Chapter 5 - Abilities of Fallen Angels as Described in the Bible
From what we
have covered so far, we can know the Bible teaches that today
Christians are in a battle against demons, the second wave of
fallen angels, and their leader, the fallen angel Satan.
To better understand what these fallen angels can do, we are
going to take a look at the abilities demonstrated by angels in
the Bible.
It would make sense that the abilities of fallen angels would be
the same as the abilities of Holy angels, as God originally made
all of them to be Holy angels, who were capable of carrying out
certain tasks for God. These tasks include giving messages,
through dreams and visions, or delivering a message while
appearing as a man. Though they usually remain invisible, angels
protect people from harm (Psa 91:11-12). They function as the
army of God (Rev 19:19): they destroyed Sodom (Gen 19), brought
down the wall of Jericho (Josh 5-6), and smite people (1 Ch 21).
God created angels to be able to do things like these.
Angels can do
miraculous supernatural things, and unfortunately fallen angels
can still do many of these same things, as they were created
with these abilities. But they use them for evil and deception.
As such we’re going to be looking at examples found in the Bible
of both Holy angels and fallen angels, to establish what the
Bible says are the abilities of angels in general.
In this we can have a better idea of what fallen angels can do
in general. And also a foundation for better understanding what
activities fallen angels are engaged in today.
Visions
caused by Angels
Angels can cause
what the Bible refers to as “Visions”.
Dan 10: 1-12
In the third year of Cyrus
king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was
called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time
appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had
understanding of the vision. In those days I Daniel was mourning
three full weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh
nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till
three whole weeks were fulfilled. And in the four and twentieth
day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river,
which is Hiddekel; Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked,
and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins
were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: His body also was like the
beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes
as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to
polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a
multitude. And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men
that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell
upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I
was left alone, and saw this great vision, and
there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned
in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.
Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the
voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and
my face toward the ground. And, behold, an hand touched me,
which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.
And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand
the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto
thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me,
I stood trembling. Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel:
for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to
understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words
were heard, and I am come for thy words.
What can we
observe from this passage? Daniel calls what he experienced a
“great vision” (Daniel 10:8) which was caused by an angel. While
having this vision:
-
It was real to the bodily senses:
Daniel was in his body, he saw with his eyes, he heard with
his ears, he felt a hand of an angel touch his body, felt
being on his hands and knees and later standing up, and he
felt bodily trembling
-
The vision Daniel saw was overlaid on
top of the reality everyone else could see, but others could
not see the vision. (Dan10:7)
-
What Daniel saw was unusual, and even
impossible-seeming, such as a face with the “appearance of
lightning”. Also the voice of the singular being he was
seeing sounded like a multitude of voices.
-
Daniel was awake, and not dreaming, nor
in a trance.
Daniel’s body
was still surrounded by objective reality, the river, the
landscape, and the men fleeing from something they couldn’t see
but felt emotionally. The men could see the river and the
landscape. However, Daniel’s mind was also seeing a vision from
an angel overlaid onto this objective reality, and this vision
that he interacted with felt completely real to his bodily
senses. He saw it, he heard it, and felt it, yet no one around
him could even see it, though they felt fear.
The Bible confirms that Visions caused by angels are experienced
with the senses, seen with the eyes, heard with the ears, felt
tactilely in the body, stating it plainly in Eze 40 and 44.
In the visions
of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me
upon a very high mountain, by which [was] as the frame of a city
on the south. And he brought me
thither, and, behold, [there was] a man, whose appearance [was]
like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand,
and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.
[angel] And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with
thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart
upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might
shew [them] unto thee [art] thou brought hither: declare all
that thou seest to the house of Israel.
Eze
40:2-4
Then
brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I
looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of
the LORD: and I fell upon my face.
And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold
with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say
unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the
LORD, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of
the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary.
Eze 44:3-4
Before going any further, I think it is important to be able to
conceptualize what a Vision is.
What would an experience like this be called in the present-day
world? If a man today claimed to have seen an angel, which he
saw with his eyes, heard with his ears, touched, and who no one
else with him could see… There are many today who would say he
must have had a “hallucination”. Not only that, but also a
“visual, audio, and tactile hallucination”. And there are many
people today who would say such a man should see a psychologist
or psychiatrist for help. This would only be more likely if the
man started claiming he was a prophet, and writing down his
experiences, because he thought these “hallucinations” were
important enough that God wanted them recorded to be shared with
posterity. Then he might really be labeled as “crazy” and locked
away. But this would all be the case only because much of the
world today rejects that God exists, that angels exist, and
rejects that angels have supernatural abilities and can interact
with mankind.
A hallucination is defined as:
“a sensory experience of something that does not exist
outside the mind, caused by various physical and mental
disorders, or by reaction to certain toxic substances, and
usually manifested as visual or auditory images.”
