320 ELEMENTAL THEOLOGY word of my lord the king shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the Lorp thy God will be with thee. . . . To fetch about this form of speech hath thy servant Joab done this thing: and my lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth” (2 Sam. 14:17,20 — cf. Matt. 24:36). In these passages it is assumed that an angel of God is wise and endowed with superior knowledge. Nor is it strange that the history of God’s favored people from the days of Abraham encouraged and confirmed this view. There had been frequent angelic interposi- tions, the natural effect of which was to create the belief that angels excel in wisdom as well as strength. They were no doubt created intelligent spirits, their knowledge beginning with their existence. But we may safely conclude that it has been increasing ever since. Their opportunities of observation, and the many experiences they have had in connection, as we may suppose, with direct revelations from God, must have added greatly to the stock of their original intelligence. Glorious beings: “For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26). Angels are beings of superhuman dignity and glory. Beings of various ranks and orders: 1. A company, not a race: “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven” (Matt. 22:30 — cf. Luke 20:36). 2. Constitute an organization: “And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lorn: I saw the Lor» sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left” (1 Kings 22:19 — cf. Deut. 4:19; 17:3; Matt: 25:41; 26:53; Eph. 9:2; Rev. 2:13). 3. Occupy different positions: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first” (1 Thess. 4:16 — cf. Col. 1:16; 1 Peter 3:22; Jude 9). “The angels are in no sense a race, but a company or companies, each individual being an original creation. Hence, the grounds of social affinity arising out of our own race relations are entirely wanting in them. It does not follow that they are without social affinity, for there are other sufficient grounds of such affinity. . . «