When did people begin studying demons? It began in the Persian and Mesopotamian empires thousands of years ago. Ladies, don’t be upset, but the first time wearing earrings and necklaces are mentioned was when they were introduced into culture through Mesopotamian idolatrous demonic worship.
Misfortune and disease were considered the results of evil spirit activity. The offended gods had to be appeased. Jewelry either scared away evil spirit or showed loyalty to them.
The Use of Magic
The magical arts developed alongside ancient demon worship. But magic, as described in the Bible, isn’t what we see today. Magical performances (sleight of hand tricks, chemical reactions, and illusions) aren’t what the Bible calls magic. Ancient magical arts included sorcery, necromancy, and incantations. These were attempts to harness the power of evil spirits. They were directly connected to the worship of the gods, which is forbidden in the writings of Moses (Ex 34:14, Lev 17:7, Deut 32:17-20).
Demonic elements, for the most part, aren’t apart of the modern magical entertainment industry. And please don’t associate the use of “magic” with children’s object lessons. They aren’t the same as the ancient magical arts. The effective use of objects to illustrate the gospel elements to children helps them understand God’s Word. They visually support biblical presentations and concepts. Such magic isn’t what the New Testament prohibits (Ac 8:9; 19:19). There’s no necessary connection between using objects for Bible lessons and the ancient forbidden practices of sorcerers.
The History of Demonology
Every religion has an opinion about angels, demons, and the devil. One of the oldest views on record comes from Zoroastrianism (Persia). It stated there are two equal gods. Ormazd is the good creator god of light and order and Ahirman is the god of chaos and darkness.
This laid the basis for believing in an equal contest between light and darkness, good and evil, God and the devil, which to this day dominates the understanding of the spiritual world. Some scholars believe Daniel influenced the Persians in Babylon regarding the Jewish beliefs in angels. He brought with him into captivity Moses’ writings.
In the Pentateuch, the Hebrews accepted the reality of angels. And they discerned between good and bad angels. However, their understanding of angels, demons, and the devil included a unique perspective. One God, the Creator, was sovereign over all of his creation including the angelic world. There was no equality between good and evil forces or additional beings on the level of “Elohim” (Ex 8:10; 9:29; 15:11). Because of the Old Testament’s awareness of angelic beings, the Christian Church has always believed in angels, demons, a personal devil, and the fact that God is Lord over all of them.
Religious Views of Satan
The Quran views Satan as refusing to honor Adam. He was too proud to submit to a creature made from clay. So, he attacked the first humans by tempting them with the same sin that caused his downfall—pride. In the 18th century, rationalism entered popular culture and with it a denial of any belief in real spiritual beings. The modernist view of Satan is that he is a hideous beast as described in Milton’s extended poem “Paradise Lost” or the devil in Dante’s Inferno.
Jehovah Witnesses believe Satan owns the earth and is, therefore, the god of the earth. Latter Day Saints claim Satan is a spirit son of God equal in many ways to us and more importantly to Jesus. The religion of Swedenborg views devils as originally being men, meaning they also have physical bodies. The liberal view is that angels and demons are merely symbolic representatives of good and evil that offer protective care or cause distress. But they are not real beings. This is, in one sense, a return to the Zoroastrian error but without the need to appease actual divine beings.
What about UFOs?
An interesting side note is that encounters with unidentified flying objects (UFOs) reveal that they speak. Surprisingly, these beings have an opinion on who Jesus is. Their view of Christ is identical to that of demons. When people encounter UFOs, these creatures openly deny that Jesus is the Savior. They vehemently reject the Christian gospel. How interesting that they feel the need to question the person of Jesus Christ and his work but not any other religious founder! They consistently contradict what historic biblical Christianity teaches about the spiritual world. Oddly, they closely agree with the Persian and Mesopotamian view that all spirits are good and harmless. Yet, they speak ill of the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Angelology
The Bible identifies and acknowledges the existence of other rational beings as early as the third chapter of Genesis (Gen 3:1). There does exist intelligent beings, other than humans, on planet Earth. They are not alien creatures from another galaxy but angelic in nature. The Bible mentions angels 250 times. This provides us with a rich (yet incomplete) source to develop a doctrine of angels and demons.
The angelic world is part of God’s creation (Col 1:17). They witnessed the creation of the world (Job 38:4, 7). The time sequence mentioned in Genesis leaves us wondering, “exactly when did God create angels?” But we do know this: they existed between the time the material universe was formed and Adam’s creation. Satan, the chief demon was already on earth by the time Adam existed. The devil presented himself to Eve when he possessed a snake and spoke to her. And, was previously cast down to earth as a liar and deceiver (Rev 12:7-9).
Two Categories of Angels
From the earliest times, there have been two categories of angels. They both have ethereal bodies, are capable of physically interacting with the material world, and initially endowed with a free moral will. They were commissioned to worship God (Neh 9:6). Upon the creation of humans, their vocation included serving the welfare of people. All angels were created good but some fell and were removed from heaven.
