Where Did Demons Come From?
Many of us grew up with this simple story: Satan rebelled in heaven with a third of the angels. They fell to earth and those fallen angels are what we call demons.
But Scripture actually gives a more layered story. It talks about rebellions in the garden, in the days of Noah, and at the tower of Babel.
Understanding this does not feed fear. It helps us understand spiritual warfare and why Jesus gave the church authority to cast demons out.
There are 3 key questions that shape this conversation:
1. Who rebelled in the beginning and what did that do to the world?
2. What happened in the days of Noah with the sons of God and the Nephilim?
3. How do principalities and powers in passages like Ephesians 6 fit into the story?
We hold to what Scripture clearly teaches. And with the things that are less clear, we hold them with open hands and humility.
The first rebellion in the garden: in Genesis we see Lucifer, part of the heavenly host, opposing God. He chooses pride, is cast out, and then deceives Adam and Eve and humanity falls.
After this, Satan still has access to the heavenly council, as we see in Job. Final judgment has not yet come and at this point there are no demons yet, only the first great revel and corruption of humanity.
The days of Noah and the Nephilim: Genesis 6 speaks about the sons of God who saw the daughters of men and slept with them.
In the older Jewish and second temple worldview, these sons of God are spiritual beings who crossed a boundary. They left their proper place, came to the earth, and produced hybrid offspring called the Nephilim.
Violence, wickedness, twisted knowledge, and deep corruption filled the earth, and the flood came to cleanse this contamination.
These watchers who sinned were judged and imprisoned, awaiting final punishment.
Principalities and the tower of Babel: at Babel, God scatters the nations. Deuteronomy 32 describes God assigning the nations to other spiritual rulers, lesser elohim, while He claims Jacob as His own inheritance. Over time these spiritual rulers become corrupt.
Psalm 82 speaks of God standing in the divine council and judging these gods. Daniel 10 speaks about the prince of Persia and other spiritual princes over regions.
So we have:
- Watchers who rebelled
- Nephilim whose spirits became unclean spirits
- Principalities and powers over territories
So where do demons really come from?
A common early view, reflected in writings like 1 Enoch, is this:
When the Nephilim were killed in the flood, their disembodied spirits were cursed to remain on earth. They do not pass into the afterlife and linger as unclean spirits.
That helps explain why demons crave a body. Demons seem restless until they are inside a person.
These unclean spirits still work to corrupt, defile, and torment, which is what we confront today in deliverance.
What Jesus did at the cross was more than just for our personal salvation. He also disarmed spiritual powers.
Colossians 2:15 says that at the cross He disarmed principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them.
In the Gospels He casts out demons and calls it a sign that the kingdom of God has come. Then He gives that same authority to His church to cast out demons and preach the gospel.
Satan has lost his legal standing. Principalities remain in place for a time, but their authority is broken. Demons remain on earth, but they must obey the name of Jesus when we stand in His authority.
The information shared leans heavily on the work of Dr. Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm. Not all Christians agree on every detail. Some believe demons are fallen angels. Some see Genesis 6 differently. Some reject the idea that demons are the spirits of dead Nephilim.
So we should be clear: this is not a salvation issue. We are exploring a historic biblical-theological view, not creating a new doctrine.
You do not need to have every detail of demonology figured out. You DO need to be rooted in Jesus and obey what He clearly commanded.
