The Judgment of the Demons (No. 080)

Angels of the Churches of God

The structure of the temple tells us a lot about the Hebrew cosmological perceptions of the guardianship of the planet and hence of angelic responsibility and judgment. For example, in Ezekiel 41:18-19, the cherubim are shown to be of two types, i.e. of the man-headed and the lion-headed or Æon.

Thus the two sectors controlled by the living creatures around the throne of God, allocated responsibility for assisting in the development of Israel according to Ezekiel, would appear to be the angel or man system, of which Satan was the original covering cherub and also the Æon system, part of which he appears to have subverted. This is dealt with in The Problem of Evil (No. 118) and Mysticism (No. B_7A). These covering cherubs are referred to as Elohim but they are also referred to as Angels. The Angel of YHVH was identified as Messiah (see the papers The Angel of YHVH (No. 024) and The God We Worship (No. 002)). Revelation appears to identify Messiah as the Angel also. In Revelation 1:1 an Angel delivers the message or Revelation, which is from God to Christ.

In Revelation 1:10-20 it is plain that Christ is the identity who explains the message. The hierarchy is thus that Christ is the Angel or Head of the Churches of God. Each of the subordinate churches, of which there are seven represented by seven candlesticks, is fed by the oil of the spirit (Zech. 4:2). The seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea are governed by a subordinate Angel to whom the letters of Revelation 2 and 3 are addressed. 1Timothy 5:21 appears also to allude to the Angels of the Churches where Paul says:

In the presence of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without favour doing nothing from partiality.

It is certain that Paul here includes the loyal angels as part of the elect and thus the promise extends to a structure of both humans and angels.

The early patristic writers hold that there were angels in charge of the churches. These included Origen (Hom. on Luke 13:23), Gregory of Nazianzus (Or. 42), Basil (Comm. on Isa. 1:46), Gregory of Elvira (Tract.16), Hyppolytus (De Antichr. 59), and Eusebius (Comm. on Ps. 47:50). For details see also Jean Danielou, The Angels and their Mission, (Westminster, Md, Newman Press, 1953) and Wink, T, The Powers, Vol. 2: ‘Unmasking The Powers’ (Fortress Press, Philadelphia, 1987 p. 192). Unfortunately, patristic theology had become so interlinked with the Mysteries that by the time of Gregory of Nazianzus the cosmology had extended to include the soul doctrine with a heavenly New Jerusalem (Or. 32 and also Basil Ep. 2.238).

The concept of having an angel as governing entity over the created structure is well established and logically sound. A fuller exposition of the distribution of angelic powers is given in Wink, The Powers, Vols. 1 and 2 (esp. Vol. 2); Wagner et. al., Territorial Spirits (Sovereign World Limited, UK, 1991); and Dickason, Angels Elect and Evil (Moody Press, Chicago, 1975). The concept of the distribution of the earthly realms under angelic powers was widely held not only by Israel and the Testaments but also by the Gentile nations as well. Wink notes (n. 11 on p. 196) that:

The emperor Julian (d. 363) is typical of his age in holding that all peoples possess a distinct character, language, and laws, determined by its presiding spirits. 'If some presiding national god, and under him an angel and a demon and a hero and a special class of spirits as subordinates and agents to greater powers, had not established the differences in laws and nations, tell me, whatever else has produced these? (Against the Galileans 143 B). The Demiurge 'has divided the peoples among various gods, whose business it is to watch over the different nations and cities. Each of these gods rules over the portion that has fallen to him in accordance with his nature... Every nation reproduces the national characteristics of the deity ruling it' (ibid., 115D).

This concept of the heavenly Host as watchers is ancient. The Watchers ('îyr) was the term given to the celestial Host as angels or guardians by the Chaldeans (Dan. 4:13,23), and who issue decrees for the regulation of activities (Dan. 4:17; not to be confused with Jer. 4:16). Christ is identified as the Being who created the power and authority of these Beings.

