Reversing Hermon Chapter 7

Based on:

1. Reversing Hermon: The Forgotten Mission of Jesus Christ

2. The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

The Sin of the Watchers and Human Depravity

I noted in an earlier chapter that for many Jews in the Second Temple Period, the proliferation of evil throughout humanity should not be laid at the feet of Adam, but of the Watchers. That is, contrary to what nearly all Christians are taught today, a large number of people living in the first century for whom the Old Testament was the Word of God, Adam’s Fall was not the exclusive touchpoint for the doctrine of depravity. In this chapter, we’ll look at how New Testament thinking about sin can be read the same way—and how important early church fathers would have agreed.

HIGHLIGHT: The highlight in bolded, underlined green text above is a very critical thought. It flies in the face of 1,700 years of church traditions, doctrines, dogmas, thinking, and other trash that we all have been raised with and taught as "truth".

QUESTION: What does this say about what we've been taught overall?

ANSWER?: Could it be that we need to adopt a position of being highly suspicious of everything we've been taught - tearing it down to the frame and building it back better?

Human depravity: Two reasons, not one

Human Propensity & The Watchers

There are two explanations for the human condition, the ever-present propensity for people to sin against God’s will. There are texts from this period that locate the sin impulse within human nature itself and others that have the catalyst for human evil being the fallen Watchers.

The desire to sin is a condition to be freed from and healed of. Of course, this is the nature of the Cross: Freeing and then healing of the damage done in the first Adam by the second.

11 Remove the sin of my childhood from me and may my offences not be remembered against me. 12 Purify me, O yhwh, from evil[s] plague, and may it stop coming back to [me]; dry up 13 its roots from me, may its lea[ve]s not become green in me. Glory are you, yhwh. [181]

21 These things I know through your knowledge, for you opened my ears to wondrous mysteries although I am a creature of clay, fashioned with water, 22 a foundation of shame and a source of impurity, an oven of iniquity and a building of sin, a spirit of error and depravity without 23 knowledge, terrified by your just judgments. What can I say which is not known? Or declare which has not been told? Everything 24 has been engraved before you with the stylus of remembrance for all the incessant periods and the cycles of the number of everlasting years in all their predetermined times, 25 and they will not be hidden, and will not be lacking from before you. How will a man count his sin? How will he defend his iniquities? [183]

The idea is that Adam and Eve both had the same inherent flaws of flesh (clay and water) which have been passed down to each of us.

NOTE: The title of this section inserts my own view of demonic influence, where the "innate inclination to sin" is taken advantage of by demonic spirits. This deviates from what is in the book, where the demonic is separate from the innate sinful condition.

Numerous Second Temple texts attribute human sin to the temptation of demonic forces. In attributing human sin to demons, these texts suggest a motivation significantly different from the one behind texts that reflect the “innate inclination to sin” paradigm. Attributing the principal cause of sin to demons points to individual sin not as part of the human constitution, but as the result of a forceful demonic presence, or even a demonic age. [185]

Genesis 6:5 is actually part of a vexing problem for biblical interpreters. Put simply, it doesn’t seem to have any coherent relationship to Genesis 6:1–4. This is especially true for those who seek to strip the supernatural elements out of the passage. For anyone reading Genesis 6:1–4 without knowledge of the polemic context for those verses, it’s quite understandable that the first four verses don’t seem at all to lead up to Genesis 6:5.

PROPOSITION: One possible solution to the seeming incoherence of 1-4 with 5 is found in bringing the giants into humanity as they are demigods (i.e., part human, part Watcher). Thus, the "Adam" (earth and water mix - clay) applies to the giants, making them a part of humanity. This might be especially true as the proliferate through the human gene pool, which is a tie to the DNA purity of Noah, his wife, sons, and their wives.

