March 2, 2025 • 32 mins
Join us as we explore the epic tales and profound truths found within Scripture, anchoring our focus on the narratives of Nephilim and the Tower of Babel. We ask tough questions about mankind's purpose and God's unwavering promise of redemption through Christ.
• Insights on the Nephilim and their impact on humanity
• Discussion on God’s response to corruption through the Flood
• Examination of the Tower of Babel as an act of rebellion
• Exploration of divine promise through Abraham to the lineage of Christ
• Reflection on the restoration of fellowship through Jesus
• Understanding our purpose as sons of God in both life and the heavenly realms
Share what's on your heart and enjoy free study resources on our Episodes Page at wakinguptograce.com: https://wakinguptograce.com/043-grace-restored-understanding-christs-finish-romans-1-1-7/
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Episode Transcript
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announcement (00:01):
Hello and welcome to the Waking Up to Grace
podcast, where we celebrate andexplore the finished work of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Tune in to the Waking Up toGrace podcast on every major
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And now here's Lenny.
Lenny (00:22):
Welcome back to the podcast, everyone.
And now here's Lenny.
Welcome back to the podcast,everyone.
And here we begin the nextchapter in our epic story of the
retaliation against Yahweh theserpent, a member of God's
divine council, opposed Yahwehand deceived man in the garden,
getting them kicked out of Eden.
As humanity increased in number, sons of God, also known as
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watchers, found their women tobe very attractive.
Against the will of Yahweh,they had sex with the women, and
the result was Nephilim.
Their offspring were giants,hybrid angel men.
Genesis 6.4 says these were themighty men who were of old, the
men of renown.
Mankind became increasinglycorrupt and wicked.
(01:05):
As a result, these Nephilimwere likely the source of their
worship, not Yahweh.
The rebellious members of thedivine council of God did it
again, knowing that a seed wouldcome from Eve that would save
mankind and do away with theproblem initiated by Satan.
The Watchers corrupted mankindwith wickedness through their
breeding of Nephilim with theirwomen.
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If this were to continuewithout stopping, what would be
the outcome?
Mankind would either not existor be enslaved to the Nephilim.
It was a perfect plan, exceptfor one small problem it wasn't
Yahweh's plan for them tosucceed.
The flood was the first movethat our Lord made to reduce
their efforts.
This was the second time Godstarted over with mankind due to
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their defiance, and it wouldn'tbe the last.
The third major rebellionagainst Yahweh is recorded at
the Tower of Babel in Genesis.
Before we dig into the rest ofour storyline, let's see the
context, beginning with ourRomans passage that laid this
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topic before us in the firstplace.
Romans David according to theflesh and was declared to be the
Son of God in power accordingto the Spirit of holiness, by
his resurrection from the dead.
Jesus Christ, our Lord, throughwhom we have received grace and
apostleship to bring about theobedience of faith for the sake
of his name among all thenations, including you who are
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called to belong to Jesus Christ, to all those in Rome who are
loved by God and called to besaints.
Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Specifically, I'd like to focuson concerning his son, who is
descended from David accordingto the flesh and was declared to
be the son of God in power andthe obedience of faith for the
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sake of his name among all thenations.
In Paul's intro we read thatChrist Yeshua was descended from
David, but if we take it back abit, he was from Abraham's seed
and even further.
We traced back the promise ofChrist to Genesis in our last
episode.
Christ would be the seed thatcame from Eve to restore mankind
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.
The restoration of mankind fromthe event in the garden does
not come until Christ comes, butthe coming of Christ would also
restore the heavenly realms.
As we learn, mankind is not theonly creation that needed to be
restored.
We had watchers called sons ofGod rebelling against Yahweh in
our Old Testament scriptures.
Called sons of God rebellingagainst Yahweh in our Old
Testament scriptures.
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But all the while, our Lord haspromised to fix the problems
that his creation is causing inheaven and on earth.
His plan involved a differentkind of son than we see as the
sons of God.
In the case of Yeshua, mosttranslations change the
lowercase s in son to capital S.
He is the son of God.
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What makes him so special?
Because he is born directly ofYahweh and was also born fully
human on earth.
Not only that, his humanlineage fulfilled prophecy.
Part of this was being adescendant of David.
As Paul points out here inRomans, yeshua dodged a
spiritually dead birth by beingborn of heaven, but became fully
man through his physical birth,through Mary, who was a virgin.
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Christ was a seed that camefrom Eve that would destroy
Satan and his corruption and,once and for all, restore
mankind back into his fellowship.
The question is, what does thisrestoration of fellowship look
like?
I think there are a lot ofthoughts that come to mind when
we hear these words, but we needto let scripture determine what
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is really meant by this, notour imagination.
We'll look at this before theend of our episode, but not yet.
When scripture tells us Christwas God's one and only son.
The original language wouldtell us he was God's unique son.
This son, christ Yeshua, wasYahweh in the flesh.
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This son was fully human andfully God.
This son would ultimately allowall who believe in him to
become sons of Yahweh.
This is an incredible notion,being that sons of God prior to
Christ were not human but ratherdivine beings.
In his letter to Corinth, paulwrites Do you not know that we
are to judge angels?
How much more, then, matterspertaining to this life?
Then Yeshua says For in theresurrection, they neither marry
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nor are given in marriage, butare like angels in heaven.
It would seem based on thisthat Christians represent Yahweh
on earth in our human bodiesand go on to represent Yahweh in
his restored divine council, inthe heavenly realm when we
receive our new bodies that arefit for heaven and we will be
above the angels.
That's pretty cool.
So we should never make lightof our divine purpose here on
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earth.
We have purpose now and we'llhave purpose in heaven.
Death isn't retirement for us.
Can you imagine serving Yahwehdirectly in his counsel?
But getting back to ourstoryline, yahweh leading the
rebellious gods and watchersinto his trap is where we learn
a lesson in his sovereignty.
No matter how bad things get,our Lord is always going to win.
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But let's see how Yahweh makesa beautiful ending out of what
seems to be a complete and uttermess.
Continuing our story from lastweek and going into the scene of
the Tower of Babel, in Genesis11 we read language and the same
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words.
And as people migrated from theeast, they found a plain in the
land of Shinar and settledthere, and they said to one
another Come, let us make bricksand burn them thoroughly, and
they had brick for stone andbitumen for mortar.
Then they said Come, let usbuild ourselves a city and a
tower with its top in theheavens and let us make a name
for ourselves, lest we bedispersed over the face of the
whole earth.
Any way you look at this, yousee mankind rebelling against
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God.
After the flood, yahwehpromised not to flood the earth
again and told Noah in Genesis 9, and you be fruitful and
multiply, team on the earth andmultiply in it.
But what did they do instead?
They wanted to all sticktogether and build a tower that
reached the heavens.
They didn't trust God and theydidn't follow his commands.
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It was a total rebellion.
We know that the Nephilim werestill around at that time,
according to Genesis.