The Archangel Michael is identified as the Angel or Great Prince (sar) that stands for Israel (Dan. 12:1). The understanding was that Israel had been selected and stood alone among the nations. Test. Levi 5:6 says (of the Angel of YHVH, which some groups have identified as Michael):

I am the angel who intercedeth for the nation of Israel that they may not be smitten utterly, for every evil spirit attacketh it (APOT) (noted also by Wink, p. 197).

The entire spiritual structure of the earth was arrayed against the chosen nation, as the god (theos) of this world, Satan or Azazel, and his entire rebellious Host, were confined to the earth and in control of the nations which were allowed to place themselves under the fallen Host from the creation of Adam. This was the significance meant in the term knowledge of good and evil. It was not just knowledge but a choice of direction. Origen understood this point. Origen believed that the angels of the nations could be converted.

If human beings can repent and pass from unbelief to faith, why should we hesitate to say the same of the Powers? For my part, I think that it has sometimes happened...some of the Powers were converted when Christ came, and that is why some towns and even whole nations accepted Christ more readily than others (Wink, p. 197 cf. Comm. on John 18:59).

Origen considers that the man of Macedonia who appeared to Paul in a vision asking his help in Acts 16:9 was the Angel of Macedonia responsible for their collective well being (Hom. on Luke, 12). Origen here holds that:

Before the birth of Christ these angels could be of little use to those entrusted to them and their attempts were not followed by success.

Daniélou has written comprehensively on the subject (The Angels and Their Mission, Westminster, Md, Newman Press, 1953, pp. 15ff., 232: and idem, Les sources juives de la doctrine des anges des nationes chez Origène, Recherches de Science Religieuse 38 (1951, pp. 132-137).

The repentance of the fallen Host is of great moment for the question of the Omnipotence of God. Origen's position on the capacity for the fallen Host to repent and be converted is considered essentially correct within the philosophy developed by the Bible. The position is central to The Problem of Evil. The biblical position is that only Satan has been judged (Jn. 16:11). The angels are yet to be judged (1Cor. 6:3). The symbolism of the story of the fall of Adam particularly that found in Genesis 3:15 where the serpent is placed in enmity with mankind, stems from the rebel Host leading the woman astray. The text continues in the masculine singular (here considered to be referring to Messiah) such that the heel of mankind and the head of the serpent are bruised from shoof (SHD 7779) meaning, to gape or snap at and hence fig. to overwhelm:- break, bruise or cover. The heel of man is damaged, and only the head of the serpent is bruised. Thus mankind is not permanently injured. The term used does not indicate the annihilation of the one by the other. Thus the division is reconcilable and the Host (other than perhaps Satan) can repent.

Judgment of the Host

The matter of the judgment of the Host has long been one of ongoing debate. Modern Christianity does not understand the correct sequence of the judgment of the fallen Host, because it misunderstands the whole process of death and resurrection and of eternal life, both of humans and of the Host. Modern Christianity falls into a serious error from the text at 1Corinthians 6:2-3.

1Corinthians 6:2-3 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? ³Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? (KJV)

What angels shall we judge? It is assumed from this text that the loyal Host is meant from the premise that the demons cannot repent. This is completely false. The judged can only be the fallen Host.

When do we judge them? It cannot be at the beginning of the Millennium because we will have done nothing and they can only be judged by our performance as the Spiritual sons of God. That means they are part of the Second Resurrection. We judge them then. If they are already condemned then it is a perverse farce.

In the early phase of Christianity repentance was assumed. The fall of the Host to the pit should be examined for its implications.

Isaiah 14:1-32 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. ²And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. ³And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, ⁴That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! ⁵The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. ⁶He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. ⁷The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. ⁸Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. ⁹Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. ¹⁰All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? ¹¹Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.¹²How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! ¹³For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: ¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.¹⁵Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. ¹⁶They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; ¹⁷That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? ¹⁸All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. ¹⁹But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. ²⁰Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. ²¹Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. ²²For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD. ²³I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.

The text in bold relates to the concept of the reduction of Satan to the sides of the pit. The fact is that he was thrown from his grave (sepulchre) like a despised branch (v. 19, Interlinear Bible). The carcase trodden under feet here was a peger (SHD 6297), which means a carcase as limp, of either man or beast and figuratively of an idolatrous image. The evil entity here is not joined in burial allegedly because of iniquity.

