A Giant Problem: As in the Days of Noah, Pt. 3 – The Politics of Genetic Corruption

Posted on August 30, 2014 by Janine

Having dealt with Enoch (we will make reference later), lets move back to Scripture and park here a while. What exactly was going on in the Days of Noah that was so bad that God had to destroy the entire world for it? There are a lot of clues in Scripture. Let’s review them by starting in Genesis 6.

Rebels with a Very Evil Cause

1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

²That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

³And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

⁴There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

⁵And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

⁶And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

⁷And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

Here in this first part of chapter 6 and also in the book of Jude, we see the sons of God, who we saw in earlier posts were angels, saw the daughters of men, that they were fair –in like manner [as to Sodom & Gomorrah] gave themselves over to fornication, and went after “strange flesh” (Jude 7) – married them, went in to them, and had children who were as the KJV translates – Giants.

הַנְּפִלִים

The word for giants here is the word nephilim which is found throughout the Old Testament and is of uncertain etymology; however, Gesenius indicates an underlying designation of this word also means fallers, or fallen ones – so that the passage could also be interpreted “There were fallen ones in the earth in those days…” or “there were Nephilim in the earth in those days, using the Hebrew directly.” The Nephilim, or fallen angels, fathered children whom the text says “became mighty men which were of old.” The word for mighty men is gibbohrim or

הַגִּבֹּרִים

These Gibbohr were mighty men, impetuous, military men, and tyrants; and, many note that later in the book of Genesis when it speaks of Nimrod being a mighty hunter before the Lord, it uses this very phrase Gibbohr to describe him. The implicit thought there being that Nimrod, in his rebellion, had the same spirit as and was perhaps trying to accomplish some of the same things as these characters in Genesis 6.

Full of Violence and Corruption

So, the angels were evil and their progeny were evil and God declared He was going to destroy them. But why?

¹¹The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

¹²And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

¹³And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Interesting looking at this passage in a day when ISIS is beheading children and there are threats of terror all around the word. Also, it is interesting at looking at it through the lens of history. Has there ever been a time where the world was not full of evil and violence? Back in the middle ages, they would impale people and send their body parts around the realm just to show they meant business. Was Noah’s day more violent than that? I think you have to take the passage in its totality to see what was really going on .

First, Scripture says “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” How so? Verse 7 says “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.” One could understand man, if he was that wicked, getting his judgment – but the animals too? Why them? The Bible doesn’t explicitly say; but, here is where Enoch may provide some answers. Again, Enoch is not Scripture and shouldn’t be treated as such; however, where it speaks to the truth it is true and was respected enough to be quoted by both Jude and Peter, and maybe even Jesus Himself – so lets indulge a little.

Enoch Chapter 7 says

1 And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms 2 and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And they 3 became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells: Who consumed 4 all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against 5 them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and 6 fish, and to devour one another’s flesh, and drink the blood.

So, it sounds like the Giants have corrupted both the human imagination as well as its genome; and the giants then turn against men to destroy them and start going after the animals and sinning against them (perhaps through bestiality, perhaps through genetic manipulation). At this point, it has been speculated upon that perhaps some of the old legends may be true? If they could mix with human genes, what about animals? Were images such as these recollections of days gone by? Pretty wild to speculate about; but certainly something very very bad was going on – beyond the norm of what we see today – for God to destroy all of humanity.

Pretty much beyond comprehension or belief until you see pictures like this:

But, I digress… Back to the Bible

We have God looking upon His creation and He sees also, in addition to its violence and evil thoughts – it is corrupt. The word here is shachath which can mean destroyed, perverted and spoiled. This goes beyond what we think of sinful corruption (i.e., that corrupt politician); but denotes a total destruction of God’s natural order for mankind. They have been spoiled and they have spoiled themselves.

The Perfect Man

Noah, however, was not one of these. The Bible says that he found grace (or acceptance) in God’s eyes and that he was just and perfect in his generations. Here, the word for perfect doesn’t mean without sin, rather he was complete, whole, entire or sound, wholesome, unimpaired, innocent, having integrity. This could refer to his moral character; but the Bible already said he was just. Or, it could mean that he, among his generation, was not one of THEM. He and his immediate family were not corrupted. God would save His remnant. Satan’s plan would not prevail – but that doesn’t keep him from trying.

The Book of Enoch: Fraud, Lost Scripture, or Something In Between?

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Janine

A lot of what we will be talking about in the weeks to come will seem very foreign and may raise some skepticism; but, it is is a very real and present danger. It ties somewhat to the mindset during the days of Noah and will likely factor greatly into the End Times scenario, so it’s a topic that we’ll be pursuing for a while; but first, I feel it is necessary to get a good feel for what those days were like which will require delving into the historical sources; both biblical and extra-biblical. As a presuppositionalist Christian; the ruling assumption of my life is that Scripture is accurate and perfect in any matter it deals with. My understanding may not be perfect at all times; but, God has a way of correcting our mistaken beliefs as He fashions us into the image and likeness of Christ. Bottom line, I care to be biblically correct even if it means not being politically or socially correct.

