The Sunday Mail
WE are in the gradual process of discovering the real or biological father of Yahoshua the Nazarene. From the last two articles, we now have useful details about his grandmother (Hannah) and mother (Myriam).
In the process of seeking the real paternity of Yahoshua, we will do a detour so that we determine the identity of the announcer of his mother’s pregnancy.
Very critical in this determination, we need to first know about the concept of “angels” since an angel was said to have been the bearer of the message to communicate about Myriam’s pregnancy to both Myriam and Yosef, the husband.
According to the Etymology Dictionary, the English word “angel” was derived from 14th century Old English, “engel,” Old French “angele,” both from Latin “angelus,” itself from Greek “angelos/angaros.”
In the Strong’s Greek Concordance #32, this literally means “messenger, envoy, one that announces” from a higher authority. The word “angaros” is said to have been derived from “angram,” in Tamil, a language of southern India and Sri Lanka.
In Tamil it is a reference of a planetary body in the sky from which we have a winged humanoid messengers bearing messages and being announcers of future events.
Just like the Hebrew Scriptures (the “Septuagint”), the first ever written text of the Christian Scriptures was in Greek. The meaning of “angel” was therefore framed using Greek intellectual and mythological capital although the main characters in the narrative are Myriam and Yosef, who were Hebrews of Nazarene formation.
Therefore, we need to know if there was anything called an “angel” within the oral religious and cultural framework of Hebrews and the older civilisations of Sumeria (succeeded by Canaan, Akkadian and Babylon), Persia, India and ancient Egypt. These civilisations shaped and informed Judaism.
By translation, in Hebrew “a messenger/ambassador” is called “malach”(plural, “malochim”) and this is found in Strong’s Hebrew Concordance #4397. What kind of messenger was a “malach”? Early scriptural references in which an angel was a human being are in Genesis 16:7,13; 21:17; 19:1; 22:1,11-18.
Firstly, this means whenever the word “angel” appears in the Hebrew Scriptures, it is to be considered as a human messenger, “malach.”
In “Guide of the Perplexed,” Rabbi Maimonides of the medieval era, angels are human intelligences (natural and psychic forces) rather than humanoid beings (Guide 2:6) and that angelic attributes should be considered as figurative expressions (Guide 1:49).
Secondly, this means a “malach/malak” or angel is a force of nature, immutable law of existence or the cosmic law. These are popularly known as the seven Hermetic Principles – Mentalism, Correspondence, Vibration, Polarity, Rhythm, Cause and Effect, and Gender. These are associated with the ten divine attributes (“Sefirot”) or human conscious emotions as found in mystical Judaism.
Although the Greek Scriptures specifically mention three “angels”- Gabriel, Michael and Rafael, Enoch I provides that there are seven archangels – Gabriel/Gavriel, Michael, Rafael, Uriel, Jehudiel/Raquel, Sealtiel/Remiel, and Barachiel/Saraqael.
All the seven names have an “El” at the end and this is not coincidental.
“…We can draw a clue about angels: angels are men who are like the Divine. In other words, angels are enlightened human consciousness or intelligences.”
“El” (“Aleph-Lamed”) was chief solar deity of ancient Canaanite city-state of Ugarit. The root meaning was “Master” or “High One,” “Exalted.” El, Eli or Il is a Canaanite masculine reference and it means, “father” (Abba in Hebrew).
According to the Persian Zoroastrian cosmology, out of the Divine, “Ahura-Mazda,” there are six wonderful cosmic beneficent attributes (“Amesha-Spentas”) considered to exist (good purpose, best truth, desirable dominion, noble devotion, wholeness and immortality). These beneficent attributes are humanised as assistants, messengers, stewards and vicars all strengthened by the flame of the fire of Light, “Ahura-Mazda.” – Eloise Hart, Universal Life in Ancient Persia,’ July 2013.
From southern India, an “angel” is an astrological term in reference to the seven classical planetary bodies linked to the human body – Mercury (representing the Crown of a human being), Moon (Brow), Venue (Throat), Sun (Heart), Mars (Navel), Jupiter (Solar plexus) and Saturn (Root). These planetary bodies have magnetic influence that radiate all over the universe.
These planetary bodies are the basis of the seven days of the week – Sun (Sun-Day), Moon (Moon-Day), Mars (Tuesday), Mercury (Wednesday), Jupiter (Thursday), Venus (Friday) and Saturn (Saturday).
From these planetary bodies, there was a perception of an angel as a humanoid and flying winged creature whose physical features and language are those that resemble the scribes of the Hebrews at the material time.
This explains the pictorial representations of the angels, which in itself is a serious distortion.
In Reform Judaism, any reference to angels has completely been expunged from texts so as to simplify the language.
So from the above, an “angel/malach” is three things – a reference to humanised planetary effects, consciousness or a messenger. In human terms, an “angel/malach” was a human bearer of a “divinely” message from the Chief Priest.
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