-Dictionary.com
“a sensory perception
that does not result from an external stimulus and that occurs
in the waking state. It can occur in any of the senses and is
classified accordingly as auditory, gustatory, olfactory,
tactile, or visual. It is a symptom of psychotic behavior, often
noted during schizophrenia, as well as of other mental or
organic disorders and conditions.”
–Mosby’s Medical Dictionary
Inherit in the
definition of a “hallucination” is the forgone conclusion that
it is “not a result of external stimulus” (like an angel), it
“does not exist outside the mind” objectively (like angels or
the spiritual side to reality itself), and it is “caused by
various physical and mental disorders” and is a “symptom of
psychotic behavior”.
The difference between a Vision and a hallucination is that a
Vision IS a result of external stimulus, namely angels, who are
an external stimulus that do exist outside of the mind, and a
Vision is not caused by a physical or mental disorder, nor is it
a symptom of psychotic behavior.
But like a hallucination, a Vision is a sensory experience, like
Daniel is described to have had.
Of course, differentiating between a “hallucination” and a
“Vision” is entirely a matter of if one can prove as to whether
the sensory experience was caused by an angel or not caused by
one. It is hard to prove that a “hallucination” was not caused
by external stimulus when that external stimulus could be an
angel, who stays invisible and does not declare their presence.
In fact, one could just as easily assume that all
“hallucinations” are actually caused by angels (holy or fallen)
and are therefore Visions, as one could assume that all Visions
are not caused by any external stimuli (but rather from some
physical or mental disorder) and are therefore “hallucinations”.
As to which is which, the deciding factor is all a matter of
personal spiritual beliefs, bias, and very subjective personal
interpretation of the experience.
But for Christians, the Bible is full of many examples of
Visions caused by angels. And Visions in the Bible have quite a
bit of variety to them, for instance some happen while awake,
and some happen while in a trance state. An example of a Vision
had during a trance is in Acts 10:9-17.
On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto
the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the
sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but
while they made ready, he fell into a trance,
And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending
upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners,
and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted
beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and
fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him,
Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord;
for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And
the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God
hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice:
and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
Now while Peter doubted in himself
what this vision which he had seen should mean,
behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry
for Simon's house, and stood before the gate.
Observations on
this passage:
- Peter had this
“vision” in a “trance”, while awake, and not asleep. The
“trance” is not described as “dreaming”. It seems likely
that those preparing for lunch who were with Peter saw Peter
in this trance state. However, this trance state is not
described as “dreaming”. Peter was awake, and not asleep,
though in a trance state.
- Peter observed being
in his body - this is implied by him being able to
optionally “rise, kill, and eat”. Peter also is seeing with
his eyes, and hearing with his ears.
- Peter, like Daniel,
sees unusual or impossible-seeming things.
During this
trance Peter experiences what the Bible calls a ‘vision’ (“horama”
Strong’s 3705). Earlier in Acts 10:3, Cornelius also receives a
“horama” vision, specified to be caused by an angel. Later, in
Acts 12, Peter is unsure whether or not he is having another
vision, when an angel is present:
“Peter followed him (an angel) out
of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing
was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision”
Acts 10:9 NIV
These Visions
(which communicate a message) are Biblically associated as being
caused by angels, as Holy angels are God’s messengers; the Greek
word aggelos meaning “messenger”. Many times angels give
messages from God by causing dreams or visions.
The word above
in Acts 10 for ‘trance’ is “ekstasis” (1611 in the Strong’s).
The second definition is “a throwing of the mind out of its
normal state, alienation of mind, whether such as makes a
lunatic or that of a man who by some sudden emotion is
transported as it were out of himself, so that in this rapt
condition, although he is awake, his mind is drawn off from all
surrounding objects and wholly fixed on things divine that he
sees nothing but the forms and images lying within, and thinks
that he perceives with his bodily eyes and ears realities shown
him by God.”
So, even the
Strong’s Concordance defines this trance as an experience in the
mind, which is perceived with “bodily eyes and ears”, or in
other words is real to the bodily senses. In Peter’s case, he
describes that he perceived hearing with his ears, seeing with
his eyes, and speaking with his mouth. This indicates he
perceived himself as being in his body, experiencing something
which seemed real to all the bodily senses. However, it is
implied that those around Peter perceived him as being in a
trance state. Peter might not have known he had been in a
trance, but may have just thought he had been awake, if there
had not been other people around that saw him in a trance.
Another instance
of a vision, which was also likely facilitated by a Holy angel
messenger (Se Rev 1, 1:1) happened to Paul and the men with him
in Acts 9 (related again in Acts 22).
Acts 9:3-8
And as he journeyed, he came
near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light
from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying
unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who
art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou
persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And
he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me
to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city,
and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which
journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing
no man. And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were
opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought
him into Damascus.
