What Are Fallen Angels?

Remember that an angel is a messenger and that the Bible defines two groups of angelic messengers: the good and the evil. We have seen how God's heavenly messengers obey His commands and minister for us — the heirs of salvation.

Evil angels, however, are those who have fallen from their first estate (see Jude 1:6) since the Creation. The Bible records several different times when angels fell to earth. Some have already fallen (Genesis 6:2; Amos 5:26; Revelation 12:4) and some will fall in the future (Revelation 6:13, 8:10-11, 9:1). It is Satan, the great dragon, who entices them (Revelation 12:4), perhaps with promises that they will be worshipped by men as gods or rule over an earthly kingdom. Fallen angels learn wickedness and become apprentices of their new master Satan.

Unlike humans, fallen angels cannot be redeemed. Once angels rebel against God, they are permanently banned from God's glory and presence. Some fallen angels are currently imprisoned until God's day of judgment (I Peter 3:19-20; II Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6), and some rule the realm of darkness with Satan. They, too, will face the wrath of God (Matthew 25:41).

What Was the Sin of These Angels?

The Bible confirms that there are angels who sinned: "Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker? Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly" (Job 4:17-18; also see Job 15:15, 25:5). In addition, the Bible tells us the origins of some fallen angels.

Every time the Old Testament mentions sons of God it is a reference to angels (compare Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7 and Psalm 89:6). In Genesis 6:2, sons of God (angels) took on human form — which angels can do (see Genesis 19:15-16; Hebrews 13:2). But these sons of God transgressed their created purpose by lusting after the daughters of men and marrying wives who bore them children. This evil brought mankind to a new realm of wickedness so frightening and terrible that God saw it necessary to destroy the earth with a flood, saving only Noah and his family.

Here is the Genesis account: "It came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown" (Genesis 6:1-2).

The fall of these angels is also told by Enoch, great-grandfather of Noah, who walked with God (Genesis 5:22). Copies of the Book of Enoch were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Although this book is not a part of canonized Scripture, it does line up with the Genesis account and is, in fact, quoted in Scripture (see Jude 1:14).

Enoch told how these angels not only took human wives but also taught them the secrets of good and evil (remember that Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thus opening the door to all knowledge). In this way fallen mankind became corrupted very quickly, soon requiring a world-wide flood to purge the human race. "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:4-13).

Enoch's account also describes the consequences for the sin of these fallen angels. The angels felt remorse for their sin but were not allowed to return to their former estate in the heavens. They were bound (and are still bound, according to II Peter 2:4 and Jude 1:6) to await judgment. The children of those angel-human relations died, but their spirits would go throughout the earth as evil spirits to harass mankind. They would look for human bodies to inhabit; the male ones being malevolent spirits and the female ones being seductive spirits (or sirens).

In the last days, the earth will again become corrupted to complete wickedness. Jesus told us, "as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matthew 24:37). In the end times the world will become just as wicked as it was before the Flood. Because of today's heightened fascination with the occult and spirit world, it is entirely plausible that fallen angels and humans will mix once again, creating terrible chaos to bring about the final wrath of God.

This possibility is suggested in the prophetic dream which Daniel interpreted for the King of Babylon. In the dream, there was an image whose feet were part iron (spiritual beings) and part clay (mankind). Daniel says, "And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay" (Daniel 2:43). After this time, God's Kingdom will break all other kingdoms and then be established for ever.

Noah was a righteous man among those in his perverse generation. His ways pleased the Lord (Genesis 6:8), and he and his family were saved by the Ark (a picture of our being in Christ). The question for our generation is this: "when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8).

How Are Angels and Idolatry Related?

The worship of gods or idols is in fact the worship of demons. "They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not" (Deuteronomy 32:17; also see Psalm 106:36-37). The worship of anything other than the One True Living God is idolatry. "Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them" (Deuteronomy 11:16).

Idolaters will not inherit the kingdom of God (I Corinthians 6:9; Revelation 21:8, 22:15). Those who insist on worshipping the creation rather than the Creator are given up to vile affections and a reprobate mind (Romans 1:18-32). We are told to "flee from idolatry" (I Corinthians 10:14).

The Bible mentions idol worship of false gods right along with worshipping the host of heaven: "Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven...ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them" (Acts 7:42-43). Paul encountered hostility in the city of Ephesus from those who worshipped an image which fell down from Jupiter (Acts 19:35). From these verses, we can suppose that every false god has demonic (fallen angel) influence behind it.

Old Testament prophets confirm that images made for idol worship originated from the spirit world. "But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves" (Amos 5:26). Those who worship idols are blinded to the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ (II Corinthians 4:4), and their foolish heart is darkened (Romans 1:21). They walk in vain imaginations, "having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart" (Ephesians 4:18).

Who Is Satan?

The mastermind of the powers of darkness and evil angels is none other than Satan himself. "Then shall he [Jesus] say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels"
(Matthew 25:41). [See Satan teaching].