(NB Headings are not part of original, but are added for clarity)
The World Tomorrow
Angels - Part 4
by Herbert W Armstrong
(PLAY FROM START)
Have you ever heard a message about angels? Do you believe that they exist? I’m certain that no scientist ever told you anything about an angel. No astronomer ever saw one in a telescope, and no chemist ever saw one in a microscope, I’m sure. But you do read of them in the Bible. Now who are angels? What are angels? Why are they? How did they come to be? What is their purpose? What is their function?
As I’ve said before, you can prove whether or not the Bible is the direct inspired Word of a Creator God. That’s proved by its prophecies, it’s proved by many other proofs so far as that is concerned. And either we accept what the Bible says about angels as being a revelation that is truth, or else we just say we don’t know anything about it. You can say you don’t believe in angels, but you can’t prove they don’t exist. And certainly you can’t prove that they do except by revelation of God, through the Holy Bible.
Now we had been looking into the Bible and we had come to this place where so many people believe that, back here in the sixth chapter of Genesis where it is speaking of the sons of God and the daughters of men. They believe that it’s referring here to angels marrying human women, and producing children that were giants. We were looking into that in the preceding program and I want to go on, and finish that in the present program. Let me just read this again, because a lot of people have been mixed up about this. And a lot of people believe that this is speaking of angels marrying people. Now is it possible for an angel to marry a human being and to have children? Let’s go into this. The scripture says, the sixth chapter of Genesis;
"And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and took unto them wives of all which they chose. And the [Eternal] said, My spirit shall not always strive with man [He didn’t say ‘with angels’ but with man], for that he also is flesh..." (Genesis 6:1-3)
Now we’ve been seeing that God made His angels spirits. The Bible shows, therefore, that angels are created beings, they were made spirit. Nowhere does it say that man is spirit. But here it says that "...man also is flesh..." Jesus said; "That which is born of the flesh is flesh..." (John 3:6)
In the third chapter of John when He was speaking to Nicodemus. Now He said that man can be born of the Spirit. And when he is born of the Spirit he will be spirit, because; "...that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:6)
But man has been born of the flesh, and therefore, man is flesh. And he will not be spirit until he is born of the Spirit. When you are born again you won’t be mortal, and you won’t be human, you’ll no longer be a human being, at all. And you will be immortal, and you will be spirit. Jesus said so, He said; "...that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”(John 3:6)
But man is flesh. Man is born of the flesh, and it says here, or as God said; "...My spirit shall not always strive with man..." (Genesis 6:3)
Now God is the Spirit. God’s Spirit will strive with man, who is made of the dust of the ground. Man, as you read in I Corinthians the fifteenth chapter, is; "...of the earth, earthy..." (I Corinthians 15:47)
He’s made out of the dust. And as God said to man back here in Genesis; "...dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Genesis 3:19)
That’s the third chapter of Genesis and in the nineteenth verse, and so on. So man is of the dust, made of matter, material substance. That’s why man doesn’t know anything about the angels. Man is matter, and man can only know, and have knowledge in his mind, naturally, of that which he receives through the five senses, which is material knowledge. Because the eye can only see material substance, the ear can only hear material vibration, the nose can only smell material odors or scents. And you can only feel matter, and you can only taste that which is matter.
Now spirit is not matter. And spirit is not seen, or heard, or felt, or smelled, or anything. Consequently there is no way that knowledge about angels, naturally, can come into your mind. The only way that we can know anything about angels is to believe what is revealed in the Word of God.
But you can scientifically prove by the laws of science, whether there is a God. You can scientifically prove, whether that God is a Being of intelligence. You can scientifically prove, whether the Bible is the revealed Word of that God. That can be proved, I have proved it to a good many people. And I have given you the evidence of it over the air, for anyone who cares to believe it.
Who Were the Giants? (Play from 5:46)
Now continuing here in verse four of the sixth chapter of Genesis;
"There were giants [or nephilim, as the original Hebrew word was, giants] in the earth in those days; and also after that [now that’s in addition to being giants in the earth in those days], when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." (Genesis 6:4)
Now nearly everybody jumps to the conclusion that these 'mighty men' were the giants, or the nephilim. No, it doesn’t say that, at all. It says there were nephilim, which is translated in the King James here, to be 'giants.' Just for the moment let me look into one or two other translations, I happen to have here in front of me, and see how they translate that Hebrew word, nephilim. Now I have the American Revised Standard translation here, if I can just turn to it real quickly in a moment. Let me see now, that was the fourth verse in the sixth chapter, and here it is. No, it just says, 'nephilim';
"The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward when [see, and also afterward, when] the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. [These] were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. (Genesis 6:4 New American Standard Version)
Now I also have the Moffatt translation in front of me. That’s the only two others I have here with me at the present time. Let’s just turn to the Moffatt translation and see if he doesn’t have it the same way. Yes, he just uses the original Hebrew word again, 'nephilim.'