Acts 22:6-11
And it came to pass, that,
as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about
noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about
me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto
me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art
thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom
thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw indeed the
light, and were afraid; but they understood not the voice of him
that spake to me. And I said, What shall I do, LORD? And the
Lord said unto me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it
shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to
do. And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being
led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.
Observations on
these passages:
- Paul and the men saw
the light, though no one saw to whom the voice which was
speaking belonged.
- Paul saw the glory
of the light, and it was so intense he was blinded by it,
but the men with him did not even see it in the same intense
way he did.
- Paul heard and
understood the voice that was speaking
- The men heard the
voice that was speaking, but did not understand it
In this case the
vision was waking. What is most interesting is that the vision
was experienced in one way by Paul, and in another, more limited
way, by the men with him. This implies that it is possible for a
group of people to experience the same vision. Yet, this case
also shows that one person can see A but another person can see
B, even while they are both having a shared Vision.
So it seems an angel could cause several people to have a Vision
at the same time, but each person might see something different,
still experiencing it with their bodily senses, but differently
for each person.
Dreams Caused by Angels
Besides Visions, the Bible teaches
that angels can also cause dreams, such as seeing an angel in a
dream, as is in the case of Joseph the husband of Mary,
surrogate father of Jesus Christ:
Matt 1:20
But while he thought on these
things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a
dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take
unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is
of the Holy Ghost.
Matt 2:13 And when they were
departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph
in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his
mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring
thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
The Bible also gives an example that some
experiences may be a mix between a dream and a vision, but
happen when one is asleep in one’s bed.
“In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep
sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed” Job
33:15
Physical Interactions with Angels
Besides Dreams and Visions, the Bible teaches that angels can
also interact with people physically, in ways that leave
physical effects afterwards.
Acts 12:5-12,
18-19
Peter therefore was kept in
prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto
God for him. And when Herod would have brought him forth, the
same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with
two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison.
And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light
shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and
raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off
from his hands. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and
bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast
thy garment about thee, and follow me. And he went out, and
followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by
the angel; but thought he saw a vision. When they
were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron
gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own
accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and
forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was come
to himself, he said,
Now I know of a surety, that the LORD hath sent his angel,
and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all
the expectation of the people of the Jews. And when he had
considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of
John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together
praying. …. Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir
among the soldiers, what was become of Peter. And when Herod had
sought for him, and found him not, he examined the keepers, and
commanded that they should be put to death. And he went down
from Judaea to Caesarea, and there abode.
In this case an
angel is sent to free Peter from Herod’s prison. At first Peter
thinks he is experiencing a vision, but soon realizes these
events have truly taken place. Peter had visions before, and his
confusion proves the point that visions are real to the
bodily senses - as real as objective reality - which is
why Peter was not sure if what was happening was a vision or
not.
But the events were physically real and did take place in
objective reality.
The angel
materialized in a physical way and caused lasting physical
changes in objective reality. Other people, such as the guards,
Herod, and Peter’s friends, were all affected by these lasting
physical changes to objective reality, in the angel rescuing
Peter from prison.
Not only that,
but the angel was able to defy physics in objective reality, or
seem to have supernatural powers, by doing things such as
causing a light to shine, chains to fall off, likely opening
what was a locked gate, and moving a very heavy door with
apparently supernatural strength, as well as appearing and
disappearing seemingly out of nowhere.
Another example
of angels appearing physically and leaving physical effects is
Gen 19:
Gen 19:1-7,
10-13, 24-28
And there came two angels to
Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing
them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face
toward the ground; And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I
pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and
wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways.
And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him,
and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did
bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. But before they lay
down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the
house round, both old and young, all the people from every
quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are
the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto
us, that we may know them. And Lot went out at the door unto
them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you,
brethren, do not so wickedly….But the men put forth their hand,
and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. And
they smote the men that were at the door of the house with
blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves
to find the door. And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any
besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and
whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:
For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them
is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath
sent us to destroy it…Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and
upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the
inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a
pillar of salt. And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the
place where he stood before the LORD: And he looked toward Sodom
and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld,
and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a
furnace.
Some
observations: All of the men of the city could see the
angels, not just Lot. The angels caused all the men who were
harassing Lot to become blind. The angels likely turned Lot’s
wife into a pillar of salt. The angels also destroyed the city
of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham was able to observe the smoke
from the city’s destruction from far away. Today some people
(see arkdiscovery.com) say they have found the destroyed city,
and no doubt some evidence of this angelic event remains to this
day, somewhere.
In the case of
Sodom and Gomorrah the angels were seen by men and interacted
with them. These angels appeared looking as human men. However,
angels can also interact with objective reality without being
seen, and remaining invisible, as is seen in Job.
Job 1:12-19
And the LORD said unto
Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon
himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the
presence of the LORD.
