Who Are The Nephilim? - Part 8 Enoch, Peter, and Greek Mythology

This part of an ongoing series about the Nephilim. To start at the beginning click here: Who Were The Nephilim - Part 1

For is God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until judgment, if did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly… 2 Peter 2:4, 5

We discussed this passage some in the last post, but there was one word that I word that I wanted to wait to tackle because this one tiny little word opens up the door for a whole new world of questions. If have studied this topic before, then I am certain you already know what is coming. If you haven’t then I think you will find it interesting. Any guesses on which word it might be?

If you guessed hell, you are getting close. However, this is one of those times when the real word has been obscured by the translators. Now before you go getting any ideas about grand conspiracies in Bible translations, you should know that this is not a bad or deliberately misleading translation. It is simply the word that makes the most sense when we translate Greek into English. The main difference is that in this case, thanks to our Greek mythology, comic books, and sci-fi, we happen to be more familiar with this word in the original. That word is Tartarus. So if we were reading the verse and retained the Greek, it would say:

…but cast them into Tartarus and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness…

This is the only place in the Christian Scriptures were we find this specific term. We do find the term used two times in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures that was widely read at around the time of Jesus and used by many early Christians. There are some variance between the manuscripts used for Septuagint and the manuscripts used in today’s translations of the Bible. So don’t freak out when you go to your Bible and the verses read nothing like the ones below. The point I am trying to make is that the concept of Tartarus is not unfamiliar to Jewish audiences or the Jewish writers of the Christian Bible, and it was a term easily borrowed to describe similar concepts.

And when he has gone up to a steep mountain, he causes joy to the quadrupeds in the deep (tartaro).

ἐπελθὼν δὲ ἐπ’ ὄρος ἀκρότομον ἐποίησεν χαρμονὴν τετράποσιν ἐν τῷ ταρτάρῳ (tartaro) Job 40:20

and the lowest part (tartaron) of the deep as a captive: he reckons the deep as [his] range.

τὸν δὲ τάρταρον (tartaron) τῆς ἀβύσσου ὥσπερ αἰχμάλωτον ἐλογίσατο ἄβυσσον εἰς περίπατον Job 41:24

In these verses, Tartarus is used to refer to the deep in 40:20 and the lowest part of the deep in 41:21. It is place where God has held the monstrous beasts, the Behemoth and Leviathan, captive. Despite their fierce natures, they are nothing but pets to the Creator of the universe and he keeps them contained in a place fitting of such gruesome creatures. And what could be more gruesome than these terrors of the ancient world? How about angels who failed to retain their proper estate?

We can also find the term Tartarus in the Book of Enoch. Here we learn that Uriel is the “holy angel of thunder and of tremors.” However, in the footnotes, we find an alternate translation that reads, “holy angel of the world and Tartarus.”  This immediately follows a conversation between Enoch and Uriel concerning the fate of the angels who sinned – angels who are bound in a terrible place awaiting judgment.

The fourth source for the term Tartarus has already been mentioned, and that is the Greek myths. What I find to be so fascinating are the numerous parallels between the Greek stories of Tartarus and the Biblical account in Genesis 6. I won’t take the time to retell any of them here. You can find them easily enough with Google. If you do take the time to research these tales, notice that most contain one or more of the following themes:

1. A lesser god/being revolts against a greater god.
2. The lesser god/being shares forbidden food, fire, or knowledge with humanity.
3. Sex is common between divine beings and humans.
4. The product of these unions are demi-gods, neither fully human nor divine.
5. Tartarus is the place of punishment reserved for the vilest offenders.
6. Those cast into Tartarus are often bound.
7. Tartarus is presented as below the earth or under a mountain.
8. Titans, an ancient race of giants, are primary characters within the tales.

Even a casual reader will readily pick up on the parallels between the Enochian story and the Greek myths. Nor are these the only ancient tales that share these themes, the only difference is a shared language between the Greek poets and the Biblical authors whose words overlap and coincide making the parallels more obvious. However, as we grow more familiar with the basic traits of the Biblical and Enochian accounts, we could move on to the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Irish legends of the Tuatha de Danann, the Red Headed Giants of the Native Americans, Hindu tales, the Nordic Asgard, or the Oni from Japan to see that the tales of gods descending to earth to mate and to destroy is buried in the collective psyche of almost all cultures. And just as Christians have defended the veracity of the Flood accounts by appealing to multicultural retellings of the event, I believe the same can be done in the case of the Nephilim.

In fact, I find it rather curious that few have bothered to make such a case for the authenticity of the beginning verses of Genesis 6 but will do so for the remainder of the chapter that contains the flood account. Why is it considered proper to maintain the supernatural aspects of Noah’s ark but to remove the supernatural aspects attributed to the Sons of God? For even if the sparse verses of Genesis leave much open to speculation, we have demonstrated how Jude and Peter acknowledge the overarching premise of Enoch as having some bearing on reality through their quotations of the text.  
Next time, we will look at more New Testament quotes from the Book of Enoch.

