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ANGELS AND MINISTERS OP GRACE 243
firat century b.c. and culminated in the Talmuds of Babylon and Jerusalem in the fifth century a.D. As these
compilations, although nominally commentaries on the books of the Old
Testament, are almost encyclopedic in their character, they throw much
light on this subject. In a monograph of Kohut, entitled "Jüdische
Angelologie,"1 many extracts, belonging to an early period,
are given. Seven princes of heaven were recognized and among these four
were especially favored. They occupied a place near to the Throne of
Light and were bathed in its radiance. "We are told that "God
surrounded his Throne of Light with four angels: Michael, 'Who is like
God?' at the right; Gabriel, 'Might of God,' at the left; Uriel,
'Splendor of God,' before it; and Eaphael, 'Salvation of God,' at the
west" (Numeri Babba, c. 2).2 They represented various
attributes of the divine: Michael, goodness and mercy; Gabriel,
punitive justice; Uriel, the majesty of God, and Eaphael, his
providence. Michael and Gabriel are particularly prominent and are
called Royal Angels __; they have es-
pecial
care of Israel. Äs we have seen, Michael was singled out by Daniel and
he was commonly regarded as chief prince. Gabriel was looked upon as
the avenger and the executor of divine judgments and occupied the next
place, while Uriel and Raphael are less frequently alluded to, although
the latter appears prominently in the Book of Tobit.
In
the New Testament, also, Michael and Gabriel are evidently regarded as
the chief angels, and Revelation places Michael at the head of the
hosts of the good angels in their conflict with Satan and his
followers. We can see in the Gospels how widespread was the belief in
demoniacal possession, and in the existence of evil spirits ; it was
almost inevitable that the aid of good spirits should be invoked to
'Leipsic, 1866.
' Kohut, loc. cit., p. 25.
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