Does it not seem suspiciousthat the Nephilim would have
been a major part of thisproject?
I think so, and if we look atthe Hebrew word used for name in
our Genesis 11 passage, we willfind an interesting connection
with the Nephilim.
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In Genesis 11, about the Towerof Babel, we read Then they said
Come, let us build ourselves acity and a tower with its top in
the heavens, and let us make aname for ourselves.
Name here is the Hebrew wordshem, so let us make a shem for
ourselves.
Then, back in Genesis 6, aboutthe Nephilim, we read those were
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the mighty men who were of old,men of renown, which would also
say men of Shem.
The definition of Shemaccording to Strong's is a
primitive word through the ideaof definite and conspicuous
position.
Compare in appellation as amark or memorial of
individuality, by implication,honor, authority, character.
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Then, according to blue letterbible, an outlined biblical
usage of the word shem would beone name, two reputation, fame,
glory.
Three, the name as designationof God.
4.
Memorial or monument.
If we seek the best fit for theNephilim, in my opinion men of
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renown is pretty good.
If we look at synonyms ofrenown in Webster's we find
celebrity, fame, notoriety.
If we simply apply a simplesynonym in the Babel passage, it
could read Then they said Come,let us build ourselves a city
and a tower with its top in theheavens and let us make fame for
ourselves.
Except the fame the Nephilimwere seeking would have been
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above the fame or name of Yahweh.
According to scholars, the Towerof Babel's story describes one
of Mesopotamia's famous man-madesacred mountains, also known as
Ziggurat.
Ziggurats were dwelling placesof divine deities, places where
Mesopotamians believed heavenand earth intersected.
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What was being done here wasnot to honor Yahweh.
Having that knowledge, we canfill in the blanks pretty well,
I would say, as to what mighthave been on their minds.
You feel like saying are youkidding me?
You're going to defeat God?
Come on, here we go again withthat free will thought process.
But what did Yahweh do?
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In Genesis 11, we read Come, letus go down and there confuse
their language so that they maynot understand one another's
speech.
So Yahweh dispersed them fromthere over the face of the earth
.
The Lord seems to becommunicating with his divine
counsel here, and then Yahwehhimself spread them over the
face of all the earth.
So this is where nations becomeestablished, all across the
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horizon.
This is where people were givendifferent languages.
But things get even moreinteresting if they haven't
already.
Earlier in Genesis, it isrecorded in the genealogy that
there were 70 clans of Noah and,as we are about to read, these
70 clans become 70 nations andare appointed a god.
When the Most High gave to thenations their inheritance, when
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he divided mankind, he fixed theborders of the peoples
according to the number of thesons of God.
But the Lord's portion is hispeople, jacob, his allotted
heritage Deuteronomy 32.
Now some Bible translationsread that he fixed the borders
according to the sons of Israel.
This is just simply a badtranslation, because Israel was
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not one of these nations.
They didn't exist.
Yet this passage is describingthe results of the one of these
nations.
They didn't exist yet.
This passage is describing theresults of the Tower of Babel.
Under the leadership of theNephilim, mankind was rebelling
against Yahweh, and Yahweh isbasically saying I'm done with
you.
You will worship these lessergods.
Then at the end of the passagewe read that Yahweh's portion is
his people, israel, who werenot there yet at the time of
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Babel.
But in Genesis 12, 1-3, inYahweh's covenant with Abram, he
said all of the nations of theearth would be blessed through
Abram, through his descendants.
Abraham's son, isaac, had a son, jacob.
This Jacob was named Israel byYahweh.
Jacob was not only a Christtype but also the father of the
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12 tribes of Israel, who wereall of his sons.
The Lord had a plan ofredemption in mind from the
beginning.
He promised it to the serpentin Eden, then he promised it to
Abraham.
Jacob's sons would be the 12tribes of Israel, but first they
had to get led out of Egypt andget into that promised land,
and the Nephilim who survivedthe flood were still around
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after the scattering of thenations at Babel.
In scripture we read of Yahwehinstructing Joshua to destroy
entire populations in the landof Canaan.
Many see this as shockinglybrutal.
I mean, you're talking babies,and all, every one of them, had
to go.
Why would this be so necessary?
When we understand thesupernatural forces at hand, it
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makes a lot more sense.
It's actually a whole lot moreclear.
When you study the conquestclosely, you find that there are
places where God told Joshuaonly to drive them out, not to
kill them.
The Lord did not need all thepeople killed.
He needed all the giants killed.
The conquest begins with giants.
The giants need to be wiped out.
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To me, this indicates thatalthough the sons of God who
began this mess had been put inchains in Tartarus or Sheol, the
Nephilim were still increasing.
They must have been breedingwith humans themselves.
At the beginning of theconquest, moses sent 12 spies
into the land.
They reported about the placesthey had visited and where they
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saw the giant Anakim.
Ten of the 12 spies convincedthe rest of the people they
could not win against the Anakim.
Yahweh then judged Israel with40 years of wandering.
At the end of the 40 years, theLord took Israel through the
east side of the Jordan and toldthem not to bother the people
of Moab and Ammon, since thegiant clans in those lands had
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already been removed by thepeople of Esau, who were
relatives of the Israelites.
Yahweh then sends Moses andJoshua to Bashan, the realm of
Og, king of the Amorites.
Og was the last of the Rephaim,as described by the prophet
Amos.
He was a giant.
Once all the giants from theother side of the Jordan were
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removed, joshua could take thepeople into Canaan, and Joshua
did.
When Joshua defined victory inthe conquest, he said there are
no more Anakim in the land.
The only ones left went to thePhilistine cities.
One of those cities was thehome of Goliath and his brothers
, the city of Gath.
We all know the story of Davidand Goliath, and David and his
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armies, equipped with what weread as mighty men of valor,
wiped out the remaining giants.
The stories are awesome.
These men were spiritualwarriors.
David would declare we wouldhave never won these battles
without Yahweh.
He knew that the Lord was withhim.
He was a man of faith.
Do we actually believe?
An average guy who raised sheepfelt so powerful in and of
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himself that he could take on agiant in one-on-one combat.
Not a chance, unless he wassuicidal.
He believed God.
God said he would deliverIsrael from their enemies.
He knew that God didn't lie.
He trusted Yahweh.
So after Yahweh took care ofbusiness through David and his
armies, the fallen angels whoproduced giants were locked up.
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The remaining giants werecompletely wiped out.
They're not going to bereproducing any longer.
It would seem that the problemproduced by the sons of God was
finished.
But what about demons?
Where did these things comefrom?
According to Michael Heiser'sdocumentary film the Unseen
Realm, the answer lies in theoffspring produced by the
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forbidden union between the sonsof God and the women in Genesis
6.
It goes on to sayextra-biblical Jewish writers
believe the demons, like thosedescribed in the Gospels, were
disembodied spirits of thegiants.
