Enoch Primordial (Chronicles of the Nephilim) (34 page)

The context in these passages is that of a legal body of divine beings counseling with God over justice and the satan is one of these divine beings whose role is to accuse.
[98]
In Zechariah 3:1-4, Joshua the High Priest stands in this divine council before God. The satan stands beside him “to accuse him” before Elohim in good legal form.

While some of these scenes are the satan initiating legal accusations against God’s people, others are litigation against pagan rulers for their own defiance of God’s universal sovereignty.
In Daniel 7:9-14, we see “the Ancient of Days” seated on his throne, “and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment” over the nations of the earth (Dan. 7:10). And in Psalm 82, God renders legal judgment upon the members of the divine council who failed to carry out justice for God upon the gentile nations they had inherited.
[99]
We read this Psalmic phrase used in
Enoch Primordial
, “God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment” (v. 1-2).

Another kind of Biblical lawsuit saw Old Testament prophets as Yahweh’s prosecuting attorneys indicting Israel for breaking her covenant with God. The prophet would stand before God’s divine council and make the summons and charges against Israel before calling her to respond to the charges. Then Yahweh as judge would pronounce his verdict. One of the qualifications of a prophet’s authority to speak for God was that he had stood in this divine council (Jer. 23:18, 22).

Herbert Huffmon has pointed out examples of covenant lawsuits in Jeremiah, Isaiah, Micah, and other prophets carried out in God’s courtroom against Israel that illustrated a Biblical pattern of legal procedure:

A description of the scene of judgment

II. The speech of the plaintiff

A. Heaven and earth are appointed judges

B. Summons to the defendant (or judges)

C. Address in the second person to the defendant

1. Accusation in question form to the defendant

2
. Refutation of the defendant's possible arguments

3. Specific indictment
[100]

I used this basic scenario in
Enoch Primordial
when the satan accuses Elohim of being unjust in his own covenantal relationship with man. But I also used the ancient Near Eastern covenant formula for the document under attack in the satan’s lawsuit. This ancient formula can be seen in the form of the Biblical covenant as well. Biblical scholars have shown how God’s covenants with Israel displayed the same five or six point structure that their neighboring Hittite nation used during the Late Bronze or Early Iron Ages (1400-1200 B.C.).

It is commonly understood now that covenant texts occupy a significant proportion of Biblical composition. As Biblical scholar Eugene Merrill states,

The Covenant Code of Exodus 20-23 and the entire Book of Deuteronomy are the most outstanding examples of this type. It is quite apparent that Moses undoubtedly utilized already existing treaty formulas in the construction of biblical treaty contracts between God and individuals or God and Israel.
[101]

The chart below summarizes how the book of Deuteronomy reflects five key elements of the ancient Hittite suzerain treaty as currently attested by scholarship:

Whether the majority of the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible) was written by Moses or compiled and edited in the centuries that followed him, some scholars such as Meredith Kline have argued that the entire Bible, including the early chapters of Genesis, is formulated on the model of an extended ancient Near Eastern covenant
.
[104]

Another well established “Tablet Theory” by D.J. Wiseman suggests that the early portions of Genesis may have even found their sources in clay tablets inscribed by those closest to the primeval events.
[105]
So maybe the notion of the satan referring to “discovery documents” of genealogies in
Enoch Primordial
is not so far fetched after all.

In conclusion, even the legal procedures and divine council found in the Bible reflect the covenant treaty structures, and city-state bureaucracy of Israel’s ancient Near Eastern pagan neighbors redeemed and applied to God’s purposes.

The Chronicles of the Nephilim

So that’s what I did in
Noah Primeval
and
Enoch Primordial
. I retold the story of these two heroes of faith, incorporating the respected Enochian tradition of the Watchers and giants, Ancient Near Eastern imagery of Azazel, Lilith, Leviathan and Rahab, cherubim and seraphim, speculation on the divine council of the Sons of God, along with other Mesopotamian mythopoeia and Biblical imagination, in order to give a theological explanation for the true origins and “partial truth” of pagan mythology. It’s all positively primeval.

Brian Godawa is the screenwriter for the award-winning feature film,
To End All Wars,
starring Kiefer Sutherland. It was awarded the Commander in Chief Medal of Service, Honor and Pride by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, won the first Heartland Film Festival by storm, and showcased the Cannes Film Festival Cinema for Peace.

