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Authors: Patrick Heron

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THE GREAT ESCAPE
T
he point has been made previously that the Bible is a prophetic book. We already pointed out that the Messiah literally fulfilled 109 predictions from the Old Testament in his sojourn in the Earth as Jesus. We spoke of how 25 of these prophecies were fulfilled in this one man in one 24-hour period. The odds against something such as this happening are billions to one. Yet the Messiah fulfilled all the prophecies relating to Himself down to the last “jot and tittle.” There are 845 quotations from the Old Testament in the New Testament and, of these, 333 refer to the Messiah.
The Messiah's life was attested to by no fewer than 22 different historians of his day, such as Tacitus, Suetonious, Serapian, Phlegon, Lucien, Josephus. Many of these historians were antagonistic towards him, yet they recorded his lifetime in some detail. Josephus was a famous general in the Asmonean army and a noted historian of this era. He not only recorded the life of Jesus but actually wrote of the resurrection. And Josephus was not a Christian. Such was the impact of the life, death and resurrection of Christ that even secular historians of the day testified to his works.
So it is an established historical fact that the Messiah existed. Our present-day calendar even begins with his birth. Bearing in mind that this man walked the Earth and fulfilled all the predictions relating to his life, what is next up on the prophetic schedule? Well, if the first coming of the Messiah was an important subject of Old Testament prophecy, then his second coming is even more important. For there are
20 times more
prophecies in the Old Testament pertaining to his second coming than there are regarding his first. In fact, his return is the second most-mentioned subject in all Biblical prophecy.
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Paul, in his Epistles, mentions the second coming 50 times, yet he speaks of baptism only 13 times. Let us go first to the Book of Acts and examine the departure from the Earth of the Messiah when he dwelt among us as the man called Jesus:
And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up: and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
Book of Acts 1:9
This happened on the Mount of Olives, not far from Jerusalem. The Messiah had just finished giving instructions to his Apostles when he began to ascend from the mountain in a cloud. The Book of Acts describes what occurred next:
And while they looked steadfastly towards Heaven as He went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel.
Which also said: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into Heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into Heaven.”
Book of Acts 1:10-11
The two men who delivered this message were probably Michael and Gabriel, the messengers or spirit-men of whom we spoke in earlier chapters. But one thing they omitted to divulge was precisely when he would be coming back. The early Christians believed that his return was imminent. That is why many of them in those early days used to go up on the flat roofs of their houses to wait and watch out for him. It was the promise of his second coming which kept these early Christians so motivated.
Yet, here we are, almost 2,000 years further on, and he still has not returned. Over time, our understanding of the significance of the second coming has been largely lost in a plethora of religious dogma.
There are two parts to the second coming. The first is known to many Christians as the “Rapture.” This refers to a time when Jesus will return to the Earth briefly to “rescue” those who are true believers. The Bible teaches that one day every Christian who is still alive will “vanish” to meet Christ. The people who remain on Earth will have to endure the holocaust of terrible events predicted in the Book of Revelation. But let us begin by taking a look at the Rapture. Jesus himself first spoke of it in
John 14:1-3.
Let not your hearts be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father's house are many mansions; I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself: that where I am, there ye may be also.
So we have this promise from the Lord himself that He will be coming back to take us out of this evil world to a place prepared by Him.
As noted earlier, historians of the time recorded the existence of Jesus. And even Josephus mentions the resurrection of the Messiah. The resurrection is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Instead of gazing at a defeated, tortured dead Christ hanging from the Cross, what should be on the altar is an open tomb with the stone rolled away and a notice emblazoned in large capital letters: “HE IS RISEN.” Our victory is in the resurrection of the Messiah and what He accomplished by His death.
Many passages in the Gospels relate to the risen Christ. Doubting Thomas, after hearing of the resurrection, said that until such time as he could touch the actual wounds on the body of the Master he would not believe. Jesus subsequently appeared to Thomas and invited him to touch His body, saying:
Touch me and see; For a spirit has not flesh and bones as you see me to have.
Luke 24:39
In John chapter 21 we are told of the appearance of the risen Christ to Peter and some of the disciples after they had decided to return to fishing. When they encountered Him on the shore, in his risen body, He was already cooking breakfast, so they all gathered around and ate fish with Him. He had previously told them that He would not drink wine again until all were in Paradise, where they would drink new wine with Him. I especially like this particular passage in the New Testament, as I enjoy good wine and love to catch and eat fish.
