Misinterpretations about Angels

One of the doctrines of the World Mission Society Church of God (WMSCOG) is that we were once angels, living in heaven, who sinned in heaven and were cast down to earth as punishment.

They take verses out of context to support this, such as…

Job 38:21 (NIV)
“Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!”

They say that this is God telling Job that he should know these things because he was living with God in heaven. BUT if you read the book of Job as a whole, especially chapters 38-40, you can easily see that this is God accusing Job of not knowing what he is talking about.  You can see it better in the New King James:
"Do you know it, because you were born then,
      Or because the number of your days is great?" (Job 38:21)

He throws one question after another at Job, like:

"Have you commanded the morning since your days began,
      And caused the dawn to know its place,
That it might take hold of the ends of the earth,
      And the wicked be shaken out of it?" (Job 38:12-13)

“Can you bring forth the constellations in their season?” (Job 38:32 NIV)

“Can you send out lightnings, that they may go,
      And say to you, ‘Here we are!’?” (Job 38:35)

“ Does the eagle mount up at your command,
      And make its nest on high?” (Job 39:27)

“Can you take them [light and darkness] to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings?” (Job 38:20 NIV)

And in the middle of all that (Job 38:21) God basically says, “Yeah, sure. You know all and can do all. You’ve got all My knowledge and power. Right.”
It’s an example of God using sarcasm. Job knows this too, because in Job 40:4-5, he answers,
“Behold, I am vile;
      What shall I answer You?
      I lay my hand over my mouth.
Once I have spoken, but I will not answer;
      Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”

God is not saying that Job was living with him in heaven since the foundation of the world—He’s saying that Job doesn’t know what he’s talking about because he has NOT experienced all that.

Another passage taken out of context is Proverbs 8:22-31.
The WMSCOG uses verses like these...
“ I have been established from everlasting,
      From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.” (Pr. 8:23)
“Before the mountains were settled,
      Before the hills, I was brought forth;” (Pr. 8:25)
“When He prepared the heavens, I was there...” (Pr. 8:27)
to claim that Solomon is saying he, himself, was living in heaven with God since before the world was created.

BUT if you back up in Proverbs 8 to verse 1,
“Does not wisdom cry out,
      And understanding lift up her voice?”
And verse 12,
“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,
      And find out knowledge and discretion.”

You can see that the “I” in this passage is “Wisdom”.
Read all of Proverbs chapters 8 and 9, and you’ll see that Solomon is using personification to represent an abstract quality (wisdom) as a person, like in Pr. 9:1, “Wisdom has built her house….”
He is not talking about an actual woman named Wisdom, just like he is not saying that he, Solomon himself, was created before the world began.

The WMSCOG often takes Bible verses out of context. If you study with them, be sure to read more than just the verses they show you.