Tag: Nephilim

Cherubs and Old Gods

On By TimIn Angels, Ezekiel 01, Spiritual WarfareLeave a comment

As I looked, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually, and a brightness was all around it, and in its midst something as glowing metal in the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: They had the likeness of a man. Every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. Their legs were straight and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s hoof. And they gleamed like the color of burnished bronze. They had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, their wings were joined to one another. Their faces did not turn when they went. Each went straight forward.
As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man, and all four had the face of a lion on the right side, and the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle. Thus were their faces. And their wings were stretched upward. Two wings of every one were joined to one another, and two covered their bodies.

Ezekiel 1:4–11

The most fascinating thing about the Bible are the things that are hidden in plain sight. Consider the above passage, as Ezekiel is given a vision of God’s throne. There’s much to be discovered here, but the important thing will be to compare the passage above to this:

As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing the whirling wheels. Each one had four faces. The first face was the face of a cherub, the second face was the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.

Ezekiel 10:13–14

Now… The descriptions of the creatures seem almost the same, and some might just read past both and not think to compare. There is one significant difference, that may just be a coincidence, right?

Do oxen and cherubs have similar looks?

I’m certain most think of cherubs as like little babies dressed in diapers much like depictions of Cupid. Maybe Ezekiel was confused by what he saw. I don’t think so. Here’s why.

Reading a bit further in Ezekiel, we see this lament against the King of Tyre.

Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, Thus says the Lord God:
You had the seal of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden,
the garden of God;

Ezekiel 28:11–13a

Wait. What?

When was the King of Tyre in the Garden of God?

What we have encountered is a literary device where a character serves as a substitute for another. In this case, the passage is not about the King of Tyre, but someone like him who was in the garden of Eden.

The King of Tyre was not a good guy… Neither is that one denizen in the garden of God.

Most of us probably think we can readily identify this seedy character. Ezekiel did not. That discussion would be fun to have, but the important part is how this character is identified. That is, as in a class of being.

You were in Eden,
the garden of God;
every precious stone was your covering:
the sardius, topaz, and the diamond,
the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper,
the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold.
The workmanship of your settings and sockets was in you;
on the day that you were created, they were prepared.
You were the anointed cherub that covers,
and I set you there;
you were upon the holy mountain of God;
you walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

Ezekiel 28:13–14

You were the anointed cherub. What do you think cherubs look like?

I think Ezekiel knew and encoded it in his writings. Again, Ezekiel did not identify the character in the garden of God. What we do know is that more than one of these angelic beings rebelled against God. In fact, one-third of their number will be part of the sedition against God.

The ox is bovine in nature. The ox was domesticated. But like all domesticated cattle they have a common ancestor that roamed much of Eurasia. It is called the aurochs. These creatures have been hunted to extinction in the 17th century. The aurochs were menacing and stood darn close to six feet high at the shoulders. This was a powerful animal.

With that background, add in that oxen can also be identified as having horns. Oxen were known to gore people, we get this from the remedies given in the Torah, like in Exodus 21:28-29. Horns are not necessarily indicators of a male bull.

Now, considering the ancient near east, there is much evidence of bovine worship. Greek mythology describes the founding of Europe. Zeus came in the form of an aurochs bull, he then seduces and kidnaps the beautiful princess Europa. Cows are still considered sacred in India.

All of these ancient mythologies overlap and are a unique thing to study in themselves. Frankly, I didn’t pay attention to the mythologies taught in high school, though I wish I did now. But the polemics in the Bible exposes the real identities of these entities. I am of the opinion that bull worship is almost as old as humanity itself. It is still prevalent today, if one knows how to discern it.

This bull worship certainly tripped up Israel from the earliest days.

He received them from their hand, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

Exodus 32:4

It is a recurring theme.

At that point, the king got some advice and made two golden calves and said to the people, “It is too difficult for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” He set one in Bethel, and he put the other in Dan. This was a sin, for the people went to worship before the one, even all the way in Dan.  

1 Kings 12:28–30

The gods of Canaan became a real trap for Israel just as God had warned in Exodus. It was probably less than a month after hearing the warning that Israel would ensnare themselves. Those made gods of Israel tend to be representative by oxen. The idea goes much deeper.

The ox or bull is associated with the chief god of the Canaanites. To the Canaanites, he is Hadad, also know as Baal. The Babylonians called him Marduk. He is Zeus, or Jupiter in the Roman pantheon. He was the son of Kronos, Saturn in the Roman Pantheon. Kronos was the former king of the universe and king of Titans. He is the old god overruled by his son.

I hope you see how the mythology echoes what happened in the garden of God. In the realm of the fallen, the God you and I know as Jehovah is the old God, the bad guy.

But the fallen stories also name their version of the creator-god Bull El. He was their creator deity. He is known as the father of the gods, think Titans. The word titan comes from the name of an Amorite tribe called the Tidanu. Tidanu comes from the Akkadian word ditânu which means bison or bull.

It gets far worse. This Kronos, he consumed his children for fear they would usurp him. Kinda sounds like the argument many give as a reason why abortions should be available freely. Nevertheless, as their story goes… It’s a twisted version of the rebellion.

Kronos, Saturn, El has a sinister association with the Israelis. They would embrace him with the name Moloch. He was the god to whom Israelis sacrificed their children in frying pans.

It is not too difficult to understand how the Israelis were hornswoggled. The name El is used for this Canaanite deity and the Bible uses it for the Most High God. I think of it as the English word God, which when capitalized means the Most High and when not means lesser persons. El is also shorthand for Elohim, which can use the same rules.

What does all this mean?

Personally, I think there is a cherub that looks similar to oxen which is actively stealing worship from Jehovah God. It is by confusion, or perhaps a better word, delusion.

Bull imagery is not the exclusive expression of this god. The hexagon and the six-pointed star also serve as imagery of this god. Yeah, those are some old-timey conspiracy theories, right?

But hey, seriously… Red Bull gives you wings.

The Truth About Idols

On By TimIn 1 Timothy 03, Spiritual WarfareLeave a comment

Without question, great is the mystery of godliness:
God was revealed in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit,
seen by angels,
preached to the Gentiles,
believed on in the world,
taken up into glory.

1 Timothy 3:16

Paul’s charge to his son in the faith Timothy is to reassure him that he knew how to conduct himself in the house of God. Amidst the instructions for overseers in the local church is this sentence which most think was a hymn or creed of those early Christians. It speaks of the mystery that we now know.

God is revealed in the flesh. The speaks of the incarnation of Jesus. Not that God changed places, but that He is revealed in flesh. This speaks to the Son’s existence before His virgin birth. As Paul wrote in Philippians 2, He being in the form of God. He is the brightness of His glory and the express image of God (Hebrews 1:3.) The Son is Spirit being revealed in the flesh. Jesus taught us that God is Spirit (John 4:24.)

That’s part of the mystery. It continues. Jesus was not justified in the flesh, but justified in the Spirit. That is attested to in His resurrection. When He came back from the dead in a new body, it proved there was no other entity that could lay hold on Him.

He is preached to the Gentiles, basically the truth is being spread to all nations. He is believed on in the world. Many people are saved because He is preached. We know He is taken up into glory. He sits at the right hand of the Father, as God.

Seen by Angels

It is this idea that Jesus was seen by angels, that draws me in. Jesus being seen by the angels means they could identify Him as God readily. But does it entail that He is known by them before being manifest in the flesh?

There seems to be testimony to that fact. It occurs in one of the earliest accounts of Jesus’ ministry in Israel.

Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great crowd followed Him from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem, and Idumea, and from beyond the Jordan. And those from Tyre and Sidon, a great crowd, when they heard what great things He did, came to Him. He told the disciples to have a small boat ready for Him because of the crowd, lest they should crush Him. For He had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed on Him to touch Him. When unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him, crying out, “You are the Son of God.” But He sternly ordered them not to make Him known.

Mark 3:7–12

If we take Mark’s Gospel chronologically here, this incident occurred before Jesus selected any of His inner-circle of twelve disciples.

What is clear is that the people around Jesus are the time did not really know they were in the presence of God. Let alone that He is made flesh. Yet those unclean spirits know and testify to the fact right. They could apprehend the spiritual reality readily. But a question comes to mind. Where did they come from?

So many details are not included. I think it safe to assume that Jesus was casting unclean spirits out of people. Those spirits identified Him immediately. And He commanded them to not reveal Who He is. Did the crowd present hear and what did they understand?

I don’t know. I know there were spiritual beings present by witness of the text. Are there any indications that some of those were angels?

The text lends itself to that idea. The Bible reveals that there are two kinds of unclean spirits, fallen angels and demons. Demons are the disembodied spirits from the progeny of some fallen angels, the Nephilim.

The Disembodied Spirits Called Demons

When men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair and took as wives any they chose.

Genesis 6:1–2

Way back toward the beginning of it all, Moses reveals that angels took wives. The language used is not pleasant, and it isn’t without controversy. The term Sons of God is used sparingly in the Tanakh. As it is used in other places, it always means angels. That is direct creations of God and this by that same title given to Adam in Luke 3:38. (There are other resources that delve into this concept, the tag cloud can help in that pursuit.)

The progeny of the fallen angels and their taken human women were called Nephilim. They were the mighty men of old.

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

Genesis 6:4

It is my opinion that the corrupted human bloodlines from these strange flesh unions were the vast majority of people that died in the flood. That idea comes from the Septuagint translation where it says that Noah was perfect in his generations. The Greek word translated is where the English word generations comes. It reveals a relationship to Noah’s genetics.

In fact, the entire incident of the ark hints that there were corrupted genetics in the human and animal kinds. God chose all the occupants of the ark. If Noah was perfect in his generations, it follows that the animals selected were perfect in theirs.

Now, it becomes a bit clearer that there are many unclean spirits, and kinds such as fallen angel and the disembodied spirits of angel/human hybrids known as demons. It follows that the unclean spirits (both angelic and demon) would see God as He is and readily identify Him in the flesh.

Before the Time

There is another encounter Jesus had with unclean spirits that is important to understand. It reveals yet another concept.

When He came to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two men possessed with demons, coming out of the tombs, extremely fierce, so that no one might pass by that way. Suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

Matthew 8:28–29

These unclean spirits are specifically identified as demons. They identify Jesus’ divinity readily. Yet it is those two questions. Apparently they knew of certain timings. And they knew of torment, and their consignment to it. One might ask, is there punishment spoken of in the Bible?

It takes a bit of sleuthing to get it out of the Tanakh. So the first stop is the last book of the Torah, Deuteronomy. This particular Chester is full of details on the spiritual reality of Things.

They made Him jealous with strange gods;
with abominations they provoked Him to anger.
They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
to gods whom they knew not,
to new gods that recently came along,
whom your fathers did not fear.

Deuteronomy 32:16–17

Israel went to worship stage gods. These were actually demons. The Hebrew word is shedim, it appears only twice in the Bible.

The Israelis sacrificed to the demons. The text says these were new gods that recently came along. It seems to indicate that these came after creation. This is especially clear as it follows Genesis 6 above.

It bears mentioning that the mythological Golden Age hearkens back to the time when gods lived with humans. This would be before the flood. There is a stark difference between the mythological understanding and what God thinks of the days of Noah. There is a contemporary popular mantra announcing a new Golden Age. The Bible does tell us that the end days will be like the days of Noah. The gods will once again live with men.

There is a definitive judgment coming. And this is what the demons were alluding to about Jesus coming to them before the time. Jeremiah prophesied the demise of those gods.

Thus you shall say to them: The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.

Jeremiah 10:11

Remember, in the encounter above that those demons also alluded to torment. That is a reference to eternal fire. Jesus told us the how and what for in that.

“Then He will say to those at the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.

Matthew 25:41

Eternal fire is made for the devil and his angels. By the testimony of the demons in the vicinity of the Gerasenes, they knew of their fate in torment. It follows that eternal fire is for the devil, fallen angels, and demons.

To come full circle, we are still before the time. The time comes in the judgment of the great day. The one reserved for all of the enemies of God, the Great White Throne of Revelation 20.

Idol Talk

This may shock the sensibilities of some. The idols of the Old Testament are real beings. They are not simple creations of carved wood and hammered metals. They are not figments of active imagination. They were and are real entities that take worship to themselves. They have a clear destination.

The loftiness of man shall be humbled,
and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low;
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day;
the idols He shall utterly abolish.

Isaiah 2:17–18

I know that many think idols are the creation of vivid imaginations. They are not. This truth gets further confused because of the allegorization of the idea of an idol. One that reinforces the notion that they are figments of the imagination which take us away from God.

I think that this allegorization has led to many folks putting their guard down. In other words, the west has been trained not to see these things. That makes it harder to understand the stark reality of the enemies against us as a race.

For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6:12

The truths revealed in the Bible don’t always lend themselves to a personal application. Sometimes, that might obscure the reality. It then seems a bit silly to say that something like football or food becomes an idol for people. It may seem to lend itself that way, but the idols of the Old Testament are clearly real entities. Ones who do not want humans to flourish.

Changing Allegiance

The purpose for this lengthy article is to expose the reality. The hope is for the body of Christ to shake off the silly thinking that idols are imaginary things that keep us from God. The truth is these are real entities who have real power, that is if one extends it to them. When Jesus went to the cross, He removed the bondage. People can be free of these besetting and disabling influences in Jesus’ name.

In the Tanakh, there is no sinners’ prayer. Though the invitation is there as a call to change one’s mind… To repent. The reality is that to leave idols is to change allegiance. To come to God is to change allegiance.

Which leads to an important biblical principle. One that many do not quite grasp. The spirit world tends toward the legalistic. They cannot go where they do not have rights. From the beginning, this principle is laid out. Adam yielded rights to the dominion he was given by God.

This point is personally extended and explained in the New Testament. One yields their members, thus giving rights and permissions to the unclean spirits. Jesus spoke of this in John 8. Paul shows all exactly what it is.

Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but yield yourselves to God, as those who are alive from the dead, and your bodies to God as instruments of righteousness.

Romans 6:13

God does not work in anyone until one lets Him do it. Ephesians 1:13 clearly demonstrates this principle. It is a truth that clobbers some fatalistic lies taught by some circles of Christianity. The Bible is clear, one serves who one yields to serve. That is why the Bible uses the term servants and slaves, as these have masters.

I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for just as you have yielded your members as slaves to impurity and iniquity leading to more iniquity, even so now yield your members as slaves to righteousness unto holiness. For when you were the slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness. What fruit did you have then from the things of which you are now ashamed? The result of those things is death. But now, having been freed from sin and having become slaves of God, you have fruit unto holiness, and the end is eternal life.

Romans 6:19–22

The problem is that all have sinned. Universally, it is before anyone can know the requirements of the moral law. When that’s explained, the reality is all have missed the mark of perfection necessitated.

