Celestial Beings

"All flesh is not the same, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the earthly is another."

1 Corinthians 15:39-4

Angels are not as they are, like people like being with wings. How on earth have we all got to this topic? Recently, I was reading my favorite book, and I noticed that the depictions of angels were less accurate than what I saw on TV when I was seven. During that time, they (the media) depicted angels with beautiful faces, dressed in long white gowns and with those enormous dove-like wings.

My perception of angels changed when I understood that different kinds of angels exist according to their rank and purpose. The Summa Theologiae of Saint Thomas Aquinas writes: "…That there exists different degree in respect of the creation, about the power of intercession to God and of direct entrustment in the human lives." The first church father who thought about the angelic hierarchy of angels was Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. It came about circa the 5th to 6th century in the book On the Celestial Hierarchy.

Pseudo-Dionysius, the Areopagite, categorizes the hierarchy of angels into three groups and sub-groups. The highest angelic beings are Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones. The middle ranks of celestial beings are Dominions, Virtues, and Powers, and the lowest levels of divine beings are Principalities, Archangels, and Angels.

We noticed that the most popular kinds of Archangels and Angels are the lowest-ranking angelic beings, commonly depicted as humanoid types of celestial beings with dove-shaped wings. There are names given in the Bible, Torah, and Koran that made manifestation to humans. These are Michael, Gabriel, and Rafael. We could probably hear or read about them in the Bible. They played roles in protecting and sending the message of God to humanity.

In this article, I would like to mention those uncommon celestial beings we could not possibly hear about. These are the Seraphim, Cherubim, and Ophanim.

First, Seraphim is a celestial being nearest to God. They are angelic figures with six wings singing holy, holy, holy; they are the "burning ones" since, in Hebrew, the word "seraph" means "burning." They appeared in the non-canonical book of Enoch and the canonical book of revelations.

Second, Cherubim according to the book of Ezekiel and (at least some) Christian icons, the cherub is depicted as having two pairs of wings and four faces: that of a lion (representative of all wild animals), an ox (domestic animals), a human (humanity), and an eagle (birds). Their legs were straight, the soles of their feet like the hooves of a bull, gleaming like polished brass (Wikipedia). The Christian Bible depicted these angelic beings that we used to see in mass media—having cute chubby faces with little wings stretching at the side of their faces. This kind of depiction was an influence of the Roman tradition.

Third, Ophanim, also called "galgalim" in Hebrew, means spheres, wheels, or whirlwinds. The Book of Enoch (61:10, 71:7) portrays them as a class of celestial beings who (along with the Cherubim and Seraphim) never sleep but guard the throne of God. In the book of Daniel 7:9 (mentioned as galgalim, traditionally "the wheels of galgalim," in "fiery flame" and "burning fire") of the four eye-covered wheels (each composed of two nested wheels) that move next to the winged Cherubim, beneath the throne of God. Furthermore, in the book of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:15-21), the prophet tried to describe what he saw as he writes: "As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. It was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be like a wheel intersecting a wheel."

We can understand that the highest celestial beings are very intimidating, and they are like monsters with wings. No wonder every time angelic beings appeared in the bible, their introduction was "do not fear" Since, with their kind of features, anyone who might see them will eventually run away in fear.

"Saint Anthony said, in his solitude, he sometimes encountered devils who looked like angels, and other times he found angels who looked like devils. When asked how he could tell the difference, the saint said that you can only tell which is which by how you feel after the creature has left your company."