Friday, February 3, 2012

What Do Angels Look Like?

Angels have wings. Some do anyway. We all know what they look like because we’ve seen so many pictures of angels. They always have these big wings sticking out of from their shoulders that are covered with feathers. How different that is from the image of the seraphims we see in Isaiah 6:2. They have six wings. Two are to cover their face. Two are to cover their feet. Two are for flying. Perhaps all could be used for flying, if they weren’t in the presence of God.

What I really find interesting is that the word used for this six winged creature is also used for a venomous serpent. It is sometimes translated as dragon. How very different that seems than a beautiful woman with dove’s wings strapped to her back. I suspect that these creatures look more like a flying reptile than they do the images of angels we see.

But some angels have the appearance of men. I don’t know that these have the ability to fly. Why would they need to climb Jacob’s ladder if they could fly? I suspect they don’t, but if they did, I doubt they would have feathers on their wings. I would imagine that their wings would be more like bats’ wings, only bigger.

1 comment :

McKenzie McCann said...

I remember seeing something about this somewhere. The bible describes three types of angels, but none look like the ones we see in paintings. The first is the one you mentioned, another is a freaky-lookin' double-ringed creature covered with eyes, and the last is some four-headed thing with the head of man, lion, and eagle.