The Doctrine of Angels, No. 2

RV103-02

Then there is a new factor. He sees an innumerable host of holy angels surrounding the elders. John's vision is one of actual sights and sounds of things that really exist in outer space. This is one of the all-time great sight-and-sound shows of all human history. It is really there. John is not hallucinating, and he is not composing a fairy tale. What is recorded in the book of the Revelation is absolutely authentic, and it gives us perspective on the current direction of world events; national events; and, local events. What is recorded in the Revelation is true. This book, therefore, is of enormous importance to humanity today. It is of greater importance than at any other time in the history of the human race.

One of the things that caught John's attention and undoubtedly awed him tremendously, we read of in verse 11, where he said, "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands." This was myriads upon myriads, and thousands of thousands – an innumerable number of angels.

Angels

Demons

The Doctrine of Angels (continued)

1. Demons are Malicious Spirits

   Demons are unclean; they are sullen; they are violent; and, they are malicious spirits. In Matthew 8:28, we read, "And when He was come to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, there met Him two possessed with demons coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce so that no man might pass that way." Demons are violent creatures, and human beings who have come into contact with demons, particularly as they possess human beings, have been amazed to see the tremendous strength and power capacity (physical capacity) that the demons have.

   Matthew 10:1: "And when he had called unto Him His 12 disciples, He gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of diseases." Demons are by nature filthy. They are filthy creatures. There is nothing that is good; clean; wholesome; or, desirable about a demon. He is the filthiest of creatures imaginable.

   In Mark 5:3-5, we read, "Who had his dwelling among the tombs, and no man could bind him – no, not with chains, for he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones." The reason he was doing this is because he was demon-possessed. As a demon-possessed person, he had enormous physical strength, and he had an enormous capacity for self-violence.

   In Mark 9:20, we read, "And they brought him unto Him and when he saw him straightaway, the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed foaming." Demons do terrible, malicious things to human beings that they control.

   In Luke 9:39, we're told, "And lo, a spirit took him, and he suddenly cried out, and it tore him so that he foamed again, and bruising him hardly departing from him." Demons do great physical violence to the people they possess.

   So, demons are unclean; they are sullen; they are violent; and, they are malicious spirits.

2. The Holy Angels Communicate God's Revelation to Man

   The holy angels are the agents of divine revelation from God to man. This is one of the primary roles of angels – to be the agents that deliver communications from God to man. This is indicated, for example, in Daniel 8:19: "And he said, behold, I will make you know what shall be in the last end of the indignation, for at the time appointed, the end shall be. This is an angel being who is speaking to Daniel, giving him information.

   Daniel 9:21-22: "Yea, while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation, and he informed me, and talked with me, and said, 'Oh Daniel, I am now come forth to give you skill and understanding.'" Daniel had prayed and asked for information concerning the plan for the Jewish people now that the 70-year captivity period was over. The angel Gabriel was sent to give him information concerning the things that he wanted to know. So, angels are the agents of divine revelation.

3. Angels are Normally Invisible to Man, but can Make Themselves Seen

   Angels are normally invisible to man, but they can make themselves seen. One example of that is in Genesis 19:1: "There came two angels to Sodom at evening, and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom, and Lot, seeing them, rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground." Then verse 5: "And they called unto Lot and said to him, 'Where are the men who came unto you this night? Bring them out unto us that we may know them." These two verses indicate that the two personalities that came to Lot in Sodom, when Lot was living in that wicked city, were angels. The people of Sodom saw them, and to them, they appeared as men, and verse 5 refers to them as that.

   So, they may appear as human beings. Genesis 18:2 tells us that: "And He lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo, those three men stood by him. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground." Here is Abraham having the same experience. Three personalities arrive. He thinks they're human beings. Two of them are angels. One of them is the Angel of the Lord, which was the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ.

4. Holy Angels never Enter Animals

   Holy angels never appear in animal form; nor, do they appear as material objects. While they may cause animals to speak, but they do not enter animals.

