Jude 1:5-7, Part 2

[Hidden In Him]

Awakening From Dreams To A Living Nightmare, Part 2

     As Jude insinuated in the opening verses, the followers of Simon's heresy were dreamers indeed if they thought they could dismiss God's lordship and give themselves over to sexual immorality and yet somehow still escape judgment. By the time he was writing his letter, an increasing number of these heretics were now infiltrating Christian congregations and alluring unstable souls away into sin and heresy. But by doing so they were tempting fate, for as the apostle Peter prophesied even before Jude did, the Lord would soon bring swift destruction upon them:

     But there were also false prophets among the people as there will also be false teachers among you, who will introduce destructive heresies, even disowning the Master who purchased them, and bring swift destruction upon themselves. And many will follow their sexually licentious ways, through whom the way of truth will be blasphemed… They consider lounging about during the daytime to be pleasure. These are spots and blemishes, lounging about with deceitful intentions while feasting together among you, having eyes preoccupied with an adulteress and with incessant sin, alluring unstable souls, having a heart that has become trained to sexual covetousness… By speaking egotistically-inflating words of vanity through the lusts of the flesh, they allure into sexually licentious practices those nearly escaping from among the ones living in error, promising them freedom yet themselves being slaves of corruption. (2 Peter 2:1-2, 13-14, 18b-19)

     By "swift destruction," Peter was not here referring to when the Lord would return. Rather, his meaning was that the judgment of these sinners would come much quicker than that. They were deliberately corrupting God's people, and for that He would not simply sit idly by while they seduced His children into sexual immorality and sin. As the apostle Paul warned, "Whosoever destroys the temple of God, him God will destroy. For God's temple is holy, which temple you are." (1 Corinthians 3:17).
     This is precisely what the Lord was warning the church at Thyatira of in the Book of Revelation. They were allowing Jezebel, a woman whose teachings identified her as a follower of Simon's heresy, to regularly be present in their midst. But although they might continue to tolerate her presence, the Lord was making it clear that He wouldn't for very much longer: 

     And to the angel of the church at Thyatira write: "These things saith the Son of God… I know your works, and love, and service, and faith, and your endurance, and that your last works are more than [your] first. But I have against you that you suffer the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and misleads My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her time that she might repent of her sexual immorality, but she does not want to repent of it. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great affliction if they will not repent of their works. And I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the reins and hearts, and will give to each of you according to your works. (Revelation 2:18-23)

     But Simon's followers had more to worry about than death in this life. Their troubles were only beginning, for they would also be subject to the torments of Hell unless they repented, as Jude would insinuate by the next story he now alluded to.


The Angels Who Sinned With The Daughters Of Men

     I will therefore put you in remembrance, [despite] you knowing all these things already, that Jesus having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, in the second place destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their own principality, but abandoned their own habitation, he has kept in eternal chains under darkness until the judgment of the great Day...
     Nevertheless, these dreamers also likewise defile flesh, and repudiate Lordship… (Jude 1:5-8a)

     Having first mentioned the Israelites who turned to worshipping Baal-Peor in pursuit of sexual relations with the daughters of Moab, Jude now listed yet another group who repudiated God's Lordship to engage in sexual immorality: The angels who abandoned their places in Heaven to engage in sexual relations with the daughters of men. Like many of the stories Jude alluded to, Jewish traditions must be turned to if one would gain a full understanding of the events described here. But the basis of this story in found in Genesis, Chapter 6:1-5.

     And it came to pass when men began to be numerous upon the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the angels of God, having seen that the daughters of men were beautiful, took unto themselves all whom they chose. And the Lord God said, "My Spirit shall certainly not remain among men forever, for they are flesh. Their days shall be one hundred and twenty years." Now the giants were upon the earth in those days, and after that, when the Sons of God were accustomed to going in unto the daughters of men. And they bore children unto them, those who were the giants of old, the men of renown. (Genesis 6:1-5, LXX Alexandrian)

     Among all the Jewish scribes leading up until the time of Christ, among the New Testament writers, and among all Early Church writers leading up until roughly 300 A.D., the universal belief here was that this passage was talking about angels who took physical form to copulate with the daughters of men. These women in turn bore them giants who filled the earth with violence. After death, the spirits of the giants then roamed the earth as disembodied spirits to continue corrupting mankind (see Josephus, Antiquities, 73, Wisdom 14:6, Sirach 16:7, Jubilees 5:1-2, 7:17-20, Baruch 3:26-28, 3 Maccabees 2:4. Compare this list to 2 Peter 2:4. Also see Justin Martyr, Second Apology, Ch 5, Recognitions of Clement, Ch 29, Athenagorus, A Plea For The Christians, Ch 24, Methodius, From The Discourse On The Resurrection, Part 3, VII, Lactantius, The Divine Institutes, Ch 15). 
     Though later Christian theologians like Jerome took the phrase "the sons of God" here to refer to men, this was never the way the expression was used in the Old Testament. The words "the Sons of God" were consistently used only in reference to angels (see Job 1:6, 2:1). Moreover, to repeat a point made in the first study, Jude's quotation from the Book of Enoch (v.14-15) forms the entire basis of this epistle: It was his primary support for the contention that the followers of Simon's heresy had been foretold to come, and were already condemned long ago "of old." And Jude's quotation of Enoch 6 makes it obvious he regarded the Book of Enoch and what it said about these angels as authoritative.
     Thus, setting aside faithless interpretations of Genesis 6, the story as related in the Book of Enoch reads as follows:

