http://www.ccel.org/ccel/berkhof/systematictheology.

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E. THE SERVICE OF THE ANGELS

We can distinguish between an ordinary and an extraordinary service of

the angels.

1. THEIR ORDINARY SERVICE. This consists first of all in their praising

God day and night, Job 38:7; Isa. 6; Ps. 103:20; 148:2; Rev. 5:11.
Scripture gives the impression that they do this audibly, as at the
birth of Christ, though we can form no conception of this speaking and
singing of the angels. Since the entrance of sin into the world they
are sent forth to minister to them that are heirs of salvation, Heb.
1:14. They rejoice at the conversion of a sinner, Luke 15:10, watch
over believers, Ps. 34:7; 91:11, protect the little ones, Matt. 18:10,
are present in the Church, I Cor. 11:10; I Tim. 5:21, learning from her
the manifold riches of the grace of God, Eph. 3:10; I Pet. 1:12, and
convey believers into the bosom of Abraham, Luke 16:22. The idea that
some of them serve as guardians of individual believers finds no
support in Scripture. The statement in Matt. 18:10 is too general to
prove the point, though it seems to indicate that there is a group of
angels who are particularly charged with the care of the little ones.
Neither is it proved by Acts 12:15, for this passage merely goes to
show that there were some even among the disciples of that early day
who believed in guardian angels.

2. THEIR EXTRAORDINARY SERVICE. The extraordinary service of the angels

was made necessary by the fall of man, and forms an important element
in the special revelation of God. They often mediate the special
revelations of God, communicate blessings to His people, and execute
judgment upon His enemies. Their activity is most prominent in the
great turning points of the economy of salvation, as in the days of the
patriarchs, the time of the lawgiving, the period of the exile and of
the restoration, and at the birth, the resurrection, and the ascension
of the Lord. When the period of God's special revelation closed, the
extraordinary service of the angels ceased, to be resumed only at the
return of the Lord.

F. THE EVIL ANGELS

1. THEIR ORIGIN. Besides the good there also are evil angels, who
delight in opposing God and antagonizing His work. Though they are also
creatures of God, they were not created as evil angels. God saw
everything that He had created, and it was very good, Gen. 1:31. There
are two passages in Scripture which clearly imply that some of the
angels did not retain their original position, but fell from the state
in which they were created, II Pet. 2:4; Jude 6. The special sin of
these angels is not revealed, but has generally been thought to consist
in this that they exalted themselves over against God, and aspired to
supreme authority. If this ambition played an important part in the
life of Satan and led to his downfall, it would at once explain why he
tempted man on this particular point, and sought to lure him to his
destruction by appealing to a possible similar ambition in man. Some of
the early Church Fathers distinguished between Satan and the
subordinate devils in explaining the cause of their fall. That of the
fall of Satan was found in pride, but that of the more general fall in
the angelic world, in fleshly lust, Gen. 6:2. That interpretation of
Gen. 6:2 was gradually discarded, however, during the Middle Ages. In
view of this it is rather surprising to find that several modern
commentators are reiterating the idea in their interpretation of II
Pet. 2:4 and Jude 6 as, for instance, Meyer, Alford, Mayor, Wohlenberg.
It is an explanation, however, that is contrary to the spiritual nature
of the angels, and to the fact that, as Matt. 22:30 would seem to
imply, there is no sexual life among the angels. Moreover, on that
interpretation we shall have to assume a double fall in the angelic
world, first the fall of Satan, and then, considerably later, the fall
resulting in the host of devils that now serves Satan. It is much more

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