made.\u00a0 In other words, God is not in the creating business today unless He does a miracle.\u00a0 And since the angels are part of the creation process God is not in the business today of adding to the angelic number.\u00a0 His work in creation is finished.\n\nAnd you say well, if His work in creation is finished then what do you do with John 5:17.\u00a0 I know you guys all week have been worried about John 5:17 so I\u2019m going to read this to you.\u00a0\u00a0 It says, \u201cBut He answered to them, My Father is working until now and I Myself am working.\u201d\u00a0 So, if God is not creating what does this mean in John 5:17 where Jesus says the Father and I are working?\u00a0 It\u2019s not talking about God\u2019s work in creation, it\u2019s talking about God\u2019s work in redemption.\u00a0 That\u2019s His work.\u00a0 And not only is God at work in redemption today, He is also at work in sustaining creation because when you go back to the Colossians passage that we started with, Colossians 1:17 where it talks about how Jesus Christ Himself brought the angels into existence, it tells you also what Jesus Christ is doing right now as I speak.\n\nColossians 1:17 says, \u201cHe is before all things and in Him all things hold together.\u201d\u00a0 And you can jot down as a cross reference Hebrews 1:3 where the son (Jesus Christ) is sustaining all things.\u00a0 [Hebrews 1:3, \u201c\n\nWho is it that allowed your heart to continue to beat this morning so you could wake up and come to church (a lot of people didn\u2019t wake up this morning).\u00a0 That was the sustaining work of Jesus Christ. Who is it that keeps the planets in our solar system moving in a way where the planets don\u2019t collide with each other?\u00a0 It\u2019s Jesus Christ.\u00a0 So, is Jesus creating today?\u00a0 No, He\u2019s not, unless He does a miracle, which is an abnormality.\u00a0 Is He redeeming today?\u00a0 Absolutely, that\u2019s His primary work. Is He sustaining today?\u00a0 Absolutely.\u00a0 But since the angels were part of creation and God is not creating today you don\u2019t have a scenario where there\u2019s a million angels and God says okay, let\u2019s make the million and first angel.\u00a0 So whatever number you have of the angels their number is what we call constant because they don\u2019t die, they don\u2019t reproduce, and God\u2019s work in creation is complete.\n\nAnd one more thing, and with this we\u2019ll stop.\u00a0 How many angels are there exactly?\u00a0\u00a0 Well, two passages tell us you can\u2019t even count them they\u2019re so many. Daniel 7:10 says, \u201cMyriads upon myriads, ten thousand times ten thousand\u201d and you\u2019ll find the exact same thing in Revelation 5:11.\u00a0 And this is why I find it very interesting that angels are called what?\u00a0 Stars.\u00a0 Angels are called stars in Revelation 12:3-9; Job 38:7, we saw that earlier.\u00a0 How many stars are there?\n\nYou know, it\u2019s kind of interesting as you go down through human history man always thought he could number the stars and now with the advent of the Hubble telescope and things like this you realize that this solar system and this galaxy and this universe that we\u2019re in is so big you couldn\u2019t number the stars if you wanted to.\u00a0 In fact, God at the beginning told man he couldn\u2019t number the stars but man didn\u2019t listen, because in Genesis it\u2019s amazing how up to date or ahead of the curve the Bible is scientifically\u2026\u00a0 Genesis 15:5 \u201cHe took him\u201d Abram, \u201coutside and said now look to the heavens and count the stars\u201d ha, ha, ha,\u201d if you are able to count them.\u201d So, the stars are innumerable, angels are called stars, and so if that analogy holds true, just as the stars are so many you can\u2019t even number them, what the Bible reveals is that the angels are so many of them they\u2019re basically innumerable.\u00a0 Creations of God for sure, constant for sure, but don\u2019t even try to count them because it\u2019s outside human mathematics--just like trying to number the stars is outside of human mathematics.\n\nSo anyway, I hope you find this interesting and we\u2019ll keep marching through this material.\u00a0\u00a0 Shall we pray?\u00a0 Father, we\u2019re grateful for Your truth, Your Word, we\u2019re grateful for how it comments on every major area of life, including this invisible spiritual realm that we would know nothing about had it not been for Your Word.\u00a0 So help us to be good stewards of this area of systematic theology.\u00a0 Help us to apply these things to our lives.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026. Amen!\u00a0 And I say happy intermission.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t