God's Final Battle - 4
The Reversal
CHAPTER 4
THE REVERSAL
And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
— Daniel 2:44
For thousands of years, Satan, the rebellious angels placed over the nations, and the Titans – working on behalf of their father, the lord of the underworld – have used their pagan mouthpieces to foretell of a coming New Golden Age for humanity. Yet their conception of a Golden Age hardly qualifies for the term. They dream only of harvesting human souls to share their own hellish future.
The real Golden Age, which lasts forever, will only follow the utter destruction of their new Atlantean Empire at the return of Jesus Christ.
While Yeshua’s long-awaited return will usher in the kingdom of heaven in all its fullness, the reality is that we are already living in the kingdom that was launched by his first coming and his victory over death and hell. The kingdom is here already, it is simply not yet fully manifested.
While most believers appreciate the divine wonder of the cross, few understand the fullness of Christ’s mission here on earth. And that is because that mission includes a special rebuttal for the lord of the dead and his doomed Titans.
However, before we can rightly discern Yeshua’s forgotten mission, we must first come to a proper understanding of the reasons for the Watchers’ forgotten transgression.
As the Book of Enoch attests, simple lust was perhaps at the root of their fall. And yet it can hardly be the only motivation, nor does its existence eliminate the likelihood of a deeper plan behind this invasion of the earthly realm.
The dragon had heard his fate foretold by the Creator from the beginning.
The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
— Genesis 3:14-15 (ESV)
Timothy Alberino refers to this, the protoevangelium, as the Dragon Slayer Prophecy. It is a fitting title.
Here we must venture into the realm of speculation to a certain extent. Yet, it seems highly likely that Satan would have acted so as to avoid the fate prophesied for him.
What better way to prevent the promised Messiah (the seed of the woman) from arising than to contaminate the genetics of mankind? If Satan could tempt Eve, could he not likewise tempt the Angels with lust? And perhaps the grand purpose behind this creation of unsanctioned hybrid beings was to prevent the birth of the Christ, the seed of the woman.
Yet God was not caught off-guard by the betrayal. After judging the old world by water, he guided Israel, his portion, till he might bring forth the Messiah in his time.
Perhaps one of the more confusing aspects of the Nephilim tale of genetic tampering is that of the Rephaim, a broad term used throughout the Old Testament to refer both to all of the many post-Flood giant clans (such as the Anakim) and also to the dead pre-Flood giants. However, I believe that understanding the supernatural nature of the Genesis 6 story actually allows us to make much better sense of the Rephaim “giants in the land,” whom we encounter later.
To my mind, there are two reasonable explanations for the Rephaim after the flood. One is that Ham’s wife carried Nephilim genetics which were passed on to their son Canaan and his descendants. Ryan Pitterson makes what I find to be a sensible argument for this interpretation in his book Judgment of the Nephilim.[13] This paradigm makes the giant Rephaim true genetic descendants of the Nephilim. I tend to agree with this perspective, as it makes better sense of the concept of kherem as practiced by the ancient Israelites under God’s orders. This was the principal by which pagan inhabitants of the Promised Land were utterly devoted to destruction.
However, the alternative is reasonable in its own right. This second view, as espoused by Derek P. Gilbert and others, would claim that the Rephaim were merely possessed by the spirits of the dead Nephilim. This could be the case. And perhaps their giant stature is partially explained by this early form of demonic possession. Nonetheless, I find this alternative less compelling.
Whatever the case may be for their origin, we can see why it was critically important to be rid of these giant clans. They were the last earthly vestiges of Satan’s plot to foil the birth of Messiah, and they were still being used by him to specially impede the progress of God’s chosen nation. By the time the children of Israel had escaped Egypt and were approaching the Promised Land, Satan had filled the land of Canaan with giant clans. We often tend to overlook this fact, but it was clearly not random. This is the quiet reality behind kherem and behind some of the other Bible stories you know and love (e.g. David and Goliath).
There was more at stake than just Canaan, though. After the flood, Satan and the Nephilim spirits (demons) used myths and legends of the old god and his progeny to create the pagan religions throughout the world, thereby enslaving nearly all of humanity to their will.
Yeshua came to put an end to this deception and to free humanity from our captors (Hebrews 2:14-15).
… how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.
— Matthew 12:29 (ESV)
Satan was the strongman, the god of this world, and he was bound at the cross. He remains the god of this world until the Day of Judgment, but Yeshua has spoiled his kingdom and led a train of captives out of the darkness (Psalm 68:18).
What I find fascinating is that beneath many of the familiar stories of Yeshua’s ministry there lies a hint of the supernatural conflict of the ages and a special rebuke for the rebellious Watchers.
Take, for example, this familiar passage.
