Fallen Angels
There are several very blasphemous doctrines held by well meaning Christians and one of them relates to the idea that at some time in the past and indeed, before the creation of mankind, many angels were cast out of heaven for rebelling against God, the chiefest of which was the Devil of mythical belief. This radical idea is taken from the words of Rev. 12:7-10, part of which is as follows:"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."
WERE ANGELS CAST OUT OF HEAVEN REALLY?
Whilst that sounds very simple and easy to understand and seems to indicate the truth of the theory of "angels being put out of heaven", there are two very simple reasons why such a blasphemous idea is simply not true. The first one really spells the doom of the idea, for the book of Revelation, from which the idea is derived does NOT substantiate the idea at all, for John was told as he was given the Revelation, in the first century AD, that all of it was a "Revelation of things which must shortly come to pass" (Rev.1:1). Thus to use this passage to prove an imaginary event before creation is a dismal failure.
The identity of this dragon is revealed in v.10, as the "accuser of our Brethren", the pagan Roman system which condemned thousands of Christians to death. Verses 7-9 merely reveal that paganism was replaced in the political 'heavens' by Christianity, imperfect though it turned out to be, with the diabolical ferocity of the Roman Catholic system trying again to kill the true believers down through the centuries.
HE COMMANDED ... THEY WERE CREATED:
The second reason why the commonly believed idea of the "fallen angels", is not true, is that it is obvious from Psalms 148:2-5, that angels were specially created as spiritual beings to serve the Lord (Yahweh) "He commanded and they were created" (angels ... hosts... sun... moon... stars... heavens... waters) and Jesus tells us in Rev 4:11: "THOU hast created ALL things and for thy pleasure they are and were created". The purpose of this special creation of angels by Yahweh is explained by the Apostle Paul: "Are thy not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Hebrews 1:14). It is not realistic to assume that He created bad angels as well as good ones. NO, He created perfect immortal spiritual beings, the like of which we hope to be when the Lord Jesus rewards those who have loved and served Him.
IF it was possible for angels to sin then what is the value of being made like unto the angels?. Why resist sin in this life supposedly secure in the hope that we will be made LIKE UNTO THE ANGELS (Luke 20:35), if we are merely exchanging one sinful nature for another? NO. that is not the case at all, for God created these pure spiritual beings to be in His presence and we are told by Habakkuk, "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity." (Hab. 1:13).
Thus it is quite clear that the angels in the presence of the Father were AND ARE, pure, sinless and immortal. Thus there could never have been angels thrown out of heaven for rebelling against the Father. It's an impossibility - it didn't happen.
CHAINS OF DARKNESS IS DEATH:
The Apostle Peter speaks of angels too: ".... if God spared not the angels that sinned but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into CHAINS OF DARKNESS, to be reserved unto judgement " (2 Peter 2:4), and Jude, obviously referring to the same matter, writes: "....the angels which kept not their first estate , but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting CHAINS UNDER DARKNESS unto the judgement of the great day." (Jude.v.6). Again, the casual reading of these verses will immediately imply to those looking for "proof" of their idea, that angels DID sin and were cast out of heaven . BUT, is this truly the meaning of the passages.?
Well, the first strange thing that meets your gaze in the verses is that, in the first one, the "angels" spoken of were cast down to hell, not to the earth, and they were placed in chains of darkness. In the second quotation, these same "angels" left "their first estate" and were then placed in chains under darkness. Job, David and Luke all make reference to "darkness", which they associate with death, and the language of Peter and Jude in the passages under review, imply that the "angels" spoken of were cast down , or sent, to hell, which is the Biblical term for the grave, and are bound by the chains of death awaiting the judgement day. These 'angels' are dead and buried in the grave; but in Luke 20:36 Jesus teaches that the supernatural angels do not die.
What then are these two Apostles talking about?
Careful Bible study shows that the word 'angel' means 'messenger' or 'representative' and is applied to humans in such passages as Mark 1:2. Luke 7:24; Luke 7:27; Luke 9:52; James 2:25. The 'angels' of 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude verse 6 were human representatives of God , who were evidently members of the Levitical priesthood in Israel.
KORAH'S REBELLION:
In Numbers 16:1-35, there is an account of a rebellion led by a Levite called Korah, supported by his family and by two Reubenites called Dathan and Abiram. As Levites, Korah's family were special representatives of God, Who expected them to do His work, teaching the Israelites and participating in tabenacle worship.
The rebels challenged Moses' and Aaron's right to be rulers over the Children of Israel, defying the authority that God gave Moses.
As punishment for this rebellion, God caused the ground to open up and bury them (Korah and his fellow rebels) deep underground in the darkness of death.
Num 16:32: "And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods.
