The Truth About Angels – Part 2
The Truth About Angels – Part 2
I hope you had a chance to read my previous blog titled TheTruth About Angels – Part 1. It would be helpful to read the first one before reading this one. In part one, I give all the characteristics of angels. In part two, I explain fallen angels.
Many people wonder where evil came from. Evil came from an over ambitious angel named Lucifer. You may know this angel by other names such as Devil, Satan, the Evil One, or Prince of the World. What ever you call him, it is important to understand where he came from and why he is present here on earth.
As I explain in more detail in my Bible study titled In the Beginning: Genesis 1-11, Lucifer wanted to be like God. There is only room for one God, therefore, Lucifer rebelled against God along with some other angels.
Naturally, Lucifer lost the fight against God in heaven. As a result, he was cast out of heaven along with the other rebellious angels.
So, here we answer the question, “Where did evil come from?” Evil originated in heaven when an angel chose to sin against God.
For familiarity sake, I will refer to Lucifer as Satan during the rest of this message. When Satan was cast out of heaven, his fellow rebellious angels were cast out with him. These rebellious angels are known as demons. They are evil spirits that are present here on earth today.
The battle between God and Satan just changed locations. Satan is still in a war against God but the battle is now here on earth.
Satan opposes good. He opposes God’s Holy Word. He opposes Jesus Christ. He is not our friend and he wants to destroy everything the Lord stands for and desires for us.
He comes to destroy our identity as men and women; as boys and girls. He desires to usurp God’s perfect creation of you!
He comes to destroy the Biblical principle of marriage. He comes to twist, confuse and dilute the Word of God. He comes to destroy God fearing nations.
He is crafty, deceiving, cunning, and stealth. He masquerades as an angel of light but only darkness can be found in him.
He is here, and so we have to learn to deal with him. The best way to do that is to know and understand the Word of God well. Therefore, we can differentiate what is good and what is evil.
To really understand the spiritual realm of this world is to understand that your enemy is never a person. The true enemy is the evil spirit that influences that person. You must separate the two. When you do this, it changes your prayer life substantially.
(I encourage you to read my blog titled “Identity Theft”! My prayers were kicked up a notch when I understood what demonic influence was.)
Love the person but hate the evil spirit.
Satan hinders the welfare of man at times by acquiring control from God over the forces of nature. We see how Satan did this in the book of Job. Job’s livestock and family were stricken with death and disease.
However, Satan has to ask God for permission and God uses the evil to accomplish good.
Job was thought to be faithful because he had a comfortable life. When God allowed Satan to afflict loss on Job, Job showed the world that his faith was steadfast despite what life threw at him.
This had to have had a profound influence on the unbelievers who witnessed the unwavering faith Job had. In the end, God blessed the second half ofJob’s life abundantly.
These evil angels, here on earth, tempt us to sin. Genesis 3, Matthew 4, and John 13 are all great examples of how Satan tempts us.
In John 13, scripture tells us that Satan enters Judas and causes Judas to betray Jesus.
I hope that you will think about your heart like this: Our hearts have a certain amount of square footage. We have to continually fill it with the knowledge of God and the desire to do God’s will. As a result, there is less square footage for Satan to get a foothold.
It is work to fill a room. Do you want to fill it with the quality of God’s Word or do you want to be lazy and fill it with junk?
It is easier to sit down and watch tv than it is to open a Bible study and do a lesson.
The truth is, the tv show does not teach you life’s eternal lessons but the Bible study will. The tv show is not a threat to Satan but learning and applying the Word of God is. That is why you may find it more challenging to find the time and discipline to do so.
With so much information available today, I Timothy 4:1 has a warning.
“The Spirit (Holy Spirit) clearly says that in later times, some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.”
I Timothy 4:1
If we want the truth, we have to spend the time in God’s Word and a lot less time watching TikTok and YouTube. If you are armed with the truth of God’s Word, then you are better equipped to discern the crazy stuff you find on YouTube and other various sites.
Some people have asked if a fallen angel can be saved like fallen mankind can be saved. The answer is “no”.
These fallen angels are separate beings and once they fall, they cannot be saved as a person can be saved.
“For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” I Corinthians 15:22
Angels are separate. Only mankind can be saved because all mankind originated from Adam.
Moving on…
When reading scripture, do you ever wonder if the “angel of God” or the “angel of the Lord” is actually God? Can it just be an angel?
Many times in scripture it will say, “an angel of the Lord” or “an angel of God” appeared.
How do we know if it is the Lord himself or an angel?
If the angel speaks not only in the name of God, but as God in the first person singular, it is believed by many scholars that, in fact, it is a self manifestation of God himself.
Here is an example of it being God Himself….
Genesis 22:11-12 “But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”…”Here I am” he replied. “Do not lay a hand on the boy” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
Clearly, this is God speaking to Abraham.
If the angel identifies himself with God and claims to exercise the prerogatives of God, then he is most likely an angel sent by God.
2 Samuel 24:16 is a good example of this…
“When the angel stretched out his hands to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel who was afflicting the people, “Enough! Withdraw your hand.” The angel of the Lord was then at the threshing floor of Araunah (uh ROO nah) the Jebusite.”
2 Samuel 24:16.
This is not always set in stone but if you read scripture with a fine tooth comb, you can usually determine if it’s the Lord Himself or an angel sent by the Lord.
Nevertheless, when divine messengers speak, we need to shut up and listen! Amen?
So, let’s answer one last question….
What are people called when they pass away and their salvation transports them to heaven?
They are called, “Saints”.
They are not flying around with little wings attached to their backs. They are in white robes of righteousness and they are the “saints” you read about throughout scripture.
So, in a nutshell, there are angels in heaven and there are saints in heaven.
The angels were created by God to help believers while believers live on earth.
The fallen angels are here on earth to destroy your life. They are Satan’s helpers and they are called “demons”. They are unholy and therefore
cannot live in the presence of God. Therefore, they were cast down to earth.
They are evil spirits that can enter your heart if it is not filled with the Holy Spirit. We receive the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of God) when we become born-again, genuine believers.
This is an event that you should be able to pinpoint and identify. It should be a memorable moment when your belief became your own and not something you were taught to believe.
I hope this message has been helpful to you. When we study and understand the spiritual realms of this world we live in, then all things begin to make more sense.
Our prayers become potent because we understand who the real enemy is.
We are better equipped to separate the person from the affliction of the evil spirit.
You may not be far along in your knowledge of God’s Holy Word, but you just need to start. The Lord will show you what you need to know and understand at the moment.
There is a lot to learn and I encourage you to pick up my Bible study titled In the Beginning: Genesis 1-11 by Janice Bobanis. You can purchase it on my website or most online stores like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Walmart, etc.
I have been told by many of my Bible study groups that I make scripture easy to understand. I hope you will find this true for you.
Again, I hope you’ve learned truths you never knew before. Thank you for taking the time to read these blogs on the truth about angels.
I would love to hear your thoughts so feel free to leave a comment.
Blessings,
Janice Bobanis
