Heaven's Gates have Opened...
Race: Herald | HeraldArcana: Moon | Judgment
Alignment: Light-Law | Light-Law
November 6th, 2025
Support me on Ko-fi! | Join the discord! | Check out the Archive!
God speaketh through I, as though I am but a construct, He is my voice.
Why am I here?
When it comes to the creation of Angels, it's rather clearly stated that they were made far before God created the universe in Genesis. Angels have, by all accounts in most Abrahamic faiths, always 'been there,' so to speak. They are the direct servants of God, serving under Him and carrying out his bidding. This applies for almost every angel- even the seven Archangels are still servants of God, standing far below Him. So... why did I say almost? Well, as it turns out, there are two angels that break from this mold in a very unique way. Both of them were once human, became Angels, and are incredibly powerful in their own rights... and one of them, in some faiths, even stands right beside the almighty. Today's Angels of the Day are a pair of brothers who were not originally angels, but instead got there through their devotion; Metatron and Sandalphon, the Voice of God, and the Master of Song. Hallelujah.
The idea of a second figure who stands either beside or right beneath Yahweh is a very controversial idea, but it does have a lot of historical backing- albeit in only Apocryphal texts. First mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud as a scribe, the idea and name of Metatron is hard to pin down a source for; it can be roughly assumed that it was actually concretely established, though, in the Book of Enoch. This text, while non-canonical, contains basically all you'd wanna know about Metatron, but first, we need to talk about Enoch himself.
Enoch is, outside of his starring role in hit indie RPG OFF, a name with a lot of weight behind it. Enoch was, firstly, the name of the father of Methuselah, a man who, prior to the great flood, lived the longest life of any human, being 969 years. Enoch himself, though, in the original Book of Genesis, was described as 'walking alongside God,' leading many to believe that he didn't actually die once he reached 365 years old- perhaps, these people say, he entered Heaven alive. This idea of a man entering Heaven alive eventually led to the Book of Enoch being created, however- or, well, one of three. The initial Book of Enoch was followed up many years later by the following two, being Enoch 2 and Enoch 3, and Enoch 3 is where we want to look primarily for our purposes today. And don't worry, I'm not forgetting about you, Sandalphon. It's just that you're not mentioned as often so there's less of a segway for you
While the exact origins of the Books of Enoch are unknown, we can date them as being rather ancient- the first sections of Enoch 1 were dated to around 200-300 BCE, while the latest texts were still written around 100 BCE. While the Book of Enoch's first parts talk about the Nephilim, the rest of the parts take an episodic format of Enoch's own revelations regarding heaven and becoming a prophet, as well as his visions of God's own arrival on Mount Sinai to pass judgment on man. Remember that this was dated to before the great flood, in which God's judgment brought it upon the world. I won't recant the entire book because, well, it's a whole companion piece to the Bible itself, but the fact that Enoch got these visions is incredibly important to show that he caught the big man upstairs' eye. This is where we pivot a slight bit to the fact that mentions of a Talmudic figure similar to God have been prominent throughout history, especially during the Hellenistic period; while the idea of a 'holy trinity' is a mostly Christian concept, there was even precedence for the idea during the earliest times of the Abrahamic faiths. The figure of Metatron was already established in the Talmud at this point as one that has great importance ascribed to its name, as, in Exodus, it's said that God's name is 'in him (him being Metatron in this case)'.
This, alongside the idea that Enoch walked into Heaven while still alive, eventually led to the idea that Enoch was Metatron. But how? All of the Angels were formed by God before humanity was made, right? I'm not sure of the specifics (maybe he underwent a magical girl transformation), but the fact he entered heaven while still alive may give light to the idea of ascension. He ascended into an Angelic form, and then was given reign on Keter- the Crown of the Tree of Life. Yep, we're back at the Tree of Life, and this is also where we can finally talk about the underdog of this duo- Sandalphon.
Keter is, on the tree of life, understanding, humility, and divinity all in one; it is the divine, the farthest from our own world, Malkuth. However, as one of the highest layers, it was assigned two angels to watch over it: Metatron and Sandalphon. Sandalphon's origin is far less well documented, but it's said that he was once human, much like Metatron, being the prophet Elijah once, now ascended. The exact reference for this, I can't find, but it was probably tied to a lot of etymology stuff that, while I find interesting, is far too complicated to actually get into here. He stands beside God and Metatron, and is, for some reason, always insanely tall- typically around 500 feet. And by that I mean, it'd take 500 years to cross him by feet. Described as an angel that serves the crown by some sources, which directly ties him to Keter, he is primarily celebrated in Merkabah mysticism, which is where I need to make a distinction I forgot to mention earlier (oops).
All of this about Metatron and Sandalphon is their roles in Merkabah mysticism, one of the many branches of Judaism, and one that specifically studies the role of God and His throne. Curiously, in Kabbalistic literature that speaks of the two, they're both noted as presiding over Malkuth. In that way, they could be seen as God's eyes and ears for the world. And, in some even further traditions, Metatron presides over Keter, and Sandalphon presides over Malkuth, sending the messages of man to God through Metatron. Both of them are frequently overlapping with one another, but that does lend credence to the idea that they are both related. And, well, how else would they be related, if not the idea that they were both humans turned into angels? Boom.
The designs of both of the two are iconic in SMT, with Metatron being a personal favorite of mine. The idea of them as 'artificial' angels created by God out of humans is reflected very literally with their robotic designs, and I love how it also ties into the idea of both of them as siblings- one of Silver, possibly to show how Metatron is 'number two,' while Sandalphon is bronze, being the 'number three' to God. I could gush all day about them, but it'd probably mostly come down to me finding them cool, but hey... this is my blog. Fuck it. Time for me to yap. Sandalphon's bob-cut style explicitly ties into the idea that he is a far more effeminate angel, and the silver-and-gold design of Metatron is rather similar to the armor of the Crusaders, which is similar to his role in the series, being the righteous defender and protector of God. And, my favorite thing of all, Metatron's signature move, Fire of Sinai. A direct reference to Mount Sinai, which is where God appeared to cast judgment. And, while the exact location of Mount Sinai is unknown, the fact that it spits ash in the bible points to the idea that it's a volcano.
Metatron is using magma lasers.
