Is there salvation for angels? Can God save devils?

Contrary to how they’re portrayed in mythology and TV, devils and angels are not different species. They’re made out of spirit, and appear very much like us – at least some of the time. The tiny detail of six wings isn’t that big of a deal (Ezekiel 1). They’re obviously bifurcate (vertically symmetrical), with two hands, arms, eyes, and so on.

Granted, the four faces thing is hard to understand – and obviously isn’t literally true, at least most of the time, since lots of people have seen angels with only the one face… and come to think of it, no one has ever seen an angel with any of the other three faces. Either they have four faces, or they look like a man.

But the point is, the difference between an angel isn’t red vs. white, pitchfork vs. olive branch, horns vs. halo – it’s a difference in the heart. It’s a difference in how much they love the truth, how much they like God’s way of doing things.

And that’s a difference we can’t see from the outside – we can only infer it by their actions (Isaiah 8:20). And their hearts are not all the same – because not all “devils” are equally convinced of Satan’s doctrine, either – some are more evil than others.

Matthew 12:43-46 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man… Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there:…

Some have said, with no real proof, that the character of angels cannot change. How do they know – have they ever met an angel? If the character of angels cannot change, then how did Satan – an angel – change from good to bad?

If they can’t change, then how did Satan manage to change a third of them from loyal to rebellious? And if they can change that way, why can’t they change back again – just like every human who has ever lived will have to do??

THE FOUR BEASTS

Revelation 4:6-8 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

Lots of fantastic interpretations of these verses exist. All are stupid, because this really isn’t hard to answer. Look at the facts – John saw four total faces – Lion, Calf, Man, and Eagle. He also saw six wings on each.

Compare that to Ezekiel 1, where the exact same faces are seen on angels, and Isaiah 6:2, where the seraphim each have six wings, and you’ll see that these “beasts” are identical to the angels because they are angels!

Actually, the word “beast” is a poor translation. This is not the same Greek word as translated “beast” in Revelation 13, for instance. These four “beasts” are actually better translated as “creatures”. Because John wasn’t quite sure what they were, but thanks to Ezekiel we know they are simply angels.

So did God leave these angels a path for redemption, as He did for us? Or were they a disposable creation, that God never cared about? These angels themselves answer!

Revelation 5:8-10 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed US to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

These four beasts – four angels – sing to God that Jesus was worthy because He redeemed THEM through His blood! If these “beasts” are angels – which I think is beyond argument – then the angels CAN be redeemed by Jesus’ blood!

SALVATION OF THOSE IN HEAVEN

Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

When was the accuser of the brethren judged? Before Jesus died, according to John 16:11. And he was cast down while Jesus yet lived, according to Luke 10:18. So it’s unlikely to be Jesus, who wouldn’t have been in heaven at the time – which is why Michael was leading the troops.

And this can’t be the Father speaking, since we are not His brethren. So it has to be someone else – because the speaker uses the word “our”. Jesus might have said “my”, but He couldn’t have said “our” brethren!

Why this is important, is a voice in heaven – where no men are – rejoices because the accuser of THEIR BRETHREN was cast down. Reading the previous verses, the context is about the war in heaven, and this is the rejoicing of the WINNERS of that war!

Therefore, this voice is that of a speaker for the victorious righteous angels! Probably Michael, given his presence in this chapter (verse 7). Which would mean that OTHER ANGELS were accused before the Father!

Verse 11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

This doesn’t seem to be about angels, because they can’t die… or so we think. The assumption (based on Luke 20:36) is that angels can’t be killed. But what it says is they can’t die of natural causes.

But what sort of war doesn’t have anyone killed? Was this just a heavenly wrestling match? What do we know of what it takes to kill a being of spirit?

The reason this is important is that those who are rejoicing – Angels – are glad that the devil is no longer with them!

Verse 12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, AND YE THAT DWELL IN THEM. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

The ANGELS – the only ones that, even now, dwell in heaven – are rejoicing, and mourning for US – the inhabitants of the Earth and the sea (the potential first and second resurrection saints). So if it’s the ANGELS speaking, then it’s THEIR brethren who are no longer being accused by Satan, and THEY who will overcome Satan by the blood of the same Lamb we do!

THE ANGELS JUDGED TODAY

Psalms 82:1-2 …God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods. How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.

