God is a Man of War by Stephen De Young is an excellent study on violence in the Old Testament. After reading this book, I decided to revise my post on herem warfare, which was one of the most difficult posts I have written.
De Young is a proponent of the hybrid-giant view of the Nephilim. According to this ancient Jewish view, the “sons of god” in Genesis 6 are fallen angels who cohabitated with human females and produced the Nephilim—giants who were part human and part angelic. Here is the text of Genesis 6:1-4:
When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 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.”
4 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. (NIV)
This view of the Nephilim is expressed in the Book of Enoch (or 1 Enoch), which was written in approximately the first century BC. In chapter 15, Enoch also explains the origin of evil spirits. “Evil spirits have proceeded from their [the giants] bodies. . . And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth.”
Although 1 Enoch is not in the canon of Scripture, it is quoted by Jude:
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (vv. 14-15)
This quote comes from 1 Enoch chapter 1 verse 9. Additionally, there are other allusions to 1 Enoch in Scripture so we know it influenced biblical authors.
These ideas are certainly strange, but we must admit from a Western scientific point of view, much of Scripture is strange. De Young writes, “the authors of Scripture believed that God, angels, demons, the spirits of the dead, and other spiritual realities were real. They held them to be as real as rocks, trees, and humans” (73). Have you ever heard angels and demons placed on the same level of reality as rocks and trees? And yet if the Bible is accurate, these entities are just as real as anything we can see or hear.
Scripture is certainly unusual to the modern Western mind, but what isn’t bizarre nowadays? Quantum mechanics, time travel, UFOs, aliens? Many are contemplating outlandish ideas. Even on a scientific level, reality is far more complex that we can fathom. Avoiding strangeness is not an option.
The question is will we accept the strange world of Scripture?
After graduating from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, I served as a high school Bible teacher in Asia. I enjoy traveling, writing, and playing the drums. My latest book focuses on Paul’s work as a tentmaker and what it means for today.
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Steady Les You are indeed a man of courage…..Past this point “There be Dragons”
You are voicing what has remained unspoken (the elephant in the room) with most Christians. However a small but important group of believers who actually read and study the Bible are concerned and worry about many of these “strange verses” I remember
being tactfully told not to worry about these things because God has total control and we do not need to understand this “stuff”. Some of us remain confused as to why certain “Sons of God wanted human women in the first place since the general understanding among most Christians is that there was no procreation or marrying among angels going on in heaven? Could it be possible that God changed them? We
are very much interested in your exploration into the “Land of “Dragons.”
Best Will M
Jesus says, “At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven” (Matt 22:30). So angels in heaven don’t marry each other. This is a general description of how angels relate to each other in heaven so it wouldn’t necessarily apply to angels who trespass their God-given boundaries.
This particular story of the angelic fall is a major theme in 1 Enoch. Since Jude quotes 1 Enoch and writes “the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling,” he probably had this story in mind.
Enoch and Jude were definitely right about the rebellious angels trespassing their God-given boundaries ,,,(thats the basic narrative of the entire event). What’s interesting to me as one of the inquiring mind people Sometimes I think
unfortunate inquiring minds……Is what is heaven and it’s residents really like? Do angels even possess the physical attributes necessary for procreation and if so why? If Jude knew more than we are interpreting from “the angels who did not keep their positions of authority “?… and “abandoned their proper dwelling”? and
God doesn’t intend for us to NOT know….maybe a few of us would be very interested.
I realize I am assuming and asking for clarity.in the Spiritual World….where Paul full of the Holy Spirit warned us we are only allowed to “see through a glass darkly”….Through many long years and strained eyes here I am…still staring at the fog. We who do this can’t help doing it…and no doubt will until we get there!
Thank you Les you are one of the very few teachers who help us see a little more clearly and sincerely do so without bias or ego God bless Will M