A Modern Guide to Demons and Fallen Angels    
  by Paradox Brown ©
 

Chapter Six - Powers and Physics - Fallen Angels

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 such I’m going to be using 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.

Angelic Apparitions

The first category of angelic encounters is “Mental Envelopments” or “Mental Attacks”. This angelic ability is demonstrated in the following passage:

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) caused by an angel. While having this “vision”:

  1. 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 touch his body, felt being on his hands and knees and later standing up,
    he felt bodily trembling,
  2. The vision Daniel saw was overlaid on top of the reality everyone else could see, but others could not see it. (Daniel 10:7)
  3. 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.
  4. Daniel was awake, and not dreaming, nor in a trance.

 So Daniel’s body is still surrounded by objective reality, the river, the landscape, the men fleeing from something they can’t see, but feel emotionally. However Daniel’s mind is also seeing a vision from an angel overlaid onto this objective reality, and this vision that he is interactive with feels completely real to his bodily senses.

Another example 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:
  1. 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 with Peter saw Peter in this trance state. However, this trance state is not described as “dreaming”. Peter was awake, and not asleep.
  2. Peter observed being in his body - this is implied by his optionally being able to “rise, kill, and eat”. Peter also is seeing with his eyes, and hearing with his ears.
  3. Peter, like Daniel, sees unusual or impossible-seeming things.

What Peter experienced during this trance 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

So there is really no doubt that ‘visions’, which communicate a message, are Biblically associated as being caused by angels - Holy angels who are God’s messengers. (The Greek word angelos means “messenger”.)

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 perceiving hearing with his ears, seeing with his eyes, and speaking with his mouth. This indicates he perceives himself as being in his body, experiencing something which seems real to all the bodily senses. However, it is implied that those around Peter perceive him as being in a trance state.

Another kind of partial vision, as Daniel had, arguably and 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:

  1. Paul and the men saw the light, though no one saw to whom
    the voice which was speaking belonged.
  2. 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.
  3. Paul heard and understood the voice that was speaking
  4. The men heard the voice that was speaking, but did not understand it

In this case the vision was waking, and very partial
(in that sight and vision were affected but not other senses). 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 group waking mental attack visions are possible, in which one person sees A but another person sees B.

Another kind of mental vision caused by angels is simply seeing the angel in a dream, such as 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.

This summarizes as:

            First Category of Angelic Encounters: Mental Envelopments           

                        1. Visions – are completely real to the bodily senses

                                    a. Fully, or partially, overlaying objective reality

                                    b. fully awake, or a waking trance state

                                    c. experienced by one person or multiple people

2. Dreams – are not real to the bodily senses,
and happen while asleep

 

I categorize these kinds of angelic encounters as “mental attacks” (for fallen angels) or “mental envelopments” (for Holy angels), and also simply call them “visions”. They are real to the bodily senses, but other people cannot see them.

Mental Envelopments can be full visions (as in Peter’s case) in which a trance is involved. Objective (or “normal”) reality is no longer seen, but rather only the landscape of the vision, which is real to the bodily senses.

Mental Envelopments can be partial visions (as in Daniel’s case), in which the vision is overlaid onto objective reality, and both are perceived with the bodily senses at the same time.

Mental Envelopments can happen to one person alone, or to several people at the same time (as with Paul on the Damascus Road).

Mental Envelopments can also occur while in a dream, which is not real to the bodily senses, and happens while asleep in a dream. This is not the same as a waking vision, whether full or partial, whether in a trance state or not, and dreams are not real to the bodily senses in the same way as a waking or trance vision.

When it comes to the perception of time, in these cases the subjective perception of the passing of time of Daniel and Peter seemed to match the objective amount of time that had passed for other people around them. However, this is arguably not always the case with angelic encounters. (More on that later.)

  

The second category of angelic encounters is Physical Attacks or Experiences.

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 the 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 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.

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 case is seen in 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. However, angels can also interact with objective reality without being seen, as in the case of 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 effectively invisible in all of these events, nevertheless the events Satan caused occurred in objective reality with multiple witnesses as to what had occurred.

Another subset of Physical Attacks, of 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 this case in Job, the angel, Satan, was invisible, but in objective reality caused real and visible injury/disease to the body of a person.

Observations on Physical Attacks

1.      Multiple witnesses of angels

2.      Multiple witnesses to lasting physical effects, including illnesses, and sometimes even death

3.      Supernatural occurrences, that seem to defy physics, in objective reality

4.      Objective reality generally follows normal physical laws, except for actions of angels

This summarizes as:

Physical Attacks

1. Lasting physical effects in objective reality with multiple witnesses caused by both
            a. Visible angels, and

b. Invisible angels
 

The third category of angelic encounters is “Combination Experiences”.

Let’s look at some scriptural examples for the third category of angelic encounters. The first two scriptural examples say “he carried me away in the spirit”.

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,

The “he” that is referenced here is an angel of the Lord, a messenger of Jesus Christ.

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.

So we know “he” is an angel of the Lord.