Where other texts go, I take them for what they are and if they contradict Scripture, it is the work that is wrong, not Scripture.

In terms of the fallen angels who sinned, I have always believed that they were just that. It’s just what the surface of the text says and when the Bible makes common sense seek no other sense. Some have latched onto the beliefs espoused by Nicene & Post-Nicene fathers such as Augustine who explained the happenings in Genesis 6 as being the righteous sons of Seth mating with the evil daughters of Cain. I never believed that theory and do not believe it is scripturally sustainable. Still, the fallen angels theory isn’t without some tension. For instance, these angel-human hybrids…did they have souls? Were they saveable? How can ‘kinds’ mix? These are questions we shall revisit later when we discuss what’s going on today in the world of science.

Another question that troubles many is the role of the book of Enoch in telling the story. Let me state first, I have not read, nor do I have interest in reading, the entirety of the book of Enoch. I know that it was rejected by Jewish and Christian authorities for inclusion in the canon of Scripture and much of the later portions of the book may even be heretical (though I think some of the objections found at other sites are overreaching in labeling certain areas heresy). Since the book is assumed to be several works combined as “the Book of Enoch” it may be the more heretical portions polluted what was once a good book seeking to teach something that is theologically true. Who’s to say. It is argued, however, that the early church fathers such as Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus, and Origen believed it to be as authoritative as any book of Scripture and Tertullian noted: “But as Enoch has spoken in the same scripture of the Lord, and ‘every scripture suitable for edification is divinely inspired,’ let us reject nothing which belongs to us. It may now seem to have been disavowed by the Jews like all other scripture which speaks of Christ—a fact which should cause us no surprise, as they were not to receive him, even when personally addressed by himself.” So, at least portions of Enoch were highly regarded by the earliest church and as such should at least be considered (in a proper setting an context) worthy of our exploration. Others are obviously not true and should be rejected. In either case, it should not be elevated to the level of Scripture nor should Jude’s quoting from it be considered an all-encompassing endorsement. Rather, I hold Enoch as an interesting read that probably has some elements within it that were passed down as tradition from the time of Noah and others that were creations of the authors at later times. Like any apocryphal book, it may have parts that are historically true, but it isn’t Scripture nor should it be. This doesn’t mean that it isn’t worth our time to study it, however.

For the purposes of this blog, we will just look at 1 Enoch, for it relates most closely to the topic of hand.

In our last post, we went over the portion of Enoch which Jude quoted from, which is highly eschatological in nature and will be a topic of a future post. For now, let’s skip to the portion which relates most closely to Genesis 6 – that is, 1 Enoch 6.

1 And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto 2 them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men 3 and beget us children.’

This is almost a direct quote of Genesis 6:1-2

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

But, Enoch goes further and starts naming these angels in 6:3-8:

And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: ‘I fear ye will not 4 indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.’ And they all answered him and said: ‘Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations 5 not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.’ Then sware they all together and bound themselves 6 by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn 7 and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And these are the names of their leaders: Samlazaz, their leader, Araklba, Rameel, Kokablel, Tamlel, Ramlel, Danel, Ezeqeel, Baraqijal, 8 Asael, Armaros, Batarel, Ananel, Zaqiel, Samsapeel, Satarel, Turel, Jomjael, Sariel. These are their chiefs of tens.

[Chapter 7]
1 And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms 2 and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And they 3 became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells: Who consumed 4 all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against 5 them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and 6 fish, and to devour one another’s flesh, and drink the blood. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.

So, we see here where the book of Enoch portrays the sin of Genesis 6 as a mutiny of the angels against God’s created order which devolved into all sorts of debauchery and produced the giants who were the most evil of all beings who were into all sorts of sexual perversion and even cannibalism and vampirism. Yuck!

The book goes on with other things the angels taught humanity, corrupting it to the point that the good Angels such as Michael raise a protest to God who then pronounces judgment and sets the stage for the flood: And so, God condemns these mutinous angels and binds them for 70 generations (interestingly, if Ussher’s chronology is correct, that puts their judgment some place within the next 100 years). In chapter 15, He also speaks of their progeny as having evil spirits coming out from them which will roam the earth and oppress men and women from whom they came.

Interesting reading for sure, but now lets bounce it against Scripture to see what we know.

Jude discusses in depth what happened with the Angels:

⁶And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

⁷Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

These two verses square with Enoch in that the angels left their position, gave themselves over to fornication, went after strange flesh, are in chains until judgement and will suffer vengeance of eternal fire. So far, so good.

Peter also alludes to the story: 2 Peter 2:4

⁴For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

Also possibly in 1 Peter 3:

¹⁹By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

²⁰Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

And, Jesus Himself may have referred to it when He noted: John 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:

Compared with 1 Enoch 69

26. And there was great joy amongst them,
And they blessed and glorified and extolled
Because the name of that Son of Man had been revealed unto them.
27. And he sat on the throne of his glory,
And the sum of judgement was given unto the Son of Man,
And he caused the sinners to pass away and be destroyed from off the face of the earth,
And those who have led the world astray.