5. When Visible, Angels Appear as Adult Males

   Furthermore, angels, when they do make themselves visible, appear as adult males. They never appear as females or children. So, all of these artists' pictures that you see of little baby cherub angels flying around are very wrong. Angels do not appear as little infants. Anybody who has ever had experience with babies would know that that is the case.

   In Genesis 19:1-2, you again have this indication of angels appearing as adult men, as well as in Daniel 10:8. Then in Hebrews 13:2, we read, "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware." Here they are appearing as human beings, and there have been cases in human experience where people have entertained strangers who are actually angels in disguise as human beings. That was the case with Abraham. That was the case with Lot.

6. Angels Appear as Clothed

   Furthermore, angels always appear clothed. Generally, they appear in the garb of the era. In Acts 1:10, we have the clothing of angels described: "While they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up (this is Jesus ascending), behold, two men stood by them in white apparel." The clothing that they wore was that which was comparable to what was worn in that day.

   Mark 16:5 says, "And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment, and they were amazed." Here's a robe-like garment on this young person – an angel appearing as a human being.

   A man who is in the charismatic movement recently wrote a book, and I heard him on an interview program. He was telling how one Sunday morning he was visited by a spirit being in his study before the service. And out of that evolved a long series of association with angels. The interviewer on the charismatic radio station was just beside himself with getting descriptions about the angels. Of course, if there was any apparition, it was not God's angels that were appearing – it was demon angels. God's angels are currently not appearing to human beings in that way. But it was kind of interesting that demons angels, who like to pretend that they are angels of light, also follow the same counterfeiting pattern to cover their tracks to do that which the good angels would do. He described that the angels that he saw all wore turtleneck sweaters. Of course, that would not be a biblical dress, but it certainly would be comparable with the principle that when they appear, they appear in the dress of people today. They probably wear blue jeans, and who knows what else. But in any case, when they do appear, they are always clothed in the clothing of the era.

   Sometimes the visual appearance of the angels is tremendously dramatic to those who observe them, and that would certainly be understandable. In Luke 24:4, we read, "And it came to pass as they were much perplexed about this, behold, two men (that is, two angelic beings) stood by them in shining garments."

   Angels, of course, on occasion do appear as themselves, and they are recognized as such. We have this in 2 Samuel 24:17 (angels appearing as themselves, and recognized as such): "David spoke unto the Lord when he saw the angel who smote the people and said, 'Lo, I have sinned, I have done wickedly,'" and so on. The angel that appeared there was very clearly recognized as an angel. He was not mistaken for a human being.

   In Luke 1:11-12, we have another example of angels appearing as angels: "And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. When Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him." The thing that troubled Zacharias was that he saw an angel, and he recognized him as an angel. Notice verses 28 and 29: "And the angel came in unto her (to Mary) and said, 'Hail, you who are highly favored. The Lord is with you. You are blessed among women.' When she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered in her mind what manner of greeting this should be." So, Mary recognized the angel as an angel.

7. The Names of Angels

   We have the names of some angels which are revealed in Scripture. One is Lucifer. This is the former archangel. He is also called the devil; Satan; and, Beelzebub (Isaiah 14:12, Matthew 4:1, Matthew 4:10, and Mark 3:22). In these verses, you find Lucifer referred to with his other names.

   The second name that we have is Michael, the current archangel and the commander of God's army of angels. He is referred to in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and Revelation 12:7.

   Then there is Gabriel, who is a special messenger of God. He is referred to in Luke 1:19 by name.

   Then there is Abaddon, which is the Hebrew. The Greek name is Apollyon. This is a demon who is in authority over the pit of the abyss, which probably is Hades. Revelation 9:11 refers to that. This is the place where Satan will be imprisoned during the millennium.

   So, we have these names of angels in the Scriptures. Beyond that, when you hear about other angels such as Rafael that artists come up with, those are inventions. Those are traditions of the Catholic Church. They are not scriptural angels. They are drawn from other sources.

