vi. Two further developments complete what is said in OT of angels — (1) a moral distinction appears among the angels ; and (2) a distinction of rank. The first distinction is not carried far, and the second naturally follows from the idea of an army or host. In the earliest period angels seem morally neutral, they are so much the messengers of God and the medium of His relation to the world that their own character does not come into question. They have always something of the meaning of an impersonal phenomenon, Jeliovah's operations or providence made visible and sensible. Of course the angel of the Lord being Jehovah's ' face,' and embodying His 'name,' exhibits also His moral nature. Ex 23*'"''. But ' evil ' angels are angels who execute iudcment, Ps 78*», Job 33=^. The spirit from God who troubled Saul is called ' evil ' .nerely from the efi'ects which he produces, 1 S 16". In 1 K 22 even the personified spirit of prophecy becomes ' a lying spirit,' just as elsewhere J" Him- self deceives the prophets, Ezk 14*. In writings of the age of the Captivity, and later, however, a being appears called the Satan (opposer, accuser),
one of tlie sons of the Elohim, who displays hos- tility to the saints and people of God, Job 1° 2', Zee 3. Even in these books he has as yet little personal reality. He is a voice ' bringing sin to remembrance ' before God The scene Zee 3 is greatly symbolical. The evil conscience of the people and their fear, suggested by their miserable condition, that their sins still lay on them, and that God's favour had not yet returned to them, are symbolised by the accusing Satan ; while the angel of the Lord is God's own voice assuring them of His gracious favour. There is perhaps an advance on the idea of Satan in Job, though even there he finds no place in the denouement of the drama. In two ways, perhaps, the conception of evil angels became clearer : first, it was natural that the accusing angel should take on something of the nature of his office, and appear as the enemy of the saints and of Israel. This step seems already taken in Job. And, secondly, there was always a greater disinclination to ascribe moral evil in men to God. In no part of OT is God represented as the primary author of evil thoughts or actions in men ; if Heinstigate them to evil, it is in punisliment or aggravation of evil they have already committed. But at a later time the instigation to evil freely ascribed in earlier times to God (1 S 26'», 1 K 22''") is attributed to Satan, cf. 2 S 24> with I Ch 21'. Further development hardly appears in OT. The ' serpent ' of Gn 3 is identified with Satan in Wis 2" and in NT. In Dt 32", Ps 106" mention is made of 'demons' (D'lS'), which, however, appear to be the false gods to which children were sacri- ficed, 1 Co 10^. In Assyr. shidu is the name given to the inferior deities represented by the bull- colossus. Popular imagination peopled, the desert with demons, Is 13^ 34", among which Avas a night- spectre, LUitli ; and to the same category possibly belongs Azazel (AV scapegoat), to whom the live
foat was consigned on the Day of Atonement (cf. ec 5"), Lv 168- '»• 2« (Enoch 10*), although this is by no means certain. These demons, however, do nut belong to the angelic host, and lie outside the moral world. Relatively to God, the angels, though the purest beings, are imperfect. Job 4" 15" 25'.
In Dn 10"- '"■ '' the various countries have their guardian or patron angels, Michael being the prince of Israel (Jude ", Rev 12') ; later theology reckoned seventy of these angels (Dt 32", Gn 46"). And in Is 24 the universal wicked- ness of the world appears laid at the door of its rulers, whether angelic or human, and the judg- ment of God falls on ' the host of the high ones on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth ' (yy ai. 23) . a^^fj many interpret Ps 58. 82 of the same angelic rulers. Apart from the idea suggested in § iv., several things led to this conception of patron and ruling angels. First, there was a tendency towards removing God far from any immediate contact with the earth and men, and to introduce intermediaries between them who mediated His rule. In Dn Fr" no longer speaks to men directly, but only by the intervention of angels, who even interpret His written word to men (9™ •"«•)■ And, secondly, there was a tendency to personify abstract conceptions such as the 'spirit' of a nation, and a further tendency to locate these personified forces in the supersensible world, from whence they ruled the destinies of men. The issues of the conflicts of the kingdoms of Persia, Greece, and Judah with one another on earth are all determined by the relations of their 'princes' in heaven ; and this idea is a ruling one in the Apoc. It belongs to a different cla.ss of conceptions when conflicts are referred to between God and other powerful beings. Such beings are ' the Sea,' ' Rahab,' 'Tannin' or the Dragon, the 'Serpent,' 'Leviathan,' etc., comp. Is ai'-'^, Ps SQ'""". Job Q'^ 26'"- '» (P«