Who are the “Angels” Jesus is Writing to in Revelation Chapters 2 and 3?

In Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus sends seven letters to seven churches. The letters are addressed to the angels of those seven churches. The angels were represented in chapter 1 as being seven stars Jesus is holding in His right hand. Seeing as the word “angel” means messenger, and Scripture speaks of both heavenly beings and humans as being “angels,” are we to understand these seven stars as being heavenly beings who have oversight over each church, or as the humans who pastor the churches? 

 

It would make sense for Jesus to send these letters to the pastors of the churches. However, the vast majority of the time the Bible uses the word angel, it refers to heavenly beings. The word refers to humans only 8 out of 290 times. And every time Revelation mentions an angel, besides here in chapters 2 and 3, it’s clearly speaking of a heavenly being. The overall probability and the context of the book, therefore, tells us that these seven stars, the angels of the seven churches, are heavenly beings, not human leaders.

 

But do angels oversee churches? Daniel 10:13, 20-21 seems to infer that angels have some supervision or influence over nations.

 

Daniel 10:13, 20-21 – [The angel Gabriel speaking:] “But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia”…So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come; but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me against them except Michael, your prince.)”

 

Jesus says in Matthew 18:10, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.”

 

When an angel let Peter out of prison, Peter’s friends didn’t believe the servant girl who said he was at their door. Acts 12:15 - “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

 

These verses are we where we get the idea that people have guardian angels. Angels are in some sense entrusted with protecting individual humans.

 

Other passages of Revelation tell us that certain angels are in charge of things on the Earth, such as the Euphrates River, or the four winds. Revelation 2 and 3 may be telling us that angels oversee churches in some way. If so, think about what it means for your church to have an angel overseeing it.

 

The letters to the churches are a mix of commendations and warnings. Why would Jesus give angels warnings? Aren’t angels perfect in their service to God? Lucifer was a heavenly being who rebelled against the Lord. Others may have rebelled and had sex with human women before the Flood. Revelation itself teaches that Satan will sweep a third of the stars (angels) out of Heaven when he descends to the earth. Whatever we believe about these things, it is clear that some angels rebelled against God.  

 

2 Peter 2:4 - For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment…

 

Only God is perfect. Angels were made only a little higher than humans (Psalm 8:5). Like humans, angels have free will and are capable of serving the Lord to a greater or lesser degree. If angels are in charge of churches, they may need a stern warning from time to time.