I thought I would compile some of Ray's teaching on Satan and angels. Hopefully to get a better, more unified understanding on these things.
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We will look at Scriptural proof that Satan was Satan from the beginning, and that God created him as he is. Satan did not create himself or free-will himself into the Devil.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1;1).
We all know what the earth is. The heavens, however, is a different matter. The physical heaven is where we find the moon, sun, and stars. But God’s domain is a spiritual heaven.
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world [Gk: ‘age’], against spiritual [Gk: ‘spiritual powers of, or spiritual hosts of, or spiritual forces of’] wickedness in high places [Gk: ‘heavenly places’]” (Eph. 6:12).
So God created the plural “heavens” “in the beginning.” And Paul tells us that there are “principalities and powers” in these “heavenly places” or “celestials” as it is in the Greek. And that these “principalities and powers” are powers, hosts, or forces that are “wicked!”
“For by Him [Jesus] were all things created that are in the heaven [Gk: ‘heavens”—it is plural in the Greek as it is in the Hebrew], 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” (Col. 1:16).
“Principalities and powers” are part of the “all” which Jesus created “in the beginning,” at the beginning of creation. And these “principalities and powers” are “wicked” forces, which we wrestle against. These powers are under authority.
“But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow does not cast out devils [demons], but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils” (Matt. 12:24).
Beelzebub is from the Hebrew, Baal [a Phoenician deity] and Zbuwb [a fly], thus the “god fly.” Couple this with the knowledge of where flies hang out, and in parody, Satan was known as the dung god. Fitting, I think. Jesus accepted their use of this title for Satan:
“And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan [referring back to Beelzebub introduced by the Pharisees] cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?” (Matt. 12:25-26).
Satan never was a cherub possessing free will; neither does he now have free will. Satan is a creature that obeys the commands of his Creator and never talks back. Whenever Jesus told Satan to “get thee behind Me,” Satan got behind Him (Matt. 16:23, Mark 8:33, Luke 4:08). When God said he could go so far and no further in the trial of Job, then that’s precisely how far he went and no further. When Jesus told Satan “get thee hence… then the devil leaves Him…” (Matt. 4:10). Satan has no “free will” to resist.
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[Ray's reply]
Satan is a spirit being, seeing that he has been around for thousands of years. He is called a devil, serpent/snake, dragon, etc. We are not exactly sure what a dragon looks like, but supposedly it is in the reptile family as are snakes.
Nowhere that I can think of, did Satan ever appear visibly to anyone. Therefore his serpent/dragon qualities (or lack thereof) must be spiritual. Satan is a SPIRITUAL SNAKE. He has the secret, stealth qualities of a snake moving unseen in the dark. Although he is "like" [in certain characteristics] a roaring lion, he is not a lion, but "as" a lion he goes about seeking whom he may devour [Gk: 'swallow up' as in 'swallow a camel']. Spiritually devour/swallow.
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Dear Charles: You are failing to understand just WHO Satans angels [messengers] are. The false teachers and pastors of Mystery Babylon the Great, the Great Church, ARE THE MESSENGERS OF SATAN! And it was for THEM that this eonian/lake of fire/second death was prepared.
http://bible-truths.com/23-minutes-in-hell.html -----------------------
When mortal men are used in the capacity of an agent/messenger for God or any other authority. they are usually called in Hebrew, malak, translated "angel" 100+ times. All references to "angels" in the Old Testament are from the Hebrew #4397, 'malak'--whose definition is "a messenger (especially of God), that is, an angel (also, a prophet, priest or teacher): ambassador, angel, king, messenger" (Strong's Hebrew Dictionary).
"Malaks" can be invisible spirit angels, spirit angels manifested to appear as radiant, glowing men, spirit angels made to look like perfectly normal men with no supernatural radiance, or mortal men themselves are called "malak" when used in the capacity of a messenger.
Context usually dictates whether a "malak" is a spirit or a mortal man. When it appears that a spirit being sent from God is in view, malak is almost always translated "angel." However, when a mortal man is being used to convey a message from either God or a person of rank, malak is usually translated "messenger."
One exception is Malachi 3:1 where malak is translated, "My messenger..." with a lower case "m," while the second time we have, "...the Messenger of the covenant in Whom..." "Messenger" has a capital "M," and "Whom" has a capital "W," which might suggest that this Messenger is Jesus.
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The Scriptures give us three categories of Agents of Satan the Devil:
MESSENGERS: Only once in Scripture do we read of "a messenger of Satan" (II Cor. 12:7). Messenger is here translated from Dr. Strong's #32 'angelos' which means: "a messenger, especially an angel, a pastor." Some Versions translate II Cor. 12:7 as "an angel of Satan" (Moffatt Translation); "an angel of Satan" (Emphatic Diaglott); "one of Satan's angels" (Phillip's Modern English New Testament). The Greek word 'angelos' has three meanings: "angel, messenger, and pastor." "Demon" is NOT a definition of angelos!
Of the hundreds and hundreds of different translations of the Scriptures, I know of none that translated the word "angelos" as "demon." And so we have conclusive proof from the Scriptures "the Devil's angels" are mortal men. The false prophet of Acts 13:6; the Pharisees whom Jesus called "children of the Wicked one" in Matt. 13:38; those Pharisees whom Jesus said had the Devil for their father in John 8:44; Satan's "ministers of righteousness" in II Cor. 11:14-15); are all human, mortal men, not spirits--despicable, disgusting, dirty, demons!
