Chapter 13. The Tower of Babel.
In dealing with the Fall and it’s results and the episode of the evil angelic invasion in Genesis 6 we also touched on the primary reasons for the Flood, namely,
(1) Mankind had reached the point where virtually everybody alive “only thought evil continually (Genesis 6:5)” and there was no hope for redemption for them because the perversion of human nature caused by generational iniquity was so great that they considered evil to be good and good to be evil.
(2) The evils spawned by the fallen angels and their offspring, as recorded in the book of Enoch, led to man crying out for deliverance from this evil, which was greater than their own evil.
God decided the only way to cure the world of this evil was to destroy man and start again. “But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8)”, so he worked a deliverance for Noah and his family.
After the Flood men again increased rapidly on the earth as recorded in Genesis 10. The result was that several “cities” developed, communities of people who wanted to band together for mutual support. Rivalry developed between these cities as they got larger and a quest for power, political control, developed.
The next major event in Bible history is the story of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel, or Babylon (Genesis 10&11). Though these are not immediately connected in the Bible text it appears they were connected in history.
Nimrod is said to be the “first on earth to be a mighty man (Genesis 10:8)”. By this it means he was the first man to be a warrior, i.e. a man of war. Tradition tells us that Nimrod built a large empire spreading from modern day Iran and Iraq through to Egypt and Sudan, conquering the scattered settlements and making them subject to him. As he had invented the art of warfare and other cities had not developed such techniques this would have been pretty easy to do.
The Bible account of this is found in Genesis 10:6-12.
Genesis 10:6-12.
“The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan.
The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD." The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.”
His empire seems to have begun at Babylon but later on was centred in Ninevah. “Ninevah” means “the House of Ninus”, “Ninus” being another form of the name “Nimrod”. Where it says “he built”, we should probably understand that to mean “he conquered, and then built them up to be fortresses”.
Nimrod's success at war inflated his ego and tradition tells us that he declared himself to be a "god" and demanded worship. This began the pattern of Ancient Near Eastern rulers deifying themselves and demanding worship. The false cult he developed soon covered the whole known world. It incorporated demon worship, a false interpretation of astrology, and Satan worship. Nimrod built a great tower in Babylon to better enable him to interpret the stars for Horoscope predictions. On top of the tower was a temple where fertility prostitution was part of the worship.
Tradition tells us that Shem, who was still alive at the time and an old man, led a rebellion against Nimrod, and Nimrod was put to death and his body cut into pieces and sent as a warning around the empire. A great spiritual awakening resulted and many returned to the Lord.
Nimrod's wife, Semiramus, continued the false cult, but because of the extent of Shem's influence she had to take it "underground", so it became the foundation of the so-called "Mystery religions" of the ancient world. She later became pregnant and claimed the illegitimate son was the promised redeemer. So to the cult was added the worship of the mother and son.
In the late 19th Century, Rev. Alexander Hislop published his groundbreaking work called “The Two Babylons”. This book examines the ancient traditions concerning Nimrod and Babylon. A summary of his work follows.
SUMMARY OF ALEXANDER HISLOP’S FINDING IN HIS BOOK, “THE TWO BABYLONS.”
Hislop analyses the major religious myths of mankind in his book. He convincingly demonstrates that all of these myths are essentially the same and go back to a common source. The only variations are cultural and name changes from culture to culture. He compares religious myths from Britain, Central and South America, the Middle East, India, Scandinavia, Egypt, Greece and Rome to show their essential oneness.
Hislop demonstrates how these myths are all based on the revelation of God's purposes given to Adam by God in the Garden of Eden before man was expelled. This revelation we have previously studied in Chapter 11.
Hislop shows how this original revelation was perverted by interpreting it with respect to events surrounding the tower of Babel, i.e. the original perversion giving rise to the myths is based on a true revelation from God and historical events that have been reinterpreted to fit in with the revelation. The result was a distortion of truth - good was made to appear bad and vica-versa. This is why the mythologies are so powerful - they have truth at their heart. They are a deliberate distortion, hence are iniquity.
Hislop then shows how this religion began at Babel, and is in a true sense the "religion of Babylon", the system of Antichrist. It is Satanic religion in its purest sense. This system, Hislop shows, was adopted into the church virtually unchanged after Constantine made Christian ity the state religion, with only the names of the characters changed. The result was that the church was, in fact, worshiping Satan in the Dark Ages, thinking that it was worshiping Christ. The idea of a "state religion" was well established before Rome so the absorbing of the Church into that worldview was simple.
This Babylonian religion is the source of all false religion. It is, in a very real sense, the "Mother of All Harlots" (Revelation 17:5). It is the system referred to in Revelation, and elsewhere in the Bible.
HISLOP'S HISTORICAL RECONSTRUCTION.
Using the myths as a guide he compares myth with myth and is able to isolate out the main points of what happened.
(1) Cush (Genesis 10:6).
Cush was the first apostate after the Flood. He began receiving "revelations" from the "gods", i.e. evil spirits. He founded an apostate cult and worship. He appears in the myths under the following names:
(a) Hermes (Egypt) = "the Son of Ham".
Hermes was considered to be the great original prophet of idolatry, and is recognised by pagans to be the founder of their religious rites. He was known as "the Interpreter of the Gods".
(b) Nebo (Babylon).
He was the prophetic "god" and was the ringleader in a movement that produced the division of tongues (Genesis 11).
(c) Mercury (Greece).
The ringleader in building a tower. Known as "the interpreter of the gods", i.e. a prophet.
(d) Bel - the founder of Babylon = "the confounder" = Baal. Baal worship was a prophetic religion.
(e) Janus (Rome).
The name Cush is related to the word for Chaos, the name of the God of confusion, also called Janus. He was symbolised by a club.
(f) Vulcan (Greece).
The Chaldee word for club also means "to break in pieces and scatter abroad" (Genesis 11:8,9) which in Greek is hephaizt, which is another name for Vulcan, the "father" of the Greek gods who also carried a hammer.
These six, among others, are all names of Cush.
Cush began a great apostacy. He founded Babylon and the tower, but his son Nimrod completed his works. The Tower was an integral part of his false system of worship. There the positions of the stars were studied and astrological predictions made (horoscopes) perverting the original meaning of the revelation in the stars.
(2) Nimrod - the son of Cush.
Was the first king of Babylon. He was the first king to wage war on his neighbours, and legend has it that he formed the first empire - stretching from Iran to Libya.
1 Chronicles 1:10. - "Mighty man" = "warrior".
Genesis 10:11 (alternative translation): "Out of that land he went forth, being made strong, and he builded Nineveh".
Nineveh = nin nevah = the habitation of Ninus (another name for Nimrod).
The ruins of Nineveh are called Nimroud to this day by the locals.
Nimrod appears in the myths under the following names:
(a) Ninus, the son of Bel.
(b) Kronos, or Saturn, the king of the Cyclops.
The Cyclops were known as the inventors of tower building. Saturn is also called the father of the gods. He is called this because in the "mysteries" he was the first man to be deified, i.e. to call himself a god, thus reaching the height of human sin.
He is depicted as a giant horned bull, or Reem.
Reem = Bull, prince, ruler.
Horns - symbolise might, power.
I.e. "horned bull" = mighty prince, ruler (Genesis 10:9).
Nimrod was the son of Cush, therefore he was black. The popular representation of Satan as a black, horned, cloven-footed individual was exactly how Nimrod was depicted as chief of the gods. However the ancient inhabitants of Britain saw black as a symbol of fear, so transferred the symbol to evil when they absorbed Babylonianism (under the name of Woden).
(c) Bacchus. (Greece).
Also known as Dionysus or Iacchus. The son of the Mother God.
The rites of Bacchus and Osiris (Egypt) are the same.
Bacchus was drawn in a coach pulled by leopards.
Bacchus is also called Aithiopais = Son of Aethiops. Aethiops = the Cushites (Black People). I.e. Aethiops = Cush. I.e. Bacchus = son of Cush.
(d) Woden (Mexico and England & elsewhere).
(e) Osiris (Egypt).
Osiris was worshiped the same way as Ninus. He was depicted as black. He was clothed in a leopard skin (The name Nimrod means, "the subduer of the Leopard").
Depicted as a calf or young bull called APIS who is, in Greece, the same as Saturn.
(f) India.
Called Iswara, presented at the breast of his mother Isi, or Parvati.
(g) Other names include Eros, Cupid (son of Venus i.e. Venus = Semiramus), Krishna, Zoroastes, Thor.
Cush began a great apostasy that Nimrod continued.
This involved various themes:
(a) Idol Worship.
In particular the images of Nimrod at first, but others came later, as we shall see.
(b) Spiritism.
That is demon worship. What the fallen angels began the demons now continued with gusto.
(c) Perverted Astrology - for personal predictions.
The purpose of doing this is simple - the original meaning of Astrology showed the truth of the Redeemer and his conflict with evil. This knowledge was available to all. If Satanic deception was to succeed then is was vital that the divinely placed witness to truth be somehow obscured.
(d) The Worship of Man - Humanism.
This culminates in the worship of a man as God, which is the manifestation of the Spirit of Antichrist.
(e) Materialism - the belief that things and power could make you happy.
The Myths tell us that Nimrod was put to death for his sin by the command of a great king:
"Hercules, by the power of God, fought and overcame the giants".
"Giants" = mighty ones = Nimrod and his army.
Nimrod's body was cut into 72 pieces and sent to the corners of the empire as a testimony to the judgment.
Bacchus (Nimrod) is called "the Lamented One".
Annual seasons of wailing for Bacchus were practiced in various parts of the ancient world.
The rites of worship of Osiris (Egypt) and the rites of the levels of the Masonic lodge are the same.
(3) Hercules = Shem.
This agrees with the character of Shem as we see it in the Bible.
Names of Shem:
(a) Hercules (Greece).
(b) Sem (Egypt).
Acknowledged to be the Egyptian name of Hercules.
Osiris (= Nimrod) was said to die by the tusk of a wild boar (Shem).
The tusk symbolises power in the mouth, i.e. spiritual power.
(c) Shem is called by the apostates "Typho", the evil one.
Shem means "to desolate, lay waste, the appointed one". Hence he was made to mean "the Destroyer, Desolater" i.e. the Devil.
In the myths the “good-guy”, Shem, is made out to be evil and the “bad-guy”, Nimrod, is made out to be good.
Multitudes were said to follow Shem. A major revival came about and a return to God.
4. Semiramus, Nimrod's widow.
Because of Shem, Semiramus couldn't continue the apostacy openly any more. Hence she began the "Hidden Mysteries" - secret societies which became the basis of the mystery religions and the secret societies of today. Freemasonry is actually based on the Egyptian cult of Isis and Osiris.
Semiramus is known by these names:
(a) Rhea, the wife of Ninus, the "mother" of the gods.
(b) Isis (India, Egypt, Freemasonry).
She was pictured with a vulture headdress. Rhea can also be translated "vulture".
(c) Venus (Greece).
Pictured with a golden cup in her hand (Revelation 17:4).
(d) Parvati (India).
(e) Cybele - the goddess of fortifications.
Pictured with a turreted crown on her head.
(f) Diana (Ephesus) - similarly crowned.
(g) The Queen of Heaven.
(5) The Illegitimate Child.
After Nimrod's execution Semiramus became pregnant. To prevent the standard punishment of stoning for immorality she claimed that this was to be "the promised seed of the woman" (Genesis 3:15). The promise of Genesis 3:15 appears in all the myths. It was known that this redeemer would conquer evil by death and resurrection, hence she claimed that this was Nimrod reincarnated (the beginning of the doctrine of reincarnation). Nimrod became hailed as the great savior of the world who laid down his life for the sins of men. He was now being reborn in this child, which fortunately for her, was a son.
She called her dead husband Zoroastes - "the seed of the woman" - and erected the mysteries to worship him. The theology was already present in the stars; she just borrowed it and then used false astrology to obscure the fact.
Nimrod was black, which was unpopular, but the illegitimate son was white, like his mother, so solved that problem. Nimrod was ignored and the child worshipped. The mother derived her glory from the son, but she soon eclipsed him, becoming the main object of worship. The elevation of women over men begins again here with a distortion of the roles of the sexes.
