SIGN #7: The appearance upon earth of beings from the Principality of the Air, and their unlawful intercourse with the human race.
The Bible has much in it that our educated culture finds difficult to accept. Skeptics abound. Old Testament stories of Jonah and the big fish, Noah and the ark, Sodom and Gomorrah’s supernatural destruction, Joshua and the wall of Jericho, Moses and the Red Sea, and many others are seen as fables. The story of Easter which most of the western world celebrates is seen within Christendom as the story of Jesus of Nazareth’s death on a cross and subsequent resurrection. Skeptics view this as a fairy tale. In today’s world, it is even questioned by many who claim to be Christ-followers. Much in the Bible is seen as a collection of unrealistic myths.
The story of Noah and the great flood found in Genesis chapters 6-8 have always been a favorite target, but more and more scientific evidence is being found that this event really did happen. Archaeologists have found sediment evidence of this event on every continent, and so it has become increasingly difficult to deny the event having happened. Nearly every culture on earth also has a version of the story of the great deluge that has either been written or passed on orally. Most Christian people however do not have as much difficulty believing the literal story of the flood as they do believing what is said in Genesis 6: 1-4, where we find the words:
“When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the LORD said: ‘My spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal, his days will be a hundred and twenty years.’ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”
Most people today will read a passage like this without stopping long enough to see what is really being said. There are literal events described that turn the theology of most modern Bible expositors on its head. This is because in our sophisticated age, we have a difficult time accepting the word-for-word truth of much recorded in the pages of the Bible. It is much easier to write the uncomfortable statements off as symbolic rather than consider, much less accept them as literal.
In researching early church history, the early church had no difficulty with what this Scripture says and accepted it as it is written. It wasn’t until about the fourth century that theology began to take a major wrong turn. The Scriptures had always been accepted to be very literal. The miraculous or unusual was accepted just for what it was. Man, in the grand scheme of things, is pretty small and is certainly not in a position of command over anything beyond our terrestrial abode when it comes to the universe our earth is a part of. There are supernatural beings that interact with the earth which are not under our control, neither do we really even understand them. Angels, for instance, are created beings which will never die; they have knowledge which is light years beyond our own, and their powers are beyond our comprehension. The literalness of the fallen Lucifer was an “absolute” which was not questioned by the Jews, nor was it questioned by the early church. The existence of God and the fact that He is all powerful, all knowing, and present everywhere was also a pillar in the Judeo-Christian belief system. This was understood and not even questioned.
Several things came about that changed how the Bible was understood. Near the beginning of the fourth century theologians began interpreting more and more of the Scriptures figuratively. It was in the eighth century when Charlemagne the Great opened the door for Christianity to be accepted. This was of course readily accepted by the Church because it had gone through unspeakable persecution and atrocities since the time of Jesus. An edict was made condemning anyone abusing Christians, the Christian Bible, or maligning God Himself. The Church not only became accepted but influential in the government. What came out of this great relief was not good however as it turned into an illegitimate marriage between Church and State. Charlemagne was divided in his own beliefs, not only accepting Christianity, but also ancient pagan beliefs. As a result he became more dangerous to the church than what the Church had already gone through. Much paganism slipped into every day Christian living, and doctrines began to be corrupted as well.
One of the most predominate religious leaders advocating figurative or “allegorical” interpretation of Scriptures came onto the world scene, also at about that time. This was of course none other than St. Augustine. He was well known for his allegorical view of many portions of Scripture. Obviously there are many symbolic passages in the Bible but it is always a rule of thumb to take as much of the Bible literally for what it says as possible. God always means what He says—even if it happens to make us uncomfortable. When Scripture is meant to be understood in a figurative way, the context itself makes it clear. If Bible passages are arbitrarily said to be figurative when they are meant to be literal, invariably much of its true meaning is lost. Many wrong doctrines; in fact “doctrines of devils” as described by the Apostle Paul to Timothy, have come from doing this very thing.
The reason I am bringing all this up is because of the seventh point made in this article. If the Scriptures say that the “Sons of God” saw the daughters of men and how beautiful they were, taking any of them they chose, and then had children by them, that is exactly what is meant. In fact, it goes further and says that the offspring of this illegal union were the “Nephilim”, or giants; the mighty men of old. This was the case in Noah’s generation and this passage in Genesis 6 makes it clear that it happened again later.
One argument given against accepting the storyline as it appears in this Genesis 6 passage is this. How can angels, which are spirit beings, have sexual relations with human women and produce children?” Once again we see a reason why it is important to accept the Word of God for what it says. It really doesn’t matter whether we understand it or not, whether we like it or not, or are comfortable with it. As said above, the early church had no difficulty with what was being said in this passage. Flavius Josephus, the noted Jewish historian listed what happened in Genesis 6 as well, specifically mentioning the illegal union between the fallen angels and human women, as well as the offspring, and Josephus was not alone. Other historical documents speak of this as well. Recorded history also shows that every culture on earth has a version of this illegitimate union, and the results thereof.
Schools have included Greek and Roman mythology in their reading materials for a very long time. Along with the Greeks and Romans are the Assyrian, Egyptian, and of course the earliest of them all, the ancient Sumerians. Not long ago I listened to a speaker named Rob Skiba. He is a professional movie producer but also does research work as a hobby, and has for many years. His lecture had to do with ancient history and in particular the time during the life of Noah. He made a statement that would likely get a mixed reaction in a crowd by saying that there may be an advantage to seeing the Biblical account through the eyes of a mythological world view. I am certainly not advocating the study of pagan religions or anything of the sort. Yet, all of the above cultures as well as many more had a great deal of mythological substance ingrained in their lifestyle, belief system, and their religious expression. The events recorded in the Bible did happen accurately as it has been preserved by God Himself. Every individual culture recorded it in one way or another. The legends handed down by the Sumerians were passed on, with each new culture embellishing these legends and passing them on.
