Angels come from heaven and were created by God. They are either messengers from God or fallen angles, punished to earth and awaiting judgement with no hope of redemption. As messengers and servants of God, how do they communicate with mankind? There are a lot of writings on angels but what does God's Word make known about angles? In this article we will look at how angles interact and communicate with mankind.
Rev 9:11 records a hierarchy of fallen spirits with an actual name in human language. In 2 Kings 1:2; 16 we see the name of another chief fallen angel and even could be another name for Satan of whom communicates through the language of that culture.
Angels from God, such as Gabriel, which means 'man of God' appears to people as a man and speaks to them in a real intelligible language of that culture as well. In Daniel 8:16 and Daniel 9:21 he uses his man-form and intelligible language in a dream and in person. In Luke 1:19; 26 we see Gabriel sent to relaying intelligible messages in real human languages in person. Jude 9 records the chief created angel, Michael, debating with Satan using a real human language. Jesus himself spoke a real intelligible language to Satan in Matthew 4:10 and those whom were possessed by Demons, replied to Jesus in real intelligible languages.
From all that is revealed about how angels communicate we see that they can speak the language of the culture they are sent to. Even in dreams they still speak the known real intelligible language.
What about "Tongues of Angels" in 1 Cor 13:1?
First, understand there is zero references to a heavenly language in all of scripture. Second, 1 Cor 13:1, when correctly understood is this: "having the ability to speak with “divine eloquence.” As one well-known Bible scholar put it, “Paul is simply saying that, were he to have the ability to speak with the skill and eloquence of the greatest men, even with angelic eloquence, he would only become a noisy gong". Also read our article Tongues of Angels.
Fluid Babbling
Some will claim they have experienced 'a heavenly language' and heard it for themselves. First, truth is not based on how you feel or your experiences. That is the first biggest mistake. Second, Fluid semi-pattern babbling is not proof of anything other than it being babbling. In fact, if it is not a real intelligible human language, in contradicts what is recorded in scripture. That is not how angels spoke. That is not how the Apostles spoke at Pentecost, and that is not how Jesus sounded when speaking to Satan. All of these are recorded in scripture.
Conclusion
Angels, of God or fallen, all spoke in a real understandable language of the culture they were sent to and were in. There is nothing in Holy Scripture to justify otherwise. If an angel came to someone who spoke English, the angel would speak English. If an angel came to someone who spoke Arabic, the angel would speak Arabic. There are zero proofs for a 'heavenly language' from God himself in scripture.