THE BATTLE OF THE AGES

The Scripture teaches us that the devil will be bound for a thousand years, during Christ’s future Millennial Reign (Revelation 20:1-3). We also know from Scripture, as well as from the ever-deepening degeneracy of our fallen world, that the devil and his demons are anything but bound presently. Indeed, this planet, as the Bible predicts, is becoming increasingly demonized and depraved, as iniquity abounds and wicked men wax worse and worse (Matthew 24:12; 2 Timothy 3:13). Yet, Peter speaks of some fallen angels who have already been cast into Hell, chained with chains of darkness, and are being kept in “Tartarus,” the lowest Hell, until their judgment (2 Peter 2:4). This poses for us a pair of most perplexing questions. Who are these particular fallen angels and what atrocious atrocity did they perpetrate to be prematurely fettered until the day of their predestined fate and destruction?

For a profound answer to this pair of perplexing questions we turn to a sister-passage in Scripture. In Jude 1:6-7, we read of the sin of these particular fallen angels. According to Jude, they sinned by not keeping “their first estate” and by leaving “their own habitation,” in order to do what “Sodom and Gomorrah” did; namely, go “after strange flesh.” Consequently, they serve, “in like manner” with the Sodomites, who were destroyed by fire and brimstone, as a warning of “the vengeance of eternal fire” that awaits all who give “themselves over to fornication”; that is, to sexual promiscuity and perversion. It is here, that this story of these fallen angels gets incredibly intriguing.

The word “sodomy,” which originally meant unnatural sexual relations with a member of the same sex, was derived from the homosexual proclivities of the men of Sodom, whom the Bible describes as “sinners before the Lord exceedingly” (Genesis 13:13). According to Genesis 18:16-33, God determined to destroy the Sodomites because “their sin [was so] grievous.” It was after an attempt by the city’s male inhabitants to forcefully have sex with a pair of angels that God destroyed Sodom with “brimstone and fire…out of heaven” (Genesis 19:1-28).

Although the Sodomites desired and demanded to have unnatural sexual relations with angels, the angels blinded the Sodomites and told Lot and his family to flee the city before God’s fiery judgment fell upon it. We know, therefore, that this is not the incident referred to by Jude, in which these fallen angels, presently tethered in Tartarus, went “after strange flesh,” like the Sodomites did, who not only practiced homosexuality, but also sought to sexually assault angelic beings. So where in Scripture, if anywhere, do we find this incredible incident Jude refers to, in which fallen angels leave their spiritual “habitation” to enter into the physical, in order to go “after strange flesh”; that is, to have unnatural sexual relations with human beings?

In Genesis 6:1-4, Scripture teaches us that the “sons of God” cohabitated with “the daughters of men” and produced “giants,” who were the “mighty” and “renown” men of old. In the ancient book of Job, which is possibly the only book in the Bible that predates Genesis, angels are referred to as “the sons of God” (Job 1:6; 2:1, 38:7). If Genesis, like Job, another book of ancient antiquity, also refers to angels as the “sons of God,” it certainly explains how their offspring, from their cohabitation with “the daughters of men,” turned out to be mighty giants and renowned demigods; that is, more than human. 

Interestingly, both ancient mythology and its pantheon of false gods are supposedly based upon ancient myths of mighty and renown demigods, who not only lived in ancient times, but were also ostensibly believed to be the offspring of gods and humans. In fact, Greek mythology taught that illegitimate children were likely to be of divine parentage, since the gods frequently visited mortals and spawned supernatural scion. All of this certainly adds another twist to the Apostle Paul’s prohibition against worshiping angels in Colossians 2:18. Could it be that Paul is not only forbidding the Colossians here from worshiping angels, but also from worshiping the gods of ancient mythology, who were derived from ancient demigods spawned by the unnatural copulation of angelic beings and human beings?