What happened to the child is not certain - he never seems to have been allowed to grow up. It may be that he became a child sacrifice of the sort we find demanded in this religion throughout the world.
Hence we have a trinity - the Father = Nimrod, the Son = the Child, the Spirit = incarnate in the woman who was symbolised by all of the Bible symbols for the Holy Spirit.
The child was always presented as a babe in the mother's arms. The picturing of Mary and Jesus is actually a copy of Babylonian statues and art from centuries before Christ. This explains why Mary is always depicted as a white woman when she was Semitic. Semiramus was white. The church adopted the artwork when the mystery cults became "Christianized" under Constantine.
Nimrod conquered Egypt. In Egypt the legend of Nimrod and the illegitimate child were so mixed that it was difficult to tell the difference between the two.
Child = KHONS (= "to chase") = the huntsman (c/f Genesis 10:9 "a mighty hunter").
Khons = Latin God CONSUS
= NEPTUNE (the keeper of secrets, "who turned the horse" i.e. who tamed it).
= Saturn (the god of mysteries, the Hidden one).
The father of Khons = "The Hidden God". I.e. the father and the son are seen as the same so that the child could be claimed to be Nimrod reincarnated.
The Centaur (half man-half horse) is a memorial to the man who first used horses.
Centaur = Kronos, Saturn
= (In the zodiac Sagittarius, the Archer).
The seasonal cycle of harvests was added to the original mysteries to make them more popular with the common people, but this was clearly not part of the original belief. The "Dying and rising" of the seasons became a handy way of justifying the mystery cult belief of a dying and rising Nimrod.
This system is the basis of all of the mystery cults of ancient times and of mythology and false religion the world over. The system was well established in Babylon at the time of the Tower of Babel, and hence when men were spread by the confusion of tongues it was able to go throughout the world.
Hislop shows in the second part of his book how the rituals and practices and many of the so called decrees of the Popes are actually all faithful replicas of beliefs and practices of the ancient Babylonians three thousand years before Christ. Hence the absorption of mystery celebrations such as Christmas and Easter and Guy Fawkes are easy to understand. Funeral pyres were burnt on November 5th in ancient Britain in memory of Woden = Nimrod before there was even Roman contact with the British Isles! The celebration called "Guy Fawkes" has nothing to do with a person who tried to blow up the British Parliament. It has everything to do with Satan worship. It is, in fact, Satan worship!
At this point Hislop tends to get a bit extreme in that he is taking an old Protestant position to try to show that the Roman Catholic Church is not the true Church. At this point I bail out of his argument. Today even many Roman Catholics admit that during the Dark Ages many things were absorbed into the church that were wrong but the thing we need to remember is that it was still the Church of God, even if a corrupted Church. There were then, as there are now, many Godly people in the Roman Catholic Church who were/are trying their best to serve God as best they know how. While we live in this world the church will always be corrupt – it simply is not possible to have a pure church because the raw material that makes up the church, i.e. people, are corrupt. There will always be tares in the wheat until the end of the age (Matthew 13:24-30).
The value of Hislop’s work is in his thorough analysis of ancient mythologies and how they are related, and then in deriving from them a fairly coherent view of the history of the times around the tower of Babel. It hangs together and helps make sense of the many references to Babylon later in the bible, particularly in the book of Revelation where “Babylon” is clearly a symbol of something greater than just a physical city.
SOME NOTES FROM HISLOP’S BOOK: -
(1) The Festivals of Christendom are actually festivals of Nimrod.
(a) Christmas.
Clearly in the Bible is not December 25th as that is winter. Shepherds do not “watch their flocks in the fields at night (Luke 2:8)” in Palestine between October and February.
December 25th is actually the date of the festival in Ancient Babylon celebrating the birth of the child, called Yuleday.
Yule = an ancient Chaldee word meaning "infant, little child".
Christmas trees were common in Ancient Rome and Egypt before Christ.
(b) Lady Day. - 25th March.
Memorial to the miraculous conception of Christ in the womb.
Observed in Pagan Rome in honour of Cybele.
(c) Easter.
“Easter” is derived from Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven.
On the 1st May there were celebrations to Bel. 1st May is called Beltane
Lent - fasting prior to this - was practiced in pagan Mexico and Egypt in commemoration of the death and resurrection of Tammuz.
Ancient Babylon celebrated Easter with hot cross buns, painted eggs.
(d) Feast of the Nativity of St John. - 24 June, midsummersday.
In Babylon was one of the big festivals to Tammuz, the sun God. One of the great features were the midsummer night fires on the evening of the 23rd - still practiced in France, Ireland, Switzerland and Scotland. When the fires got low the peasants used to walk through the embers.
(e) St Bacchus the Martyr - Oct 7th.
(f) Feast of Assumption - 15th August.
Both the last two were celebrated in Babylon before Christ.
(2) Doctrines of Babylon.
(i) Baptismal Regeneration.
(ii) Reincarnation.
(iii) Justification by works.
(iv) The fertility cult - rampant sexual immorality. Including homosexulality
(v) The veneration of the woman, and the humiliation of the man. Including Lesbianism. The woman is seen to be the fount of wisdom, Sophia, and is typically symbolised by a snake.
(vi) Child sacrifice. Abortion is the modern equivalent.
All of these are making a comeback today.
SUMMARY - THE SYSTEM OF BABYLON.
The symbol of Babylon in the Bible is very powerful and therefore has several elements to the system it pictures. The main elements are these (and they are all seen in the Tower of Babel):
(a) Empire Building, a one-world government controlled by a Satanically inspired man.
(b) Counterfeit Christianity - a false messiah, an Antichrist who is both religious and political ruler.
(c) Occult worship -including astrology, idol worship and secret rites. The primary rite of this system has always been the destruction of innocent children in worship of this god (see Winkey Pratney's book, "Devil Take the Youngest"). This rite is most clearly seen today in abortion, which is the worship of Satan.
(d) Humanism - the exaltation of men making themselves into god.
(e) Materalism - progress through human achievement.
(f) The cult of Woman - Sophia, goddess of wisdom.
This element is seen in particular in the form of an union of economic and religious systems in society in such a way that we see religious (or philosophic) rulers taking control of the political and economic system of a nation. Whenever religion and politics meet we see an immediate manifestation of the spirit of Antichrist. In its final form we shall see Antichrist himself as a religious and political ruler who performs economic miracles.
These are all expressions of the spirit of Antichrist, which Paul says "is already at work in the world (2 Thessalonians 2).
The importance to us of this history of the Tower of Babel is in the fact that false religion began there in a formalised sense. There had been spirit worship before Babel, but at Babel it took on a definitive form, and it has retained that form for over 4000 years.
The rest of the Bible is a record of the conflict between the true faith in God and this false faith in Satan. For this reason Babylon figures greatly throughout the Bible.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Salvation History. Chapter 12. The Origin of Demons.
Chapter 12. The Origin of Demons.
INTRODUCTION.
There is still some in the Church who reject the idea of the existence of Demons, or evil / unclean spirits, who attempt to invade peoples' lives and bring them into bondage. However there is clear scriptural teaching on the work of demons, and modern Psychiatry is at present involved in an in depth study of the reality of this phenomena.
Every NT writer refers to Demons, they are part of the essence of the gospel - "Christ delivers from Demons".
There was a universal belief in Demons in Ancient times, only in the West is their existence questioned today. Interest recently has been sparked by the release of films, such as Rosemary's Baby, and the Exorcist, etc.
Jesus when he referred to them always sought to minimize their power, authority, importance, yet without denying them. He always shifted the emphasis away from Demons to their ruler, i.e. Satan.
This chapter is not so much to discuss the works of demons, but their nature and origin.
THE ORIGIN OF DEMONS.
It is important to understand the origin of demons, as this explains much about their nature. To understand this we need to turn to what appears to be an obscure passage of scripture, but one on which Jewish tradition sheds a great deal of light.
Genesis 6:1-4.
“When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them,
the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days- and also afterward- when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them.
They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”
There are two major interpretations of this passage of Scripture so we need to discuss one of them in order to set it aside before considering the other.
(1) Interpretation 1.
This interpretation takes the view that “the sons of God” were the male descendents of Adam through the line of Seth. The “daughters of men” were the female descendents of Adam through the line of Cain. The Line of Seth is considered to be the line of the faithful to God – it leads to Noah. The line of Cain is considered to be an apostate line. As far as we know there was not one descendent of Cain who followed the Lord. Thus this interpretation sees this event recorded here as being the intermarriage of the two main lines of descendents of Adam, and thus leading to the almost total corruption and apostacy of the line of Seth by the time of the Flood, Noah and his family being the only exceptions.
There are several questions which lead me to think this is not the correct understanding.
(a) The last person to be called the “son of God” was Adam (e.g. Luke 3:38). This was a description of him before he fell from relationship with God. It means “one who has the character of God”. It was before he had any children. As his children were all born after the Fall, Cain and Seth included, they were all born already fallen, thus no longer “sons of God”. The character of God had been lost in the Fall. This was as true of Seth as it was for Cain.
(b) So why should we consider the male descendents of Seth to be more “godly” than the male descendents of Cain? The record in Genesis chapter 5 doesn’t give us any hint that they were. In fact the godly line seems to be very narrow: Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah. Nine men – and it doesn’t even say that all of them were following God – only possibly Enosh, maybe Methuselah, definitely Enoch and Noah. There is no indication that any of Seth’s other descendents followed God – in fact the opposite was true by the time of the Flood – only Noah and his family were deemed to be righteous. The evidence that the descendents of Seth were a godly line and so worthy of the title “sons of God” is pretty thin. No interpreter has suggested any reason why this should be so.
(c) Why should we consider the female descendents of Cain to be more fleshly or sinful than the female descendents of Seth so that they earn the title, “Daughters of men”? Were the descendents of Seth any less the descendents of Adam than the descendents of Cain?
(d) The Hebrew text implies (and Hebrew interpretation has fairly consistently taken it to be this way) that the “nephilim” (“mighty men” = Giants) were the offspring of the union of the “sons of God” with the “daughters of men”. Why would this be so if all we are talking about here are fallen human descendents of Adam? Again no interpreter has suggested a reason why this would be so.
It seems to me that there are too many unanswered questions for this theory to be viable. Those who hold this interpretation tend to do so because of a specific objection to the alternative interpretation, which we shall now move on to.
(2) Interpretation 2.
This interpretation holds that the phrase “sons of God” means angelic beings, i.e. some of the fallen angels got sexually involved with women. The resulting offspring were thus half human/ half angelic and were thus of superhuman ability, giants, mighty men.
This is in accordance with usage of the phrase elsewhere in the OT, e.g.
Job 38:7.
"When the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"
This is clealry a reference to angels. There were no men at this time so it cannot mean "men".
The specific objection that the adherents of Interpretation 1 level at this interpretation is the following:
"Angels are asexual (having no sexual gender), they cannot/ do not have sex, especially with human women – it would be impossible."
When one questions this objection one gets some interesting reactions.
* Who says angels are asexual?
* Who says they can’t have sexual relationships?
* Who says they couldn’t have sexual relationships with women?
When these questions are asked the answer is usually some variation on, “It is obvious they can’t so there!” But is it so obvious? In the final analysis the objector's answer boils down to this, “I say it couldn’t have happened so there!” So it is a matter of personal opinion. The reality is we don't know enough about angels to know if they are asexual or not – it is a guess.
Usually in this discussion one will be referred to the following words of Jesus. We shall give the context because it is pertinent:
Matthew 22:24-30.
"Teacher," they said, "Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him.
Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?"
Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.”
The context is important because it sets the scene – the Religious leaders asked Jesus a question about marriage. Taking a law governing marriage in this age in the World they then extrapolated that law into the Coming Age in Heaven to create a dilemma. Jesus answers them with a clarification of the limits of the law of marriage – it does not apply in heaven. Marriage as an institution was ordained by God for man as a foundation for society in this age and this world. It does not apply in the age to come. The apostle Paul says a similar thing in Romans 7:1-3 where he points out that the law concerning marriage only applies while a person is alive. Once a person dies the law no longer applies.