The next section actually provides us with this answer: That the Nephilim do in fact stem from humans would account for Genesis 6:5. See the quote of 1 Enoch below:

1 Enoch 15:8–16:1 puts forth the idea that these demonic spirits continue to corrupt humanity after the Flood:

(15) 8 But now the giants who were begotten by the spirits and flesh—they will call them evil spirits upon the earth, for their dwelling will be upon the earth. 9 The spirits that have gone forth from the body of their flesh are evil spirits, for from humans they came into being, and from the holy watchers was the origin of their creation. Evil spirits they will be on the earth, and evil spirits they will be called. 10 The spirits of heaven, in heaven is their dwelling; but the spirits begotten in the earth, on earth is their dwelling. 11 And the spirits of the giants lead astray, do violence, make desolate, and attack and wrestle and hurl upon the earth and cause illnesses. They eat nothing, but abstain from food and are thirsty and smite. 12 These spirits (will) rise up against the sons of men and against the women, for they have come forth from them.

(16) 1 From the day of the slaughter and destruction and death of the giants, from the soul of whose flesh the spirits are proceeding, they are making desolate without (incurring) judgment. Thus they will make desolate until the day of the consummation of the great judgment, when the great age will be consummated. It will be consummated all at once. [188]

This problem can only be solved by reading Genesis 6:1–4 in light of its original polemic context—the apkallu story. As we saw in chapter 3, the knowledge of the apkallu aligned with high precision to the knowledge taught by the Watchers that corrupted humanity before the Flood. This means that, in terms of the original purpose of Genesis 6:1–4—to take shots at Babylonian theologizing of the Flood event—the passage does in fact relate to Genesis 6:5. Without an understanding of the apkallu polemic, this connection is lost to modern readers.

Since the watchers are heavenly, spiritual, and immortal, the divine spirit with which they have endowed their sons is uneradicable [sp?] in the normal course of events. The death of their human side serves only to free that spirit for further activity. Moreover, as one can see from their activities, the giants have inherited the wicked, rebellious side of their fathers’ nature.

NOTE: The footnote below is of interest to Dr. Heiser's case, but it holds within it a nugget of truth to help guide us in being suspicious of "scholars". We ought never trust someone just because of a title. We need higher ground.

The following is written by a Qumran Essene member to others in the community.

Other Second Temple Period material makes the same theological point—the demonic Watcher spirits after the Flood played a role in human depravity. For instance, the Dead Sea Scroll 4Q 510 (4QShira) Fragment 1 includes the post-Flood Watchers (“bastard spirits”; line 5) in its indictment:

1…praises. Bless[ings to the Ki]ng of glory. Words of thanksgiving in psalms of 2 [splendour] to the God of knowledge, the glory of the po[werful] ones[a], God of gods[b], Lord of all the holy ones[c]. [His] rea[lm] 3 is above the powerful mighty[d], and before the might of his powe[r] all are terrified and scatter; they flee[e] before the radiance of 4 of his glorious majestic strong[hold]. Blank And I, a Sage, declare the splendor of his radiance in order to frighten and terr[ify] 5 all the spirits of the ravaging angels[f] and the bastard spirits, demons, Lilith, owls and [jackals…][g]

6 and those who strike unexpectedly to lead astray the spirit of knowledge[h], to make their hearts forlorn 'completely abandoned; left behind, forsaken', or 'doomed, on a path leading to certain death'. And you have been placed in the era of the rul[e of] 7 wickedness[i] and in the periods of humiliation of the sons of lig[ht][j], in the guilty periods of [those] defiled by iniquities; not for an everlasting destruction 8 [but ra]ther for the era of the humiliation of sin.[k] [Blank] Rejoice, righteous ones, in the wonderful God. 9 My psalms are for the upright. Blank And for [… May] a[l]l those of perfect behavior praise [h]im.[191][l]

NOTE: The DSS fragment above makes precisely the same point as two recent articles I wrote: Severed and Coupled.