The Nature of Angels
Angels are spiritual (incorporeal) beings. They are finite though they can never die (eternal). Angels are normally invisible but on occasion take on material forms. Sometimes this transfiguration is into something they are not (a snake, an angel of light, even a human form). And they have the ability to possess and speak through both animals and humans.
They don’t marry (Mt 22:30), which means they don’t procreate. Their number was set at creation. None the less, there is a great number of them, almost beyond counting (Ps 68:17, Mt 26:53). One man was possessed by a legion of them (Mk 5:9). A Roman legion represented 6,000 soldiers and 6,000 supporting personnel. This indicates their numbers are vast and formidable.
They are rational, moral, and immortal beings. This means they are intelligent, willful, and have feelings. They possess all the qualities of a personal being.
Angelic Beings are not Divine
Though their intelligence is superior to humans (they are older than any living human) they don’t possess omniscience as God does (Mt 24:36).
Neither are they omnipresent as is God. Furthermore, they face the same limitations imposed on finite humans. They must deal with time, space, and distances. Yet, angels hold great power, majesty, and are not subject to death (immortal). When describing angelic beings remember that the book of Revelation is apocalyptic. This means many descriptions are symbolic of a spiritual reality. The descriptions are not literal. Their symbolic descriptions were John’s way of trying to describe something beyond human understanding. None the less, John describes a powerful spiritual reality–more powerful and influential than humans.
The Ranking of Angels
Angels organize into ranks. Scripture indicates there are classes of angels. The highest class of angels, called Cherubim, are archangels. Medieval and Renaissance artists pictured them as winged babies. But they are anything but that! Cherubim are mighty warriors who guarded the entrance of paradise after the fall (Gen 3:24). The second class of angels is the Seraphim who have multiple wings and stand around the throne of God in heaven. They are commissioned to worship God and they prepare people so they can approach God (Ps 103:20-21, Isa 6:2).
We know the personal names of three angels. Gabriel is an archangel, Michael is the highest-ranking angel, and Lucifer was the chief of the Cherubim.
Although angels are guardians of God’s people and commissioned to protect children (Mt 18:10), the Bible is not definitive regarding the existence of private guardian angels. Angels guard God’s people. But does each man, woman, and child have a personal guardian angel? The Bible says very little to indicate we have a personal angel watching over us. Some in the early church believed in personal guardian angels, but that doesn’t mean or teach they actually exist. It only witnesses to the fact that some Jews believed in them (Ac 12:15).
Angels Surrounded Jesus
Angels were present at key times in Jesus’ life. They predicted his birth, announced his birth, protected him from Herod, and strengthened him after his temptations and while he was in the garden just before his arrest. They stood ready to defend him if called to do so, announced his resurrection, have an interest in human redemption, and predicted Jesus’ return (Ac 1:11). Angels will accompany him at his return, will help in gathering his elect and dispense judgment on those who reject his Lordship, and will worship him throughout eternity. At every major salvation event, angels are present.
Angels also appear at key redemptive events in history. They appear at creation. At the Exodus, they were active (Ex 12:23). They guided the Hebrews through the wilderness (Ex 23:20, 23). And they were present at the giving of the Law (Gal 3:19). Angels interpreted Scripture to Daniel (as well as protected him and his companions). Furthermore, they helped John understand his visions in Revelation (Rev 1:1). And, as mentioned earlier, were active during the first advent of Christ and will again be active in human affairs at his second coming.
Angelic Beings are Real
According to the Bible, angels and demons are real. God judged many evil angels and cast them down to earth. So, when spiritual forces influence some human behavior don’t be surprised. The good news is that God controls all angelic beings. No one acts outside of his sovereign will. Evil angels control people only if allowed.
Also, just as good angels surrounded the activities of Jesus while he was on Earth, they are still active in executing God’s will among his people. God sends them to assist us in the ministry of the Holy Spirit. They contribute to the furthering of God’s kingdom by supporting gospel activity. Finally, pray to the God of angelic creatures, for dozens of legions of angels are at his command (Mt 26:53).
In the next article, we will go into depth on demonization and the person of Satan. And learn how active demons are too.
Pictures attributions: cover angel by Rakicevic Nenad @ pexel.com, Chineese gods by © Chrisrawlins | <a href=”https://www.stockfreeimages.com/”>Stock Free Images</a>, devil’s face by <a href=”/photographer/nicodemus1-40966″>Nicolas Abadjian</a> from <a href=”https://freeimages.com/”>FreeImages</a>, aliens by <a href=”/photographer/cempey-44071″>Cheryl Empey</a> from <a href=”https://freeimages.com/”>FreeImages</a>, Green snake from Pexel.com, Archangel Michael by By Guido Reni – The Yorck Project (2002) 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei (DVD-ROM), distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH. ISBN: 3936122202., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=157982, Angel sign from stockvault.net.