So what did Jesus say? Well he answered the question, “Whose wife will she be?”
The answer is this: “Nobody’s, - because in heaven there is no marriage as we know it. Men will be in exactly the same situation then as the angels are now – they don’t marry.”
But what does Jesus not say?
* He does not say that the angels are sexless.
* He does not say there is no reproduction amongst the angels.
* He does not say mankind will not reproduce in the coming age.
We might assume these to be true but Jesus did not say so. He was answering a question about marriage, not about sexuality or reproduction. It is unwise to draw conclusions about these subjects from his words. Let’s examine these three contentions for a few moments:
Traditionally in human society we have assumed an integral connection between marriage and reproduction. But it is not necessarily so. God ordained marriage as the right place for reproduction in HUMAN society. But it is not true for most other forms of life. For instance, animals, birds, fish, insects, plants and so on all reproduce – in fact all life forms that we know of reproduce. But as far as I know only man gets married. Animals, birds, fish, insects and trees do not get married. But they still reproduce. Marriage and reproduction are not the same thing.
Jesus does not say the angels are sexless or they don’t reproduce – all he says is that they don’t marry. Marriage is an institution for the good of man on earth. It doesn’t apply to angels.
In actual fact the fact that all life forms we know of do reproduce should lead us to wonder if the same is also true of angels. If they did not reproduce they would be an exception to the general rule. We could also speculate that mankind will reproduce in the coming age. God is, after all, a God who likes increase.
Of course all this is speculation – we don’t know if the angels reproduce or not. But then it is equally a speculation to say they do not. We don’t know.
The point of my discussion here is that we do not know. One cannot say, “The angels are sexless so they could not have had sex with women. Genesis 6:1-4 must mean something else!” To say that is pure speculation, a matter of opinion.
And on that note I want to move on to give my opinion on the meaning of Genesis 6:1-4. I admit it is speculation – but I think it has a lot going for it – especially as it is supported by a traditional Hebrew understanding of the passage, as we shall see.
To set the scene I need to note something else: we are talking about the origin of demons. There are:
THREE MAJOR THEORIES ON THE ORIGIN OF DEMONS:
1. The Pre-Adamic Creation Theory.
Many teachers hold that there was a complete and total creation, including human type beings which God created in Genesis 1:1.
These human type creatures are thought to have identified with Lucifer in his rebellion against God, and were destroyed in the subsequent judgement. Genesis 1:2 is thus translated, "And the earth became void" suggesting it was not so originally, thus this was a destruction, a judgment.
The spirits of these human type beings are said to be the present demons.
Genesis 1:3ff is then said to be a recreation of earth.
This “two creation” theory was discussed in Chapter 5.
In my opinion this view is faulty, as the fall of Satan cannot predate Genesis 1:31, as discussed in chapter 8 on the Rebellion of Lucifer.
The other scriptures used in support of this theory are capable of another interpretation so need not carry the meaning given to them in this interpretation.
As for the question, "Why would God allow the spirits of this pre-Adamic race to remain free as demons?" - no one seems to have a sensible answer. There seems to be no reason why their spirits could not have been isolated somehow, as we shall see some of the fallen angels were later on.
2. Demons are the Fallen Angels.
There are several reasons why I do not think this is so, some of which I will cover when I look at the nature of demons.
The primary reason why I don't agree with this theory is simply because the Bible does not say so - and there are no indications, or hints that it may be so. In other words, those interpreters who insist that demons are the fallen angels are simply guessing and, because of this, their opinion is no more valid than anyone else's.
There is another reason why I don't think it is true. Those who have been involved in the deliverance ministry (freeing people from the power of evil spirits, i.e. demons) tend to end up convinced that demons are a different life form to fallen angels. In fact the comparison between demons and fallen angels is a bit like comparing pop guns to H-Bombs. Though Deliverance ministries regularly encounter demons, they rarely encounter fallen angels - and when they do they know the difference. Because of what is a pretty strong witness from deliverance ministries that they are different I go along with that conclusion. There are times when those with experience have to be allowed to provide expertise and understanding to those who have not had the experience or who, as in my case, the experience is fairly limited. (I have had some experience in Deliverance ministry, but not enough to be able to make a personal judgement on this sort of issue.)
Actually it is my observation (again limited by the fact that I am human and haven't had vast experience of the area) that those who argue most strongly that demons are fallen angels have never been involved in deliverance at all. In other words, their arguments are head knowledge with only their own opinion to back it up.
So I disagree with the theory that Demons are the fallen angels.
3. The Classic Jewish Theory.
This theory was the popular view around the time of Christ, and is found in the Jewish writing, the book of Enoch. It is largely reflected in the NT and there is nothing inconsistent with it and scriptural statements, as far as I can tell.
This view holds that certain of the fallen angels (not all of them) had intercourse with women (recorded in Genesis Ch 6). The resulting offspring were wicked giants who sought to destroy the whole of mankind. In response to the cries of men God judged the world to destroy these giants, and this was the primary cause of the Flood. The angels who sired these children were cast into the pit, but Enoch informs us that the spirits of their children, the Nephilim, were allowed to remain free as evil spirits.
Why their spirits were allowed to remain free is not said, but I can offer an opinion:
These spirits were not just "human spirits" as our spirits are, but were in some way a mixture of human spirits and angelic spirits. Thus there were possibly protocols in God that we do not know or understand that prevented their spirits from being thrown into the pit as the angels were that sired them.
Excerpts from the Book of Enoch.
(The book of Enoch can be viewed at:
http://reluctant-messenger.com/book_of_enoch.htm
Or you can buy it from Amazon.)
It is well worth reading for the light it sheds on other passages in the NT, particularly the Book of Revelation.
Ch. 6.
"And it came to pass that when the children of men had multiplied in those days that beautiful daughters were born to them. And the angels, the children of heaven, lusted after them, and said to one another, "Come let us choose wives from among the children of men and beget us children."
(Some discussion of the proposal follows and they bind themselves by oath to do this and to take the blame mutually. There were about 200 of them altogether).
Ch. 7.
“And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives... and they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants (herbalism). And they became pregnant, and they bore great giants, whose height was 3000 ells, who consumed all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and consumed mankind. And they began to sin against (i.e., destroy) all creation.
(It seems as if they taught mankind all sorts of things that men didn't really need to know.)
This picture seems to tie in well with some obscure NT references that defy meaning unless understood against the background of Enoch. These NT writings show clear knowledge of Enoch; in fact Jude quotes him directly. Revelation alludes to him many times.
Jude 14 is a direct quote of Enoch 1:9. Thought not attested to here as being scripture Jude gives Enoch status as being inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Jude 6,7.
“And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home- these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.”
Note the context is one of sexual sin. The angels acted "in a similar way" to Sodom and Gomorrah in sexual immorality.
Note: There are those who argue that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was not sexual, and they even argue that the Bible never says it was. I don't know how they overcome this verse which plainly says they "gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion".
1 Peter 3:19,20. “The spirits in prison.”
“… through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,…”
2 Peter 2:4-6.
“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; …”
Note the context again is sexual sin.
These three NT scriptures clearly allude to the events recorded in Enoch and support the interpretation Enoch gives.
It seems as if there were two groups of fallen angels - one group was involved in this sexual endeavour, the other group did not. This determines their later activities. Those that did not commit sexual sin still dwell in the second heavens and exercise influence from there. Those who committed sexual sin were cast into the pit and are bound there. They are unable to do anything much. Presumably they are those beings released in the last days as recorded in
Revelation 9:1-12.
“The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions'
teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.
The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.”
These “locusts” are clearly spiritual forces and presumably are the fallen angels committed to the pit at the Flood. They are released again and continue their evil work. I suspect the limitation of their activities to “five months” is to stop any offspring being born to them again. This event clearly happens only 5 months before the Second Coming of Christ.
Back to Genesis 6.
As a result of this sexual activity a form of "half-breed" being came into existence - half man and half angel. These beings seem to have been gigantic in size, but were of totally evil nature and imposed violence on mankind.
Genesis 6:4 calls them the Nephilim, meaning "the Fallen Ones".
At the Flood their bodies were destroyed, but for some reason, unknown to us, their spirits were allowed to remain free to roam the earth as evil spirits.
Enoch 15:8.
"And now the giants who are produced from the spirits (angels) and flesh, shall be called evil spirits on the earth and on the earth shall be their dwelling. And evil spirits shall they be called."
Enoch 15:11.
"And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble. They take no food yet hunger and thirst and cause offenses. And these spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women because they have proceeded from them."
This seems to fairly well sum up the works of demons.
THE NATURE OF DEMONS.
1. They are not Fallen Angels.
Many believe that demons and fallen angels are the same thing. On this matter the scripture is not totally clear. There is a relationship between them (as we have seen) but it is probably best to understand them as being different from fallen angels in origin and nature.
It seems as though there are two main differences between demons and fallen angels:
(i) Fallen Angels live in the Heavenlies (the Second Heavens), Demons live on Earth. Demons carry out the wishes of the Fallen Angels. It seems as if the Fallen Angels have very little desire to come down to earth, there is a tremendous power play going on in the Heavenlies, and their absence may mean some other angel will take your place. Hence Fallen Angels only come to earth rarely and unwillingly.
That fallen angels live and operate in the heavenlies is attested to by several scriptures. Here are two:
stjohnrevelation.blogspot.com
See chapter 12.
(ii) Fallen Angels, like other angels, were created without a body, and have no real desire to inhabit them. To inhabit a body would be restrictive to them. Demons originally had a body and earnestly desire to have one again. Fallen Angels, therefore, do not normally inhabit human beings. There are few notable exceptions, Judas (John 13:27), and the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2) being two, but this seems to be rare.
It seems that angels can take on human form if this is required in their carrying out of the service of God. Two Bible examples of this are:
a. The three angels who visited Abraham on the way to Sodom (Genesis 18,19), they appeared to be men to Abraham until they revealed their identity.
b. The exhortation to be hospitable (Hebrews 13:2) because we may entertain angels unawares.
This is not their normal state however, they return to being “spirit beings” when the task is finished. Presumably fallen angels can do the same but this is different from inhabiting another person or being as we find with demon possession. The rebellion of the angels was, in part, a result of their determination that man as a physical being was inferior to them, so they are not enamoured with the idea of being localised in a body.
The passage from Enoch quoted above fairly well describes them. They are evil, unclean, violent, and destructive.
References in the Bible indicate that demons have access to vast knowledge and intelligence. They are often tremendously powerful.
However one thing is consistent in all of then, they are in total rebellion against God.
The fact that they at one time had a physical body is extremely important. This facet of their personality drives them to want to inhabit the bodies of other creatures, particularly men. This phenomena we call "demon possession", where a demon enters into the life of another being and brings part, or all, of that creature's life under its control.
This desire to have a body is so strong that the demons Jesus cast out of Legion would rather go into a herd of pigs than be without a body (Mark 5:1-13).
It is important to understand this about their nature as it dominates their desires totally and hence their works.
WORKS OF DEMONS.
Enoch again fairly well describes this. Demons attack, destroy, and bring into bondage peoples lives.
Some interpreters feel that different demons do different things, and that the particular area of activity a demon involves itself in is defined by its name. There is some support for this as demons seem to have names, and the Jewish idea of a name being a character would go along with this.
However it is equally likely that a demon seeks to inflict a person IN ANY WAY HE POSSIBLY CAN. Hence the name a demon might give could only be a clue to the area he is presently afflicting in a person's life. I personally think that demons are not too fussy as to how they make us suffer, only that they do.
Demons can cause many things in our lives:
Mental torment,
Sickness,
Accidents,
Deception,
Bodily destruction,
Failure and frustration,
Bad emotional conditions,
Excessive reactions to situations,
Broken relationships.
There are many misconceptions as to the nature of demonic possession. Demonic possession does not always imply mental illness or instability, or insanity. There are other things demons do.
How do they work in our lives?
