_2 Sam. 14:20_—“_wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God_”; _Luke 4:34_—“_I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God_”; _2 Tim. 2:26_—“_snare of the devil ... taken captive by him unto his will_”; _Rev. 22:9_—“_See thou do it not_” = exercise of will; _Rev. 12:12_—“_The devil is gone down unto you, having great wrath_” = set purpose of evil. (_d_) They are possessed of superhuman intelligence and power, yet an intelligence and power that has its fixed limits. _Mat. 24:36_—“_of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven_” = their knowledge, though superhuman, is yet finite. _1 Pet. 1:12_—“_which things angels desire to look into_”; _Ps. 103:20_—“_angels ... mighty in strength_”; _2 Thess. 1:7_—“_the angels of his power_”; _2 Pet. 2:11_—“_angels, though greater_ [than men] _in might and power_”; _Rev. 20:2, 10_—“_laid hold on the dragon ... and bound him ... cast into the lake of fire._” Compare _Ps. 72:18_—“_God ... Who only doeth wondrous things_” = only God can perform miracles. Angels are imperfect compared with God (_Job 4:18; 15:15; 25:5_). Power, rather than beauty or intelligence, is their striking characteristic. They are “_principalities and powers_” (_Col. 1:16_). They terrify those who behold them (_Mat. 28:4_). The rolling away of the stone from the sepulchre took strength. A wheel of granite, eight feet in diameter and one foot thick, rolling in a groove, would weigh more than four tons. Mason, Faith of the Gospel, 86—“The spiritual might and burning indignation in the face of Stephen reminded the guilty Sanhedrin of an angelic vision.” Even in their tenderest ministrations they strengthen (_Luke 22:43_; _cf._ _Dan. 10:19_). In _1 Tim. 6:15_—“_King of kings and Lord of lords_”—the words “_kings_” and “_lords_” (βασιλευόντων and κυριευόντων) may refer to angels. In the case of evil spirits especially, power seems the chief thing in mind, _e. g._, “_the prince of this world_,” “_the strong man armed_,” “_the power of darkness_,” “_rulers of the darkness of this world_,” “_the great dragon,_” “_all the power of the enemy_,” “_all these things will I give thee_,” “_deliver us from the evil one_.” (_e_) They are an order of intelligences distinct from man and older than man.