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
— Matthew 16:15-19
Catholics and Protestants argue over these verses, yet both groups typically miss the bigger point. The rock is not Peter, but nor is it only a reference to Christ himself.
To understand the true meaning of Yeshua’s declaration requires us to understand where they happened to be standing at the time. They were at Caesarea Philippi, a city in the northern part of what used to be called Bashan, which just so happens to be located at the foot of Mount Hermon. Hermon, if you will recall, is the mountain where – according to the Book of Enoch – the rebellious Watchers descended.
When viewed from this perspective, the scene takes place on geography considered the gates of hell in Old Testament times, the domain of Baal, the lord of the dead, and at the mountain where the plot of the Watchers was hatched. Hell, of course, wouldn’t be complete without the devil. It is well known to scholars that Baal is the Old Testament counterpart to the devil. In Ugaritic, one of Baal’s titles is baʿal zebul ʾarṣ (“Prince Baal of the Underworld”), from which the New Testament Beelzebul and Beelzebub derive. This isn’t about who gets to be pope (or not). It’s a cosmic confrontation, with Jesus challenging the authority of the lord of the dead.
— Michael S. Heiser (Reversing Hermon)[14]
I’m betting you weren’t exactly taught about this view in Sunday school. Don’t worry, I wasn’t either. Still, the scholarly work behind Heiser’s claim is sound, and the interpretation of the text itself becomes much more straightforward when seen through this light.
If this were the only such link to the Watchers to be found in Yeshua’s ministry, we might easily dismiss it. But instead, it is merely the first instance of a repeating pattern.
The synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) all agree that the next stop in Christ’s ministry was the Mount of Transfiguration. Given the proximity to Caesarea Philippi and the deep symbolism, Mount Hermon is the logical choice for this event’s location. You must understand that mountains in Scripture often represent kingdoms (Daniel 2:35). By choosing this particular mountain to reveal his glorious Godhood, Jesus was putting the forces of darkness on notice. He was coming for their kingdom of death.
When Jesus chose to go to Mount Hermon to be transfigured, He was claiming it for the Kingdom of God. As the Gospel chronologies tell us, these events provoked His death, the linchpin event for reversing the human predicament and ensuring the defeat of the powers of darkness.
— Michael S. Heiser (Reversing Hermon)[15]
The next chapter of Luke begins with Jesus sending 70 disciples (note that some texts indicate 72 disciples) before him into the cities and towns of Galilee. These 70 are emblematic of the 70 angels presumably given authority over the nations after the Tower of Babel. Incidentally, the number of angels is arrived at by counting up the people groups listed in the Table of Nations (Genesis 10). Now, there are some arcane reasons why occultists typically hint at these powerful but evil spirits numbering 72 in all; and this may or may not have anything to do with the fact that some ancient manuscripts of the Old Testament appear to instead contain 72 nations in Genesis 10. But whichever number you use, the messaging is the same. Jesus sent out his disciples with his authority. They were the new sons of God to replace the rebellious angelic sons, the original bene ha ‘Elohim.
And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
— Luke 10:17-20
The spiritual warfare elements here are transparent. Surely, the Devil and his angels would have taken notice of this conquest into their domain. I also find it exceptionally interesting that Yeshua describes Satan – the storm god, no less – falling as lightning from heaven.
When Jesus returned to Jerusalem for the Passover, after his transfiguration, he approached the city from the east. And it was in Bethpage, a small village on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, where he mounted the donkey that would bear him through the throngs of people.
From our perspective, horses are the appropriate ride for kings, noble steeds worthy of their riders’ royal image. But that’s us reading our modern worldview backwards into the Bible. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey was a clear message to the principalities and powers behind the people who’d dominated the culture of the Near East since the time of the patriarchs, the Amorites. Amorite kings never rode horses. In their world, as odd as it seems to us, donkeys were the symbol of royalty.
— Derek P. Gilbert (The Second Coming of Saturn)[16]
Jesus knew exactly who he was, and he owned his mission and destiny every step of the way. As the true King, he brought the battle right to the powers of darkness, baiting them into coming for his own life. You see, the Mount of Olives was no random site. Instead, it was the exact place where Solomon had centuries earlier set up pagan places of worship to Molech and Ashtoreth.
This fact makes the raising of Lazarus from the dead in the village of Bethany – located on the Mount’s southeast side – quite intriguing. It seems nothing in the life of Christ was done, and has been recorded, at random.
Between his triumphal entry and arrest, Yeshua spent several days in and around Jerusalem. He lodged in the village of Bethany during the evenings and spent at least one day with his closest disciples on the Mount of Olives, giving them details of the signs of his return and of the end of the age.