Num 16:33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. (ESV)
This explains the term: 'chains under darkness' that Jude and Peter speak of. The rebels are still dead, awaiting the judgement day when Jesus the Christ will reward the righteous and punish the unrighteous.
WERE ANGELS CAST OUT OF HEAVEN REALLY?
Whilst that sounds very simple and easy to understand and seems to indicate the truth of the theory of "angels being put out of heaven", there are two very simple reasons why such a blasphemous idea is simply not true. The first one really spells the doom of the idea, for the book of Revelation, from which the idea is derived does NOT substantiate the idea at all, for John was told as he was given the Revelation, in the first century AD, that all of it was a "Revelation of things which must shortly come to pass" (Rev.1:1). Thus to use this passage to prove an imaginary event before creation is a dismal failure.
The identity of this dragon is revealed in v.10, as the "accuser of our Brethren", the pagan Roman system which condemned thousands of Christians to death. Verses 7-9 merely reveal that paganism was replaced in the political 'heavens' by Christianity, imperfect though it turned out to be, with the diabolical ferocity of the Roman Catholic system trying again to kill the true believers down through the centuries.
HE COMMANDED ... THEY WERE CREATED:
The second reason why the commonly believed idea of the "fallen angels", is not true, is that it is obvious from Psalms 148:2-5, that angels were specially created as spiritual beings to serve the Lord (Yahweh) "He commanded and they were created" (angels ... hosts... sun... moon... stars... heavens... waters) and Jesus tells us in Rev 4:11: "THOU hast created ALL things and for thy pleasure they are and were created". The purpose of this special creation of angels by Yahweh is explained by the Apostle Paul: "Are thy not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Hebrews 1:14). It is not realistic to assume that He created bad angels as well as good ones. NO, He created perfect immortal spiritual beings, the like of which we hope to be when the Lord Jesus rewards those who have loved and served Him.
IF it was possible for angels to sin then what is the value of being made like unto the angels?. Why resist sin in this life supposedly secure in the hope that we will be made LIKE UNTO THE ANGELS (Luke 20:35), if we are merely exchanging one sinful nature for another? NO. that is not the case at all, for God created these pure spiritual beings to be in His presence and we are told by Habakkuk, "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity." (Hab. 1:13).
Thus it is quite clear that the angels in the presence of the Father were AND ARE, pure, sinless and immortal. Thus there could never have been angels thrown out of heaven for rebelling against the Father. It's an impossibility - it didn't happen.
CHAINS OF DARKNESS IS DEATH:
The Apostle Peter speaks of angels too: ".... if God spared not the angels that sinned but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into CHAINS OF DARKNESS, to be reserved unto judgement " (2 Peter 2:4), and Jude, obviously referring to the same matter, writes: "....the angels which kept not their first estate , but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting CHAINS UNDER DARKNESS unto the judgement of the great day." (Jude.v.6). Again, the casual reading of these verses will immediately imply to those looking for "proof" of their idea, that angels DID sin and were cast out of heaven . BUT, is this truly the meaning of the passages.?
Well, the first strange thing that meets your gaze in the verses is that, in the first one, the "angels" spoken of were cast down to hell, not to the earth, and they were placed in chains of darkness. In the second quotation, these same "angels" left "their first estate" and were then placed in chains under darkness. Job, David and Luke all make reference to "darkness", which they associate with death, and the language of Peter and Jude in the passages under review, imply that the "angels" spoken of were cast down , or sent, to hell, which is the Biblical term for the grave, and are bound by the chains of death awaiting the judgement day. These 'angels' are dead and buried in the grave; but in Luke 20:36 Jesus teaches that the supernatural angels do not die.
What then are these two Apostles talking about?
Careful Bible study shows that the word 'angel' means 'messenger' or 'representative' and is applied to humans in such passages as Mark 1:2. Luke 7:24; Luke 7:27; Luke 9:52; James 2:25. The 'angels' of 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude verse 6 were human representatives of God , who were evidently members of the Levitical priesthood in Israel.
KORAH'S REBELLION:
In Numbers 16:1-35, there is an account of a rebellion led by a Levite called Korah, supported by his family and by two Reubenites called Dathan and Abiram. As Levites, Korah's family were special representatives of God, Who expected them to do His work, teaching the Israelites and participating in tabenacle worship.
The rebels challenged Moses' and Aaron's right to be rulers over the Children of Israel, defying the authority that God gave Moses.
As punishment for this rebellion, God caused the ground to open up and bury them (Korah and his fellow rebels) deep underground in the darkness of death.
Num 16:32: "And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods.
Num 16:33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. (ESV)
This explains the term: 'chains under darkness' that Jude and Peter speak of. The rebels are still dead, awaiting the judgement day when Jesus the Christ will reward the righteous and punish the unrighteous.
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