CONCLUSION(S):

1. Passages like Ephesians 6:12; 2 Corinthians 4:4 tell us that Paul, Peter, Jude, John, and others were in full use of Enochian cosmic geography as the basis of what they preached, taught, and wrote. The Watcher story is fully a part of their ministry and the gospel story. It cannot be divorced from it.

2. In terms of reversal and RH, chapter 7, human sin is clearly couched in the Enochian Judaism of the time (2nd Temple and first century Christians). Jesus has come to not only staunch the bleeding caused by the Watchers and their demons (e.g., the Law at Sinai - Galatians 3:19), but to begin the repair of the damage.

PERSONAL NOTE: In chapter 6 notes and presentation, I had cast doubt on what Dr. Mike is about to present. This is what happens when one doesn't read close and careful as well as not exploring and studying prior to offering an opinion. Clearly, I was wrong!

Paul’s view of the Law has baffled scholars such that he has been accused of self-contradiction and inconsistency.[a] While Paul praises the Law (Rom[ans] 7:12, 14) and recognizes its authority in his arguments (Rom[ans] 3:21, 31), he also makes startling claims that it is no longer relevant after the advent of Christ (Rom[ans] 10:4; 2 Cor[inthians] 3:6–9, 14–15). The difficulties of Paul’s view are perhaps nowhere more pronounced than in Galatians 3–4 where the law appears almost entirely negative.

After a dense argument for the superiority of faith in Christ against “works of law” (Gal[atians] 3:1–18) Paul raises a logical question, “Why then the law? (3:19a). If the works of law do not justify (Gal[atians] 2:16; 3:11), place humanity under a curse (Gal[atians] 3:10–11), and the Law itself only added after the Abrahamic promise (Gal[atians] 3:17), then why bother at all?[b] …Paul claims that for the Galatian believers to observe “works of the law,” particularly circumcision (Gal[atians] 5:2–4; 6:12–13; also 1 Cor[inthians] 7:18) and calendar (Gal[atians] 4:10), is tantamount to rejecting Christ (Gal[atians] 5:2–4; 2:21).[c] How can Paul make such a derogatory claim about the Torah?

Contemporary NT scholars find it nearly impossible to imagine a zealous Second Temple Jew, and a Pharisee no less (Phil[lippians] 3:5–6; Gal[atians] 1:13–14), thinking about the Law in this way. Nevertheless, subordination of Mosaic Law is not entirely unknown in Second Temple Judaism. In a rather unique parallel, subordination of Mosaic Law also appears in 1 Enoch. In fact, there are a number of striking parallels between 1 Enoch, particularly the Book of Watchers (BW 1 En[och] 1–36), Jubilees, and Paul’s argument in Galatians 3–4. First, both 1 Enoch and Galatians subordinate the Torah as the pinnacle of revelation in similar ways. Second, there is a shared emphasis on the cosmic significance of transgressions[d] in each text. Third, all three works are concerned with angels and their relationship to the structure of the cosmos.[d] Tracing these parallels indicates that Paul’s argument about the role of the Law in Gal[atians] 3:19–4:11 is influenced by an Enochic etiology of evil.[e][193]

BASIC IDEA: God puts the Law into place not as a means of salvation and dealing with human transgression towards eternal life, but as a "stop-gap" measure to slow down the on-going damage of the sins of the Watchers and the gods and demons who are pushing their destruction more and more through humanity.

Nullam id dolor id nibh ultricies vehicula ut id elit. Cras justo odio, dapibus ac facilisis in, egestas eget quam. Donec id elit non mi porta gravida at eget metus.

