Angels and Devils: From the Great Fall to the War in Heaven

The idea of celestial beings pitting a battle of good versus evil has captivated mankind for much of history. Because angels and a devil have been prevalent in most religions and belief systems spanning all the way back to the beginning of recorded history, the suggestion of fallen angels also emerges. Fallen angels are exactly what the name suggests, angels who have, for one reason or another lost favor from God or have turned evil and were cast down out of Heaven to the Earth. Fallen angels not only play a role in the Abrahamic religions being Judaism, Christianity, Islam and all of their denominations, but it's also common in Hinduism and Shintoism, as well as many pagan and Wiccan beliefs. This piece will focus mainly on the Adamic tradition, meaning the Abrahamic religions, the Judeo-Christian Islamic beliefs. What exactly are angels, how did they fall, and what part will the play in the end?

Hierarchy of Angels

To start with, let's back up and discuss some of the different types of angels and what they do. On the first day of Creation, God specifically made three main choirs, or spheres, of angels to carry out his will. The classification of angels and their hierarchy differs slightly amongst the Abrahamic religions, but for the most part they all share many common themes. Most of our information comes from Judaism and the Old Testament, however the classification that seems to be more structured and clearly defined would be the Christian version. There are nine main types of angels, split into three groups, all with a specific function:

First Sphere - Heavenly Servants

Seraphim:

The Seraphim are mighty beings, and are made of fire. They have six wings, with two covering their face and two covering their feet, and they fly around God's throne exalting him and saying "Glory, glory, he is Lord!" The Seraph are direct attendants and protectors of God's throne.

Cherubim:

The Cherubim, or cherubs, for short, are sometimes confused with Cupid as looking like a small winged baby, often carrying a little bow and arrow, such as we see on Valentine's Day. The Cherubs actually however had four wings and four faces. Their faces were that of a lion (representing all of beast-kind), an ox (representing domesticated animals), a human (representing mankind), and an eagle (representing the heavens). The Cherubim have many different jobs and serve a variety roles. Some of them help to carry God's throne, while others were set to guard the Garden of Eden. Depictions often show Cherubim in pairs on either side of a cloud.

Thrones:

These are the movers of God's throne, and are often depicted as wheels. The Prophet Ezekiel once had a vision in which he saw great wheels in the sky with one hundred eyes shining down. The thrones are always depicted to be near the cherubim as they draw their energy from them. The Thrones are thought to be the angels of humility, peace, and submission. There is some scholarly debate as to whether or not the thrones are actual beings or if they are an inanimate object.

Second Sphere - Governors of Creation

Dominions:

The Dominions are the regulators, the ones that run everything. They look like the typical depiction of an angel as a bright, radiant human being with long hair and wings. However, the Dominions rarely ever come to Earth. Rather, they dictate the power through the two other two types of angels in this sphere, who act almost like their right and left hand.

The Virtues and The Powers:

The Virtues take care of signs and miracles in the world, they are the spiritual force. The Powers are the warrior angels, they are the physical power of Heaven. The Virtues and Powers take their direction from the Dominions.

Third Sphere - Guides, Protectors and Messengers

Principalities:

The Principalities are the furthest from God in terms of direct communication. They take their orders from the Dominions, and are "princes" over nations, groups, or even church institutions. Each nation or region has its own angel that sits at its throne to represent it.

Archangels:

Archangels are the direct servant of God, even though they are so low in the hierarchy. They are the "field generals", in charge of the Malakian, or "plain angels," and carrying out important tasks. The archangels are some of the most well-known heavenly beings and have been involved in many of the important Biblical stories, such as the archangel Gabriel appearing to Daniel and the Virgin Mary, or Michael delivering Revelations to John.

