STAND FIRM: Biblical Foundation of the Unseen World: Fallen Angels vs Demons

      As I shared in the previous article, a few years ago I found that my view of the unseen world didn’t match that of the Bible’s original audience. I had formed my views on angels, demons and Satan from tradition and contemporary thinking rather than from what the Bible actually said.

      I believe it is important for us all to remember that we’re nearly 2,000 years removed from the close of Scripture and that in all aspects of the Bible, errors can surely creep into our understanding. In regard to the spiritual world, we must also recognize that modern Western society has abandoned the supernatural and tries to explain everything through reason and science.

      Through Stand Firm, I’ve been teaching on this for the last couple of years and, as you may feel as well, I’ve heard how all this angel talk gets into some weird views and ideas. I get it, and it does, but we Bible-believing Christ-followers already espouse some wild supernatural beliefs. Though in our modern society, we may have shrunk back from how we view the spiritual world, we still proudly speak of God becoming man, Jesus being born of a virgin, Jesus resurrecting from the dead, Jesus spending 40 days in a resurrected body on earth and that believers have the Holy Spirit indwelling in them. The normalthings of Christianity aren’t rational. We can’t deny the supernatural work of God. Though the modern world has become more refined, the supernatural unseen world hasn’t ceased from what it was in the time recorded in the Bible.

      If we’re removed from the foundation of the first audience of the Bible, then what was the foundation of the unseen world they had? Over the next few weeks, I want to share that foundation. I’ve decided to start with the question I was posed that led me to reevaluate my views.

      Before I pose that question, I have another question to pose — if you had to describe the angelic world to someone what would you say? What is the foundation of your views on the unseen world? Scripture gives us only glimpses into the unseen world. We’re not always given a full explanation of this world, but some passages give greater insight than others. When we slow down and think through those verses, they can easily challenge our views.

      In Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul taught about spiritual warfare. In the process, he gave insight into the spirit world: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12). In this passage, notice that Paul pulls the curtain back on the unseen world and shows there are either different entities or an hierarchy within the spirit world.

      We see this same reality in the Old Testament because when we encounter celestial beings in the text, they’re not all the same. We have the wild beings seen by Isaiah and Ezekiel. We have the celestial warrior army seen by Elisha and his servant. We have celestial beings that have the appearance of men as seen by Abraham, Lot and Daniel. Different names are given to the types of celestial beings in the Old Testament — seraphim, cherubim, princes, sons of God and messengers.

      I share that passage and the names of celestial beings in the Old Testament to point to the fact that there is a lot more going on in the spiritual realm than our views typically suggest. That should push us to dig more. That question I was asked did that — “Are fallen angels and demons the same?”

      Immediately I responded, “Yes!” I did so because my view was that there were good or bad angels and that a third of the angels left Heaven with Satan before creation. Those angels who went with Satan were fallen angels and/or demons. They were the bad angels and the rest who didn’t are the good angels.

      The person posing the question pushed further by challenging me to read the biblical accounts of angels and demons. I did and it challenged my view. I challenge you to do the same. As I read those accounts of angels and demons, I found they were drastically different. First, there weren’t any accounts where the two overlapped nor were the terms used interchangeably.

      Secondly, there was a stark difference in that angels appeared on their own and in their own form. That may have been the wild appearances of the seraphim and cherubim, with animalistic-looking heads, many wings and eyes all over the wings. Others had the appearance of men. Each time angels, good or bad, were seen, they had a physical presence. Physical isn’t the right word because they certainly are spirit beings, but they had a describable form. They also existed on their own while on the other hand every time we encounter a demon in the Bible, they are possessing a host or traveling to a host. There isn’t an account where a demon stood in its own form.

      There were many accounts of Jesus casting out demons, but there is no account of an angel being cast out. Demons appeared to be spirits, while angels, though functioning in the spiritual realm, appeared to have some type of physical form.

       These were only some of the differences between the two. When I dove into “fallen angels,” there were even more differences with demons. Most fallen angels in the Bible are bound.

      Are you seeing the difference? For me this was a cracking point and it pushed me to dive in more, and I hope you will also. Over the next few weeks, I will share what I have come across so far.

         — Jake is a state missionary and would love to share about the work in Northwest Arkansas and encourage your church to stand firm. (standfirmministries.com)