Chapter 7: Angels

RANKS OF ANGELS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS

Firstly there are 3 major spheres or levels of angels, and they are arranged as seen below:

First Sphere: These are the direct servants of the Supreme God

Seraphim

Cherubim

Thrones

Second Sphere: They serve as the governors of creation

Dominations or Lordships

Virtues or Strongholds

Powers or Authorities

Third Sphere: These are angels who function as heavenly guides, protectors, and messengers to human beings

Principalities or Rulers

Archangels

Angels and Personal guardian angels

SERAPHIM

Seraphim (singular "Seraph") are, literally translated into "burning ones". Mentioned in Isaiah 6:1–7 of the Christian Bible, Seraphim are the highest angelic class and they serve as the caretakers of God's throne and continuously shout praises: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" They are the most powerful angels God had ever created and they are hardly ever sent into battle and are rarely ever seen, even by other angels.

As their name implies, they are burning humanoid figures of divine fire and light that have six wings.

CHERUBIM

Cherubim (singular “Cherub”) are angels second in power only to the Seraphim. There are however only two cherubim in existence and Lucifer is one of them. They possess six wings like the Seraphim but unlike the seraphim, they are not flaming figure of fire and light but have a more human appearance. However, they do have another, more inhuman, form but prefer not to use it as it tends to frighten humans and even other angels.

THRONES

The "Thrones" or Elders, are a class of celestial beings mentioned by Paul the Apostle in Colossians 1:16 (New Testament). They are living symbols of God's justice and authority, and have as one of their symbols, the throne.

It is not unusual to find that the Thrones are associated, by some, with the Ophanim or Erelim from the Jewish angelic hierarchy. The idea that they are separate or one and the same is debated but in this story they will be different. The Ophanim or Ofanim, also called galgalim, refer to the wheels seen in Ezekiel's vision of the chariot in Ezekiel 1:15–21 (please read it to get a vivid visual description). One of the Dead Sea scrolls construes them as angels, late sections of the Book of Enoch portray them as a class of celestial beings who never sleep, but guard the throne of God.

The Ophanim (Wheels, from the vision of Daniel 7:9, also a must read) are unusual looking, even compared with the other celestial beings. They are closely connected with the Cherubim: "When they moved, the others moved; when they stopped, the others stopped; and when they rose from the earth, the wheels rose along with them; for the spirit of the living creatures [Cherubim] was in the wheels." Which raises the question of if they are angels at all or just constructs merely controlled by the Cherubim but in this story they will be controlled by the Cherubim.

Some Christian theologians that include the Thrones as one of the choirs do not describe them as wheels, describing them as adoring elder men who listen to the will of God and present the prayers of men. The Twenty-Four Elders in the Book of Revelation are usually thought to be part of this group of angels but in this story, they are not a part, they are the only Thrones.

DOMINION, DOMINATION OR LORDSHIP

The "Dominations"[citation needed] (lat. dominatio, plural dominationes, also translated from the Greek term kyriotētes, pl. of kyriotēs, as "Lordships") or "Dominions" are presented as the hierarchy of celestial beings. The Dominations regulate the duties of lower angels. It is only with extreme rarity that the angelic lords make themselves physically known to humans.

The Dominations are believed to look like divinely beautiful humans with a pair of feathered wings, much like the common representation of angels, but they may be distinguished from other groups by wielding orbs of light fastened to the heads of their sceptres or on the pommel of their swords

VIRTUES

These angels are those through which signs and miracles are made in the world.

The term appears to be linked to the attribute "might", from the Greek root dynamis (pl. dynameis) in Ephesians 1:21, which is also translated as "Virtue" or "Power". They are presented as the celestial Choir "Virtues", in the Summa Theologica.

From Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite's De Coelesti Hierarchia:

"The name of the holy Virtues signifies a certain powerful and unshakable virility welling forth into all their Godlike energies; not being weak and feeble for any reception of the divine Illuminations granted to it; mounting upwards in fullness of power to an assimilation with God; never falling away from the Divine Life through its own weakness, but ascending unwaveringly to the super essential Virtue which is the Source of virtue: fashioning itself, as far as it may, in virtue; perfectly turned towards the Source of virtue, and flowing forth providentially to those below it, abundantly filling them with virtue."

POWERS

The "Powers" (lat. potestas (f), pl. potestates), or "Authorities" (from the Greek exousiai or exusiai, the plural of exousia, see the Greek root in Eph 3:10) are angels whose primary duty is to supervise the movements of the heavenly bodies to ensure that the cosmos remains in order. They also have a sect of warrior angels, that oppose evil and demonic spirits, especially those that try to use or manipulate the fundammental laws of the universe, and often cast evil spirits to places of detention. These angels are usually represented as soldiers wearing full armor and helmet, and also having defensive and offensive weapons such as shields and spears or chains respectively.

PRINCIPALITIES/RULERS

The "Principalities" (Latin: principatus), also translated as "Princedoms" and "Rulers", from the Greek archai, pl. of archē (see Greek root in Eph 3:10), are the angels that guide and protect nations, or groups of peoples, and institutions such as the Church. The Principalities preside over the bands of angels and charge them with fulfilling the divine ministry. There are some who administer and some who assist.

The Principalities are shown wearing a crown and carrying a sceptre. Their duty also is said to be to carry out the orders given to them by the upper sphere angels and bequeath blessings to the material world. Their task is to oversee groups of people. They are the educators and guardians of the realm of earth. Like beings related to the world of the germinal ideas, they are said to inspire living things to many things such as art or science.

Paul used the term rule and authority in Ephesians 1:21, and rulers and authorities in Ephesians 3:10.