He is classed as the king of Babylon (i.e. of confusion and the world religions) but it is Lucifer the Day Star that is being referred to (v.4). And men will look at him and say is this the MAN that made the earth tremble (v.16). He is dead and not laid in his own sepulchre.

He is not joined with the kings of the earth in burial because he has destroyed the land and slain the people (vv. 17-20). This can only be the war at the end of the Millennium when the entire system he raised up is destroyed along with his "sons" (v. 21ff.). The text refers to the Lord destroying the nations and the lord will answer the messengers of the nations and His people will find refuge. He is speaking of dealing with the wicked in the judgment.

²⁴The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: ²⁵That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. ²⁶This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. ²⁷For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? ²⁸In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden. ²⁹Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. ³⁰And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. ³¹Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times. ³²What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it. (KJV)

In order to deal with the demons they have to be reduced to humans, die and then be resurrected and placed in bodies for the Second Resurrection. They are then given the judgment of Krisis or correction and the Holy Spirit on baptism. Their old systems and spirits are used to fuel the memorial of the Lake of Fire.

They are given new names and are restored as sons of God in the Holy Spirit as they were at the beginning before their fall. God's plan is perfect.

All of the fallen Host are sent down to the pit. Some of the demons are let out of the pit for periods to interact with men. That interaction is subject to the elect.

The demons are subject to Christ and the elect from the ordination of the seventy (Lk. 10:1,17-20).

Luke 10:17-20 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. ¹⁸And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. ¹⁹Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. ²⁰Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. (KJV)

From this text the fall of Satan is mentioned. The demons have variable degrees of freedom.

Matthew 8:28-32 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes (NIV & NRSV say Gadarenes), there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. ²⁹And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? ³⁰And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. ³¹So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. ³²And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. (KJV)

The texts in Matthew 8:28-32 and that in Mark 5:1-17 are often held to be contradictory, but they are in fact two separate events. One involves two people the other one. The number of demons is multiple. On both occasions the demons are cast into unclean animals and the animals are killed. Christ achieved two purposes in dealing with the demons here. He used the demons under direction to rid Israel of unclean animals as well as the spirits. The first lot of spirits are aware that they have a limited time and that they will be dealt with by Christ in the name of God at that appointed time. Here in Mark the single man has a legion of demons and they sought that Christ did not send them away out of the country. Thus there are varying forms of allocated domiciles. This seems to relate to the power of the demons, as we will see below.

Mark 5:1-17 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes (NIV & NRSV say Gerasenes). ²And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, ³Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: ⁴Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.⁵And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. ⁶But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, ⁷And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. ⁸For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. ⁹And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. ¹⁰And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. ¹¹Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. ¹²And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. ¹³And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. ¹⁴And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. ¹⁵And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. ¹⁶And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. ¹⁷And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. (KJV)

The angels confined to the pit have power given to them and that power is consigned to the Beast. The Witnesses of the last days fight the demonic powers of the last days.

Revelation 11:1-14 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. ²But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. ³And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. ⁴These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. ⁵And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. ⁶These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will. ⁷And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. ⁸And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. ⁹And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. ¹⁰And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. ¹¹And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. ¹²And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. ¹³And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. ¹⁴The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. (KJV)

See the paper The Witnesses (including the Two Witnesses) (No. 135).

The process of the Times of the Gentiles and the forty and two months of the woe are the same period where the four powerful angels are released from the pit to kill a third of mankind. The Host also have an angel over them in the pit.

Revelation 9:1-18And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. ²And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. ³And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. ⁴And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. ⁵And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. ⁶And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. ⁷And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. ⁸And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. ⁹And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. ¹⁰And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. ¹¹And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.

The four angels bound at the Euphrates are released for a period of time in the latter days. This is the war of the sixth trumpet, which kills a third of humanity.