God judges among the Gods. Among the Elohim, is the Hebrew word – those called by the name of God, as the whole family in heaven and in earth are (Ephesians 3:15). These Gods can only be those who “decree”, and through whom God “ruleth in the kingdom of men”, the “holy ones” (Daniel 4).

But Paul said that WE will be the ones who judge angels. Yet to these watchers, these seven eyes of God, “sent forth into all the Earth”, God says “I judge among the Gods”. I judge among you, the seven spirits of God. The archangels.

Verses 3-5 Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked. They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.

It is because these angels, to various degrees, are guilty of these sins, that “all the foundations of the earth are out of course”, and the people of the world “walk in darkness”. This can only because those angels sent forth into all the Earth were sent to rule it.

Verses 6-8 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.

God threatens to kill those angels who don’t “do justice”, as if they were men – proving, clearly, that these are not men. These seven top angels are being judged today!

It is these seven spirits of God, the eyes on the lamb that rule the seven horns on the lamb – seven regions of the Earth – who are responsible to God. Which is why the true Lamb of God only has two horns, not seven.

Luke 11:34 The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.

Because a horn – a government – requires a leader. Requires a watcher. Requires an eye. So what happens if God finds out that His eye is evil?

Mark 9:47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

God would rather pluck out His eye – and let the kingdom it rules fall under the rule of a more righteous eye – than enter into the kingdom with evil angels ruling under Him. And that is why real lambs only have two eyes.

JUDGMENT OF OTHER ANGELS

God is the Lord of HOSTS – of armies. So when God judges His army, on whom does He place the blame? On the generals of course – after all, everyone else is under their authority!

When God judges the generals of His army, will He blame a corporal for invading the wrong country? As if anyone asked his opinion! The lower ranks have less responsibility for their actions, for if they didn’t follow orders – the orders of the authority God placed over them – it would be a sin!

Romans 13:1-2 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

That Satan himself is included in this is verified by Jude 1:9, Ezekiel 28:14, etc. Now obviously, no one can command you do evil; and certainly the lowest private should have told Satan he wouldn’t march on Jerusalem.

But no private ever knows the full story, half the time he may not even know who he’s fighting, and he rarely knows why – his job is to kill the guy he’s ordered to kill. So how much can God really blame a private in Satan’s army?

The private’s works are a reflection of the orders his evil bosses gave him – not a reflection of what he himself would do if he were given full autonomy. Thus, how can God judge him by “his works”, when those works were almost, or entirely, ordered by someone else?

This is why most of the angels will have different judges – the saints. In a different time but judged by the same method as the top angels, or the saints – by giving them a life to live and a job to do, and watching how they do it!

1 Corinthians 5:2-3 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

Most people see this as a divine courtroom scene, with saints reading what the angels did – or didn’t do – and (after a look over their shoulder to see what God thinks) passing judgment on them, and sending them to hell or leaving them in heaven.

But God’s judgment is an ongoing process, a constant state of action-and-reaction, just like your child is judged by you as you raise it up “in the way it should go”. He isn’t judged once, at 18 or 20; he’s judged all day, every day, by every word he says.

Matthew 12:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

There is a day when every one of us will stand before the judgment seat of God (2 Corinthians 5:10)… and for the saints, that day is today (1 Peter 4:17). For the bulk of the world, it isn’t. But we’re supposed to be judging ourselves now – and if we don’t do it right, God does it for us. Now.

1 Corinthians 11:31-32 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

If you have been chastened – punished – by God in this life then you have already been judged TODAY. In order to keep you from being judged with the world in a different time but in the same WAY!

The angels God placed in charge, and gave direct orders, He will judge according to their works today – which is why Psalms 82 gave them an opportunity to JUDGE THEMSELVES before God does it!

AVIAN ANGELS

The earthly things are shadows of the heavenly. Few imagine how far that really goes. But before this article is finished, you’ll have grasped a bit of the depth of information contained in the Bible if you only ask the obvious questions.

Ecclesiastes 10:20 Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.

We know that angels have wings. This immediately suggests an association with birds – and, intuitively, the righteous angels with nice birds like doves, and the evil angels with the evil birds like crows. Which, as it happens, is exactly what the Bible says.

Revelation 18:2 …Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

We know angels are called “watchers” in Daniel 4 several times. How often have you seen a hawk sit on a fence post for hours? All most birds do all day long is float along the air, watching intently for a mouse or rabbit to pounce on.

So clearly, unclean birds are devils – and clean birds are angels. But remember, they’re all angels – the clean birds are loyal angels and the unclean birds are rebellious angels. After all, one of the faces of an angel is a bird!