Now, many will dismiss all of the above as unscriptural. They will argue, based on a misinterpretation of our Lord’s words in Matthew 22:30, as well as in Mark 12:25 and Luke 20:34-36, that angels are unsexed. However, this erroneous belief is easily refuted by rightly dividing our Lord’s own words. By teaching us that we’ll be like angels in the resurrection, in that we will neither marry nor be given in marriage, Christ is not saying that we’ll be unsexed, as angels are unsexed. Instead, He is simply saying that in the resurrection the church will be like the angels in Heaven, in that we too will not procreate. 

As any serious student of Scripture knows, angels are not unsexed. In fact, every angel mentioned in the Bible is male. There are no female angels. For instance, there is a Lucifer, but no Lucy, a Michael, but no Michelle, and a Gabriel, but no Gail. Furthermore, when God created angels, to be His servants, there was no need for female angels, since angels were not created by God to procreate. However, when God created man, to be His sons and daughters, He not only created male and female, but commanded us to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28). Still, in the resurrection, the church, the bride of Christ, will be complete; therefore, we, like the angels in Heaven, will no longer procreate; that is, we will neither marry nor be given in marriage.

The Scripture is replete with instances of angels taking on physical form and interacting with men. We’re even told in Hebrews 13:2 that we ourselves may “have entertained angels unawares.” So we know from Scripture that despite being spiritual beings (Hebrews 1:14), angels can enter the physical realm, take on physical form, and interact with human beings.

Having proven the Scriptural soundness of this story of sexual copulation between angels and mortals, which seems, at least at first sight, to be scarcely credible, let us now turn to the sinister motive to be found behind it, by turning our attention to one of Scripture’s most spectacular verses. 

Genesis 3:15 is not just the first, but one of the foremost Messianic prophesies in the Bible. It predicts Christ's virgin birth—the promised seed of the woman—the crucifixion—the serpent bruising Christ's heel—and the resurrection—Christ's fatal blow to the serpent's head. It is therefore known not only as the “protoevangelium”—the first preaching of the Gospel or of the Good News in all of Scripture—but also as “the Bible in embryo” and the “sum of history" (His Story). Last, but certainly not least, Genesis 3:15 is also the first shot fired in the Battle of the Ages.

It is said of the first shot fired by British troops on American militiamen at Lexington Square on April 19, 1775, that it was “the shot heard around the world,” since it started the Revolutionary War. The Messianic promise of Genesis 3:15 is not only a shot that was heard around the world, but one that also reverberated throughout the universe, since it started the Battle of the Ages. From this point forward the whole Bible expounds upon this extraordinary promise, its eventual fulfillment in the coming Christ, and on Satan’s efforts to prevent Christ from coming and himself from being conquered by the coming Christ. Once this is understood, the Scripture lights up like a neon sign, illuminating the following. 

First, Satan’s attempts to keep Christ from coming, by such things as: [1] Cain’s murder of Abel (Genesis 4:1-8, 25; John 8:44) [2] Satan's attempt to pollute the whole human race with the unnatural copulation of angelic beings and human beings (Genesis 6:1-4) [3] Pharaoh’s command to drown all the newborn sons of Hebrew slaves (Exodus 1:22) [4] Queen Athaliah’s attempt to destroy the royal line of David (2 Kings 11:1; 2 Chronicles 22:10), and [5] Haman’s attempt to destroy the Jews (Esther 3).

Second, Satan’s attempts to keep Christ, once Christ had come, from going to the cross. For instance, Satan attempted to bring about the premature death of Christ, by such things as: [1] King Herod’s massacre of innocent infants (Matthew 2:13-18) [2] The attempt by the synagogue in Nazareth to throw Christ off a cliff (Luke 4:28-30), and [3] Attempts by the Jews to stone Christ (John 8:59; 10:31-39). In addition to this, Satan also attempted to persuade Christ to avoid the cross, by his temptation of Christ (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13) and Peter’s rebuke of Christ (Matthew 16:21-23; Mark 8:31-33). There was even an attempt by Satan, through the taunts of the crowd at the cross, to get Christ to come down off of the cross once He had been nailed to the cross (Matthew 27:39-44; Mark 15:29-32).