¹²One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. ¹³And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, ¹⁴Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. ¹⁵And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. ¹⁶And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. ¹⁷And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. ¹⁸By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. (KJV)

This system that confines the angels is one of control over the Host so that their power is restrained. Satan likewise is restrained and confined to this pit.

Revelation 20:1-15 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. ²And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, ³And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

The important thing to note here is that Satan is confined for the millennial reign of the saints. His power over the nations was restrained but that power was restored at the end of the Millennium in order to deal with the nations. The fundamental problem of the nations under the millennial rule will be that they will be self-righteous. Satan will be released in order to demonstrate that they are just as vulnerable without the Spirit and under the influence of the fallen Host.

The elect will be given rulership with Christ and here they will exercise judgment. Most of these had been martyred (Rev. 20:4ff.).

⁴And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. ⁵But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. ⁷And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, ⁸And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. ⁹And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. ¹⁰And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

The rest of the dead did not live until after the thousand years were ended. Thus the judgment is exercised only by the elect of the First Resurrection. The judgment of the demons and the casting of the Devil (diabolos) here into the Lake of Fire, together with the Beast and the false prophet, is a convoluted text. The false prophecy and the beast system are cast into the Lake of Fire with death and hades, after the Second Resurrection. These things that are being done away with are “concepts”. The entities themselves are dealt with in the plan of God.

¹¹And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. ¹²And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. ¹³And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. ¹⁴And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. ¹⁵And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (KJV)

(cf. the paper The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143)).

Azazel himself has been judged as we see in John 16:10-13.

John 16:10-13 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; ¹¹Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. ¹²I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. ¹³Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. (KJV)

The judgment of Satan was preliminary to the judgment of the fallen Host. Satan was judged by his actions in relation to Christ. The fallen Host are judged by their activities in relation to the elect. Each level is judged by its complementary level in the system of the elect under Christ. The judgment of the Host involves their removal from the positions of power with which they were entrusted. They are nevertheless then exposed to correction and the process of enlightened leadership and correction.

On proper guidance and direction the demons can repent. The argument that they cannot and that they are consigned to eternal torment is a Satanic thought process, which seeks to impugn the nature and Mercy of God and to assert to God an imperfect creation.

Under Omniscience God knows that the Host and humanity will sin. Unless He has developed the system so that the entire Host can be saved the system is faulty. The sins of Satan had to do with self-righteousness and self-importance. He sought to overthrow God. Christ was selected as his replacement and did what Satan should have done in the beginning.

The sequence is seen from Philippians 2:1-11.

Philippians 2:1-11 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ²complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. ⁴Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. ⁹Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (RSV)

Note the sequence here:

1. Given the incentives of the Spirit in love, affection and sympathy, the elect are of one accord.

2. Nothing is done from selfishness or conceit, but from humility, counting others better than one’s self.

3. Each is to look to the interests of others.

4. This is the same mind as that of Christ who although he was in the form (morphe) of God he did not try to make himself equal with God. He did not try to grasp equality as Satan had tried to do. Instead Christ became a servant and humbled himself unto death.

God willed that Satan show his leadership and obedience yet he did not become obedient. Because he was not obedient, God removed his authority as the Morning Star and gave that position to Christ (Rev. 2:28; 22:16). This position is shared with the elect.

All unrighteousness is sin (1Jn. 5:17). He who is born of God does not commit sin (1Jn. 3:9). Sin is transgression of the law (1Jn. 3:4). Sin reigns unto death (Rom. 5:21). The punishment for Sin is Death (Rom. 6:23). Christ died as a sacrifice to atone for sin once and for all, as the High Priest of the Host (Heb. 9:26; 13:11). This atonement was not confined to humans, as Christ is High Priest of the Host, which includes the angelic realms. Similarly, there can be no respect to persons as that is sin (Jas. 2:9). Hence the withholding of repentance to an angel is respect of persons since that position is extended to those within the Host. God cannot sin therefore God cannot be a respecter of persons. God cannot have respect of persons in judgment (Pro. 24:23) and indeed is not in respect of persons (Acts 10:34). Hence the Host can repent and are redeemed under the sacrifice of Christ.

