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is it proved by Acts 12:15, for this passage merely goes to show that there were some even
among the disciples of that early day who believed in guardian angels.
2. THEIR EXTRAORDINARY SERVICE.
The extraordinary service of the angels was made
necessary by the fall of man, and forms an important element in the special revelation of God.
They often mediate the special revelations of God, communicate blessings to His people, and
execute judgment upon His enemies. Their activity is most prominent in the great turning
points of the economy of salvation, as in the days of the patriarchs, the time of the lawgiving,
the period of the exile and of the restoration, and at the birth, the resurrection, and the
ascension of the Lord. When the period of God’s special revelation closed, the extraordinary
service of the angels ceased, to be resumed only at the return of the Lord.
F. The Evil Angels.
1. THEIR ORIGIN.
Besides the good there also are evil angels, who delight in opposing God and
antagonizing His work. Though they are also creatures of God, they were not created as evil
angels. God saw everything that He had created, and it was very good, Gen. 1:31. There are two
passages in Scripture which clearly imply that some of the angels did not retain their original
position, but fell from the state in which they were created, II Pet. 2:4; Jude 6. The special sin of
these angels is not revealed, but has generally been thought to consist in this that they exalted
themselves over against God, and aspired to supreme authority. If this ambition played an
important part in the life of Satan and led to his downfall, it would at once explain why he
tempted man on this particular point, and sought to lure him to his destruction by appealing to
a possible similar ambition in man. Some of the early Church Fathers distinguished between
Satan and the subordinate devils in explaining the cause of their fall. That of the fall of Satan
was found in pride, but that of the more general fall in the angelic world, in fleshly lust, Gen.
6:2. That interpretation of Gen. 6:2 was gradually discarded, however, during the Middle Ages.
In view of this it is rather surprising to find that several modern commentators are reiterating
the idea in their interpretation of II Pet. 2:4 and Jude 6 as, for instance, Meyer, Alford, Mayor,
Wohlenberg. It is an explanation, however, that is contrary to the spiritual nature of the angels,
and to the fact that, as Matt. 22:30 would seem to imply, there is no sexual life among the
angels. Moreover, on that interpretation we shall have to assume a double fall in the angelic
world, first the fall of Satan, and then, considerably later, the fall resulting in the host of devils
that now serves Satan. It is much more likely that Satan dragged the others right along with him
in his fall.
2. THEIR HEAD.
Satan appears in Scripture as the recognized head of the fallen angels. He was
originally, it would seem, one of the mightiest princes of the angelic world, and became the
leader of those that revolted and fell away from God. The name “Satan” points to him as “the