My Unusual Journal
My Unusual Journal 29 - September 11, 2011, 12:46 PM
What Do We Know about Angels?
In the “My Unusual Journal” series I want to give you some of the knowledge I have learned from others of God and His creation. I admit candidly that I am not a theologian or even a good Bible scholar, but what I have learned from others I am obligated to pass on to you who will listen. The subject of angels is integral with the comprehensive knowledge of God. AJS
A Few Facts about Angels
In the beginning there was God – and for His own reasons He created 1) angels, including the ones that would later defect (Lucifer and his fellow fallen angels); 2) a cosmos, including an insignificant planet named Earth; and 3) a creature (Adam) to inhabit Earth; the creature was made in the image of his Maker.
In this space let’s look at item #1: angels:
Greek, angelos, “messenger”
Definition
Angels are created beings. They are the messengers and the representations of God’s Being and power. Like men, they all were originally pure and innocent. (Jude 6) Unlike men, however, they are spirits untrammeled by a body of flesh. They do not have physical bodies except as they assume them in dealing with humans. Also unlike men, they do not now have access to the freedom and perils of being free moral agents.
Angels Given a Choice
Somewhere in the untimed expanse of eternity God gave all His angels the choice of serving Him or not. When we read how God later presented man with two courses of action (see SIN), and then we look closely at Lucifer’s boast in the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah, we can get an idea of what the two choices were that God gave the angels. Consider this scriptural indictment of Lucifer:
“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! ...You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’” (Isa 14:12-14 NIV)
Later, when God presented Adam with the choice of serving God or not, God had said,
“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen 2:17)
The choice was simple; the command was clear: You may eat or not eat. Adam failed his test and death immediately began its work in him. Physical death eventually comes upon every man, but spiritual death and the “second death,” which is the lake of fire, were negated by the blood of Jesus Christ centuries later for those who accept Christ by faith. This redemption not only affected those who were born after Christ; it reached back to every person of faith since Adam.
In the choice given to Lucifer and the entire host of angels, we can assume from the scripture quoted above that God had said that they should not ascend the “sacred mountain.” They should not try to be equal with God. The choice was simple; the command was clear (as we infer from the Scriptures): “You may attempt to ascend or not ascend the mountain [there has never been a time when anyone, man or angel, could actually become equal with or superior to God], but, if you do, you shall die.”
The choice the angels made at that fateful moment was irreversible. We do not know all of God’s reasons for doing what He does, but it seems that their choice was made once for all because they had a much greater knowledge of God than Adam (man) had when he was created. The angels had seen firsthand the power and majesty of God in creation. They were closely associated with Him and were aware of the sacred mountain that God “inhabited,” the place where He chose to focus His mighty Being. It was the place where the ineffable Godhead spoke from His almighty triune Self and said, “Let us make man...”
Adam, in his time of decision, was granted grace to make mistakes and be forgiven because of his extremely limited knowledge of his Creator. The much fuller knowledge of God the angels had made their decision irrevocable. There was no reason nor room for error.
Out of this momentous time of decision came two separate camps consisting respectively of the host of good angels and the legion of fallen angels under the leadership of Satan who was known as Lucifer prior to his defection.
The Fallen Angels
Lucifer and all the angels he rallied around him failed their test: they rebelled against God. The end result is eternal perdition for the fallen angels. (The present chaos in the cosmos, the world and the lives of individual men and women is due only to Adam’s fall, not the angels’. This temporal result affects all men whether they have availed themselves of the salvation of God or not.)
“It is not because of the grace of God that fallen angels are not immediately cast into the lake of fire, which is their final destination. Angels do not know grace. The horrible, evil creatures who were formerly pure and upright, are allowed to operate with relative freedom because they serve a purpose. They perform a refining and purifying work in the children of God, and God will extract from these grudging demons all the glory and honor they have never intended to give Him.”
The devil has other names. In fact, he has numerous names. He has been called Lucifer, the Dragon, the Adversary, and Satan, to name just a few.
The word, "Satan," is translated from the Hebrew "Satan" and Greek "Satan" or "Satanas," meaning "adversary." In some scriptures the exact meaning of "Satan" is unclear. In many others there can be no doubt that they refer to the arch enemy of God and man, the devil.
Satan's Origin
Satan, of course, is a created being. He began his existence as a highly exalted angel. Read Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-17. These scriptures have caused considerable debate among Bible scholars. The one in Isaiah is undoubtedly addressed to the King of Babylon and the one in Ezekiel is directed to the King of Tyrus (Tyre). But there is evidently a secondary application in both instances. They refer respectively to "Lucifer" (day star" in Isaiah 14:12) and to a being who had "been in Eden the garden of God" where "every precious stone was thy covering." Ezekiel 28:13. The same passage continues (in the MLV):
"You were the anointed cherub with overshadowing [wings]. I placed you so that you were on the sacred hill of God, and you walked amidst flaming stones. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created till you were discovered doing wrong."
We know from the above scriptures and Matthew 13:19, 38, John 8:44, and I John 3:8, that Lucifer defected. The references to Satan in these scriptures no longer call him a perfect, beautiful creature. They now depict him as "the wicked one," a "murderer" and a "liar." This indicates clearly that Lucifer turned against God and he took a horde of fallen angels with him.
The Cause of Lucifer's (Satan's) Defection
"The nature of God does not lend itself to the idea that there are any rational creatures who serve Him by coercion. All the higher created beings, men and angels, have made or are making their own free choice. The entire original host of angels was once presented with the option of serving God or not serving Him. At that one time (that once only) they were vulnerable to "temptation" or being inclined toward making the wrong choice. Those who are now fallen angels made the wrong choice and entered into sin, a negative state diametrically opposed to all that is good and positive." (Taken from "Essays on Pentecostal Terms and Concepts."
The above statement is not a proven theory, but it is tenable because of what we know of the Scriptures and God and His ways of doing.
Satan's Reason for Being
God did not destroy Lucifer immediately upon his rebellion against God. But the reason God left Lucifer intact and mobile was not the same as the reason that He leaves rebellious man unscathed. With man it is the graciousness of God that spares him. That was not and is not why God suffers Satan to continue to plague mankind.
Satan has an important role to play in the divine plan for creation. Satan is here to test and to try man in a purifying process. Of course Satan doesn't view this as his reason for harassing mankind; he only wants to destroy him. But God always bends the evil purposes of the adversary to fit God's own will. God's chosen people have to be purged; they have to be tried in an ongoing purgative procedure. There are blemishes and imperfections that God wants removed from His holy vessels, and Satan is the unclean instrument that God uses to accomplish that end. When God is through with the unclean instrument He will discard it.
Demon-possession
Demon-possession springs from the longing of the fallen angels to inhabit a body. This in turn is prompted by the proclivity of the hosts of darkness to imitate everything that the Almighty does. There is no formula for exorcizing demons other than the "formula" of Jesus Christ.
"Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel."! (Numbers 23:23) The forces of darkness can direct no evil against the children of God without God's permitting it. Nor can a demon or devil inhabit one who has the Spirit of God within and who has an intimate relationship with God.
How Do We Fight This Wiser More Powerful Foe?
We cannot defeat him by cunning or self-confidence - Satan laughs at these. We can defeat him only by: 1) trusting in and using the Word of God; 2) drawing strength and wisdom from God in close communion with Him; and 3) removing ourselves from tempting situations and immediately rejecting evil thoughts.
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (James 4:7)
(In a separate post titled “Chart of Biblical References to Angels” I have listed the various titles/names of angels and where they are located in the Bible. It would be helpful to use the chart with this post. AJS)
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