Proof positive of an ancient breed of giants in mankind's past, exactly as mentioned in Genesis 6!OK, so this is an obvious fake photo, but it got your attention I assume.
We pick up with this part of our series on the Book of Enoch right where we left off in part four. In the previous part, we saw the behind the scenes history of what was said happened between the angels of God and the daughters of men, stopping right as the cries of men went up to heaven.
This is where additional "behind-the-scenes" information that fills in some gaps with how Genesis 6 jumps so quickly into God's plan to destroy mankind, taken from chapters 9-10 of The Book of Enoch
And then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from heaven and saw much blood being shed upon the earth, and all lawlessness being wrought upon the earth. And they said one to another: 'The earth made without inhabitant cries the voice of their cryings up to the gates of heaven. And now to you, the holy ones of heaven, the souls of men make their suit, saying, "Bring our cause before the Most High."' And they said to the Lord of the ages: 'Lord of lords, God of gods, King of kings, and God of the ages, the throne of Thy glory standeth unto all the generations of the ages, and Thy name holy and glorious and blessed unto all the ages! Thou hast made all things, and power over all things hast Thou: and all things are naked and open in Thy sight, and Thou seest all things, and nothing can hide itself from Thee.The one thing that stood out to me in many of these type sections, is how the chain of command of things tends to go. Not just in the Book of Enoch but in other Jewish writings like it, we find how the Lord God has created and assigned angels to each task of universe management (sometimes it becomes so detailed as to sound pretty silly...but who knows). Here we find the cries of mankind being first brought to the attention of some of the key angels in God's command. Even the very angels who are said to have sinned with the women, as called the Watchers, because their job was to be mainly responsible for watching and protecting mankind on earth. now, the cries of mankind reach out to those above, and those named angels take the issue to the very throne of God.
The way they address the Lord is so amazing, and sends shivers down my spine to think of the reverance even they have when going into the presence of the Lord's throne. It doesn't say much for the way people today jump into the presence of the Lord in a haphazardly manner, as if he is just a good friend. Where is our reverence and awe in the Lord's presence? Well, not to digress down that avenue, let's continue
Thou seest what Azazel hath done, who hath taught all unrighteousness on earth and revealed the eternal secrets which were preserved in heaven, which men were striving to learn: And Semjaza, to whom Thou hast given authority to bear rule over his associates. And they have gone to the daughters of men upon the earth, and have slept with the women, and have defiled themselves, and revealed to them all kinds of sins. And the women have borne giants, and the whole earth has thereby been filled with blood and unrighteousness. And now, behold, the souls of those who have died are crying and making their suit to the gates of heaven, and their lamentations have ascended: and cannot cease because of the lawless deeds which are wrought on the earth. And Thou knowest all things before they come to pass, and Thou seest these things and Thou dost suffer them, and Thou dost not say to us what we are to do to them in regard to these.'Here we find a basic overview of the events being stated before the Lord God (as if he didn't already know what happened...which they point out to him themselves).
There is always one question I think of whenever I read when people seek to explain away the idea of Genesis 6 teaching a joining of women with angels. The most common belief is that the "sons of God" in Genesis is just the godly line of Seth, and their intermarriage with the line of Cain. Sounds like a plausible explanation, but how would such a union bring forth giants? If both groups who were joined were human, why would giants come forth from it? Just a thought I always had.
Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spake, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, and said to him: Go to Noah and tell him in my name "Hide thyself!" and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come upon the whole earth, and will destroy all that is on it. And now instruct him that he may escape and his seed may be preserved for all the generations of the world.So, this would explain why we go from Genesis 6 saying their was this union of sons of God and daughters of men, to all of a sudden God declaring the need for a flood to destroy mankind in such a quick span of a few verses. Seems kind of drastic to say Seth's kids intermarried with Cain's kids, and therefore the whole earth needed destroyed because of it. However, if this alternate history is true, then obviously a union of men and angels, and the revealing of secrets and sins beforehand unknown to men, would provide more than ample need for wiping out all of those effected by these teachings.
Now, we find descriptions of the judgment to befall these wicked angels, and we find language pretty much identical to that spoken of in the Greek Scriptures (as mentioned in previous parts of this series).
And again the Lord said to Raphael: Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light. And on the day of the great judgment he shall be cast into the fire. And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons. And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin.There is so much eschatological applications in this section, but I will refrain from going there ;-)
And to Gabriel said the Lord: Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against the children of fornication: and destroy the children of fornication and the children of the Watchers from amongst men and cause them to go forth: send them one against the other that they may destroy each other in battle: for length of days shall they not have. And no request that they (i.e. their fathers) make of thee shall be granted unto their fathers on their behalf; for they hope to live an eternal life, and that each one of them will live five hundred years.
