The only Scriptural names furnished of individual angels are Raphael, Michael, and Gabriel.
The above information was attained from
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01476d.htm
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My questions are:
1) Where do God, Jesus, and The Holy Gost fit into this hierarchy?
2) What do humans become when we die, and where are we on the hierarchy of heaven when we die? Do humans have the ability to turn into, say, Principalities?
3) How does this hierarchy relate to the 2nd coming as described in Revelation?
Thoughts anyone?
There is no reference to Raphael in the Old or New Testament. The only angels listed by name are: Michael, Gabriel and of course Lucifer (or Satan as he is later referred to).
Scripturally it is clear that until his fall, Lucifer was the chief and thereafter that position is held by Michael. Gabriel is used for imparting very important news to humans such as to Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist and of course to Mary. Gabriel says to Zachariah, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God...' This would appear to make him a very important character.
Beyond that the heirarchy of angels is simply conjecture and the one you refer to is simply one of many different ones.
None of this is important to the message of scripture.
God is He who was, is and ever shall be, the Lord of all. There is none else who always was and always will be.
Angels are created spiritual beings. People are created physical beings.
There are indications that people have a status greater than angels (as have been quoted elsewhere). The fact that God came to live as a human certainly shows the great love of God for people but I think that too much concentration on the idea of people being of higher status than angels could be most unhelpful if not distracting.
When we die and are resurrected, we are resurrected with spiritual bodies. Exactly what that means (other than they are not physical) is not clear and again can only be conjectural. It is not important. It is with whom we are that is important not what we are like!
None of this has anything to do with the second coming except where certain characters are specifically mentioned such as Michael and Satan.
From a scriptural point of view and of relevance to people in the present, is that Satan is only an angel (a created being). Power wise he can therefore only be on a par with angels. There is no contest between God and Satan. God is outside of Satan's league and everything must take place in accordance with God's ultimate plan. Satan is a bit like Hitler in the last days in the Bunker. He can continue to do his worst for a limited time but he cannot win. He just does not have the power.
Regards,
Gordon.
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