And there was a day when his
sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their
eldest brother's house: And there came a messenger unto Job, and
said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they
have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only
am escaped alone to tell thee. While he was yet speaking, there
came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from
heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and
consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. While
he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The
Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and
have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the
edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said,
Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in
their eldest brother's house: And, behold, there came a great
wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the
house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I
only am escaped alone to tell thee.
In this case God
effectively removed a “hedge of protection” around Job and
allowed everything but Job’s life to be put “into Satan’s hands”
(Job 1:12). Satan then inspired people to kill Job’s servants,
caused a fire from heaven to come down and kill his sheep and
servants, and caused a great wind to demolish a house on top of
Job’s children, killing them all. Though Satan was invisible in
all of these events, nevertheless the events Satan caused
occurred in objective reality, and there were multiple witnesses
to the physical effects of what had occurred.
Another lasting
effect angels can cause is physical illness or injury, is seen
in Acts and in Job:
Acts 12:21-23
And upon a set day Herod,
arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an
oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, It is
the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel
of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he
was eaten of worms, and died.
In this case in
Acts the angel was invisible, at least his public appearance to
the crowd is not recorded, and the angel caused a physical
ailment resulting in death to the body of a person.
Job 2:6-7
And the LORD said unto
Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. So went
Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with
sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
In Job, the
angel Satan was invisible, but in objective reality he caused
real and visible injury/disease to Job’s body, and Job was ill
for some time, until God set things right.
In the case of
fallen angels, such as the fallen cherubim Satan, we also know
that they can appear looking like holy angels (who look like
men).
And no marvel; for Satan
himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2 Cor 11:13
Holy angels are of the messenger-type of angel, who look like
men, though sometimes glowing with light. Satan who is a
cherubim (with 4 faces, 3 of animals, and 4 wings) can transform
himself to appear as looking like a Holy messenger-type angel,
like a man and glowing with light. And of course fallen
messenger-type angels, who already look like men, can do this
all the more easily.
Observations on
Physical Interactions with angels:
1. There can be multiple witnesses of angels who appear
looking like men
2. There can be multiple witnesses to lasting physical effects
caused by angels, including illnesses, injury, and death
3. There can be supernatural occurrences that seem to defy
physics, in objective reality
4. Generally reality follows normal physical laws, except for
the actions of the angels
5. Physical effects can also be caused by angels that, though
present, remain invisible
6. Fallen angels can appear looking like holy angels, who look
like men, sometimes glowing
So far we have
covered that the Bible teaches that angels can interact with
people by the methods of Visions, Dreams, and can interact with
people physically either while appearing as men, or while
remaining invisible. The Bible also teaches that there can be
limited physical interactions during a Vision that seem to
combine or merge with the Vision experience itself. These
limited physical interactions can leave physical effects that
remain after the Vision is over.
Visions Caused by Angels Can Include Limited Physical
Interactions Which Can Leave Physical Aftereffects
Let’s look at an example from the book of Revelation. The entire
book of Revelation contains a very long and detailed Vision
given to John by a Holy angel, even though some of the
terminology seems a little different at first glance,
Rev 17:3 So he carried me
away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman
sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy,
having seven heads and ten horns.
Rev 21:10
And he carried me away in the
spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that
great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from
God,
In these
examples John says that “he carried me away in the spirit”. The
“he” that is referenced here is an angel of the Lord, a
messenger of Jesus Christ, and this
is established in Rev 22:8-9
And I John saw these things,
and heard [them]. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to
worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these
things. Then saith he unto me, See [thou do it] not: for I
am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of
them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
From these
passages, we know that all the things John experienced in the
Vision were caused by a Holy angel. An angel can “carry someone
away in the spirit”, but this term is synonymous with someone
having a Vision caused by an angel. We can know the term is
synonymous because John also makes clear that all of this was a
Vision:
And 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. Rev 9:17
Altogether, the entire imagery
John recorded in the book of Revelation was caused by an angel
of the Lord showing John these things in a Vision.
Also,
the same phrases are used in Eze
11:24, "Afterwards
the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by
the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So
the vision that I had seen went up from me."
And so if one is "in the spirit",
then the Bible indicates that one is having a Vision.
What John
experienced was real to all the bodily senses, even including
taste, and internal feeling in his stomach, as John perceived he
was experiencing all this bodily. John ate a scroll which was
part of the vision, tasted it, and it was “bitter to his
stomach”.
And I took the little book
out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth
sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was
bitter. Rev 10:10
In this Vision caused by a
Holy angel, John was writing down what he saw and heard
throughout his entire experience on a piece of paper.
Saying, I am Alpha and Omega,
the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book,
and send [it] unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto
Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira,
and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea…Write
the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and
the things which shall be hereafter;
Rev 1:11,19
And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was
about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto
me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered,
and write them not.
