When it comes to the cultural thought of angels, most depict an image of a man with wings flying around. The biblical image of angels could never be more opposite. Let’s explore angels through the Bible. 

In the Hebrew Bible, angels- mal’ak can appear as actual humans or what look like spiritual beings. In Genesis 19:1, angels appear to Lot as men. Jacob also sees angels in Genesis 32 that came to meet him. In the Greek angelos appears a few times as in Luke 9:52 or Mark 1:13. 

Angels have some specific roles when it comes to God’s service. One of their main jobs is to give messages as in Luke 1. They can also perform wonders or miracles like in Acts 12. They also give comfort as they did for Jesus in Mark 1 or for Elijah in 1 Kings 19. The role of angels is to act in God’s service to humans or to enact his will. 

Some angels are even named in the Bible, two famous ones are Gabriel and Michael. They appear to give messages or to fight in spiritual warfare (Daniel 12).  

Hebrews 1:14 sums up the role of angels perfectly, “Therefore, angels are only servants— spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation.” Angels take care of believers and that can show up in many ways. 

Another type of spiritual beings are Cherubim. We first see them guarding the entrance to the garden of Eden in Genesis 3. Cherubim are also symbolized in the tabernacle on the ark of the covenant. Since the tabernacle was the place where God met human space, they are symbolized here to represent God’s sacred space (Exodus 26:1, Psalm 80:1).  

Seraphim also appear in Isaiah 6 as flying snakes. These beings are praising Yahweh, which is their only marked role in Scripture. 

The living creatures also appear a couple of times. Ezekiel 1 and Revelation 4 hold the texts that describe these creatures.These creatures have different faces and different numbers of wings. In Ezekiel 1, they are carrying or moving the throne of God that is on wheels (strange image). In Revelation 4, they are praising God. In Ezekiel 10, the cherubim seem to share the same role as these creatures in having control of the wheels and even fit the description of the living creatures. 

Differentiating between these spiritual beings can be somewhat complex and I think it is meant to be. God has spiritual beings serving him just as his human creations are supposed to be doing.