The repentance of Satan is perhaps a questionable matter. The fact of his repentance is totally allied to his attitude rather than the attitude of God. That was not listed in this part of the text. The repentance of the demons is considered to be wholly different and that many have in fact repented already. The judgment of Satan was that he was removed from authority. The fallen demons have not as yet been judged. The elect have as yet not completed their tasks in order that they can be adequately measured against their performance as guardians or watchers of this planet.

We can deduce the repentance of Satan from the parable of the Prodigal Son (see the paper Lost Sheep and the Prodigal Son (No. 199)); and also from the fact of the placement of Satan in the resurrection in human form, which we deduce from the following text.

What is clear is that Satan is mentioned as being a man and from the pit in Isaiah 14. His power as a spirit is removed from him at the end of the millennial system, after he is released for the last time. From Isaiah 14 we see that the nations express surprise that he is the man that destroyed the nations. The nations say to Lucifer from this text at Isaiah 14:10.

Are you also made as weak as we? Are you likened to us? (Interlinear Bible)

This text has two functions. Firstly the term man serves the purpose of identifying which of the covering cherubs he was, namely the southern or man-headed system. Secondly we know from this text that Satan is to go to the pit and to suffer the fate associated with a material condition. Note again the text in Isaiah 14:11-17.

Isaiah 14:11-17 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. ¹²How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! ¹³For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: ¹⁴I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. ¹⁵Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. ¹⁶They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; ¹⁷That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? (KJV)

Satan is thus removed from the position of spiritual force and that force is used to fuel the Lake of Fire. Thus the power is put to use as a memorial, the smoke of which will rise forever. The fact that the fire goes on forever does not mean that the beings will be tormented forever. That thought process is not godly and impugns the nature of God. To desire the torment of another is a perverted thought process. The godly way is listed clearly in the gospels. Love your enemies. Do good to them that hate you. Show mercy unto them that despitefully use you. God's mercy endures forever (Ps. 136:24). That is forever, not until the judgment. The weightier matters of the law are judgment and mercy. Judgment is held to mean correction and retraining. That correction and opportunity to repent is given to Satan as it is given to all. He is no less a creature of God and our brother than are all of the Host. Satan and all of the Host will be redeemed at the Great White Throne Judgment. They will be dealt with as human beings in the Second Resurrection, along with all of the creation not present with Christ as spirit beings under the millennial reign. We see that this even extends to include Satan.

This text is Scripture and Scripture cannot be broken. The blind men asked for mercy (Mat. 9:27) and that mercy will be extended to the demons also, to show to the Host that all of the creation is perfect. It is God's will that no flesh should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2Pet. 3:9). At the start of the creation Satan and the Host were all part of the flock. Christ said that it was God's will that none of these little ones should perish (Mat. 18:14). If the little ones of the flock are lost even to the rank of Morning Star, would not the Father show through His Omnipotence and His Omniscience His greater intellect and agape love? When does God deny repentance to one of His creation? Would He deny repentance to the elect? The unforgivable sin is blaspheming the Holy Spirit. That sin is exclusively concerned with denying the power of the Spirit to convert the being and restore it to God. That process is concerned with denying the capacity and unity of God in the Host through self-righteousness.

Thus the text in Jeremiah 10:11 saying that the Elahia (gods) are to be 'abad (translated perish) has the meaning of having no way to flee being broken rather than taken from existence. Repentance is available to all God's creation, because God is not a respecter of persons (Rom. 2:11). If Satan cannot repent then God is in respect of persons. He is not; therefore Satan can repent. The process of that repentance is dealt with over the period of one hundred years of the Second Resurrection of Revelation 20, which is deduced from Isaiah 65:20. To assert that repentance is denied to the demons is to attribute to God the same perverted thought process that has destroyed this planet. Satan has engendered that process into the human race.

Christ died to save sinners

It is an axiom of the Bible that the Messiah died to save sinners. His death once and for all was to save sinners. They were given repentance and brought to judgment.