Rev 10:4
John did not
write down the Vision experience after it had ended, but while
it was ongoing. What is astounding is that this paper remained
with him after the experience had ended. Whether John was given
the paper to write on and the writing instrument during the
Vision, or if John carried these things into the experience and
out of the experience later, is unknown. But in either case,
John took the paper out of the Vision with him, which he had
written on during the Vision, and so a greater level of lasting
physical effects is shown here than in most Visions.
This example establishes that the Bible teaches an angel can
cause a person to have a Vision which leaves minor physical
effects or traces, like the scroll John recorded the Vision on,
or even bodily effects, even internal bodily effects like his
stomach becoming bitter. The Bible also teaches that angels can
have physical interactions with people that can include causing
people bodily injuries or illness. As Visions can include
limited physical interactions with angels that leave physical
aftereffects, it makes sense that Visions could possibly include
physical aftereffects of injuries or illness as well.
Visions Caused by Angels Can Manipulate a Person’s Perception
of Time
A Vision also may include elements of a fallen angel
manipulating a person’s perception of time. Another angelic
encounter in a passage with similar terminology to “carried me
away” uses the phrase “took him up”. These may be synonymous
terms. This experience caused by an angel (Satan) was likely
also a Vision experience.
And the devil took him up,
to a high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world
in a moment of time Luke 4:5
(Compare And he carried me away in
the spirit, to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that
great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from
God Rev 21:10)
The Greek word
here for ‘moment’ is “stigme” (4743) which literally means a
“point” of time. This word is used only once in the New
Testament, but is used in the Greek Old Testament, the
Septuagint, in Isaiah 29:5. The word that is translated as
“stigme” is “petha`” (6621) in Hebrew. According to Thayer’s
Lexicon, “petha” means “the opening of the eyes”, hence the
meaning “a moment of time”. The amount of time referenced to
here is the amount of time it takes to open your eyes. This is
no more than the time it would take to blink. It takes a human
about 300 to 400 milliseconds to blink; that is 3/10ths to
4/10ths of 1 second.
How could Jesus
see “all the kingdoms of the world” in the time it takes to
blink? Or even in one full second? It would seem that to be
shown all the kingdoms of the world should take at least a
couple hours, if not days, if a thorough tour was done. But even
snapshot pictures in quick succession would take a couple
minutes, and this without any time to really think about what
one was seeing. And so the necessary amount of time to be shown
all the kingdoms of the world is still incredibly more than
3/10ths of a second, or even one full second.
This passage
implies that one second passed in time, but Jesus experienced
subjectively a much longer period of time than one second during
that one second. And so it’s possible that there can be time
perception manipulation in a Vision caused (in particular) by a
fallen angel. There is another example in the Bible of something
similar on a greater scale, during Joshua’s Long Day.
Then spake Joshua to the LORD
in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the
children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun,
stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of
Ajalon. And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the
people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this
written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the
midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.
And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the
LORD hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the LORD fought for
Israel. Josh 10:12-14
This passage could be interpreted as to mean that God can pause
the progress of time forward, that the clock is paused, but
people still can do things while forward-moving time is paused.
God seemed to be able to do this to the whole world, a large
scale, as the sun stood still in the sky. Because the sun stood
still in the sky, if time was being manipulated here (not the
earth’s rotation), then this was a case of forward-moving time
being paused, and not a case of time travel. Yet while
forward-moving time was paused, in that moment time in substance
still seemed present, and in a way that still allowed people to
interact and do things.
The angels are called “sons of God” or “gods” at times, and in
this it seems they may be able to cause someone to perceive
something similar on a very limited scale. The effect is that of
a longer period of time being experienced during a much shorter
period of time. But the only Biblical example of an angel doing
this seems to be the fallen angel Satan doing this to Jesus
alone, during what was very likely a Vision that Satan was
causing Jesus to have. As a Vision, this was a spiritual
experience that only affected the person having the Vision, and
not everyone else in physical reality. The only Biblical example
of a fallen angel being able to add time like this, is during a
Vision the fallen angel is causing someone to have. But there is
no indication or Biblical example that angels can do this on a
larger scale like God Himself can do.
This makes sense as God made time (Gen 1:1), and is outside of
it eternally. Only He is “the alpha and the omega the beginning
and the end” (Rev 21:6, 22:13) and only God knows the end from
the beginning (showing that angels cannot time travel):
Remember the former things of
old: for I [am] God, and [there is] none else; [I am] God,
and [there is] none like me, Declaring the end from the
beginning, and from ancient times [the things] that are not
[yet] done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do
all my pleasure: Isa 46:9-10
Angels and Fallen angels are still only created beings who
experience linear time as we do, caught in the flow of time
moving forward.
But the prince of the
kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo,
Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I
remained there with the kings of Persia.
Dan 10:13
Therefore rejoice, [ye]
heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the
earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto
you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but
a short time. Rev 12:12
And so while a fallen angel may be able to cause a person to
perceive extra time in a Vision, while linear time seems to be
paused, there is no indication that fallen angels can do this on
a larger scale like God can. He is God who made time, and angels
are just created beings who exist caught in the flow of time.