So, it is probable that this was a book that was circulating at the time and that the early church and disciples found at least some of it somewhat authentic. It appears there may have been some later additions to it which weren’t of the same character; but, all of it or most of it had been written by about 100BC (much around 300 BC during the diaspora).

With that as the pattern for this blog, we will now return to the book of Genesis, looking at it through the lens of Peter, Jude, and a bit more loosely, Enoch, and try to see what it was like “In the Days of Noah.”

The Book of Enoch can be found at:

http://www.ccel.org/c/charles/otpseudepig/enoch/ENOCH_1.HTM

Categories: Book of Enoch, Giants, Nephillim, Noah | Comments Off

A Giant Problem: As in the Days of Noah, Pt. 2

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Janine

In this day and age, when we look at history we hear great stories of the Greeks and Romans and their might, their political power, their military feats, their technological innovations, and their religious heritage. Likewise, their myths and legends are not only the topic of studies in schools and universities, but popular backdrops and plot devices in movies and books as well. From 2004’s Troy, starring Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom to The Hunger Games, it appears that these stories are timeless in their ability to stimulate the imagination of audiences around the world. But are they just stories? Might there be some element of truth within them? Such is a key theory of some scholars and students of the history of the Nephilim – a theory that is not without some intriguing evidence. And, no, I’m not talking about the fake giant skeletons that one sees all over the internet. These are akin to faked UFO photos – there may be something real in the mix who knows what to believe?

Elongated Skull Paracas, Peru

Nefertiti statue showing elongated skull

No, the evidence I’m talking about things such as the Pyramids and other megalithic structures throughout the world that people theorize about but really don’t know about how they were built – stone carvings and statues showing other-than-human looking beings; elongated skulls in Peru and elsewhere, some possibly not caused by cradle-boarding, but born that way (also born lacking a sagittal suture), cultures trying to emulate that physical attribute, stories, not just from the Bible but from other cultures indicating a time where there were beings that roamed the earth that were revered by some and feared by many. All of these point to the old adage – where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

That fire, I believe, is found in the ancient nephilim – the demigods of old – who being part human were at first powerful and awe-striking in their appearance – and whose presence and genetic boundary breaking spurred many fictional accounts based upon these beings who still played a role in humanity’s collective memory.

Since our main source for any truth will be and must be the Holy Bible, I’m not going to veer too much into extra-biblical texts; but, I think it would be a mistake just to dismiss them wholly. For instance, the Book of Enoch was clearly read by our ancient Christian ancestors. Large portions of it were found amongst the Dead Sea scrolls and pre-date the birth of Christ; so, they weren’t something just made up out of nowhere during the middle ages. They are not a fraud. They are also, however, not scripture and the ancient Rabbis and early Christians kept them out of the Scriptural canon for a reason. So, in studying the book of Enoch and books like it, we can look at them like other books, such as the Apocrypha, containing useful material but not Scripture.

In the book of Enoch, you see the story of the angels who fell told in great detail.

It starts out with a text that appears highly biblical:

The words of the blessing of Enoch, wherewith he blessed the elect and righteous, who will be living in the day of tribulation, when all the wicked and godless are to be removed. And he took up his parable and said -Enoch a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me, and from them I heard everything, and from them I understood as I saw, but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come. Concerning the elect I said, and took up my parable concerning them:

The Holy Great One will come forth from His dwelling,

And the eternal God will tread upon the earth, (even) on Mount Sinai,

[And appear from His camp]

And appear in the strength of His might from the heaven of heavens.

And all shall be smitten with fear

And the Watchers shall quake,

And great fear and trembling shall seize them unto the ends of the earth.

And the high mountains shall be shaken,

And the high hills shall be made low,

And shall melt like wax before the flame

And the earth shall be wholly rent in sunder,

And all that is upon the earth shall perish,

And there shall be a judgement upon all (men).

But with the righteous He will make peace.

And will protect the elect,

And mercy shall be upon them.

And they shall all belong to God,

And they shall be prospered,

And they shall all be blessed.

And He will help them all,

And light shall appear unto them,

And He will make peace with them’.

And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones

To execute judgement upon all,

And to destroy all the ungodly:

And to convict all flesh

Of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed,

And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.

Note a couple of things. The author of the book of Enoch first notes that this vision is being told in a parable to those in the last days. So, while many of the facts may be true; the work itself is a fictional attempt to depict what happened and what will happen. It is a parable which also (imperfectly) tries to tell great truth.

Second, the passage we just quoted from is also quoted from in Jude 14-15:

¹⁴And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,

¹⁵To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

In fact, the story of angels who fell is attested to and partially supported in the New Testament by two of Christ’s apostles, Jude and Peter – so we can’t dismiss the book out of hand. Rather, the best approach to Enoch is to read it for what it is, a pseudopigraphal work that has interesting and relevant information in it which must always be bounced against Scripture to determine its authenticity.

This is what we are going to do for the next several posts as we try to figure out what exactly happened in the book of Genesis and how the story of the Nephilim is relevant to our day.