Who Were The Nephilim? Part 7 - The Peter, Jude, and Enoch Connection

This part of an ongoing series discussing who were the Nephilim, to start at the beginning click here.Who Were The Nephilim? Part One 

Now that we have established a definite link between Jude and the Book of Enoch, we are going to look at the second most easily identifiable link to Enoch found in the Christian Scriptures, 2 Peter chapter 2. Yes, the whole chapter, so I suggest you grab your Bibles and follow along as I will not be quoting every passage for the sake of brevity.

Let’s begin by looking at the connection between 2 Peter and Jude, from there we will see how this ties back to the Book of Enoch. If we read these passages together, the shared themes become obvious:

◦ false teachers and false prophets
◦ a focus on sensuality; Jude 4 and 2 Peter 2:2
◦ the denial of the “Master”; Jude 4 and 2 Peter 2:1
◦ angels kept in chains until judgment; Jude 6 and 2 Peter 2:4
◦ references to Sodom and Gomorrah; Jude 7 and 2 Peter 2:6
◦ slander against the glorious ones; Jude 8 and 2 Peter 2:10

Look at how closely these two passages mirror each other:

But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, suffering wrong as a wage for their wrong doing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have trained their hearts in greed. Accursed children! Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed in the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrong doing…These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness is has been reserved. 2 Peter 2:12-15, 17

But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of Balaam’s error and perish in Korah’s rebellion. These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves, waterless clouds, swept along by winds, fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted, wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame, wandering stars, for whom the utter darkness has been reserved forever. Jude 10-13

Why is this important? Let’s think about for a moment. The Bible is a very compact and concise bit of work when we consider the sheer weight and significance of the truth contained within its pages. I believe that everything God chose to have included in it is there for a reason, and if he allows repetition then it is a pretty good indication we should listen up, there is something important about these concepts, and we need to figure what it is.

Another reason I think this is so important is that two passages affirm each other. It would be so easy to dismiss Jude allegorical or some esoteric work not meant to be understood by the masses, but, unlike Jude, we kind of know Peter. We have an idea of his character and personality. Peter is a salt of the earth kind of guy, he deals with the nuts and bolts, the tangibles. He’s practical and down to earth, right up until the supernatural smacks him in the face – then he’s in awe, but you have to prove it to him first. And knowing this about Peter lends a weight to his words and, by extension, to Jude’s and Enoch’s.

Additionally, the parallel passages give us greater insight into the words of the other. Consider these verses with what we find in Enoch:

For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment. 2 Peter 2:4

And the angels who did not stay within their own potion of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgement of the great day – Jude 6

And there my eyes saw how they had made instruments for them – iron chains of immeasurable weight. And I asked the angel of peace who went with me, saying, “These chain-instruments – for whom are they being prepared? And he said to me, These are being prepared for the host of Azazel, that they may take them and throw them into the lowest parts of Hell; and they will cover their jaws with rough stones, as the Lord of Spirits commanded. 1 Enoch 54:4, 5 

And throw upon him jagged and sharp stones, and cover him with darkness; and let him stay there forever, and cover his face so that he may not see the light, and that on that great day of judgement he may be hurled into the fire. 1 Enoch 10:5,6

When we put all of this together we get more complete picture. Peter tells us that the angels sinned, but Jude tells how they sinned, both tell us that they were kept in chains of gloomy darkness until the day of judgement. But it is Enoch who gives us the rest of the story, what happened when the angels left their position of authority and their proper dwelling, and why this such a bad thing that God would demand the angels’ imprisonment in chains.

If we only had Peter would just know the angels sinned. If we only had Jude we would think that angels coming to earth would be a bad thing, but we know from other events in the Bible that this is not always the case. So we need Enoch to flesh out the narrative for us. We do get a connection to the Genesis 6 with further reading in both Peter and Jude. We could even glean that the sins committed by the angels were sexual in nature, but the references to the imprisonment of the angels would make no sense if we only draw upon canonical sources because Enoch is the only place we find this information. Enoch is the one who explains why Peter and Jude both believe that Sons of God from Genesis 6 were imprisoned and how this imprisonment was accomplished.

Does this mean that we give the words of Enoch the same weight as canonical sources?  No, and I explain why in this post, Why Wasn't The Book Of Enoch Included In The Bible?. However, it is a useful tool to help us understand how the writers of the Christian Scriptures understood the events of Genesis 6. There is no doubt that Peter and Jude believed that Sons of God were what we call angels. They understood that these beings were supernatural, and their misconduct with human women had a profound impact on our reality. So much so that twice we are told of their deeds, God’s retribution against them, warned of following in their teaching and examples, and encouraged to rejoice in God’s triumph over them.

