More on Angels

Here is a good article on how angles were understood by first century Jews.

Angels In Judaism
Angels were the object of much discussion among Jews between 200 bc and 400 ad. Although some of what they believed was rooted in the Old Testament, a great deal of speculation also went into the writings of the rabbis.

First-century Jews believed that angels were the highest beings in creation next to God (who was thought to be surrounded by innumerable angels). The Jews were convinced that such angels were the primary instruments of bringing God's Word to men and of working out His will in the physical universe. Both the Hebrew and Greek words for "angel" simply meant "messenger" and were used as such in secular contexts (a military courier was called an angelos in Greek).

Many Jews believed that the angels acted as God's "senate" or "supreme council," and that God did nothing without consulting this council. These Jews interpreted the "us" in "Let us make man in our image" (Genesis 1:26) as a reference to the deliberations of the angelic council.

According to Jewish thought, God assigned to angels various tasks as operators of the universe. Two hundred angels controlled the movements of the stars. Another mighty angel managed the seas, while others superintended the frost, dew, rain, snow, hail, thunder, and lightning. Still others were the wardens of hell and torturers of the damned. There were even recording angels who in order to assist God in His future judgment of humanity—wrote down every word men spoke.

It was commonly believed that the Law of Moses was brought from God to Israel by angels. This was the primary reason why the Jews so revered them. They believed that the angels were actually the mediators of their covenant with God, and that the angels were charged with ministering the blessings of the covenant to them. It was in this context that the writer to the Hebrews set out to prove Christ's superiority over angels.