They base this on the Bible'smention of dead Raphaim in the
underworld.
Jewish books like 1 Enoch andthe Book of the Giants from the
Dead Sea Scrolls make that pointexplicitly.
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And then about extra-biblicalwritings, heiser writes the
biblical text was produced bymen who lived in the Near East
and Mediterranean between the2nd millennium BC and the 1st
century AD.
To understand how biblicalwriters thought, we need to tap
into the intellectual output ofthat world.
A vast amount of that materialis available to us thanks to
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modern technology.
So, basically, if we go by whatancient Hebrews wrote about and
believed about demons, this iswhat we find.
That's what we have.
And if you follow the logic, theNephilim were hybrids.
They were angel humans.
Angels were created as eternalbeings.
Man was created mortal mancould have only stayed alive
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with access to the tree of lifethat was in Eden.
So you mix a mortal man with anangel.
What happens when it dies?
The spirit lives on and thegiant body dies.
The spirit would seem to belooking for a place to dwell and
make its home.
It wanted a new body.
How does this apply to thefinished work of Christ, you
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might ask?
You say you're focused on thefinished work of Christ.
To the finished work of Christ,you might ask.
You say you're focused on thefinished work of Christ.
I thought you'd never ask.
Regarding the 70 lesser godsplaced over each nation, Yahweh
says how long will you judgeunjustly and show partiality to
the wicked, in Psalm 82,.
He then declares a comingjudgment.
In Psalm 82 as well, I said youare gods, sons of the Most High
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, all of you.
Nevertheless, like men.
You shall die and fall like anyprince.
Arise, o God, judge the earth,for you shall inherit all the
nations.
We read here that the lessergods would face a judgment.
They would fall like any princeand die.
This included Satan.
Keep this in mind.
These are beings created witheternal life that would die like
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men.
Hold that thought.
We'll be coming back to thispoint.
But Yahweh would inherit all ofthe nations.
He would bring back all ofmankind under his rule again.
This was part of his promise toAbraham In Genesis 17,.
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Behold, later we read inGenesis 17,.
This promise contains the samepromise that God made to the
serpent or Satan in Eden.
The promise was Christ.
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During the ministry of Yeshua,the twelve disciples were sent
out to declare the kingdom ofGod.
They were instructed not to goto Gentile nations, but later
Yeshua sent out seventydisciples into Gentile nations
to declare that the kingdom ofGod was upon them.
These disciples were given thepower to cast out demons.
They demonstrated the power ofYahweh in these nations that
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were under the rule of lessergods.
These lesser gods would befacing a judgment for ruling
unjustly.
As it is written, they hadclearly not been faithful to
Yahweh.
Stephen even says of these godsin Acts, chapter 7,.
And they made a calf in thosedays and offered a sacrifice to
the idol and were rejoicing inthe works of their hands.
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But God turned away and gavethem over to worship the host of
heaven, as it is written in thebook of the prophets Did you
bring me slain beasts andsacrifices during the forty
years in the wilderness O house?
Did you bring me slain beastsand sacrifices during the 40
years in the wilderness O houseof Israel?
So he handed them over to thehost of heaven.
Who's that?
That's the other gods.
These gods were certainlyenticing even Yahweh's portion
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of the people.
Throughout history, they wantedto keep mankind from worshiping
Yahweh.
When Yeshua began his ministry,these gods would have known
that the anointed one had comeand he just displayed his power
among all of their nations.
Now, if you're Satan and leadingthe charge of these lesser gods
to be judged, what would you bethinking right now?
We have to stop Christ, and itseems that they decided we have
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to kill Christ.
But then something interestinghappens that they didn't catch.
I think a lot of Christiansmight miss this too.
We all know the story, but it'simportant to realize that they
didn't capture Christ and beginto torture him.
He handed himself over to them.
He said here I am.
It was for these reasons thatPaul wrote.
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Yet among the mature, we doimpart wisdom, although it is
not a wisdom of this age or ofthe rulers of this age, who are
doomed to pass away, but weimpart a secret and hidden
wisdom of God, which God decreedbefore the ages for our glory.
None of the rulers of this ageunderstood this, for if they had
, they would not have crucifiedthe Lord of glory.
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1 Corinthians 2, 6-8.
This passage doesn't simplyrefer to the Jewish leaders.
Just like in Eden, just like atthe flood, just like at Babel,
there were spiritual forcesinfluencing mankind in rebelling
against Yahweh in the unseenrealms, and they must have
realized their mistake soonafter they had Christ killed at
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Pentecost.
It just so happened that theywere celebrating Pentecost on
that day when Yeshua told thedisciples to go into that room.
In that room where the Spiritof God came upon them, all of
the nations came together thatday and the Spirit of Christ
Yeshua caused the disciples tospeak and be heard in each of
their native languages.
All of the nations were hearingthe gospel being preached in
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their own language.
Yahweh was reversing whathappened at Babel.
The Messiah had a ministry tothe lost sheep of Israel.
The twelve were devoted topreaching Christ among their
Jewish brothers.
It was eventually revealed toPeter that Gentiles were going
to receive the same spirit thatthe Jewish believers had
received at Pentecost.
Not only were the Jewsscattered among the nations to
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be part of the body of Christ,but Gentiles who never knew the
law would also be part of thesegood tidings.
For God so loved the world thathe gave his only Son that
whoever believes in him shouldnot perish but have eternal life
.
John 3 16.
Yahweh was bringing salvationto the whole world, not just
Israel, and only here is definedby Strong's as single of its
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kind.
In other words, yeshua was theunique son of God.
He was not like the rest.
He was Yahweh in the flesh andhe was in power.
Yahweh was power and he was inYahweh.
As we read in Romans concerninghis Son, who was descended from
David according to the fleshand was declared to be the Son
of God in power, and Paul, whowas chosen directly by Yahweh to
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preach the gospel of grace tothe Gentiles for the obedience
of faith, for the sake of hisname among all the nations.
There's no doubt that he wasfacing off against all of the
rebellious members of Yahweh'sdivine council.
This must be what he writesabout to his church in Ephesus
Put on the whole armor of Godthat you may be able to stand
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against the schemes of the devil, for we do not wrestle against
flesh and blood, but againstrulers, against the authorities,
against the cosmic powers overthis present darkness, against
the spiritual forces of evil inthe heavenly places Ephesians 6.
So the question is did theapostles complete their mission?
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I say they absolutely did.
I think most would agree withthat.
But the next question is onethat tends to get people upset
Did Christ Yeshua finish hiswork?
Many will say yes, at the crossand resurrection, and I agree.
That was certainly somefinished work going on there.
But there's this commonplaceview that Satan was defanged and
declawed at the cross.
Christ finished him in that way, we're told by some.
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But that's not the finishedwork that we read about in the
prophets, psalm 82.
I said you are gods, sons ofthe Most High, all of you.
Nevertheless, like men, youshall die and fall like any
prince Arise, o God, judge theearth, for you shall inherit.
