fireting angel is one among a thousand (5'), and 4" lis 'servants' are also his 'angels' (messengers). Naturally, however, as the idea of ministering hosts belongs to the conception of J" as .sovereign, some of the bre.idth with which the idea is ex- pressed may be due to the iioetical religious ima- gination, as when God's warriors are represented as mighty in strength, Ps 10.3*; as 'heroes' with whom He descends to do battle with the nations, Jl 3", Zee 14"; as myriads of chariots, Ps 68"; and as chariots and horsemen of lire, 2 K O'"- ", Is 66", Dt 33-, Dn 7'". (On the other hand, Hab 3», God's chariots and horses are the storm cloinls. ) In particular, these hosts accompanj- J in His self- revelation for judgment and salvation, Dt 33^ Zee 14', Jl 3", and in NT this trait is transferred to the paroiwui of Christ (Ml 2.V'). It is less cer- tain wliether the divine name J ' (God) of hosts be connected with these angelic hosts ; it is, at any rate, a title correlative, expressing the majesty and omnipotence of J" (Sept. often rafTOKpdTup). pinally, to men's eyes the myriads of stars, clothed in light aiul moving across the heavens, seemed animated, and there was a tendency to identify them with the angelic host^an identitication made easier by the belief that man's life was greatly under the influence of the stars (.lob 38'^). In Job 38' the morning stars are identical with the sons of the Elohim. Cf. Jg 5^, Is W' 24" 40-", and on 'host of heaven' 2 K 17" 21', Jer 19'^ Zeph !•. The idea that the stars are angels re- ceives large development in the Bonk of Enoch, e.(). 18"'°, and even Hev 9'- " a star and the angel of the abyss are identitiid.
v. About the time of the Exile and after the Keturn a manner of thinking ajipears which, though from the phra.seology used it might seem a development in angeiology, is really rather a movement in the direction of hvpostalising the Spirit of (jod. In the oilier pcnocl, as that of th-' Judges, J' rules His iieojile throu;_'h His Spirit, which inspires the leaders who imlge and save Israel. And in the older prophets the Si)irit
^6
ANGEL
ANGEL
operates within the prophet, who is enabled to coneeive J'"b purposes and operations in thought and express them in language. But in Ezk 40 seq. ' a man ' accompanies the prophet and explains to him his vision. This ' man ' is the prophetic spirit oljjectivised. Even before this time, in Micah's vision, 1 K 22'^', 'the spirit' who comes forth is the spirit of prophecy personified. The process is carried a step further in Zee : not only is the prophetic spirit hypostatised as ' the angel that spake %vith me' (I'*- " 2^), but the operations of J" among the nations are personified as horsemen and chariots. That which in the older prophets was an inward spirit and thoughts, has become an ' angel,' and symbolical agencies which the ' angel ' interprets. But that much of this at least is more religious symbolism than strict angelology appears from the visions in I'* 5'''. It is, how- ever, the Spirit of God — not only as spirit of prophecy, but in general, as God in operation, controlling the destinies of the nations and of His people — that is chiefly symbolised in Zee. This is most broadly seen in ch. 4, which is strangely misread when the seven lamps are supposed to represent the light shed by God's people, their spiritual life. The seven lamps are the seven eyes of the Lord (4'°), and the seven eyes are the seven spirits (the manifold spirit) of God. To be com- pared is Rev 1*, where the salutation comes from God and Christ and the seven spirits ; Rev 4° ' there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God ' ; a-nd Rev 5^ ' a lamb having seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.' Zee 4 is an expansion of 3", and its purpose is to sym- bolise that Spirit of God which goes out over all the earth, controls the history of the nations in the interest of His people, and secures the com- pletion of the temple, which the Lord shall enter and abide in, when He removes the iniquity of the land in one day (3*) — not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit (4'). The two olive trees, ' sons of oil ' (cf. Is 5' a hill, the son of oil = an 'oily' hill), stand beside the Lord of the whole earth, i.e. in heaven, cf. 6°, and cannot be Joshua and Zerub- babel. Whether the duality of the trees expresses some idea in the prophet's mind obscure to us, or whether it be merely part of the symmetry of the symbol, may remain undecided. Other writings of this period give prominence to the Spirit of God, Jl 2^, and show a tendency to hypostatise it. Is 63'»-" 48", Gn 1', Ezk 2« 8>, Ps 139'. The ' angel of the Lord ' in Zee. has the same double aspect as elsewhere, and as the angel of the cove- nant in Mai, cf. 1" with 3'-<.