The head of the archangels is Michael, whose name literally means "he who is like God." He is often referred to in the Bible as the "Archangel" with a capital 'A'. The other main archangels, spelled with a lowercase 'A', are Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel. Several other archangels also exist such as Joel, Azrael, Sealtiel, etc. Gabriel is the herald of God, he's the one who appears in the Christmas nativity story. Raphael is the sword of god. He's also the healer of God. Raphael's name means "God heals all." He is often depicted holding an apothecary jar. However, he is also sent by God to do some of his handiwork. Uriel, who is the light of God, is always carrying a sort of bright, brilliant sort of light. He too, is a physical warrior who leads God's armies along with Rafael. Azrael, one of the lesser archangels, is the Angel of Death, who helps in the transition of things ending. There is also another archangel that often isn't described as an archangel, and that would be the "Accuser and the Destroyer" Samael.

Malakian:

These are the most common angels that are everywhere carrying out a variety of tasks. They are like the worker bees. Being that they are so close to the physical realm, they are God's presence here on Earth. They act as guides and messengers, and have other responsibilities such as carrying prayers back to God in Heaven. Most cases where people see an angel, interact with a guardian angel, or experience a form of "divine intervention," it is most likely a Malakian.

The Fall of Angels

Samael's Exile

After man was created, Samael looked down on Adam for being created from dust and did not see him as his equal or superior, although God had commanded him to do so. So God cast Samael down to Earth. He didn't take away his angel status, but he exiled him to Earth to continue to do his bidding, which would be to try and tempt humanity to try and lead them astray in order to test their faith and virtue.

While down there though, Samael did get into his own mischief. Adam's first wife before Eve was Lillith, who was a demon that was created at the same time as Adam, also from dust. And because she was created from the same dust as Adam, she refused to be his subordinate. Because of this disobedience to God, she was cast out of the Garden of Eden. At this point she meets up with Samael, and they become lovers and give birth to many demon children. With Lilith still angry at God and Adam, and Samael being charged by God to test humanity, she convinces him to go and tempt Eve to eat from the forbidden fruit. It's important to note that there are actually two forbidden trees, one is the Tree of Life and the other is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Some translations and interpretations will combine these together into just one tree. But in this specific situation, it was fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil that Eve was tempted with. Samael, in the form of a serpent, convinces Eve to take a bite and "become like one of them," and she then in turn tempts Adam to eat of it as well. As a result of this disobedience, man was cast out of the Garden of Eden and burdened with a variety of punishments, such as shame of being naked. Mankind would now also have to toil and work for their food and shelter, and women would now have painful and long childbirth and labor. Sometime during all of this it is also believed that Samael raped Eve, and he is actually the father of Cain. Cain is known as the first one to bring death and murder to the Earth, as he is responsible for killing his brother, Abel.

Samael is described in Jewish tradition in a text called The Ascension of Moses: 

In the last heaven Moses saw two angels, each five hundred parasangs in height, forged out of chains of black fire and red fire, the angels Af, "Anger," and Hemah, "Wrath," whom God created at the beginning of the world, to execute His will. Moses was disquieted when he looked upon them, but Metatron embraced him, and said, "Moses, Moses, thou favorite of God, fear not, and be not terrified," and Moses became calm. There was another angel in the seventh heaven, different in appearance from all the others, and of frightful mien. His height was so great, it would have taken five hundred years to cover a distance equal to it, and from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet he was studded with glaring eyes, at the sight of which the beholder fell prostrate in awe. "This one," said Metatron, addressing Moses, "is Samael, who takes the soul away from man."

Now it is mentioned there of Samael being in the Fifth Heaven. He is actually the chief angel of the Fifth Heaven, however, he usually resides in the Seventh Heaven.

The Great Fall

Shortly after Samael's exile came the second fall of angels. The first fall was actually a prince by the name of Satanael. On the second day of creation, Satanael thought he could place his throne higher than God's, so God hurled him down into an endless abyss, forever falling. The second fall of angels, The Great Fall, was the significant one, led by Samjaza, who was the head of the Grigori (the Watcher Angels) who were created to keep an eye on the earth. They began to lust after human women, and after a time they went down and bred with them. Their offspring were giants and demons, called the Nephilim. This story is amplified a few times throughout a few different books, beginning with the book of Genesis Chapter 6, which reads: 

And 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. And the Lord said, "My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." 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. 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. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them." 