The ugly underbelly of that is a person who sins yields themselves to a master. Sin brings more sin, which brings death. Death brings judgment.

Jesus frees all from having to be bound to sin. When anyone repents and believes, God deposits His Spirit in that person freeing them from condemnation. The Spirit becomes a permanent presence and mark in them forever.

Indwelling Unclean Spirits

Another interweaving theme in the Bible suggests that the enemy counterfeits the things of God. It follows that those unclean spirits could also enter a person. There are many such cases detailed in the Scriptures. Consider what Jesus says about that from a different perspective.

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through dry places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with itself seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it be also with this evil generation.”

Matthew 12:43–45

Even though the principle Jesus is teaching is not necessarily about demon possession. He is using that truth to explain the activities of those who questioned and mocked His divine authority. It is a stern warning against the real dangers of stubborn disbelief. The important consideration being taught is that rejecting Jesus lends one to be more open and vulnerable to the principalities and powers of the air.

Think back to Jesus’ ministry, and the early days of the apostles. Possession of a person by indwelling unclean spirits was real. Jesus, the apostles, and even some others did cast demons out of folks. But did that problem just go away?

From present reality, no. It certainly seems foreign to many in western Christianized nations. It is as if the enemy has subtly hidden himself and his tactics. The activity of unclean spirits recessed in a way to not really be detectable. In modern times, demon possession is really just fodder for ghost stories and scary movies.

It did not just disappear. I see the evidence more frequently than I want to encounter it. And I’ve had personal encounters. I think there is a marked increase as the time quickly approaches. It is a last hurrah.

There are some immediately discernible behavioral indicators of influence and even possession by unclean spirits. These behavioral indicators have increased exponentially in contemporary populations because of the late hour. So… How does this happen?

It certainly does not without a person presenting themselves for the very purpose. Sometimes those rights and permissions are coerced by trauma, whether the trauma is purposed for that or not. Sometimes they are granted when one willfully ingests hallucinogenics into their body. It doesn’t matter if using those substances is legal or not. Others present themselves purposefully, knowing exactly what it is they are doing.

The language I use is indeed nuanced for various reasons. Mainly, I am not yet led to write in further detail on the subject. The point is that there are real unclean spirits and they attempt to influence the world in the same ways they did at the time of Jesus.

Humans are in a real spiritual war!

The Turning Point

There’s a reason why much of this has slipped under the proverbial radar. It is to avoid detection. But why?

Well, that leads to one of my favorite things about what Jesus did at the cross.

He blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us and contrary to us, and He took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed authorities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them by the cross.

Colossians 2:14–15

It was the law that empowered sin because it exposed sin in everyone. At the cross, Jesus took the handwriting, really He took the certificate of indebtedness to sin and destroyed it. In effect, freeing the entire race of humanity from the bondage of sin. The enemies had to go underground. In light of the truth that nobody is bound to yield themselves to their influences.

It is the other part that is more important. He disarmed the authorities and powers. These unclean spirits really have no power, other than what anyone may be extended to them. Because Jesus removed the indebtedness, they have only whatever is willfully volunteered. The truth is that anything given can also be revoked by will. It is done in the name of Jesus Christ. It is by Him that folks are set free.

Concluding Thoughts

This is not meant to elicit fear. On the contrary, because Jesus died there is nothing to fear. As the introductory citation shows, His resurrection is proof of that.

For those who are reading, it may be that God is revealing some things to you. You may have extended rights and privileges you no longer want to do. That is easy to fix. You can revoke them at any time in the name of Jesus.

For those who have never really believed or changed allegiances, you can do that, too. Set your mind to serving God. Believe that Jesus did die. In so doing, demolished the certificate of indebtedness that shackled you. The proof is, He rose again. Believing that is what pleases God.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6

Do Not Fear Them

On By TimIn Do Not Fear, Faith, Numbers 14Leave a comment

If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land because they are bread for us. Their defense is gone from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them.

Numbers 14:8–9

Musings from my hammock, literally. I am pondering Psalm 95 and the way it connects to different things. Hebrews 3 cites it, and it points to Numbers 14 and other things.

Significantly, the lessons provided to us is that unbelief exists in juxtaposition of all the works of God around us. Inexplicably, people still deny Him.

As the Day Leads

It reminds me of a small conversation with an atheist this morning. He demanded extraordinary evidence for the extraordinary claim that God is. I told him that his question is the extraordinary evidence he wanted, because he first posits the idea of God to then deny.

It was like that for these Israelis who had left Egypt. Some wanted to choose a leader and go back to Egypt. That aside has significance because in the account, it doesn’t happen. God’s great work of Israel’s salvation from Egypt is not to be undone. Even by those who God had already saved.

Yet these rebels grieved God. He graciously let some live for 40 years witnessing His workings as he provided for them. It’s fascinating to see the patience of God, even when He is grieved by those He graciously saved.

The encouragement is to believe in God and to keep believing in God. First, believe in Him to be saved. Then continue to trust in Him enough to enter the place of rest. That is the place to serve God. You cannot do it without faith. Read that last verse of Hebrews 3… One needs belief to be saved, and one needs belief to serve God.

So we see that they could not enter because of unbelief.

Hebrews 3:19

Bread for Us

There is that phrase “they are bread for us.” I don’t think that the Canaanites will be literal food, per se. But it is a play on the words of the testimony of the naysayers… The ones that saw God’s great works and succumbed to fear in disbelief.

They gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.

Numbers 13:32

Now, I think their report is real, in that there were real giants. I also believe that those giants did indeed devour the inhabitants literally. I do think that is a reality that is scattered through the Bible and litters the recesses of history.. This is the reality to which Joshua and Caleb are testifying. God is going to overturn those who beset Adam’s race and this is gloriously pictured in this planned conquest of Canaan.

It is a lesson for us today. Like them, we need to believe He is with us.

The Wandering in Sin

As it goes, many of those didn’t believe. They wandered and died. Even Moses grieved God and didn’t enter the Promised Land.

This is still the same struggle for many of us. We wander in a wilderness of sin, never getting to the point in our walk where we serve God.

Does this grieve Him?

Yes.

Does it mean the believer loses salvation?

I don’t think so. The Bible is clear…

Do you despise the riches of His goodness, tolerance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

Romans 2:4 (MEV):

It is the riches of God demonstrated in His patience with each of us. Read that again, it’s His perfect patience. If you find yourself wandering in the wilderness of sin, turn around. God is good, patiently waiting on you.

An Odd Aside

There is an old English rhyme most of us know. It comes into the conversation…

Fee-fi-fo-fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman,
Be he alive, or be he dead
I’ll grind his bones to make my bread.

That first line is ancient Gaelic that means behold, food, good-to-eat, sufficient. It attests to the witness of Joshua and Caleb, that the land is plentiful and blessed.

It’s also a nod back to the giants who devoured the human inhabitants of the land. That is a grisly reality that has existed from the Golden Age. It was the time before the flood when the gods lived with man. And they took what they wanted. The grim realities of that age have always been with us. They are handed down in lore. They exist to remind us.

Though the powers-that-be work to rush us all into a new Golden Age. Yes, the even plan to have gods living among humans. Remember, it is God who has already defeated the giants. And we can be assured He is with us now. There is nothing to fear as we enter that Promised Land of rest and service!

On this Thanksgiving Day, praise God for all He has done. His work has been finished since the seventh day when He rested from all of His work.

Sons of God in the New Testament

On By TimIn Luke 03, Resurrection, The Divine Council2 Comments

In the last post, we learned of the Divine Council and the members that comprise it as it is explained in the Tanakh. These are specifically called the sons of God. We also learned that the sons of God are angels.