8. Ranks of Power and Authority Among Angels

   There are various ranks of power and authority among angels. These are described as: archangels; thrones; dominions; principalities; and, powers. These are actually military-like ranks that angels possess, whether they are demons or holy angels. And along with each rank goes certain status and power capacities. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 says, "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel." Then Colossians 1:16 lists for us these other categories (other ranks): "For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created by Him and for Him." The Lord Jesus Christ, of course, created these angels and He gave them their various ranks of authority.

9. Other Terms for the Holy Angels

   There are other biblical terms which are used in the Bible for the holy angels. They are called "sons of God" in Genesis 6:2-4; Job 1:6; and Job 2:1. They are called "heavenly beings" in Psalm 29:1 and Psalm 89:6. They are called "holy ones" in Psalm 89:5-7 and Daniel 4:13. They're called the "heavenly hosts" in Luke 2:13, and just by the word "hosts" in 1 Samuel 1:11. All of these are variant terms that refer to the holy angels.

10. Other Terms for the Demon Angels

    In terms of the demon angels, there are also other terms referring to them. They are called on occasion "unclean spirits," as in Mark 1:23. They are also called "evil spirits," as in Acts 19:15.

11. The Duties of the Holy Angels

    The duties of the holy angels are varied. One: they have the duty to deliver announcements and to deliver warnings from God. For example, in Luke 2:9-11 is one of the great announcements of the human race delivered by an angel: "And lo, an angel of the Lord came upon them. And the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were very much afraid. And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.'" Here was the announcement brought to the shepherds out in the field. And the Bible has many, many examples of where angels perform the duty of bringing announcements from God to human beings.

    You have another example of that in Matthew 2:13, where their announcement is in the form of a warning: "When they were departed (that is, the Magi), behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, 'Arise and take the young child and His mother, and flee unto Egypt, and stay three until I bring you word, for Herod will seek the young child to destroy Him.'" So, here was an angel ministry of bringing a message in the form of a warning.

    Then angels are to guide and to instruct. We have an example of their guidance in Exodus 23:20: "Behold, I send an angel before you to keep you in the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared." The children of Israel, as they moved out of Egypt and moved through the wilderness, had an angel from God who was guiding them on their journey. This was one of the best tour guides that you could possibly have found.

    In Matthew 1:20, we have an example of their role of instructing: "But while he thought on these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream saying, 'Joseph, you son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.'" Joseph, the fiancé of Mary, needed some information. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to figure out this apparent problem of the pregnancy that had suddenly arisen with Mary, and the angel came and gave him the instruction he needed. That's one of the roles of angels.

    Also, angels are to guard and to defend. Here is one of the roles that you may be sure that they execute in behalf of us. They are dispatched as our guardians. Psalm 91:11: "For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you, and all your ways." This is the verse that Satan wanted to use to convince Jesus that He should jump off the pinnacle of the temple (abusing of Scripture). But the truth of the matter is that, indeed, God's angels are in charge of caring for those who are in the family of God.

    Then Matthew 26:53 says, "Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give me more than 12 legions of angels?" Now, what was the point of Jesus saying this? A Roman legion had something like 6,000 to 8,000 men. Jesus says, "I can call up with the snap of My finger 12 legions of angels." To do what? "To do combat. To defend Me if I need to be defended." Peter is trying to defend the Lord. The Lord says, "I don't need your help. I have all the forces available at My command." So, the angels have the role of defending.

    Furthermore, the angels are to minister to the saints in their needs, but they do not minister to unbelievers. Angels minister only to believers. Luke 22:43: "And there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him." Here it is a ministering to the person of the Lord Jesus as He is facing the imminency of crucifixion.

    In Hebrews 1:14, a verse that is very important to all of us, we read, "Aren't they (that is, angels) all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" Every day of our lives, angels are ministering to our needs. Every day of our lives, angels are standing in the way and protecting us. Every day of our lives, angels are opening paths to us that would otherwise be closed. Angels are causing things to fall together upon God's direction and command. They are constantly moving in behalf of service to us. There is a great, huge host from heaven which are simply our servants. And they are serving us in ways that only in eternity will we ever be able to find out.