The Grigori are also mentioned again in the books of Enoch, who is the great grandfather of Noah. The seventh descendant from Adam, Enoch was one of the ten prophets of the Flood. And although he did live a long life span, he did not die. He was actually taken into Heaven alive and he was assigned the role of Metatron, and became God's voice. He is sometimes referred to as a lesser Yahweh, or a lesser God. And some belief systems do actually worship him still in a second place position below God. A lot of what is known about the angels and the watchers and their fall, as well as other topics dealing with magic and the supernatural, can be found in the books of Enoch. Unfortunately however, the books of Enoch were not included in most versions of the Bible. There are a few denominations of the Abrahamic religions that do accept it as canon, otherwise it is considered a part of the Apocrypha, a collection of texts that were cut from the Bible. Another apocryphic title that supports the Book of Enoch is the Book of Giants.

The Second Book of Enoch, Chapter 18, talks about Enoch going up into Heaven and seeing the Grigori and hearing their story: 

The men took me on to the Fifth Heaven and placed me, and there I saw many and countless soldiers, called Grigori, of human appearance, and their size was greater than that of great giants and their faces withered, and the silence of their mouths perpetual, and there was no service on the Fifth Heaven, and I said to the men who were with me: "Wherefore are these very withered and their faces melancholy, and their mouths silent, and is there no service on this Heaven?"

And they said to me: "These are the Grigori, who with their prince rejected the Lord of Light, and after them are those who are held in great darkness on the Second Heaven, and three of them went down on to earth from the Lord’s throne, to the place Ermon [Mount Hermon], and broke through their vows on the shoulder of the hill Ermon and saw the daughters of men how good they are, and took to themselves wives, and befouled the earth with their deeds, who in all times of their age made lawlessness and mixing, and giants are born and marvelous big men and great enmity. And therefore God judged them with great judgment, and they weep for their brethren and they will be punished on the Lord’s great day."

And I said to the Grigori: "I saw your brethren and their works, and their great torments, and I prayed for them, but the Lord has condemned them to be under earth till Heaven and Earth shall end for ever."

In the first book of Enoch, chapter 6, verses 3-5, Samjaza addresses the Grigori: 

And Samjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: "I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin." And they all answered him and said: "Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing." Then sware they all together and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon...

There is some debate in the number, some translations say two hundred, some translations say two hundred million, but either translation it was one third of the angels at the time that fell with Samjaza. Because once the Lord saw all this wickedness, he cast them down out of heaven on to Mount Hermon. 

Civil War and The Flood

Continuing on in Enoch Chapter 10, it reads:

And to Gabriel said the Lord: "Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against the children of fornication: and destroy the children of fornication and the children of the Watchers from amongst men: send them one against the other that they may destroy each other in battle: for length of days shall they not have...And the Lord said unto Michael: "Go, bind Samjaza and his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness. And when their sons have slain one another, and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgement and of their consummation, till the judgement that is for ever and ever is consummated. In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire: to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined for ever. And whosoever shall be condemned and destroyed will from thenceforth be bound together with them to the end of all generations. And destroy all the spirits of the reprobate and the children of the Watchers, because they have wronged mankind. Destroy all wrong from the face of the earth and let every evil work come to an end: and let the plant of righteousness and truth appear..."

