ministering angels

An order of angels whose duties and rank vary. Minis- tering angels usually are placed among the lowest ranks of angels, looking after the routine affairs of daily life on earth. But they also are held to be of the highest rank and are “the hosts of the Lord.” Minister- ing angels also are compared to GUARDIAN ANGELS . Ministering angels are made of fire, as suggested by Psalm 104:4: “who makest the winds thy messengers, flame and fire thy ministers,” and Hebrews 1:7, “And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.” In the Talmud Hagiga, they are born anew every day from the Dinur River, and they sing a hymn of praise and then perish back into the river. In the Tal- mud Sanhedrin, ministering angels roast meat and cool wine for Adam in Paradise. The Book of ADAM AND EVE names three ministering angels serving Adam: Aebel, Anush, and Shetel. In the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, God sends 70 ministering angels down from his highest HEAVEN to teach languages to the 70 children of NOAH . In the MERKABAH , ministering angels are infinite in numbers. In 3 ENOCH , they descend from heaven in companies, bands, and cohorts to execute God’s will on earth. When humans become corrupted, they protest to God: “Why did you leave the heaven of heavens above, the abode of your glory, the high and exalted throne which is in the height of Arabot [the name of the seventh heaven], and come and lodge with men who worship idols? Now you are on the earth, and the idols are on the earth; what is your business among the idolatrous of earth?” (5:11–12) God imme- diately removes his presence—the SHEKINAH —and the ministering angels assist its return to heaven. 3 Enoch names Azza (Semyaza), Azael, and Uzza as ministering angels, a status that may have preceded their fall. According to the Sefer Yetzirah, the primary text of the KABBALAH , ministering angels may be seen physi- cally, whereas all other angels can only be seen prophetically. In the New Testament, Hebrews 1:1–14 distin- guishes the exalted position of Christ compared to angels and underscores the service of ministering angels to the righteous in verse 14: “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?” In Occult Philosophy, AGRIPPA ranks ministers (min- istering angels) as the lowest of three celestial tiers. They are committed to the affairs of earth, and they are associated with the four elements. ORIGEN sees ministering angels as serving the lowly needs of earth while accessing the highest realms of heaven. The idea that ministering spirits might include other supernatural being besides angels is implied in his work Against Celsus: For we acknowledge that angels are “ministering spirits,” and we say that “they are sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation;” and that they ascend, bearing the supplications of men, to the purest of heavenly in the universe, of even to the supercelestial regions purer still; and that they come down from these, conveying to each one, according to his deserts, something enjoined by God to be conferred by them upon those who are to be the recipients of His benefits. Having thus learned to call these beings “angels” from their employments, we find that because they are divine they are sometimes termed “god” in the sacred Scriptures, but not so that we are com- manded to honor and worship in the place of God those who minister to us, and bear to us His blessings.