Now then, how many of my readers believe that Bill's demon pictured above, or the group of demons pictured above are "pastors" or "ministers of the gospel?" Probably none of you. An "angelos' is an "angel," a "messenger," or a "pastor." So now let's answer the question: Do the angels/messengers/pastors of the Devil look like, [1] evil, ugly, animalistic, spirit demons with Zero IQ's? or [2] non-descript, invisible spirits, or [3] pleasant-looking, mortal, humans? Nowhere in Scriptures do we ever find a description of demons as Bill presents in his book. Such creatures are fraudulent deceptions of carnal-minded deceivers.
Bible examples of physical mortal angels:
"And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwells in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers [Heb: 'malak'], which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho" (Joshua 6:25)
Comment: It is not necessary to "hide" spirit angels which can appear and disappear at will. These were mortal men of Israel.
"And when the messengers of John were departed, He began to speak unto the people concerning John" (Lk. 7:24)
John's messengers were mortal men.
Bible example of God's heavenly spirit angels:
"And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels [Heb: 'malak'] of God ascending and descending on it: (Gen. 28:12).
"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels [Gk: 'angelos'] do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 18:10).
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There is Scriptural evidence for angels which have left their first commission, and which have sinned (Jude 1:6 & II Pet.2:4), but there is no such term as "fallen angels" in Scripture.
You won't find the word "demon" in the King James Version. The Greek word translated "devils" in the King James is, daimon, and means "a demon or super natural spirit of a bad nature," Strong's Greek Dictionary). "Devils" should be translated "demons" seeing that there is only one Devil--Satan (Rev. 12:9).
Demons can think and they can speak with human voices, as witnessed by those cast out by Jesus and the apostles. There alone is proof that Bill's assertion that demons have "zero IQ" is a fabricated crock. No one has ever seen a real demon as they are spirit, and they are not visible. We are never told that we might on occasion entertain "demons unaware," as we might entertain angels (Heb. 3:2).
"Angels," however, can be either visible or invisible, and are often called "men." Sometimes they seem to be manifested as physical men (Acts 10:3 & 30 and Luke 24:4), but in reality they are actually spirit beings. Mortal men when used of God are called angels or messengers which, like all men, are destined to die.
However, spirit angels in Heaven can never die:
"Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection" (Luke 20:36).
Heavenly angels are spirit and can never die, but are able at times to manifest themselves as if they were normal mortal men:
"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares" (Heb. 13:2).
It would be impossible to be "unaware" of a humanly manifested angel, except that they can manifest themselves without a hint of being supernatural.
But at other times the manifestation of an angel in the form of a man also radiates a supernatural glory that defies normal humans. In Matt. 28:1-4, the women said that "the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow." He told them to not fear, but in this same account in Mark 16:5-6, the women said that they saw "a young MAN...closed in a long white garment" who told them to not fear. So this angel was so radiant that it frightened the women, but yet they saw him as a "young MAN."
Therefore, "angels" can be [1] immortal spirits from God in Heaven, (as with the angel that was first invisible to Balaam, but then later was made visible, Num. 22:31), or [2] if needed, they can manifest themselves to appear as normal humans, but with a radiance that shows they are supernatural beings which are only taking on human form (See Judges 13:6), or [3] they can so perfectly make themselves visible and in human form so that anyone would be unaware that they are really angels from Heaven (See Heb. 13:2 above).
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Hi Ray,
(Matthew 18:10 KJVA) Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
I have a question about guardian angels. Does scripture support this concept? What did Jesus mean by "their angels"?
Your brother,
Pat
[Ray Replies]
Dear Pat:
Interesting question!
The phrase "guarding angel" does not appear in Scripture. And, as you probably already know, a much better and more accurate translation for angels is "messengers."
Now then, do messengers "guard" us or anyone? Do they serve other functions a the behest of God?
Yes, they do. Here is a direct statement about just what messengers do:
"But to which of the angels [messengers] said He at any time, Sit on My right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool? Are they [messengers] not ALL MINISTERING SPIRITS, sent forth to MINISTER for THEM WHO SHALL BE HEIRS OF SALVATION?"
So we all have "ministering spiritual ministers (angels--messengers) from heaven" performing many things in our behalf.
Notice that Jesus said in Matt. 18:10 that these angels "...always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven." The "face" is used in Scripture as that which is most intimate--the face houses the eyes which are the windows of the soul. The angels of heaven are most attentive to the very sincerest wishes of the Father. Next let's look at an example of just such an one actually performing a task on earth which came from the "face of the Father":
"And there appeared unto him [Zascharias--father of John Baptist] an ANGEL of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense... And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that STAND IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD [in the presence of HIS FACE]; and am SENT [they are MINISTERING spirits] to speak unto thee, and to show you these glad tidings" (Luke 1:11 & 19).
Now Gabriel is of pretty high rank, and as such may not be assigned to any one of us personally, but rather is used for the very most important messages. However, they are all ably trained to do their jobs. None has ever spoken to me directly... yet.
Now just because angels do not speak to us audibly and in plain sight, does not preclude that they do no continue ministering unto us to this very day.
Hope this helps your understanding a little better.
God be with you,
Ray
p.s. John, I could not find the email you referenced in reply #20...
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