Angels are Corporeal, not spirits

Critical Thinking
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Prior to The Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 AD, some in the church believed angels had corporeal nature suited to the heavenly realm, that they were not immaterial spirits. Scripture depicts them eating and drinking with Abraham, pulling Lot into the house and shuting the door, wrestling with Jacob who held the angel fast and would not release Him, sitting under a tree with Gideon, waking Peter up and helping him rise to his feet. Angels can be unwittingly entertained by humans who believe they are helping strangers.

 

“So he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.” Genesis 18:8

10 But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. (Gen. 19:10 NKJ)

24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.  And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” (Gen. 32:24-26 NKJ)

 “Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah” In Judges 6:11

 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up” (Acts 12:7 NKJ)

 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. (Heb. 13:2 NKJ)

 

 

Hebrews 1:14 “ministering spirits” does not contradict this, metaphorically angels function as “ministering spirits”, its not a statement about their essence. God wouldn’t have to “make them “spirits” if they already were, neither is He making them literal fire  (Hebrews 1:7).  This is metaphorical language describing them as swift and powerful, not defining their essence.

 

The theory they “materialize” physical  forms to interact with humans isn’t taught in scripture and in fact contradicts God alone kills and makes alive (Deut. 32:39) and that He alone has creative power  (Neh. 9:6).

 

Never does scripture depict angels or men changing their essence as they cross dimensions into the other realm. Jacob saw angels climb down a ladder, Elijah crossed over in a chariot through a whirlwind, Moses and Elijah appeared on the  Mount of Transfiguration when the Kingdom was present in power, John went through a door:

 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. (Gen. 28:12 NKJ)

 Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. (2 Ki. 2:11 NKJ)

 

And He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power… And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. (Mk. 9:1, 4 )

 

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” (Rev. 4:1 NKJ)

 

Jesus appeared in the midst of the disciples, he didn’t walk through doors or walls. He said He was not a spirit and they touched His body and He ate fish to prove He was physical:

 

36 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? “Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence. (Lk. 24:36-43 NKJ)

 

Christ said resurrected believers would be “equal to the angels” and as they will rise physically from the dead in “supernatural bodies” it follows angels also have corporeal nature that is “equal” to them.

 

Moreover, when Paul was discussing the various types of heaven bodies that exist, they were all  physical “soma”, not spirit “pneuma”. The resurrection body is a body infused with spirit, not immaterial spirit. It is the same “physical body infused with spirit” that Christ has:

 

There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory… It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. (1 Cor. 15:40-42, 44)

 

Spirits don’t get resurrected, physical bodies do.

 

For this reason Christians should not be surprised when Satan and his fallen angels appear in physically in a fleet of UFO ships. They use advanced technology to go from place to place. We see that in Ezekeil chapter 1, and scripture expressly declares the stars fought Sisera from heaven:

 

They fought from the heavens; The stars from their courses fought against Sisera. (Jdg. 5:20 NKJ)

 

Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man. Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves’ feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze. (Ezek. 1:4-7)

 

Regardless how one interprets the symbolism, the angel of the LORD is depicted as seated in a craft that moves.

 

This is why UFOs do NOT prove ancient alien theory at all. Angels use advanced technology. When Satan and his angels appear on earth after Michael and his angels cast they out of heaven, it’s a strong delusion they are extraterrestrial beings, a Big Lie deception of epic proportions.

 

 

 

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