    Angels are to assist in executing divine judgments. God uses them for this. This is one of the major roles they will be executing in the near future. Acts 12:23: "And immediately, an angel of the Lord smote him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten of worms and died." Here is the end of Herod, who was reveling in the fact that people were treating him like a god. The result was that an angel was sent to execute judgment on him.

    In Revelation 20:1-3, we see a great execution of angelic judgment: "I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the pit of the abyss, and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him 1,000 years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the 1,000 years should be fulfilled. After that, he must be loosed a little season." It is angels who will execute this. That is going to be a humiliation for Satan. Satan, who once was the commander-in-chief of all the angels, is going to be taken by one of the persons who was once under his authority. This is an angel, in fact, in the nature of the case, with lesser power, as well as rank, than he as an archangel possesses. That angel will, by God's authority, override Satan's authority in power level, and will be able to take Satan; place him into Hades; and, put him into chains.

12. The Angel of the LORD

    The Angel of the LORD (or "YHWH") found in the Old Testament was the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ. Many times in the Old Testament we have references to a special angel which is called the Angel of the LORD. In your King James translation, that is indicated for us by the fact that the word "LORD" is spelled out in capital letters, so we know that it's the word "YHWH," which sometimes is mistakenly translated as "Jehovah." Exodus 3:2 is an example of that: "And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And He looked, and behold," and so on. Here is Moses in the incident of the burning bush. The minute you see the expression "the Angel of the LORD," you know that this is the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ who has come on the scene. This is Jesus Christ before He took on His human body.

    You have other examples of that in Judges 13:20-22 and in Numbers 22:21-31. There is another one in 2 Kings 19:35: "And it came to pass that night that the Angel of the LORD (the Angel of 'YHWH') went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000. And when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead bodies." The Holy Spirit has a little humor there: they all woke up dead. This was the army of the Assyrians under Sennacherib who had been standing outside of Jerusalem, insulting and taunting the people of God and saying, "You can go talk to your God all you want, but we want you to know that this army has conquered every God that we have ever come across, and you are doomed." All the peaceniks hate this verse because here you have the Angel of "YHWH," the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ, who in one night slaughters in the encampment of the Assyrians 185,000 crack infantry troops. And as the Scripture says, the next morning, they all woke up dead.

    This is what the Lord Jesus Christ understands about how to establish peace. If you want to read the rest of the story, you will quickly observe that the thing that happened the next morning was that peace had been established. This is how you make peace in the world. You destroy your enemy so that he cannot make war; or, you are so capable of destroying your enemy that he fears to try to make war. Never in the history of the human race has disarmament ever prevented war. Never in the history of the human race has the attempt to restrict weapons ever produced peace. It is a fallacy; it is a fable; and, it is Satan working with the nuclear freeze ideas and so on in order to put God's client nation, the United States, under mortal jeopardy. So, this is the Lord Jesus Christ in a tremendous action before He took on a human body.

    As you read about the Angel of the LORD in the Old Testament, you discover that He has the attributes of deity. After the incarnation, the Angel of the LORD never appears again. Once the Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the Angel of the LORD passes off the scene. You will notice that the Scriptures sometimes speak in the New Testament about "an Angel of the LORD," but it is not "the Angel of the LORD." This is a very important distinction.

13. Angels Possess Great but Limited Power

    Angels possess very great but limited power. You get a great appreciation for the angelic hosts when you get some idea of the power of these spirit beings. In Revelation 18:1, we read, "After these things, I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power, and the earth was made bright with his glory."

    Psalm 103:20: "Bless the Lord, you His angels that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word." Angels have great power. And please remember that when we talk about these general characteristics of angels, they are true not only of the holy angels, but they are also true of the demon angels. That's why demon angels have such enormous capacities. For example, the angels were capable of releasing the apostles from prison. Acts 5:19: "But an angel (there it is an angel) of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said," and so on. Here the apostles were suffering persecution. They're put into prison. God sends an angel, and the angel has no trouble breaking into the prison.

