Friday Bible Study Topic: Angels

This friday's Bible study topic will be angels (thanks Kimi!). As a primer for this Friday it is a good place to start to know that the word we translate as "angel" can sometimes be misleading. The word most often translated "angel" in the Old Testament is מלאך, (mal'ach) which means "messenger." The tricky part of this is that the word only gains meaning when it is attached to God's name thus making it "angel of the Lord." Other interesting occurences where we translate the word as angel are "Sons of God" or "Holy Ones" which are terms not for messengers but for some preternatural being that are more powerful than us, but not as powerful and subordinate to God. In the New Testament the word "angel" comes from the Greek ἄγγελος, ángelos which also means "messenger."
This is all well and good until you add other ingredients to the supernatural stew such as cherubim, seraphim, the "Living Creatures", the Wheels (Ezekiel), the Flaming Sword (Genesis), Satan, Asmodeus, Apollyon, Beelzebub, Metatron, Ss. Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and Uriel, and the notion of "Guardian Angels."
Lastly, there are occasions where it is unclear where the distinction between God, the message, and the messenger; and other times where the word "angel" seems to refer to people.

Greek Icon of the "Angel of the Lord"

Notice the wings? We're going to talk about why we give them wings too!