Saul of Tarsus was the one Yaweh chose to spread the good news of the resurrection among the peoples of the Gentile nations. He had been travelling to Damascus to arrest the Messiah's disciples when a light from heaven shone on him and he was blinded. After three days, his sight was restored, and he preached of having seen the Messiah. From that time onwards, he became known as Paul, author of the various epistles. Here is his eyewitness account of the resurrection of the Messiah:
Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures; that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day, according to the scriptures; and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the twelve. After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living. Then He appeared to James, then to all the Apostles, and last of all He appeared to me also.
I Corinthians 15:3-8
If you are an eyewitness to an accident or a crime, you are a primary witness. According to Paul, there were more than 500 primary witnesses to the Messiah's resurrection. When the time arrives for His return, this is what we are told will occur:
For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven with a
loud command, with the voice of the Archangel and with the
trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And so will we be with the Lord forever.
I Thessalonians 4:16,17
I know that it must seem almost impossible to accept that perhaps as many as several hundred million Christians living today all over the world could suddenly vanish in the twinkling of an eye. Yet this is precisely what we are told will occur when the Lord returns in majesty from the skies. Let us examine a parallel account of this event in
I Corinthians 15:52.
Listen, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep (die), but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye – at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
How fast can you blink your eye? That's how quickly we are going to vanish off this Earth. Then the time called the Great Tribulation will begin. But the good news is that we will not have to endure this period of chaos, for we will have been removed beforehand.
When I say “We will be removed,” I am referring to those who believe in the Messiah. This is the simple message and promise which He himself delivered while on this Earth. That is, whosoever believes in Him will be saved from the wrath to come. But if you do not believe, then you will remain on Earth to go through the Great Tribulation as recorded in the Apocalypse.
Probably the best-known verse of Scripture is
John 3:16.
Occasionally, on TV, you may see a person in a crowd at a sporting event holding aloft or waving a sign that reads:
John 3:16
. This is a simple message which contains a great truth. It states:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
There is only one man who paid for our sins and only one man Yaweh ever raised from the dead. That man is the Messiah, and it is only through Him that we have any hope. Only through believing in Jesus Christ can any of us escape the judgments and wrath which are about to fall on mankind and on the entire world.
Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him.
Romans 5:9
This assurance that we are to be saved from the wrath to come is repeated in other passages of Scripture. There are some Christians who will say that everyone must pass through the horrific events of the Apocalypse. But if that is true, then the above verse is a lie, and Paul did not know what he was talking about. Look again at the concluding part of the above verse. It tells us that
“we shall be saved from God's wrath through Him.”
In his Epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul repeats this promise . . .
“and to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead – even Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.”
Could this be any clearer? We are either saved from the wrath to come, meaning the Apocalypse, or we are not, and the simple and direct promise is that those who believe in the Messiah will be saved, just as Noah and his family were saved from the Flood. For the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah are archetypes or symbols for the coming judgments. And just as Noah and his kin were saved at the time of the Flood, so also did Lot and his family have to be removed before the judgments could fall on Sodom and Gomorrah.
In the same manner, the righteous who believe in the Messiah must be taken out of the way and removed from this Earth before the events prophesied in the Book of Revelation can take place. Of course, the “Rapture” is not a unique concept in the Bible. Enoch was “taken” by God and apparently did not die. Likewise, Elijah was taken up to Heaven “by chariots” so that he did not see death (
II Kings 2:11
).
Chapter eight of the Book of Acts tells the story of Philip and the Ethiopian. This man was an important official in charge of the treasury or finance department of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians. After Philip had told him the good news of the coming of the Messiah, he baptised him. Then we are told that the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away and he appeared at a place called Azotus, many miles from where the two had been. So the idea of being “snatched away” from one place to another is not an isolated one in the Bible.
There are no indications as to when the Rapture may occur, yet there are many signs and portents relating to the coming Tribulation. However, while we can see many signs suggesting that the terrible events of the Apocalypse are imminent, we also know that we must be “raptured” before the Tribulation can begin. So it is feasible to surmise that the Rapture is also close at hand. In fact, it could happen at any time.