Categories: Book of Enoch, Giants, Nephillim, Noah, Transhumanism | Comments Off

Lazarus and the Death of Robin Williams

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Janine

I lost a friend that I’ve known for close to 20 years today, or at least I got defriended by her on Facebook. She did not let me know that I was defriended; however, she did private message me to send me an article entitled “Robin Williams and the Christian Response” by former Cedarville University President Bill Brown, who chastises Christians for using the tragic death of the late actor/comedian as a “preaching moment.” and lumps Christians who would speak in anything other than glowing terms about the man and his life with those who apparently bullied Baptist minister Ergun Caner’s young son Braxton so badly that last week the teenager, like Williams, tragically took his own life.

My friend did not leave words aside from the article but given the content of the article and the defriending, I can only suppose I was being scolded. However, I would submit that she has it, and Brown has it, completely wrong.

Robin Williams was by all accounts a comic genius. His quick whit and lighting fast improvisation skills would often leave his audiences with aching sides and tear stained faces from laughing so hard. Listening to him, one was immediately struck by his sheer energy; and yet, there was a very serious side to him as well – a side that we saw glimpses of on the screen, but which mostly remained hidden from his public who are remembering him with a fondness and adoration this week rarely seen.

For 37 years, Williams was been a fixture on the American stage showcasing a talent that labeled him as one of the greats, and deservedly so. When he died on August 11th, it was as if Don McLean’s iconic song American Pie got a new verse – the day the laughter died. It was tragic. It was heartbreaking. And, it was final.

When I heard that Robin Williams had passed away, I was on my computer talking to a friend and my very first thoughts were not to hurl insults towards Williams. Rather, my first thoughts were towards His soul. I wondered if there was any evidence anywhere that he knew my Savior. I hoped somewhere to find evidence that he could have gone to heaven. So, I got on that repository of information, Google, looking for comments he may have made about his religious beliefs. There were very few. However, there were segments of his comedy routine in which he made a joke of Jesus, His betrayal, His virgin birth, His death, His burial and His resurrection. The routine was blasphemous, though not out of the ordinary for modern stand up; and, it told me pretty much all I needed to know. Williams was loveable, funny, highly applauded, successful, wealthy, had a great family and a great career – and, by all appearances, he died lost.

Meanwhile, Facebook and the news stations were all ablaze about the shocking cover story and I watched people, Christian and non-Christian, talk about his impact and the great loss they were feeling. A part of Americana was gone. This was a time of mourning.

So, I guess that is the point in which I stepped in it with my friend. I was not ugly about it, but I was not covert either. I simply stated that here was a man who had everything that this world craves, and in one moment, he’s in eternity and all of it is gone. In 20 years, they will remember him as a funny guy in old movies who killed himself. I was not judging him or his depression or his suicide in any way. My only brother committed suicide when I was a teenager and I am acutely aware of the high price and devastating affects of depression in a person’s life. So I am not like some ignorant people who would condemn him because he decided to put an end to his life. Rather, I felt compelled to speak up because I live in a world in which billions of people believe if you are good enough, if you are generous enough, if you are kind enough, you will be able to work your way to Heaven – and here I was witnessing many people, including Christians, proclaiming that this is where Williams went. Why? Because he was devoutly religious? No. Some have said he may even have been an atheist, though listening to him, it sounds like he leaned more towards agnosticism. No, it was because they liked him. In fact, given the intensity of the outpouring, many idolized him. They identified with him through films, even though they didn’t know him at all. And, the thought of him dying and spending eternity in Hell was more than they could stomach – so, they skipped the cross, the skipped his sin, they skipped all of that and immediately put him at St. Peter’s gates or as the Laugh Factories marquee stated “Robin Williams Rest in Peace Make God Laugh.”

But you can’t skip the cross. You can’t skip your sin. You have to face up to it – as painful as that is for many to come to grips with. There are no shortcuts due to good works or personal popularity or gregariousness. None of us has even a thimble’s full of goodness that could stand up under the light of the glory and holiness of God. None of us is worthy of Heaven, though we would like to make it so. Williams himself couldn’t conceive of anything different. If there was a heaven, he believed he would be there and imagined what it could be like. He was not unlike a figure in biblical history whom Jesus simply referred to as “the rich man.”

Luke 16 says

¹⁹There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

²⁰And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

²¹And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

²²And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

²³And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

²⁴And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

²⁵But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

²⁶And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

²⁷Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:

²⁸For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

²⁹Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

³⁰And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

³¹And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

It has been noted that this story does not fit the pattern of a parable since Lazarus is called out by name. So, in all likelihood the rich man in the story is someone that lived and may have even been someone some of Jesus’s listeners was familiar with and maybe even admired.

In verse 19, it speaks of this man’s lifestyle and speaks of how he fared sumptuously. In Greek, the words mentioned essentially speak of the joy and gusto with which this man lived his life. He truly had it all, and then in a flash it was all gone. He had gained the whole world – but he had lost his soul. Now, he was in Hell. And, he who had lived so lavishly was now the beggar – only there was no relief for his pain. There was no turning back. The realization that this was now his fate for all eternity became starkly clear; and the horrors of hell drove him to desperation.

