Are Angels Real — and Can They 'Appear as Ordinary Humans?' Billy Graham's Biblical Response

The Rev. Billy Graham said in his "Answers" series that he believes that angels "exist in great numbers" and sometimes "appear as ordinary humans" when asked about the spiritual beings that are mentioned throughout scripture.

A reader sent in the question, which read, "What do angels look like? Do they look like the pictures we see on Christmas cards? Or are they even real? I've always been curious about this," to which Graham responded, "Yes, angels are real — just as real as you and I are."

Photo credit: Shutterstock

The 97-year-old evangelist went on to say that angels are "largely unseen," despite existing in "great numbers," citing Hebrews 12:22, which reads, "But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly," as well as Luke 2:13, which references a "great company of the heavenly host."

Graham differentiated angels from humans by noting that the former are strictly spiritual and do not have physical bodies, explaining that they work in "hidden ways" to carry out God's will and to protect believers; angels, he said, regularly fight Satan and his associated evils.

"On occasion they can appear as ordinary humans, or even as glorious celestial beings that reflect the majesty of God," Graham wrote. "When God gave the prophet Isaiah a vision of His glory, His throne was surrounded by angels of great splendor and power: 'At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook' (Isaiah 6:4)."

Photo credit: Shutterstock

Graham concluded by telling readers that we are not intended to worship the angels, as God, alone, should be the sole focus of such acts, writing that "some day in Heaven we’ll realize just how much they’ve done for us, at God’s command."

Read Graham's complete response here.

--

Front page image via Shutterstock.com.