 I know this has been the long way around to answer what seems to be a simple question, but I don’t want to just give you pat answers. I want you to see for yourselves what the Bible has to say on this matter. And, hopefully, provide you with a few tools to go even deeper into your study of Scripture, to see how it is all tied together, and must be taken as whole to understand the individual components. We are just scratching the surface of the Peter-Enoch connection, and we will explore it further in the next post.

Who Were The Nephilim? Part 6 - Who Are The Holy Ones In Jude?

It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold the Lord comes with ten thousand of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” Jude 14-15

This is part six of an ongoing series, to start at the beginning click here: Who Were The Nephilim Part 1

In many ways this a bit of a footnote in our journey, but I wanted to include it for two reasons:

1. It demonstrates the honored role that humanity plays in God’s divine plan, and we can all use a reminder on that one.

2. We can begin to see how the roles of humanity and the angelic are intricately woven together throughout the Bible, today, and will be in the future.

Too often we tend to view the supernatural elements of the Bible as something foreign and completely distinct from our earthly existence. The idea that miracles and divine proclamations seem to have little to do with the day to day drudgery of life, but the Bible reveals that such a view is flawed. And if we stop examine even the most basic elements of our faith, we cannot avoid the fact that our identities are based upon God’s supernatural intervention in time and space in the person Jesus. Without his supernatural birth, life, death, and resurrection, there would be no such thing as Christianity. So why then do we arbitrarily chose to ignore other supernatural aspects of what God has declared is true?

Stop and reread the opening passage above. What do you envision? If you said, “God returning in glory surrounded by his holy retinue of angels”, then you and I have that in common. I think that is the natural response, but what if our vision is too small? What if God has more in mind? What if his divine plan includes you? Includes me? Rather mind blowing, isn’t it?

And what if I am not just blowing smoke up your skirt? Well, I don’t think that I am. Allow me to demonstrate.

The word for “Holy Ones” in Jude is hagioi. In most other places that this word is used in the Christian Scriptures (New Testament) it is translated as saints. You can see that in Acts 9, Romans 15, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 6:2, 2 Corinthians 9:1,12; Ephesians 3:8,18; Philippians 1:1 – I could go on, but I think you get the idea. It is easy to see how these two terms virtually interchangeable in the context of the Christian Scriptures, and almost always refers to people. Case closed, right?

No, wrong. We have to bear in mind that we are dealing with a New Testament writer quoting an Old Testament phrase. So we need to go back to the Hebrew Scriptures and see how the phrase was used in its original context. (PSA: A text without a context is a pretext! Always, always, always keep the words and phrases within their proper context to understand the proper meaning and application. Anything less is proof-texting and fraudulent!)

In the last installment, I showed how this phrase was used there in Deuteronomy 33:2. The root for the Hebrew word found in this verse is kodesh. If we look up the definition of this word in the Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew Lexicon we will find that one of its definitions is saint, but this is still not digging deep enough. We need to look at how the word is used so that we can keep it in proper context.

Let the heavens praise your wonders, O LORD, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones! For who in the skies can be compared to the LORD? Who among the heavenly beings is like the LORD, a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him? Psalms 89:5-7

Behold, God puts no trust in his holy ones, and heavens are not pure in his sight. Job 15:15

Then I heard a holy one speaking and another holy one said to the one who spoke, “For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?” Daniel 8:13

If we take time to look at these verses, and particularly if you go back and read the rest of the chapters where they are found, you are going to see that these are all events that occur in heaven. The Psalms passage is quite explicit, as is the passage from Job, and when you realize that the passage in
Daniel is taken from a one of his prophetic visions where he sees into the heavenly realm then I think it becomes pretty obvious that we are not talking about humans in any of them. The writers are making direct references to angels.

Does this mean that the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures conflict? Only if we stop our investigation there. Let’s look at a few more passages. 

Until the Ancient of Days came and judgement was given for the saints (holy ones) of the Most High, and time came when the saints (holy ones) possessed the Kingdom. Daniel 7:22

As for the saints (holy ones) in the land, they are the excellent one, in whom is all my delight. Psalms 16:3

Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints (holy ones) for those who fear him have no lack! Psalms 34:9

The passages above refer to groups of people, but we also find it used of individuals.

And Moses heard it, he fell on his face, and he said to Korah and all his company, “In the morning the LORD will show who is his, who is holy, and will bring him near to him.” Numbers 16: 4,5

And she said to her husband, “Behold, now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way.” 2 King 4:9

When the men in camp were jealous of Moses and Aaron, the holy ones of the LORD, the earth opened up and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. Psalms 106: 16,17

And this is just scratching the surface. We could spend days looking up passages that talk about the nature and expression of holiness and who is qualified to be a Holy One. If we did that it would be abundantly clear that a Holy One is anyone who has set his life apart in service to the Lord – angel or human. For it not our holiness that qualifies us, but rather the holiness of the God we serve sanctifying our existence.