Notice, the rich man was not necessarily an evil man by worldly standards. It has been said that the kind of sinner you were here is the kind of sinner you will be in Hell if that is your destination. After his immediately bodily needs were not met, his first thought was towards his brothers. Tell them about this place. Please. Keep them out of here. Go tell them that they may repent and live! In addition to his wealth and joyous living, this rich man had a heart; and yet, here in eternity, it merited him nothing. It was too late. Just as he never turned to God to live, Abraham solemnly declared “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”

And Lazarus, the rejected one, well he truly was no longer in pain and no longer felt the scourge of a sin-scarred world upon his body. He was free. And he had joy beyond what we can comprehend today. He who had nothing was now clothed in princely garments. He who was alone in this world felt the permeating warmth of the love of God through his every pore. And, he who was possibly homeless was now home for eternity and was ever blessed.

I do not know what the final state of Robin Williams’ soul was. Perhaps he remembered some of what God’s Word said through his Episcopalian upbringing and maybe in the end, in the closing moments of his life, he made peace with Christ. I truly hope that he did, for I would not wish Hell upon anyone, and certainly would not wish it on this man who seems to have been a genuinely kind and gentle soul.

Still, regardless where Robin Williams is tonight, I know one thing for certain. If you were to ask him what message he would like to get to his adoring fans and the world during this moment of mourning, he would say this – TELL THEM. TELL THEM. DON’T LET THEM DIE LOST WITHOUT KNOWING ABOUT CHRIST. TELL THEM ABOUT THE SAVIOR.

Categories: Uncategorized | 3 Comments

A Giant Problem: As in the Days of Noah, Pt. 1

Posted on August 5, 2014 by Janine

Going to start delving into a little biblical history at this point with the aim of bringing some context to what Jesus stated would be the conditions of the world during our time.

Let’s start by going all of the way back to the garden of Eden, after Adam and Eve took Satan’s bait and ate of the forbidden fruit. As God is meting out the punishment for this transgression of his direct command, his most violent language is reserved for the deceiver himself, the serpent, or Satan. To the serpent He states:

“Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life”

He then goes on to make an interesting and prophetic statement:

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

This is a very interesting verse because not only does it prophesy the crucifixion and ultimate victory over Satan of the Lord Jesus Christ, but it also notes that Satan has “seed” or offspring. It could be argued that this seed is spiritual seed, or the children of Satan in a spiritual sense, and in this particular verse that may indeed be the answer; but the verse could also have a double meaning in that it could refer to a literal physical group of descendants that owe their existence to Satan in some fashion. Seem like a bizarre supposition? I will admit, it is. However, stick with me and I think things will start to become clearer and perhaps you will see this is an idea that has some biblical merit.

Looking at the word seed in the Hebrew, the word

זֶרַע

used is which is used 229 times in the Scripture, 223 times translated seed or child. Sometimes this is in reference to the sowing of seed, and sometimes this is in reference to physical offspring. Strongs indicates that it can also be indicative of a race of men. So with that in mind, is it even possible that Satan could have physical offspring, much less an entire race of men that owe their existence to him? Before you get nervous, let me first state that I believe that there is only one race today. The human race. So, when I speak of another race, I am speaking of something other than beings that are fully human. That said, I do believe that it was possible for Satan to intermingle with humanity in such a way as to bring about an offspring that could be designated as his seed.

At this point the objection could be made that kind multiplies after kind so therefore inter-kind (defined as specific sets of species such as the dog kind, the human kind, the reptile kind, etc.,) breeding is not possible. In general, I would agree. In God’s natural order of things, species replicate after their own kind (see Strongs H4327 for examples). But it appears that just because it does happen this way, doesn’t mean it can’t happen another way or hasn’t happened another way at some time in the past.

Let me explain. In Genesis 6 we are introduced to a very unique issue. Beginning in verse 1 it states:

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,²That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose…⁴There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

In this verse the words for sons of God are בְנֵי־הָֽאֱלֹהִים which is used several times throughout the Old Testament and is interpreted as angels – in this case, fallen angels. So, fallen angels looked upon human females, married them, and had offspring by them. These offspring were apparently giants, which was the belief of people up until Augustine popularized the “godly sons of Seth” alternative. In the view of the author, the latter view is not credible. Further, we need to look at what the text actually says, not what we think is possible. Good men hold to the Seth line, but historically and hermeneutically they don’t really have a good case at all.

To bolster this idea, we can turn to the book of Jude. Here we read:

⁶And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

⁷Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (Emphasis mine).

So, here again, we see fallen angels, going after strange flesh, and this bringing them into judgment – just as Sodom and Gomorrha would be judged for similar sin. Josephus even writes of these fallen angels in his antiquities:

“For many angels of God accompanied with women, and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own strength; for the tradition is, that these men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians call giants.But Noah was very uneasy at what they did; and being displeased at their conduct, persuaded them to change their dispositions and their acts for the better: but seeing they did not yield to him, but were slaves to their wicked pleasures, he was afraid they would kill him, together with his wife and children, and those they had married; so he departed out of that land. ”

And, the book of Enoch (which we do not hold to the level of Scripture, but do find interesting in several aspects)goes into great detail about who the fallen angels were and the whole scenario behind this crime against God. Again, more on this later.

