The Number Of Angels Is Fixed

Those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage.
–Luke 20:35

While the Bible says there are millions of angels, it also says that the number of angels is fixed. That means no more angels are being created today, and no angels ever cease to exist.

The Bible says angels never die because they are eternal spirit beings. Hebrews 1:7 says, “In speaking of the angels [God] says, ‘He makes his angels spirits’” (NIV). Later in the chapter, the writer of Hebrews calls angels “ministering spirits” (1:14). Because angels are spirits, they never die. Not only that, but the Bible says the number of angels does not increase–that is, no angels are born or created. How do we know that? A good reference on that is Luke 20. In this passage, we see the humor of Jesus.

Luke 20 describes a day when a group of Sadducees came to pose a trick question to Jesus: “They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife, and he is childless, his brother should marry the wife and raise up children to his brother. Now there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless; and the second and the third married her; and in the same way all seven died, leaving no children. Finally the woman died also. In the resurrection therefore, which one’s wife will she be?” (Luke 20:27-33).

Instead of being stumped by the Sadducees’ question, Jesus basically said, “Well, that’s easy.” He said, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels” (20:34-36).

Jesus says it is very simple: in Heaven, we are going to be like the angels, who neither marry nor are given in marriage; they do not procreate. I can imagine Jesus smiling and saying to the Sadducees at this point, “I’m sorry; I forgot you guys do not believe in angels.”

By the way, notice Jesus does not say that when we die we become angels. Parents, do not tell your kids when they die they are going to become sweet little cherubs. That is not what the Bible teaches. We do not become angels when we die; we become much better than the angels.

Jesus said that in Heaven we are like the angels only in the sense that we do not marry or reproduce. That is how we know that angels do not increase in number. Every angel is a direct creation of God. That is why many times in the Bible angels are called the “sons of God,” because each angel was directly created by God.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “The Angels And You” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2018.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.