As always, the Tanakh provides hints to a yet future reality. Such things are often labeled as prophecies. There is part of one from Daniel that lends itself as a perfect place of transition.

Daniel was given a panoramic vision of the future. Some minute detail was given and as we’ve witnessed in history, matches exactly. In that vision, there is a group of people called the wise. This seems to be a euphemism that applies to believers. The wise will instruct many, and be persecuted for what they do. This activity will continue until the end at the appointed time. It culminates here:

Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who turn the many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.

Daniel 12:3

Tuck this away as we move forward in our studies. Perhaps what is said might have a deeper meaning than it does now.

Son of God

Now let’s turn our focus onto the same term sons of God as written of in the New Testament. With it, our understanding is going to become even more refined.

We will begin in the first words of the New Testament. It is the first chapter of Matthew where he records a genealogy of Jesus, the Anointed One. He is the Seed of the woman that the fallen angels worked to stop. Matthew writes after the fact to establish the identity of Jesus as that Seed. The genealogy starts with Abraham and ends at Jesus through Joseph.

In like manner, Luke provides a similar genealogy of Jesus. One that differs from Matthew’s in many ways. It is found starting at Luke 3:23. Luke begins with Jesus and works His ancestors all the way back to Adam. It is how Luke describes Adam that is essential to understand.

who was the son of Enosh, who was the son of Seth, who was the son of Adam, who was the son of God.

Luke 3:38

Adam, the son of God, stands out as a contrast to what we know from the Tanakh. Luke calls Adam the son of God. It’s almost as if what is written in the Tanakh didn’t matter. Perhaps it is better understood as a clue to a new reality.

Back to the Beginning

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were created through Him, and without Him nothing was created that was created.

John 1:2–3

The introduction of Jesus in John’s Gospel contains many truths. Some are overt, in that Jesus is not a created being. Others are subtle, Jesus could not have been created because He is the One creating. The things that exist that are not God have been created by the Word, Jesus.

He is the image of the invisible God and the firstborn of every creature. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they are thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Colossians 1:15–17

Paul uses similar language to describe Jesus. He also tells us Jesus created spiritual beings. The Tanakh seems to use the word elohim as a catchall type for spirit being. At least, I understand it that way. Elohim are sons of God, and by the witness of the New Testament they are direct creations of God. Just as Adam is a direct creation of God. It’s not too difficult to think that the term son of God means one created by God. Can that be tested?

Born of God

He was in the world, and the world was created through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, He gave the power to become sons of God, to those who believed in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1:10–13

I love that text. It pretty much needs no other explanation. He came into the world, even to His own portion, the people He chose. He was rejected by those.

But… To any who received Jesus, these He gave authority to become sons of God. This was to those who believed, and are born of God. This is where the term born again has its foundation. A believer is reborn as a son of God.

It also occurs to me that the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) all use the first instance of Son of God as a title or descriptor of Jesus Christ. Luke (the Gentile) applies the same descriptor to Adam after applying it to Jesus. I think there is some highly technical meaning there, in that Jesus had to also be a Son of God like Adam.

John calls Him the unique Son of God. The term son of God couples Jesus and Adam.

John ventures from that applying the term not to Jesus, and not to Adam… But to born of God believers. Aren’t sons of God then direct creations of God?

New Creation

It’s the Bible that best explains the Bible. Angels and Adam are called sons of God. The trait they share is being direct creations of God. Believing humans have been given the right to become sons of God. Let the Spirit lead your mind ahead.

And He died for all, that those who live should not from now on live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
So from now on we do not regard anyone according to the flesh. Yes, though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet we do not regard Him as such from now on. Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away. Look, all things have become new.

2 Corinthians 5:15–17

Paul brings us full circle. A born again believer is a new creation. The text I cited has the word creature. Other texts use new creation. The idea is the same. We are made new creations when we believe.

Therefore, a born again believer is a direct new creation of God. This satisfies the idea of meaning intrinsic to what a son of God is. And it answers both questions.

I don’t mean to exclude any of the ladies from this by the language used. My goal is to laser-focus the terms to avoid ambiguity. What God has given is open to all. Though the text is silent, Eve is also a daughter of God being directly created by Him from His son Adam.

Anyone who so desires to become a child of God can be one. Children of God, male and female, are newly born-direct creations.

New Heavens and New Earth

It is throughout the Bible that we learn the corruption of creation came through human doing, but not without seditious acts and interference by some of the sons of God. Certainly, we know that the members of the old Divine Council failed. Others did not procreate, yet failed in other ways. The ones that fell all failed God. They failed themselves. They failed creation itself. But that does not mean that God failed.

Interspersed through the Bible is the promise of renewal. The New Yesrament is not excluded from that. Creation is to be restored to the way God had originally intended it to be.

But, according to His promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

2 Peter 3:13

That restoration is to happen at a particular appointed time.

Therefore repent and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send the One who previously was preached to you, Jesus Christ, whom the heavens must receive until the time of restoring what God spoke through all His holy prophets since the world began.

Acts 3:19–21

It will be at the end of the age which Jesus spoke to in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24.) It is a recurring theme throughout the Scriptures.

The Appearance

Believers are new creations. Believers are sons of God. Paul gives us a glimpse into the future renewal of creation. But before that, he helps us to identify the sons of God. It is not only the fact of being led by the Spirit, but that we’ve received Him inside of us. This is the same language that is used throughout many passages as it pertains to being saved. It is a new birth and new creation with a new identity.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you have not received the spirit of slavery again to fear. But you have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified with Him.

Romans 8:14–17

The Holy Spirit is the Means of adoption. It is He that brings us into that intimate relationship of a father and his children. One in which we can know our Heavenly Father just as we know our own dads.

The eager expectation of the creation waits for the appearance of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but by the will of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Romans 8:19–21

God has a plan. He subjected creation to futility. To use a scientific term, creation was subject to entropy. That is the tendency of things to devolve toward chaos. He did it with the hope that creation would be set free from that bondage. Not that He hoped in something, but it is for all of creation to look toward the certain freedom for now which it can only anticipate.

So, there seems to be a new Divine Council in the future. One that is to do things rightly. There will be a new group of regents set with the task to watch and judge creation.

What Shall We Be?

I know that the apostle John wrote that it has not been yet revealed what we will be, but John says we shall be like Him when He appears.

Beloved, now are we children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

1 John 3:2

That fascinates me that we do not know what we will be, as believers when that time comes… I think it is far beyond our imaginings. But these are some fantastically mind-blowing hints.

Concluding Thoughts

As always, when studying, so many connections come into the mind. I hope Daniel 12:3 has a bit of new meaning for you.

This whole series will culminate, I promise. What set out to be one post, then became three, then two plus two plus two. There will be one more additional post on proving a son of God before returning to the stars and angels.

The Divine Council in the Tanakh

On By TimIn Angels, Psalm 082, The Divine Council5 Comments

In the last post I introduced a term called The Divine Council. The members of the Divine Council are close advisors to God. Those are the ones that carry out the desires of God in the affairs of His creation. At least, that is what is supposed to happen.

We also know that there is none like God. He is El Elyon, the Most High God. He did introduce these lesser gods in His word.

God stands among the divine council; He renders judgment among the gods.
“How long will you all judge unjustly and accept partiality of the wicked? Selah
Defend the poor and fatherless; vindicate the afflicted and needy. Grant escape to the abused and the destitute, pluck them out of the hand of the false.
“They have neither knowledge nor understanding; they walk in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are shaken.”
I have said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you, but you all shall die like men, and fall like a man, O princes.”
Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You shall inherit all nations.

