James in his letter gives the reason why some angels abandoned their position in the service of their Creator, Jehovah God.

• (James 1:14, 15) 14 But each one is tried by being drawn out and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then the desire, when it has become fertile, gives birth to sin, in turn sin, when it has been carried out, brings forth death.

The angels have the same free will that God gave to humans. The first rebel, Satan the Devil, let his desire to be honored above his Father, lead to the sin of lying to deceive the wife of Adam. Later, some of his fellow angels began to observe the beautiful daughters, and began to desire them for wives.[1]

• (Genesis 6:1, 2) 6 Now when men started to grow in number on the surface of the ground and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of the true God began to notice that the daughters of men were beautiful. So they began taking as wives all whom they chose.

The so-called “fallen” angels developed perverted desires, that were not how their Creator designed for them. (The term “fallen” makes it sound like it was an accident on their part. Since Satan had already taken the step of rebellion, these other angels “jumped” into their situation. It was no accident.)

James said later in his letter that the demons still recognize the existence of their Creator. But it is not with positive expectation.

• (James 2:19) 19 You believe that there is one God, do you? You are doing quite well. And yet the demons believe and shudder.

They know their choice will lead only to one result, their eternal destruction.

Footnotes