Demons, like Satan, can only initially work in our minds with ideas. If we accept the idea that they implant into our minds then they receive "ground", i.e. a right to act further in our lives. Continued giving of ground in an area can result in possession.
Demons cannot normally affect our lives unless we, in some way, allow them to by our will. There are exceptions to this rule - where other people have caused demonic problems to come on us. Normally, however, Demons have to either trick us into allowing them room or in some way bypass our will in order to invade our lives.
Demon possession occurs when a demon manages to obtain permission from us to dominate an area of our life. There are many forms of possession, and it comes in many degrees. This is beyond the scope of this series of studies so we will leave it there.
INTRODUCTION.
There is still some in the Church who reject the idea of the existence of Demons, or evil / unclean spirits, who attempt to invade peoples' lives and bring them into bondage. However there is clear scriptural teaching on the work of demons, and modern Psychiatry is at present involved in an in depth study of the reality of this phenomena.
Every NT writer refers to Demons, they are part of the essence of the gospel - "Christ delivers from Demons".
There was a universal belief in Demons in Ancient times, only in the West is their existence questioned today. Interest recently has been sparked by the release of films, such as Rosemary's Baby, and the Exorcist, etc.
Jesus when he referred to them always sought to minimize their power, authority, importance, yet without denying them. He always shifted the emphasis away from Demons to their ruler, i.e. Satan.
This chapter is not so much to discuss the works of demons, but their nature and origin.
THE ORIGIN OF DEMONS.
It is important to understand the origin of demons, as this explains much about their nature. To understand this we need to turn to what appears to be an obscure passage of scripture, but one on which Jewish tradition sheds a great deal of light.
Genesis 6:1-4.
“When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them,
the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days- and also afterward- when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them.
They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”
There are two major interpretations of this passage of Scripture so we need to discuss one of them in order to set it aside before considering the other.
(1) Interpretation 1.
This interpretation takes the view that “the sons of God” were the male descendents of Adam through the line of Seth. The “daughters of men” were the female descendents of Adam through the line of Cain. The Line of Seth is considered to be the line of the faithful to God – it leads to Noah. The line of Cain is considered to be an apostate line. As far as we know there was not one descendent of Cain who followed the Lord. Thus this interpretation sees this event recorded here as being the intermarriage of the two main lines of descendents of Adam, and thus leading to the almost total corruption and apostacy of the line of Seth by the time of the Flood, Noah and his family being the only exceptions.
There are several questions which lead me to think this is not the correct understanding.
(a) The last person to be called the “son of God” was Adam (e.g. Luke 3:38). This was a description of him before he fell from relationship with God. It means “one who has the character of God”. It was before he had any children. As his children were all born after the Fall, Cain and Seth included, they were all born already fallen, thus no longer “sons of God”. The character of God had been lost in the Fall. This was as true of Seth as it was for Cain.
(b) So why should we consider the male descendents of Seth to be more “godly” than the male descendents of Cain? The record in Genesis chapter 5 doesn’t give us any hint that they were. In fact the godly line seems to be very narrow: Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah. Nine men – and it doesn’t even say that all of them were following God – only possibly Enosh, maybe Methuselah, definitely Enoch and Noah. There is no indication that any of Seth’s other descendents followed God – in fact the opposite was true by the time of the Flood – only Noah and his family were deemed to be righteous. The evidence that the descendents of Seth were a godly line and so worthy of the title “sons of God” is pretty thin. No interpreter has suggested any reason why this should be so.
(c) Why should we consider the female descendents of Cain to be more fleshly or sinful than the female descendents of Seth so that they earn the title, “Daughters of men”? Were the descendents of Seth any less the descendents of Adam than the descendents of Cain?
(d) The Hebrew text implies (and Hebrew interpretation has fairly consistently taken it to be this way) that the “nephilim” (“mighty men” = Giants) were the offspring of the union of the “sons of God” with the “daughters of men”. Why would this be so if all we are talking about here are fallen human descendents of Adam? Again no interpreter has suggested a reason why this would be so.
It seems to me that there are too many unanswered questions for this theory to be viable. Those who hold this interpretation tend to do so because of a specific objection to the alternative interpretation, which we shall now move on to.
(2) Interpretation 2.
This interpretation holds that the phrase “sons of God” means angelic beings, i.e. some of the fallen angels got sexually involved with women. The resulting offspring were thus half human/ half angelic and were thus of superhuman ability, giants, mighty men.
This is in accordance with usage of the phrase elsewhere in the OT, e.g.
Job 38:7.
"When the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"
This is clealry a reference to angels. There were no men at this time so it cannot mean "men".
The specific objection that the adherents of Interpretation 1 level at this interpretation is the following:
"Angels are asexual (having no sexual gender), they cannot/ do not have sex, especially with human women – it would be impossible."
When one questions this objection one gets some interesting reactions.
* Who says angels are asexual?
* Who says they can’t have sexual relationships?
* Who says they couldn’t have sexual relationships with women?
When these questions are asked the answer is usually some variation on, “It is obvious they can’t so there!” But is it so obvious? In the final analysis the objector's answer boils down to this, “I say it couldn’t have happened so there!” So it is a matter of personal opinion. The reality is we don't know enough about angels to know if they are asexual or not – it is a guess.
Usually in this discussion one will be referred to the following words of Jesus. We shall give the context because it is pertinent:
Matthew 22:24-30.
"Teacher," they said, "Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children for him.
Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?"
Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.”
The context is important because it sets the scene – the Religious leaders asked Jesus a question about marriage. Taking a law governing marriage in this age in the World they then extrapolated that law into the Coming Age in Heaven to create a dilemma. Jesus answers them with a clarification of the limits of the law of marriage – it does not apply in heaven. Marriage as an institution was ordained by God for man as a foundation for society in this age and this world. It does not apply in the age to come. The apostle Paul says a similar thing in Romans 7:1-3 where he points out that the law concerning marriage only applies while a person is alive. Once a person dies the law no longer applies.
So what did Jesus say? Well he answered the question, “Whose wife will she be?”
The answer is this: “Nobody’s, - because in heaven there is no marriage as we know it. Men will be in exactly the same situation then as the angels are now – they don’t marry.”
But what does Jesus not say?
* He does not say that the angels are sexless.
* He does not say there is no reproduction amongst the angels.
* He does not say mankind will not reproduce in the coming age.
We might assume these to be true but Jesus did not say so. He was answering a question about marriage, not about sexuality or reproduction. It is unwise to draw conclusions about these subjects from his words. Let’s examine these three contentions for a few moments:
Traditionally in human society we have assumed an integral connection between marriage and reproduction. But it is not necessarily so. God ordained marriage as the right place for reproduction in HUMAN society. But it is not true for most other forms of life. For instance, animals, birds, fish, insects, plants and so on all reproduce – in fact all life forms that we know of reproduce. But as far as I know only man gets married. Animals, birds, fish, insects and trees do not get married. But they still reproduce. Marriage and reproduction are not the same thing.
Jesus does not say the angels are sexless or they don’t reproduce – all he says is that they don’t marry. Marriage is an institution for the good of man on earth. It doesn’t apply to angels.
In actual fact the fact that all life forms we know of do reproduce should lead us to wonder if the same is also true of angels. If they did not reproduce they would be an exception to the general rule. We could also speculate that mankind will reproduce in the coming age. God is, after all, a God who likes increase.
Of course all this is speculation – we don’t know if the angels reproduce or not. But then it is equally a speculation to say they do not. We don’t know.
The point of my discussion here is that we do not know. One cannot say, “The angels are sexless so they could not have had sex with women. Genesis 6:1-4 must mean something else!” To say that is pure speculation, a matter of opinion.
And on that note I want to move on to give my opinion on the meaning of Genesis 6:1-4. I admit it is speculation – but I think it has a lot going for it – especially as it is supported by a traditional Hebrew understanding of the passage, as we shall see.
To set the scene I need to note something else: we are talking about the origin of demons. There are:
THREE MAJOR THEORIES ON THE ORIGIN OF DEMONS:
1. The Pre-Adamic Creation Theory.
Many teachers hold that there was a complete and total creation, including human type beings which God created in Genesis 1:1.
These human type creatures are thought to have identified with Lucifer in his rebellion against God, and were destroyed in the subsequent judgement. Genesis 1:2 is thus translated, "And the earth became void" suggesting it was not so originally, thus this was a destruction, a judgment.
The spirits of these human type beings are said to be the present demons.
Genesis 1:3ff is then said to be a recreation of earth.
This “two creation” theory was discussed in Chapter 5.
In my opinion this view is faulty, as the fall of Satan cannot predate Genesis 1:31, as discussed in chapter 8 on the Rebellion of Lucifer.
The other scriptures used in support of this theory are capable of another interpretation so need not carry the meaning given to them in this interpretation.
As for the question, "Why would God allow the spirits of this pre-Adamic race to remain free as demons?" - no one seems to have a sensible answer. There seems to be no reason why their spirits could not have been isolated somehow, as we shall see some of the fallen angels were later on.
2. Demons are the Fallen Angels.
There are several reasons why I do not think this is so, some of which I will cover when I look at the nature of demons.
The primary reason why I don't agree with this theory is simply because the Bible does not say so - and there are no indications, or hints that it may be so. In other words, those interpreters who insist that demons are the fallen angels are simply guessing and, because of this, their opinion is no more valid than anyone else's.
There is another reason why I don't think it is true. Those who have been involved in the deliverance ministry (freeing people from the power of evil spirits, i.e. demons) tend to end up convinced that demons are a different life form to fallen angels. In fact the comparison between demons and fallen angels is a bit like comparing pop guns to H-Bombs. Though Deliverance ministries regularly encounter demons, they rarely encounter fallen angels - and when they do they know the difference. Because of what is a pretty strong witness from deliverance ministries that they are different I go along with that conclusion. There are times when those with experience have to be allowed to provide expertise and understanding to those who have not had the experience or who, as in my case, the experience is fairly limited. (I have had some experience in Deliverance ministry, but not enough to be able to make a personal judgement on this sort of issue.)
Actually it is my observation (again limited by the fact that I am human and haven't had vast experience of the area) that those who argue most strongly that demons are fallen angels have never been involved in deliverance at all. In other words, their arguments are head knowledge with only their own opinion to back it up.
So I disagree with the theory that Demons are the fallen angels.
3. The Classic Jewish Theory.
This theory was the popular view around the time of Christ, and is found in the Jewish writing, the book of Enoch. It is largely reflected in the NT and there is nothing inconsistent with it and scriptural statements, as far as I can tell.
This view holds that certain of the fallen angels (not all of them) had intercourse with women (recorded in Genesis Ch 6). The resulting offspring were wicked giants who sought to destroy the whole of mankind. In response to the cries of men God judged the world to destroy these giants, and this was the primary cause of the Flood. The angels who sired these children were cast into the pit, but Enoch informs us that the spirits of their children, the Nephilim, were allowed to remain free as evil spirits.
Why their spirits were allowed to remain free is not said, but I can offer an opinion:
These spirits were not just "human spirits" as our spirits are, but were in some way a mixture of human spirits and angelic spirits. Thus there were possibly protocols in God that we do not know or understand that prevented their spirits from being thrown into the pit as the angels were that sired them.
Excerpts from the Book of Enoch.
(The book of Enoch can be viewed at:
http://reluctant-messenger.com/book_of_enoch.htm
Or you can buy it from Amazon.)
It is well worth reading for the light it sheds on other passages in the NT, particularly the Book of Revelation.
Ch. 6.
"And it came to pass that when the children of men had multiplied in those days that beautiful daughters were born to them. And the angels, the children of heaven, lusted after them, and said to one another, "Come let us choose wives from among the children of men and beget us children."
(Some discussion of the proposal follows and they bind themselves by oath to do this and to take the blame mutually. There were about 200 of them altogether).
Ch. 7.
“And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives... and they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants (herbalism). And they became pregnant, and they bore great giants, whose height was 3000 ells, who consumed all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against them and consumed mankind. And they began to sin against (i.e., destroy) all creation.
(It seems as if they taught mankind all sorts of things that men didn't really need to know.)