Turning to Paul in Galatians, the significance of Mosaic Torah is, similar to Enoch literature, downplayed based on chronology and universality. In regard to chronology, Paul argues that justification by faith is prior to Torah. He connects his gospel to the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:13…. Later he argues that the promises spoken to Abraham have priority over Torah (Gal[atians] 3:17 [Exodus 12:40–41; cf. Genesis 15:13])…. In Paul’s view Sinai is ancillary to the promise given to Abraham, which he understands to be fulfilled in Christ (Gal[atians] 3:16, 19). This argument is explicit in Gal 3:19 when Paul writes: “the Law was added.”… In addition to chronological priority, Paul is emphatic that the universal revelation of the gospel cannot be limited to one particular people. He understands his personal calling, announcing Christ to the Gentiles, to be a revelation directly from God (Gal[atians] 1:1, 10–12, 16; 2:2, 7) and any threat to the universality of this revelation to be anathema (Gal[atians] 1:6–9; 2:14).[195]

There are many "Grace preachers" in the 21st century. Perhaps all of them do not know the contents of the topic we are covering. While they may have a rejection of "The Law" and their reasons for it—not having a proper Enochian context gives them an improper logical means of rejecting it (e.g., not the same as Paul) and neither do they have a proper context for understanding the notion of Grace as well (e.g., Enochian context of what grace is and when it comes - prize at the end of the race of life and living, running of the loyalty test to God in Christ).

Many contemporary theologians in the 20th and 21st centuries have sought to reconcile the seeming tension between law and grace, particularly in Christian systematics and biblical theology. The primary matter to note is how none of these views (doctrines) have an Enochian (Watchers and giants) framework or worldview within which to understand what Paul is writing regarding Law vs. Grace. None of them see the work of God as ongoing (e.g., Grace-from-the-start). They all try to paint the Work of God as compartmentalized and fragmented rather than as fluid.

Here are some of the prevailing theologies surrounding Law vs. Grace in these periods:

1. Covenant Theology: Known as "Reformed" theology, this perspective views the Law as a part of the everlasting covenant promise from God to his faithful people. Through Jesus Christ, this covenant is fulfilled, and the moral law (Ten Commandments) are upheld in grace. Prominent proponents: R. C. Sproul, J. I. Packer.

2. New Covenant Theology: This approach views the entire Old Testament Law as fulfilled and "replaced" through Christ's grace in the New Covenant. The Law is seen not as binding, but as a teacher leading people to Christ. Prominent proponents: John Piper, Tom Wells.

3. Antinomianism: Growing from radical reformations, it posits that Christians under grace are completely free from the Law. It argues that grace supercedes the Law to such an extent that believers are not bound by the moral law at all. Prominent proponents: Johannes Agricola, contemporary variants in some evangelical circles.

4. Dispensationalism: A relatively recent theology that views biblical history through "dispensations" or epochs. The Law belongs to an earlier dispensation, while grace comes in with the Church Age, leading to a sharp distinction between Law and Grace. Prominent proponents: Charles Ryrie, John Nelson Darby.

5. Orthodox and Catholic Perspective: In these traditions, grace not only fulfills but also encompasses and transforms the Law. Divine grace helps and allows people to obey God's moral law. Prominent proponents: Thomas Aquinas, the Eastern Orthodox tradition.

6. Process Theology: A liberal, modern perspective rooted in the philosophy and metaphysics. It reinterprets God's Law and Grace dynamically, emphasizing the ever-unfolding, evolving relationship between God and creation. Prominent proponents: John B. Cobb Jr., Charles Hartshorne.

7. Messianic Judaism / Hebrew Roots: These movements believe that the Law should still be respected and practiced by Christians, as Jesus (Yeshua) himself kept the Law. They argue that grace does not equal lawlessness. Prominent proponents: David Stern, Michael Brown.

8. Grace Theology (hyper/ultra-grace): This recent movement emphasizes grace to an extent that some view it as a reformed version of Antinomianism. It teaches that confessing sins and obedience to the Law is unnecessary due to the completed work of Christ. Prominent proponents: Joseph Prince.

These understandings are by no means exhaustive, and interpretations can vary within each group. Still, it demonstrates the range of theologies grappling with the complex interplay between Law and Grace.

