When Were the Angels Created?

Have you ever asked yourself the question, "At what point in eternity past did God create the angelic beings? Were they made before the earth or after? If they were made before, then how long before?

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Job 38:4-7

In the above passage, God tells Job that when He created the world all the morning stars sang together and all of the sons of God shouted for joy. "Morning Stars" and "Sons of God" are two terms which both refer to the angelic beings.

The implication of them singing while God was creating the world shows that the angels were created before the world. So then, if the world is around six thousand years old, how old are the angels?

We all know that God does not exhaust us with details throughout His Word. However, there are two passages that tell us not only when the angels were created, but the exact day!

"God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work..."  

Genesis 1:31-2:2

Who are the hosts that fill heaven and earth? Angels, humans, animals, etc. This passage tells us that all of the hosts were created within the six days of creation. Therefore the idea that they were created possibly millions of years before the world is not a Scriptural point of view. Another passage is...

"For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day..."

Exodus 20:11

Just in case the first passage was not clear enough, Exodus 20:11 establishes for us the fact that God made everything that exists in creation within the six days of creation. Not only did He make heaven and earth and the sea, but it says that He made all that is within them (i.e. all the hosts).

 

Therefore, because the angels were created before the earth yet within the creation week, we can be confident that the exact day the angels were created was on Day 1 just before God began creating the world. The angels, as far as we know, were His very first creation ever in all eternity past.