Short answer:
There are more than
three hundred million (300,000,000) angels. But their number is not a round
figure. It appears that there are actually some three hundred eighteen million (318,000,000)
angels. However, their total number is hidden in the Bible. It is not revealed
in a single verse. We have to link several verses together from both the Old
and New Testaments to get the answer.
Detailed explanation:
Angels
are often referred to as “stars” in the Bible. “The seven stars are the
angels of the seven churches” (Revelation 1:20b). “And
the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and
to him was given the key of the bottomless pit” (Revelation 9:1).
We can thus see
angels every day. All we have to do is
look up at the stars in the sky at night.
An
ambitious angel, Lucifer, wanted to be higher in stature than all the other
angels in heaven. We read in Isaiah 14:13 – “For
thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my
throne above the stars of God.” In
this verse, by “stars” are
meant the angels.
Lucifer
aspired to be like God.
“I will sit also
upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I
will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:13b-14). Lucifer
(also later known in the Bible as the “red dragon,” old
serpent,” “Devil,” and “Satan”) wanted
to be like God. As such, he would have his throne in the northern
section of the heavens.
The
angels were divided.
“And there appeared another wonder in
heaven; and behold a great red dragon,
having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of
heaven, and did cast them to the earth…” (Revelation 12:3-4b).
Lucifer
(in the form of a “red dragon”) seduced one-third of the angels (“stars”) to join him and leave God.
Two-thirds of the angels remained in heaven, faithful to God Almighty. (This is our first clue to the number
of angels.)
War
in heaven.
Hostilities broke out between the two groups
of angels in the celestial realms. “And there was war in heaven: Michael and
his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels…” (Revelation 12:7).
The
dragon (Lucifer or Satan) and his angels (1/3 of the stars) battled against the archangel Michael and the angels
loyal to God (2/3 of the stars).
Unfaithful
angels expelled.
The rebellious angels were defeated. “And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in
heaven. And the great dragon was
cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth
the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:8-9).
Northern
sky devoid of stars.
It looks like most of the fallen angels used to be
in the northern part of the sky. Job noted, referring to God: “He stretcheth
out the north over
the empty place…” (Job 26:7a).
Science
magazine reported on November 27, 1981: “The recently announced ‘hole in space,’ a 300 million-light-year-gap in the
distribution of galaxies, has taken cosmologists by surprise. But three
very deep core samples in the Northern
Hemisphere, lying in the general direction of the constellation Bootes,
showed striking gaps in the red shift
distribution.” The northern part of the sky is almost empty!
Destroying
angels from heaven.
At the end
of the world, God will send His faithful angels to destroy ungodly people on
earth. “I have commanded my
sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness… They
come from a far country, from the end
of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy
the whole land. Howl ye; for the day of
the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty…
“For the stars of heaven and the
constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in
his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil,
and the wicked for their iniquity…” (Isaiah
13:3, 5-6, 10-11a). The sun, moon, and stars will be dark when the angelic army
arrives from heaven.
Day
of the LORD.
The army of
destroying angels from heaven will come on the Day of the LORD. “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound
an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is
nigh at hand;
“A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of
thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong;
there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to
the years of many generations.
“A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame
burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a
desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance
of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run” (Joel
2:1-4). God’s angels
who will destroy the earth and its ungodly
inhabitants will look
like horses and horsemen.
200
million horsemen.
The
apostle John learned how many the horsemen will be. “And the number of the army of the horsemen were
two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
“And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat
on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the
heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued
fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by
the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths” (Revelation 9:16-18). The horsemen from heaven will slaughter one-third of the world’s
population.
They will
number “two hundred thousand thousand” (200,000,000) – 200 million! This reveals to us the total
number of all the angels.
Number of angels
|
1/3 of the angels joined Satan |
|
|
2/3 of the angels stayed with God |
|
|
Angelic army from heaven |
200 million |
|
If they are the 2/3 of angels who remained
faithful to God, then… |
|
|
1/3 of angels who joined Satan |
100 million |
|
Therefore, the total number of angels - |
300
million |
A
round figure?
The original
and total number of angels, however, does not seem to be a round figure. We
read in a veiled prophecy of types in the first book of the Bible, Genesis:
“And when Abram
heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen,
and pursued them unto Dan. And he
divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote
them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus” (Genesis 14:14-15). Let us analyze the
prophetic passage.
In
this actual Biblical incident that was also a hidden prophecy, “Abram” is a “type” representing God; his
318 “servants”, the angels; “his own house”, heaven; that “he divided himself… and his servants”
was a hint that the angels would be divided.
Hence,
it looks like the original and total number of all the angels is actually 318
million.
Eliezer
– God’s helper.
The 318 number is confirmed in the name of Abram’s
head-servant. “And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go
childless, and the steward of my house is
this Eliezer of Damascus?” (Genesis 15:2).
The
name of Abram’s head-servant, “Eliezer”
(a compound word made up of El,
Mighty [God]; ezer,
help), means “help of God” or “God’s help.” The angels are God’s helpers.
The
gematria or numerical value of the Hebrew
letters of the name “Eliezer” apparently confirms that the more exact total
number of all the angels is 318 million.
Eliezer = 318
|
Hebrew |
Letter |
Sound |
Value |
|
Aleph |
A |
E |
1 |
|
Lamed |
M |
L |
30 |
|
Yod |
J |
I |
10 |
|
Ayin |
S |
E |
70 |
|
Zayin |
G |
Z |
7 |
|
|
.. |
E* |
- |
|
Resh |
Y |
R |
200 |
|
|
|
|
318 |
*Indicated by vowel points only
Excerpted from book Angels & Men and the booklets The Angels and You and Spiritual Warfare by M.M. Tauson. Printed copies available at Amazon.com – For free pdf copies of our e-booklets, click the Booklets and/or Google Drive tabs on the menu bar.
Bible quotations are from the King James Version (KJV) unless otherwise indicated.