"(It was in [those] days that the Nephilim giants..." (Genesis 6:4 Moffatt)
Well he calls it, Nephilim giants. Nephilim are understood by the Hebrew authorities to mean, very large beings, and that’s as far as it goes. But it says; "...and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, [that] they bare children unto them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." (Genesis 6:4 KJV) {1}
Now it does not say, then, that the nephilim were the parents of these children, at all. But also, in addition to the nephilim, the sons of God and the daughters of men, became the parents of these children. Now I’ve already read to you quite a little about that. And one of the points is this, that we had just come to, I think, at the close, or the conclusion, of the preceding program. That it will come as quite a surprise and quite a shock to a lot of people, but archaeologists and geologists have actually discovered the remains of those giants in the earth.
And of course the geologists try to put an entirely different construction on it, because orthodox geologists, as such, refuse to believe the Bible. They, I think, generally would refuse to accept the testimony, even, of fulfilled prophecy. As a matter of fact, they won’t even look at it; they can’t refute it, because it can’t be refuted. It’s absolutely scientific proof and evidence. But unfortunately some of our scientific men will not receive scientific evidence when it has anything to do with the spiritual that gets clear beyond their realm. Remember they’re natural scientists and they’re concerned only with matter. But it still is not scientific, my friends, to deny the spiritual and to deny that it exists.
The Power of Matter (Play from 09:40)
Where did matter come from? Just what is matter anyway? The scientists are not altogether agreed, as yet, just what matter is composed of, and what it is. They have a lot of ideas about it. And we know now that the atom is not the smallest particle of matter, at all. They know something about what they call, 'electrons,' but they don’t know too much about it. But men are learning, now, how to divide and split and harness the atom. And do all kinds of things, they learn the power of it.
They know that gravity exists, but you can’t hear it, and you can’t feel it, and you can’t smell it, and you can’t taste it. But they have to acknowledge that gravity is there. Only they don’t like to acknowledge very much about God, or the reality of God, or anything like angels, or anything of that sort.
Now the record in Genesis says that, God in mercy, destroyed the earth to save man from himself. Because in those days, and I explained this too, I think, in the preceding program, the earth was being filled with violence. Now very little is revealed in the Bible about what happened then. And all records were destroyed, no records were left. But you read here in the eleventh verse of this sixth chapter of Genesis;
"The earth also was corrupt before God, the earth [also] was filled with violence. [filled with violence, that means terrifying violence] And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his [God’s] way..." (Genesis 6:11-12)
God had revealed His way, God had set laws in motion, God created forces and powers and energies and laws, and set them in motion. God revealed this knowledge to Adam, and to the first man and the first woman, and to humanity in those days. But Adam rejected God’s law. Adam deliberately rejected and sinned, or transgressed the laws of God. A few men walked with God. Enoch walked with God, but very few did in those days. They rejected the knowledge of God.
And so it was coming to the place where man was going to destroy man from off the face of the earth. There are various ways that we can absolutely know that;
"...as it was in the days of Noe [so said Jesus Christ], so shall it be...in the days that you and I are living in now." (Luke 17:26 paraphrased)
As it was in those days: the earth was filled with violence! The earth is becoming filled with violence once again. And today world leading, and famous scientists, who at least do know - they may reject some of the spiritual knowledge, and knowledge of God - but they know a great deal about material and physical things, of course. And they know what engines of destruction are being invented. They know how man is, at last, harnessing some of the powers that God set in motion.
God's Plan for Man (Play from 12:47)
God equipped man with mind power. God equipped man with hands and fingers to work with. God gave man the powers of original thought, of imagination, of reasoning, of assimilating material knowledge, and of reasoning with it. Of designing, of thinking out a plan, and of having the originality, not only to design, but also having the initiative and the will, to execute what he has thought out and planned and designed.
Now no animal, except man, has mind in that sense. An animal cannot do that. An animal cannot reason, and think out a creative thought, and plan, and design something, and lay out a plan of it, and then construct, or build, what he has designed by original thought, and idea, and by initiative, and all that sort of thing. Animals do not, in that sense, make decisions. Animals act according to impulse. And the animal brain is merely, sort of a mechanism that, well, under certain conditions, causes the animal to do certain things and act in a certain way. We call it, 'instinct,' or, 'nature,' or whatever you want to call it.
