Angel figurines are popular items. Collectors fill their homes with shelves of ceramic and wooden angels, pictures are hung over the doorways that read, “This house is protected by Angels!” and key chains are given as gifts that plead, “Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly!” The angel craze is growing, but every student of the Bible is aware that those angelic images of beautiful, peaceful women in flowing robes with snowy-white wings, are not quite true to life.
There are many myths about angels that have been accepted as truths in the world today.
1. Angels are not people who have died. Angels are created beings, just like us. We do not earn wings and a halo for our good behavior when we die.
2. Not all angels are good. Lucifer convinced one third of all the angels in heaven to revolt against God with him. These angels chose to follow Lucifer rather than God. These unholy angels are now called demons, but they are still fallen angels.
3. There are no baby angels. Angels do not marry nor do they have children with other angels.
4. Angels cannot die. God created them as immortal beings.
5. Angels are not all-knowing. They do the bidding of the Father. The Bible proclaims that no man knows the day or the hour of the end of the Earth except the Father in heaven, not even the angels of heaven.
6. There are no female angels. Because angels are described as having beautiful features and are clothed in flowing white garments, they may be mistaken for women, (thus the popularity of beautiful women angel figurines) but the Bible has no mention of a single female angel in heaven.
7. Angels hold a lower status than humans in the heavenly hierarchy. Human saints will judge all angels .Man was created lower than angels, but he will sit in judgment of them at the end of time.
8. Hell was never created for man. God created Hell as a place of confinement for Lucifer and his followers. God’s intention was that no man perishes, but all would come to Him.
9. Angels and demons cannot separate us from God by force. If we are far from God, it is a matter of free will.
10. Angels do not have halos, but their countenance may seem to glow from being in the presence of God.
11. Angels do not always have wings. Although they are created with wings, they are spiritual beings who can take on many different forms when needed, even disguising themselves as men.
12. Angels do not sit on clouds and play harps all day. They are God’s messengers and do His work. They comfort, protect and watch over humans. They praise God incessantly. They are strong warriors, able to wipe out an entire civilization when so instructed. They fight against fallen angels in spiritual battle day and night, without ceasing. They carry the souls of the dead saints to heaven.
13. Angels are not unorganized masses of beings that do whatever they please all day. They are arranged into a type of military ranking and give and receive orders.
14. Man is warned not to worship angels. Worship and adoration are reserved for God alone.
15. Man’s greatest battle is not against other men, but against the evil spirits or fallen angels.
Traditional angel figurines may not be historically accurate depictions of these messengers of God, but for many, they serve as a reminder that forces unseen are at work around us and that God is in control of the universe, making them popular symbols of comfort and faith.