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ANGELS, FALLEN
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domain'. The word translated in these various ways is the Greek arche `beginning' (John 1:1) and in the plural
`principalities' (Eph. 1:21). These angels `left their own habitation'. There are two words that are translated `to
leave' in the New Testament. One aphiemi, which means `to send away or dismiss', the other, various compounds
of leipo, which mean lack, forsake, abandon, leave behind. The word used by Jude is apoleipo `to leave away from
one's self, to leave behind'. Paul uses the word of `the cloak' that he had left at Troas (2 Tim. 4:13), and of
Trophimus, who had been left at Miletum, sick (2 Tim. 4:20). The word translated `habitation' is oiketerion, a
derivative of oikos `a house' or `a home', and occurs in 2 Corinthians 5:2 where it refers to the resurrection body:
`For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house (oiketerion) which is from heaven'.
The apostle contrasts `the earthly house of this tabernacle' with `the house which is in heaven', and earnestly
desired the exchange. The angels that sinned left their `own body', and the apostle speaking of the resurrection says
`to every seed its own body' (1 Cor. 15:38). Before the seed is sown it is likened to `bare' grain, gymnos `naked'
(1 Cor. 15:37); before the oiketerion is entered, the believer is looked upon as unclothed or `naked' (2 Cor. 5:3) and
these, apart from Hebrews 4:13, are the only occurrences of gymnos in Paul's epistles. The angels, therefore, when
they left their `own' (idios) body, the one that was `proper' (1 Cor. 7:7), `private' (2 Pet. 1:20), they descended to an
`unclothed' condition, or were `naked'. The reader will now appreciate something of what is intended in Genesis
3:1 where we read, `Now the serpent was more subtil' remembering that the word translated `subtil' is the Hebrew
arum, and the word translated `naked' of our unclothed parents is the Hebrew word arom, both words being derived
from the same root. It would appear from the use made of such words as `naked grain', `not being found naked' and
the conception of the resurrection as a condition that can be described as `clothed upon', that man at his creation
must be thought of likewise as `naked grain', and that he would have continued as such without shame, until the
transformation took place, equivalent to resurrection, when being glorified and given his destined place above the
angels, he would then be clothed upon.
The coming in of sin and death however exposed man to the attack of the enemy, and so the Lord `clothed' our
first parents with coats of skin, symbols of the redemptive covering made by Christ until resurrection is attained. All
mankind from Adam to the end of the race are conceived of as being `naked', all need the covering provided by
redeeming love, and all who attain unto the resurrection of life and righteousness will at last find themselves fully
clothed.
The fact that oiketerion is used to speak of the resurrection body of the believer and of that which the angels
sinfully left, raises a question. In what way can we speak of the `body' of an angel? We must remember that the
apostle declares that `flesh and blood' cannot inherit the kingdom of God, and that consequently at the resurrection
we shall all be changed. We shall not, however, exchange a body to become pure spirit, we shall exchange the body
of our humiliation, for a body like unto the Lord's body of glory:
`It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body' (1 Cor. 15:44).
At this, the apostle paused, realizing apparently the need for explanation, so he adds `there is (such a thing as) a
natural body, and there is (such a thing as) a spiritual body'. `A creature without any bodily form is wholly
inconceivable, since that which is created, can only work and subsist within the limits of time and space, and since it
is corporeality alone that confines the creature to time and space. God alone is infinite, an absolute Spirit. He alone
exists above and beyond time and space' (Kurtz). `Only combining itself with matter, can mind bring itself into
alliance with the various properties of the external world: only thus can it find and be found, be known or employed,
be detained or set at large ... an unembodied spirit, or sheer mind is NOWHERE' (Fleming). `We might as well say of
a pure spirit, that it is hard, heavy, or red, or that it is a cubic foot in dimensions, as say that it is here or there, and
that it has come and it is gone' (Taylor).
Amongst the `Fathers' who ascribed corporeality to angels, are Origen, Clement of Alexandria, Caesarius and
Tertullian. Now if it is possible for those whose bodies are at present flesh and blood to be translated to a plane
`like unto the angels', then it seems equally possible for angels to descend into the lower plane and possess bodies
like unto men. When we read of the visit of the angels in Genesis 18, they are described as `men', whose `feet'
could be washed, and who could partake of a meal composed of `butter, milk, cakes made on the hearth and a young
calf' (Gen. 18:1-8). Two of these `men' turned their faces towards Sodom, and are called `two angels'
in Genesis 19. Abraham, according to Hebrews 13:2, entertained angels unawares. There is no indication of make-