     In those days, when the children of man had multiplied, it happened that there were born unto them handsome and beautiful daughters. And the angels, the children of Heaven, saw them and desired them. And they said to one another, "Come, let us choose wives for ourselves from among the daughters of men and beget us children."
     And Semyaza, being their leader, said unto them, "I fear that perhaps you will not consent that this deed should be done, and I alone will become responsible for this great sin." But they all responded to him, "Let us all swear an oath and bind everyone among us by a curse not to abandon this suggestion but to do the deed." Then they all swore together and bound one another by it. And they were altogether two hundred, and they descended unto Ardos, which is the summit of Mt. Hermon, and they called it Mt. Hermon because they had sworn and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it...
     And they took wives unto themselves, and everyone respectively chose one woman for himself, and they began to go in unto them, and defile themselves with them... (Enoch 6:1-6, 7:1a)

     Are there any other Biblical confirmations of this account? Well, for starters, the name Hermon can be rendered as "a curse" through a play on words in both Hebrew and Aramaic, so Enoch's statement that they "bound themselves by a curse" seems to be supported by the name of the mountain itself. Scripture also attests that Og of Bashan reigned over the region of Mt. Hermon when the Israelites were entering the wilderness, and also affirms that he slept in a bed that was 13 feet long. He was described as "the last of the Rephaim," a legendary race of giants. (Deutronomy 3:11, Joshua 12:4-5). Thus, those who doubt Enoch's account here are uninformed at best, faithless at worst.

                                       


How They Corrupted The Earth By Playing God

     The minute these angels swore by an oath to take upon themselves human flesh and take wives of the daughters of men, they were as a group agreeing together to willfully defy the Lordship of God. But they did not stop there. Soon they were toying with the human race so severely that God would have no choice but to pass a judgment against them, one so fearful that even the archangel Michael would be moved to compassion concerning it. But as the text states, as he was standing before the throne of God in Heaven, Michael eventually came to the realization that their judgment was indeed a just one, for they had dared to play God on earth and in the process had completely corrupted it beyond repair:

     And Michael said to Raphael, "Who is he whose heart is not softened concerning it, and whose reins are not troubled by this word of judgment that has gone forth against them… [But] I will not take their side before the eyes of the Lord, for the Lord of spirits has been angry with them because they do as if they were the Lord. Therefore, all that is concealed shall come upon them forever and ever, because neither angel nor man should assume [the Lord's] role, but alone they have received their judgment forever and ever." (Enoch 68:3-5)

     So how exactly, then, had they assumed the role of God upon the earth? Reading through the Book of Enoch verse by verse, the following are how events unfolded, going from bad to worse:

- "And they took wives unto themselves, and everyone respectively chose one woman for himself, and they began to go in unto them, and defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants." (Enoch 7:1). The "charms and enchantments," and "cutting of roots" referred to here were in all likelihood references to the making of philters, such as those which included Mandrake root and other ancient aphrodisiacs, and brought all who took them into a heightened state of sexual awareness.

- "And [the women] became pregnant, and bore three kinds [of giant offspring]: First [arose] the great giants, and the giants begat the Nephilim, and to the Nephilim were born the Eliud, and they each grew according to their greatness." (Enoch 7:2, see Nickelsburg, 1 Enoch 1, P.182, and especially the footnotes in R.H. Charles, The Book Of Enoch, P.18). That angels would beget giants is only logical. The typical description given by those who have witnessed angels is that they are massive in both size and build, measuring what appears to be between about 8 feet tall in height, and some even larger. Our text here (which is the preferred reading), suggests that the bloodlines of humanity became corrupted after the giants were born. Each successive generation were smaller in stature - great giants to Nephilim to Eliud - but still giant compared to normal men, which suggests that the human gene pool had been corrupted. This also corroborates with the legend of how giants that appeared in the earth after the flood were descendants of Ham, whose wife's ancestry was said to have been contaminated by the giants. This manifested in the years after the flood when Ham's line began producing offspring. As the scripture states, "There were giants in the earth in those days, and afterwards..." (Genesis 6:4; Numbers 13:32-33; 1 Chronicles 20:4-8; 2 Samuel 21:15-22; 1 Samuel 17:1-4; Joshua 13:12)