What I find fascinating about the references above, and throughout the Bible, is the Holy Ones are frequently tied to the idea of judgment and vengeance on those who are, as Jude puts it, “grumblers, malcontents, following their own lustful desires; they are loud mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage”, (Jude 16). We know that God will use his angels when he exacts judgment, that is clear in Daniel, Ezekiel, and Revelation, but we often overlook the fact that we are a part of this future reality. And the judgment in which we will help enact is not reserved for humanity alone, but rather includes the angels who rebelled. Find that hard to believe? Check out these passages:

God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment. How long will judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. They have neither knowledge or understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.” Arise, O God, judge the earth for you shall inherit all the nations. Psalms 82

Or do you not know that the saints (holy ones) will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! 1 Corinthians 6:2,3

The one who conquers and keeps my works to the end, to him I will give authority over nations, and he rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken into pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. Revelation 2: 26,27 

And this brings us back to Genesis 6 and our original question: who are the Nephilim? A question that we began to explore by establishing the identity of the Sons of God as angels who had taken wives from among humanity, and in doing so left their proper habitation. And our conclusions are strengthened through the proper understanding of who the Holy Ones are and what our role shall be in the time to come.

The identity of the Holy Ones is only a mystery if we bifurcate the natural from the supernatural. If we believe there is some great divide between physical fact and divine truth. To do so creates a false dichotomy that leaves us floundering the midst of creation, never really knowing our place, and discounting the plans that God has for us. We were never meant to live apart from or in ignorance of purpose and destiny that our Creator has for us, and the results of living in such way leaves us with tepid visions of eternity where we sit around strumming harps all day, with the placid faces of drugged cows, and being nothing more to God than ego stroking pets. Is it any wonder our faith fails to excite any longer? For who would wish for such an existence? Why wouldn’t the debauchery of hell as portrayed in today’s culture being far more alluring?

The Bible never presents a world in which spiritual is some distant hope or illusion. The spiritual, the supernatural, woven into the fabric of the universe, and we have been called to our God ordained places as his Holy Ones, here in this moment so that we might be prepared for eternity. And we take our place by walking the steps of Lord Jesus Christ, walking in compassion, love, and kindness, by standing against injustice, and extending hope to those around us. The time for judgment has not come, and for that we should be grateful, using each day to declare the wonders of God who loves us so much that he calls us children and invites to be an active part of what he is doing now and in the future. This knowledge should inspire us to live more holy lives and empower us to be faithful in the endeavor. For the strength and vitality of our faith is found not in intellectual assent and dull reason, but in the life giving presence of a Holy God.

Part Seven of our series: http://misdirectedmusings.blogspot.com/2016/09/who-were-nephilim-part-7-peter-jude-and.html

Who Were The Nephilim? Part 5 - Jude and the Hebrew Scripture Connection

Ruins from Bashan

Before we left Jude behind, I wanted to pause and address the two passages that are cited to refute the idea that Jude is quoting from the Book of Enoch. As I studied these passages, I quickly realized that the information presented ties the passage in Jude to the Nephilim as firmly as any Enochian quote. The link is not as straightforward, but just as real. Furthermore, as these are canonical they do carry more weight.

So let’s jump in. The first passage is:

He said, “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand. Deuteronomy 33:2

This chapter is Moses’ blessing upon the Hebrew people prior to their entrance into Canaan, the Promised Land. He is giving his final words before he retreats to Mount Nebo and dies. He would have chosen his words carefully. Dying men who are still in possession of all their faculties do not speak lightly or without purpose. And as readers, we need to ask why did Moses reference these two locations, Seir and Paran?

To answer that we have to back up to Genesis 14:1-16, sometimes referred to as the War of Four Against Five Kings. I want to direct you attention specifically to verses 4-6:

Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and defeated the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, and the Horites in their hill country of Seir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness. 

Notice who was defeated: the Rephaim, Zuzim, Emim, and the Horites. Why is this important? Who are these people? According to Josephus, ancient Hebrew historian, they are “offspring of giants”, (The Antiquities of the Jew 1.9. 174), and his conclusion is supported by Deuteronomy 2:17-25:

The LORD said to me, ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession.’ (It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim—a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. As for the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.) ‘Rise up, set out on your journey and go over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and contend with him in battle. This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

Now think about this with me for a moment, when the original twelve spies were sent into Canaan they came back with a report:

So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” Numbers 13:32-33

Moses had already watched the first generation to escape Egypt miss entering the Promise Land because they feared the giants. He understood that this time they could not afford to let fear rule. They needed to rise up and face this enemy confident in God’s power to defend and advance their cause in the fulfillment of the promise God had made to Abraham so many years ago. So when Moses speaks in Deuteronomy 33, he reminds the people that these sons of giants, the children of Anak, who come the Nephilim, were not invincible. They could be defeated. It had happened before, and it would happen again.