From these passages, we see that angels can “carry someone away in the spirit”. These two passages say so specifically, however other passages in scripture are a little more unclear in terminology as to whether the “Spirit of the Lord” or an “angel of the Lord” is involved. But as we know an angel was doing the “carrying away in the spirit” in the above verses in Revelation, we can reasonably conclude that this angel was also doing the things mentioned in other passages in Revelation. Such as:

Rev 1:10-19
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 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. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks [one] like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes [were] as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance [was] as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I [am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter…

Altogether, the entire imagery John recorded in the book of Revelation was caused by an angel of the Lord showing him these things (though I’m not going to quote the entire book of Revelation here). What John experienced was real to all the bodily senses, even including taste, and he was in his body.

Rev 4:2-3
After this I looked, and, behold, a door [was] opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard [was] as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and [one] sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and [there was] a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

Rev 10:10
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 10:4
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.

Notable is that in Revelation John ate a scroll which was part of the vision, tasted it, and it was “bitter to his stomach”. Also, John was writing down what he saw and heard throughout his experience on a paper, and this paper remained with him after the experience had ended.

John did not write down the experience after it had ended, but while it was ongoing. 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 a different level of physicality is shown here than in mental envelopments, or physical attacks.

Unlike the other two categories, John did not record that he had a “vision”, nor was “in a trance”, the terms used to refer to “mental envelopments”, nor was it an “Physical Attack”. Instead, the key phrases used are “carried away” and “in the spirit”.

Another angelic encounter in a passage with similar terminology is:

Luke 4:5
“And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.”

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 humans 300 to 400 milliseconds, that is 3/10ths to 4/10ths of a second, to blink.

How could Jesus see “all the kingdoms of the world” in the time it takes to blink? 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 several minutes, and this without any time to comprehend or think about what one was seeing, the necessary amount of time is still incredibly more than 400 milliseconds.

Obviously another attribute of this kind of angelic encounter is time perception manipulation of the person having the experience. This passage implies that one second passed in time, but Jesus experienced subjectively a much longer period of time during that one second. 

Some observations about these passages:
  1. Like other kinds of angelic encounters, the experience is physically real to all the bodily senses, and the person is in their body.
  2. The person is carried or taken “in the spirit”, implying they have been “carried” or “taken” in some fashion of a spiritual nature.
  3. The person is in a place of fantastically unrealistic scenery and/or a place in which out of the ordinary or impossible-seeming things occur.
  4. In John’s case, he is writing on a real scroll during the entire experience, and the real scroll remains with him afterwards. So objects taken into the experience can be altered and retained afterwards. This also implies that objects obtained by a person during the experience could remain afterwards, and/or that objects brought into the experience could be lost.
  5. In John’s case he eats a scroll that is part of the encounter, and his stomach is upset by it, as such the experience can physically go inside the human body and have internal effects.
  6. Time perception manipulation of the person having the experience.

I categorize these types of angelic encounters as “Combination”. There are two reasons for doing so.

The first is the different terminology the Bible uses: “carried away” or “taken up in the spirit”.

The second is there seems to be more physicality in these cases than in “Mental envelopment visions” and less physicality than in “Physical Attacks”.

So, interpreting from the Bible, the three categories of fallen angel attacks are: Mental Attacks in visions or dreams, Physical Attacks, and Combination Attacks

Mental Attacks
            1. Visions – real to the bodily senses
                                    a. Fully, or partially, overlaying objective reality
                                    b. fully awake, or a waking trance state
                                    c. one person or multiple people
            2. Dreams – not real to bodily senses, and happen while asleep

Physical Attacks
Lasting physical effects in objective reality with multiple witnesses
            1. Visible angels
            2. Invisible angels 

Combination Attacks
            1. Normal or Manipulated perception of time
            2. objects carried in/taken with, or not

 

I have tried to organize Fallen Angelic Apparitions into categories that are as well defined as possible, so as to be easier to understand. However, there are limitations on the accuracy of these categories.

The main problem is that angels have such expansive powers that it is possible to combine these categories, or have overlap between them.
For instance, it may be possible to have multiple people experience a Combination attack at the same time. Also, if a person is alone, it is very difficult to discern a Combination attack from a Mental Attack. Additionally, it would make sense that a manipulated perception of time could occur in a Mental Attack, as well as a Combination experience.
It can be confusing to categorize exactly what happened, especially between the Mental Attack and Combination Attack categories.

I believe the Bible speaks on this difficulty, with firm guidance on how we should view this difficulty in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4:

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.

Here Paul expresses he doesn’t know whether the man was “caught up” inside his body (a Mental Envelopment) or outside of his body (a Combination experience (or possibly real travel). However, God knows, and we really don’t need to know which it was, it’s not that important. The Bible essentially tells us that it may be impossible for us to figure out, so there’s no need to dwell on it.

So, ultimately the abilities and attacks of fallen angels that people experience are like the parable of the blind men and the elephant.

The first held its trunk, and said, “It’s like a snake.” The second leaned against its belly and said “it’s like a wall” and the third held its tail and said, “it’s like a rope”. In truth, the elephant was like all of those things, and a lot more.

 

 

In truth, fallen angels have expansive powers, and that is the bottom line. One person would say its like a vision, another would say its a holodeck-like experience, and in another case we would say it was completely real… but they are all real experiences, and like the elephant, fallen angels have expansive powers which we cannot understand, which are not limited by our individual perceptions of them. 

This level of power in the hands of fallen and evil 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 his protection on people, limiting whom the fallen angels can harass and harm, and limiting 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. I will cover more on this in the next chapter and 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; the fallen angels are outnumbered two to one.