Psalm 82:1–8

To review, the Hebrew in the first verse uses the word elohim twice. It’s saying: Elohim stands among the divine council; He renders judgment among the elohim. Some of us have been taught that Elohim is the name of God Himself. I think the term is much broader than the name of God. It is similar to the English word God. Meaning it is used as a proper title of the Most High and it is also a descriptor of a class of beings.

This practice is seen with a different word as a similar concept. It comes in another Psalm.

Let the heavens praise Your wonders, O Lord;
Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? Who among the heavenly sons is like the Lord? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the holy ones and awesome to all those who surround Him.

Psalm 89:5–7

As before, the juxtaposition of the word El translated to God and the word elim (the Hebrew plural of el) translated as heavenly sons is striking. It is also notable that there are many uses of the Tetragrammaton, that unspeakable name of God. Some say Jehovah, others say Yahweh.

Yet… This is where things start to get a bit blurry. It is not that they don’t make sense, but they tend to stretch the bounds of what we think we know.

As we saw in Psalm 89, Jehovah is in the midst of the assembly of the holy ones… The Divine Council. The text above provides us another descriptor of this assembly as heavenly sons. From these words, we bound off to a deeper truth.

Sons of God

Leave it to the Septuagint to help make a connection. The Septuagint was commissioned in the third century before the advent of Jesus. Tradition tells us 72 translators were tasked with transcribing the Hebrew Scriptures into the common language of the day… Koine Greek. Here is how those have translated this portion of the Psalm:

The heavens will confess your wondrous things, O Lord, and your truth in the assembly of holy ones. For who in the clouds will be likened to the Lord?
And who will be likened to the Lord among the sons of God?
God is glorified in the counsel of holy ones.
He is great and awesome upon all those who are around him.

Psalm 88:6–8 (Lexham English Septuagint)

The counting of the Psalms in the Septuagint is a bit different than it is in our Bibles. Those translators understood the Jewish mindset. The thinking at the time was Thai was an assembly of angelic beings. They were literally sons of God. In that Psalm, some of our modern translations use that exact phrase sons of God.

When examining the phrase sons of God in the Tanakh, the rare occurrences draw our attention. Those places where it is used have some importance in trying to understand what is being conveyed by the term. Many modern translations have incorporated the higher definition of meaning from an understanding of the Jewish texts. Texts and ideas which were in use long before the advent of Jesus.

For this endeavor, I am going to employ a different translation than I would normally use. It is the Lexham English Bible. This is a favorite study tool I use, because of the constant scholarship employed in translating it. The Bible is a product exclusive to Logos.

There are eight occurrences we will examine. So let’s go!

For who in the sky is equal to Yahweh? Who is like Yahweh among the sons of God.

Psalm 89:6 (Lexham English Septuagint)

This is our previous text. Let’s focus on the phrase sons of God. It is a literal translation from the Hebrew phrase bene elim. There is another, like it:

Ascribe to Yahweh, O sons of God,
ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength.

Psalm 29:1 (Lexham English Septuagint)

This psalm again translates the Hebrew phrase bene elim into the English sons of God. The phrase sons of God is the binding tie leading us to a seemingly synonymous Hebrew phrase.

Bene Ha Elohim

The majority of the appearances of the phrase sons of God is translated from the Hebrew bene ha Elohim. (I’m not a scholar in ancient languages, and don’t think the capital letter applies but I added it for clarity.) It occurred five times. These passages are examined next.

We are introduced to the phrase sons of God by its first usage in the Bible. The writer did not provide any definition. It’s as if he expected us to know what he meant. It would be akin to us writing, “I wrote a text to a friend on my phone.” Someone who has not ever encountered cell phone would have no idea behind the meaning the author assumes his audience has. It is like that here:

And it happened that, when humankind began to multiply on the face of the ground, daughters were born to them. Then the sons of God saw the daughters of humankind, that they were beautiful. And they took for themselves wives from all that they chose. And Yahweh said, “My Spirit shall not abide with humankind forever in that he is also flesh. And his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were upon the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God went into the daughters of humankind, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty warriors that were from ancient times, men of renown.

Genesis 6:1–4 (Lexham English Bible)

The phrase sons of God appears twice in this citation. The Hebrew it is translated from is bene ha Elohim. The author writes assuming his audience knows who the sons of god are. There are three more times the phrase is used. They are in the Book of Job. And the usage there helps us to understand who the sons of God are.

And it happened one day that the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan also came into their midst.

Job 1:6 (Lexham English Bible)

And then one day the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan also came into their midst to present himself before Yahweh.

Job 2:1 (Lexham English Bible)

when the morning stars were singing together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Job 38:7 (Lexham English Bible)

These are the three places where bene ha Elohim appears in Job. From this, our understanding of who they are becomes a bit more refined. These sons of God are clearly angels. This is the pattern that develops, sons of God as used in the Tanakh, is a term applied exclusively to angels.

The Septuagint offers more corroboration.

And Noah lived five hundred years, and Noah fathered three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
And it happened, when humans began to become numerous upon the land, and they had daughters, the angels of God, having seen the daughters of humans, that they were beautiful, took for themselves women from all whom they picked out. The Lord God said, “My breath will not at all reside.in these humans for very long because they are flesh, but their days will be one hundred and twenty years.” Now giants were upon the land in those days, and after that, whenever the sons of God visited the daughters of humans, they fathered children for themselves; those were the giants who were from long ago, the people of renown.

Genesis 6:1–4 (Lexham English Septuagint)

The underlying Greek is literal in the English. The difference is in the first translation of the Hebrew bene into the Greek angeloi (from which we get the English word angel.) The Septuagint moves the idea of sons to angels. The second usage literally translates the word bene to the Greek huioi (sons.) The 72 translators of the Septuagint rendered a faithful glimpse into the third-century BCE Judaism. In that mindset, these sons were angels.

Going back to the passage in Genesis 6 with some better background information, it stands out as weird, angels procreated with humans.. The language in Hebrew is far more coarse than what is translated. The word translated took using women as objects (to the verb) always has sexual connotations. It is used in Genesis 34 to describe Shechem’s rape of Dinah. The word translated as wives can also be translated as women regardless of their marital status. These angels took women as they desired.

Here is where what we know may be a bit blurry. We know the sons of God are angels. We know some of the sons of God acted immorally. We know that some (maybe all) of these sons of God were part of the Divine Council. These are collectively called fallen angels.

Circling back to Psalm 82 we see that this is an account where God judges the fallen angels. Fallen angels that were His viziers failed. Judgment is pronounced.

“They have neither knowledge nor understanding; they walk in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are shaken.”

Psalm 82:5

What happened with these fallen angels that were a part of the Divine Council had far-reaching consequences. The sin mentioned in Genesis 6 had ramifications affecting all of the Earth. There are other sins of other fallen angels that had the same far-reaching implications with the same consequences. All will be judged and more is said about this elsewhere in the Bible, that will come up in a bit. For now, we see God’s judgment toward these.

I have said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you, but you all shall die like men, and fall like a man, O princes.”

Psalm 82:6–7

There are things to note in the text here. The word fall is translated from the Hebrew word napal. The Hebrew language is consonantal. Vowels are inferred. Each word is based on a root word. In this case, our root for napal is the three transliterated consonants NPL. Looking back at the Genesis 6 passage, the Hebrew word nephilim is translated into the English giants. The word nephilim shares the same common root as napal. Nephilim are the hybrid progeny of angels and humans.