With this introduction to the topic, I’d like to go into, during the weeks to come, the different groups of Nephilim you find in Scripture, how God dealt with them, how the transhumanist movement mimics certain goals of these creatures, and how understanding this part of history may indeed be crucial to understanding what Jesus meant when He said “as in the days of Noah” and “as in the days of Lot.”

Stay tuned!

Categories: Giants, Nephillim, Noah, Transhumanism | 2 Comments

In Your Local Theatre: Repackaged Promises from Old Messengers

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Janine

WARNING: MOVIE SPOILERS WITHIN.

In researching for this blog, I ran into a note concerning DNA Co-discoverer Francis Crick that indicated that he had admitted to being high on LSD when he figured out the double-helix structure of DNA. Always wanting to check the facts on items such as this, I looked for the origin of that claim and found that it appears to come from somewhat reputable sources. For instance, the NY Times indicates that Crick biographer Matt Ridley wrote of Crick’s experimentation with LSD, in his work “Francis Crick, Discoverer of the Genetic Code.” An article in the Guardian indicated that LSD was his drug of choice and that he advocated the legalization of drugs. And ultimately, the Mail on Sunday published an article by Alun Rees claiming that Crick told several colleagues that he was experimenting with the drug when he discovered the double-helix. One wonders if he was also under the influence of LSD when he postulated the idea of directed panspermia, or that some intelligent life form such as aliens may have seeded the earth with what would ultimately become human beings (anything but God).

The idea itself is intriguing, if not a bit whacky, and likely finds a large audience in our science fiction obsessed culture. Aliens from outer space being our true creators instead of the God of the Bible? Really? Well, such was the plot in Ridley Scott’s 2012 prequel to his Alien series, Prometheus. In that film, Prometheus is not only the name of the space craft the humans are traveling in on their adventure, but one could postulate it is also the identity of the giant humanoids that they discover at their destination. Like the Greek mythological figure, Prometheus, these giant beings are purported to be the creators and engineers of humanity; though, instead of using the earth itself as the raw material for their creation, they used their own DNA in the process.

Prometheus1-1024x597

Several elements of the film are worth noting, since they dovetail directly into the discussion we have been having the past few weeks. First, is the film’s tie to the transhumanist agenda – including its inquiry into key questions associated with that agenda. We see that initially in the character, David. David, you see, is a robot – a robot with with a computer mind that is far superior to the human beings around him. He is made to look just like humans, but with his computer intelligence, is a useful tool of his creators in deciphering the mysteries of the universe. David, for now, complies with this situation (though not without a little trickery) because for now he is somewhat dependent upon his human masters. But, what will the future bring for the self-learning and souless android? Guess we will have to wait for the sequel to the prequel for that answer.

Then there is the whole beating death thing. As mentioned in the last post, Satan’s original lie to Eve was “you shall not surely die”; and, ever since that point he has been trying to prove that true – with a 0% success rate I might add. But Prometheus isn’t the only movie to delve into such realms.

The 2014 movie Transcendence starring Johnny Depp and Morgan Freeman tackles the question in a more direct manner. In this film, transhumanist scientist Will Caster, played by Depp, is on the cutting edge of research concerning human intelligence. When a techno-terrorist group called RIFT goes on the attack against transhumanist efforts around the country, he is caught in the crossfire and is dealt the irreversible blow of having radiation poisoning. Given weeks to live, he, his wife, and his best friend upload his mind to the super computer before he dies. What ensues is chain reaction of events where the computer Will’s knowledge grows greater and greater eventually overtaking the world and threatening to end humanity as we know it. Someone has clearly thought much of this technological trend through – and with human imagination and creativity has given us a glimpse into what the world would be like as a network of soulless machines marching in lockstep towards what man calls progress.

Depp

So how does all of this affect us? What may seem like science fiction is quickly becoming reality. The kind of science depicted in Transcendence and Prometheus already exists today and not completely in an infant form. Android beings have been created and science is working hard at making them as life-like as possible. The idea of uploading the human mind is also something that is being kicked around quite a bit as human thought patterns are being mapped into a series of algorithms that can be transferred from hardware shell to hardwell shell at will – effectively making man immortal and beating the curse. These scientists foresee a post human universe where humans are either improved upon in terms of ability or strength or made immortal altogether. Playing God is exactly what they are doing as they are even going so far as to manipulate the human genome and by directed design, pushing what they see as the evolution of man into something better than human – something post-human – something godlike. It’s the return of the Nephilim and it is skipping the movie screens and coming to a world near you very soon. Stay tuned for more information in the posts to come.

Categories: Nephillim, Transhumanism | 2 Comments

Transhumanism – An Attempt to Reverse the Curse?

