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Luke 4:33-34
The Greek term underlying “destroy” is appolumi (Strong's #622). Vine's defines it as, “signifies 'to destroy utterly'; in the middle voice, 'to perish.' The idea is not extinction but ruin, loss, not of being, but of well-being.” Behind “torment” is the Greek world basanizo (Strong's #928). It appears in relation to demons in Matthew 8:6, Mark 5:7, and Luke 8:28, all three recording the same event. In each case, the context indicates torture without the implication of death. Neither of these Greek terms, then, as used in Scripture, can be used dogmatically to prove death for angelic beings. However, our search is far from over. If a man sins and does not repent, he dies ultimately in the Lake of Fire. Yet, if an angel sins, it appears—at this point—that his only penalty is the torment of being restrained with the knowledge of what he has lost. He lives on like a prisoner in jail with no hope of parole. Scripturally, though, this does not balance the scales of justice because the Bible clearly states that the wages of sin not repented of is death (Romans 6:23). God says unambiguously, “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4, 20). An angel is a soul too, that is, a living being with the liberty to make choices about moral conduct. Biblically, “soul” is not restricted to humans but simply indicates a breathing creature, which includes animals. Animals, however, do not make moral choices. God's Word reveals much more about the completion of the purpose He is working out, His attitude toward sin, sins' effects, and what He has prophesied regarding the purity of His Kingdom that will be established when He completes the purpose He is now working out.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Do Angels Live Forever?
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