No. It is sometimes said in funerals, especially if the funeral is for a small child, “There is now another angel in heaven.” But there is no evidence in scripture that any person becomes an angel upon death, and in fact the scriptures teach otherwise. This myth that departed humans become angels is very popular with today’s entertainment industry, and numerous movies and television programs  have been made with  this theme. Often a person supposedly goes to heaven, but must come back to earth to perform some good deed, in order to earn his “angel wings,” or some such thing.  These ideas come from man’s imagination, not from God’s revelation!

Angels are created beings, separate and apart from human beings. The psalmist said, “Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. … for he commanded and they were created” (Psalm 148:2, 5). Not only were the angels created, they were apparently created before the foundation of  the world. Job 38 speaks of the creation of  the world, when “the sons of God (or angels) shouted for joy” (Job 38:7). Nehemiah wrote, “Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein” (Nehemiah 9:6). That heavenly host which worships God is made up of angels.

We know that men, good and evil, can and do die. Jesus told the story of  Lazarus the beggar in Luke 16. “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22). Lazarus died, but he was still Lazarus, and did not become an angel. Instead, he was carried to Paradise by angels. 1 Corinthians 15 clearly teaches the resurrection. Paul writes, “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:51-53). The Bible teaches resurrection. If men become angels at death, it would not be resurrection, but reincarnation.

Angels are a distinct creation of God. They are neither divine, nor human, nor animal. The first chapter  of Hebrews emphasizes the fact that Jesus as God was above the angels. Christ “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they” (Hebrews 1:3-4). But because of His love for man, “We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Hebrews 2:9).