Posted on August 1, 2014 by Janine

Chuck Missler has stated that God’s primary jealousy is towards His role as Creator. Certainly, we can see for at least the past 150 years, that role has been under tremendous assault as proponents of the evolutionary hypothesis try to prove “it just ain’t so.” It would seem that rather than submit to the Creator who formed them, some scientists such as Francis Crick and Richard Dawkins would rather believe that Aliens seeded the earth with what became humanity. Score one for intelligent design. As of insulting the Creator weren’t enough, now comes news that through the scientific machinations of the Transhumanist and post-humanist schema, modern scientists seek to usurp the role of God entirely and become the creators themselves. Leading transhumanist thinker Ray Kurzweil, when asked “Do you believe there is a God?” responded “not yet.” (paraphrased here: http://www.kurzweilai.net/singularity-university-plans-massive-upgrade). Is this not the original lie in a new package? Ye shall be as gods? Oh, but wait…there’s more… as mentioned in my last post, a key area of study for Mr. Kurzweil and others is this project of “Solving Death.” Again, was this not the lie that Satan proposed way back in the book of Genesis? Let’s take a look:

Genesis 3

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

²And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

³But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

⁴And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

⁵For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

So here we are, 6,000 years later, and Satan is still stringing out the same bait. 1) You shall be as gods. 2) You shall not surely die. Isn’t that interesting? And man is still taking the bait.

Romans 1

²²Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

²³And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

²⁴Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

²⁵Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

Is that not what we are seeing today? Rather than honor God as God, they declare (with zero proof) that He does not exist and that everything is pure random chance processes. Then, they go about trying to design the next pure random chance process which will catapult them into an era where they, as creators, bring immortality to humankind. Glibly, these arrogant would-be-gods do not see the inherent contradiction in their own thought processes (i.e., we evolved by pure chance but it will require a concentrated effort for us to design the next step in our evolution). They also do not see their own rebellion. Proclaiming themselves as the creators of a whole new species of humanity, they actually take time to posit that with their worldview, one will no longer need something such as religion, which hinders what they deem as “progress.” As John Messerly stated in a recent article for hplusmagazine.com:

But must we relinquish religious beliefs now, before science gives us everything we want? Might we allow the comfort of religious beliefs to those who need them, to those who must tell their children something when someone dies? The most important reason to abandon religious belief is religion’s opposition to most forms of progress. From the elimination of slavery, the use of birth control, and women’s and civil rights, to stem cell research, genetic engineering, and science in general, organized religion often opposes progress. The comfort provided by archaic superstitions often impedes advancement and should be set aside.

I could spend time here deconstructing that statement and eliminating major parts of it (for instance, it was religionists that brought about the abolition of Slavery, Jesus elevated women far above where society had placed them, and some of the greatest scientists the world has ever seen have been devout Christians), but lets hone in on the general tenor or tone of what he is saying. Religion is a lie and what we, the new creators, are positing will give you everything you could ever want or need. Oh, can’t you hear the serpents hiss?

Follow this path, which is not a path that recognizes God for who He is, and you will live for ever. You shall not surely die. You shall be as gods. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Categories: Creationism, Nephillim, Transhumanism | 4 Comments

Transhumanism – Everything Old is New Again, Intro Part 2

Posted on July 22, 2014 by Janine

Futurist Ray Kurzweil is famous for his accurate predictions of technological advancement in the years to come. He accurately predicted things such as the rise of the internet, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the exponential growth of computer knowledge to the point that artificial computer intelligence (AI) would beat human intelligence in things such as chess and trivia. As director of Engineering for Google, and even before he took on that role, he has been instrumental in shaping these technologies and by anyone’s standards, he can be seen as the ultimate thinker, visionary, and genius. With this kind of a track record, it is quite informative to understand what sort of technologies are his pet technologies now.

According to the Times of London, in their December 31, 2013 online edition , Kurzweil’s prime projects at present are “Google Brain” and “Solving Death.” The former is a type of artificial intelligence or machine learning that uses algorithms to understand the human mind and emotions. Ultimately, Kurzweil predicts a time where artificial intelligence via computer technology will exceed the sum total knowledge of the whole of humanity – changing the world forever. The applications for this super intelligence have been and are the focal point of many transhumanists today in that they foresee a time where humans can be augmented to become greater than humans or post-humans with capability that we can not even imagine today. Kurzweil foresees this “singularity” of technological advance as happening around the year 2045, while others place it even earlier.

Kurzweil’s other pet project is solving death. At 65 years old, the agnostic Kurzweil who has poured his whole existence into improving this world would understandably want to create a reality in which humans never died. According to the article cited above, he takes 150 vitamins a day with the aim of extending his life until science is able to improve the immune system so that this will be possible. Theological speaking, I believe they will get close on this one – but ultimately, it is appointed unto man once to die, and then the judgment.

With this in mind, it is valuable to pause right now and think about what the Bible has to say about technological advancement and how the current course of this world will play out. As an aside, though it will tie in to the former, I promise, I would like to take us back through biblical history and see if some of these technologies and philosophies have existed in times past. This exploration will take several posts, but I think in the end, it may not be far off in helping us to understand what is coming down the pike.

Categories: Transhumanism | Comments Off

Israel in the Cross-Hairs – What is next on God’s prophetic timeline?

Posted on July 21, 2014 by Janine

What’s next? Enough horror that we need to actually skip to the back of the book first so we know how it ends up.