Third, Satan’s attempt to keep his head from being crushed by the resurrected Christ. Not only did Satan futilely attempt, through the Pharisees and Pontius Pilate, to keep Christ in the tomb with a stone and Roman seal, but he also tried to secure the tomb with Roman soldiers (Matthew 27:62-66). Afterward, Satan, the Father of Lies, even inspired a lie, propagated by the chief priests of Israel, that Christ had not risen from the dead, but that His dead body had simply been stolen by His disciples (Matthew 28:11-15; John 8:44).  

Fourth, Satan’s attempts to keep Christ from coming again. Knowing that Christ has promised to return for His church—His bride and eternal companion—Satan has been, ever since the church’s inception on the Day of Pentecost, on a relentless rampage against Christ’s church. All past and present persecution of Christians has been spawned by Satan to stamp out the church and to stop Christ from coming again, since there will be no need for Christ to return for a stamped out church. Furthermore, knowing that Christ is also returning to set up His Millennial Kingdom, as was promised to Israel, Satan is also on a relentless rampage against the nation of Israel and the Jewish people. All past and present persecution of Jews has been spawned by Satan to eliminate the Jewish state, exterminate the Jewish race, and to stop Christ from returning to earth to reign upon the throne of David in Jerusalem.

The hoof prints of “Ole Cloven Foot” are all over the horrific persecution of Christians and Jews throughout history, as well as all over the ever-increasing hostility toward Christians and Jews in our world today. As the Bible predicts, our end-time world is becoming more and more antichrist and antisemitic, as the devil, knowing his time is short, is becoming more and more enraged in his rampage against God’s people, both God’s chosen people—Israel and the Jews—and God’s elect people—the church and Christians. In fact, in his all out and last-ditch effort to prevent Christ’s Second Coming, by eliminating all of God’s people on earth, the devil would, if permitted and not prevented from doing so by Christ’s timely return, wipeout the entire population of the earth (Matthew 24:21-22; Mark 13:19-20). Is there any wonder then that the book of Revelation contains this dire warning for our end-time earth: “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth…for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Revelation 12:12).

Of all the devil’s diabolical designs to prevent Christ’s first advent, none appear to have been more deft than the devil’s attempt to pollute the whole human race with the unnatural copulation of angels and mortals. It was this attempted corruption of “all flesh,” along with a violence-filled earth and man’s continual evil imaginations, that so “grieved” God that He “repented that he had made man on the earth” (Genesis 6:5-6, 11-12). It was for these great grievances that God decided to destroy the earth, along with its entire population, with a flood, saving only Noah, who “was a just man and perfect in his generations”; that is, still purely human (Genesis 6:8-9). Neither Noah, nor his family, who were also saved with him on the ark, were perfect in the sense that they were sinless, but only in the sense that they were still mere mortals, which explains why God commanded them, after the flood, as He previously had Adam and Eve, after creation, to be “fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 1:28; 9:1, 7).

It should be noted that after the flood, Satan once again attempted to pollute the whole human race, in order to prevent the first advent of Christ. As Genesis 6:4 stipulates, the giant offspring of the copulation of angels and mortals once again appeared upon the earth after the days of Noah. However, it appears to have been more local and not as widespread the second time. Instead of requiring another purging of the entire human population, this time it was remedied more easily, only requiring Israel’s obedience to God’s command to annihilate the Canaanites and the Philistines, in particularly the giants—the Anakim and Nephilim—who lived among them. This certainly adds extra significance to Scriptural stories such as Caleb’s request to Joshua to give him a mountain upon which he could annihilate the Anakims and of David’s killing and beheading of the blasphemous giant, Goliath of Gath (Joshua 14:12; 1 Samuel 17:1-58).