When we hear of the Titans, the Olympians, or the Ananaki; these are all names for the same entities, the “Nephilim” of Genesis 6. The Nephilim were hybrids born as a result of the union of the “Sons of God”, or “Watchers” as they are often called.
The question that needs answering is: Who are these “sons of God”? As said above, there was never a question that these “sons of God” were angelic beings in early times. When this began to be explained away, one explanation given by theologians was that this was referring to the sons of Seth, Adam’s third son, certainly not angels. The argument however does not hold up because there is a specific Hebrew word used for these particular “Sons of God”. The word is only used five times in the Old Testament. It is the same word used to describe the scene in the book of Job where the “sons of God” presented themselves before the LORD in Job 1:6. There is no question that these beings in Job were angels; in fact Satan himself was there. Not only is the Hebrew proof of who these beings were, but the argument for the “sons of God” being sons of Seth is badly flawed. The sons of Seth were supposedly a righteous line of humans as opposed to Cain’s line, which were ungodly. Seth’s line however proved to be just as corrupt as Cain’s line; some of them worse. Actually, all of them perished in the flood with the exception of Noah, his wife, Noah’s three sons and their wives. Only eight souls were left alive after the flood destroyed all of humanity; population at the time of the flood being estimated by some as about the same as it is today.
I briefly want to mention the prophet Enoch. Enoch was the seventh from Adam and had a relatively short stay on earth, by the standards of the pre-flood world. He was on the earth for only 365 years and then God transported him into His presence without Enoch having died. At that time, people were living 900 years plus. Noah lived to be 950 and Methuselah, Noah’s grandfather lived to be 969, dying the very year of the flood.
Enoch preached to the world of his time and warned them of the flood long before Noah was approached by God to build the ark. There are books of Enoch, most of which I have read. More than one translation has been done and so they vary a bit, and some Gnostics added some that did not come from Enoch. Because of this, many people won’t touch it with a 40’ pole. Today it is also not included in the 66 book canon that comprises our modern Bible.
It is interesting to note however that historically, much of the early church considered the books of Enoch inspired. In this article, I have no intention in trying to prove that it is inspired or not inspired. I have a couple versions of it mainly as reference material. Biblically, Jude referred directly to Enoch and his writings as well as Jesus Himself. Hebrews 11 lists Enoch along with the heroes of the faith, and the apostle Paul leaned heavily on some of Enoch’s writings for his doctrinal works in the New Testament. There are parts of the Old Testament that draw heavily from Enoch’s records as well. Some of the mysteries of the Old Testament are made clear when reading Enoch’s writings. I have also found it quite interesting that this prophet so early in the history of mankind wrote about the Redeemer that would be coming, not once, but twice. He referred as well to one of the most controversial subjects amongst people who study the subject of “end times”, and that is the “Rapture” of the church.
As important as Enoch and his writings appear to be, I have no problem in at least considering some of the things he recorded. To think that Enoch’s writings should have been included in the Bible we have today is not necessary to glean information from his records. I have also read extensively from The book of Jubilees and the book of Jasher. There is detailed history included that was not included in our Bible of today, but not necessarily because it does not have any accuracy within its pages. There is considerable historical value to each of them.
One of the subjects in Enoch’s writings is the detailed record of the travesty committed by a specific group of the fallen angels. Enoch’s father was Jared, and it was in Jared’s day that no less than 200 of the fallen angels landed on Mount Herman in Israel and made a pact to take of the beautiful daughters of men and have children by them. As Scripture makes quite clear, these “children” became the giants of old. The original Hebrew is translated “earth-born”, but then adds that they were the mighty men of old.
Archaeologists have found evidence of the Nephilim all around the globe. The majority of them have been destroyed by governments for years because these bones would challenge the theory of evolution; in fact these bones would serve to add another major proof that the Bible really is true. There are now few places on earth where one can actually see some of these bones, and artifacts that only a creature of enormous size could handle. One of my favorite speakers is a man named L.A. Marzulli. He is a researcher and has written quite a number of books, including “The Cosmic Chess Match.” Marzulli just returned from a trip to Peru, which is one of the last places on earth where some of these bones and artifacts could be seen in person.
L.A. Marzulli took a crew with him and along with a guide and went deep into the Amazon jungle and into some caves where they were able to handle these bones, including some of the malformed elongated skulls of these creatures. L.A. has researched these beings for many years and now that he has had the opportunity to view some of them in person, he has just finished making available an oversized book called, “On The Trail Of The NEPHILIM”, including over 120 color photos.
I understand the difficulty in believing anything of this sort could happen and yet, here they are. If we cannot accept the Biblical statement that the Nephilim were brought about by this illegal union between fallen angels and human women, where did these creatures, that roamed the entire globe in earth’s ancient history, come from? We are left with the unacceptable explanation given by many scientists. A term which we are going to hear more and more is “Panspermia”. This theory says that the “Star people” came to earth millions of years ago and bred with Neanderthal’s in order to start a new race that they could use as a worker class. According to ancient writings as well as cave drawings, etc, these star people claim that they will return at a time of crisis that the earth is going to face in its future. Interesting…
Continued in Part 3C
KEEP LOOKING UP,
Jake