When did God create the angels?

Trying to determine when God created the angels is tricky because anything God did before the foundation of the world puts the event outside of time itself. Time and space are characteristics of our created world, not God’s uncreated existence. He is not limited by hours, days, and years as we are. In fact, the Bible tells us that “with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8).


We do know that God created the angels before He created the physical universe. The book of Job describes the angels worshiping God as He was creating the world. God asks, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? . . . 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 this passage, the “morning stars” and “sons of God” are references to angels.

If we consider the function of angels, we might conclude that God created the angels just prior to the creation of mankind because one of their duties is to be “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). We also know that angels existed prior to the garden of Eden, because Satan, who was formerly the angel Lucifer, was already present in the garden in his fallen state. However, because another function of angels is to worship God around His throne (Revelation 5:11–14), they may have been in existence millions of years—as we reckon time—before God created the world, worshiping Him and serving Him.

So, we don’t know specifically when God created the angels. It was sometime before the world was created. Whether this was a day before, or billions of years before—again, as we reckon time—we cannot be sure.