We have learned that the Abyss is a place of
incarceration for both spirits and angels. This place is a subterranean prison
which is also named Tartarus and the bottomless pit. So what is the difference
between angels and spirits? Most folks think of spirits as invisible, ethereal
entities that haunt houses or possess demented humans. But what relation do
spirits have with angels? Hebrews 1:13,14
“But to which of the angels said he at any time, sit on my right hand until I
make your enemies thy footstool?
Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who
shall be heirs of salvation?”
This is referring to what we call guardian angels who minister to those of us
who are saved Christians. But it also tells us that angels are spirits. In vs. 7
of this same chapter we read, “Who maketh his angels spirits and his ministers a
flame of fire.” Twice in the same chapter we are told that angels are spirits.
Another clear example of this truth is given in the Book of Acts chapter 8.
This is the record of Philip who was told by and angel to go and speak to a
eunuch who was high up in the government of Candace, queen of Ethiopia. After
teaching this man the truth regarding the resurrection, the eunuch asks to be
baptized and says that he believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Here are a few
clips from the story;
26 “And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip saying…”
29 “And the Spirit said unto Philip, go near…”
39“And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught
away Philip that the eunuch saw him no more…But Philip was found at Azotus.”
It was “the angel of the Lord” who was sent on a special mission to Philip.
Immediately afterwards the same being is called a spirit - “the spirit said unto
Philip,” while in verse 39 the same angelic messenger is called “the spirit of
the Lord” (i.e. the spirit sent by the Lord), who finished his mission by
catching Philip away to Azotus. Thus we speak of someone being “spirited away.”
This proves that angels are spirits. But what of their appearance? What do
they look like? Are they little naked cherubim with bows and arrows? Or glorious
beings with long blond hair and huge wings? Well for a start, angel is a
misleading word. It comes from the Greek, aggelos and a better translation would
be messenger or agent. The same goes for the Hebrew word, malak, which is also
translated angel. These beings are often sent to deliver news.
“And it came to pass while he (Zacharias) executed the priest’s office …
there appeared unto him a messenger (aggelos) of Yaweh standing at the right
side of the alter.
And the messenger said unto him, “I am Gabriel that stands in the presence of
Yaweh, and I am sent to speak unto you and to show you these glad things.”
This same Gabriel is the one sent to Daniel some 500 years before this and
was the one who dictated the Book of Daniel. Here Daniel relates his meeting
with Gabriel;
“Yea, while I was speaking in prayer even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in
a vision…touched me about the time of the evening oblation.” Dan 9:21,22
This informs us that Gabriel is a man. Many times in the new Testament we
have these messengers appearing to people and they are always called men. For
instance, when the women went to dress the body of Jesus in the tomb, they were
met there by two men in shining clothes who asked them, “why seek ye the living
among the dead?” And later on, just as he ascended into Heaven, it says;
“And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, two men stood
by them in white apparel…” Acts 1:10
There are lots more examples of these men, who are messengers, appearing
throughout the NT. We are even advised to be gracious to strangers as “some have
entertained angels thereby.” In other words, people have met and interacted with
men and were unaware that these men were angelic beings.
So these beings that we call angels are both spirit in nature and are like
men in appearance. There is only one mention of female angels in the Bible and
that is in Zachariah where it describes them as having wings. Nowhere are we
told male angels have wings. But their nature is spirit just as out nature is
flesh and blood. Because they are spirit, they exist in the plane of the
supernatural and can accomplish things that are beyond us as we are mere human
and are constrained to the sphere of the natural.
So what we can conclude is that spirits are angels and that they look like
men. So when we are told that there are spirits held in gloomy dungeons in
Tartarus otherwise known as the Abyss or the bottomless pit, we can say with a
surety that these are angels and that they look like men.
And no wonder. For several times in the first chapters of Genesis, speaking
of the creation of Adam it says;
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. In the image of God, made
he man… So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He
him…” Gen 1:27
At one point Jesus states, “He who has seen me has seen the Father.” In other
words, He looks like his Father. Even though God is spirit, apparently He has an
image and it is that of a man. In Revelation it speaks of the Lamb sitting on
the right hand of the Throne of God and this throne is surrounded by 24 other
thrones occupied by 24 elders. So when it says “let us make man in our image,”
perhaps these are the personages it is referring to.
I know some will say that God is Spirit, and that he hath no form or
comeliness. But we have deduced that angels are spirits and that they look like
men and are indeed called men many times. So we can say with a certainty that
angels are men. Not human as we are. But men nevertheless but of a spirit
nature.
For any who wish to argue that we humans do not look like our creator, there
are several verses in the NT that states that we do. I will present just one
here.
“For a man ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and
glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 11:7
So who are these men that inhabit the bottomless pit? When it prophesies that
the “Beast which you saw once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss
and go to his destruction,” who is this Beast? When it refers to this being as a
beast, I do not believe that this term provides us with a clue to his identity.
I reckon “beast” is a figure of speech in the same was as Lamb of God or the
Lion of the tribe of Judah are figures referring to the person of Jesus.
He is neither a lamb nor a lion. But these are characteristics of His
personality insofar as He is as meek as a lamb but can also be as strong and
brave as a lion when the need arises. By the same token, twice in Revelation it
speaks of “ the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan.” The
terms dragon and serpent are figures of speech to describe the arch enemy of
God. A serpent is a cunning, sly, often poisonous creature that is as cold as
ice that can sneak up on you without a sound and strike with deathly results
(have you ever looked into the eyes of a snake?). And a dragon is a fierce
monster that devours all that it encounters.
Again these are descriptions of the evil personified in the Devil as opposed
to those of the Messiah. So when it talks of the Beast from the Abyss, this word
is describing the personality of the being. He is a wild beast.
Revelation 9 provides us with the emergence of this being and gives us
another important clue as to his bearing.
“And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the
earth, and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the
bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great
furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the
pit.”
We will pick this up in the next segment.
Patrick Heron is bestselling author of Apocalypse Soon (www.survivormall.com)
and The Nephilim and the Pyramid of the Apocalypse (Kensington
www.neph.ie).