Brothers in Arms, Part 2

Seeing how angels are soldiers and singers

01/27/2024

History did not commence with the creation of Adam and Eve. Rather, the historical clock first began ticking with the creation of the angels. That is why we are calling them the firstborn of the original or old creation. Thus, angels are our older brothers. St. Augustine saw the creation of the angels described symbolically in the very first lines of Genesis. Scott Hahn summarizes the teaching of St. Augustine, the Doctor of Grace, explaining: "St. Augustine points out that angels appear everywhere in the Scriptures. They make their debut in the Bible’s opening lines: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” By “heavens” the author could not have intended the “skies,” as the creation of the skies comes later in the narrative. St. Augustine also taught that God’s command “Let there be light” (Genesis 1:3) was actually the decree by which he made the angels – before the sun and the other lights of the material world" (Angels and Saints, 76). In other words, God’s creative juices had been flowing for many millennia before he stooped down to shape the first “man of dust from the ground” (Gn 2:7).

Now, the first thing to note about angels is that both Scripture and Tradition teach that there are nine ranks or choirs of angels. By the way, do you find it odd that the angels are described as both “ranks” – which makes them sound like an army – but also as “choirs” – conjuring up images of the church choir? But there is nothing more natural than for an army to sing as it marches into battle. For example, Arkansas Razorback fans cheer the Hogs singing the Arkansas Fight song: “Hit that line! Hit that line! Keep on going! Move that ball right down the field! Give a cheer, Rah! Rah! Never fear. Rah! Rah! Arkansas will never yield!” We sing as we fight. Every American’s breast swells with pride as he or she sings “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” originally penned by Julia Ward Howe to inspire Union troops during the Civil War. Now, do you think God knew at the beginning of time that angels would need to be not only singers but also soldiers? You betcha. And so he arranged them not only into choirs but also into ranks because war was on the horizon. Incidentally, that is the real reason we should sing at Mass. We accompany the angels in their march against evil, like when we sing the Gloria, the Alleluia, the Holy, Holy, Holy, and the Lamb of God. The holy angels are not just our older brothers, they are our brothers in arms. And therefore we should sing at Mass with no less gusto than we do at sporting events. Indeed, we should sing with a lot more heart because we have a lot more to win and to lose.

How are these soldiers or choir boys organized specifically? At the top of the hierarchy, and hence closest to God, stand and sing the Seraphim. Next in order are the Cherubim. Third in line come the Thrones. In fourth phalanx are the Dominions. In fifth place the Virtues (also called Authorities) are arranged. In sixth rank are the so-called Powers. The seventh choir stalls are occupied by the Principalities (sometimes called Rulers). The last two spots, eighth and ninth, are occupied by the Archangels and simply the Angels. We find the two scriptural witnesses – the locus classicus – to these soldier-choirs in Ep 1:21, and Col 1:16. Ep 1:21 enumerates four choirs, indicating: “Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come” (emphasis added). In Col 1:16, the list is slightly modified: “For in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, principalities (rulers) or authorities (virtues)” (emphasis mine). Thus, if we combine the two lists in Ephesians and Colossians lists, we see how St. Paul has identified, in just two verses, the middle five ranks of angels, namely, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, and Principalities. Bear in mind, however, that these are not five individual angels, but five entire classes of innumerable angels. Rv 5:11 would express it this way: “myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.”

Now let’s take a closer look at the top two tiers of angels, Seraphim and Cherubim. Isaiah beheld the Seraphim – literally, the fiery or burning ones in Hebrew – when he received his call to be a prophet. Isaiah confesses that he is unfit to be a prophet because he is a man of unclean lips. A seraph angel is dispatched in Is 6:6-7, “Then flew one of the seraphim to me, having in his hand a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth, and said, ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sins forgiven’.” That is, the seraphim are well-named as the fiery ones because their occupation comes closest to God whom Hb 12:29 describes with reverential fear saying: “For our God is a consuming fire.” We find the Cherubim on the second rung first referenced in Gn 3:24, “[God] drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.” Sometimes we foolishly equate the Cherubim with the chubby, child-like angels in art and children’s books. But nothing could be further from the truth. The Cherubim are mighty beings of incalculable intelligence, power, and light and just one rank or choir stall away from the throne of God himself.

