From fiery seraphim to masked demons: The true faces of spiritual beings

For centuries, artists have depicted angels through paintings and sculptures. They usually have giant wings, placid, ethereal visages, and flowing robes. Sometimes they are male, other times female.

But is that how scripture describes them?

What we see in art is a far cry from biblical angels, says Rick Burgess, host of “The Rick Burgess Show” and "Strange Encounters."

Angels, he says, aren’t these haloed, feel-good spirits. They’re “a supernatural military.”

“There are different types of angels; there's different ranks of angels,” he explains. “There are times where they look like humans,” specifically “like males. … We never see anywhere in scripture that they appear in what we would call human female form.”

He points to Daniel 10, in which an angel appears before Daniel. The being has “the appearance of a man” and likely is the angel Gabriel, based on context from earlier chapters. Verse 6 tells us, “His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.”

The angel tells Daniel that he would have come sooner if not for a spiritual battle with the "prince of the Persian kingdom” — most likely referring to the demonic entity influencing the Persian realm — that waylaid him for 21 days. He tells Daniel that the archangel Michael, who he describes as "one of the chief princes," had to assist him to overcome this demonic opposition.

“Apparently in the ranking of the angels, this particular demon outranked the messenger angel,” Rick speculates.

Further evidence of supernatural hierarchy occurs in the book of Jude, when Michael and Satan have a dispute over the body of Moses. Unlike the battle mentioned in Daniel, Michael does not engage in direct confrontation with Satan but instead says, “The Lord rebuke you.”

As far as looks go, the appearance angels take in scripture is as varied as their rankings.

Many angels are so visually stunning that they have to remind humans not to worship them. Others appear as normal-looking human beings. In fact, in Hebrews 13, we are told to be hospitable to strangers because we can unknowingly entertain angels.

Other angelic beings, however, are very strange in appearance. The seraphim are described as having six wings and a fiery essence. The cherubim have four wings covered in eyes, and they move with wheels (also covered in eyes) that operate in perfect harmony.

If angels are this diverse in appearance, does that mean demons are too? Might they walk among us undetected? Or are they the red-skinned, horned fiends of legend?

“If it's possible that we've entertained angels and we did not know it, is it also possible that we've entertained demons and we did not know it?” asks Rick.

There’s a good possibility that they too are varied in appearance.

Rick has seen one variety himself. At a men’s conference a few years ago, he was mocked by a group of demons while telling the story of his son’s tragic death. To hear his harrowing tale, watch the episode above.

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