In Deuteronomy 33, we find a connection between the “ten thousand holy ones” and the land where the Nephilim lived. Not only that, we see that the holy ones are coming to defeat the Nephilim with God fighting at their side.

This brings us to the second passage using the phrase “ten thousand holy ones”, Psalms 68:17:

The chariots of God are twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary. 

If you take the time to read the entire chapter one thing becomes clear, the central theme of this Psalm is God’s victory over his enemies. Within it we find direct references to the Exodus, the wilderness wanderings, and the conquest of Canaan, tying it back to the same events presented in Deuteronomy. However, there is an additional curiosity – the mention of Bashan in verses 15 and 16.

In Deuteronomy 3, we find the battle between the Hebrew people and Bashan, a land ruled by King Og. Verse 11, provides some interesting information about him.

For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.

The thing I almost missed was where King Og lived, you know the precise street address. Thankfully, Joshua thought to write it down.

…and Og king of Bashan, one of the remnant of the Rephaim, who lived at Ashtaroth and at Edrei… Joshua 12:4

If the city of Ashtaroth sounds familiar, it should. Look back to Genesis 14:5, Ashteroth-karnaim was city in Bashan, east of the Jordan River. The same place where the original war against the offspring of the giants went down. And what is David hoping to accomplish with his Psalm? The same thing Moses was doing in Deuteronomy 33, he was reminding the people that God is victorious no matter what enemy tries to stand before him.

No matter how we slice it, Jude is referencing the Nephilim. Whether we base his quotes on the Book of Enoch or those from the Bible. He wants his readers to make the connection between the unholy ones of Genesis 6 and the judgement that will be executed by the ten thousand holy ones. Now who exactly are these ten thousand holy ones? We will look into that next time.

Part 6 of our series: http://misdirectedmusings.blogspot.com/2016/09/who-were-nephilim-part-6-who-are-holy.html

Who Were The Nephilim? Part 4 - The Jude-Enoch Connection

St. Jude By El Greco

This is part four of an ongoing series over the Nephilim. If you would like to start at the beginning of the series, click here:Who Were The Nephilim? Part 1

As we continue to examine the question of who were the Nephilim, we cannot avoid the book of Enoch. I have already addressed the question as to whether Enoch should have been included in the Bible, shared some of the book’s history, and discussed one of the major themes of Enoch, the Watchers.  You can find that post here: Why Wasn't Enoch Included In The Bible?

In this post we are going to discuss why Jude might choose to quote from what many would consider a questionable, if not downright suspect book, and how his use of Enoch informs our understanding of the Genesis 6 account.

First off if you haven’t read through the book of Jude with Genesis 6 or the Nephilim in mind, I would encourage you to do so. It is only one chapter with twenty five verses, but packed full of information. And Jude manages to pack so much in because he alludes to several Biblical accounts from the Hebrew Scripture. So how much time you spend in Jude is completely up to you, a few minutes for a quick read through or days if you look up all the events he mentions. (Guess which one I recommend?)

Let’s begin with verse 6:

And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he had kept in chains under gloomy darkness until the judgement of the great day –

So here is where we must ask our first question, when did angels leave their position of authority and proper dwelling? The most common answer would be Satan’s rebellion, but there is a problem with this as we know that Satan is not bound in chains waiting until the judgement of the great day. In fact, the Bible tells us quite the opposite:

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 

The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” Job 1:7

Some have tried to make Satan’s rebellion fit Jude’s words by claiming that the angels in chains are a part of the ones who fell with Satan, and thus avoiding the Enochian connection. However, there is a problem with this as nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures do we have any mention of angels in chains or held captive. The only place we learn of angels held captive are here in Jude, 1 Peter, and Revelation – all New Testament writings. This is important, because if we look at Jude we quickly realize that he is not presenting new revelation. He is drawing on historical events, weaving them together, and presenting a consistent principle demonstrated throughout history in God’s dealings with humanity and the ungodly.

We should also note how he classifies the sin of these angels, on to verse 7:

Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. 

The important word here is “likewise”, informing us that the sin of the angels who are bound in chains was sexual in nature. Jude could have gotten that sexual part from Genesis 6, but it still does not answer the question about where he learned about them being kept in chains. Nor does feel the need to explain himself. Read through this section again, notice how he referencing these events in almost the same manner as we might reference a movie or TV show. He expects his audience to know what he is talking about.