This picture seems to tie in well with some obscure NT references that defy meaning unless understood against the background of Enoch. These NT writings show clear knowledge of Enoch; in fact Jude quotes him directly. Revelation alludes to him many times.
Jude 14 is a direct quote of Enoch 1:9. Thought not attested to here as being scripture Jude gives Enoch status as being inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Jude 6,7.
“And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home- these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.”
Note the context is one of sexual sin. The angels acted "in a similar way" to Sodom and Gomorrah in sexual immorality.
Note: There are those who argue that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was not sexual, and they even argue that the Bible never says it was. I don't know how they overcome this verse which plainly says they "gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion".
1 Peter 3:19,20. “The spirits in prison.”
“… through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,…”
2 Peter 2:4-6.
“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; …”
Note the context again is sexual sin.
These three NT scriptures clearly allude to the events recorded in Enoch and support the interpretation Enoch gives.
It seems as if there were two groups of fallen angels - one group was involved in this sexual endeavour, the other group did not. This determines their later activities. Those that did not commit sexual sin still dwell in the second heavens and exercise influence from there. Those who committed sexual sin were cast into the pit and are bound there. They are unable to do anything much. Presumably they are those beings released in the last days as recorded in
Revelation 9:1-12.
“The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them. The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions'
teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.
The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.”
These “locusts” are clearly spiritual forces and presumably are the fallen angels committed to the pit at the Flood. They are released again and continue their evil work. I suspect the limitation of their activities to “five months” is to stop any offspring being born to them again. This event clearly happens only 5 months before the Second Coming of Christ.
Back to Genesis 6.
As a result of this sexual activity a form of "half-breed" being came into existence - half man and half angel. These beings seem to have been gigantic in size, but were of totally evil nature and imposed violence on mankind.
Genesis 6:4 calls them the Nephilim, meaning "the Fallen Ones".
At the Flood their bodies were destroyed, but for some reason, unknown to us, their spirits were allowed to remain free to roam the earth as evil spirits.
Enoch 15:8.
"And now the giants who are produced from the spirits (angels) and flesh, shall be called evil spirits on the earth and on the earth shall be their dwelling. And evil spirits shall they be called."
Enoch 15:11.
"And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble. They take no food yet hunger and thirst and cause offenses. And these spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women because they have proceeded from them."
This seems to fairly well sum up the works of demons.
THE NATURE OF DEMONS.
1. They are not Fallen Angels.
Many believe that demons and fallen angels are the same thing. On this matter the scripture is not totally clear. There is a relationship between them (as we have seen) but it is probably best to understand them as being different from fallen angels in origin and nature.
It seems as though there are two main differences between demons and fallen angels:
(i) Fallen Angels live in the Heavenlies (the Second Heavens), Demons live on Earth. Demons carry out the wishes of the Fallen Angels. It seems as if the Fallen Angels have very little desire to come down to earth, there is a tremendous power play going on in the Heavenlies, and their absence may mean some other angel will take your place. Hence Fallen Angels only come to earth rarely and unwillingly.
That fallen angels live and operate in the heavenlies is attested to by several scriptures. Here are two:
Ephesians 6:12.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Revelation 12:9.
The great dragon was hurled down- that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
However we must remember that this is not all of the fallen angels, because some were cast into the pit at the time of the flood, as we read earlier.
stjohnrevelation.blogspot.com
See chapter 12.
(ii) Fallen Angels, like other angels, were created without a body, and have no real desire to inhabit them. To inhabit a body would be restrictive to them. Demons originally had a body and earnestly desire to have one again. Fallen Angels, therefore, do not normally inhabit human beings. There are few notable exceptions, Judas (John 13:27), and the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2) being two, but this seems to be rare.
It seems that angels can take on human form if this is required in their carrying out of the service of God. Two Bible examples of this are:
a. The three angels who visited Abraham on the way to Sodom (Genesis 18,19), they appeared to be men to Abraham until they revealed their identity.
b. The exhortation to be hospitable (Hebrews 13:2) because we may entertain angels unawares.
This is not their normal state however, they return to being “spirit beings” when the task is finished. Presumably fallen angels can do the same but this is different from inhabiting another person or being as we find with demon possession. The rebellion of the angels was, in part, a result of their determination that man as a physical being was inferior to them, so they are not enamoured with the idea of being localised in a body.
The passage from Enoch quoted above fairly well describes them. They are evil, unclean, violent, and destructive.
References in the Bible indicate that demons have access to vast knowledge and intelligence. They are often tremendously powerful.
However one thing is consistent in all of then, they are in total rebellion against God.
The fact that they at one time had a physical body is extremely important. This facet of their personality drives them to want to inhabit the bodies of other creatures, particularly men. This phenomena we call "demon possession", where a demon enters into the life of another being and brings part, or all, of that creature's life under its control.
This desire to have a body is so strong that the demons Jesus cast out of Legion would rather go into a herd of pigs than be without a body (Mark 5:1-13).
It is important to understand this about their nature as it dominates their desires totally and hence their works.
WORKS OF DEMONS.
Enoch again fairly well describes this. Demons attack, destroy, and bring into bondage peoples lives.
Some interpreters feel that different demons do different things, and that the particular area of activity a demon involves itself in is defined by its name. There is some support for this as demons seem to have names, and the Jewish idea of a name being a character would go along with this.
However it is equally likely that a demon seeks to inflict a person IN ANY WAY HE POSSIBLY CAN. Hence the name a demon might give could only be a clue to the area he is presently afflicting in a person's life. I personally think that demons are not too fussy as to how they make us suffer, only that they do.
Demons can cause many things in our lives:
Mental torment,
Sickness,
Accidents,
Deception,
Bodily destruction,
Failure and frustration,
Bad emotional conditions,
Excessive reactions to situations,
Broken relationships.
There are many misconceptions as to the nature of demonic possession. Demonic possession does not always imply mental illness or instability, or insanity. There are other things demons do.
How do they work in our lives?
Demons, like Satan, can only initially work in our minds with ideas. If we accept the idea that they implant into our minds then they receive "ground", i.e. a right to act further in our lives. Continued giving of ground in an area can result in possession.
Demons cannot normally affect our lives unless we, in some way, allow them to by our will. There are exceptions to this rule - where other people have caused demonic problems to come on us. Normally, however, Demons have to either trick us into allowing them room or in some way bypass our will in order to invade our lives.
Demon possession occurs when a demon manages to obtain permission from us to dominate an area of our life. There are many forms of possession, and it comes in many degrees. This is beyond the scope of this series of studies so we will leave it there.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Salvation History. Chapter 11: - The Promise of Redemption.
Chapter 11: - The Promise of Redemption.
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A PLAN OF SALVATION.
Sin has entered into the sphere of man's existence, and has brought about its evil consequences. But what is God to do? Is he left with egg on his face? Has he no way of overcoming this problem? Did he not foresee it - after all God knows everything, Doesn't he?
God did foresee man's sin and the consequences of it - which is why he warned Adam not to follow certain courses of action. But more than that God had already foreordained a way of Redemption for mankind and had established that in Eternity as an Eternal Fact.
Man remained redeemable because:
(i) Man didn't invent sin but was tempted.
(ii) Man did not identify with evil and sin even after the Fall. Even in the act of sinning man showed that sin was something foreign to him in that:
* He covered himself. The fig leaves signify man's flight from evil.
* He shifted blame.
* He was Ashamed. Shame is man's first defense against sin.
God's plan of Redemption was simple in its scheme, yet so profound that Satan could not conceive of it. It was simply this:
God determined himself to enter into human history and pay the penalty for man's sin.
The Omnipotent was to become impotent.
The Omniscient was to become Ignorant.
The Omnipresent was to become limited in time and space.
The Eternal One was to die.
It was a plan so unlikely that no one would ever consider it a possibility, so it had every chance of success because no one would be able to stop it.
In the Eternal Courts of Judgement God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, volunteered to become the Scapegoat for mankind and bear their sin. He who, as the Son, was the one for whom all this was made. He who designed it all. He who executed it as the Living Word. He who holds it all together by his word. He it was who said, "I will Go".
And in the Courts of Eternity God the Father decreed that this sacrifice was sufficient for the sins of All men for All time.
Christ became an eternal sacrifice for sins.
The Scriptural references for this are all found in Chapter 2: - God in Eternity.
In this plan God determined the time when Christ would die and set in motion a series of events preparing for that event so that all would be ready.
The Old Testament is the record of God's preparing of the world for that event. In the process God had to do several things:
(1) He had to promise mankind that there was a hope in the future that men could look forward to in faith. Hence he needed to give mankind a revelation of what was going to happen. Yet the revelation could not be so clear that the meaning of it would be open to Satan. In other words some of the details had to be hidden.
(2) He had to give men a way of "Covering" their guilt until then so that they could be free of the Enemy's taunts.
(3) He had to bring to birth in history certain things so that the prophesied salvation could be seen to be the real thing as it fulfilled prophecy.
In Genesis 3,4 we see how God answered the first two of these requirements. From Genesis 11 onwards we see God beginning to prepare the ground for his promised salvation.
THE PROMISE OF REDEMPTION.
The Promise of Redemption includes these elements:
1. A revelation of the Purposes of God through prophecy, of a Coming One, a Redeemer.
2. A demonstration, in symbolic form, of the meaning of this Redeemer’s work. This demonstration also provided the means of covering man’s sin until the Redeemer came.
1. The Revelation of Redemption.
Genesis 3:15.
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
Literally: “between your seed and her seed”.
Women do not have seed; the seed comes from the man. This implies that there was to be something special about the promised child – he was to have no human father, the mother was to be a virgin. The ancient world understood this clearly. (The implication by many intellectually arrogant modern people that these "primitive people didn't know how reproduction, etc., worked and thus blah, blah..." is manifestly wrong when we study the History of Religion and religious ideas. The ancient world was abundantly clear that the Promised Redeemer of mankind was to be a man, born of a woman who was a virgin - and it was also completely clear on the fact that this was to be something out of the ordinary, a miracle.)
This revelation of a Coming Redeemer, the seed of the woman, was given to Adam, hence became the property of all of his descendants. It is knowledge common to mankind.
This is important to remember as it explains why many cultures are aware of it even without any visible contact with the gospel. In actual fact this promise is the basis of nearly all of the heathen religions.
Don Richardson in his book, "Eternity in Their Hearts" demonstrates how many isolated cultural groups have two religious beliefs. The oldest is a belief in one creator God who is going to redeem mankind. This is a prophetic religion of Hope. The newer religion is a spirit (demon) worship that is imposed on top of the true tribal religion. This second belief is a worship of fear.
Bullinger and Seiss, in their books on Biblical Astrology, show how true astrology, in its original form, is part of this revelation of God to Adam. The modern form of Astrology is relatively recent and is clearly a corruption of the older belief.
Alexander Hislop also, in his book, "The Two Babylons", shows how this promise is the basis of all of the mystery cult religions of the ancient world and of Astrology. We will look at Hislop’s work in chapter 13
This Revelation included the following Elements.
(1) Enmity between Eve and Satan.
About this we know nothing. Presumably there was some personal conflict between Eve and Satan.
(2) Enmity between her offspring and Satan.
I.e. between mankind in general and Satan. Satan is symbolised by the Serpent, but there is also a literal sense to the prophecy. Mankind and snakes have never got on too well.
(3) There will be a specific "Seed".
I.e. a man who will once and for all crush the head of Satan. To "crush his head" means to destroy his authority. The metaphor is drawn from the practice of ancient kings where they put their feet on the heads of defeated foes.
By the phrase "seed of the woman", it was understood that this Redeemer would not have a human Father, his mother would technically be, in human terms, a Virgin. The Redeemer would thus be the “son of (the) god(s).”
(4) Death would be conquered by the dying of the Redeemer.
In the process of attaining this once for all victory over Satan the Redeemer will himself be incapacitated for a season. The metaphor of "striking the heel" has come to mean a crippling, or mortal, blow. I.e. the Redeemer would conquer death by dying.
These four ideas are common to ancient and primitive religion the world over.
e.g. Achillee's heel.