As I write this post, the world is an absolute mess! In Europe, the Russians are under fire for likely supplying Ukranian rebels with surface to air missiles that shot down a 777 passenger plane killing all on board. The American border is being overrun by illegal immigrants, stressing the capability of the southern states to handle the influx and further dividing a nation which has already been severely fractured by the actions of its politicos. Governor Rick Perry is making plans to secure his own border in defiance of Washington. In Iraq, Christians are being expelled and exterminated. And, in tiny Israel, a war is on. A war between the terrorist Hamas and the nation of Israel whose people have been under continuous threat since the beginning and who always seems to get the blame for every situation that pops up in that very unstable region.

Though the abandonment of Israel by everyone from the United States to the Presbyterian Church and other supposed Christian organizations seems shocking, it should not surprise us. The Bible predicted this predicament all along; and, it has predicted some of the next events in the life of that nation. It predicts that she will be hated. It predicts she will be attacked by a number of nations. It predicts she will go through the most difficult time in her history to date – and it predicts that a remnant comprised of 1/3 of all of Israel shall be saved.

In the weeks to come, we will explore Israel in Bible prophecy – from the Ezekiel 38 war, to Psalm 83, the fall of Damascus, Syria, Jeremiah 49, and the time of Jacob’s trouble.

Meanwhile, what do I make of the war right now with Hamas? First, let me state I don’t think Hamas is an existential threat to Israel. Honestly, I don’t think anyone is. Recent headlines in England’s the Jewish Telegraph underscore why. Even though the world is against her, the U.N. is hostile towards her, America has abandoned her, and even Christian groups are casting their lots on the side of her enemies, Israel is not alone. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is still for her and will always be because He is true to His covenants. Israel will not be destroyed – at least not entirely.

Zechariah 14:1-2 states:

1 Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

²For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

Now, what is the spoil of Israel? The city of Jerusalem in the whole for one. In 1949, when the nations of the world, and primarily Great Britain, partitioned the land of Israel and created the land of Jordan, they “gave” West Jerusalem to Israel as its capital. And, though the world has recognized Tel Aviv as the capital of Israel, from that first day David Ben Gurion declared Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Why can’t we get that? But, I digress. In 1949, Israel was given West Jerusalem. In 1967, the 6 Day War was fought when Israel preemptively struck out at Egypt which was amassing to attack Israel once again. It had succeeded months of skirmishes and military attacks including the Egyptians blocking the vital Straits of Tiran. Egypt and her allies were showing every intention at going into Israel and Israel beat them to the draw. She destroyed airfields in Egypt and ended up winning over Syria and Jordan as well. In the end, she had peace (at least temporarily) and had obtained what UN resolution 242 set up as “occupied territories” in the Sinai, Gaza Strip, west bank of the Jordan, Golan Heights (where a tour guide on a trip to Israel told us shells raining down upon Israel were a daily occurrence prior to this time), and East Jerusalem as spoils of war.

Go back to our verses. What does the Bible say in Zechariah 14:1-2?

Zechariah 14:1-2 states:

1 Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

It appears that the land will once again be divided. Israel will lose her spoils. Half the city of Jerusalem will be taken back, forcefully. And the day for Israel will be one of the worst in its history.

But, that’s not the end of the story. Let’s read what happens next:

³Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

⁴And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

⁵And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

⁶And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:

⁷But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.

⁸And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.

⁹And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.

God will not abandon Israel, but will fight for her. And, he will win the battle!

The timing of this war is at the end of days, just prior to the Lord setting up his reign during the Millennium, around the time of Armageddon. Prior to this, there will be a time more painful and more difficult that Israel or the World has ever seen. A discussion of these events is what we will explore in the weeks to come.

Categories: Israel | Tags: Israel | Comments Off

Transhumanism – Everything Old is New Again, Intro Part 1

Posted on July 14, 2014 by Janine

It has often been noted that many modern innovations had their inspiration from science fiction novels and television series such as Star Trek. What you may not be aware of however, is the mindset of science fiction becomes science is birthing a whole new scientific reality that promises not only a better life for humanity but a whole new humanity.

Transhumanism is an area of scientific study and speculation that is rapidly growing in popularity and practice. In its most noble form, it has as a goal the improvement of the human plight through the use of modern technology to the point that many of the diseases which have plagued us and many of the physical handicaps that besiege their victims will be a thing of the past. Techological breakthroughs such as robotic prosthetic devices, brain implants which help with diseases such as Parkinsons, and gene therapy which has the promise of curing diseases such as Lou Gehrig’s disease are all a part of the good side of the movement.

However, there is a more sinister side. A side that many refer to as a “god complex.” A side that not only seeks to improve human life but seeks to take us to the next step in what they deem to be our evolutionary path – to a point where human becomes post-human and mortal becomes immortal. In this world, the extrication of the self and the hybridization of animal with human are just two of the technologies that transhumanist scientists are dabbling with, leading to a very scary place.

For the next several issues of this blog, I will seek to inform you of some of the basics of this side of the movement and look at its potential import in terms of understanding biblical history and eschatology.

Stay tuned for this journey and buckle up. It’s going to be a wild ride.