All the nations.
Then, about Satan, ezekiel wroteby the multitude of your
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iniquities.
In the unrighteousness of yourtrade, you profaned your
sanctuaries, so I brought fireout from your midst, it consumed
you and I turned you to asheson the earth and in the sight of
all who saw you, all who knowyou among the peoples are
appalled at you.
You have come to a dreadful endand shall be no more so.
(24:29):
When does this happen?
When will Christ finish thiswork?
Well, most scholars agree thatthe apostles believed the second
coming of Christ.
Yeshua would be in theirgeneration.
Everyone they preached to theytold he was coming very soon.
Where did they get such an idea?
Were they just confused?
Actually, they received theinformation from Christ himself,
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who is not only Yahweh in humanform but also a prophet.
If Yeshua says something isgoing to happen, we have to
believe it.
Right, yeshua told hisdisciples.
But when you see Jerusalemsurrounded by armies, then know
that its desolation has comenear.
Then let those who are in Judeaflee to the mountains and let
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those who are inside the citydepart, and let not those who
are out in the country enter it,for these are days of vengeance
to fulfill all that is writtenLuke 21, 20, and then in Luke 21
, 32.
Truly, I say to you, thisgeneration will not pass away
until all has taken place.
Matthew 16, 27.
For the son of man is going tocome with his angels in the
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glory of his father, and then hewill repay each person
according to what he has done.
Truly, I say to you, there aresome standing here who will not
taste death until they see theSon of man coming in his kingdom
.
Matthew 24,.
Jesus left the temple and wasgoing away when his disciples
came to point out to him thebuildings of the temple.
But he answered them.
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You see all these, do you not?
Truly, I say to you, there willnot be left here one stone upon
another that will not be throwndown.
So what are we to do with this?
People will proof text passagesabout not knowing the exact
time and the days, like athousand years, etc.
Etc.
But a prophet is the mouthpieceof God and Christ was God.
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If what he reported was not100% true, wouldn't he be a
false prophet?
This is going to trigger a lotof people, I know, but when push
comes to shove I have to holdto what Yeshua taught.
Yahweh knew how to tell time.
There's not a single instancein our scripture where a
prophecy was coming soon thatdid not occur.
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For another 2,000 years thatwould be called far off.
When it comes to understandingprophecy, as Christians, we
should start by believing Christ, not our pastor who says Jesus
is coming soon.
Start with Christ and work outthe details from there.
Yeshua was telling the truth.
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The second coming, thedestruction of the temple, the
final judgment, the resurrectionof the dead, happened in AD 70.
It fulfilled all prophecy andwas the final work of Christ
Yeshua, bringing in the newheaven and the new earth, the
new covenant age.
I talk about this in otherepisodes.
This was also when the divinecouncil was reformed.
The rebel gods and watchers,the demons all of it was thrown
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into the lake of fire Revelation, chapter 20, and the devil who
had deceived them was thrown inthe lake of fire and sulfur,
where the beast and the falseprophet were, and they will be
tormented day and night, foreverand ever.
Then after that, in verse 14,death and hades were thrown into
the lake of fire.
This is the second death, thelake of fire, and if anyone's
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name was not found written inthe book of life, he was thrown
into the lake of fire.
And then don't forget what theprophets wrote about Satan and
these rebellious gods.
Ezekiel 28, you have come to adreadful end and shall be no
more forever.
Psalm 82, you are gods, sons ofthe most high, all of you.
Nevertheless, like men, youshall die and fall like any
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prince.
Yahweh took life away fromthese eternal beings who were
being judged.
Mortal beings do not surviveburning in a lake of fire.
Death and Hades were throwninto the lake.
Think about that a minute.
Christ defeated death for thebeliever.
And even more shocking, hadesor Sheol.
(28:28):
It's gone.
You know that place calledAbraham's bosom that many refer
to as Yeshua, describing eternaltorture.
Most in error believe that thisHades was hell there actually
is no hell in scripture but thatHades and Sheol, they're ashes.
Now it's finished.
No matter what you believeabout the parable of the rich
(28:50):
man and Lazarus and the wholescenario of our souls living on
in Sheol, it's finished.
All that has been burned to theground, along with the temple
of Jerusalem.
There's only life eternally anddeath eternally.
Life can only be found inChrist.
Yahweh divorced the unfaithfulpeople of Israel and the law is
(29:12):
over the temple.
Worship has ended forever.
National Israel is no longerGod's holy people.
It's no longer his holy land.
We'll end up studying trueIsrael later.
In Romans I've also covered itin a past episode Yahweh
replaced that man-made templewith the body of Christ.
We are the temple.
We are the new Israel, whichwas the true Israel all along.
(29:36):
Though all of the prophesiedwork of Christ Yeshua is
finished, he is still alive andwell, living in and through each
of us as Christians.
A spiritual battle continuestoday, just in a different way.
We are sons of God.
We are also told in scripture.
We will be like the angels God.
We are also told in scripture.
(29:57):
We will be like the angels andeven above the angels.
We will be in the divinecouncil of heavenly hosts, and
in a sense we already are.
Yahweh has restored fellowshipto mankind.
Yahweh has restored thefellowship to mankind that was
lost in Eden.
Those in Christ now representhim.
We again bear his image and dohis work on earth, and we are
helped along in our ways by anuncorrupt host of heaven and, of
(30:18):
course, the spirit of Godliving in us.
We have been reconciled to Godby the blood of Yeshua.
My friends, we can now servehim in truth and in spirit.
Mankind is still as corrupt asit was before, but those who
believe in the Anointed One havebeen made perfect now and
forever and rest in his love andgrace.
Nothing is better than servingthe Lord freely from the heart,
(30:42):
knowing that we are in a perfectfellowship with him 24-7.
We don't need rules to love ourSavior, do we?
All this really makes you wonderwhat things will be like in
heaven.
We certainly won't belollygagging around and living
the life of retirement.
God's divine counsel haspurpose.
We'll have work to do for ourLord.
Can you imagine how great thatwill be, how gratifying that
(31:05):
will be?
We will certainly be enjoyingrest in his love as well.
I don't think we have to worryabout being overworked.
That feeling is for here onearth.
It makes you think of thescenario of that old TV show
Highway to Heaven.
Could there be saints sent tobe our guardian angels and to
guide us in our ways?
I think that's very possible.
(31:25):
Let's end with some wisdom fromour Lord Christ, yeshua, john
20.
Have you believed?
Because you have seen me.
Blessed are those who have notseen and yet have believed.
You guys, have a great day outthere, and may the Lord bless
your week until we meet again.
announcement (31:43):
Thank you for listening to the Waking Up to
Grace podcast brought to you bythe finished work of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
If you enjoyed today's episode,we would love to hear from you.
You can send encouragement ourway right from our episodes and
transcripts page or reach Lennyprivately from the contact form.
