Matthew 25:41
It will be an awful revelation when the judgment reveals the secrets of men’s hearts (Rom. 2:16). What an awful menu of sin and rebellion will be brought to light in that day (Jer. 17:9)! Truly man will be manifested to be the children of disobedience and wrath (Eph. 2:2-3). Oh, the shame of it! The shame of it! But no vile sin or rebellion of man can compare to the black slough of angelic evil.
THE FALL OF SATAN
In Luke 10:18, the Lord Jesus declared that He had “beheld Satan, as lightning, fall from Heaven,” This refers to a time, long before the creation of Adam (check the Greek 2nd Aorist). Satan governed the angelic creation for God. He was the bright and shining one (“Lucifer”), “perfect in beauty” (Ezek. 28:12), until his heart was lifted up with pride (Ezek. 28:17). His pride led him to rebel against Divine authority, declaring that he would “be like the most High” (Isa. 14:14). Thus, Satan fell from his exalted position, guarding the very throne room of God Almighty, as the “anointed cherub that covereth” (Ezek. 28:14).
This fall is in contrast to his fall to earth during the Tribulation Period (Isa. 14:12; Ezek. 28:17, Rev. 12:9), and his final fall into the Lake of Fire (Isa. 14:15; Ezek. 28:18; Rev. 20:10 ).
THE FALL OF ANGELS
Apparently, the angels were originally under the commandership of Lucifer and when Lucifer rebelled, a full one-third of all the angels rebelled with him (Rev. 12:4, 7-12); thus making them the “Devil’s angels” (Mt. 25:41; Rev. 12:9, cf., “messenger” in 2 Cor. 12:7).
TWO GROUPS OF FALLEN ANGELS
The fallen angels are divided into two groups. The first group makes up that awesome host who serve to carry out Satan’s destructive designs against the human race (1 Pet. 5:8) and the plan of God (Eph. 6:12; 1 Thess. 2:8); these are the demons (1 Cor. 10:20-21; 1 Tim. 4:1).
Briefly these fallen angels have been responsible for such things as:
(1) tormenting people (Ps. 78:49),
(2) physical sickness (Mt. 9:33),
(3) mental sickness (Mk. 5:4-5),
(4) moral sickness (Mt. 10:1),
(5) false doctrine (1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Thess. 2:2),
(6) waging warfare against believers (Eph. 6:12),
(7) control of human beings and animals (Mt. 4:24; Mk. 5:8-14),
(8) miracles (2 Thess. 2:9), and
(9) these demons often work behind the scene as they manipulate both men and nations.
In Daniel 10 we learn of Michael the Archangel having been delayed in his coming to the aid of Daniel because he was in conflict with a demon identified as the “prince of the kingdom to Persia.”
Ephesians 6:12 and Colossians 2:15 make it clear that the fallen angels are a highly organized fraternity of evil, under the direction of the “god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4); “the Prince of the Power of the Air” (Eph. 2:2; 6:12); “the Prince of this World” (Jn. 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).
Dr. C.I. Scofield, on page 1342 of the Old Scofield Reference Bible, says that the Devil’s “world-system is imposing and powerful with armies and fleets; is often outwardly religious, scientific, cultured, and elegant; but seething with national and commercial rivalries and ambitions, is up-held in any real crisis by armed force, and is dominated by Satanic principles.” This will give you some idea of what the fallen angels are busy doing all day!
The second group of angels are those angels “who kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation” and are now imprisoned; “reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day” (Jude 1:6, cf., 2 Pet. 2:4).
These imprisoned angels seem to have been involved in some other unspeakable, additional sin, other than the original rebellion. The passage in 2 Peter seems to connect their sin to the time of Noah, and may have been in cohabitation with the female members of the human race, resulting in a mongrelized race of giants (Gen. 6:1-12). Noah, by way of contrast, is said to have been “perfect in his generations” – perfect in his pedigree (Gen. 6:9)!
FALLEN ANGELS AND THE LAKE OF FIRE
There will yet be a mighty conflict between the holy angels and the fallen angels (Rev. 12:7-10), a last ditch attempt to save the satanic cosmos, but to no avail. The fallen angels are finally reprobated to an eternal destiny of torment, anguish and pain in the “Lake of Fire prepared for the Devil and his angels” (Mt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10, cf., Isa. 24:19-22; Mt. 8:29).
ANGELIC SALVATION?
Whether or not a form of angelic salvation was ever offered, to give the fallen angels an opportunity to be restored to the position of “holy,” is a matter of debate.
It may be that some form of angelic salvation was offered to the fallen angels for the following reasons:
(1) The word “elect” (1 Tim. 5:21) implies a choice on God’s part and it may imply a choice on the part of the “elect” angels.
(2) “Where there is no law, there is not transgression” (Rom. 4:15; 1 Jn. 3:4). The fallen angels are said to have “sinned” (2 Pet. 2:4). They must have been under some law of God. The fallen angels obviously chose to disobey and are, therefore, chargeable with sin.
(3) It is certain that the creation of man and the subsequent provision for his salvation, following his fall, is of great interest to the angels (Lk. 15:7,10; 1 Cor. 4:9; 11:10; Eph. 3:10; 1 Tim. 5:21; Heb. 12:1; 1 Pet. 1:12).
(4) Why?? Perhaps it is because every time a man chooses for or against Christ, the angels learn why they are elect or non-elect!
(5) Hebrews 2:2 may also refer to an angelic gospel which was delivered and subsequently rejected by some angels and accepted by others.
(6) Hebrews 9:23-24 implies not only a need for the shedding of Christ’s blood for the salvation of the souls of men but also for the purification of the heavenly sanctuary (cf., Col. 1:20).
(7) What caused the impurities in the heavenly Temple? Angelic rebellion, perhaps. Was there a form of salvation offered? Who knows!
CONCLUSION
One thing is certain. God uses the fallen angels to show every member of the human race the awful consequences of rebellion and the certainty of judgment.
If God did not hesitate to judge those disobedient members of a higher creation, will God hesitate to judge those who are made “lower than the angels”?
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Gal. 6:7-8).