All we can do is watch and pray and wait for the Son from Heaven who
has saved us from the wrath to come.
CATCH A FALLEN STAR
I
would now like to return once more to the Book of Enoch to bring to your attention a most intriguing passage in which the metaphors which are used refer to humans and to angels. In terms of the deluge, Noah and the violence and corruption which filled the Earth prior to the Flood, this commentary is extremely significant.
And again I saw with mine eyes as I slept, and I saw the Heaven above, and behold a star fell from Heaven, and it arose and ate and pastured amongst those oxen.
After that I saw the large and the black oxen, and behold they all changed their stalls and pastures and their cattle, and began to live with each other.
And again I saw in the vision, and looked towards the Heaven, and behold I saw many stars descend and cast themselves down from Heaven to that first star, and they became bulls amongst those cattle and pastured with them (amongst them). And I looked at them and saw, and behold they all let out their privy members, like horses, and began to cover the cows of the oxen, and they all became pregnant and bare elephants, camels and asses.
And all the oxen feared them and were affrighted at them, and began to bite with their teeth and to devour, and to gore with their horns.
And they began moreover to devour those oxen; and behold, all the children of the Earth began to tremble and quake before them and to flee from them.
Book of Enoch LXXXVI 1-6
In the chapter previous to this in the Book of Enoch we are given an account of the historical period from the time of Adam up to the time of Noah. But the story is told in terms of bulls and cows, meaning men and women. Adam and Noah are referred to as white bulls and Eve is referred to as a heifer (female cow) and as a cow. Cain is referred to as a black bull who went off and fathered many other bulls and oxen.
In the passage reproduced here, we are told that the oxen and cattle began to change their pastures and stalls and to live with each other. That is, the descendants of Cain and Adam and Eve intermarried. While this was going on, a “star” fell from heaven, and it arose and ate among the oxen. This is a reference to a fallen angel mingling with the inhabitants of the Earth. Then this fallen star (angel) was joined by many other stars. These in turn became bulls and ate and pastured among the other cattle (people).
The “privy members” of these entities are described as being as big as those of horses. There is an intriguing likeness here to the satyrs and certain Egyptian and Greek deities, which also had rather large privy members (i.e. penises). There are many ancient Egyptian pictures, preserved in stone from the earliest of times, portraying men with large penises (see
Figures 17
-
Figures 19
). Could these be representations of those fallen men who descended on Mount Hermon in the days of Jared (circa 3500 BC) and were described by Enoch as having “privy members like horses”? They covered, or had intercourse with, the females, who in turn became pregnant. Now here is the interesting part. It is stated that they bore elephants, camels and asses. In other words, they did not bring forth after their kind, but instead produced mutants.
“Elephants,” “camels” and “asses” are metaphors for the descendants of these stars which fell from heaven, the
Nephilim
. All of the ordinary inhabitants of the Earth were fearful of these cross-bred creatures. And we are told that the elephants, camels and asses began to devour the oxen (people), who in turn attempted to flee from them.
This is a detailed account of the first procreational engagement of spirit beings with the daughters of men prior to the Flood. It is told in figures of speech by Enoch, who is describing a dream he had to his son, Methuselah. The story then moves on to tell of the appearance of seven other space travellers:
In Greek and Roman mythology, the satyr (above) was a half-man, half-animal deity who was a frequent companion of Bacchus, the Graeco-Roman god of fruitfulness and vegetation (known more popularly as the god of wine and ecstasy).
Figure 18
And again I saw how they began to gore each other and to devour each other, and the Earth began to cry aloud.
And I raised mine eyes again to Heaven, and I saw in the vision, and behold there came forth from Heaven beings who were like white men: and four went forth from that place and three with them.
And those three that had last come forth grasped me by my hand and took me up, away from the generations of the Earth, and raised me up to a lofty place, and showed me a tower raised high above the Earth, and all the hills were lower. And one said unto me: “Remain here till thou seest everything that befalls those elephants, camels and asses, and the stars and the oxen, and all of them.”