In Psalm 82 judgment comes. It seems as if God is saying something akin to, “Y’all caused humans to fall and die, now you will know what it is like to fall and die.” In other words, they will encounter the same bondage they inflicted on Adam’s race, from the garden on.

Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You shall inherit all nations.

Psalm 82:8

This closing verse in this psalm leads us to the last verse on the series of eight connecting the term sons of God.

Bene Yisrael

When the Most High apportioned⌋ the nations, at his dividing up of the sons of humankind, he fixed the boundaries of the peoples, according to the number of the sons of God.

Deuteronomy 32:8 (Lexham English Bible)

Here we have the final usage of the phrase sons of God. It is translated from the Hebrew bene yisrael. There are some versions of the Bible that render this as the sons of Israel. Again, the Septuagint helps us to understand. It translates the phrase to angels of God.

Using the immediate context of this passage, let us consider what Moses is saying.

Remember the days of old, consider the years of previous generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you: When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.

Deuteronomy 32:7–9

Moses admonishes the people to remember the days of old when God gave the nations their inheritance. He separated the sons of man and placed boundaries around them. But when was that?

The Inheritance of Nations

God gave the nations their inheritance after the flood when Noah’s sons had sons descendants. These are recorded in detail for us in Genesis 10. That chapter is referred to as the Table of Nations. It shows all people descend from Noah and his three sons. The Table of Nations is summed up with this:

These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations. From these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

Genesis 10:32

As is often the way it works in the Bible, we are given a high-level overview, sort of like an executive summary. What follows the overview can contain details into the minutiae. This is the case here.

We encounter another one of those notable occasions where something weird happened. The people of one language and one accord were led by a world leader named Nimrod (which means we will rebel) to build a tower. God came to see what they were doing (that language is for us to understand, it’s not meant to be intimate He had to learn.) He came down to stop the work and scatter the people.

So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city. Therefore the name of it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. From there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Genesis 11:8–9

That is how the nations got their inheritance. And this occurred long before Abraham was born. Which was long before Jacob was born. Which was long before God changed his name to Israel. It makes no sense for the term bene yisrael to literally refer to the sons of Israel when Israel did not yet exist. It seems as if those ancient translators knew this.

Now, some of us have a question. What is the inheritance?

It included the lands and languages given by God as already has been shown. There was another allotment to the nations.

Give good care to yourselves, for you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you in Horeb from the midst of the fire, lest you corrupt yourselves and make a graven image for yourselves in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth. And beware, lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, you are led astray and worship them, and serve them, that which the Lord your God has allotted to all nations under the whole heaven. But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be to Him a people of inheritance, as you are today.

Deuteronomy 4:15–20

Wait, isn’t that saying there were stars of heaven allotted to other nations?

That’s like the earlier posts in this series on stars and angels which demonstrate that stars are angels. God allotted angels to the nations. The role they serve is inferred from many ideas, namely that angels are messengers. Most likely they were to shepherd the nations they had been allotted. This inference comes chiefly from God’s relationship to Israel. God chose His portion as Jacob (Dt 32:9.) He is the shepherd of Israel. It follows that His desire would be for goodness toward those people.

He assigned other angels to steward the other nations. These were called to mete out justice. They were appointed to represent God and do His work among the people they shepherded.

Something happened, though. It seems to have occurred quickly. At some point, these stars took on the worship of men. Instead of pointing men to the Most High God, they took that worship to themselves.

If there be found among you, within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you, man or woman, who has acted wickedly in the sight of the Lord your God, by transgressing His covenant, and has gone and served other gods and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded,

Deuteronomy 17:2–3

It is this continuous polluting of Adam. First in the garden. Soon after it was by genetics which had to be rectified by the flood. Then it came by ritualistic workings to corrupt the seed yet again at the tower incident. It is probably through the same old lie, “You shall be as gods.” It’s a recurring theme.

Now, these beings are polluting Adams’s race with false worship. I’m assuming to know that God would respond. Polluting other nations by taking the worship of men would become a stumbling stone for Israel. (I cannot help but think Rachel stealing Laban’s teraphim is more significant than we think.) It would be to pollute the Chosen incurring God’s wrath on them. It is a ploy to stop the Anointed One, the Seed of the Woman.

Conclusion

I know this was long. It is necessary foundational information. What we know so far, the Divine Council failed. The Divine Council consists of sons of God… Angels. There are fallen angels who work to pollute the seed of Adam… Chiefly the Seed of the Eve.

In the next post, we will examine these things in the New Testament. The understanding of what makes a son of God will become clearer. There will be new members of the Divine Council. God’s Master Plan has not yet been thwarted.

Paneas and the Netherworld

On By TimIn Matthew 16, Nephilim, ResurrectionLeave a comment

When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

Matthew 16:13

With the previous two posts (Read this first, then this,) there is enough background to look at the question. Jesus asks, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

There are great watersheds in history. The Bible is replete with them. The fall of man, Noah’s flood, the Exodus… These events are recorded for our learning. As great as they are, none compares to the birth of Jesus. And as His disciples ministered with Him intimately they were privy to an idea that may not have ever been given a voice. Here is Jesus asking a question to lead His friends to a particular personal watershed conclusion.

They said, “Some say that You are John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

Matthew 16:14

The answer sounds pretty much academic. This is the answer many will give. It is just a matter of the facts. People are talking about Jesus.

Without thinking through it too much, the undercurrent in the response shows that the people expected some kind of resurrection. How else could Jesus be one of those as reincarnation is not real?

There must be a resurrection.

I don’t think that the identities of the folks mentioned were the answer He desired them to see. Jesus asks them a question that moves form academic third person to intimate first person.

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Matthew 16:15

Of any other watershed moment that we could think of, none compares to this question each of us must answer. Here’s why. Your eternity hinges on your response to it. It isn’t a coincidence that it was asked right at the Gates of Hell.

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Matthew 16:16

As it is recorded, Peter doesn’t hesitate. He declares the truth. This is the matter, that it is the one most important question we encounter in this life… Who is Jesus Christ?

To some, He’s a good teacher. To others, He’s a mensch. There are still others that will deny He is even real.

To those who know Him, He is the King (Christ, Mashiach.) He is the Son of the living God. This isn’t the first such declaration of the disciples (see Matthew 14:33.)

This confession, though is slightly different. It’s a poignant phrase “Son of the living God.” It is a stark contrast to the unique location of veneration of pagan gods. Ones people worship here in spirit. But they are are not alive and have a body as Jesus is.

What I am saying is that Pan was a Titan. Pan was a real god-king… He is a nephilim.

But nephilim, having physical bodies die, their spirits do not. Nor are their spirits eligible for resurrection. These disembodied spirits are what the Bible calls demons. Demons are not fallen angels, and Nephilim are not fallen angels.

Jesus spoke of the entities.

When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through dry places seeking rest, but finds none.

Matthew 12:43

So the demons begged Him, saying, “If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine.”

Matthew 8:31

These demons look for bodies to inhabit. The account of the demoniac (Matthew 8:28-34) shows this plainly. When Jesus cast legion from the man, they asked permission to be put into a herd of swine. There are hints to other ideas here, demons exercise rights of having dominion. The other idea is the utter destruction they wreak.

All of what we have discussed is important to this location. It is the entrance to the netherworld of dead spirits. They’re dead because they no longer have bodies. Spirits do not die as the body does.

