6. Angels of the Churches.— In Rev l^o 2'-8.i2-i8 31. 7, 14 ^^\^Q Seven Churches are said each to have an 'angel.' Tliese angels represent the Churches ; what is said to them is said to the Churches (3-^ ; cf, I'') ; things done by the Churches are said to be done by them. Various interpretations have been ofiered. (a) They are said to be angels as in the rest of the book. The strongest arguments for this view are the writer's usage elsewhere, and the mention of Jezebel {2^^: 'thy wife' in some MSS), which is clearly symbolic. The difficulty is the sin ascribed to these angels, as in any case a good angel must, if this interpretation be taken, be meant ; if so, the meaning must be that the angels bear the sins of the Churches as representing and guarding them, {b) They are thought to be earthly representatives of the Churches, either delegates to Patmos or the bishops or presbyters of the Churches. This view accords better with the later than with the earlier date assigned to Rev., with the time of Domitian than with that of Nero, (c) They are thought to be ideal personifications of the Churches. On tlie whole the first view seems to be the most proliable. Compare and con- trast the following article.
7. Fallen angels. — In the NT both good and evil angels are mentioned ; but when the word ' angel* occurs alone, a good angel is to be understood unless the context requires otherwise, though perhaps 1 Co 6' is an exception (see below). The fall is mentioned in Jude^ 2 P 2^ ; and probably in 1 Ti 3*, where it is ascribed to pride (see Devil, I
§ 2). The Incarnation was not intended to help the angels. Jesus did not ' take hold' of, to help, the angels (or, as AV, did not take hold of tlieir nature) ; see Westcott on He 2'8. Yet in Col l^* God is said to reconcile thi-ough (the death of) Christ ' all things ' to Himself — the whole universe material and spiritual (Lightfoot) ; but it was not by delivering them from death (Alford) : the fallen angels are not saved by Christ's death. Accord- ing to some interpretations, St. Paul says that angels will be judged by men (1 Co 6^). Robertson- Plummer interpret this verse, tentatively, as mean- ing that, as Christ judges, i.e. rules over, angels, so will saints, who share in that rule ; but, if the Last Judgment is intended, then fallen angels must be meant here, for good angels, not having fallen, cannot be judged. For 1 Th 3'^ see above, 5 {a). In the end Satan is bound, and Babylon falls (Rev 18 and 20) ; nothing is said of his angels, but the inference is that his angels fall with him, and this is expressly said in Mt 25*', See further. Adversary, Air, Belial, Demon, Devil,
Metaphorically the 'stake in the flesh' is called an angel (messenger) of Satan (2 Co 12^), See art, Paul.
8. Comparison of apostolic and other teaching. — (a) Comparison with that of our Lord. — Oesterley (SDB, 32) contrasts Jesus' teaching with that of the Evangelists and other NT writers, and says that our Lord taught that the abode and work of the angels are in heaven, not here below, while His disciples taught (as the Jews did) that they are active on earth. On the other hand, Marshall {DOG ,i. 54^) maintains the complete identity of teaching between Jesus and the Evangelists. To the present writer the latter view seems to be the right one. It is true that in our Lord's words the work of angels on earth is not prominent. But in Jn 1" (our Lord is speaking) the order ' ascending and descending ' shows that the angels are ' already on earth, though we see them not' (Westcott, Co7n. in loc.). The account of the angelic ministry at the Temptation, like that of the Temptation itself, could by its very nature have come only from our Lord's own lips. Moreover, in Jesus' teaching, the angels come to the earth to fetch Lazarus' soul (Lk 16^-) and to reap the Harvest (Mt 13»»- *^).
(b) Comparison with the doctrine of false teachers. — In Colossians we find an elaborate angelology, taught by professing Christians whom St, Paul attacks. Their heresy was partly Jewish, partly Gnostic, though some think that two different sects are meant. The Gnostic element shows it- self in the tendency to put angels as intermediaries between God and man, and to make angels emana- tions from God with an elaborate hierarchy of powers, dominions, etc. Against such teaching St, Paul asserts that Christis the only mediator (Col 1'^'22
2^"'^), and forbids the worship of angels because it denies this. In the unique mediation of our Lord lies the significance of the repeated phrases ' in the Lord,' ' unto the Lord ' (3'^- ^- '^). Jesus is the one tt/'X'?. or ' beginning' (1'8 ; cf. Rev 3'*), of creation, as against the idea of angelic intermediaries when the world was made (see Lightfoot's essay on the Colossian heresy [Col., p. 71 tf.]). Perhaps also in the assertion of the unique mediation of Christ lies the significance of the rhetorical passage in which St. Paul says that no heavenly powers, good or bad, can separate us from the love of God (Ro 8^^), Passages in Eph, (above, 4) seem to show that the Colossian heresy was known also on the Asian seaboard.