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Fallen Angels
In The Bible

Dark, powerful, invisible creatures roam this planet and our neighbourhoods, maliciously desiring to bring pain and destruction to every human in their path. Who are these mighty, menacing spiritual beings, and how can frail humans stand against their cruel onslaught?

These malevolent beings began life as beautiful and pure angels delighting in worshipping and serving God. Quite possibly, they were the worship choir making the most exquisite and harmonious music ever heard in heaven or earth. Their choirmaster, the archangel Lucifer, led them in a rhapsody of praise that delighted the heart of God and enthralled all who heard them.

What happened? How did these pure and holy beings morph into the evil, treacherous demons of today? It began with their leader, Lucifer. As he led the worship of God, he began to contemplate his own beauty and talents. Discontent began to grow in his heart. He became dissatisfied with being a creature. His heart began to think he was as great or even greater than God. Then, he decided to take action. Driven by blind pride, he thought he could dethrone the Almighty.

How Many Fallen Angels Are There?

Now, we must understand something about the nature of angels. Unlike human beings, they were created as a fixed number. What multitude God created at the beginning is the same number we have now and will have in the future. Angels cannot die, nor are there any new angels getting their wings. Neither are angels redeemable. When Lucifer presented his proposed rebellion to replace God with himself, each angel had to choose loyalty to God or rebellion. Whatever choice they made, they are locked into for eternity. There are no new fallen angels, no new good angels, and no moving between the two forces. They are now what they forever will be.

Most theologians believe that one-third of the angels decided to follow Lucifer in his ill-fated attempt at godhood. These corrupt beings waged a war in heaven, ignorant that God could effortlessly have defeated them Himself. However, God did not dignify their vain imaginations by Personally responding. Instead, like on earth, He chose to respond through His representatives, in this case, the loyal angels.

The Cosmic War

A cosmic war that shook the universe raged between the mightiest beings ever created. Our puny imaginations cannot begin to do justice to this epic conflict. Nevertheless, in the end, Lucifer and his angels were cast out of heaven and fell to earth, becoming Satan and his demons.

An intense hatred of everything God loves drives this vicious hoard to wreak devastation across the world. And what does God love most? His redeemed human creation. Christians. While we are the special object of God’s attention and affection, we are also the target of vicious, powerful beings who would love to rake their claws through us physically, emotionally and spiritually. Their one goal is our destruction. When the warrior angels won the war in heaven, their job was not over. The battle shifted to Earth, with human beings caught in the center of this mighty conflict.

Among Christians, some consider themselves demon hunters, eager to cast out demons. But beware, while faithful Christians, who know who they are in Christ, do not need to fear the demonic, Jesus and the apostles set an example: they didn’t look for demons. If a demon-possessed person came to them or was brought to them, they cast out the demon. If a demon interfered with their work for God’s Kingdom, they dealt firmly with it. Jesus was well aware of demons in the crowds He taught, but He never addressed them unless they initiated contact. Remember that demons do not die. If they are cast out of one place, they go to another. Hear the warning of Jesus in Matthew Chapter 12, Verses 43 - 45: "When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final conditional of that person is worse than the first.”

How can we stand against such overwhelming power and hatred? We will discover that later, but for now, we need to understand more about these fallen angels and how they operate.

Unlike God, Who is omnipresent, Satan and his demons can be in only one place at a time. Very few people in the history of the world have met Satan personally or are likely to. He operates a kingdom with divisions and levels of authority and responsibility. He must work through his representatives. God chooses to work through representatives; Satan has no choice. To be effective, he must steal God’s principles of organization, diligence and authority. As C.S. Lewis has pointed out, there is no such thing as original evil. Evil is simply something good turned from its true purpose.

The Clock Of Doom

Every demon on the planet has a sense of a ticking clock. They know their time is limited, and their doom is certain. Listen to what the demons cried out to Jesus in Matthew Chapter 8, Verse 29: “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”

A false image has been planted in the minds of many people of Satan and his demons ruling in Hell. Since fallen angels cannot die and God will not allow them to roam His universe, wreaking their destruction forever, Hell was designed as a prison where they will face the just unrelenting anger of God forever. Just as Heaven is perfect pleasure, Hell is perfect punishment. Human beings were never intended to go there, but any who do not forsake their rebellion against God by turning to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour will join the demons in their eternal chains of suffering.

Demon Manifestations

The standard operating procedure of these fallen angels is so subtle that most people do not recognize it. Before we expose that, however, let’s look at some of the more dramatic and terrifying ways that demons can operate. Usually, this level of demonic activity does not occur in a person’s life unless they open the door by dabbling in witchcraft or giving of themselves to pursuing unrepentant sins such as pornography. Whether done deliberately or ignorantly, it is an invitation to unimaginately evil beings.

