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It is written:
Deuteronomy 4:19-20-And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the whole heaven as a heritage. 20 But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day.
Throughout the Old Testament, the gods and goddesses of the pagans are often associated with the sun, moon, and stars. This did not mean that the Hebrews believed that the sun, moon, and stars were fallen angels (any study of such passages as Psalm 19:1-4 and many others will quickly dispel such a notion); but it does mean that there was a connection at times between these “gods” and heavenly phenomenon. Old Testament scholar Michael Heiser notes:
“The passage clearly says that Yahweh, the God of Israel, allotted the “sun and the moon and the stars,” worshiped by other people, to those nations and that God took Israel for his own. 5 The sun, moon, and stars are the gods referenced in Deuteronomy 32:8, a point discerned from two other passages in Deuteronomy: 2 If there is found among you, in one of the settlements that the L ORD your God is giving you, a man or woman who has affronted the L ORD your God and transgressed His covenant—3 turning to the worship of other gods ( ʾelōhı̂m ) and bowing down to them, to the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, something I never commanded—4 and you have been informed or have learned of it, then you shall make a thorough inquiry. If it is true, the fact is established, that abhorrent thing was perpetrated in Israel, 5 you shall take the man or the woman who did that wicked thing out to the public place, and you shall stone them, man or woman, to death. (Deut 17:2–5, JPS ) 21 And later generations will ask—the children who succeed you, and foreigners who come from distant lands and see the plagues and diseases that the L ORD has inflicted upon that land, 22 all its soil devastated by sulfur and salt, beyond sowing and producing, no grass growing in it, just like the upheaval of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the L ORD overthrew in His fierce anger—23 all nations will ask, “Why did the L ORD do thus to this land? Wherefore that awful wrath?” 24 They will be told, “Because they forsook the covenant that the L ORD , God of their fathers, made with them when He freed them from the land of Egypt; 25 they turned to the service of other gods ( ʾelōhı̂m ) and worshiped them, gods whom they had not experienced and whom He had not allotted to them. (Deut 29:21–25, JPS ) These portions of Deuteronomy refer to the sun, moon, and stars as ʾelōhı̂m (“gods”; Deut 17:3; 29:25) allotted to the nations (Deut 29:25). As Deuteronomy 32:8–9 makes clear, these gods were allotted to the nations when God judged humanity at large at Babel. A few verses later in Deuteronomy 32, we read that the Israelites “sacrificed to demons, not God, to deities ( ʾelōhı̂m ) they had never known, to new ones recently arrived, whom your ancestors had not feared” (Deut 32:17 NRSV ). 6 The point is that, from Israel’s inception, Yahweh was the God of their fathers (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). As such, Yahweh was Israel’s original God; any other god was a latecomer.” (Michael S. Heiser, Demons: What the Bible Really Says About the Powers of Darkness, 2670-2694 (Kindle Edition); Bellingham, WA; Lexham Press)
Many other passages of Scripture note this connection between the fallen angels and demons and heavenly bodies.
For example:
Judges 5:19-20-19 “The kings came and fought, Then the kings of Canaan fought In Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; They took no spoils of silver. 20 They fought from the heavens; The stars from their courses fought against Sisera.
Notice how the “kings of Canaan” were aided in their fight by “the heavens” and “stars from their courses.”
Again:
Isaiah 24:21-23-It shall come to pass in that day That the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones, And on the earth the kings of the earth. 22 They will be gathered together, As prisoners are gathered in the pit, And will be shut up in the prison; After many days they will be punished. 23 Then the moon will be disgraced And the sun ashamed; For the LORD of hosts will reign On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem And before His elders, gloriously.
In this text, there will be a Day of Judgment when the Lord will excuse wrath not only on the kings of the earth, but also “on high the host of exalted ones,” a clear reference to fallen angels. These are then further described as being like “the moon” and “the sun.”
Understanding this connection between the fallen angels and heavenly phenomena may help explain certain passages of Scripture. For example, the Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120-135) are designed to teach a person how to have a closer walk with the Lord. Psalm 121 introduces the concept of fallen angels in verse one by describing how the Psalmist looks beyond the “hills” (mountains) for his help. In the Old Testament world, “mountains” were often euphemisms for demonic forces and the spiritual world.
“The divine council concept is not new, although it may be to you. (It was to me when I first encountered it ten years ago.) Rather than build a case for it here, which would cover territory that’s already been explored in greater depth by better minds, I recommend Dr. Michael S. Heiser’s excellent book The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible. In a nutshell, seventy bene elohim (“ sons of God”) were assigned to supervise the nations after God divided mankind at Babel. (You’ll note that seventy ethnic groups are named in Genesis chapter 10, the Table of Nations.) They apparently decided to present themselves as gods to humankind, which required God’s counter-move—reserving one nation for Himself that would one day produce the Savior. Mountains have always been key in this drama. People have known since our earliest days that mountains are sacred, the abode of the gods. Why? Is it the mystery inherent in locations that are remote and inaccessible? Is it the awe inspired by their size and beauty? Is it simply that primitive humans noticed that mountains were tall and closer to heaven than where they lived? No. Mountains are sacred because the original location of the divine council was on a mountain. The original home of humankind was also on that mountain. After rebellion broke out, the Fallen chose other mountains to call their own. And all of history is a chronicle of the long war that broke out on the original cosmic mountain.” (Derek P. Gilbert, The Great Inception: Satan’s Psyops from Eden to Armageddon, 13-14 (Kindle Edition); Defender Publishing)
Later in that Psalm, we read:
Psalm 121:6-7-The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.
The Psalmist is saying that God’s people will triumph in spiritual warfare against the powers of darkness (similar to the point being made in Psalm 91).
Only in Christ may we have this triumph over the forces of Satan (Colossians 2:11-16).
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.
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