On the night he was arrested, Jesus spent time praying with his disciples in the Garden at Gethsemane, which was also located on … you guessed it, the Mount of Olives. What’s more, it is quite possible that his crucifixion and burial also took place somewhere on this very same mountain (see Chapter 20 of Derek P. Gilbert’s book, The Second Coming of Saturn, for a full treatment of this hypothesis).
Surprisingly, after his death on the cross, Jesus still had some unfinished business with the Watchers. The Apostle Peter gives us a bit of insight into this strange twist in the story.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
— I Peter 3:18-22 (ESV)
Do you see what is happening here? The context and grammar of the Greek in verse 19 make it plain that the “spirits” Jesus proclaimed to were not human. No, these were the imprisoned spirits of the Watchers. And Christ did not descend to Tartarus so much to “preach” to them (KJV) as to proclaim to them. He declared his own victory over death and hell, and the freedom of the captives who placed their trust in him.
It is interesting to note that part of guarding the Messiah’s secret mission – which I mentioned in God’s Final Week[17] – meant that the souls of believers who died in the Old Testament period likely went to the underworld. It seems they did not suffer the torment of unbelievers, yet they were still for a time part of the lord of the dead’s ghastly kingdom. They resided in the part of Sheol known by the Jews as Abraham’s Bosom. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) hints at this particular arrangement.
However, after Yeshua’s victory at the cross, the captives were set free – much to the surprise of Apollyon and his angels – to accompany the King back to Heaven (Revelation 20:1-6). There they ruled and are still ruling with him for the millennium, while awaiting their resurrected bodies and the marriage supper of the Lamb. For Yeshua must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.
But why does Peter relate Christ’s proclamation of victory to the Watchers to baptism?
Interestingly, as Dr. Michael Heiser points out, most English translations do a poor job of capturing the original meaning of verse 21. He argues that rather than “appeal to God for a good conscience” the Greek is much closer to “pledge of loyalty to God.” Suddenly, this makes things clearer.
In effect, baptism in New Testament theology is a loyalty oath, a public avowal of who is on the Lord’s side in the cosmic war between good and evil. But in addition to that, it is also a visceral reminder to the defeated fallen sons of God, Enoch’s Watchers.
Every baptism is therefore a reiteration of the past and future doom of the Watchers in the wake of the gospel and the kingdom of God. Early Christians understood the typology of this passage and its link back to 1 Enoch and Genesis 6:1–4. This is why early baptismal formulas included a renunciation of Satan and his angels. Baptism was anything but routine. It was a symbol of spiritual warfare.
— Michael S. Heiser (Reversing Hermon)[18]
I doubt most Christians getting baptized today understand these connections. And certainly, they don’t have to; there is nothing salvific in baptism itself, much less in the details of its apostolic understanding and practice. Still, I find these insights heartening somehow. We may suffer in this time and place. But we are sons and daughters of the King, and he will triumph over our enemies.
After three days in the tomb, Jesus rose from the dead at dawn. Centuries of pagan rituals on the third day after death had never once affected an actual resurrection. Yet, through the power of the living God, Yeshua HaMashiach reversed the hopes of the fallen Watchers and brought their plans to nothing, triumphing over them in it. And, as I pointed out in God’s Final Week, we the saints will be resurrected on the third day as well, mirroring Christ’s initial victory.
This particular third day also happened to be the 17th day of the month Nisan.
Between his resurrection and ascension there is an interesting story of Jesus meeting the disciples as they were fishing in the Sea of Tiberius.
So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.
— John 21:11 (ESV)
Many have pondered the meaning of the 153 fish. In all likelihood, there are probably multiple intended meanings, for our God is complex beyond all knowing. I like what Brandon Peterson has done to show that Peter and Paul – the two men to whom the gospel was committed (Galatians 2:7) – each show up in exactly 153 verses in the King James Bible.[19] Surely, this is one of the meanings God intended.
Still, I cannot completely get away from one of the simpler meanings I ran across some time ago. We know that becoming fishers of men is a common theme in the Gospels. Likewise, we find this telling verse a good deal earlier on in John’s Gospel: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name …” (John 1:12).
Bene ha ‘Elohim, that familiar Hebrew phrase which we know means sons of God, has a gematria value of 153. What are the odds?
Interestingly, 153 also happens to be the 17th triangle number.
When the time came for him to leave his disciples and return to the Father, Jesus picked what is by now a familiar place.
And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.
— Luke 24:50-51 (ESV)
Yes, Yeshua ascended from the Mount of Olives, the very place where rebellious Israelites had once worshipped Molech, a name we know to be but another thin mask for the old god himself.
Meanwhile, still stunned and reeling from his recent defeat, the god of this world (Satan) knew he had no choice but to change his tactics. The cross had transformed everything and stealing human souls would no longer be so simple.