Did one third of the angels fall with Lucifer?

Response

There is no specific verse in the Bible stating, “A third of the angels fell from heaven.” The concept that one third of the angels followed Satan in his rebellion against God originates from a combination of various verses that imply such an event.

During the sixth day of creation, God proclaimed all to be “very good” «And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.», (Genesis 1:31). It is assumed that this encompasses angels as well. Subsequently, Satan rebelled against God and was expelled from heaven. Jesus observed this event: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” «And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. », (Luke 10:18)—an incident that the Lord uses to elucidate the exorcisms conducted by the 72 (verse 17).

Another passage that appears to depict Satan’s fall from heaven is Isaiah 14:12–15. Although the primary context pertains to a human king, with judgment pronounced against Babylon, the poetic language employed by Isaiah is so majestic that many scholars believe there is a deeper meaning to the passage. References to “the whole earth” «The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. », (Isaiah 14:7), the king’s “fall from heaven” (verse 12), his aspiration to exalt himself “above the stars” (verse 13), and the symbolic name Lucifer or Light-bringer (verse 12) all symbolize the pride and downfall of a powerful being.

Of hyperbolic greatness. If the intended subject is only the human king of Babylon, then everything is figurative (and greatly exaggerated); however, if there is a secondary spiritual character in view, then the descriptions could be quite literal. God is pronouncing judgment on both “kings of Babylon”—the human king and the spiritual potentate who empowers him (Babylon being a symbol of rebellion from Genesis to Revelation). The wonderment of Isaiah 14:12 (“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!”) could indeed have a dual interpretation.

Further, the book of Revelation describes “a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth” «And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. », (Revelation 9:1). This “star” is given a key to the bottomless pit and proceeds to release a horde of tormenting “locusts” (Revelation 9:2-11). While Revelation 9:1 is not a clear reference to Satan, it could be: the fact that the “star” that fell from heaven has a key (authority) is no problem, especially since he uses the key to unleash terror upon the earth.

So, the Bible explicitly and implicitly teaches that Satan fell from his position in heaven. But how do we know that one third of the angels also fell with him?

The passage that best supports the idea that Satan took one third of the angels with him in rebellion is Revelation 12:3–4. John sees a sign in heaven: “An enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.” John then relates that the dragon was hurled down to the earth and positively identifies it as “that ancient serpent called

And the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray” «And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. », (Revelation 12:9). The dragon is not thrown to earth alone, however: “His angels were cast out with him” (verse 9). The angels that are ejected from heaven with Satan we associate with the “third of the stars” that the dragon’s tail swept from heaven to earth in verse 4.

If the “stars” of Revelation 12:4 are indeed a symbolic reference to Satan’s “angels” in verse 9, then what we have is a reference to the fall of a portion of the angels (the heavenly hosts) who followed Satan in his rebellion. Two-thirds of the angels remained loyal to God and are called the “holy angels” in Scripture (e.g., Mark 8:38); one-third of the original angels joined Satan and are called “unclean spirits” or “demons” today (e.g., Mark 9:25).