And as this could be confusing, I hope that it has been made
clear that this does not have anything to do with the science
fiction concept of time travel, which in fact the Bible
indicates that fallen angels cannot do, and is not possible.
However, the Bible does seem to indicate that a longer time can
be condensed into a shorter time, like time itself has a second
aspect or dimension to it.
But, beloved, be not ignorant
of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day.
The Lord is not slack concerning his
promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. 2 Pet 3:8-9
A thousand of
our years can seem a short time to God, who is eternal. A
thousand years for us doesn’t seem like a long time to Him, but
rather a thousand of our years seems to Him like a day would for
us. But also, just one of our days, as perceived by Him, would
seem to us to stretch on and on like it was taking a thousand
years, from our perspective. This may be as in a single one of
our days, the Lord is so busy and with so much to do, that it
would take us a thousand years to get as much done. It might
take us a thousand years to get as much done as He does in a
day. This may refer to what it is like, that He hears all of our
prayers, and intercedes for all of us,
"Who [is] he that condemneth?
[It is] Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who
is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh
intercession for us." Rom
8:34
All over the world, Jesus Christ intercedes for, and hears the
prayers of millions of people, a multi-tasking of an
incomprehensible sort. A solution in understanding this may be
that a longer period of time can be condensed down into a
shorter period. Time itself is a thing that was created by God,
and may have been designed in such a way as to allow for this.
But again, this is another Biblical example that a longer period
of time can seem to be condensed into a shorter period of time.
Time perception manipulation caused by the fallen angel Satan
followed along these lines in the Vision he seemed to cause
Jesus to have in Luke 4:5. And so the only sort of time
manipulation that there is any Biblical precedent for is: time
perception manipulation of adding time into a paused moment.
Fallen angels seem to be able to do this in a limited way, and
by the only example of this in the Bible, it seems they only can
do this in a Vision they cause a person to experience.
A Vision Caused by an Angel Can Seem So Real As to be
Indistinguishable from Reality
Peter couldn’t
tell if something was real or a Vision, and so in Acts mistook
reality for a Vision, because Visions can seem so
indistinguishably real.
Peter followed him (an
angel) out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel
was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a
vision” Acts 10:9
There is a
second witness to this by Paul. I believe in this example the
Bible speaks on the difficulty of the confusion in telling one
from the other, with guidance on how we should handle that
difficulty.
It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to
visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ
above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell;
or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an
one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man,
(whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God
knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and
heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to
utter. 2 Corinthians 12:1-4
The word here
for "caught up" is "harpazo", and the same word is used in Acts
8:39 when "the Spirit of the
Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more".
And so being "caught up" does happen to be a term that can refer
to the Holy Spirit moving someone to a new place, bodily. It is
used in reference to Jesus' ascension (Rev 12:5) and to
believers being caught up into the air to be with the Lord (1
Thes 4:17). And so this word seems to reference more to people
being transported by God bodily.
But on the other hand, Paul also makes it very clear that he
cannot tell if the man was caught up ‘in his body’ to the third
heaven, or caught up ‘out of his body’ to the third heaven. To
understand what Paul means here by “out of the body”, we have to
look to earlier in this same book, in 2 Cor 5:4-9, where Paul
says, "We are confident, [I
say], and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be
present with the Lord." In
this case Paul references to one whose body is dead, and so
their spirit is with the Lord. Paul defines the term "out of the
body" to mean one is "in spirit".
And so in 2 Cor 12 Paul references back to 2 Cor 5, saying he
did not know if the man was "out of his body" which is another
way to say "in spirit". Putting this together what Paul says is
that he doesn't know if the man was caught up to the third
heaven in his body, or in his spirit.
The word “harpazo” and term “caught up” is rather synonymous
with “carried away” or “taken up”, and these are terms which are
both used of Visions caused by angels. And indeed, in this
passage Paul is referencing to “visions and revelations
of the Lord”.
In 2 Cor 5 Paul is saying that he doesn’t know if this man was
caught up bodily to the third heaven, or if the man was caught
up in the spirit to the third heaven in a Vision caused by a
Holy angel. Many people think Paul was referring to himself in
this passage, though this also may have been a story he heard in
detail from whoever experience it. In any case, Paul couldn’t
figure out if the experience happened bodily, or was a Vision in
the spirit. The reason why Paul couldn’t figure out which was
the case is because a Vision experience seems so real that it
can be indistinguishable from reality.
2 Cor 12 is telling us that it can be impossible to tell by the
bodily senses if something was a physical bodily experience, or
if it just seemed to be and was a Vision in the spirit. However,
as much as Paul admits he does not know if this man was caught
up to the third heaven in his body or in his spirit, Paul also
makes it very clear that God knows. This means only God has the
answers, for instance in His Word, and through His Holy Spirit.