Hello and welcome to the Waking Up to Grace
podcast, where we celebrate andexplore the finished work of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
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And now here's Lenny.
Lenny (00:22):
Welcome back to the podcast, everyone.
And now here's Lenny.
Welcome back to the podcast,everyone.
And here we begin the nextchapter in our epic story of the
retaliation against Yahweh theserpent, a member of God's
divine council, opposed Yahwehand deceived man in the garden,
getting them kicked out of Eden.
As humanity increased in number, sons of God, also known as
(00:43):
watchers, found their women tobe very attractive.
Against the will of Yahweh,they had sex with the women, and
the result was Nephilim.
Their offspring were giants,hybrid angel men.
Genesis 6.4 says these were themighty men who were of old, the
men of renown.
Mankind became increasinglycorrupt and wicked.
(01:05):
As a result, these Nephilimwere likely the source of their
worship, not Yahweh.
The rebellious members of thedivine council of God did it
again, knowing that a seed wouldcome from Eve that would save
mankind and do away with theproblem initiated by Satan.
The Watchers corrupted mankindwith wickedness through their
breeding of Nephilim with theirwomen.
(01:26):
If this were to continuewithout stopping, what would be
the outcome?
Mankind would either not existor be enslaved to the Nephilim.
It was a perfect plan, exceptfor one small problem it wasn't
Yahweh's plan for them tosucceed.
The flood was the first movethat our Lord made to reduce
their efforts.
This was the second time Godstarted over with mankind due to
(01:50):
their defiance, and it wouldn'tbe the last.
The third major rebellionagainst Yahweh is recorded at
the Tower of Babel in Genesis.
Before we dig into the rest ofour storyline, let's see the
context, beginning with ourRomans passage that laid this
(02:21):
topic before us in the firstplace.
Romans David according to theflesh and was declared to be the
Son of God in power accordingto the Spirit of holiness, by
his resurrection from the dead.
Jesus Christ, our Lord, throughwhom we have received grace and
apostleship to bring about theobedience of faith for the sake
of his name among all thenations, including you who are
(02:41):
called to belong to Jesus Christ, to all those in Rome who are
loved by God and called to besaints.
Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Specifically, I'd like to focuson concerning his son, who is
descended from David accordingto the flesh and was declared to
be the son of God in power andthe obedience of faith for the
(03:02):
sake of his name among all thenations.
In Paul's intro we read thatChrist Yeshua was descended from
David, but if we take it back abit, he was from Abraham's seed
and even further.
We traced back the promise ofChrist to Genesis in our last
episode.
Christ would be the seed thatcame from Eve to restore mankind
(03:23):
.
The restoration of mankind fromthe event in the garden does
not come until Christ comes, butthe coming of Christ would also
restore the heavenly realms.
As we learn, mankind is not theonly creation that needed to be
restored.
We had watchers called sons ofGod rebelling against Yahweh in
our Old Testament scriptures.
Called sons of God rebellingagainst Yahweh in our Old
Testament scriptures.
(03:44):
But all the while, our Lord haspromised to fix the problems
that his creation is causing inheaven and on earth.
His plan involved a differentkind of son than we see as the
sons of God.
In the case of Yeshua, mosttranslations change the
lowercase s in son to capital S.
He is the son of God.
(04:09):
What makes him so special?
Because he is born directly ofYahweh and was also born fully
human on earth.
Not only that, his humanlineage fulfilled prophecy.
Part of this was being adescendant of David.
As Paul points out here inRomans, yeshua dodged a
spiritually dead birth by beingborn of heaven, but became fully
man through his physical birth,through Mary, who was a virgin.
(04:30):
Christ was a seed that camefrom Eve that would destroy
Satan and his corruption and,once and for all, restore
mankind back into his fellowship.
The question is, what does thisrestoration of fellowship look
like?
I think there are a lot ofthoughts that come to mind when
we hear these words, but we needto let scripture determine what
(04:50):
is really meant by this, notour imagination.
We'll look at this before theend of our episode, but not yet.
When scripture tells us Christwas God's one and only son.
The original language wouldtell us he was God's unique son.
This son, christ Yeshua, wasYahweh in the flesh.
(05:14):
This son was fully human andfully God.
This son would ultimately allowall who believe in him to
become sons of Yahweh.
This is an incredible notion,being that sons of God prior to
Christ were not human but ratherdivine beings.
In his letter to Corinth, paulwrites Do you not know that we
are to judge angels?
How much more, then, matterspertaining to this life?
Then Yeshua says For in theresurrection, they neither marry
(05:38):
nor are given in marriage, butare like angels in heaven.
It would seem based on thisthat Christians represent Yahweh
on earth in our human bodiesand go on to represent Yahweh in
his restored divine council, inthe heavenly realm when we
receive our new bodies that arefit for heaven and we will be
above the angels.
That's pretty cool.
So we should never make lightof our divine purpose here on
(06:01):
earth.
We have purpose now and we'llhave purpose in heaven.
Death isn't retirement for us.
Can you imagine serving Yahwehdirectly in his counsel?
But getting back to ourstoryline, yahweh leading the
rebellious gods and watchersinto his trap is where we learn
a lesson in his sovereignty.
No matter how bad things get,our Lord is always going to win.
(06:24):
But let's see how Yahweh makesa beautiful ending out of what
seems to be a complete and uttermess.
Continuing our story from lastweek and going into the scene of
the Tower of Babel, in Genesis11 we read language and the same
(06:46):
words.
And as people migrated from theeast, they found a plain in the
land of Shinar and settledthere, and they said to one
another Come, let us make bricksand burn them thoroughly, and
they had brick for stone andbitumen for mortar.
Then they said Come, let usbuild ourselves a city and a
tower with its top in theheavens and let us make a name
for ourselves, lest we bedispersed over the face of the
whole earth.
Any way you look at this, yousee mankind rebelling against
(07:10):
God.
After the flood, yahwehpromised not to flood the earth
again and told Noah in Genesis 9, and you be fruitful and
multiply, team on the earth andmultiply in it.
But what did they do instead?
They wanted to all sticktogether and build a tower that
reached the heavens.
They didn't trust God and theydidn't follow his commands.
(07:31):
It was a total rebellion.
We know that the Nephilim werestill around at that time,
according to Genesis.
Does it not seem suspiciousthat the Nephilim would have
been a major part of thisproject?
I think so, and if we look atthe Hebrew word used for name in
our Genesis 11 passage, we willfind an interesting connection
with the Nephilim.
(07:52):
In Genesis 11, about the Towerof Babel, we read Then they said
Come, let us build ourselves acity and a tower with its top in
the heavens, and let us make aname for ourselves.
Name here is the Hebrew wordshem, so let us make a shem for
ourselves.
Then, back in Genesis 6, aboutthe Nephilim, we read those were
(08:15):
the mighty men who were of old,men of renown, which would also
say men of Shem.