2. The Demonstration of Redemption.
Adam and Eve themselves need some covering for their sins. At this time God provided a way for men to cover their sins so that they were absolved from them. This arrangement was to last until the promised Redeemer came who, once and for all, would deal with sin.
Genesis 3:21.
“The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”
Genesis 4:1-4.
“Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man." Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.”
In instituting a method of cleansing God wanted to depict the work of the coming Redeemer. The essence of the Redeemer's work was that he would have to pay the price for sin, i.e. death. Hence the method of covering sin needed to depict this. Therefore the rite of sacrifice was instituted. Abel did not dream up the idea of presenting from his flock all by himself - God had already demonstrated that this was his intention by killing an animal in Genesis 3 and covering Adam and Eve with the skins. Here we see a double symbolism - the death of the substitute, and the covering of the shame (Genesis 3:21).
For this reason Cain's offering was unacceptable. The offering of the fruit of the field is an acceptable offering to God as a Fellowship meal, but only after sin has been first dealt with. Cain presumed that he was innocent, that he did not need to repent of sin, so in arrogance demanded fellowship with God without acknowledging his guilt. Hence he was rejected. His anger shows he knew he was wrong. Cain’s attempt to reach God without dealing with sin and death is typical of man – and the anger men show towards the Christian gospel is the same as Cain’s anger. Men want to presume they are innocent, when in actual fact they know they are not. But if they can blame someone else then they don’t have to face sin and the consequences of it. so they try to approach God without dealing with the real problem – sin.
Abel, on the other hand, sought to give to God what God required, in faith, and so was accepted. He acknowledged his need for a saviour by bringing a lamb as a substitute for himself, thus pointing towards the great substitute, Jesus Christ.
This arrangement of covering sin with animal sacrifice did not actually remove sin from the picture.
Hebrews 9:6-15.
“When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing.
This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings- external regulations applying until the time of the new order.
When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance- now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.”
What happened was that the sins were simply "covered". It is as if God put the IOU in a drawer and said "We'll get them out when the Redeemer comes". When Christ came he took all of the IOUs and paid the debt. Christ is the sacrifice for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD, not just for the portion of the world that existed after Calvary.
In offering a blood sacrifice the sinner was saying something like this:
"I know I am a sinner and I deserve death. But I know you have promised to send a Redeemer who will die for me and pay my penalty. In offering this sacrifice I acknowledge that forgiveness only comes from the sacrifice of the Redeemer, so in faith I symbolise his death, looking forward to his coming, He who will cleanse me from all my sin."
In other words the sacrifice did not cleanse from sin, rather the faith in the Coming Redeemer did.
This is the basic outline of the revelation of Redemption God gave to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden as they were expelled from his presence. But God also gave greater detail. Genesis 3:15 and the practice of sacrifice is but the summary of what God revealed. The details were revealed in the stars – in the original astrology.
THE REVELATION IN THE STARS.
Reference Works:
E.W.Bullinger: - The Witness of the Stars.
J.Seiss: - The Gospel in the Stars.
(Both recently reprinted by Kregel).
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The Theme of these books is the original meaning of the constellations.
Both Seiss and Bullinger put forward a convincing argument that modern astrology, and its interpretation of the constellations, is not original. There was an earlier interpretation that has been corrupted.
This older version is reflected in the religious myths of every ancient civilisation, and we can trace its corruption through time. Interestingly enough, we can also isolate out the original interpretation of the stars, and this interpretation is common to all ancient peoples. This commonness suggests a common source. The corruption began in Egypt and Babel and reached its final form in the Greek Empire.
The original interpretation of the pictures in the stars were a prophecy – of the Coming Redeemer of mankind, his work and its results. The corruption retained the idea that the pictures in the stars were a prophecy, but made them into a personal prophecy for each person, the horoscopes (or “horror-scopes”) of today.
Seiss claims that this original interpretation, and indeed the pictures themselves, were the bulk of God's original revelation of his purposes to Adam after the Fall, and that Genesis 3:15 are actually only a summary of this revelation.
It is clear that Genesis 3:15 is not the total of the revelation given by God at that time as we discover sacrifice in Genesis 4 which is not detailed in Genesis 3.
Seiss claims that God first showed Adam the picture in the stars and then gave Adam a prophetic Messianic interpretation of them. This message tells of the coming Messiah, firstly to suffer, then to reign.
It is clear that the ancient world knew of the gospel as a prophecy, as it was enshrined in their mythologies. Not only as a sketch, as in Genesis 3:15, but also fine details are contained in the myths, and these predate the existence of Israel. The connection of the stars with this REVELATION KNOWLEDGE dates from the earliest times so the two seem to belong together.
There is nothing in the stars themselves to suggest the pictures. Clearly the following is true:
(i) The pictures have been imposed on the stars.
(ii) Then a meaning was given to the pictures, and finally
(iii) Individual stars have been named in such a way that the meaning of their names have relevance only when considered in the light of the picture in which they are contained and its prophetic gospel message.
That modern astrology is also a corruption of something more ancient is also indisputable historically.
Scriptural Support For Such an Idea.
(a) Genesis 1:14-18.
“And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. God made two great lights- the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.”
The stars were given as a “sign”. The Hebrew words are important.
* "Stars" = constellations.
* "sign" = Astrological signs.
The two words are actually technical terms to do with astrology.
How the sentence is punctuated is important. The NIV (above) links the “signs” with “mark seasons and days and years”, but this is not the original. It would be better translated with a comma after “signs”. Thus the functions of the “lights in the expanse are:
* To be (astrological) signs.
* To mark seasons, days and years (by their position at different times of year).
* To be lights.
A sign is something arbitrarily selected and appointed to mean something else. I.e. the meaning is not immediately, or physically, obvious.
(b) Psalm 19:1-7.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple….”
* There are two witnesses to God and his plan. The Bible is one (vs 7ff) , the stars is the other (vs 1-6).
* God's "glory" includes his moral and redemptive nature, which can only be seen in the stars if the stars are signs, i.e. symbolic pictures.
* The stars can only “pour out speech” day by day if the stars have been assigned a symbolic meaning and if this meaning can be known.
(c) Romans. 1:19-22.
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”
C/f Romans 10:18.
“But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: "Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."
* "What may be known about God…is plain to them."
* “Did they not hear” – “their voice has gone out into all the earth”. Paul here quotes from Psalm 19 where the Psalmist tells us that the stars are speaking as a proof that all men have heard the gospel message somehow.
God considers the revelation that the Heathen have to be sufficient to bring them to salvation if they heed it. Hence they are liable to judgement if they reject it.
(d) Some constellations are named in the Bible and in such a way that we could be meant to see a "Christian" meaning in them.
(e) Isaiah 40:26.
“Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”
God names the stars. This is important if the meaning of their names takes on Redemptive significance.
(f) Some of the Pictures in the constellations are used in the Bible, particularly in REVELATION, in a way that suggests this was their intended meaning. Of the 48 pictures in the constellations around 27 of them (I think) are so used. This has to be strongly suggestive of a Divine origin to them.
USES OF THE CONSTELLATIONS IN SCRIPTURE.
(a) With Respect to Israel.
(i) Apparently each of the tribes had a flag, or banner, or standard which was a picture of one of the constellations, or a decan of it. They marched under these flags in the wilderness.
Definition: Decan: Each of the main pictures in the stars gives its name to a constellation, e.g. Aries, Leo, Virgo, and so on. But each of these major pictures has three subsidiary pictures associated with it. Theses associated pictures are called decans.
(ii) Genesis 37:9.
“Then he (Joseph) had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
"eleven Stars", the Hebrew literally means " the eleven constellations".
(iii) Genesis 49. Jacob's blessing.
Each blessing given alludes to the constellations:
E.g. Reuben - water = Aquarius.
Dan - serpent = Scorpio.
Judah - lion = Leo.
Issachar - sheepfolds = decans of Cancer now called the Bears.
(iv) Numbers 2.
When Israel was travelling through the wilderness they camped in a circle in four groups . When laid out on a plan as in Numbers it suggests the camp reflected the 360-degree circle of the ecliptic, i.e. they encamped as if they were trying to reproduce the constellations.
(b) The Book of Revelation.
Ch. 1 - the seven stars = the seven known planets, or possibly the Pleiades, seven stars in Ursa Minor.
Ch. 4 - the four faces of the Cherubim represent the four corners of the sky - Aquarius (the man), Taurus (the Bull), Leo (the Lion), Aquilla the Eagle (of Scorpio).
Ch. 5:5,6 The Lion who is a Lamb = Leo.
Ch. 5:8 Harps = Harpo.
Ch. 6:1,2 Rider with a Bow, could be Saggitarius.
Ch. 6:9 Alter = Ara.
Ch. 8:13 Eagle = Aquilla.
Ch. 12:1,2 Woman = Cassiopeia, Virgo and Andromeda.
Ch. 12:3,4 Serpent = Hydra.
Ch. 14:14-16 Reaper = Bootes.
Ch. 15:7 Cup = Crater.
Ch. 19:17-18 Birds = Corvus.
As you can see the usage is considerable. Other symbols in Revelation could possibly be sourced from the stars. John has used these symbols with the traditional meaning, with only minor variations in order to clarify the meaning. E.g. The rolling of the three women together into one confirms what the ancients suspected, they were in fact the same, but seen at three different points of her existence.
In fact John often tells us that the sky is where he was getting his inspiration from:
Revelation 4:2.
“At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.”
Revelation 12:1.
“A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.”
Revelation 12:3.
“Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.
Revelation 15:1.
“I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues- last, because with them God's wrath is completed.”
Revelation 15:5.
“After this I looked and in heaven the temple, that is, the tabernacle of the Testimony, was opened.”
These all have reference to pictures in the constellations.
THE ZODIAC.
The line the sun "travels" through the sky over the course of a year is called the Ecliptic. In reality this is the path of the earth around the sun.
On this line were originally pictured 48 signs, though the Greeks later on added to this.
The Ecliptic is divided into 12 parts and the sun "passes through" one part each month. As the Moon circles the earth it cuts the ecliptic into 12 equal steps. Thus the 48 pictures are divided into 12 groups of four pictures. The whole course of the sun is called the Zodiac (from Zoad = the walk, go by steps). There are four pictures in each step, the main picture giving the group its name and the other three are known as its DECANS.
In ancient Egypt the Zodiac was divided between Leo and Virgo. Virgo was the beginning of the circle, Leo was the end. Ancient inscriptions show the Sphinx (half woman, half lion) in here. The word "sphinx" comes from a root meaning, "to join", or "the joining", i.e. of the Zodiac.
Corruptions came over the years, the worst being the renaming, redrawing, and addition of some pictures by the Greeks. The use of the stars to predict PERSONAL PROPHECY appears to date from Babel, and it is the use of the stars in this way that is a dangerous lie. The Book of Enoch tells us that one of the fallen angels "taught men the constellations", i.e. the corruption of it. It is clear that the stars were to be seen as a prophecy, but that prophecy concerns the coming Redeemer, not events in our personal lives.
THE CONSTELLATIONS AND THEIR DECANS WITH THEIR INTERPRETATION ACCORDING TO SEISS.
1) Virgo - Virgin - The Virgin with her promised seed.
a) Coma - the woman and her manchild, who is the Redeemer.
b) Centaurus - the Centaur - half man, half horse - speaking of the two natures of the Redeemer who is a sin offering.
c) Bootes – “the Coming One” - the Victorious Coming Redeemer.
Virgo is in some ways a summary of all that is to come, telling us of his pre-existence, virgin birth, dual nature, sacrificial death and victorious coming.
2) Libra - the Scales - The Redeemer's atoning work, the weighing of sin.
a) Crux - the Southern Cross - the Cross endured.
b) Victima - a dying animal - the victim slain.
c) Corona - the Northern crown - victory after death.
3) Scorpio - the Scorpion - the Redeemer's conflict. Scorpio
is the enemy.
a) Serpens - the serpent - the enemy.
b) Ophuchus - the serpent holder - victory over death by
dying.
c) Hercules - the Saviour, Deliverer.