We cannot tell with our bodily senses alone whether an
experience was in the body, or a Vision, but God can tell. While
people sometimes can’t figure out whether an experience was real
or a Vision, God can reveal the truth about an experience to
those who ask Him.
If a person
is “carried away in the spirit” while having a vision caused by
an angel, does this mean that a
person's spirit leaves their body?
No. The Bible indicates that a
person who is having a Vision, taken in the spirit, actually
never leaves their body. Daniel had
"visions of his head upon his bed"
and in the middle of the vision
"was grieved in my spirit in the
midst of [my] body, and the visions of my head troubled me."
(Dan 7:1,15) And so we can see that while Daniel had Visions, in
his spirit, that this was all in the midst of his own body (no
matter where he seemed to be, or what he saw) and that the
Visions he experienced were of his head, which is part of his
body. Not only that, but all of these Visions Daniel had took
place while he never left his bed. Note that part of this
vision included Daniel seeing the "Ancient of Days", likely on
His throne, which would be in the third heaven.
Even though a person may seem to be somewhere else, they
actually are only "carried in the spirit" in the "midst of their
body. The Visions are of their head, in their spirit, which is
in their body. So the Bible indicates their spirit never leaves
their body, but they have the Vision experience in their spirit,
and their spirit remains inside of their body.
Visions Caused by Angels Can Contain Just About Anything
Visions can
include settings or landscapes of just about any place, be about
anything, and can include anyone or anything as a character in
the Vision, and can include perception of travel.
Daniel had a Vision that occurred where he stood by the River
Chaldea. Peter had a Vision while on the housetop where he was,
of the housetop, though he was in a trance. So Visions can be of
places that are a person’s normal surroundings. John had a
Vision where he saw heaven, as did Isaiah (Isa 6) and Daniel
(Dan 7), and so a Vision could be of Heaven.
Ezekiel saw a Vision of Jerusalem, of the temple, which was a
real place. Ezekiel also had a Vision of a valley full of bones,
and when the bones came to life into an army, this was not of
something taking place in an actual valley somewhere (Eze 37).
And so Visions can be of real places or invented places. Even if
the valley was a real valley somewhere, what Ezekiel saw was not
actually taking place in that valley. Though, what Ezekiel saw
in Jerusalem was taking place there. So Visions can be of things
that are happening somewhere, or of things that are not actually
happening somewhere (but are symbolic, and of truth being taught
only in the case of visions from Holy angels).
Ezekiel experienced the perception of travel in a Vision (Eze
8, Eze 40), and Daniel seemed to be near a great sea in his Vision (Dan
7) and so Visions can seem to include travel or being in a
different location. But Daniel makes clear he didn’t go anywhere
during his Visions, but was in his bed while he had them.
Ezekiel saw people in the Vision of the valley of bones. John
saw people in his Vision of Revelation, as well as strange
looking locust creatures, angels, a dragon, a strange beast with
seven heads and the body parts of various animals. The
characters in a Vision could be in the forms of people, real or
not, angels, animals that exist, and strange creatures that
don’t exist. But like an artist can draw a cartoon of about
anything, or any place, so can an angel cause a Vision to
contain just about any landscape or characters.
What is seen in a Vision can
vary wildly and be of just about anything. During a Vision a
person may see angels, people, entities, living creatures,
landscapes of strange places, or of familiar ones, as well as
perceiving they experience travel to various places. Yet all of
this is just part of the Vision caused by the angel, and the
Bible teaches, like Daniel, that people don’t actually go
anywhere, regardless of what they perceive during a Vision.
The Bible summarily teaches several things about Visions
caused by angels:
1. A Vision can seem totally real to a single bodily sense (like
sight) or to all of the bodily senses, and a person’s
self-perception is usually that they are in their body.
2. A Vision can affect one person or multiple people, though
they may perceive it differently
3. A Vision can occur in a waking state, or in a trance state
4. A Vision can be causes by a visible angel, or an invisible
angel
5. A Vision can involve some physical effects that remain
afterwards, such as objects that remain with a person, and
bodily effects, even internal ones.
6. A Vision can involve manipulation of a person’s perception of
time, like an hour in a minute.