But you might be thinking that devils are more often pictured as a serpent – which is true. But… serpents can have wings.

Isaiah 14:29 Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.

This is actually a Hebrew pun, because “serpent” and “fiery” are both translated from the Hebrew word saraph, which is the same word used in Isaiah 6:2 and translated as seraphim, which described angels!

Angels are a flame of fire, and saraph means “to burn”, so calling them “the burning ones” (seraphim) makes sense. And since the bite of a serpent burns, it makes sense to call them seraphim as well.

God no doubt used these words because when an angel’s mouth sends forth poison, calling them a “fiery flying serpent” makes total sense – so when God called the devil in the garden a serpent, or later a dragon, He had valid linguistic grounds to do so.

They are winged serpents, if they behave as serpents do – waiting to strike at the weak, killing with poison on their tongues, and so on. Thus, they can be called serpents or birds, depending on the point God is trying to make. This is probably why Jesus told us…

Matthew 10:16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

Why these two in contrast? In the alternate version in Luke, as these disciples returned gloating that the devils were subject to them…

Luke 10:18-19 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy…

So in this same conversation, God told them to tread on serpents but also to be wise as they were… yet ALSO be harmless as doves. Doves, which are clean animals and therefore symbolize righteous angels.

So Jesus was telling them “be wise as devils” – who are often wiser than the children of light (Luke 16:8, James 3:15-15), but to do it while being “harmless as angels”.

With that comparison, God seems to imply that the angels are naive compared to the devils; and that we should be wise as the one, but harmless as the other!

THE SACRIFICES FOR ANGELS

There’s a key fact about the meaning of sacrifices that no one seems to understand. In their haste to associate every sacrifice with Jesus, everyone misses the key fact:

Every sacrifice is offered in place of some other being.

What I mean is, when Jesus died for our sins, He died so that we didn’t have to. Jesus died to replace us on the altar – He was the body double that allowed us to fake our own death.

And that means that Jesus represented us as a sacrifice. He literally pretended to be each of us, dying in our place to fool the law into thinking we’d paid our debt!

And so when we sacrifice a lamb for our sins, the lamb doesn’t represent Jesus! It takes OUR sins upon it, and dies FOR US, in OUR place! Therefore that lamb represents US!

Every sacrifice in the Bible was offered for someone’s sin (or at least, their lack of righteousness). Every animal died so that a particular person didn’t have to. Thus, when Josiah Q. Israelite killed a lamb for his sin, that lamb didn’t represent Jesus. That lamb represented Josiah!

It pretended to be him, to satisfy the law that “the wages of sin is death” and “without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin”. When the death angel came to his house, it saw the blood on the doorposts and assumed that person was already dead – which, in a way, he was!

Now if Jesus dies as a lamb, to cause the sacrifice to cease (Daniel 9:27)… then the lamb doesn’t represent Jesus! Jesus PRETENDED to be a lamb (Acts 8:32), and thus He represented the lamb, not the other way around!

Jesus died to represent the lamb, so that IT wouldn’t have to represent us anymore! And because Jesus died for the lambs, the lambs no longer have to die for us, and therefore the death of Jesus can represent our deaths in their place!

The thing sacrificed represents the being it is sacrificed for. Always.

So if you wanted to offer a sacrifice for an angel, something to replace it and die for its sins… you could not do better than to kill a bird, symbol of an angel! This means that we can look at sacrifices of birds in the Bible knowing that the bird represents the death of, or for, an angel!

LEPROSY

Leviticus 14:2-7 This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing… Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean… And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean…

The “cure” for leprosy was a sacrifice of two birds. We already know these are sacrifices to replace angels, so the implication is that some angels have leprosy – more importantly, that there is a way to cure it!

Leviticus 13:45-46 And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be.

This, like most things in Leviticus, seems like a rather dull and cruel ritual for a long-dead dispensation. But not so much so, when you compare it with Jesus’ words…

Matthew 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.

Like lepers, devils are unclean spirits; they were cast out of God’s camp; they dwell alone in waste places (compare with Mark 5:1-6). Or, as often happens, they dwell in colonies with other lepers (compare with Revelation 18:2, along with a variety of cursed cities in the OT).

And most importantly of all, the sacrifice for these lepers is birds. Birds which we’ve already shown represent angels. John’s disciples came to Jesus asking if He was the Messiah, and His response was…

Matthew 11:4-5 Go and shew John… The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.