Demon possession is a real thing, although there are different levels of “possession,” and no one is ever totally possessed in the sense that they have absolutely no control. Consider Jesus and the man possessed with a “legion” of devils in Mark Chapter 5, Verse 2 and 9: “When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him…’My name is Legion,’ he replied, ‘for we are many.’” [By the way, this is the ONLY time Jesus or the apostles ever asked a demon its name.]. Notice this man was as “possessed” as possible, yet he could still come to Jesus for help.

Some grieving people are deluded into thinking that they can communicate with deceased loved ones. Often, this is fraudulently done by a skillful deceiver, but sometimes, it is an actual spiritual encounter. Demons have existed for all of human creation and observe everything. They know what was said secretly between two people that no other human knows. Mimicking a human voice is child’s play to them. Only God can bring back the real spirit of a person who has died, and He has forbidden communication with the dead.

Similarly, many alien abduction stories are fabrications or deceptions. However, there are some genuine encounters. These encounters are not with friendly or hostile aliens as conceived in popular culture. When all the superficial trappings have been stripped away, these are demon manifestations similar to what has been recorded throughout history. It is a modern mask on an ancient evil.

The Real Attack

While these are dramatic manifestations of fallen angels tormenting human beings, it is not their most deadly or common method of attack. Listen to this encounter between Jesus and Peter in Matthew Chapter 16, Verses 21 - 23: "From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of law, and that He must be killed on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke Him. 'Never, Lord!' He said. 'This shall never happen to you!' Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns'”

Just a few verses before Jesus had complimented Peter on a special revelation from God. Now, He calls him Satan. What happened? Satan whispered his thoughts into Peter’s ear, and Peter, thinking they were his own thoughts and following his cultural prejudices, tried to discourage Jesus from going to the cross. If Jesus had listened to his voice, all humanity would have been lost forever. But Jesus recognized the true source of the suggestion and harshly rebuked it.

The most significant impact the realm of fallen angels has on this planet is the art of deception and suggestion. This started in the Garden of Eden as Satan seduced Eve with his subtle ideas. Ideas which, when acted on, brought devastation, destruction and death to the physical creation on every level. It was just words. With words, God created, and with words, Satan destroyed—just words.

The overall strategy of the fallen angels has not changed since then—pleasant, charming, innocent-sounding, deceitful words. Many Christians who think they are accomplishing great things in spiritual warfare have already lost the only battle Satan cares about - their thought life.

Paul shares the secret to winning spiritual warfare in Romans Chapter 12, Verse 2: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will.

James explains the effect of this in James Chapter 4, Verse 7: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Over 90% of the spiritual warfare Christians engage in is between their ears. Our thoughts can have three sources. They can come from God, which is always good. They can express our own desires, which can be good or bad. They can be suggestions from the demonic realm, which may sound good but always have an evil end in mind.

Victory

A world of deception swirls around us. We were born into this world believing and acting on lies. How can we now discern the truth, especially when it goes against everything our mind and senses tell us make sense? From his teaching and understanding, Peter knew that the Messiah should not suffer but be a mighty Ruler. Yet He was wrong…dead wrong. How many beliefs that we hold dear and self-evident are based on lies and deception? How can we know?

The first step is repenting of our rebellion and sin, then accepting Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. It is then we step out of our old life and into a new life whether we feel anything or not. But our mind is not automatically renewed. It is a process which involves hard work and diligence. We must know the Word of God in context and be enlightened by the Holy Spirit. Then, we must begin to put it into practice in our lives, whether it makes sense or not. We reject every thought that rejects the Scripture or tries to explain it away.

We also reject the thought often humorously expressed as “The devil made me do it.” Before God, we are responsible for our choices and actions. Whether we are drawn away by our own desires or seduced by demonic whispers, the bottom line is the same. We are responsible to know and act on the Truth of God’s Word at all times. If things go south, no one is to blame but the person in the mirror.

Vital Courses

We have two courses to help you clearly understand what Biblical Spiritual Warfare is and how you can be effective in living a victory Christian life and expanding the Kingdom of God. These courses are: Practical Spiritual Warfare and The Power Of Praise And Worship. Both courses are by donation but require the purchase of a textbook.

Please note: We no longer have the commenting feature [maybe again in the future]. Joshua Institute students who have questions or comments on their courses can use the contact button and mention the course name and lesson number in the email. Thank you. Glenn

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Fallen AngelsIn The Bible