Who are the fallen angels?

Lucifer, better known as Satan, was an angel who lived next to God, but as time went by he began to express unacceptable behavior in the kingdom of heaven, such as envy and greed towards God.

In heaven, such thoughts are not tolerated and allowed, thus Lucifer was banished from the kingdom of God and was considered as the first fallen angel. Since then Lucifer is known for bringing sin to earth and being the king of hell, but he was not the only angel to be cast out of heaven.

In addition to Lucifer, nine other angels were expelled for trying to influence the way of life of men. From angels they came to be represented as demons. Below you will learn the history of each of them.

Story of how angels fell

Most people know the stories of the Bible and all those who believe in God believe and have read their stories. One of the most famous is that angels began to feel jealous of humans, since God began to give them too much attention, so they decided to rebel. What happened in this rebellion of the angels? See below.

Lucifer the angel beside God

According to the Bible, the angels appeared on the second day of creation. Among them was a very intelligent and beautiful one who was the leader of the angels. His name was Lucifer. Lucifer was very good, but gradually within him grew a desire not to follow God. Like Adam, he could make a decision to follow himself or to follow what God commanded.

In a passage from Isaiah (14:12-14) he refers to himself as the "Most High", which shows that he made his decision. According to the Bible, Lucifer became very proud. His beauty, wisdom and power made him proud and all this led him to rebel against God. And in this rebellion he gained followers.

Rebellion against God

The Bible does not give details or clear explanations of how this rebellion in the kingdom of heaven occurred, but in some passages it is possible to understand a little of what happened.

Lucifer desired for himself the authority that God possesses and wanted to be as acclaimed as the creator and assume his throne. He planned to take God's place and possess the authority to command the entire universe and receive the worship of all creatures.

Expelled from the kingdom of heaven

God, seeing Lucifer's intentions, cast him into darkness and took away all his privileges and powers. Lucifer did not admit defeat nor the fact of remaining in darkness and so his wisdom was totally corrupted.

Hatred and revenge turned Lucifer into Satan and he became the enemy of the Creator. Lucifer needed allies in this war, and according to the Bible, he tricked a third of the angels into following this path and participating in this dispute. These angels were considered rebels and became demons and enemies of God. Then, they were all cast out of the kingdom of heaven.

Abaddon

Abaddon is considered by some to be the Antichrist himself, while others even call him Satan, but his story is not very popular, because the one who was named after Satan was Lucifer. Learn more details about the story of Abaddon in the following excerpt.

The worst of the fallen angels

It is a widespread story that long ago the world would be dominated by heavenly beings, angels and demons, and these brought balance to the world we live in today. Angels are famous and well known, the most popular are Gabriel, Michael and Lucifer, but it is Abaddon, the angel of the abyss, who is the most feared among these.

His name in Hebrew means destruction, ruin, but many called him the exterminating angel, he could still be recognized as one who causes desolation. But what made Abaddon so feared after all? The book of Revelation explains.

Revelation 9:11

In Revelation 9:11 Abaddon is described as a destroyer, the angel of the abyss and as the one responsible for a plague of locusts that resembled horses with human faces that had women's hair, lion's teeth, iron wings and breastplates, and a tail with a scorpion's sting that tormented for five months anyone who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

The scriptures do not specify Abaddon's identity very well, so various interpretations are made. Some religious people have described him as the antichrist, others as the Satan, and some consider him to be the devil.

Possible double agent

A publication in the Methodist magazine "The Interpreter's Bible States" stated that Abaddon would not be an angel of Satan, but an angel of God performing the work of destruction at the Lord's command. This context is quoted in Revelation chapter 20, verses 1 to 3.

In the same chapter (20:1-3) where there is the year with the key to the abyss, it would actually be a being representing God, therefore, someone from heaven and not from hell. This being would be able to bind Satan and throw him into the abyss, so some conclude that Abaddon could be another name for Jesus Christ after the resurrection.

Azazel

The angel Azazel is known for, through his malignity, having influenced mankind to corruption. He is also one of the leaders of the fallen angels. He is represented in other religions and even a Jewish book commands that all sin be attributed to him.

The lord of corruption

Azazel was an angel of heaven and had a beautiful appearance. When he joined Satan he was cast to earth for treason and became one of the fallen angels. It is believed that the evil he committed eventually corrupted his beauty, as in the Jewish and Christian scriptures his appearance is demonic.

Some texts portray him as a demon, but in the Revelation of Abraham he is described as a butcher bird, a serpent and as a demon with the hands and feet of a man and 12 wings on his back, 6 on the right and 6 on the left.

In Judaism

In Judaism, it is believed that Azazel was an evil force. It was common to perform sacrifices to Azazel and to his god Yahweh at the same time.

In the Hebrew Bible the sacrifices to Azazel are made with a goat in the desert and it must be pushed into a deep ravine. These rituals symbolized the people sending their sins back to their origin.

In Christianity

Among Christians, Azazel is not as well known. The Latin and English versions of the Bible translate his name as "scapegoat" or "wasteland". The Adventist religion believes that Azazel is Satan's right-hand man and that when Judgment Day comes he will suffer for all the evil he has caused.

In Islam

Islam speaks of Azazel even when he was an angel, claiming that he was among the wisest and noblest angels. Some believe that he fought against creatures that inhabited the earth before humans, while others think that he was one of these creatures and as a reward for fighting against his people, he was allowed to enter heaven and be called an angel.

His high position made him arrogant, and after God created man, he refused to bow down to the new creation. So he was thrown back to earth and became a plague among men.

Leviathan

Leviathan is a giant sea creature mentioned in the Old Testament. His story is a famous metaphor in Christianity and Judaism, but can be interpreted in different ways in each religion. He can be considered a deity or a demon. Learn more about Leviathan below.

