THE APPEARANCE OF ANGELS AND 2,000 ANGELS IN ONE MAN?
Gen 19:1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;
Gen 19:2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
Gen 19:3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
Gen 19:4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
Gen 19:5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
Gen 19:6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
Gen 19:7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.
Gen 19:8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.
In general angels have the same appearance as men. When they have been seen, for example in God’s program and dealings with Israel, they are always described as men in appearance. (For example. Genesis 18 and 19, where even the perverted men of Sodom thought the two angels that came to Lot were men.) They are also described as having “hands,” “feet,” “arms,” a “head,” a “face,” and overall bodies like men, capable of wearing clothes and even armour; being able to “lay down” like men, “sit” like men, and “stand” like men; talk, see, write, walk, eat, ride; in general move about and function like men, with, as Daniel described, “the similitude of the sons of men.” So, once again, in general their appearance, looks, and stature is the same as men. Though “greater in power and might,” their appearance is still like men.
Eze 1:5 Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.
Eze 1:6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.
Eze 1:7 And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.
Eze 1:8 And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.
Eze 1:9 Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
Eze 1:10 As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.
Eze 1:11 Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.
Eze 1:12 And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.
Now, as I said, in general angels have the same basic appearance as men. The Cherubim and the seraphims of the angelic order have their own unique and special appearance in accordance with their roles and functions. Though even with this, they too are described as having some things in common with man’s body and appearance; like having hands, for example.
With respect to Satan’s angels, though they too would have by nature the same appearance as the holy angels, my understanding is that for the most part they do not (or even cannot) appear as such. My understanding is that this is a result of the judgment incurred by Satan’s policy of evil in connection with the overall package of judgments at the time of the flood. A lot of things changed at that time, as is evident from what is said about it, including the ability of Satan and his policy of evil to do certain things. Though I’m not fully settled in my mind on all of the issues by any means, I am persuaded that the capacity/ability for Satan and his angels to do certain things has been affected; including their ability to just appear and/or manifest themselves on the earth. Hence for the most part they do not do this, and in God’s program with Israel their function is one of being “unclean spirits,” “foul spirits,” “evil spirits,” “spirits of devils,” and the like. With the issue, therefore, not being upon their appearance or what they look like, but upon their defiling, fouling, and evil inducing influence as they functioned in the land.
Mar 5:6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,
Mar 5:7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
Mar 5:8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
Mar 5:9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.
Mar 5:10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
Mar 5:11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
Mar 5:12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
Mar 5:13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.
Exactly how it is that upwards of 2000 devils/unclean spirits can be in one man, as in Mark 5, is not something that I can explain the mechanics of. I know that being angels they are “greater in power and might” than man, and as such have capacities that exceed what we are capable of doing, along with ones which we would describe as supernatural. And this would have to be one of them. They can obviously do it. But to describe how it is done, that I cannot do. With respect to our own soul and spirit, my understanding is that it indeed does have a form, and in particular the form of our own bodies. Those times that God has a particular reason to relate and describe the situation with ones who have died, and therefore are absent from the body. He describes their soul/spirit as having the same form and appearance as their bodies; and even recognizable for who they are by the appearance of their soul/spirit. For example this is the case with Samuel in I Samuel 28; the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16; and the souls that John sees as is set forth in Revelation 6. So our soul/spirit is not a formless entity, but is an entity with a definite and personally distinctive form to it that corresponds to our personally distinctive physical appearance.
Until next time,
Keith Blades
Enjoy The Bible Ministries