4) Sagittarius - the Archer - the Redeemer's triumph.
a) Ara - the Alter - fire to consume the enemies.
b) Lyra - the Harp - new song for the Redeemed.
c) Draco - the Dragon cast down.
5) Capricornus - the dying goat - death bringing new life.
a) Sagitta - the Arrow - the Word of God goes forth.
b) Aquilla - the Eagle - the Enemy of the Serpent dying.
c) Delphinus - the dolphin - life from death.
6) Aquarius - the Water pourer - Living Waters poured forth.
a) Pisces Australis - the southern fish - the blessings
bestowed.
b) Pegasus - the winged horse - blessing comes quickly.
c) Cygnus - the Swan - the Blessor surely returns.
7) Pisces - the mystic fishes - the blessings are received and
enjoyed.
a) The Band - Christ and the Church bind the enemy.
b) Andromeda - the chained woman - the Church in bondage and
affliction.
c) Copheus - the King - Christ enthroned.
8) Aries - the Ram - the blessings of the Redeemed Consummated
and enjoyed.
a) Cassiopeia - the Enthroned Woman - the Church enthroned.
b) Cetus - the sea monster - the enemy bound.
c) Perseus - the breaker - delivering his redeemed.
9) Taurus - the Bull - the Day of the Lord.
a) Orion -the Coming Prince.
b) Eridanus - the river of the judge - waters of wrath.
c) Auriga - the shepherd - safety for the Redeemed.
10) Gemini - the twins - Christ and his Bride.
a) Lepus - the Hare - the enemy trodden underfoot.
b) Canis Major - the Great Dog - enemy of the Hare.
c) Canis Minor - the little dog - the Church.
11) Cancer - the Crab - Christ's inheritance secure.
a) Ursa Major - the Greater sheepfold.
b) Ursa Minor - the Lesser Sheepfold.
c) Argo - the Ship - pilgrims safely home.
12) Leo - the Lion - Christ's triumph.
a) Hydra - the seven-headed Serpent Destroyed.
b) Crater - the Cup of Wrath.
c) Corvus - Birds of prey devouring the serpent.
SUMMARY.
From this we can see there was quite possibly given to Adam a quite detailed outline of God's plan of Redemption. This seems to have covered the nature and work of the Redeemer, his conflict and victory, the people he would redeem and their sharing with God in ruling, and other details. Clearly sacrifice is part of the picture, the voluntary death of the Redeemer, and that it is through this death that the victory is won.
It is apparent that we can only see this prophecy clearly for what it is now with the benefit of hindsight. Like a lot of Biblical prophecy it is better understood after the event. For Adam and his seed the meaning must have been quite obscure, but they seem to have grasped the main threads and these were enshrined in religious mythology from very early times. How this was used in religious mythology we shall see in Chapter 13.
However, even modern astrology retains the idea that the stars and the pictures in them are prophetic, they somehow tell the future. The question is "The future of What?" Seiss's answer is "The outworking of God's plan of Redemption." The two books referred to above make compelling reading, and their argument seems to hold together.
Bullinger’s Book, "The Witness of the Stars," can be downloaded from:
http://philologos.org/__eb-tws/
Both Bullinger’s book and Seiss’s “The Gospel in the Stars" are available through Amazon as are Richardson's "Eternity in their Hearts" and Hislop's, "The Two Babylons".
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A PLAN OF SALVATION.
Sin has entered into the sphere of man's existence, and has brought about its evil consequences. But what is God to do? Is he left with egg on his face? Has he no way of overcoming this problem? Did he not foresee it - after all God knows everything, Doesn't he?
God did foresee man's sin and the consequences of it - which is why he warned Adam not to follow certain courses of action. But more than that God had already foreordained a way of Redemption for mankind and had established that in Eternity as an Eternal Fact.
Man remained redeemable because:
(i) Man didn't invent sin but was tempted.
(ii) Man did not identify with evil and sin even after the Fall. Even in the act of sinning man showed that sin was something foreign to him in that:
* He covered himself. The fig leaves signify man's flight from evil.
* He shifted blame.
* He was Ashamed. Shame is man's first defense against sin.
God's plan of Redemption was simple in its scheme, yet so profound that Satan could not conceive of it. It was simply this:
God determined himself to enter into human history and pay the penalty for man's sin.
The Omnipotent was to become impotent.
The Omniscient was to become Ignorant.
The Omnipresent was to become limited in time and space.
The Eternal One was to die.
It was a plan so unlikely that no one would ever consider it a possibility, so it had every chance of success because no one would be able to stop it.
In the Eternal Courts of Judgement God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, volunteered to become the Scapegoat for mankind and bear their sin. He who, as the Son, was the one for whom all this was made. He who designed it all. He who executed it as the Living Word. He who holds it all together by his word. He it was who said, "I will Go".
And in the Courts of Eternity God the Father decreed that this sacrifice was sufficient for the sins of All men for All time.
Christ became an eternal sacrifice for sins.
The Scriptural references for this are all found in Chapter 2: - God in Eternity.
In this plan God determined the time when Christ would die and set in motion a series of events preparing for that event so that all would be ready.
The Old Testament is the record of God's preparing of the world for that event. In the process God had to do several things:
(1) He had to promise mankind that there was a hope in the future that men could look forward to in faith. Hence he needed to give mankind a revelation of what was going to happen. Yet the revelation could not be so clear that the meaning of it would be open to Satan. In other words some of the details had to be hidden.
(2) He had to give men a way of "Covering" their guilt until then so that they could be free of the Enemy's taunts.
(3) He had to bring to birth in history certain things so that the prophesied salvation could be seen to be the real thing as it fulfilled prophecy.
In Genesis 3,4 we see how God answered the first two of these requirements. From Genesis 11 onwards we see God beginning to prepare the ground for his promised salvation.
THE PROMISE OF REDEMPTION.
The Promise of Redemption includes these elements:
1. A revelation of the Purposes of God through prophecy, of a Coming One, a Redeemer.
2. A demonstration, in symbolic form, of the meaning of this Redeemer’s work. This demonstration also provided the means of covering man’s sin until the Redeemer came.
1. The Revelation of Redemption.
Genesis 3:15.
“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
Literally: “between your seed and her seed”.
Women do not have seed; the seed comes from the man. This implies that there was to be something special about the promised child – he was to have no human father, the mother was to be a virgin. The ancient world understood this clearly. (The implication by many intellectually arrogant modern people that these "primitive people didn't know how reproduction, etc., worked and thus blah, blah..." is manifestly wrong when we study the History of Religion and religious ideas. The ancient world was abundantly clear that the Promised Redeemer of mankind was to be a man, born of a woman who was a virgin - and it was also completely clear on the fact that this was to be something out of the ordinary, a miracle.)
This revelation of a Coming Redeemer, the seed of the woman, was given to Adam, hence became the property of all of his descendants. It is knowledge common to mankind.
This is important to remember as it explains why many cultures are aware of it even without any visible contact with the gospel. In actual fact this promise is the basis of nearly all of the heathen religions.
Don Richardson in his book, "Eternity in Their Hearts" demonstrates how many isolated cultural groups have two religious beliefs. The oldest is a belief in one creator God who is going to redeem mankind. This is a prophetic religion of Hope. The newer religion is a spirit (demon) worship that is imposed on top of the true tribal religion. This second belief is a worship of fear.
Bullinger and Seiss, in their books on Biblical Astrology, show how true astrology, in its original form, is part of this revelation of God to Adam. The modern form of Astrology is relatively recent and is clearly a corruption of the older belief.
Alexander Hislop also, in his book, "The Two Babylons", shows how this promise is the basis of all of the mystery cult religions of the ancient world and of Astrology. We will look at Hislop’s work in chapter 13
This Revelation included the following Elements.
(1) Enmity between Eve and Satan.
About this we know nothing. Presumably there was some personal conflict between Eve and Satan.
(2) Enmity between her offspring and Satan.
I.e. between mankind in general and Satan. Satan is symbolised by the Serpent, but there is also a literal sense to the prophecy. Mankind and snakes have never got on too well.
(3) There will be a specific "Seed".
I.e. a man who will once and for all crush the head of Satan. To "crush his head" means to destroy his authority. The metaphor is drawn from the practice of ancient kings where they put their feet on the heads of defeated foes.
By the phrase "seed of the woman", it was understood that this Redeemer would not have a human Father, his mother would technically be, in human terms, a Virgin. The Redeemer would thus be the “son of (the) god(s).”
(4) Death would be conquered by the dying of the Redeemer.
In the process of attaining this once for all victory over Satan the Redeemer will himself be incapacitated for a season. The metaphor of "striking the heel" has come to mean a crippling, or mortal, blow. I.e. the Redeemer would conquer death by dying.
These four ideas are common to ancient and primitive religion the world over.
e.g. Achillee's heel.
2. The Demonstration of Redemption.
Adam and Eve themselves need some covering for their sins. At this time God provided a way for men to cover their sins so that they were absolved from them. This arrangement was to last until the promised Redeemer came who, once and for all, would deal with sin.
Genesis 3:21.
“The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.”
Genesis 4:1-4.
“Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man." Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor.”
In instituting a method of cleansing God wanted to depict the work of the coming Redeemer. The essence of the Redeemer's work was that he would have to pay the price for sin, i.e. death. Hence the method of covering sin needed to depict this. Therefore the rite of sacrifice was instituted. Abel did not dream up the idea of presenting from his flock all by himself - God had already demonstrated that this was his intention by killing an animal in Genesis 3 and covering Adam and Eve with the skins. Here we see a double symbolism - the death of the substitute, and the covering of the shame (Genesis 3:21).
For this reason Cain's offering was unacceptable. The offering of the fruit of the field is an acceptable offering to God as a Fellowship meal, but only after sin has been first dealt with. Cain presumed that he was innocent, that he did not need to repent of sin, so in arrogance demanded fellowship with God without acknowledging his guilt. Hence he was rejected. His anger shows he knew he was wrong. Cain’s attempt to reach God without dealing with sin and death is typical of man – and the anger men show towards the Christian gospel is the same as Cain’s anger. Men want to presume they are innocent, when in actual fact they know they are not. But if they can blame someone else then they don’t have to face sin and the consequences of it. so they try to approach God without dealing with the real problem – sin.
Abel, on the other hand, sought to give to God what God required, in faith, and so was accepted. He acknowledged his need for a saviour by bringing a lamb as a substitute for himself, thus pointing towards the great substitute, Jesus Christ.
This arrangement of covering sin with animal sacrifice did not actually remove sin from the picture.
Hebrews 9:6-15.
“When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing.
This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings- external regulations applying until the time of the new order.
When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance- now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.”
What happened was that the sins were simply "covered". It is as if God put the IOU in a drawer and said "We'll get them out when the Redeemer comes". When Christ came he took all of the IOUs and paid the debt. Christ is the sacrifice for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD, not just for the portion of the world that existed after Calvary.
In offering a blood sacrifice the sinner was saying something like this:
"I know I am a sinner and I deserve death. But I know you have promised to send a Redeemer who will die for me and pay my penalty. In offering this sacrifice I acknowledge that forgiveness only comes from the sacrifice of the Redeemer, so in faith I symbolise his death, looking forward to his coming, He who will cleanse me from all my sin."
In other words the sacrifice did not cleanse from sin, rather the faith in the Coming Redeemer did.
This is the basic outline of the revelation of Redemption God gave to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden as they were expelled from his presence. But God also gave greater detail. Genesis 3:15 and the practice of sacrifice is but the summary of what God revealed. The details were revealed in the stars – in the original astrology.
THE REVELATION IN THE STARS.
Reference Works:
E.W.Bullinger: - The Witness of the Stars.
J.Seiss: - The Gospel in the Stars.
(Both recently reprinted by Kregel).
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The Theme of these books is the original meaning of the constellations.
Both Seiss and Bullinger put forward a convincing argument that modern astrology, and its interpretation of the constellations, is not original. There was an earlier interpretation that has been corrupted.