And the Lord said unto Michael: Go, bind Semjaza and his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness. And when their sons have slain one another, and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgment and of their consummation, till the judgment that is for ever and ever is consummated. In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire: and to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined for ever. And whosoever shall be condemned and destroyed will from thenceforth be bound together with them to the end of all generations. And destroy all the spirits of the reprobate and the children of the Watchers, because they have wronged mankind. Destroy all wrong from the face of the earth and let every evil work come to an end: and let the plant of righteousness and truth appear: and it shall prove a blessing; the works of righteousness and truth shall be planted in truth and joy for evermore.
Hopefully, you can see that this alternate history not only fills gaps in the Genesis account, but makes better sense of many things in Genesis 6 and elsewhere. Again, I hope to uncover and discuss some of the objections to this view, but at this time do not have many in my own collection to choose from, so will eventually research and dig for more.
View the other parts of the topic
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8
I stumbled upon your blog via the Appologia Book Shoppe website. My name is John Calvin Martinez, and I am a member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States (RPCUS). I have heard the view put forward that Genisis 6: is describing angels coming down to earth and taking wives from among the daughters of men. I also recently heard a talk on why that could not be the case. Here are some of the reasons that were given in contradiction to the view that angels actually married the daughters of men. The text in Genisis 6:4 says "The Nepilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown."
ReplyDeleteNow it says the Nephilim were on the earth in those day, but also afterwards, hence there presence on earth did not end with the flood. Also, the giants who inhabited the promised land before God delivered it to Israel were said to be the descendants of the Nephilim. (Numbers 13:30-33) 2Samuel 2:15-22 recounts the death of four giants, and though the term Nephilim is not used, the word giant is associated with them.
My point is all these giants lived after the flood, Gen 6:4 "The Nepilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward..."
These Nephilim after the flood, like all other men on the face of the earth have to be descended from one of the sons of Noah, as all other flesh was destroyed, save that which was with Noah on the ark. Now if there could be giants after the flood without the intervention of depraved angels, then why is it necessary that depraved angels be the cause of the first Giants?
Another objection that was raised, was how could a spiritual being, an angel, impregnate a woman. Angels do not have physical bodies, and they do not have the creative power of God to beget life on their own. In the case of mortals, God has determined how mankind shall reproduce, and it is He who gives life. In the case of these depraved angels, it would seem impossible for them beget children through women, or any other creature.
The strongest objection that was raised,in short, was that to say that these angles took on physical form in order to marry the daughters of men flies in the face of the incarnation. Angels cannot take on physical bodies at will, only God can take to himself a real body, which he did in the person of Jesus Christ.
As to the Book of Enoch, though perhaps an interesting book, that would appear to fill in the details of the historical record in Genisis, we must trust that God in his sovereignty has not allowed any part of his word to be lost to his people save that which he deemed unnecessary to the full equipping of the church to carry out the Great Commission, and hence, we must sources outside the Bible as being false imitations of God's word inspired by Satan for the deceiving of mankind.
A Brother in Christ,
John Calvin Martinez
Yes, these are some of the typical objections I have heard, and I do thank you for posting them, it makes for a good place to start discussing them in future posts.
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteI agree that God has preserved His Word and in it all we need to be able to accomplish His will for us and all of mankind. Now while I don't hold the position that Enoch, or any other book not found in the canon of Scripture, should be counted as Scripture per say, I wouldn't be so hasty as to label any and every source outside of our Bible as imitations inspired by Satan. That’s not to say that there aren't books that people have tried to pass off as being Scripture that are definitely not of God. However, I do feel that some of these books, at least the ones alluded to in our Bibles, can be helpful in giving us some further insight to how the Jews understood what Jesus was saying to them. Also let us not forget that references to Enoch can be found in 1 Peter 3:19-20, 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6, in Jesus' parable of Lazarus and the rich man and Jude 1:14-15 which is quoted, almost verbatim, from Enoch 1:9. So again while I agree with you that God has preserved for us all we need to be able to fulfill His will for us and all of mankind in our Bibles, I would not insist that all “sources outside the Bible as being false imitations of God's word inspired by Satan for the deceiving of mankind.”
John,
ReplyDeleteAs a brief follow up to your comment, "As to the Book of Enoch, though perhaps an interesting book, that would appear to fill in the details of the historical record in Genesis, we must trust that God in his sovereignty has not allowed any part of his word to be lost to his people..."
I totally agree...which is why I believe Enoch is worth reading. God has, in his sovereignty, preserved it, even when men attempted to get rid of it. What you are trying to state, is that we have to trust that God sovereignly guided each and every step of the way in how the early church made decisions on what was and what was not canon. I believe church history is full of evidence that God does not work in such ways, and that man has made many such errors through history (not necessarily saying that excluding Enoch was a mistake, just making the point).
If we are to say that God has sovereignly held man's hand al along the way when such decisions were made, then we need to go back and accept every doctrine and teaching of the early church, and today's church has often shown them to be in error...like in this very topic of accepting these teachings.