The definition of Shemaccording to Strong's is a
primitive word through the ideaof definite and conspicuous
position.
Compare in appellation as amark or memorial of
individuality, by implication,honor, authority, character.
(08:40):
Then, according to blue letterbible, an outlined biblical
usage of the word shem would beone name, two reputation, fame,
glory.
Three, the name as designationof God.
4.
Memorial or monument.
If we seek the best fit for theNephilim, in my opinion men of
(09:03):
renown is pretty good.
If we look at synonyms ofrenown in Webster's we find
celebrity, fame, notoriety.
If we simply apply a simplesynonym in the Babel passage, it
could read Then they said Come,let us build ourselves a city
and a tower with its top in theheavens and let us make fame for
ourselves.
Except the fame the Nephilimwere seeking would have been
(09:26):
above the fame or name of Yahweh.
According to scholars, the Towerof Babel's story describes one
of Mesopotamia's famous man-madesacred mountains, also known as
Ziggurat.
Ziggurats were dwelling placesof divine deities, places where
Mesopotamians believed heavenand earth intersected.
(09:46):
What was being done here wasnot to honor Yahweh.
Having that knowledge, we canfill in the blanks pretty well,
I would say, as to what mighthave been on their minds.
You feel like saying are youkidding me?
You're going to defeat God?
Come on, here we go again withthat free will thought process.
But what did Yahweh do?
(10:07):
In Genesis 11, we read Come, letus go down and there confuse
their language so that they maynot understand one another's
speech.
So Yahweh dispersed them fromthere over the face of the earth
.
The Lord seems to becommunicating with his divine
counsel here, and then Yahwehhimself spread them over the
face of all the earth.
So this is where nations becomeestablished, all across the
(10:29):
horizon.
This is where people were givendifferent languages.
But things get even moreinteresting if they haven't
already.
Earlier in Genesis, it isrecorded in the genealogy that
there were 70 clans of Noah and,as we are about to read, these
70 clans become 70 nations andare appointed a god.
When the Most High gave to thenations their inheritance, when
(10:52):
he divided mankind, he fixed theborders of the peoples
according to the number of thesons of God.
But the Lord's portion is hispeople, jacob, his allotted
heritage Deuteronomy 32.
Now some Bible translationsread that he fixed the borders
according to the sons of Israel.
This is just simply a badtranslation, because Israel was
(11:13):
not one of these nations.
They didn't exist.
Yet this passage is describingthe results of the one of these
nations.
They didn't exist yet.
This passage is describing theresults of the Tower of Babel.
Under the leadership of theNephilim, mankind was rebelling
against Yahweh, and Yahweh isbasically saying I'm done with
you.
You will worship these lessergods.
Then at the end of the passagewe read that Yahweh's portion is
his people, israel, who werenot there yet at the time of
(11:36):
Babel.
But in Genesis 12, 1-3, inYahweh's covenant with Abram, he
said all of the nations of theearth would be blessed through
Abram, through his descendants.
Abraham's son, isaac, had a son, jacob.
This Jacob was named Israel byYahweh.
Jacob was not only a Christtype but also the father of the
(11:56):
12 tribes of Israel, who wereall of his sons.
The Lord had a plan ofredemption in mind from the
beginning.
He promised it to the serpentin Eden, then he promised it to
Abraham.
Jacob's sons would be the 12tribes of Israel, but first they
had to get led out of Egypt andget into that promised land,
and the Nephilim who survivedthe flood were still around
(12:18):
after the scattering of thenations at Babel.
In scripture we read of Yahwehinstructing Joshua to destroy
entire populations in the landof Canaan.
Many see this as shockinglybrutal.
I mean, you're talking babies,and all, every one of them, had
to go.
Why would this be so necessary?
When we understand thesupernatural forces at hand, it
(12:40):
makes a lot more sense.
It's actually a whole lot moreclear.
When you study the conquestclosely, you find that there are
places where God told Joshuaonly to drive them out, not to
kill them.
The Lord did not need all thepeople killed.
He needed all the giants killed.
The conquest begins with giants.
The giants need to be wiped out.
(13:00):
To me, this indicates thatalthough the sons of God who
began this mess had been put inchains in Tartarus or Sheol, the
Nephilim were still increasing.
They must have been breedingwith humans themselves.
At the beginning of theconquest, moses sent 12 spies
into the land.
They reported about the placesthey had visited and where they
(13:21):
saw the giant Anakim.
Ten of the 12 spies convincedthe rest of the people they
could not win against the Anakim.
Yahweh then judged Israel with40 years of wandering.
At the end of the 40 years, theLord took Israel through the
east side of the Jordan and toldthem not to bother the people
of Moab and Ammon, since thegiant clans in those lands had
(13:42):
already been removed by thepeople of Esau, who were
relatives of the Israelites.
Yahweh then sends Moses andJoshua to Bashan, the realm of
Og, king of the Amorites.
Og was the last of the Rephaim,as described by the prophet
Amos.
He was a giant.
Once all the giants from theother side of the Jordan were
(14:03):
removed, joshua could take thepeople into Canaan, and Joshua
did.
When Joshua defined victory inthe conquest, he said there are
no more Anakim in the land.
The only ones left went to thePhilistine cities.
One of those cities was thehome of Goliath and his brothers
, the city of Gath.
We all know the story of Davidand Goliath, and David and his
(14:26):
armies, equipped with what weread as mighty men of valor,
wiped out the remaining giants.
The stories are awesome.
These men were spiritualwarriors.
David would declare we wouldhave never won these battles
without Yahweh.
He knew that the Lord was withhim.
He was a man of faith.
Do we actually believe?
An average guy who raised sheepfelt so powerful in and of
(14:49):
himself that he could take on agiant in one-on-one combat.
Not a chance, unless he wassuicidal.
He believed God.
God said he would deliverIsrael from their enemies.
He knew that God didn't lie.
He trusted Yahweh.
So after Yahweh took care ofbusiness through David and his
armies, the fallen angels whoproduced giants were locked up.
(15:10):
The remaining giants werecompletely wiped out.
They're not going to bereproducing any longer.
It would seem that the problemproduced by the sons of God was
finished.
But what about demons?
Where did these things comefrom?
According to Michael Heiser'sdocumentary film the Unseen
Realm, the answer lies in theoffspring produced by the
(15:33):
forbidden union between the sonsof God and the women in Genesis
6.
It goes on to sayextra-biblical Jewish writers
believe the demons, like thosedescribed in the Gospels, were
disembodied spirits of thegiants.
They base this on the Bible'smention of dead Raphaim in the
underworld.
Jewish books like 1 Enoch andthe Book of the Giants from the
Dead Sea Scrolls make that pointexplicitly.
(15:54):
And then about extra-biblicalwritings, heiser writes the
biblical text was produced bymen who lived in the Near East
and Mediterranean between the2nd millennium BC and the 1st
century AD.
To understand how biblicalwriters thought, we need to tap
into the intellectual output ofthat world.
