The Rise and Fall of the Nephilim (8 page)

We are informed by Polybius (c. 201-120
BCE)
that there are essentially three classes of historians:

One class slants their documentation for financial gain, expressing “the pleasure or the plans of kings and states.”

Another class writes for those who enjoy “rhetorical display,” an enjoyment of the sensuous exploitation of words, in a manner that sounds pleasant to the listener.

Finally, some record the truth, “for the good of mankind.”
¹

The New Testament references to Moses are written within a framework of early Christian apologetics, meant to establish the young Christian religion during its infancy. The faith story told by early Christian apologists is solid tradition that sets a foundation for religious practice and tradition, and the history remains obscure, unsubstantiated, and many times unverifiable by extant historical records of the day. There are many traditional tales of Moses, as well as traditional histories in the Jewish Mishnah and other writings, but the Egyptian historical records are silent. And even Moses himself for some reason
refrains from mentioning historical names of the pharaohs and royalties that would have surrounded him during the first 40 years of his life spent as a prince of Egypt.

And that is because the writings of Moses were never meant to be cold, hard, historical records. They were meant to establish the authority of God over Israel, as embodied in the authority of Moses. We see presented in the scripture an acceptable arrogance in Moses that is an indicative—and many times necessary—ingredient on the part of national leaders in establishing their authority. Even more so when that leader claims that his authority is one that is favored by the gods. Or in Moses’ case, by God. Moses, in writing of his relationship with God, states in Exodus 33:11 that he was able to
“speak with God face-to-face, as a man speaks to his friend.”
Yet Moses was not destroyed by the utter holiness of God in a consuming fireball for this intimate contact. Then, a few verses later in the very same passage, God Himself tells us, via the pen of Moses:

“You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”

(Exodus 33:20)

When Moses emphatically states that he survived what other human beings could not, he establishes himself as having a little bit of divine edge that is above and beyond what the common person could endure. He begins to equate himself with the Divine in ways that establish his leadership over Israel as not only divinely appointed, but miraculously maintained. When Moses had his personal, face-to-face meetings with Jehovah, this is how they are described in the book of Exodus:

“7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the ‘tent of meeting.’ Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9 As Moses
went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. 10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent. 11 The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.”

(Exodus 33:7-11)

God descended to the tent of Moses in a cloud—just as He did when descending upon the ark of the covenant in the cloudy form of His female counterpart, the Shekinah—but outside the written text, no one knows exactly what Moses encountered while alone in the tent with the presence that descended there. Whether this happened precisely as the book of Exodus describes or whether it was a series of events that Moses used to further establish his position as the Pharaoh-God of Israel will be a question that remains unanswered, as there is no way to establish the veracity of what he has written beyond faith.

There are, however, speculative Ancient Alienists who would chalk these events firmly into the “Alien Encounter” category. Though we cannot establish the existence of the Divine beyond the faith of the human heart, some would choose to view these events as not only supernatural, but extra-terrestrial. Just as the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night appeared in the skies and went before the Israelites to guide their way, the same pillar of cloud came down to the tent of Moses and later came down and settled on the ark of the covenant in a form that is described in the Hebrew language by a strictly female term, the Shekinah
, the grammatically feminine presence of God.
²
According to the text of Exodus, “all the people” saw these events take place, and if there was any further editing of the book after Moses’ death, the passages were not omitted. The event is there in the context to establish the absolute authority and sovereignty of God, as well as the absolute authority of Moses as the God-appointed leader.

Regarding the pillars of fire and cloud themselves, it is well established in rabbinic teaching that these manifestations were nothing other
than the magnificence and glory of God; God personally appearing in miraculous manifestations to lead his people. This is what is known to theologists as a “theophany,” an appearance of God in physical form. And according to Judeo-Christian teaching, this is simply the glory of God appearing at the door of Moses’ tent, and hovering in the sky to guide his people. Moses was set apart as the only human being to have this close contact with God, thereby establishing him as someone who was in close union with God. The next best thing to being the monarchical Pharaoh-God.

But then we see the following passage, just a few verses later, in which Moses is not allowed to see the face of God. For some reason, the same presence that spoke to Moses in the tent, face-to-face, could not allow Moses to see its face on the top of Mount Sinai. Like anyone else who experiences the mystical, phenomenal paranormal, there is always the desire to be drawn in and know more, see more, experience more. So Moses asked for more:

“18 Then Moses said, ‘Now show me your glory.’ 19 And the LORD said, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.’ 21 Then the LORD said, ‘There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.’”

(Exodus 33:18-23)

In establishing the magnificence and glory of the all powerful Jehovah God, Moses writes that even he was not allowed to look on God’s face, though just a few sentences earlier he had established that he possessed a special, hierarchical relationship with God, being the only man who had ever talked with God “face-to-face,” as a man talks
with his friend. This was all written so that the people would understand that Moses indeed as powerful as the Pharaoh-Gods of Egypt; he communed with the Divine in the most intimate of ways! And later, during the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness as a nomadic people, Moses goes a step further, and in his anger with the people he equates himself with God by referring to himself and God as “We.” For this, the scripture then tells us, Moses was reprimanded by God for his pride, and not allowed to enter into the Land of Promise. Whether that anecdotal story was part of Moses’ original account, or was added later by a future editor, such as Joshua, Moses’ successor, is unknown. But what is clear is that Moses took on himself the persona of the Pharaoh-God, the ruler who has absolute authority and absolute communion with the Divine.

“29 When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. 30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32 Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the LORD’s presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.”

(Exodus 34:29-35)

Moses’ encounters with the Divine left physical traces. His face glowed and his hair and beard turned white as snow. So frightening was his appearance that he had to veil his face to hide the radiance. His
face-to-face encounters with the radioactive deity bleached his skin and made him … glow. And according to the biblical passage, he didn’t even realize it until the people recoiled in superstitious horror.

It is interesting to note at this point that the Watchers who descended to the slopes of Mount Hermon, and in their varying forms as manifested in other cultures around the ancient world, were said to be bright, shining gods who descended from the skies. The ancient Sumarian
El
, the Celtic
Aillil
, Babylonian
Ellu
, Cornish
El
, Incan
Illa
, Hebrew
Elah
, and Muslim
Allah
all had their varying words for the physical shining brightness of the gods who descended down to mankind.

Was it this same light that was passed on to Moses during his close encounters with
Elohim?