- "[And] they consumed all the produce of the people until the people could no longer sustain them. So the giants turned against the people and devoured them. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and devour one another's flesh, and drink the blood. And then the earth brought accusation against their oppressors." (Enoch 7:2a, 3-6). According to Jubilees, these races of giants began murdering those weaker than themselves, until this culture of murder was transferred to the animal kingdom as well: "The giants slew the Nephilim, and the Nephilim slew the Eljo (i.e. Eliud), and the Eljo slew the children of men, and all publicly practiced every form of injustice and shed much blood, and the earth was filled with injustice. And afterwards, all these [slew] the animals, and the beasts, and the birds, and whatever walked and moved on the earth, and much blood was spilt on the earth; and all the thoughts and deeds of men were wicked in all their days." (Jubilees 7:18-19).

     One angel in particular was responsible for reducing the planet to a culture of continual murder and violence. This angel's name was Azazel, who revealed to mankind the art of making instruments of war. The likelihood is that he revealed them to his own sons first and foremost, in order to give them an advantage in battle:   

- "And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals [of the earth] and the art of working them…" (Enoch 8:1a). Along with aiding mankind in the art of using metals to form weapons, Azazel also revealed ways to work metal that would lead to the complete sexualization of women:

- "And Azazel … made known to them the metals [of the earth] and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all coloring tinctures. And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways. Semyaza taught enchantments, and root-cuttings…" (Enoch 8:1b-3a). To repeat, the root-cuttings and enchantments referred to here were in all likelihood philters and love potions, intended to heighten sexual arousal. Thus, everything the angels were revealing to the women was serving to further sexualize them. As might be expected this naturally led to fornication, as the text above states.

     In short, the angels, led by Semyaza and Azazel, were turning the planet into their own personal playground and treating the human race like toys to be corrupted as they pleased. No wonder scripture itself states that eventually the thoughts of men's hearts turned to contemplating evil continually (Genesis 6:5). And because the angels were ultimately responsible for all this, they received the most severe punishment when judgment finally came.


God's Judgment On The Angels: The Punishment Of Tartarus

     Once God had seen enough, and virtually the entire planet had succumbed to violence and moral corruption, He sent the angel Uriel to warn Noah of the impending judgment that now was destined to befall the entire planet:

- "Then the Most High, the Holy and Great One spake, and sent Uriel to [Noah] the son of Lamech, and said to him, "Tell him in My name, 'Hide yourself!' and reveal to him the end that is approaching: That the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come upon the whole earth, and will destroy all that is on it." (Enoch 10:1-2). So, too, did God now also begin to proclaim the specific judgments that were to befall the giants:

- "And to Gabriel the Lord said, 'Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against the children of fornication [i.e. the giants], and destroy the children of fornication and the children of the Watchers from amongst men. And cause them to go forth, sending them one against the other so that they may destroy each other in battle, for length of days they shall not have." (Enoch 10:9-10). God commanded Gabriel to destroy these giants by instigating warfare between them until they eventually destroyed each other in battle. The Lord also determined that this would be part of the judgment that would be carried out against their fathers: Since they had enabled their sons in murdering men, they would now be made to witness their own sons being murdered by each other. This judgment was made known to them by Enoch, whom God appointed as messenger to inform them of the horrible news:
 
- "And I Enoch was blessing the Lord of majesty and the King of the ages… and [i.e. the holy angels Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel] said to me, "Enoch, scribe of righteousness, go and say to the Watchers of Heaven who have left the High Heaven, the holy eternal place, and have defiled themselves with women, and have done as the children of earth do, and taken wives unto themselves, "You have wrought great destruction upon the earth, and you shall have no peace nor forgiveness of sin. And inasmuch as you delight yourselves in your children, the murder of your beloved ones shall you behold, and over the destruction of your children shall you lament, and you shall make supplication unto eternity but mercy and peace you shall not attain." (Enoch 12:3-6). After hearing these words, in fear the angels began imploring Enoch to intercede for them unto God. But Enoch would soon return with news that no room for repentance would ever be granted to them, for they had corrupted the earth beyond hope of restoration:
 
- "I wrote out your petition, and in my vision it appeared thus, that your petition will not be granted unto you throughout all the days of eternity… from henceforth you shall not ascend into Heaven unto all eternity, and the decree has gone forth to bind you in chains under the earth for all the days of the world. Before that, you will have seen the destruction of your beloved sons, and you shall have no pleasure in them, but they shall fall before your eyes by the sword. And your petitions on their behalf will not be heard, and neither will those on your own behalf, even though you should weep and pray, and speak all the words contained in the petition which I have written." (Enoch 14:4-7). The execution of the judgment against these angels was entrusted to Michael and Raphael, and those under their command:

- "And the Lord said to Michael, 'Go and bind Semyaza and his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness. And, when their sons have slain one another and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them for seventy generations underneath the rocks of the ground until the day of their judgment and their consummation, until the eternal judgment is concluded. In those days [i.e. when their final punishment arrives], they shall be led off into the abyss of fire [i.e. the Lake of Fire], to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined forever.'" (Enoch 10:11-13)

- "And again the Lord said to Raphael, 'Bind Azazel hand and foot and cast him into the darkness, and make an opening in the desert which is in Duda'el, and cast him therein. And place over the top of him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ages, and cover his face that he may not see light. And on the day of the great judgment he shall be cast into the fire… the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azazel, therefore ascribe unto him all sin.'" (Enoch 10:4-6, 8 )

     According to the Book of Enoch, Uriel ruled over these regions of darkness, which were referred to specifically in Enoch as Tartarus (Enoch 20:1-2). Thus, it would appear the apostle Peter likewise regarded Enoch as authoritative just as Jude had, for in citing the Genesis 6 story he used the Greek verb ταρταρώσας (literally "to cast into Tartarus") in describing the regions into which these angels were cast:

     If God did not spare the angels, but cast them down into Tartarus, and delivered them in chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment… then the Lord knows to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unrighteous unto a Day of judgment to be punished, especially those walking after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and despising [God's] Lordship... (2 Peter 2:4, 9-10a)

     According to the ancients, Tartarus was the deepest and darkest region of the netherworld, as far beneath Hades as the earth was below Heaven. (See The Complete Biblical Library, Sigma-Omega, P.254). Thus, for these angels who had dared to play God on earth, the dream was over and reality was now setting in. They were not God, and no amount of entreaty would ever deliver them from spending the next several thousand years trapped in absolute darkness, in and of itself a terrible torment. And as the last two passages from the Book of Enoch quoted above also state, the next time they will see light will be when they are being cast into the Lake of Fire for all eternity. 
 

A Similar Future Awaits Servants Of Satan As Well

     Those who serve Satan likewise live in a dreamworld. The Devil grants them power in this life to deceive others, and seduce them into sexual sin and satanic worship. In return for serving him, he rewards them with wealth, fame and power in this life, and assures them that they will have a place in his kingdom in the next. So for a time the world is their playground as well. But in reality a horrifying future awaits them, for it is Satan and not God who delights in human suffering. Those who serve Satan the most in this life will likewise do so in the next, only in the next life they will do so by enduring the worst tortures of all for Satan's pleasure.
     This was revealed to Kathryn Baxter's through the visions she was granted by the Lord, visions of Hell during which He showed her the fate awaiting those who deceive others and seduce them into the occult. As a form of entertainment for the Devil, those who were deceived are given the right to collectively take vengeance upon their deceivers. These entertainments take place in something called "the fun center," a type of morbid arena in Hell:   

     Jesus told me that there is a place in Hell called the "fun center." Souls confined to the pits cannot be brought there. He also told me that though torments are different for different souls, all are burned with fire.
     The fun center is shaped like a circus arena. Several people who are to be the entertainment are brought to the center of the ring of the fun center. These are people who knowingly served Satan on earth. They are the ones who, of their own free will, chose to follow Satan instead of God. Around the sides of the arena are the other souls, except those from the pits.
     The ones in the center ring were leaders in the occult world before their death. They were mediums, soothsayers, sorcerers, mind readers, witches and warlocks - all those who consciously made a choice to serve Satan. When they were alive on earth, they deceived many and caused them to follow Satan and to sin. The ones who had been deceived and were caused to fall into sin came and tormented their deceivers. One by one they were allowed to torture them.
     In one such torment, spiritual bones were taken apart and buried in different parts of Hell. The soul was literally torn apart and the parts scattered across Hell in a kind of demonic scavenger hunt. The mutilated souls felt tremendous pain. Those outside the arena could throw stones at those who were in the ring. Every imaginable method of torture was allowed. The soul being tormented cried out for death, but that is eternal death. Satan gave the orders for all this to be done. That is his fun center. (A Divine Revelation Of Hell, P.96-97)

     By the description provided in the passage above, this is in all likelihood the fate that befell Simon the magician and his followers, who were seducing unstable Christians into sexual sin and disdain for the God of the Old Testament. Just as the archangel Michael felt compassion for his fellow angels because of the judgments pronounced against them, so too do true Christians have nothing but pity for those who suffer such torments after death. But like the archangel Michael as well, they eventually come to the conclusion that such judgments are just. While alive on earth, such souls not only repudiated God's Lordship but led multitudes into lives of eternal suffering. As a result, it is only just that in eternity they reap what they have sown.