Book of Enoch LXXXVII 1-4
Enoch was a seventh-generation direct descendant of Adam. We are told that he walked with God and apparently did not die, but was “translated.” The Book of Hebrews informs us:
According to the Book of Enoch, 200 Nephilim descended on Mount Hermon in the days of Jared (circa 3500 BC; see Appendix). Enoch described these men as having “privy members like horses”.
Figure 19
shows the Egyptian god Min.
By faith, Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death. He could not be found, because God had taken him away.
Book of Hebrews 11:5
The previously-quoted passage from the Book of Enoch appears to be describing this “translation.” The seven archangels seen coming forth from the heavens are named by Enoch in another chapter. Their coming to Earth is in response to the violence and the cry which goes up from the people of the Earth. Three of the seven took Enoch by the hand and removed him to another dimension:
And I saw one of those four who had come forth first, and he seized that first star which had fallen from the heavens, and bound it hand and foot and cast it into an abyss: now that abyss was narrow and deep, and horrible and dark.
And one of them drew a sword, and gave it to those elephants and camels and asses: then they began to smite each other, and the whole Earth quaked because of them.
And as I was beholding in the vision, lo, one of the four who had come forth stoned (them) from Heaven, and gathered and took all the great stars whose privy members were like those of horses, and bound them all hand and foot, and cast them in an abyss of the Earth.
Book of Enoch LXXXVIII 1-3
This is a description of the imprisoning of the fallen angels, the
Nephilim,
whose orgy of evil and violence precipitated the Flood. These fallen angels are then bound and cast into the Abyss. We are told in the Book of Revelation how, in the future, during the events of the Great Tribulation, the pit of the Abyss will be opened and fearsome-looking locusts – an infernal cherubim – will be released. The ruler over this evil horde is named in the Greek as Apollyon, clearly identifiable as Apollo, who must have been one of these original
Nephilim.
The Abyss is probably
Tartarus,
where the risen Messiah went to reveal himself to these imprisoned angels.
Azazel is named in the Book of Enoch as being a leader of the fallen angels. Could Apollo of Greece and Apollyon of the Apocalypse be none other than Azazel, the first of the
Nephilim
to fall? The name Azazel crops up in Leviticus 16:8, 10 and 26. This name is translated as “scapegoat,” but in the Hebrew it is Azazel, a proper name, and the appendage of the leader of the fallen angels.
Enoch describes the Abyss as being narrow, deep, horrible and dark. This matches the description of
Tartarus
in Peter as well as Jude: “gloomy dungeons” and “a place of darkness” (
Jude 6, 11; Peter 2:4
). We are also told by Enoch that this Abyss is an “abyss of the Earth.” This fits in with Scripture as well as with the underworld or
Tartarus
of Greek mythology and with the abode of the dead described in Egyptian literature. All of these historical accounts seemingly refer to one and the same place.
Enoch also describes how the descendants of the
Nephilim
, the Titans and gods of Rome and Greece, the heroes of old, began to fight and smite each other. Such was the violence, we are told, that the whole Earth quaked. Again this mirrors the information proffered in Genesis chapter six, where we are told that the entire Earth was filled with violence and the “thoughts of men's hearts were only evil all the time” (
Genesis 6:5).
It is this unbridled evil and violence which prompted Yaweh to destroy all flesh by means of the great Flood. This worldwide deluge is featured in many ancient writings, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, and it ties in also with the Sumerian flood story.
69
Marriages between humans and gods are a well-known feature of Ugaritic, Hurrian and Mesopotamian mythology as well as of Greek, Roman and Egyptian historical record. Indeed, the heroic figure of Gilgamesh was held to be derived from just such a divine union, which gave him great physical strength, but not immortality.
70
It is worth mentioning that, in Ugaritic literature, the term “sons of God” is used to describe members of the divine pantheon. And the earliest Christian writers, such as Justin, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, as well as Josephus (Ant 1:31), believed that the “sons of God” were indeed angels.
71
So the Book of Enoch is emphatic in its testimony of the union between fallen, evil spirit beings and women of the human variety. It also bears out the accounts elsewhere in the Bible of the ensuing immorality and violence perpetrated on the Earth by the offspring of this diabolic union. That this union was wrong is clear from the Old Testament law, which emphatically condemned cross-breeding of species. Similar treatment of crops was also prohibited (
Leviticus 19:19
), as was copulating with animals, which was a capital offence.

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