He also co-wrote
Alleged
, starring Brian Dennehy as Clarence Darrow and Fred Thompson as William Jennings Bryan. He previously adapted to film the bestselling supernatural thriller novel
The Visitation
by author Frank Peretti for Ralph Winter (
X-Men, Wolverine
), and wrote and directed
Wall of Separation,
a PBS documentary, and
Lines That Divide
, a documentary on stem cell research.

Mr. Godawa’s scripts have won multiple awards in
respected screenplay competitions, and his articles on movies and philosophy have been published around the world. He has traveled around the United States teaching on movies, worldviews, and culture to colleges, churches and community groups.

His book,
Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films with Wisdom and Discernment
has been released in a revised edition from InterVarsity Press. His book
Word Pictures: Knowing God Through Story and Imagination
(IVP) addresses the power of image and story in the pages of the Bible to transform the Christian life.

Find out more about his other books, lecture tapes and dvds for sale at his website
www.godawa.com
.

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Enoch Primordial
is one chapter of the series saga
Chronicles of the Nephilim
, that charts the rise and fall of the Nephilim and just what their place is in the evil plans of the fallen sons of God called, “The Watchers.”

Book 1,
Noah Primeval
, reveals the hero’s journey of Noah that leads to God’s first act of justice against this diabolical plan of the Watchers: The Deluge.

The Prequel, or Lost Book 2,
Enoch Primordial
tells the forgotten story of the original descent of the Watchers on Mount Hermon and their introduction of the Nephilim into the created order.

Book 3,
Gilgamesh Immortal
tells the story of the first Giant King after the Flood, Gilgamesh of Uruk and his epic search for eternal life.

Read the rest of the series to discover just how far the Seed of the Serpent will go in its war on the Seed of Eve.

BOOKS BY BRIAN GODAWA

When Giants Were Upon the Earth: The Watchers, Nephilim, and the Biblical Cosmic War of the Seed
By Brian Godawa

The Appendices of the
Chronicles of the Nephilim
Together in One Book.

The bestselling Biblical fantasy novel series
Chronicles of the Nephilim
has opened a door for Christian imagination and theology like none other. But many have appreciated the appendices of each novel as much as the novels. In those appendices, author Brian Godawa shares the Biblical and ancient historical and mythical research that undergirds the fiction. Now all those appendices have been placed together in one book for those who want serious study of the topics of the Watchers, Nephilim, and the Biblical Cosmic War of the Seed
.

This book has the special bonus of a previously unpublished chapter on the Book of Enoch, as well as a newly expanded chapter on the Sons of God. But it also contains the appendices of the last two Chronicles,
David Ascendant
and
Jesus Triumphant
before their release!

Chapters Include:

1) The Book of Enoch: Scripture, Heresy or What? (Bonus
Chapter)

2) Sons of God (Newly expanded from
Noah Primeval
)

3) The Nephilim
(from
Noah Primeval
)
4) Leviathan
(from
Noah Primeval
)
5) Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography in the Bible
(from
Noah Primeval
)
6) Retelling Bible Stories and Mythic Imagination
(from
Enoch Primordial
)
7) Gilgamesh and the Bible
(from
Gilgamesh Immortal
)
8) In Defense of Ancient Traditions
(from
Abraham Allegiant
)
9) Mythical Monsters in the Bible
(from
Joshua Valiant
)
10) Canaanite Baal and Old Testament Storytelling Polemics
(
Caleb Vigilant
)
11) Goliath was Not Alone (from
David Ascendant
)

12) Jesus and the Cosmic War (from
Jesus Triumphant
)

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as well as FREE articles, just go to the STORE at:

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Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films with Wisdom and Discernment

By Brian Godawa

With the sensibilities of an award-winning Hollywood screenwriter and the sensitivities of a thoughtful Christian, Brian Godawa guides us through the place of redemption in film, the "tricks of the trade" that screenwriters use to communicate their worldview through their stories, and the mental and spiritual discipline required for watching movies.
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helps us enter a dialogue with Hollywood that leads to a happier ending, one that keeps us aware of our culture and awake to our faith.

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“Brian’s analysis is insightful and stimulating. Our Biblical values are colliding with worldviews in the movies, and Brian shows us why. Those values are also illuminated by intersecting with movies, and I find that especially exciting. We might even understand the Bible with more insight from seeing these connections.”

—
Ralph Winter, Producer
X-Men 2, Planet of the Apes, X-Men

To order books and products by Brian Godawa,

as well as FREE articles, just go to the STORE at:

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