One time my mother and her friends attended a church service with singing and worship that was tape-recorded. When they listened to the tape at home, none of the songs were on the tape. Instead, it sounded like a bunch of voices making a sound similar to singing, but no words were said. There was no music; just voices. My mother and her friends were convinced the sound was angels singing. Can angels sing?
--LaDrena P.
Some people like to point out that the Bible does not mention angels singing. They note that even in the Christmas story the Bible says, "Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest...'" (Luke 2:13). While it is true that the verse uses the word saying instead of singing, most people find it logical to imagine the angels singing a great "Gloria" rather than acting as a speech choir. And doesn’t "praising" God imply singing as well?
However, we do find angels singing in Job 38:7. Talking about the time of creation, the Lord says, "the morning stars sang together/and all the angels shouted for joy." Biblical scholars agree that in this passage the term morning stars is another term for angels. This is an example of parallelism in Hebrew poetry in which the second line states the same idea as the first line.
The Apostle John heard the angels sing. In Revelation 5:9 he wrote that the angels "sang a new song." Perhaps the reason some people do not recognize this as angels singing is that the words living creatures (beastsin the King James Version) and elders are used. Chapter four of Revelation clearly describes the elders and living creatures as angels. In Revelation 5:11, we also read, "Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. In a loud voice they sang..."
Not having heard your tape, I can’t venture an opinion about that mysterious sound. But my instinct tells me that if it was truly angels singing, the beauty of their songs would leave no doubt.
I would like to know your opinion on which God created first: angels or man. This question has become a central debate in my family. Angels are described as message carriers—if they were created first, who did they send messages to? Personally, I don't think it really matters because we only need to believe that God created both, but if you can help me find "documentation" in the Bible to answer this question, I would greatly appreciate it.
--June K.
According to the Bible, angels were created before humans. The "documentation" is found in Job 38:7 where the Lord told Job that at the creation of the world, "the morning stars (another term for angels) sang together, and all the angels shouted for joy." The word angel in both the Hebrew of the Old Testament and the Greek of the New Testament does mean messenger. Before the creation of humans the angels carried messages to other angels as they no doubt still do today. But angels do more than carry God’s messages. In heaven they worship God (Revelation 4:11). Bible passages, such as Psalm 103:19-22, also teach that as God rules over all creation, he uses angels to carry out his bidding in heaven as well as on Earth.
I read in a Bible commentary that Satan was a Cherubim. I am unable to find this commentary again. Can you help me?
--Evelyn W.
The idea that Satan was a Cherubim comes from Ezekiel 28:14: "You were anointed as a guardian cherub..." If this is a reference to Satan, as many believe, then Satan was originally a cherub.
I am interested in how I can physically see angels. Is there any easy method for this? Are we supposed to see them?
-- Deborilla
The Bible has no instructions on how to see an angel. Angels are spirit beings that cannot be seen by the human eye. When God has a mission that needs a human to see a "physical" angel, an angel temporarily takes on a form that can be seen by the human eye. Sometimes the angel looks like another human being, as Abraham’s visitors did. Other times they appear as light or as warrior angels. In the biblical tradition we do not summon angels; they only come when they are sent by God. When God intends for you to see an angel, he will send one. If you do not see one in your lifetime you will at death when his angels bring you to heaven.
Do any of the angels know the exact time and hour of the end-time? I believe we are fast approaching the end-time because of the turmoil in the Middle East. There are too many prophecies fulfilled already to make anyone feel differently.
--George T.
In Matthew 24:36 Jesus said, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven..."