Jude himself will answer the question in verse 14:

It was also that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold the Lord comes with ten thousand of his holy ones, to execute judgement on all and to convict the ungodly of their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners has spoken against him.” 

Nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures is Enoch called a prophet. We know that he was godly man who walked with God and never knew death because God took him, but aside from that we really have no further information about him…unless we are willing to admit the Book of Enoch into evidence which clearly Jude does. Consider this passage from Enoch:

And behold, he comes with ten thousand holy ones to execute judgement upon them and to destroy the impious, and to contend with all flesh concerning everything which the sinners and the impious have done and wrought against him. 1:9

We are going to come back to this text in a future post because it is significant to our understanding of who the Nephilim were. For now, it is sufficient to establish that Jude is referring to Enoch as a prophet something that is only established in the book of Enoch, from which Jude is lifting this quote.

I would be remiss if I did not note that there are two passages in the Hebrew Bible that also use the phrase “ten thousand holy ones”, and some believe that Jude was quoting from Deuteronomy 33:2 and Psalms 68:17. I believe that as Jude specifically ties his words to Enoch precludes this conclusion, and I believe that these passages actually strengthen the argument that Jude is indeed referring to the Genesis 6 episode. I would also point out the while Jude’s quotation of Enoch is not verbatim, it does more closely align with the Enochian quote than either of the two passages we find in Hebrew Scripture, and the discrepancies can largely be accounted for in translation choices such “impious” instead of “ungodly.”

My conclusion is that Jude accepted the Enochian account of the Watcher, or the Sons of God, as having some bearing on reality. I do not believe that he would have quoted from it if he viewed Enoch as erroneous or misleading. Does this mean that we should view Enoch as having the same value as holy and inspired text? I do not believe it does. If were to have that standing then it would have been canonized, but it was excluded from both the Hebrew and the Christian canons. Instead, it was serves to demonstrate how the Genesis 6 account was understood in antiquity and allows our reading to be informed by this understanding.

Jude is not alone among the New Testament authors in having such a high view of Enoch. In future post we will examine Peter’s use of Enoch in his letters and other instances where Enoch was alluded to in the New Testament text. In my next post, I will be taking a closer look at Enoch 1:9, the ten thousand holy ones, and how this relates back to the Genesis 6 episode.

For part 5 in this series, click here: Part 5 - The Jude and Hebrew Scripture Connection

Who Were The Nephilim? Part 3 Or "But Jesus Said..."

This is part three of an ongoing series. Go here to start at the beginning. Who Were The Nephilim? Part 1

In the past two posts, we have tried to establish a Scriptural basis for determining the correct understanding of the title “Sons of God.” We have examined both how the phrase is used in both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. The problem is that if we accept the “Sons of God” as referring to angelic or divine beings then we have to come to terms with the Bible tells us they did. And this is where most people start feeling just a bit squeamish.

…the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Genesis 6:2

We don’t like the idea of angels feeling attraction, at least not sexual attraction, towards human women. It’s a little freaky. And marriage, wait, didn’t Jesus say they didn’t do that?

I am so glad you asked, he did. Here’s the verse.

For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. Matthew 22:30

Now breathe a sigh of relief, we need to talk about some of these terms. Let’s start off with marriage. We all know what this means. It is a covenant relationship between a man (or angel?) in which sex is an integral part. I want you notice something here, Jesus said the angels do not marry. Marriage and sex are not synonymous. They are two entirely different things that frequently coincide, but are not identical. If you do not believe me, then I suggest turning on a TV, reading a magazine, going to the movies, or hanging out on some social media sites for a while.  And we should assume that just because this is in the Bible or because it is Jesus talking that he is trying to be polite. Neither the Bible nor Jesus was squeamish about sexual issues – read Song of Songs, Leviticus, Matthew 5:27-30, Matthew 19:4, or John 4.

We should note that Jesus adds a qualifier to his statement – “but are like the angels in heaven.” Where are the “Sons of God” in Genesis 6? I am pretty certain they are on earth. And where is that angels do not marry? According to Jesus, that would be heaven. Why would he add this qualifier unless it was important? Why not say that angels do not marry? Isn’t that simple enough?

Not if you believe that the angels did, at least at one time, take wives here on earth.

Jesus’ audience knew angels on earth operate according to a different standard than those in heaven. Angels in heaven have fierce and fantastic forms, (Ezekiel 1 and 10, and Isaiah 6). They also knew that angels could appear as mere men or in fear inducing splendor depending upon the need and the circumstance, (Genesis 16, 22, 28, 32; Numbers 22; Joshua 1; Judges 6, 13; 1 Kings 18; 2 Kings 2; and so many Psalms I will not even try to list them).  Jesus audience also knew that angels were capable of doing some very human things, like eating, (Genesis 18), and the inhabitants of Sodom also seemed certain that their angelic visitors were capable of being sexually assaulted, (Genesis 19).