Now to drive up to another point… As we have discussed augmented humanity and the bondage that captivates many today. Reading Revelation 13, we see that there is a point where their is going to be a total rejection of Jesus. The control this coming prince will have will be an augmentation to humanity.

He causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, so that no one may buy or sell, except he who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name.

Revelation 13:16–17

Clearly, people at that time are willingly taking on the identity of the beast. The scenes recorded in revelation are horrific and very spiritual. We are introduced to real spirits that hate humans.

The boom of Revelation is chiastic in nature, that means it isn’t necessarily linear. It’s linear accounts interwoven. When that is understood, we can examine a sentence that is often overlooked.

In those days men will seek death but will not find it. They will desire to die, but death will elude them.

Revelation 9:6

Death will elude them. Remember the promised augmentation from the serpent in the garden. The serpent promised she wouldn’t die, but would be augmented to be like God.

The educated conjecture is that the mark comes with a sort of biological enhancement that can hinder death. It is not a far stretch to think that this mark alters DNA to something human +. This would make the person that takes it to not have a Kinsman for redemption. After all, this is a seed war… A war of genetics.

Soon, we will discover how important this is. in the next installment, we will look at the response of Jesus.

Jesus is the only One Who has life to give.

Paneas Before the Advent of Jesus

On By TimIn Matthew 16, Nephilim3 Comments

When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

Matthew 16:13

Now that we have an overview of Paneas replete with a summary of the plans of the enemy, let’s look at some of the things about Caesaria Philippi. In the Tanakh, this is known as Bashan.

Bashan

It is an area located east of the Jordan River. Bashan is the upper Transjordan east northeast of the Sea of Galilee and extends north to include Mount Hermon. The Israelites conquered the area in the days of Moses and Joshua.

Bashan was a stronghold ruled over by two Amorite kings, Sihon and Og. Both kings descended from the giant clans. Its two capital cities were Ashtaroth and Edrei.

Ashtoroth

Ashtaroth is derived from the name of the Greek goddess Astarte. Astarte is the equivalent of the East Semitic goddess Ishtar (from where we get the English word Easter.). Ishtar is the ancient Mesopotamian goddess Inanna.

Edrei

Edrei is a word that probably means stronghold. Edrei was elevated 20 feet above the plain. It was an impregnable natural fortress amidst a complex labyrinth of caves caused by volcanic activity. There is an underground “city” below Edrei which was probably carved for a safe refuge during an attack. Edrei is modern day Daraa.

Both cities are described in myth and ritual texts from Ugarit as the abode of the god Milku. Our Bibles use the name Molech. He is Saturn in the Roman Pantheon and Kronos in the Greek Pantheon. These cities, and all of Bashan, were associated with a broad underworld population of ancestor-gods. The Canaanite people believed Bashan to be the gateway to the underworld (Hades, or Hell.)

Giant Kings

Sihon and Og were descended from the Rephaim and Anakim. These are some of the Bible’s names for the giant clans. (For reference see Deuteronomy 2:10-11, 20-21; 3:11-13; Numbers 13:26–33; Joshua 12:4; 13:12; Amos 2:9–10.) Sihon and Og were definitely augmented-human Nephilim.

Much is to be said of the religion of the ancient Amorites.

From Kings to Gods

We have already mentioned two gods. Understanding the ideas represented here becomes rather mind-boggling. And I rely on work done by others as they’ve connected things. Specifically fitting is the book The Second Coming of Saturn by Derek P. Gilbert. Excerpts are available. Here is some background to understand. From Mr. Gilbert’s research, it seems as if the term Molech (like Ba’al) is not a proper name, but a title that roughly means chief god. As it pertains to our discussion, we are talking about Kronos/Saturn/El, the king of the underworld.

We know from the Bible that Molech is associated with a heinous practice of worship, child sacrifice. (For reference, see 1 Kings 11:7; Leviticus 20:1–5.) God called the practice detestable.

To the Detestable

For the sons of Judah have done evil in My sight, says the LORD. They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to pollute it. 31 *They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My heart. Therefore, truly the days are coming, says the LORD, that it will no more be called Topheth, nor the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place. The corpses of this people shall be food for the fowl of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth; and no one will frighten them away. Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of laughter and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land shall become desolate.

Jeremiah 7:30–34

It is bad enough to sacrifice the innocent for our own comfort. Sometimes, our modern mindsets miss the connections here. Look at how God references His sacrifice of these people to be as food. That is a hint necessary to understand why the practice is detestable. Part of the ritual of sacrifice is a shared meal. And if you are thinking cannibalism, that is right.

Remember what God said:

The LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed above all livestock, and above every beast of the field; you will go on your belly, and you will eat dust all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”

Genesis 3:14–15

In my mind, and cannot unsee the connection to this:

Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.

Genesis 2:7

Serpents

The name Molech is found in a series of Ugaritic snakebite charms associated with Ashtaroth. The area of Bashan is definitely associated with serpents. Recently, it was discovered from Google Earth of all places, that there is a giant serpent mound in Bashan right in the vicinity of Gilgal Rephaim. More info is available here.

It’s just a coincidence, right?

This is a screen capture from Google Earth. It shows a long serpent-shaped roundabout 1/4 of a mile north of Gilgal Rephaim. The serpent mound is about 1 mile long.

In writing this, I can see the connection between the labyrinth at Gilgal Rephaim and that of Edrei. It could be that the entrance to the Netherworld is via a labyrinth.

This is God’s indictment of the Israelis.

They abandoned the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

Judges 2:13

Conclusion

There is much to unpack about the reference to Caesarea Philippi. My hope is that this provides a foundation for understanding the significance of Matthew 16 as we move further. I also hope your mind, led by what the Holy Spirit has tucked into it, is making connections. We all play a part in understanding this.

Surprise!

Serpent mounds and serpent motifs are everywhere. Business logos incorporate them as an homage. Computer programming languages contain serpent references. SpaceX calls its rocket Dragon. As for those mounds, this is one from Ohio.

This is an aerial photo of the Great Serpent Mound in Ohio. It is breathtakingly clear, and megalithic. It is open to the public.
The Great Serpent Mound in Ohio. The details are profound in black and white.

As the entire mound is visible in the last photo, look closely at the head. What do you suppose the round object is, and what the mound symbolizes?

I see the serpent’s answer to the Promise in Genesis 3.

Thinking about the old adage about a snake in the grass… What do we do with easter eggs… But hide them in the grass.

Sorry. Not sorry.

Paneas and The Gates of Hell

On By TimIn Matthew 16, Nephilim2 Comments

When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

Matthew 16:13 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Most of us are laser-focused on the question asked. That’s for a good reason. But there is a context here that is quite lost in modern times.

Jesus and His disciples came into the region of Caesarea Philippi. In the modern day, it is called the Golan Heights. Jesus will use a phrase a bit later in the account that will tell us exactly the location. (For a refresher, take time and read Matthew 16:13–28. This will help avoid spoiler alerts.)

The Gates of Hell

This location was home to a place called the Grotto of Pan. We have a “Disney-fied” idea of Pan, and a bit of poking around that may surprise some. The Grotto of Pan is a place called Paneas in the Greek and Banias in recent days. It was a town occupied for nearly 2,000 years until destroyed in the Six-Day War. The grotto is at the foot of Mt. Hermon.

It is the place from where hell is defended. You know who the goat-man Pan is.

Mt. Hermon

This is the place of infamy. The Bible often uses this particular mountain as the one that opposes the Mountain of God in Jerusalem. This is the place where angels fell and came down to Earth.

