Humans are supposed to be God’s crowning achievement. So why did he create angels? The word means pretty much the same as apostles, which translates into “sent ones.” But sent where?
According to tradition, Michael is the chief angel, followed by Gabriel.
Some pioneers dropped by and gave me a copy of their Bible Study guide, which they called the “golden nugget.” The book states that angels are spirit beings; that they number in the hundreds of millions and that they are incredibly powerful. In the days of Noah, they took on bodies of flesh, which they manufactured for themselves. They cite no scriptures to back up this fantastic claim, and they fail to note the references of “sons of God” to those who were under the covenant. John states, for example, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” (John 1:12)
Who Are the Sons of God?
And Paul states: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:14) He also wrote to the Philippians: “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.” (Philip. 2:15)
John also sees it this way. To him, those who kept their covenants here, in their second estate, would have honor and glory added upon then forevermore. He states that the faithful will have the power to become like God. “BEHOLD, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:1-3) To the Governing Body, this means them and the other anointed; to the rest of you guys, not so much.
In the book of Job, the writer states: “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” (Job 1:6-7) It’s clear that the earth already was Satan’s habitation. And again, we see the term “sons of God.”
Satan As Archangel
So who were those sons of God? Jeremiah, recall, was chosen and ordained before his birth (see Jeremiah 1:5). So apparently all the creations of God are called the “sons of God” — whether angels or humans. So these angels “left their place in God’s heavenly family, came down to the earth and took on fleshly bodies,” Why? Because they began to notice that the daughters of men were hot, so they wanted to come down and marry them. Meanwhile, Jehovah was not amused. He forced the angels to return to heaven as spirit creatures. They put themselves on the side of the Devil, who became the ruler of the demons. Thus Satan not only was an archangel of God, but later led his own forces as well.
Then the book cites Matthew 9:34: “But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils!”
That’s it? Where does it say the angels took on fleshly bodies? How, exactly, did they do that? Where does it say they had to abandon those bodies and return to heaven? And where does it say they joined Satan and his angels? Satan and his angels rebelled in the beginning and took with him a third of the hosts of heaven. In Revelation, John saw that the dragon’s tail took one third of the stars of heaven and cast them to Earth. That’s when he was expelled, not 1914. (Otherwise, how did he tempt those who lived before that year?)
How do the writers of this book know the sons of God weren’t the people of the covenant, and that the daughters of men weren’t those who had rejected the covenant? The scripture states: when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.” (Gen. 6)
There is nothing supernatural going on here at all. The offspring of the covenant people were not supernatural but were regarded as mighty men, the heroes of old. According to the little yellow book, the angels returned to heaven but were shunned by their angel brothers and treated as outcasts “like their ruler, Satan.” Once back, these recalcitrant angels were now unable to take upon themselves fleshly bodies, we’re told, but all of this is conjecture and completely missing from the scriptures. Like the house that Jack built, one supposition gives way to another until you have an entire story based on nothing at all...just three words: sons of God.
If there is a pecking order in heaven, then the archangels aren’t handling those under them very well, according to JW doctrine.
Oh, by the way, do angels have wings?
.