Now that we have briefly touched on the top seven tiers of these singing soldiers, we can turn to the bottom two rungs: archangels and angels. There are virtually countless scriptural examples of these two choirs carrying out God’s innumerable commands. One of my favorites is the mission of the Archangel Raphael, who aids young Tobias in finding a wife and fighting off an evil demon named “Asmodeus” (cf. Tb 3:8). Every March 25 on the feast of the Annunciation, the liturgy lauds the gracious work of the Archangel Gabriel who announces the virginal conception of the Messiah. In sum, we divide all angelic activity into two categories. One, the upper seven echelons of angels are concerned with executing God’s cosmic commands. And two, the lowest two ranks – like archangels and angels – reach into the daily lives of God’s people. Scott Hahn neatly describes this celestial division of labor: “The ancient rabbis and the Church Fathers believed the angels also maintained the physical laws of the universe. They kept the stars in their courses, and they swelled the rivers when the time was right. Scripture reveals that individual human beings have guardian angels, and so do nations (see Daniel 10:13, 10:20, and 12:1), and churches (see Revelation 21:8, and 12, for example)” (Angels and Saints, 84). In other words, Galileo was not entirely right. He believed that the Bible teaches us only “how to go to heaven” but not “how the heavens go” because that was the realm of science. But on closer inspection we discover that the Bible instructs us in both through the magnificent ministry of angels.

But one day in heaven it was not “just another day in paradise” because Rv 12:7 recounts, “war arose in heaven.” Again, God has foreseen this – called divine omniscience – and even provided for this by making angels both singers and soldiers. This seismic spiritual earthquake shook all creation and would have made the Big Bang sound like my dog Apollo’s whimper. Consistent with the spiritual exegesis noteworthy of the Church Fathers, St. Augustine perceived this angelic civil war in Gn 1:4, where we read: “And God saw the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.” Scott Hahn explains further: “When Genesis describes the separation of light from darkness (v. 4) it is recounting the rebellion of Satan and the demons (see Revelation 12:4) who chose everlasting darkness” (Angels and Saints, 76). In Rv 12:9, St. John provides more details of this diabolical revolt: “And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world – he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” Notice how St. John sees the demons as original angels who fell from grace. But why did they fall? Isaiah sheds some light on Satan’s temptation writing poetically: “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn…You said in your heart ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God…I will make myself like the Most High God’” (Is 14:12, 13, 14).

That is, the angels had to undergo a test, a trial, a temptation, just like Adam and Eve would, and just like you and I do every day. The essence of that exam revolved around obedience to God’s commands and humble service of God and neighbor. Satan flunked that test with flying colors, when he said fictionally but truly in Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost: “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n” (Paradise Lost, I, 236). By the way, this is also why Milton described hell as “Pandemonium” (Paradise Lost, I, 756), which means a raucous uproar, chaos, discord, a lack of all harmony. The fallen angels are still soldiers but they can longer sing in harmony. And that is why they will lose. When Rv 12:4 indicates that the dragon “swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth,” we understand that to mean a third of the holy angels fell, leaving two-thirds faithful to God. This disgraced third of the angels now serve Satan and to try to subvert the rest of creation, especially its pinnacle, man. The two-thirds of the faithful angels retained their firstborn status, not as a badge of honor but as a reminder that, as Jesus taught: “the least shall be the greatest in the kingdom of God” (Mt 19:30). They still stand and sing. That was how the historical stage was set when God created man “in his image and likeness” (Gn 1:27).

Praised be Jesus Christ!