I’ve dropped hints before about fallen angels. There is much to tell, and much to write. I’ve neglected that not quite knowing how to organize my thoughts. Thanks for indulging me.

Anyway, Genesis 6:4–6 clearly tells us something terrible happened in pre-flood times. The important point, angels left heaven and took human wives. They created a hybrid race the Bible calls Nephilim (among other names.) These have more familiar names from other cultures. In Greek, these were the famed Titans.

Rabbit Trail Alert

Has it ever made you wonder why our society is enamored with ancient Greek culture?

Students read The Iliad in the first year of high school. It serves as a sort of primer. The Greek alphabet is memorized. Clubs that mirror secret societies are introduced. Greek terms are preferred in science. Western education systems are Greek in nature. Colleges have Greek culture normalizing the acceptance of exclusive groups with secrets. There are even full-blown secret clubs reserved for a select few.

This could just be a coincidence. Or it could be the subtle trail of the gods of this world (Titans) and how they plan to come back.

Some 50 years ago, the public was introduced to the flying saucer. It invaded many aspects of society. Then fringe stories of abductions came. As time progressed, these accounts increased many times over. Pop culture tells you these are our “sky brothers.” Some scientists believe life on this planet was seeded by other beings (they understand life comes from life.) The acronym UFO has been changed to UAP (Unidentified Arial Phenomenon.) Deftly moving it from the woo-woo into reality. The US has just recently shot down an unidentified object.

Recall a lot of the motion pictures and other entertainment of the last few decades. Then think of these Nephilim as augmented humans (human+angel) and not just as hybrids. These could easily be considered superheroes. Disney’s Hercules introduced your children to that idea 25 years ago. Since then, we have the gamut of both the DC and Marvel universes splashed on giant screens in darkened immersive cinemas.

These children grew up on this constant diet, and many love to cosplay. They dress like these characters, even completely parroting what they see on screen.

It looks like planned desensitization… Because it is. The idea is to normalize someone coming down to augment humanity.

For this Bible and prophecy nerd, I know augmented humanity is already a thing. The richest folks in the world are spending their money on furthering this science in hopes of achieving immortality. Think of the old lie, you shall be as Gods.

The enemy has plans. Plans to make humans after himself. He needs the numbers, as his side is severely outnumbered two-to-one (not counting God, of course.)

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that on the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Genesis 3:4–5 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

The enemy’s plan from the beginning is to delude humanity with the lie. Eve wanted the augmented knowledge the fruit gave. Humanity continues to stumble in that direction.

Back to Mt. Hermon

Some say that the Levant is the location of the garden of Eden. Mt. Hermon is a part of that place. My speculation is that Mt. Hermon is the place where Adam ate. It’s the place where the angels came down and augmented humanity. What is not my speculation is that it is the place of the gates of hell. Gates are defensive… They keep the bad guys outside, stopping an invasion.

I want you to think about how important understanding Paneas is. This is the place of warfare in which we are engaged. This is where the warning shot was given by Jesus.

One last thought, J.M. Barrie desensitized the world to Pan. He wrote Peter Pan. Perhaps the name of that character is a subtlety to point to the question Jesus asked Peter right here. “Who do you say I am?”

The Gates are being crashed! All know God wins! If you didn’t, you do now.

The Warning Shot

On By TimIn Matthew 16, Spiritual Warfare2 Comments

When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”

Matthew 16:13 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi with His disciples. This passage of text is important for many, yet it is not without controversy. Like much of what we find in the Bible, there is far more that is unwritten than we might take care to discover.

The Temple of Pan. Creative Commons image.

Mount Hermon

Caesarea Phillippi was home to the Temple of Pan. It is called the Temple of Banias today, Arabic for the Temple of Panias. (In Arabic there is no letter P.) This temple is part of Mount Hermon, legendary as the place where angels came down seeking different flesh.

I know that might be unsettling to some, but there are additional resources to help understand. Genesis 6 is the first mention and like the text above… There is much context that the writer assumes is understood by the intended audience. Much of that context has been explained away over centuries of time. Suffice it to say, angels came down and took wives.

When men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair and took as wives any they chose. The LORD said, “My Spirit will not always strive with man, for he is flesh; yet his days will be a hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

Genesis 6:1–4 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Likewise, the angels who did not keep to their first domain, but forsook their own dwelling, He has kept in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the surrounding cities in like manner, gave themselves to immorality and went after different flesh, they serve as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.

Jude 6–7 — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

It is for this reason, that Mount Hermon is the mountain of the gods (As a title, it ought to be capitalized, but I want to emphasize these are the little ‘g’ type gods.) It is the sides of the north (Isaiah 14:13.) It is the base of operation for the enemy. One that goes by many names and has many minions.

The Warning Shot

They said, “Some say that You are John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

Matthew 16:14 (MEV) — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

His disciples answered Him. Jesus wasn’t surprised at their answer. He then addressed them personally.

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Matthew 16:15 (MEV) — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

That is the question. Metaphorically, it is a question we must all answer as eternity for each of us hangs on it. Who do you say that I am?

Peter steps up.

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Matthew 16:16 (MEV) — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

There it is. That is the warning shot lobbed into enemy territory from inside enemy territory.

Peter states Jesus’ identity out loud.

Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Matthew 16:17–19 (MEV) — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

This isn’t about Peter being given a mission. It’s not about Peter starting a church. This isn’t a Catholic thing. Peter wasn’t the only one given the keys to the kingdom. Neither was it the Roman Catholic church. It was to the body of Spirit-baptized believers.

This is Jesus saying in the midst of enemy territory… “I am here. Come and get a piece of Me!” Jesus is picking a fight, and proclaiming that He wins!

Jesus will build His church on the truth that He is indeed the Son of God. He is the Anointed One. He is the Seed of the woman prophesied in Genesis 3:15. This seemingly frail Human is vulnerable, yet the gates of Hell will not prevail in this fight.

The Offensive

The body of Christ is not on the defensive side here. The gates of Hell will not prevail. Gates are primarily a defensive fortification.

Then He commanded His disciples to tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.

Matthew 16:20 (MEV) — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)

Instructions were given to not share this information. But it is from this moment that Jesus began to teach His disciples that He must suffer, be killed, and then raised up again.

The enemy took the best shot they had. Jesus did go to Jerusalem. Jesus suffered much, He died. He rose again. He told them they emphatically would not prevail, and they tried their best. And failed.

Do not ever forget, that in Jesus we all have the high ground. We Spirit-baptized believers are already victorious. The enemy and his minions have no rightful claim on any of His. They are terrified at the name of Jesus.

I will leave you with these words from Paul.

As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, and abounding with thanksgiving.
Beware lest anyone captivate you through philosophy and vain deceit, in the tradition of men and the elementary principles of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him lives all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him, who is the head of all authority and power. In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which also you were raised with Him through the faith of the power of God, who has raised Him from the dead.
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has resurrected together with Him, having forgiven you all sins. He blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us and contrary to us, and He took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed authorities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them by the cross. Therefore let no one judge you regarding food, or drink, or in respect of a holy day or new moon or sabbath days. These are shadows of things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Do not let anyone cheat you of your reward by delighting in false humility and the worship of angels, dwelling on those things which he has not seen, vainly arrogant due to his unspiritual mind, and not supporting the head, from which the entire body, nourished and knit together by joints and sinews, grows as God gives the increase.

Colossians 2:6–19 (MEV) — Modern English Version (Thinline Edition.; Lake Mary, FL: Passio, 2014)