A vast amount of that materialis available to us thanks to
(16:17):
modern technology.
So, basically, if we go by whatancient Hebrews wrote about and
believed about demons, this iswhat we find.
That's what we have.
And if you follow the logic, theNephilim were hybrids.
They were angel humans.
Angels were created as eternalbeings.
Man was created mortal mancould have only stayed alive
(16:40):
with access to the tree of lifethat was in Eden.
So you mix a mortal man with anangel.
What happens when it dies?
The spirit lives on and thegiant body dies.
The spirit would seem to belooking for a place to dwell and
make its home.
It wanted a new body.
How does this apply to thefinished work of Christ, you
(17:00):
might ask?
You say you're focused on thefinished work of Christ.
To the finished work of Christ,you might ask.
You say you're focused on thefinished work of Christ.
I thought you'd never ask.
Regarding the 70 lesser godsplaced over each nation, Yahweh
says how long will you judgeunjustly and show partiality to
the wicked, in Psalm 82,.
He then declares a comingjudgment.
In Psalm 82 as well, I said youare gods, sons of the Most High
(17:23):
, all of you.
Nevertheless, like men.
You shall die and fall like anyprince.
Arise, o God, judge the earth,for you shall inherit all the
nations.
We read here that the lessergods would face a judgment.
They would fall like any princeand die.
This included Satan.
Keep this in mind.
These are beings created witheternal life that would die like
(17:46):
men.
Hold that thought.
We'll be coming back to thispoint.
But Yahweh would inherit all ofthe nations.
He would bring back all ofmankind under his rule again.
This was part of his promise toAbraham In Genesis 17,.
(18:07):
Behold, later we read inGenesis 17,.
This promise contains the samepromise that God made to the
serpent or Satan in Eden.
The promise was Christ.
(18:29):
During the ministry of Yeshua,the twelve disciples were sent
out to declare the kingdom ofGod.
They were instructed not to goto Gentile nations, but later
Yeshua sent out seventydisciples into Gentile nations
to declare that the kingdom ofGod was upon them.
These disciples were given thepower to cast out demons.
They demonstrated the power ofYahweh in these nations that
(18:53):
were under the rule of lessergods.
These lesser gods would befacing a judgment for ruling
unjustly.
As it is written, they hadclearly not been faithful to
Yahweh.
Stephen even says of these godsin Acts, chapter 7,.
And they made a calf in thosedays and offered a sacrifice to
the idol and were rejoicing inthe works of their hands.
(19:14):
But God turned away and gavethem over to worship the host of
heaven, as it is written in thebook of the prophets Did you
bring me slain beasts andsacrifices during the forty
years in the wilderness O house?
Did you bring me slain beastsand sacrifices during the 40
years in the wilderness O houseof Israel?
So he handed them over to thehost of heaven.
Who's that?
That's the other gods.
These gods were certainlyenticing even Yahweh's portion
(19:36):
of the people.
Throughout history, they wantedto keep mankind from worshiping
Yahweh.
When Yeshua began his ministry,these gods would have known
that the anointed one had comeand he just displayed his power
among all of their nations.
Now, if you're Satan and leadingthe charge of these lesser gods
to be judged, what would you bethinking right now?
We have to stop Christ, and itseems that they decided we have
(20:00):
to kill Christ.
But then something interestinghappens that they didn't catch.
I think a lot of Christiansmight miss this too.
We all know the story, but it'simportant to realize that they
didn't capture Christ and beginto torture him.
He handed himself over to them.
He said here I am.
It was for these reasons thatPaul wrote.
(20:21):
Yet among the mature, we doimpart wisdom, although it is
not a wisdom of this age or ofthe rulers of this age, who are
doomed to pass away, but weimpart a secret and hidden
wisdom of God, which God decreedbefore the ages for our glory.
None of the rulers of this ageunderstood this, for if they had
, they would not have crucifiedthe Lord of glory.
(20:43):
1 Corinthians 2, 6-8.
This passage doesn't simplyrefer to the Jewish leaders.
Just like in Eden, just like atthe flood, just like at Babel,
there were spiritual forcesinfluencing mankind in rebelling
against Yahweh in the unseenrealms, and they must have
realized their mistake soonafter they had Christ killed at
(21:04):
Pentecost.
It just so happened that theywere celebrating Pentecost on
that day when Yeshua told thedisciples to go into that room.
In that room where the Spiritof God came upon them, all of
the nations came together thatday and the Spirit of Christ
Yeshua caused the disciples tospeak and be heard in each of
their native languages.
All of the nations were hearingthe gospel being preached in
(21:27):
their own language.
Yahweh was reversing whathappened at Babel.
The Messiah had a ministry tothe lost sheep of Israel.
The twelve were devoted topreaching Christ among their
Jewish brothers.
It was eventually revealed toPeter that Gentiles were going
to receive the same spirit thatthe Jewish believers had
received at Pentecost.
Not only were the Jewsscattered among the nations to
(21:50):
be part of the body of Christ,but Gentiles who never knew the
law would also be part of thesegood tidings.
For God so loved the world thathe gave his only Son that
whoever believes in him shouldnot perish but have eternal life
.
John 3 16.
Yahweh was bringing salvationto the whole world, not just
Israel, and only here is definedby Strong's as single of its
(22:13):
kind.
In other words, yeshua was theunique son of God.
He was not like the rest.
He was Yahweh in the flesh andhe was in power.
Yahweh was power and he was inYahweh.
As we read in Romans concerninghis Son, who was descended from
David according to the fleshand was declared to be the Son
of God in power, and Paul, whowas chosen directly by Yahweh to
(22:37):
preach the gospel of grace tothe Gentiles for the obedience
of faith, for the sake of hisname among all the nations.
There's no doubt that he wasfacing off against all of the
rebellious members of Yahweh'sdivine council.
This must be what he writesabout to his church in Ephesus
Put on the whole armor of Godthat you may be able to stand
(22:59):
against the schemes of the devil, for we do not wrestle against
flesh and blood, but againstrulers, against the authorities,
against the cosmic powers overthis present darkness, against
the spiritual forces of evil inthe heavenly places Ephesians 6.
So the question is did theapostles complete their mission?
(23:23):
I say they absolutely did.
I think most would agree withthat.
But the next question is onethat tends to get people upset
Did Christ Yeshua finish hiswork?
Many will say yes, at the crossand resurrection, and I agree.
That was certainly somefinished work going on there.
But there's this commonplaceview that Satan was defanged and
declawed at the cross.
Christ finished him in that way, we're told by some.
(23:43):
But that's not the finishedwork that we read about in the
prophets, psalm 82.
I said you are gods, sons ofthe Most High, all of you.
Nevertheless, like men, youshall die and fall like any
prince Arise, o God, judge theearth, for you shall inherit.
All the nations.
Then, about Satan, ezekiel wroteby the multitude of your
(24:07):
iniquities.