This older version is reflected in the religious myths of every ancient civilisation, and we can trace its corruption through time. Interestingly enough, we can also isolate out the original interpretation of the stars, and this interpretation is common to all ancient peoples. This commonness suggests a common source. The corruption began in Egypt and Babel and reached its final form in the Greek Empire.
The original interpretation of the pictures in the stars were a prophecy – of the Coming Redeemer of mankind, his work and its results. The corruption retained the idea that the pictures in the stars were a prophecy, but made them into a personal prophecy for each person, the horoscopes (or “horror-scopes”) of today.
Seiss claims that this original interpretation, and indeed the pictures themselves, were the bulk of God's original revelation of his purposes to Adam after the Fall, and that Genesis 3:15 are actually only a summary of this revelation.
It is clear that Genesis 3:15 is not the total of the revelation given by God at that time as we discover sacrifice in Genesis 4 which is not detailed in Genesis 3.
Seiss claims that God first showed Adam the picture in the stars and then gave Adam a prophetic Messianic interpretation of them. This message tells of the coming Messiah, firstly to suffer, then to reign.
It is clear that the ancient world knew of the gospel as a prophecy, as it was enshrined in their mythologies. Not only as a sketch, as in Genesis 3:15, but also fine details are contained in the myths, and these predate the existence of Israel. The connection of the stars with this REVELATION KNOWLEDGE dates from the earliest times so the two seem to belong together.
There is nothing in the stars themselves to suggest the pictures. Clearly the following is true:
(i) The pictures have been imposed on the stars.
(ii) Then a meaning was given to the pictures, and finally
(iii) Individual stars have been named in such a way that the meaning of their names have relevance only when considered in the light of the picture in which they are contained and its prophetic gospel message.
That modern astrology is also a corruption of something more ancient is also indisputable historically.
Scriptural Support For Such an Idea.
(a) Genesis 1:14-18.
“And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. God made two great lights- the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.”
The stars were given as a “sign”. The Hebrew words are important.
* "Stars" = constellations.
* "sign" = Astrological signs.
The two words are actually technical terms to do with astrology.
How the sentence is punctuated is important. The NIV (above) links the “signs” with “mark seasons and days and years”, but this is not the original. It would be better translated with a comma after “signs”. Thus the functions of the “lights in the expanse are:
* To be (astrological) signs.
* To mark seasons, days and years (by their position at different times of year).
* To be lights.
A sign is something arbitrarily selected and appointed to mean something else. I.e. the meaning is not immediately, or physically, obvious.
(b) Psalm 19:1-7.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple….”
* There are two witnesses to God and his plan. The Bible is one (vs 7ff) , the stars is the other (vs 1-6).
* God's "glory" includes his moral and redemptive nature, which can only be seen in the stars if the stars are signs, i.e. symbolic pictures.
* The stars can only “pour out speech” day by day if the stars have been assigned a symbolic meaning and if this meaning can be known.
(c) Romans. 1:19-22.
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities- his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”
C/f Romans 10:18.
“But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did: "Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."
* "What may be known about God…is plain to them."
* “Did they not hear” – “their voice has gone out into all the earth”. Paul here quotes from Psalm 19 where the Psalmist tells us that the stars are speaking as a proof that all men have heard the gospel message somehow.
God considers the revelation that the Heathen have to be sufficient to bring them to salvation if they heed it. Hence they are liable to judgement if they reject it.
(d) Some constellations are named in the Bible and in such a way that we could be meant to see a "Christian" meaning in them.
(e) Isaiah 40:26.
“Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”
God names the stars. This is important if the meaning of their names takes on Redemptive significance.
(f) Some of the Pictures in the constellations are used in the Bible, particularly in REVELATION, in a way that suggests this was their intended meaning. Of the 48 pictures in the constellations around 27 of them (I think) are so used. This has to be strongly suggestive of a Divine origin to them.
USES OF THE CONSTELLATIONS IN SCRIPTURE.
(a) With Respect to Israel.
(i) Apparently each of the tribes had a flag, or banner, or standard which was a picture of one of the constellations, or a decan of it. They marched under these flags in the wilderness.
Definition: Decan: Each of the main pictures in the stars gives its name to a constellation, e.g. Aries, Leo, Virgo, and so on. But each of these major pictures has three subsidiary pictures associated with it. Theses associated pictures are called decans.
(ii) Genesis 37:9.
“Then he (Joseph) had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. "Listen," he said, "I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me."
"eleven Stars", the Hebrew literally means " the eleven constellations".
(iii) Genesis 49. Jacob's blessing.
Each blessing given alludes to the constellations:
E.g. Reuben - water = Aquarius.
Dan - serpent = Scorpio.
Judah - lion = Leo.
Issachar - sheepfolds = decans of Cancer now called the Bears.
(iv) Numbers 2.
When Israel was travelling through the wilderness they camped in a circle in four groups . When laid out on a plan as in Numbers it suggests the camp reflected the 360-degree circle of the ecliptic, i.e. they encamped as if they were trying to reproduce the constellations.
(b) The Book of Revelation.
Ch. 1 - the seven stars = the seven known planets, or possibly the Pleiades, seven stars in Ursa Minor.
Ch. 4 - the four faces of the Cherubim represent the four corners of the sky - Aquarius (the man), Taurus (the Bull), Leo (the Lion), Aquilla the Eagle (of Scorpio).
Ch. 5:5,6 The Lion who is a Lamb = Leo.
Ch. 5:8 Harps = Harpo.
Ch. 6:1,2 Rider with a Bow, could be Saggitarius.
Ch. 6:9 Alter = Ara.
Ch. 8:13 Eagle = Aquilla.
Ch. 12:1,2 Woman = Cassiopeia, Virgo and Andromeda.
Ch. 12:3,4 Serpent = Hydra.
Ch. 14:14-16 Reaper = Bootes.
Ch. 15:7 Cup = Crater.
Ch. 19:17-18 Birds = Corvus.
As you can see the usage is considerable. Other symbols in Revelation could possibly be sourced from the stars. John has used these symbols with the traditional meaning, with only minor variations in order to clarify the meaning. E.g. The rolling of the three women together into one confirms what the ancients suspected, they were in fact the same, but seen at three different points of her existence.
In fact John often tells us that the sky is where he was getting his inspiration from:
Revelation 4:2.
“At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.”
Revelation 12:1.
“A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.”
Revelation 12:3.
“Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.
Revelation 15:1.
“I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues- last, because with them God's wrath is completed.”
Revelation 15:5.
“After this I looked and in heaven the temple, that is, the tabernacle of the Testimony, was opened.”
These all have reference to pictures in the constellations.
THE ZODIAC.
The line the sun "travels" through the sky over the course of a year is called the Ecliptic. In reality this is the path of the earth around the sun.
On this line were originally pictured 48 signs, though the Greeks later on added to this.
The Ecliptic is divided into 12 parts and the sun "passes through" one part each month. As the Moon circles the earth it cuts the ecliptic into 12 equal steps. Thus the 48 pictures are divided into 12 groups of four pictures. The whole course of the sun is called the Zodiac (from Zoad = the walk, go by steps). There are four pictures in each step, the main picture giving the group its name and the other three are known as its DECANS.
In ancient Egypt the Zodiac was divided between Leo and Virgo. Virgo was the beginning of the circle, Leo was the end. Ancient inscriptions show the Sphinx (half woman, half lion) in here. The word "sphinx" comes from a root meaning, "to join", or "the joining", i.e. of the Zodiac.
Corruptions came over the years, the worst being the renaming, redrawing, and addition of some pictures by the Greeks. The use of the stars to predict PERSONAL PROPHECY appears to date from Babel, and it is the use of the stars in this way that is a dangerous lie. The Book of Enoch tells us that one of the fallen angels "taught men the constellations", i.e. the corruption of it. It is clear that the stars were to be seen as a prophecy, but that prophecy concerns the coming Redeemer, not events in our personal lives.
THE CONSTELLATIONS AND THEIR DECANS WITH THEIR INTERPRETATION ACCORDING TO SEISS.
1) Virgo - Virgin - The Virgin with her promised seed.
a) Coma - the woman and her manchild, who is the Redeemer.
b) Centaurus - the Centaur - half man, half horse - speaking of the two natures of the Redeemer who is a sin offering.
c) Bootes – “the Coming One” - the Victorious Coming Redeemer.
Virgo is in some ways a summary of all that is to come, telling us of his pre-existence, virgin birth, dual nature, sacrificial death and victorious coming.
2) Libra - the Scales - The Redeemer's atoning work, the weighing of sin.
a) Crux - the Southern Cross - the Cross endured.
b) Victima - a dying animal - the victim slain.
c) Corona - the Northern crown - victory after death.
3) Scorpio - the Scorpion - the Redeemer's conflict. Scorpio
is the enemy.
a) Serpens - the serpent - the enemy.
b) Ophuchus - the serpent holder - victory over death by
dying.
c) Hercules - the Saviour, Deliverer.
4) Sagittarius - the Archer - the Redeemer's triumph.
a) Ara - the Alter - fire to consume the enemies.
b) Lyra - the Harp - new song for the Redeemed.
c) Draco - the Dragon cast down.
5) Capricornus - the dying goat - death bringing new life.
a) Sagitta - the Arrow - the Word of God goes forth.
b) Aquilla - the Eagle - the Enemy of the Serpent dying.
c) Delphinus - the dolphin - life from death.
6) Aquarius - the Water pourer - Living Waters poured forth.
a) Pisces Australis - the southern fish - the blessings
bestowed.
b) Pegasus - the winged horse - blessing comes quickly.
c) Cygnus - the Swan - the Blessor surely returns.
7) Pisces - the mystic fishes - the blessings are received and
enjoyed.
a) The Band - Christ and the Church bind the enemy.
b) Andromeda - the chained woman - the Church in bondage and
affliction.
c) Copheus - the King - Christ enthroned.
8) Aries - the Ram - the blessings of the Redeemed Consummated
and enjoyed.
a) Cassiopeia - the Enthroned Woman - the Church enthroned.
b) Cetus - the sea monster - the enemy bound.
c) Perseus - the breaker - delivering his redeemed.
9) Taurus - the Bull - the Day of the Lord.
a) Orion -the Coming Prince.
b) Eridanus - the river of the judge - waters of wrath.
c) Auriga - the shepherd - safety for the Redeemed.
10) Gemini - the twins - Christ and his Bride.
a) Lepus - the Hare - the enemy trodden underfoot.
b) Canis Major - the Great Dog - enemy of the Hare.
c) Canis Minor - the little dog - the Church.
11) Cancer - the Crab - Christ's inheritance secure.
a) Ursa Major - the Greater sheepfold.
b) Ursa Minor - the Lesser Sheepfold.
c) Argo - the Ship - pilgrims safely home.
12) Leo - the Lion - Christ's triumph.
a) Hydra - the seven-headed Serpent Destroyed.
b) Crater - the Cup of Wrath.
c) Corvus - Birds of prey devouring the serpent.
SUMMARY.
From this we can see there was quite possibly given to Adam a quite detailed outline of God's plan of Redemption. This seems to have covered the nature and work of the Redeemer, his conflict and victory, the people he would redeem and their sharing with God in ruling, and other details. Clearly sacrifice is part of the picture, the voluntary death of the Redeemer, and that it is through this death that the victory is won.
It is apparent that we can only see this prophecy clearly for what it is now with the benefit of hindsight. Like a lot of Biblical prophecy it is better understood after the event. For Adam and his seed the meaning must have been quite obscure, but they seem to have grasped the main threads and these were enshrined in religious mythology from very early times. How this was used in religious mythology we shall see in Chapter 13.
However, even modern astrology retains the idea that the stars and the pictures in them are prophetic, they somehow tell the future. The question is "The future of What?" Seiss's answer is "The outworking of God's plan of Redemption." The two books referred to above make compelling reading, and their argument seems to hold together.
Bullinger’s Book, "The Witness of the Stars," can be downloaded from:
http://philologos.org/__eb-tws/
Both Bullinger’s book and Seiss’s “The Gospel in the Stars" are available through Amazon as are Richardson's "Eternity in their Hearts" and Hislop's, "The Two Babylons".
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