In other words the mind of God reasoned it all out in advance, and set that automatic mechanism that we call the animal brain within the animal. And the animal acts instinctively. Animals do not commit sin, animals do not cultivate, for instance, such things as self-restraint, in the way that a human being can. Such things as patience, and all that sort of thing, that enter into character building, as a human can.
Man was put here for a great purpose. God is reproducing Himself. And God has given man a mind like God's', only that man’s mind is very limited by comparison. And man’s mind is a material mind, and God's is spiritual and all encompassing. God's mind is perfect, man’s mind is so imperfect. But we are told to become perfect, and we could become perfect if we would yield and surrender to God. If we would realize that the all-encompassing mind is that of God. That we need the help of God. And that we can receive so much from God. Even the very mind of God, can come into us through the Holy Spirit of God.
Because you read in the writings of the apostle Paul in the New Testament; "Let this mind be in you, which was...in Christ Jesus:" (Philippians 2:5) And; "...Christ in us is the hope of glory:" (Colossians 1:27 paraphrased) And the apostle Paul himself said; "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life I now live...I live by the faith of the Son of God..." (Galatians 2:20)
Not my faith in the Son of God, but the very faith of the Son of God which was placed in Him by a divine miracle. And that is the way you and I should live. That’s the only way you can ever come to a full and abundant life. That’s the only way you can ever come to a well-rounded mind, a complete and a perfected mind.
You might have an IQ of 165, I don’t know whether they go any higher than that or not, that’s about as high as they rate them, I think, the way they rate them. But that makes no difference, my friends, you’re still ignorant of the most important things in life, you’re absolutely ignorant. You’re ignorant of the very ways, and the processes, the formula you might say, that will lead to happiness. You’re ignorant of the ways of peace. You’re ignorant of the purposes of life. You’re ignorant of the thing that will make life stimulating and exciting and interesting and satisfying and worthwhile. Yes we have our contented cattle. You may have cigarettes that satisfy, but you haven’t learned the way of life that satisfies. Unless you’ve learned it God’s way – you just haven’t! You can have a lot of artificial imitations.
Who Are the Sons of God? (Play from 17:01)
Now who are these sons of God that married and reproduced these mighty men? Well we went into it in the preceding program. And we found that angels are called sons of God in some places in the Bible, only in the sense that they are the created beings of God.
Men are called sons of God, in the sense that they are the creation of God. Because Adam is called the son of God, in the very genealogy of Jesus Christ, in the third chapter of Luke. But we found, also, back here in the first chapter of Hebrews that as a literal son, a begotten, a born son, angels are not called the sons of God, at all, because he says back here;
"...Who [He made] his angels spirits... [and] ...unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?" (Hebrews 1:7, 5)
A real father-son relationship in the sense that one is born from, and out of the other does not exist between God and angels.
Now, my friends, that relation does not exist between an unconverted man and God. There are seven passages in the New Testament in your Bible that shows that an unconverted man is not a son of God, and I mean now in the begotten and the born sense. But he can have his sins forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ. He can be reconciled to God by the death of Jesus Christ. And by the LIFE of Jesus Christ he can be saved. And receive the Spirit of God, being reconciled to God. And then he can become a begotten child of God, and he can be born, as a born son of God. Even as Jesus Christ is the born Son of God and is very God by a resurrection from the dead.
Oh, my friends, you haven’t heard very much of the truth of your Bible. You’ve had a lot of religion. Yes, the world is filled with religion, but the world is not filled with truth. The world is not filled with understanding. The world is not filled with a real comprehension and understanding of the great revelation that God has given to us in His Holy Word, the Bible. If we would only realize that it is a revelation from the supernatural God, who created everything, all the forces, and the energies, and the powers, and Who knows!
Now then, my friends, actually and literally, angels then are not the sons of God, they’re only creations of God.
Angels Do Not Reproduce (Play from 19:37)
Now let’s go a little further. The wicked angels who followed Satan were in chains of darkness imprisoned by their own folly, as you read in Jude, the sixth verse. And incidentally, my friends, that’s the first chapter of Jude in case you didn’t know, or do you realize there are no two or three chapters in Jude – there’s only the one chapter and it’s the sixth verse.
Now remember the Bible reveals that angels are created spirits. I just read it to you a moment ago, the fourteenth verse, Hebrews 1. They are spirits and they were created as spirits. God made them, or created them, spirits. They’re not mortal flesh like human beings, at all.
