Angels have seen how we live, and they are not all particularly fond of us. While their literal job is to pass on messages, since angel means messenger, they often carry more weight than this. Even though God has omniscience and omnipotence, he allows angels to be his eyes and ears on the earth. They report to him what they see (Genesis 18-19, Zechariah 1:7-11, Matthew 18:10) and help him make decisions (Daniel 4:17, 1 Kings 22:1-36).

I have heard many horror stories during exorcism sessions. I can only imagine what it’s like to be an angelic being who has watched these stories happen a thousand times over throughout the centuries. Such an angel might grow quite tired and jaded of reporting such horrors back to God’s throne. Indeed, that is how the story of Job starts when an angel who had been patrolling the earth barges into God’s courtroom and proposes that all humans are evil.

How much more jaded might these bitter angels be after seeing that God’s plan was to die for those sinful humans? Perhaps some angels might decide that God is not just, or that he doesn’t know what he’s doing and decide to leave him. This dynamic already happens on Earth, so why wouldn’t it happen in Heaven as well? Revelation may even speak to this dynamic when a third of the angels of Heaven decide to join Satan, seemingly right when Jesus is born. But because Revelation can be interpreted in many ways, and its chronology is notoriously all over the place, it’s hard to tell.

But the point that a third of the angels joined the ranks of Satan seems to be a solid fact in Revelation. And who knows how many more angels have joined Satan since Revelation was written? Recognizing that their ranks can grow in this way, I’d assume that there are more demons on the earth today than there ever have been. No wonder we’ll one day have to judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:3).

During one of the most intense manifestations I’ve ever seen in exorcism ministry, the demon kept declaring, “I’m something new! You haven’t seen anything like me before!” But despite its intensity as a demon, something about it felt babyish to me—like it had recently been brainwashed into a new demon cult in the underworld. It’s really hard to explain that moment, but it was like the demon was both strong and immature. Could it have been an angel that had recently joined the ranks of Satan? I will never have that answer for you, and it’s pure speculation. But since demons grow in their craft, it’s possible that any demon we face could be a newly fallen angel.

Regardless of their demonic origin story, their destiny remains the same. Hell was made for Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41), and one day they will be cast into it, and it will bring about the end of fallen immortal beings (Psalm 82).