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Part 1 Unveiled: Common misconceptions-Facts, Fiction and Fallacies
Archangel Michael defeats satan the split-hoofed devil. By Peter Candid (1548-1628)
by Joseph Earnest January 6, 2014
Newscast Media HOUSTON, Texas—This article is a continuation of the "Unveiled" series, and is a "treatise" about misconceptions, facts, fiction and fallacies ranging from the origin and difference between fallen angels and demons, the question about whether homosexuality is unAfrican, its origin and how it found its way into Africa, how to deal with the legal aspect of it, and other topics that relate to our time and generation. (At the end is a PDF file that you can download with the entire series).
Difference between angels and demons
We begin by confronting the difference between fallen angels and demons and how they operate in our physical world and in the spiritual realm.
Fallen angels are different from demons. Demons are disembodied spirits while fallen angels have their own bodies and do not need to occupy the bodies of other entities in order to function. Before one third of the angels fell with Lucifer, all angels were under the leadership of God Himself who created them.
In His divine wisdom, God embedded His name in two of the three known archangels which are: Gabriel, Michael and Lucifer. If one looks at the name Gabriel, one notices God's name "El" embedded in the Gabriel's name. The same applies to the archangel Michael. Yet Lucifer does not have God's name, therefore it came as no surprise that this archangel that also occupied the office of a cherub, convinced a third of the angels to disobey God. Two thirds of the angels under the leadership of Gabriel and Michael remained faithful and kept their positions in the heavens.
The eight different worlds above and below us
As a result of their wickedness, these particular fallen angels, were chained and locked up in one of the three underworlds. All fallen angels are located in this place, while demons and humans are located in different sections of the underworld. There are eight different worlds that need to be talked about in order to lay the background for this article. These worlds are: The first heaven, second heaven, third heaven, Sheol, Paradise, Tartarus, the Abyss and Gehenna. To give the reader an insight into the different worlds we will start with (i) the first heaven. This is the earth upon which we live. (ii) The second heaven is the atmosphere we see when we look above ourselves. It is the intermediate realm between earth and the third heaven, and also where demonic activity and spiritual warfare takes place. (iii) The third heaven is the space beyond the stars that you see at night, and it is where God, those who accepted Him as Lord of their lives and all the other holy celestial being dwell. This is the place St. Paul was talking about in 2 Corinthians 12:2 "I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven." -NKJV
As for the four additional worlds, beneath the earth, (iv) hell (Hades) also referred to as Sheol in Hebrew is the fourth world. This particular place is where the souls of non-believers who rejected God are experiencing torment from fire and the taunting of demons. (V) The fifth world is called Tartarus mentioned in the book of Jude chapter six verse one, that says: "And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day." This particular world is specifically reserved for all the fallen angels (not demons) that fell with Lucifer.
The (vi) sixth world was once next to hell and was separated by a gulf. It is referred to as paradise, but was moved up to the third heaven and is now part of heaven. The vacuum left below after the resurrection of Christ, is now an expansion or extension of hell. The (vii) seventh world is called the Abyss or the pit. Now this is the particular section reserved for demons. When Christ drove demons out from a man, they begged Him not to judge them before their appointed time (send them into the Abyss) but asked that they rather be sent into pigs. As we can see, the abode of fallen angels is Tartarus, while that of demons is the Abyss, confirming that the two are different spiritual entities. The book of Revelation chapter nine verse one till twelve gives a description of the Abyss: "The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. 2 When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace."
The last and (viii) eighth world is called Gehenna in Greek, or the lake of fire in English. This place is currently empty, but the first occupants will be the false prophet (a religious leader) and the anti-Christ (a political leader) according to Revelation 20:10 (pop-up)
More differences between angels and demons:
- Angels live in the heavens while demons live on earth and the underworld.
- Demons seek bodies to dwell in while angels have their own according to the book of Judges chapter 13 verse 6.
- The wicked angels dwell in Tartarus, while demons are confined to the Abyss, but can also freely roam in hell and also on earth. Fallen angels cannot because they are chained to prevent them from freely roaming.
The difference between the will, soul, spirit, conscience and heart
The will is
what enables us to choose our destiny, whether it is right or wrong.
The soul enables us to exercise our will. It expresses itself
in the physical body through our personality. The spirit is
the gut feeling, or our intuition, or knowledge that is independent of
reasoning. The conscience is connected to the spirit and it is
what makes us aware of right or wrong and is not influenced by knowledge stored
in the mind; it is rather a spontaneous direct judgment. The invisible hand
at play is the conscience bringing conviction to us. The
heart is that part of us through which emotions are expressed, like
joy, fear, love, sympathy and so forth.
Continue to Part II: Is homosexuality an unAfrican Western behavior?>>
Related stories:
Part I Unveiled: Common misconceptions-Facts, Fiction and Fallacies
Part II Unveiled: Is homosexuality an unAfrican Western behavior?>>
Part III Unveiled: Africa pushes back against the hedonism of our day
Part IV Unveiled: The cultural conflict between the West and Africa>>
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