I was taught that the Law was put in place to reveal human sin (transgression): Romans 3:20: "For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin." Can it be that the Law does both?—that is—restrains the transgressions of the Watchers and giants (now demons) being acted out in humanity and also to reveal those transgressions?

Either way—salvation is given as a prize to the race of life and living by faith in Christ and empowered to loyalty to Him. There is a promise, but the promise is upheld for those who hold the line of loyalty to Him by His power operating in them and not as mere lip-service to Him.

Apparently it is assumed without comment that the transgressions are Adam’s. This is not surprising since the dominant etiology of evil in contemporary Christian theology is the “Fall” of Gen[esis] 3.

We know the above to be very true. It is the theology with which most of us were raised and brought up.

Surprisingly, however, apart from 4 Ezra (3:20–22; 7:116–126), 2 Baruch (54:13–22), and the Life of Adam and Eve (esp. Vit. Adae 12–17; GLAE 15–26), the story of Genesis 3 was not the primary text for explaining the origin of evil in Second Temple Judaism…. Certainly Paul makes explicit reference to Adam in Romans 5, but there is no indication that Paul is alluding to the Adam cycle in Galatians 3–4. Moreover, Romans specifies that the singular “transgression” belongs to the “one Adam” (5:14), whereas in Galatians it is “transgressions” in the plural that prompt[s] the addition of the Law. What if Paul is working from a different etiology of evil in Galatians 3–4? The key text in the Hebrew Bible for describing the origin and effects of evil in Second Temple Judaism was not Genesis 3, but Genesis 6:1–4…. This Enochic etiology of evil, namely that angelic “Sons of God” produced illegitimate offspring with human women and thereby altered the cosmos, was pervasive in Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity.[197]

There is a surprising view to be found in Second Temple Judaism and first century Christians that Adam is not viewed as the source of human sin (Genesis 3), but it is the Watchers and giants (now demons).

We’ve already seen that many Jews gave weight to the Watchers’ transgression, Enoch’s version of Genesis 6:1–4, as the reason for human depravity. The statement that Genesis 3 was not the chief proof text for human sin should not be as surprising as it probably is. Consider the Old Testament. Despite repeated descriptions of the sinfulness of humankind, there isn’t a single citation of Genesis 3 or Adam’s Fall in the entire Old Testament for an explanation of human depravity.
So, when Paul says the law “was added because of transgressions,” just whose transgressions does he have in mind? Since he refers to plural transgressions, and not merely to Adam’s Fall, the witness of Second Temple Judaism is that Paul would be utterly alone if he wasn’t thinking of the Watchers.

STOP! Let the above really and truly start to sink in. If the OT lacks even a single instance of linking Genesis 3, Eve and then Adam to the overall depravity of humanity, but instead places the emphasis on Genesis 6:1-4, what are we to make of modern theologies built exclusively around Genesis 3?

What I personally now make of them is that they are misguided teachings and regurgitations of 1,700 years of church traditions taught as bible doctrine, which they are not. They then become distortions that need to be torn down and the rightful story placed rightfully back where it once stood before the eyes of the church of Jesus Christ!

After forty years, I am well-versed and well-rehearsed in seeing the "logic" of basing human depravity completely on Genesis 3 and the "Fall of Adam". It's understandable. What I am suggesting to all reading this is how much personal courage it will take to literally dump that theology over the side of the boat and pick up the original understanding and worldview of the first century, where the sins of the Watchers and later giants (now gods and demons) are the primary driver as the source of evil in the world.

NOTE: It helps answer the question of, "Why does a holy God allow evil in the world?" The answer is: The temporary allowance of evil is a tool in the loyalty test of all created free-willed creatures, both heavenly and earthly, where only the earthly are allowed grace and redemption through the power of God in Christ (Cross and indwelling Spirit of Christ formed in us).

Dr. Mike continues by pointing to NT scholar Richard Bauckman who notes the strong link from Jude 1 to 1 Enoch in terms of wandering stars, fallen stars, and Watchers bound until judgment (1 Enoch "Book of Dreams").