In this passage, God is sending Gabriel out to pitch the Nephilim against each other in a civil war to try and destroy as many of themselves as they can. And then he sends Michael out to pick up Samjaza to capture him and bind him. After this happens, though, there are still some of the giants and demons left, as well as all of the wickedness of mankind. A few verses before this, God instructs Uriel to go and warn Noah to hide himself during the war but to be ready for the end to save his family. Being that so much wickedness had survived, God decides to send the great flood to destroy all evil. The flood wiped out everything on Earth, save for Noah and his family and the animals that they saved on the ark. Right before the flood however, one of the chief of the Grigori by the name of Mastema appeals to God and asks him to spare just a tenth of the demons on Earth. That way they may continue doing the bidding of God by tempting humanity and testing them. So God agrees to this and Mastema becomes their chief. For much of the rest of the biblical story, Mastema is Satan. Samael still plays a role, such as in the story of Job, as he is the "leader of satans." While Samael is the Accuser and Destroyer, Mastema becomes known as the Tempter. Mastema is the one present when Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac, and he is the one who disguised himself as Yahweh and attacked Moses by the side of the road.

Chaining the Beasts

Not only was Mastema and a tenth of his demons saved, there were several other monsters that lived as well. At the same time the angels were created, but before the creation of man and beast, God had created three great monsters that roamed the Earth: Behemoth, a giant ox who lived upon the land and reigned over that dominion; Leviathan, who was the king of fishes, the monster of the sea; and Ziz, the king of the sky, who was a great bird similar to a phoenix. After the second fall of angels and the Flood, these monsters were bound. Leviathan was trapped to the abyss below the Mediterranean Sea, awaiting judgment. The Jewish people actually have a festival called Sukkot in which they honor this exact tradition. The story goes that on the Judgment Day, all those who are righteous and worthy will feast upon the flesh of Leviathan and Behemoth under a shelter made of Leviathan's skin. After Leviathan was imprisoned below the Mediterranean Sea, Behemoth was dropped into the Dunadain, which is a desert wilderness that was created specifically for his prison, east of Eden. Ziz is not in prison, but at the same time does not cause much trouble. He is known to black out the sun on occasion, as his ankles rest upon the earth and his head in the heavens. 

Besides Samael and Mastema there are a few other fallen angels which have been popular throughout history and in culture. Azazel taught humans warfare, deception and witchcraft. Azazel actually opposed Enoch when he became Metatron, he was one of the chief Grigori, and he is blamed to be responsible for much of the corruption of humanity and much of the wickedness that was spread throughout them. God sent Raphael to bind Azazel to the rough and jagged rocks of Dudael, a mountain in which he will await judgment at the end of time. Azazel has a very broad history and is shared among many religions, for example some scholars believe that Azazel may be the Greek Titan Prometheus.

Another well-known fallen angel, more popular in the Islamic tradition, is by the name of Iblis. Iblis thought he was superior to Adam because he was made of fire. And for this pride and arrogance, he was cast down to Earth. Iblis is often referred to as becoming the first jin, or in modern English what would be referred to as a genie. Another pair of fallen angels that are prevalent in Islamic faith are Harut and Marut. They did not believe that the temptation on Earth would be so unbearable, so God challenged them to go down and take up the role of humans and see how they would fare. Before long, they were met by a human woman, Zohra (possibly Venus), who tempted them with sexual intercourse, but they declined. Later, she came back again, offering them alcohol, and thinking that they were above the effects of alcohol, they indulged in it and became drunk. And in their drunken state, they ended up having sex with the woman. So because they lost the bet, God cast them out of Heaven. However, he gave them a choice. They could either fulfill their punishment on Earth or in the life after, and they chose to take their punishment on Earth. So they became human permanently and they went to reside in the Tower of Babel. This was during King Solomon's reign. Harut and Marut spent the rest of their years teaching humanity about witchcraft and magic and astrology and other related topics, all the meanwhile warning humanity that they were only there to tempt them. 

Who is the Devil?

Throughout this piece there has been mention of a Satan and satans. It's important to note that the devil is not just one figure, but rather a few different figures, although they often get lumped together. Mentioned earlier is the archangel Samael, the Accuser, who was exiled to Earth. He is the leader of the satans. There is also Mastema, who is the chief of the fallen Grigori and Demons. Mastema is the most common satan that appears throughout the biblical account. The name Satan means "accuser" and "adversary," which is another reason why Samael gets mixed up with Mastema. But the term satan has been used various times for different reasons, even once to describe God. It's possible the reason that the word "satan" has such negative connotation in this context is because of, or related to, the original fall of Satanael before the creation of Man.