In the unrighteousness of yourtrade, you profaned your
sanctuaries, so I brought fireout from your midst, it consumed
you and I turned you to asheson the earth and in the sight of
all who saw you, all who knowyou among the peoples are
appalled at you.
You have come to a dreadful endand shall be no more so.
(24:29):
When does this happen?
When will Christ finish thiswork?
Well, most scholars agree thatthe apostles believed the second
coming of Christ.
Yeshua would be in theirgeneration.
Everyone they preached to theytold he was coming very soon.
Where did they get such an idea?
Were they just confused?
Actually, they received theinformation from Christ himself,
(24:49):
who is not only Yahweh in humanform but also a prophet.
If Yeshua says something isgoing to happen, we have to
believe it.
Right, yeshua told hisdisciples.
But when you see Jerusalemsurrounded by armies, then know
that its desolation has comenear.
Then let those who are in Judeaflee to the mountains and let
(25:09):
those who are inside the citydepart, and let not those who
are out in the country enter it,for these are days of vengeance
to fulfill all that is writtenLuke 21, 20, and then in Luke 21
, 32.
Truly, I say to you, thisgeneration will not pass away
until all has taken place.
Matthew 16, 27.
For the son of man is going tocome with his angels in the
(25:32):
glory of his father, and then hewill repay each person
according to what he has done.
Truly, I say to you, there aresome standing here who will not
taste death until they see theSon of man coming in his kingdom
.
Matthew 24,.
Jesus left the temple and wasgoing away when his disciples
came to point out to him thebuildings of the temple.
But he answered them.
(25:54):
You see all these, do you not?
Truly, I say to you, there willnot be left here one stone upon
another that will not be throwndown.
So what are we to do with this?
People will proof text passagesabout not knowing the exact
time and the days, like athousand years, etc.
Etc.
But a prophet is the mouthpieceof God and Christ was God.
(26:15):
If what he reported was not100% true, wouldn't he be a
false prophet?
This is going to trigger a lotof people, I know, but when push
comes to shove I have to holdto what Yeshua taught.
Yahweh knew how to tell time.
There's not a single instancein our scripture where a
prophecy was coming soon thatdid not occur.
(26:36):
For another 2,000 years thatwould be called far off.
When it comes to understandingprophecy, as Christians, we
should start by believing Christ, not our pastor who says Jesus
is coming soon.
Start with Christ and work outthe details from there.
Yeshua was telling the truth.
(27:02):
The second coming, thedestruction of the temple, the
final judgment, the resurrectionof the dead, happened in AD 70.
It fulfilled all prophecy andwas the final work of Christ
Yeshua, bringing in the newheaven and the new earth, the
new covenant age.
I talk about this in otherepisodes.
This was also when the divinecouncil was reformed.
The rebel gods and watchers,the demons all of it was thrown
(27:24):
into the lake of fire Revelation, chapter 20, and the devil who
had deceived them was thrown inthe lake of fire and sulfur,
where the beast and the falseprophet were, and they will be
tormented day and night, foreverand ever.
Then after that, in verse 14,death and hades were thrown into
the lake of fire.
This is the second death, thelake of fire, and if anyone's
(27:46):
name was not found written inthe book of life, he was thrown
into the lake of fire.
And then don't forget what theprophets wrote about Satan and
these rebellious gods.
Ezekiel 28, you have come to adreadful end and shall be no
more forever.
Psalm 82, you are gods, sons ofthe most high, all of you.
Nevertheless, like men, youshall die and fall like any
(28:08):
prince.
Yahweh took life away fromthese eternal beings who were
being judged.
Mortal beings do not surviveburning in a lake of fire.
Death and Hades were throwninto the lake.
Think about that a minute.
Christ defeated death for thebeliever.
And even more shocking, hadesor Sheol.
(28:28):
It's gone.
You know that place calledAbraham's bosom that many refer
to as Yeshua, describing eternaltorture.
Most in error believe that thisHades was hell there actually
is no hell in scripture but thatHades and Sheol, they're ashes.
Now it's finished.
No matter what you believeabout the parable of the rich
(28:50):
man and Lazarus and the wholescenario of our souls living on
in Sheol, it's finished.
All that has been burned to theground, along with the temple
of Jerusalem.
There's only life eternally anddeath eternally.
Life can only be found inChrist.
Yahweh divorced the unfaithfulpeople of Israel and the law is
(29:12):
over the temple.
Worship has ended forever.
National Israel is no longerGod's holy people.
It's no longer his holy land.
We'll end up studying trueIsrael later.
In Romans I've also covered itin a past episode Yahweh
replaced that man-made templewith the body of Christ.
We are the temple.
We are the new Israel, whichwas the true Israel all along.
(29:36):
Though all of the prophesiedwork of Christ Yeshua is
finished, he is still alive andwell, living in and through each
of us as Christians.
A spiritual battle continuestoday, just in a different way.
We are sons of God.
We are also told in scripture.
We will be like the angels God.
We are also told in scripture.
(29:57):
We will be like the angels andeven above the angels.
We will be in the divinecouncil of heavenly hosts, and
in a sense we already are.
Yahweh has restored fellowshipto mankind.
Yahweh has restored thefellowship to mankind that was
lost in Eden.
Those in Christ now representhim.
We again bear his image and dohis work on earth, and we are
helped along in our ways by anuncorrupt host of heaven and, of
(30:18):
course, the spirit of Godliving in us.
We have been reconciled to Godby the blood of Yeshua.
My friends, we can now servehim in truth and in spirit.
Mankind is still as corrupt asit was before, but those who
believe in the Anointed One havebeen made perfect now and
forever and rest in his love andgrace.
Nothing is better than servingthe Lord freely from the heart,
(30:42):
knowing that we are in a perfectfellowship with him 24-7.
We don't need rules to love ourSavior, do we?
All this really makes you wonderwhat things will be like in
heaven.
We certainly won't belollygagging around and living
the life of retirement.
God's divine counsel haspurpose.
We'll have work to do for ourLord.
Can you imagine how great thatwill be, how gratifying that
(31:05):
will be?
We will certainly be enjoyingrest in his love as well.
I don't think we have to worryabout being overworked.
That feeling is for here onearth.
It makes you think of thescenario of that old TV show
Highway to Heaven.
Could there be saints sent tobe our guardian angels and to
guide us in our ways?
I think that's very possible.
(31:25):
Let's end with some wisdom fromour Lord Christ, yeshua, john
20.
Have you believed?
Because you have seen me.
Blessed are those who have notseen and yet have believed.
You guys, have a great day outthere, and may the Lord bless
your week until we meet again.
announcement (31:43):
Thank you for listening to the Waking Up to
Grace podcast brought to you bythe finished work of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
If you enjoyed today's episode,we would love to hear from you.
You can send encouragement ourway right from our episodes and
transcripts page or reach Lennyprivately from the contact form.
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