7. A Vision can contain just about any landscape, or any sort of
characters, and can seem to involve travel, even though the
person doesn’t actually go anywhere
8. A Vision can seem so real to the bodily senses that it is
indistinguishable from reality, even in the case of people who
are experienced with Visions, though God knows and can reveal
the truth
This level of power in the hands of fallen angels is staggering
to conceptualize. I thank God that they are limited in what they
can do, and who they can do it to, by God’s laws of spiritual
authority grounds. A fallen angel can only attack someone if
they have spiritual authority grounds and rights to do so. God
places a “hedge of protection” around people, limiting whom the
fallen angels can harass and harm, and limiting the level of
harassment and the extent of the harm that they can do to a
person. (See Job 1 and 2, also the New Testament is full of this
concept. This is covered more in a later chapter on spiritual
warfare.) It is also a relief to know that for every fallen
angel, there are 2 Holy angels working for God and Jesus; and so
the fallen angels are outnumbered two to one. Additionally Jesus
Christ assures believers in Him:
Behold, 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. Luke
10:19
False Dreams and False Visions caused by Fallen Angels
In this study we have covered Visions that were had by
people who were prophets, or those with the gift of the Holy
Spirit of prophecy, such as Daniel, John, Ezekiel, Peter and
Paul. Even in the case of Joseph having a dream of an angel,
telling him to flee to Egypt, this also was a prophetic warning
given by a Holy angel. When Holy angels cause people to have a
dream or a Vision they are delivering a message, but often these
messages are classified by the Bible as "prophecy" and those who
have them as "prophets".
In the Bible, prophecy is heavily associated with a person
having dreams or Visions. And as we have established, dreams and
Visions can be caused by Holy angels, who are God's messengers.
“And it shall come to pass in the last
days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh:
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your
young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream
dreams” Acts 2:17
“And he said, Hear now my words: If
there be a prophet among you, [I] the LORD will make
myself known unto him in a vision, [and] will speak unto
him in a dream.” Num 12:6
And so a person who has a dream or a Vision caused by a Holy
angel is classified by the Bible as a prophet. And while an
angel delivers a message to the prophet, the prophet in turn
delivers the message on to other people. The Strong's definition
of prophet is a "spokesman, speaker", and to prophesy is to " a)
be under the influence of a divine spirit" or or to be "b) a
false prophet".
The Bible also mentions false prophets. True prophets have
true Visions that are caused by Holy angels sent by God. But the
Bible teaches that false prophets have False Visions and Vain
Visions.
“Have ye not seen a vain vision,
and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye
say, The LORD saith [it]; albeit I have not spoken? Therefore
thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen
lies, therefore, behold, I [am] against you, saith the Lord GOD.
And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity,
and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my
people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the
house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of
Israel; and ye shall know that I [am] the Lord GOD.” Eze
13:7-9
Then the LORD said unto me, The
prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither
have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy
unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of
nought, and the deceit of their heart. Jer 14:14
False prophets have False Visions, and these are caused by
Fallen angels who lie and deceive.
And he saith, `Therefore, hear a word of
the Lord; I have seen the Lord sitting on His throne, and all
the host of the heavens [angels] standing by Him, on His
right and on His left; and the Lord saith, Who doth entice Ahab,
and he doth go up and fall in Ramoth-Gilead? and this one saith
thus, and that one is saying thus. `And a spirit came out, and
stood before the Lord, and saith, I -- I do entice him; and the
Lord saith unto him, By what? and he saith, I go out, and have
been a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets;
and He saith, Thou dost entice, and also thou art able; go out
and do so. 1 Kin 22:19-22 In this passage the angels
were around God's throne, and an angel admits to having been
communicating deception or lies to the false prophets. God
permissively allows this deceptive angel to continue to do what
the falling angel himself is able to do, and chooses to do. This
angel was apparently a falling one, one of the second wave that
fell with Satan, though this was before they were kicked out of
heaven (see chapter 3). And so the Bible teaches that fallen
angels do communicate lies and deception to false prophets. And
this is by the method of false dreams and False Visions, which
false prophets are reported to have.
Beyond false messages which fallen angels can communicate in
False Visions or dreams, they can also use False Visions and
dreams to simply harass and frighten people, to a terrible
extent. While Job was under a series of attacks caused by Satan,
a fallen angel, Job records:
When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my
couch shall ease my complaint; Then you scare me with dreams
and terrify me with visions so that I would
choose strangling and death rather than my bones. Job
7:13-15 And so the Bible teaches that fallen angels can
victimize people with their ability to cause dreams and Visions,
using these to scare and terrify, even to the point of severe
traumatization from them. Job here experiences severe
depression, longing to die rather than deal with these
terrifying dreams and Visions. It seems various other
psychological symptoms besides severe depression could result
from these experiences as well, as Job's account here shows they
can be very traumatic, and different people handle trauma in
different ways.
Along with this, fallen angels can also cause False Dreams and
False Visions to communicate a lying or deceptive message, false
information, to a person with the intent that the person might
become a false prophet, who shares the false message as truth.
This is part of why the Bible warns that people must test
spirits, not just believe them, as these fallen angels are at
war against us,
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether
they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into
the world." (1 Jn 4:1) and as Jesus said,
″Many false prophets will arise, and will
mislead many.” (Matt 24:11)
But even in the midst of this war we have God's reassurance,
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him
who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities nor powers [fallen angels], nor
things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any
other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love
of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 8:37-39
(For information on Visions and Modern Physics please see the
Appendix:
Does Science Allow for the Supernatural and Miracles?) |