As already covered: 20th and 21st century Christians are only taught one source or explanation for human depravity. Doing so brings about inconsistencies and distortions of the real story (and backstory) of scripture. This is both our plight and our fight.

Given that modern Christians are only taught one explanation for human depravity instead of the two that New Testament writers would have embraced, the fact that certain early church fathers acknowledged the role of the Watchers’ transgressions in human depravity is largely unknown. Irenaeus, for example, taught both explanations for the proliferation of sin.[200]

Through the eyes of Iranaeous:

These contrasting parallels show that the birth of God’s son in Galatians offers legitimate sonship to humanity to counteract the transgression of the Watchers and their bastard sons who terrorize the earth.[199] Reversing cosmic upheaval required something greater than the law. It required a Messiah whose atoning death would ripple throughout the cosmos, healing the entire creation. The birth, death, and resurrection of the Son of God reconciles all things, whether on earth or in heaven (Colossians 1:19) and holds the entire creation together (Colossians 1:16–17).

Also, it is well known that Satan appears in the writings of Irenaeus as the “tempter” of Adam. However, Irenaeus often bypasses Adam in his treatment of Satan and angels, so that this evil spirit world directly brings about mankind's sinful condition. In effect, then, Irenaeus sometimes attributes the origin of sin directly to Satan and his forces in terms strongly reminiscent of 1 Enoch, Jubilees, and other late Jewish pseudepigraphical writings…. Irenaeus explicitly states this about the devil, “who first became the cause of apostasy to himself and afterwards to others.” The “others” and first to follow Satan in apostasy are a group of angels who revolted from a state of submission to God. Many passages [in Irenaeus] speak of the apostasy…. Irenaeus definitely understands that there exists a causal relationship between Genesis 6:1–4 and the wickedness that follows in Genesis 6:5. But he need not have come to such an understanding without some assistance, because this speculation on Genesis had already been worked out and set down in Jewish pseudepigraphical literature.[201]

Conclusion

What are we to conclude from all of this? There are perhaps many matters, but what are the primary thoughts?

From the view of both the OT and the NT, human sin and depravity is not a function of Genesis 3 and Adam alone. Instead, it is overshadowed in the larger context of Watchers and giants (now gods and demons who still plague the present hour). Perhaps stated another way—you are not alone in your sin, but you have help from beings at war with and in rebellion against God.

The aim of these beings is to lure you away from God in many ways. First—away from faith in Him and His promise to reverse the damage of the Watchers and their giant bastards. More pointedly—away from looking to God to do this reversal through His own self, power, Cross, and indwelling Spirit, by which our newly regenerated spirit can operate with success in the loyalty test of this era of creation in prep for the era to come (eternity).

The Sin of the Watchers and Human Depravity

Human depravity: Two reasons, not one

DESIRE TO SIN: Internal toxin; a "condition" (being sick)

DSS Example 1: 11Q5 XXIV.11–13 - Dry up the roots of it in me

DSS Example 2: 1QHa IX. 21–25 - Foundation of Shame

DEMONS: Sin condition facilitates demon influence via temptation

GENESIS 6:5 Strange Problem - How do we square 1-4 with 5?

APKALLU STORY: Watchers and Giants and Humans?

MORE PROOF: Using the DSS to reinforce the argument.

ADDED BECAUSE: Added because of whose transgressions?

LIMITED LAW: Abrahamic covenant greater than limited Law

PERSONAL NOTE: Grace preachers have a wrong basis!

REVEAL OR RESTRAINT: Does Law reveal or restrain transgression?

NOT ADAM: Surprising view of divorcing Adam as source of sin.

PERSONAL NOTE: Understanding the false lens and its results.

PER JUDE: False teachers linked to angels that sinned.

BIRTH OF JESUS: The birth of Jesus as the reversal of the Watchers.

EARLY CHURCH: Testimony of church to sins of Watchers and sin.

Conclusion