We need to be very careful that any limitations we place on angels is in keeping with what is revealed in Scripture and not the product of tradition or our sense propriety. And we need to be holding the multiple threads of revelation in tension, drawing from the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures for a fuller understanding of who angels are and what they are capable of doing. Jude says this:

And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. Jude 1:6,7

Notice what he is saying about the angels. He is tying their behavior to sexual immorality, and they are able to do so because they left their “proper dwelling.” He is calling their actions the result of unnatural desire, and indicating that is worthy of punishment by eternal fire. We will be spending some more time in Jude, but for now, it is enough to note that Jude deliberately links his words to the
Genesis account through quotes from the Book of Enoch.

The word for “proper dwelling”, or οἰκητήριον in the Greek is significant. It is only used twice in the Christian Scriptures. Here in Jude and in 2 Corinthian 5:2:

For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling …

If you read that entire passage in 2 Corinthians, you are going to realize that Paul is talking about the difference between our earthy bodies and our heavenly bodies. We long for these new bodies, but Jude tells us these are the bodies that the angels left behind so that they could pursue their lust. Jesus said that in the resurrection we will be like the angels, and I think it is safe to assume that the bodies we inhabit in the resurrection would be the ones that Paul says we long for.

I don’t even pretend to know how this done. I don’t even think I want to, but I think that when we pull all the threads together we see angels are not confined to their heavenly form. They can assume a form that allows them to interact with our world in very human way. In all of the years I have studied this topic, I have yet to find a single convincing argument drawn from Scripture that would refute the identity of the Sons of God being anything other than angelic. To the contrary, I have come to believe that in denying the plain truth of Genesis 6, we have hindered our understanding of the Bible as a whole. I think that in order to offer up any Biblical objection, we would have to ignore a mountain of textual evidence, and read our own comfortable presuppositions into the words of Jesus, and level of disrespect towards my God makes me squeamish.

To read part 4, click here: Who Were The Nephilim? Part 4 The Jude-Enoch Connection

Readers' Questions: Why Wasn't The Book Of Enoch Included In The Bible?

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Readers’ question: Why wasn’t the Book of Enoch included in the Bible?

I don’t know if you caught it in the sentence above, but several of you have asked me to answer this question. It seems that lately the Book of Enoch, otherwise known as Enoch 1, has been getting a lot of attention. I cannot begin to count the number of YouTube videos and articles that have flooded the internet either praising this book as prophecy or condemning it as blasphemy, and the controversy over it seems to be heating up as experts on all sides are chiming.  And since this is the internet, a lot of non-experts have been happy to join in too!

The question, as most of you presented it to me, is easy to answer. “Why wasn’t the Book of Enoch included in the Bible?”  One of the Jewish tests for canonicity (read that worthy of being included in the Bible) is that a book had to be written to all generations. Now if, we read the first two verses of Enoch, we will find:

The words of the blessing of Enoch according to which he blessed the chosen and the righteous who must be present on the day of distress which is appointed for the removal of all the wicked and impious. And Enoch answered and said, “There was a righteous man whose eyes were opened by the Lord and he saw a holy vision in the heavens which the angels showed me. And I heard everything from them and I understood what I saw, but not for this generation, but for a distant generation which will come.”

So pretty much, the Book of Enoch excludes itself as it was not written for all generation, “but for a distant generation which will come.” But I don’t think that this is really what y’all wanted to know, so I am going to answer the question I think you meant to ask: Should we, as Bible believing Christians, be reading the Book of Enoch?

Hold on to your seats, this is where it starts to get a little more complex.

We know from other writings that the Book of Enoch was a pretty big deal. Ancient writers often referred to it in their work, and when I say ancient writers I am talking about some pretty big names in Church history. Names like: Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement, and Ambrose. However, times were changing, and not unlike today, the main attack centered on the supernatural elements within the Bible. “Why were grown men reciting fairy tales, and believing in ghost stories? Hadn’t they figured out that this was modern age and that we needed to be rational and stop putting credence in such outdated texts?” If any of that sounds familiar, it is because it is the same arguments running around the internet today. It seems that in over 2000 years of existence, the opposition to the Christian faith has yet to come up with any better arguments either, but moving on.

So in an effort to tone down the more fantastical elements of the Bible certain stories were explained away, and the main one is found in Genesis 6.

When man had begun to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men of old, the men of renown.

If you continue reading, you will see that we are looking the events leading up to the flood. When we study this passage in the church, we often skim by it and talk about how evil people were being at this time and that is why God had to flood the earth, or you are told that the “sons of God” were the sons of Seth and the “daughters of men” were the daughters of that wretched murderer Cain.

Well, uh, yeah, about that? That isn’t what the text says.