The Bible states unequivocally that the demons asked Christ for mercy (see above). The NT also states that Christ went to the demons confined to the pit and preached to them after his resurrection.

If the demons could not repent then Christ would not have preached to them as he could not have effected or extended repentance, which is the purpose of preaching. Also it is wrongly asserted by some that being spirit, demons cannot die.

Objection 1. If demons could sin and could not repent then they would have been consigned to death with no redemption possible. Thus the creation is flawed and God is in respect of persons, which He is not as we have seen above.

Objection 2. If spirit cannot die then Christ having pre-existence could not die. But Christ did die and was resurrected from the dead.

Thus as God is Omnipotent and Omniscient, demons can die in the same way Christ died and that was to be brought down to flesh and the pit and then die and become resurrected to judgment.

After his resurrection Christ went in the Holy Spirit to preach to the spirits in prison, which is the pit. These spirits are those of Genesis 6:2,4 who sinned through fornication with the daughters of men and were confined because of it (see also notes to The Companion Bible to the text below and at Appendix 23).

1Peter 3:18-22 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, ¹⁹through whomalso he went and preached to the spirits in prison ²⁰who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, ²¹and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²²who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him. (NIV)

It follows, as the night the day, that Christ would not have bothered preaching to demons if they could not repent and could not be saved.

These demons are also those mentioned in 2Peter 2:4 and Jude 6.

2Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare sinning angels, but delivered them to chains of darkness, thrust down into Tartarus, having been kept for judgment; (Interlinear Bible)

Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the Great Day (NIV).

The NIV is wrong in the translation of 2Peter 2:4 and renders Tartarus as hell, which it is not.

They are kept until judgment and we know that is after the war at the end of the Millennium.

The fallen Host were consigned to the bottomless pit long ago waiting for the appearance and redemption of Christ in judgment.

Now if they had been consigned to everlasting fire they would have already been judged. Thus the Bible in these texts would be flawed and hence uninspired. The word in the text refers to the pit of Tartarus, which is the bottomless pit used to hold the fallen Host.

Christ qualified to redeem men and also the fallen Host and all powers in heaven and earth are subject to him.

Conclusion

The demons are subject to us and will be judged by us at the Second Resurrection of the Dead. Then they will assume physical form in the same way that the resurrected humans of the creation will assume human form again at the Second Resurrection. They will all be translated on repentance and correction. The unrepentant will die and be burnt in Gehenna fire, which is the rubbish pit at the place of their judgment and death.

If we are unable to judge righteously then we won't be there in judgment; we will be there to be judged. There are only two sides to the Second Resurrection: those to be judged and those judging. If we have already condemned them then we are in respect of persons and an unjust judge. We are unfit to be part of the Household of God with such an attitude.

Father forgive them for they know not what they do!

It is by our actions now that they are judged. We set the standard by which they are judged and as we sin so also are they justified. That is why Satan is the accuser of the brethren.

Have we not one God and Father of us all who created us (Mal. 2:10)?

Would He in His infinite goodness and mercy allow one of his children to die at the expense of another? We perceive that with God there is no respect of persons. All His sons are given the opportunity of repentance under correction and righteous judgment.

The being Lucifer who became Satan is a spirit. He has to be destroyed and die. Thus he has to be killed as a man as Christ died as a man. The doctrine that spirit cannot die is a satanic doctrine based on the immortal soul that entered the Churches of God under Armstrong and has corrupted the minds of the brethren and filled them with hate. If spirit cannot die then Christ could not be our saviour.

The spirit that was corrupted and is the spirit of evil, or diabolos, of false prophecy and of the Beast system will be cast into the Lake of Fire as detailed in Revelation.

From Ezekiel we know that the fire comes from Satan and consumes him as a man.

The Lake of Fire is the memorial that is formed from this spirit which is taken from the being after being used to destroy him in physical form.

He, as a cremated being, is now no different from anyone else on earth who has died and been buried. He is then ready for the Second Resurrection. His substance or memory of being has gone back to God who created him as have all others.

God has to be in control of His creation. He must therefore be able to determine outcomes to be logically omnipotent.

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