    In Acts 12:7-10, we have another example: "And, behold, an angel of the Lord came upon him (this is Peter who is in prison), and a light was shown in the prison. He smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, 'Arise quickly.' His chains fell off from his hands." Just like that, an angel can perform the miracle of removing the chains: "And the angel said unto him, 'Gird yourself. Bind on your sandals.' So, he did. He said unto him, 'Cast your garment about you. Follow me.' And he went out and followed him, and he didn't know that it was true which was done by the angel, but he thought he saw a vision." Peter actually couldn't believe this was happening: "When they were past the first and second guard, they came unto the iron gate that leads unto the city, which opened to them of its own accord. And they went out and passed on through one street, and immediately the angel departed from him."

    It is very clear that angels have the capacity to execute prison breaks successfully with all that they need to remove chains; to open locks; to cause guards to be in a stupor; and, to walk out scot-free. Now, that is power. They do possess superhuman strength, as we have indicated. For example, 2 Peter 2:11 says, "Whereas angels who are greater in power and might (that is, than human beings) bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord;" that is against certain human authorities. Angels even respect that, even though angels themselves have super human powers.

    In 2 Thessalonians 1:7, we see angelic power again: "And to you who are troubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels."

14. Angels are not Omnipotent

    Angels have superhuman strength, and they have great power and capacities. Now, having said that, you must not think that they are omnipotent, because they are not. Angels are not omnipotent. Daniel 10:12-13 indicate that to us: "Then he said unto me, 'Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before your God, your words were heard, and I am come for your words. But the prince (angelic being) of the kingdom of Persia'" (the demon who is in charge of the kingdom of Persia). There is a demon creature who is in charge of every nation on earth: "The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days. But lo, Michael, one of the chief princes (Michael, an archangel), came to help me, and I remained there with the kings of Persia."

    So, what this angel was saying was that, "Daniel, your prayer was heard 21 days ago. We heard it in heaven. 21 one days ago, God dispatched me to bring you the answer concerning the future of your people, but the demon who is in charge of the nation of Persia was of a super rank (a superior rank) to my own, and He kept me from coming through. For 21 days, he interdicted me. Finally, Michael the archangel came through and enabled me to break out, and to come down here to deliver this message." So, that indicates that angels have limited powers. They do not have omnipotence. They are not divine.

15. Angels are not Omniscient

    Also, while they have tremendous intellects, they are not omniscient. 2 Samuel 14:17-20 indicate that. 1 Peter 1:12 is a good first for indicating that: "Unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, which things the angels desire to look into." Peter is referring to the fact that the information concerning the church, the age of grace, and all of these tremendous doctrines which have been delivered to the apostle Paul and to the early apostles were things that the angels did not know about. The angels themselves, as these things were revealed, were very much interested in learning about them. So, angels are not omniscient. Matthew 24:36 indicates that also.

16. Angels are not Omnipresent

    Furthermore, angels are not omnipresent. Daniel 10:12-14, that we just read, indicates that. They are at a certain place, and they can be stopped at a certain place.

17. Angels can Perform Miracles

    One of the things that angels can do, of course, is that they can perform miracles. This is one capacity that the demon angels are going to capitalize on in a great way in the final days of the earth's history. Genesis 19:10-11 indicate the miracle capacity: "But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them and shut the door." These men are angel beings. They are the two angels that have gone into Sodom to speak with Lot to warn him. The third angel, which was the Angel of the LORD, remained back, conversing with Abraham, who was trying to talk him out of destroying the city of Sodom, if there is anybody in there, down to at least ten people, who are righteous, to merit being that much salt to preserve the city.

    These angels who are at Lot's house pull Lot into the house because he is under attack by the homosexuals who want to get hold of these angelic creatures in order to practice their depravity upon them? Genesis 19:11 says, "And they (the angels) smote the men ... who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door." So, here you have the demonstration of the miracle-working capacities of the angels. They were able to strike the homosexuals blind who were outside of Lot's house.

18. Angels can Fly

    Furthermore, angels can fly. They never have to go to flying school. Revelation 8:13 says, "And behold, I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, 'Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth." and so on. The angels can fly. This does not, however, indicate that angels have wings. They are free of the limitations of gravity and of space and so on. They can fly.