A rule that every serious student of the Bible should follow is “Scripture interprets Scripture.” This simply means that when a word or phrase is used in one passage and it has an ambiguous meaning, you should look at other passages where the same word or phrase is used to determine what it means. When we encounter the phrase “sons of God” in other parts of the Bible, we find that is always refers to angels. Now, go back and reread that passage, but this time use the word “angel” instead of “sons of God”. See why it is so disturbing? And why some might want to tone it down?

Cut back to Enoch. The book of Enoch contains what is essentially a retelling of the Flood narrative with greater detail, and he doesn’t pull any punches. He plainly states that the “sons of God” were angels. He recounts conversations that he had with both angels who remained in service to God and with the fallen angels. He records the fallen angels’ punishment, and how he relayed messages between them and God. To be honest, it’s some pretty out there stuff that will blow your mind if you believe that the “sons of God” were really the sons of Seth.

Accepting what was then a new view of Scripture, and the flood in particular, people stopped reading the Book of Enoch, reading it was eventually banned by the church, and for awhile, it seemed to have been lost altogether. Enter James Bruce, and explorer in Africa, who made his way into Ethiopia. The history of the Ethiopian church is fascinating, but for now all we need to know is that they developed essentially without any outside influences after the fifth century AD. This meant they didn’t get the memo that they should do away with the Book of Enoch. During his time there, Bruce managed to secure three copies of the Book of Enoch. All of this went down in 1773, but it would take almost fifty years for the first translation to be made.

Since that time there have been many who claim that the Book of Enoch must have been written by Christian due to all the typically Christian references that are in the book. Others claim that it was, in fact, originally a Hebrew text but that Christians had inserted various passages in order to make it appear more Christian and less Jewish. However, some of this controversy is dying down as at least ten fragments from the Book of Enoch were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls verifying those passages as authentic to the original text.

I know, great history lesson, but that still doesn’t answer the question: Should we, as Bible believing Christians, be reading the Book of Enoch?

My answer is yes, but with caution. Here is why.

If you read the book of Jude, that single page book right before you get to Revelation, you will find this:

It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes down with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgement on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds and ungodliness that they have committed, in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

Nowhere else in the Bible to learn that Enoch prophesied. In fact if you read his story in Genesis 5:21-23, you are going to find one of the shortest and most amazing stories recorded of man. He lived, had a son, walked with God, and then “he was not for God took him.” What crazy, but utterly fascinating way to be remembered!

But here in Jude, we do see that he prophesied, and we have reason to believe that his prophesies were credible and respected. If that is not enough for you flip back a few pages 2 Peter 2:4, 5:

For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them down into Tartarus and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until judgement, if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

Nowhere else in the Bible do you find anything close to this, but you do find it in the Book of Enoch. Some scholars believe that these verses are just the tip of the iceberg that proves that the Book of Enoch is a valid record of a supernatural revelation given to Enoch.

But before we jump to that conclusion, let’s consider a few things. Throughout this piece I have used various expressions common to our time and culture. You skimmed right by them because you are familiar with these expression, because they are everywhere, and they did not signify any type of connection to another writing. Why would we suppose that every time an ancient writer used the same words as his contemporaries he was doing more than I? So I think we should use restraint when using similar words to prove a connection between Enoch and the Bible. That being said, neither should we dismiss almost exact quotes of any significant length. It’s called balance, and that is always a good thing.

The second thing we should consider is the fact that the Book of Enoch did not enjoy the same protection that the canonical books of the Bible did. The text may well have been tampered with. For if the original story was an actual account of what Enoch said, then his account is thousands upon thousands of years old, and even our oldest manuscripts do not come close to the time of authorship.

The third thing to consider, if knowing Enoch was necessary for the practices of faith and salvation, it would have been included in the Bible. So in reality, it has little bearing on Christianity today.

So back to the question: Should we, as Bible believing Christians, be reading the Book of Enoch?
Yes, but with caution.

My personal beliefs are that the text we have today is based on an earlier work. I believe that Enoch did prophesy, and I think his words carried weight and authority as attested to by Jude. I believe that by studying this book we learn much about the culture preceding and during the time of Christ’s life. I think it shows how willing the ancient audience was to accept the supernatural and divine intervention in this life, and I think we can learn from that. After all, our God is supernatural, our salvation is supernatural, and our entry into his eternal presence will be amazingly supernatural, why would we deny that it can be seen in this world?

I urge caution because, honestly, I haven’t taken the time to pick the book apart or to thoroughly examine it for ideas or beliefs counter to the teachings within the Bible – the book that we have been commanded to honor and obey as God’s holy word. I urge caution because we should never put an extra-biblical text above the Bible. I also urge caution because most of you need to dive deeper into the Book you can trust before you start tampering with something that may not be fully trustworthy – for how will you know a lie if you don’t first know the truth?