Hebrews Chapter One, On Demons & Seraphim

 

Not just Satan, but his servants can also come into the Lord’s court for the time being, as witnessed in 2 Chronicles 18:20, 21, when a lying spirit came before God’s throne and offered to mislead Ahab king of Israel to his downfall. Clearly this “lying spirit” was not a holy angel, but a fallen one. The Bible has a term for such angels. Like Satan, who lost his name of Lucifer and has now become the Adversary, the formerly holy angels that left their first abode have been given the name demons.

The word “demon,” first appearing in Leviticus 17:7, comes from “sair,” whose etymology leads us to the Hebrew, “saar.” The former term means, “beings that were the object of pagan worship, sometimes translated as goat-demons.” “Saar,” the word it is derived from means, “to shiver or be horribly afraid, to take away by whirlwind or be tempestuous.” Idolatry is a front for demonic activity, or counterfeit gods attempting to supplant the knowledge and faith of the true God. Paul, when speaking of idols, admits that in this world there are, “many gods and many lords,” 1 Corinthians 8:5.  This statement is simply a plain acknowledgement that people had chosen to worship the creature rather than the Creator, and the idols were the form or representation of the spiritual powers the Gentiles sacrificed to. Later, Paul writes, “the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God,” 1 Corinthians 10:20. In the Old Testament the angelic powers were sometimes referred to as gods or sons of God, due to the direct act of God’s creative agency, in much the same way Luke wrote that Adam was the son of God, Luke 3:38. Adam was God’s son in like manner, as Christ the Second Adam, was also a direct act of God’s agency when the Holy Spirit begot Christ in the womb of Mary.

 

In Acts 14:13 we found the priest of Zeus desiring to sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas after seeing the power of God in them. Back of the worship of Zeus was a demonic stronghold deeply entrenched in the city of Lystra. Athens proved to be a spiritual hotspot of demonic fortresses when we read that, “the city was given over to idols,” Acts 17:16. Paul upset the idol worship of Ephesus when Demetrius, a metal worker that forged images of the goddess Diana felt that his profession was in danger, Acts 19:26. Satan and his fallen angels sorely contested our Lord Jesus during His earthly ministry. It began with the devil, as was his wont, tempting Jesus to abandon the cross. The easier way, apart from the Father’s will, was to have the enemy concede the world (humanity) and its kingdoms to Him, Matthew 4:8, 9. As always, Satan’s purpose is to frustrate God’s plan for redemption. The contest is never about real estate; it is about human destiny.

 

We read of angels in general, “for indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abaraham (the children of faith),” Hebrews 2:16. For fallen angels, Jude reports that there is a singular fate that awaits them: “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 (the Day of the Lord),” Jude 6, see also 2 Peter 2:4. Jesus concurs, informing us that the “everlasting fire,” was, “prepared for the devil and his angels,” Matthew 25:41. The Lake of Fire was a consequence of angelic rebellion when Satan drew one third of the heavenly host into conflict with their Creator. For the angels faith was not requisite for their position. They in fact saw God’s creative activity and are therefore without excuse, Job 1:2, 2:1, 38:6, 7.

 

From the earliest times we see the servant-duties of the angels. When God visited Abraham He brought with Him two angels, whose purpose went beyond merely confirming the covenant with the patriarch, Genesis 18:1, 2. Reading further we find the two men that accompanied God, now revealed as angels, entering Sodom as night was settling, Genesis 19:1. We learn that the angels had come to Sodom for a twofold purpose. “The Lord has sent us to destroy [Sodom]. Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive [in Zoar],” Genesis 19:13, 22. The angels were agents of God’s judgment upon the wicked, destroying Sodom and the adjacent cities to prevent the spread of their extreme wickedness. Meanwhile, they also collected Lot and those who listened to him and delivered him from the judgment since he was a saved man and would not suffer God’s wrath, 2 Peter 2:7. 2 Kings records that when Hezekiah prayed to God for deliverance from the Assyrian invasion that God sent an angel into the Assyrian camp. The Assyrians had already taken captive northern Israel, and their reputation among the nations was one of cruel strength. Afraid, Hezekiah appealed to Yahweh, and the Lord sent His minister into the enemy camp to pass judgment. In 2 Kings 19:35 (or 2 Chronicles 32:21) we learn that 185,000 soldiers died in the night, slain by the angel. Even Assyria’s current king, Sennacherib, though he escaped the camp, did not escape judgment. Ironically in the temple of the Assyrian god Nisroch (another demonic imposter) he was killed by his own sons, 2 Kings 19:37. It is suggested that the name Nisroch is a corruption of the Babylonian god Marduk or Nusku, a fire god.

 

Of God’s spirits and ministers, we should pause briefly on the passage in Isaiah that makes mention of the seraphim. The Hebrew word “saraph” is translated seraphim two times in Scripture. Three times it is translated “fiery serpent,” Numbers 21:6, 8, Deuteronomy 8:15. Twice it is rendered “fiery flying serpent,” Isaiah 14:29, 30:6. The last two are found here in Isaiah chapter 6:2, 6, translated “seraphim.” Unlike the term “cherub,” and its deviations (cherubim, etc.), which is used a total of 93 times in the Bible, including once in Hebrews, seraphim does not strike me as a title for an angelic being. It may have been the physical appearance of these angels, hovering about the Lord of Hosts on His throne that compelled Isaiah to employ that term. In short, it means in the singular, “burning one or fiery being.” The plural is defined as not only burning, but also noble. The word may be a descriptor rather than a proper title, like the infamous “nephilim” or “fallen ones,” in Genesis 6:4. The word was meant to describe them relationally as offspring of the sons of God. In this sense then perhaps (stressing perhaps) the seraphim may have appeared as six-winged fiery beings with a somewhat serpentine form. Remember, angels are spirits that have no physical body; though God has clearly given them leave to adopt one when their duty requires. Since these angels worshiped before the altar in God’s temple perhaps they reflected the cleansing fire of the God they served.

 

Be that as it may, it may be that the cherub and seraph are one and the same. My reasoning being this: the cherubim are always closely related to God and His throne. “He rode upon a cherub, and flew; and He was seen upon the wings of the wind,” 2 Samuel 22:11, Psalm 18:10. “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel…You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth!” Psalm 80:1. “The Lord reigns…He dwells between the cherubim,” Psalm 99:1. “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone,” Isaiah 37:16.