Beth-El Baptist Church

12/09/2012

Greg Tomlinson

When were the creation and fall of angels?

There is a lot of interest in the subject of angels as well as a lot of speculation. The questions regarding the timing of their existence and the fall of Lucifer and his followers can be very contentious. For example there are some who understand that the 'us' of Genesis 1:26 to include angelic beings.

1. What are angels?

Psalm 148:1-5 Hebrews 1:7, 14; 2:15-17

Angels are created beings. They were created to serve God by ministering to people who were created in the image and likeness of God. Angels, though intelligent and able to appear like people, are of a different “kind” of being than is man.

2. How early in creation do we know that they existed?

Job 38:4-7 Ezekiel 28:12-15

John 1:3 Genesis 2:1-3; 1:14-19; 1:6-13

We know for a fact that angels existed at the creation and by the time of the fall, some angels had already fallen. Satan himself was considered to be a special angel present at the garden of Eden and fell and brought mankind down with him.

As far as specific time frame is considered. Everything that was created was created before the seventh day of creation. Since Job 38 implies that the angels (“sons of God” in this context) were there when the stars “sang” it makes sense that the angels already existed by the fourth day. Due to Job 38 it could be possible to assume that the angels were there from day 1 but that would be pushing the text of Job 38. All we know for sure is that the angels were created at the beginning of time.

Since the scriptures are not specific about when the angels were created, it can be speculated that they were created on either day 2, 3, or 4 of creation. This is because day 1 deals with the creation of light and dark. Day 2 deals with the creation of the heavens and day 3 deals with the creation of the dry land on earth. Day 4 deals with the creation of the Sun, Moon, and stars.

3. When did the angels fall?

Genesis 3:1-4 John 8:44

Ezekiel 28:12-15 Isaiah 14:12-15

Revelation 12:1-4, 7-9 Genesis 5:3; 4:1-5

We know that Satan was a created angel who rebelled against God and brought mankind into rebellion against God with him. This took place in Genesis 3. We do not have any information regarding the timing between day 1 of creation and the day of the fall. We do know that Adam was 130 years old with Seth was born. Seth was the third named son of Adam and Eve. Their first born, Cain was old enough to be a tiller of the ground and married before Seth was born. This would place the timing of the fall most likely well within 100 years of the creation and most likely within the second week of creation (but that is speculative).