19. Angels were Created in a Class above Mankind

    Angels were created in a class above mankind. Hebrews 2:6-7 tell us that. Angels, in category of creation, are superior to human beings. In Hebrews 2:6-7, we read, "You made him a little lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honor, and set him over the works of Your hands (human beings). You have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that He put all in subjection under Him, He left nothing that is not put under Him. But now we don't yet see all things put under Him." The Lord Jesus Christ, in His humanity, thus was also beneath the category of angels. They're free of time and space limitations that hinder us.

    However, 1 Corinthians 6:3 tells us that one day we human beings will be elevated to a status superior to the angels, and we will in fact judge them. We will judge the demonic angels. 1 Corinthians 6:3 says, "Don't you know that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life?" Of course, the point of this particular passage is that Christians who have legal questions and conflicts between themselves should settle it between themselves. If necessary, get a group of men from your own congregation and say, "I want you to act as a board of arbitrators. Here is the problem. This is what I think. This is what he thinks. How should you dispose of this case?"

    But it says, "Don't go to a judge. Don't stand up there before some unsaved judge (some unbeliever), and ask him to make a decision for you as Christians." Paul's point is, "Don't you realize the kind of judges you yourselves are destined to be? You are people who are going to judge a category of God's creation that is now above you, and has tremendous powers above you. You're going to make decisions about their destiny. So, settle it among yourselves.

    So, angels are in a class above human beings. Furthermore, this elevated class above human beings causes people to be tempted to worship the angels. In Colossians 2:18, we're warned against that: "Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels." That is forbidden. The poor apostle John, because of the tremendous things that he was seeing and was being told, understandably, on occasion, fell into the mistake of trying to worship the angels that were dealing with him. In Revelation 22:8-9, you have an example of that: "And I, John saw these things and heard them. When I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said unto me, 'See that you don't do it, for I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of them who keep the words of this book. Worship God.'" It is very clear that we are not to worship angels, as impressive creatures as they are.

20. Angels Witnessed Creation

    One of the things that angels were privileged to do is that they were in a front row seat at the creation of the universe. Job 38:7 tells us that they were there when it was all put together.

21. Demons had Sexual Relations with Human Women before the Flood

    Demons entered into sexual relations with human women before the Noahic flood. This is recorded for us in Genesis 6. It was one of Satan's attempts to bypass the promise that had been made in Genesis 3:15 that God would send a human being who would become the Savior of the world through the human birth process (through the woman).

    Genesis 6:1-4: "And it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born into them, that the sons of God (an expression referring to angelic beings) saw the daughters of men – that they were fair, and they took unto them wives of all whom they chose. The Lord said, 'My spirit shall not always strive with man, for he is also flesh, that his day shall be 120 years.'" There were giants in the earth in those days (the progeny of this hybrid race were giants); and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men and they bore children to them, the same became mighty men who were of old, men of renown."

    This is further confirmed for us in 2 Peter 2:4: "For God did not spare the angels that sinned (referring to these back in Genesis 6), but cast them down to Tartarus, and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment." The particular angels who were involved in this relationship with human women that produced a hybrid race of demon and human beings were removed from operation. They are now in the segment of Hades called Tartarus. They are imprisoned there so that they cannot repeat this act again. They produced a hybrid progeny, all of which was then destroyed in the flood. Satan's hope was, of course, that he would be able to hold off long enough until Noah's family had died off. They were perhaps the last of the pure human being stock left on the face of the earth, for all we know. Satan hoped that in time all genuine human beings would be gone, and therefore a Savior could not be born who had to be genuinely human, because there would be no way of having a genuine 100% human being.

    This progeny, these mighty men of renown, are actually commemorated in ancient mythologies which describe sexual relations between the gods and humans, and that produced super human creatures (supermen). This portion of the demons, as we said, is now incarcerated in the Tartarus segment of Hades.

    Jude 6 also tells us about that: "And the angels who kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation (that is, left relationship with their own kind), He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." These demonic angels will come in for super kind of eternal punishment and condemnation because of what they were engaged in.

Dr. John E. Danish, 1982

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