QUESTION
Also what do the holy and fallen angels look like in their appearance. How can a legion, which is upwards of two thousand, of demons dwell in one man which then entered into a herd of swine when rebuked by Christ as recorded in the gospel account. Is the soul and spirit of man the same size as the stature of our human bodies? What size is our soul and spirit? In essence what do they look like?
RESPONSE
In general angels have the same appearance as men. When they have been seen, for example in God’s program and dealings with Israel, they are always described as men in appearance. (For example. Genesis 18 and 19, where even the perverted men of Sodom thought the two angels that came to Lot were men.) They are also described as having “hands,” “feet,” “arms,” a “head,” a “face,” and overall bodies like men, capable of wearing clothes and even armour; being able to “lay down” like men, “sit” like men, and “stand” like men; talk, see, write, walk, eat, ride; in general move about and function like men, with, as Daniel described, “the similitude of the sons of men.” So, once again, in general their appearance looks, and stature is the same as men. Though “greater in power and might,” their appearance is still like men.
Now, as I said, in general angels have the same basic appearance as men. The Cherubim and the seraphims of the angelic order have their own unique and special appearance in accordance with their roles and functions. Though even with this, they too are described as having some things in common with man’s body and appearance; like having hands, for example.
With respect to Satan’s angels, though they too would have by nature the same appearance as the holy angels, my understanding is that for the most part they do not (or even cannot) appear as such. My understanding is that this is a result of the judgment incurred by Satan’s policy of evil in connection with the overall package of judgments at the time of the flood. A lot of things changed at that time, as is evident from what is said about it, including the ability of Satan and his policy of evil to do certain things. Though I’m not fully settled in my mind on all of the issues by any means, I am persuaded that the capacity/ability for Satan and his angels to do certain things has been affected; including their ability to just appear and/or manifest themselves on the earth. Hence for the most part they do not do this, and in God’s program with Israel their function is one of being “unclean spirits,” “foul spirits,” “evil spirits,” “spirits of devils,” and the like. With the issue, therefore, not being upon their appearance or what they look like, but upon their defiling, fouling, and evil inducing influence as they functioned in the land.
Exactly how it is that upwards of 2000 devils/unclean spirits can be in one man, as in Mark 5, is not something that I can explain the mechanics of. I know that being angels they are “greater in power and might” than man, and as such have capacities that exceed what we are capable of doing, along with ones which we would describe as supernatural. And this would have to be one of them. They can obviously do it. But to describe how it is done, that I cannot do.
With respect to our own soul and spirit, my understanding is that it indeed does have a form, and in particular the form of our own bodies. Those times that God has a particular reason to relate and describe the situation with ones who have died, and therefore are absent from the body. He describes their soul/spirit as having the same form and appearance as their bodies; and even recognizable for who they are by the appearance of their soul/spirit. For example this is the case with Samuel in I Samuel 28; the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16; and the souls that John sees as is set forth in Revelation 6. So our soul/spirit is not a formless entity, but is an entity with a definite and personally distinctive form to it that corresponds to our personally distinctive physical appearance.
Keith Blades
Enjoy The Bible Ministries
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