The last part of the puzzle would be Lucifer. The name Lucifer means "dawn bringer" and "shining one." Another translation for "dawn bringer" is "light bringer" or "morning star." Lucifer was a name given to a King of Babylon, probably Nebuchadnezzar (and his bloodline), by the prophet Isaiah during the Hebrew enslavement. The King was very wicked to them, and above all wanted to become greater than their god so he could defeat him. So God sent him visions depicting his downfall and how his torment would be as great as the satans', and in these dreams sarcastically called Nebuchadnezzar a "Lucifer," in that he dreamed of rising high as a star. There is some debate as to whether or not the King was a fallen Principality angel. Again, much like the word "satan," Lucifer was used for different reasons. Jesus had once been called a Lucifer, but in a more a positive way as opposed to the sardonic way is was used for Nebuchadnezzar.

Answering the question, "who is the Devil?" is a complicated matter. In some cases the term is more symbolic than literal, but in cases where it is literal, several figures can fill the role. Starting with Satanael cursing the name, to Samael and Mastema tempting mankind, to ancient Kings called a Lucifer, the Devil is a conglomerate of figures and beliefs who each contribute to the picture.

The War in Heaven

There is some debate as to whether or not the prophesized war in Heaven took place at the fall of angels or if it will take place at the end of times...or if it is gradually currently taking place right now. Some scholars think that the war in Heaven is really just symbology for what is taking place here on Earth, and what is going to take place after. Much about the war in Heaven can be found in the Bible in the Book of Revelation Chapter 12, specifically in referring to the context of this piece. The Apostle John, who was the youngest apostle and brother of James, had great visions and revelations. One of his popular revelations, sometimes called "The Woman and the Dragon," reads:

 

Then another sign appeared in Heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.

Then war broke out in Heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in Heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the Earth, and his angels with him.

There is a lot of symbology in that passage, but the main focus here is on the great dragon, who is the devil, and his tail, sweeping one third of the stars from the sky. As mentioned earlier, those are the two hundred (or two hundred million) angels that fell. That is why there is some debate as to when this war actually took place, if this was at the fall, or if it will be happening at the end of times and possibly the dragon sweeping the stars was just a symbol of what happened before. Perhaps John was seeing both the beginning and the end of the war altogether in one scene. The theory that makes the most sense is that the entire event is happening over the course of time, being that time is a probably a different concept to celestial beings. The fall of angels took place early, while the final battle will take place at the end.

The Dead Sea Scrolls support this narrative as well. In the scroll known as the "War Scroll," the 5th Song of the Sabbath Sacrifice describes how Michael, Prince of Light, will lead his angels of light in a heavenly battle against the Devil and his angels of darkness, while on Earth the children of light will fight the children of darkness. At the last of seven battles, Michael and his angels will come to Earth to aid the children of light in their victory. While at first the wording may allude that these events will happen simultaneously, again the construct of time may need not be taken so literal. Michael and his angels already cast the angels of darkness out of Heaven, so the battle between the children (mankind) is taking place, or has yet to. While ancient texts may leave a lot of room for debate, there is no doubt that angels still have a large role to play.

Angels, and their fallen counterparts, are a common theme amongst many belief systems and cultures throughout all of history, and the idea of celestial beings and a great conflict in Heaven has been a subject of debate and wonder for many generations and has been depicted and influenced art and music, literature and television and movies. The study of such beings however can be a tiring and confusing process with information so spread out across different texts and belief systems. Some figures they share in common, some they don't acknowledge at all, so piecing together the entire picture requires digging into it from different angles. The Abrahamic beliefs are easier to put together, as they share common roots, but one will find that other world religions also share certain elements, which leads to wonder, perhaps they all hold a piece of the truth?