A Second Rebellion?

And angels who did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling place, these He has kept in eternal restraints under darkness for the judgment of the great day – Jude 6

A substantial percentage of the western church is only familiar with the cosmic rebellion of the Dragon and the angels who followed him during the event (discussed previously). As such, these Christians are hard-pressed to readily understand passages such a Jude 6, 1 Peter 3:18-22, and 2 Peter 2:4. As we continue uncovering the cosmic perspective of the authors, these passages become clear.

Jesus himself gave His followers a clear warning as captured in Matthew 24. Thus, I believe it critical we seek and test the truth. Jesus warns:

4… Watch out that no one deceives you. 5. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many… 24. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25. See, I have told you ahead of time… 37. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39. and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man… (emphasis added / reading the full chapter is encouraged.)

It is clear a key skill of the Dragon is deceit. Acknowledging he’s been at this for thousands of years, we must not underestimate his schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11). One such scheme, without doubt, is gradually obscuring the full story (truth) as generations of mankind come and go.

A Limited Understanding

Today, the church’s understanding of Matthew 24 often stops at said people being unaware and dismissive of the coming judgment. While it’s not wrong, this view fails to capture the depth of Jesus’ warning. Afterall, Yahweh designed marriage, correct? Why mention marriage? Who was marrying whom during the days of Noah?

Well, close the Delorian door so we can travel back in time to the Days of Noah:

When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. - Genesis 6:1-4

Four short verses without immediate context. Four short verses claiming millions of theological debate hours on their stopwatch. To the early reader, with context, was this the case?

Practical Exercise

As a test, complete the following (minus the ordering part):

Go to Amazon, search for yellow belly sap suckers, and bring me the 48-piece.

Should all those reading follow through, I’d soon grow tired of the candy. Why? Who doesn’t know how to order from Amazon these days?

Well, as it turns out, quite a few people. Consider one of the uncontacted tribes deep in the Amazon rain forest. A translator, familiar with the tribe, translates and delivers the same instructions to this indigenous tribe. The tribe, having no knowledge of native American birds, the internet, and especially Amazon.com, is left wondering. Speculations abound. Over time, theories develop, and with gradual contact with the outside world, the pieces are put together. The conclusion: the author desires their counterpart venture into the Amazon jungle, search out, capture, and return with 48 Collared Aracari.

The point: The same, simple instructions, easily understood by one culture group are vastly confused by another. Add thousands of years, the challenge compounds. All without the malicious whisperings of the Dragon.

Viewed in Context

Returning to Genesis 6. Let’s remind ourselves of the cosmic context we’ve reviewed so far, context that was second nature to the culture of that time:

- Yahweh created a spiritual family (sons / bēn 'ĕlōhîm) prior to humanity.

- Yahweh created a spiritual kingdom for them to exists in.

- Yahweh created some of these spiritual beings as other and lesser ‘ĕlōhîm.

- Yahweh established cosmic laws.

- Some of these sons rebelled and were cast to Earth.

- Yahweh charged mankind to gain dominion of this Earth.

- Humanity’s main battle is against spiritual beings (Ephesians 6:12)

Keeping this context in mind, let’s investigate a key phrase from verse 2:

1. When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2. the sons of God (bēn 'ĕlōhîm) saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.  (Emphasis Added)

bēn 'ĕlōhîm. The very same Hebrew phrase used in Job 38:7 to describe the spiritual sons of God. To a Hebrew student plainly reading the passage 3,000 years ago, the account is unmistakable:

Some of the spiritual sons of God (bēn 'ĕlōhîm) lusted after the beauty of human women, left their proper place of abode (Jude 6), descended to Earth, and copulated with human women who in turn bore half-human, half ĕlōhîm offspring, aka, mighty men of renown (commonly translated as giants).

Perhaps this comes as a shock. It did to me. Today’s culture is far removed from that of 3,000 years ago. Easily understood then, this straightforward interpretation is rejected by many today (just as the Dragon prefers). But, using the plain language and context of the Bible, can this perspective be refuted?

As it turns out, this “supernatural” view was the accepted view at the time of Jesus and the early church. Not until the 5th century was the natural “Sethite” view born. By the 5th century, many within the church practiced the veneration of angels. In attempts to eliminate such practices, church fathers Julius Africanus and St. Augustine birthed and promoted this Sethite view (ctrl+f Julius to find the respective paragraph).

Four Verses

Why did Moses only use four verses for such a cosmic event? Examining the ancient Mesopotamian culture that surrounded Israel provides both the context and answers. The Mesopotamian culture believed in a divine assembly of gods. Deep within the waters of the earth's underworld, this divine council created 7 sages called apkallu. These apkallu would ascend into the heavens, receive divine knowledge from the gods, then go forth and oversee the correct functioning of the plans of heaven and earth. Overtime, these sages contacted humans who, in exchange for the apkallu’s secret knowledge, gave their daughters to the apkallu in marriage. From this cohabitation spawned demi-gods, or men of renowned, many whose legends live on in the stories of Marvel movies and comic books. (For more on this topic, I recommend Dr. Michael Heiser's Book Reversing Hermon, chapter 3). 

Moses, not wanting his people led astray by the surrounding culture's corrupted views, sets the record straight with those four verses. To his readers, further explanation was not required, just as I was not required to explain the Internet or Amazon when I asked you to order those delicious lollipops.

Further Cultural Context

Israel’s history and cultural accounts provide further context. Within the culture, the common account of Genesis 6:2 holds it was 200 sons of God that left their proper abode. These “watchers” (same word found in Daniel 4:13, 17, 23) descended to Mt. Hermon where they first made contact with humanity. Like the serpent in the Garden of Eve, these watchers could not force their will on humanity, but rather traded their "secret knowledge" (or advanced knowledge) with the fathers of their soon-to-be human wives. Much of this "secret knowledge" led to the rapid growth in early technology as described in Genesis 4:17-22. Whether true or not, this understanding comes into play in our future examinations of New Testament passages.

Conclusion: A second rebellion occurred, where some spiritual sons of God left their proper domain, copulated with human women, and created hybrid offspring.