If lepers represent angels, then Jesus came to save angels – which we’ve already showed in several different ways. Which means, in turn, that how Moses said lepers would find “cleansing” is also how devils will find cleansing!

CLEANSING LEPERS

The OT uses the word tsarat which wasn’t translated as “leprous” until Jerome’s Vulgate in the 4^th century. The various symptoms of tsarat in the Bible don’t match the symptoms of what we call leprosy (Hansen’s disease) at all.

Judging by the symptoms in Leviticus, the term “leprosy” was a blanket term which included various forms of skin diseases ranging from head lice to skin cancer, but it did not include modern leprosy.

That said, we’ll keep using the term since it’s in all our Bibles. Just remember – a “leper” was probably someone afflicted with psoriasis, eczema, vitiligo, or various types of molds and fungi.

The Bible lumps most of these together and calls them tsarat, “diseased in the skin” or “smitten”, badly mistranslated as “leprosy”. Which kind of skin disease it is – and thus, if it’s a kind that makes you unclean in God’s eyes ‐ is the issue.

The focus in Leviticus 13 and 14 is on the role the priest plays in assessing the leprosy. Given that it is the first resurrection saints who will be “kings and priests”, and given that lepers picture fallen angels, this means that these instructions are given to help us diagnose angels.

Or, to use a slightly more familiar term, these guidelines are meant to help us when we judge angels! Suddenly, Leviticus doesn’t seem quite so irrelevant, does it?

Leviticus 13:2 When a man shall have… [a symptom] like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests:

So a suspected evil angel is brought unto Jesus or one of the firstborn priests, during the time of the second resurrection. In this case, the “white hair in a spot” is the flesh-eating beliefs of the devil.

Verse 3 And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.

This chapter tells us how to diagnose those angels who are too evil to save, and separate them from those who might yet repent. I said before that only the top angels are judged, but that’s not quite true. After all, it’s one thing to be an ignorant private fighting on the wrong side.

It’s quite another to be a brutal mercenary who delights in ripping up women and children – under authority or not, it’s easy to see that even in the lowest ranks, some of those flames on the candlestick will have to be “snuffed out” (Exodus 37:23).

So while those who have given their hearts over to evil will be cast out promptly, regardless of their rank, most will be given a chance to let their own immune system fight off the “root of bitterness” which has sprung up in them.

Verse 4 If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and in sight be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days:

If you can’t be sure, beyond all doubt, that this angel is indeed a leper, you “shut him up” for seven days. The law doesn’t say where. But just ask yourself – where did God “shut up” the lepers who sinned the last time? Jude 1:6. It stands to reason that He would do the same thing next time – but we’ll come back to that.

Verse 5 And the priest shall look on him the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague in his sight be at a stay, and the plague spread not in the skin; then the priest shall shut him up seven days more:

On the Sabbath day – the Millennium – the priest shall “look in on him”, and judge whether his immune system is fighting off the plague. It’s important to note that no real “treatments” are applied here – the patient is left to battle the plague on his own, with a priestly judgment every seventh day.

Verse 6 And the priest shall look on him again the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague be somewhat dark, and the plague spread not in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean: it is but a scab: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.

All of these details have meaning, which can be understood – I don’t understand them all, but it’s just a matter of someone taking the time to ask the obvious questions. What I do know is that the tarnished angels are judged by the firstborn saints – obviously during, or more likely after, the Millennium.

Then they are shut up somewhere for another seven days – in context, this can only be a spiritual week of 7,000 years (2 Peter 3:8). And to keep with the pattern, they’d be shut up on the Earth again, which is still apart from the “camp of God” which remains in heaven until the very end of the plan.

So yes, many devils will be saved. Exactly how, and exactly when, will have to wait for another day – suffice it to say it is elegant, brilliant, and compassionate – just as you’d expect from their merciful creator.

1 Peter 1:10-12 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

No wonder they “desire to look into these things”!

They desire to understand how they will be saved – but God hasn’t revealed it to them, because it wasn’t their time. Just as He hasn’t revealed it to the rest of the world. But He HAS revealed it to us, because saving them will be a major part of our job.

God didn’t openly promise the angels salvation, so if any angel does righteousness and resists the devil, it will be from the heart. It will be because that angel actually PREFERS God’s way of life, and LOVES righteousness.

And that’s worth a lot more than those who sell their lives in exchange for the promises of salvation and glory.