Let nothing you affright: Angels and demons

Our Advent Evening Prayers will be looking at different features in the Christmas story, and our news sheets will have a more in-depth look at another feature: angels. This week we're looking at angels and demons.

It is hard to think of angels without also thinking of their counterparts: demons. Demons have been depicted in many ways in popular culture throughout the ages but what does the Bible tell us about demons? 

Demons, like angels, are spiritual beings and, again like angels, will probably have different roles and jobs. The likelihood is that they were all originally good, but at some point rebelled against God.  Lucifer was a high-ranking angel, referred to as 'princes' in the Old Testament (Daniel 10:13, possibly what later came to be called Archangels) but he too rebelled (Ezekiel 28:11-19) and became known as Satan. He was then cast out of the heavenly realms with other fallen spiritual beings (Revelation 12:8-9). He may have instigated the rebellion or became the leader later but since then he has had spiritual beings under his control, which are referred to in the Bible as his angels (Matthew 25:41); or as demons; or sometimes 'authorities', 'powers', 'dominions' or 'rulers' (Ephesians 6:11-12). These different names may refer to their function or their place in the hierarchy, but that Bible doesn't elaborate on this any further.

We see demons acting in different ways in the Bible, such as demonic possession (Mark 5:1-6), initiating false worship (1 Corinthians 10:20-21), promoting false doctrine (1 Timothy 4:1) and performing false signs and wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9).  In short, they try to stop humans from worshipping and following God, in order to prevent them being saved. Another way they do this is to make humans disbelieve in the existence of anything supernatural at all, or at least in the existence of supernatural evil.

Our rationalist mind can often dismiss talk of demons (and angels for that matter) as being religious ideas that belong to a primitive mindset, and stories of demon possession are explained as epileptic fits that the ancients ascribed to supernatural causes. But the Bible is quite clear that demons exist, and Jesus himself believed in them, and spoke to them. The Bible is also clear that attempts to harness the power of evil forces, e.g. by witchcraft or occult practices, are detestable to God (Deuteronomy 18:9-13) because Satan is trying to lead the world astray from God (Revelation 12:9). C. S. Lewis wrote in 'The Screwtape Letters': “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”

However, powerful as demons certainly are, it would also be wrong to think of them as being undefeatable. Jesus showed us many times his power over them, and he gave that power to us his followers (Luke 10:17-20). The Bible assures us that if we submit to God and resist evil, the devil and his demons will flee from us (James 4:7), and we can do so by putting on the 'the armour of God' (Ephesians 6:11-18). But ultimately Satan and his demons were defeated by Jesus' death on the cross (Colossians 2:15) and will finally be judged and punished at Jesus' second coming (Matthew 25:41, Revelation 20:10).

God rest ye merry, gentlemen,

let nothing you dismay,

for Jesus Christ our Saviour

was born on Christmas Day;

to save us all from Satan’s power

when we were gone astray.

O tidings of comfort and joy.

O tidings of comfort and joy,

comfort and joy;

“Fear not,” then, said the angel,

“Let nothing you affright

this day is born a Saviour

of virtue, pow'r and might,

to free all those who trust in him

from Satan’s power and might.”

Both angels and demons remind us that there is a supernatural realm that we can often forget, and also that there is a spiritual war between good and evil that involves us too (Ephesians 6:12). As angels encourage us to listen, obey and worship God, so demons try to get us to do the opposite. Who are you making happy: angels or demons?