Sea Monster

Depictions of Leviathan change by culture, but in all he is a sea creature of colossal size. Some portray him as a whale, but he is usually symbolized by a dragon, with a slimmer, serpentine body.

Its biblical references appear in the creation of Babylon, where the god Marduk manages to kill Leviathan, the goddess of chaos and the goddess of creation and thus creates the earth and the sky using the two halves of the corpse.

In Job, Leviathan appears listed alongside several other animals such as falcons, goats, and eagles, which led many scripture researchers to believe that Leviathan was some sort of creature. Usually Leviathan was related to the Nile crocodile because it was aquatic, scaly, and had sharp teeth.

In the Golden Age of maritime shipping, many sailors claimed to see Leviathan and described him as a giant water monster that looked like a whale and a sea serpent. In the Old Testament, he was depicted as a metaphor to scare off maritime marauders.

In Judaism

In Judaism, Leviathan appears in several books. First he is quoted in the Talmud, and in one of those quotes it is stated that he will be killed and will be served at a banquet for the righteous and his skin will cover the tent where everyone will be. Leviathan's skin will also serve as clothing and accessories for those who are not worthy of the banquet, and it will be spread on the walls of Jerusalem.

In Zohar, Leviathan is considered a metaphor for enlightenment and in the Midrash, Leviathan almost ate the whale that swallowed Jonah.

In the dictionary of Jewish Legends and Traditions, it is that Leviathan's eyes light up the sea at night, that the water boils with the hot breath that comes out of his mouth, so he is always accompanied by a scalding steam. It also states that his odor is so fetid that it can surpass the fragrances of the garden of Eden, and if one day that odor entered the garden, everyone there would die.

In Christianity

In the Christian Bible, Leviathan appears in about 5 passages. Christians' interpretation of Leviathan generally considers him to be a monster or demon that is associated with Satan. Some believe that Leviathan would be a symbol of humanity against God, and that he and other animals that appear in the book of Revelation should be considered as metaphors.

Leviathan was also considered by Catholics in the Middle Ages as a demon representing envy, the fifth sin of the seven capital sins. Because of this he was treated as one of the seven infernal princes, where each one is a capital sin.

Some works on demons state that Leviathan would be a fallen angel, as are Lucifer and Azazel, but in others he appears as a member of the seraphim class.

Semyaza

Semyaza is an angel whose responsibility was to guard all knowledge. The story says that along with the angel Azazel and others, he also went to Earth and lived with humans.

Phalanx leader

Semyaza is the leader of phalanxes of over 100 demonic entities. He received this title for being responsible for convincing the other angels to come down to Earth to seduce women they found attractive. According to the scriptures he was the one who taught all perversions to men.

He united angels and women

After descending to Earth in search of attractive women, Semyaza was one of the culprits for the angels to start having sexual relations with women, and according to some works, this is how the Earth was defiled by the giants and thus creation was defiled.

Due to the events, after the angels began to relate to women, God sent the flood in an attempt to sweep away the injustice and save his creation.

Armon Covenant Leader

Semyaza was also the leader of the Armon Pact. This pact was sealed atop Mount Armon and in it the angels pledged to maintain that none of them could change their minds after descending to the mortal worlds, meaning they could no longer return to the realm of heaven. After the pact was sealed, this is where the relationships between angels and women intensified.

Yekun

Yekun, another fallen angel, was one of the first angels created by God and is responsible for persuading other angels, he also possesses extreme intelligence. Learn more about him below.

The first to follow Lucifer

Yekun is considered the first angel who fell from the descent to follow Lucifer in his vengeance against God. His name means "rebel" and he was responsible for persuading and seducing the other angels to ally themselves with Lucifer, causing them all to turn against God and be expelled from the kingdom of heaven.

Master of the intellect

Yekun had an enviable intelligence, was very smart and perceptive, so his skills were greatly appreciated by Lucifer. It was he who taught the men of Earth the language based on signs, to read and write.

Other fallen angels

You've already read about the most famous fallen angels, but there are still 4 of them for you to know. Their deeds are no less important than the others, but in some ways they weren't as evil as the others. Check them out below!

Kesabel

Kesabel was the second angel to ally with Lucifer, for he believed that humans were very inferior beings and did not deserve all the attention God gave them.

Kesabel chose to assume the form of a woman most of the time, because this way he could seduce and make men sin, so he was the first to persuade angels to have sexual relations with humans. The relationship between angels and mortals is unacceptable since angels are heavenly beings, as punishment he was expelled from heaven.

Gadrel

Gadrel rebelled against God and it was he who led Eve to sin. After descending to Earth alongside the fallen angels, he met humanity already familiar with weapons and warfare, thus he became the demon of war and started the war between nations.

In the text of the Covenant of Armon there is a story about Gadrel, where it is told that as much as he betrayed God, he rebelled against his fallen angel brothers for beginning to relate to humans.

His brothers were disgusted with him and banished him from the vigilante group, but he never stopped being ruthless, cruel and the demon of war.

Penemue

The angel Penemue was the fourth angel to ally with Lucifer's fallen angels and was responsible for teaching men the art of lying and this was before sin came to Earth.

Kasyade

The angel Kasyade was the last among the important fallen angels and it was he who brought knowledge to men about life, death and the existence of spirits. He tried to create intrigue among humans by putting in their minds that the fallen angels could be as important and powerful as God.

How do fallen angels relate to human beings?

Fallen angels can torment, persecute, and grieve people. Those with a keener spiritual vision can see that these angels can attack you and promote discord and temptation or strike friends and family.

You met the major fallen angels and understood how they were cast out of God's kingdom. And you also saw how each one interfered in human life. They even had relationships and procreated with human women, which is totally unacceptable, as well as inducing humans to sin more and more.