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; ...that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." (John 3:6)
Now in I Peter 3:19-20, you read that spirits, or angels, not human beings, but angels; who were imprisoned and bound, and when? If you go on and read it, it says;
"...when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing." (I Peter 3:20)
Now I want you to notice that. That is in the days of Noah, but before the Flood. It’s while the ark was being prepared, before it was built, before the Flood destroyed the land, while the ark was still under construction. The angels, who are spirits, were already imprisoned, or in what is called in the English 'hell'. But that’s another Greek word, not the same word that is otherwise translated 'hell', but it just means the condition that angels are imprisoned in, is all. 'Tartaroo', or 'tartarus', is the Greek word.
Not at liberty, in other words, to co-habit with human women, whatsoever; if they were able, which they are not. But they were already imprisoned, and they would not have been permitted had they been able. They weren’t able either way. You might say they were not allowed to, and it was not possible. Now the idea that angels were imprisoned as a result of the Flood is another fable. They were imprisoned long before the Flood.
Not only does Peter disprove the theory that fallen angels were at liberty to marry women, but Jesus also disproves it. Christ said, in three different places that angels do not marry. There is no sex in angels, they don’t have sex organs. They don’t have any reproductive processes, whatsoever. It would be totally impossible for an angel to marry, or co-habit, with a human and to reproduce. One of the most absurd things in the world, it would be scientifically impossible, too. Because it certainly is a scientific fact that only those of the same kind can co-habit, and that reproduction is after his kind. You know the evolutionists are still looking for that 'missing link,' and they can’t find it. Everything is; "...after his kind...." (Genesis 1:24) As you read in the first chapter of Genesis, and it has never changed.
Now angels are created spirits, they do not reproduce. Angels are not born, if you could see an angel. And they’re invisible, unless manifested. And I doubt very, very much whether any has ever been manifested to you. But if you could see an angel, and you find accounts in the Bible where men have seen angels. By a process that is not explained or revealed, they have been manifested in such a manner that they could be seen, and I’ll explain that a little later as we go on in this. But that angel would not be the son or daughter of some other angel, and would not be the father of any. That angel would be one that was individually, and personally, and privately created by God. They do not have children or reproduce.
No Marriage After the Resurrection (Play from 23:38)
Now Jesus mentioned it a number of times. Let’s just turn to one or two. The twentieth chapter of Luke, in the twenty-eight verse. {2} You know people would come to Jesus asking Him;
"...Master, Moses wrote to us, If a man’s brother die, having left a wife, and he die without children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up children unto his brother. There were therefore seven brethren: ...the first took a wife, but he died without any children. And so the second took her and made her his wife, then [according to the law] and he died childless. And then the third, and then, in like manner also, the seven: and they left no children, and they died. Last of all, the woman died herself. Therefore..." (Luke 20:28-33 paraphrased)
Now they didn’t believe in a resurrection, and Jesus Christ was teaching the resurrection. So they were trying to trap Him here with a trap question. They said; "Therefore in the resurrection whose wife of them is she? for seven had her to wife." (Luke 20:33) They all seven had her, now who’s wife will she be in the resurrection?
"...Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage: But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world [or that age, the World Tomorrow, the Kingdom of God that He’s speaking of, born again into the Kingdom of God], and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage." (Luke 20:34-35) We will not have sex; we will not marry, or be given in marriage.
In the Kingdom of God, my friends, when you are born of God, when you have had the 'born again experience', you won’t be human. You won’t be mortal. And you will not be either male nor female, and you will never reproduce, and you’ll never have children.
"Neither marry, nor are they given in marriage: [said Jesus Christ] Neither can they die any more [won’t be possible to die anymore, you’ll be immortal]: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God [then born of God, you see], being the children of the resurrection.” (Luke 20:35-36)
Now some of the other passages are a little more explicit. Matthew 22:30 next, turn back to Matthew, the twenty-second chapter and the thirtieth verse. For He said; "...[You] do err [this is Matthew’s account of the same thing], not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God [not very many people today understand the scriptures, or the power of God.] For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.” (Matthew 22:29-30)
Angels have no sex; angels do not marry. Now I could give you one other passage, if you want to check it yourself. I won’t take the time. It’s Mark 12:25, Mark 12:25.{3} Angels, my friends, cannot co-habit with women, they do not reproduce. And since each reproduces after its kind, only humans can reproduce humans. That’s all there is to it.
So because angels and humans are two different kinds of being, and God set laws in motion that you read in Genesis 1, that each reproduces after his kind, each produces after his kind, and that is a scientific law. It’s a law that God created and set in motion. Two different biblical kinds cannot gender sexually. This is one of the most thoroughly established laws of science. God did not make it possible for angels to reproduce with human beings. He did not intend to beget angels as His sons, as you read in Hebrews 1:5. They are not born sons, they are created angels.
Besides, nowhere in the Bible do we find that degraded angels have the power to manifest themselves in the form of human beings, a power now possessed only by righteous angels who serve God.