Gilbert House Fellowship

Gilbert House Fellowship

Weekly Bible study with authors and analysts Derek and Sharon Gilbert

Episodes

June 29, 2025 103 mins
THE BOOK OF 1 ENOCH describes journeys by the patriarch to the places of punishment for fallen angels and sinful humans.

The author of 1 Enoch described rebellious angels, called “stars of heaven,” as “great mountains… burning with fire.” This is consistent with other descriptions of angels in the ancient Near East as burning mountains (for example, the “stones of fire” in Ezekiel 28:14, 16). 

Enoch also describes the “mountain of ...
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    THE ELDEST SON of good King Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, was more like his mother-in-law, Jezebel, than his father.

    After Jehoshaphat’s death, Jehoram killed his brothers and turned his kingdom toward the gods of the Amorites (i.e., Phoenicians) worshiped by Jezebel. As a result, Jezebel was afflicted with a terrible and horribly painful disease that killed him seven years later.

    Jehoram’s son, Ahaziah, reigned only one year when he was k...
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    AHAB OBVIOUSLY didn’t wear the pants in his family.

    This week, we discuss the episode of Naboth’s vineyard. Ahab pouted because Naboth refused to sell it to the king. Jezebel solved that problem by writing an order using Ahab’s royal seal—an early example of the autopen?—falsely accusing Naboth of cursing God and Ahab (an early example of lawfare!).

    For this sin, Elijah was told by God to let Ahab know that his days were numbered a...
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    IT SEEMS odd to us, looking back across more than 2,800 years of history, that Elijah would run from Jezebel right after seeing what God had done on Mount Carmel.

    Well, it’s easy to criticize. It’s likely none of us would have done better in Elijah’s place. We discuss how he was ministered to by the Angel of the Lord, the preincarnate Christ, while on the way to Horeb (Mount Sinai), and how God revealed Himself to Elijah in a way t...
  • THE REBEL WATCHERS of the Book of 1 Enoch were described as “burning mountains” in a chasm so vast there was no end to the height or the depth.

    These were identified by the archangel Uriel as “the angels who mingled with the women,” who will remain there until the final judgment. This is consistent with the description of the sinful angels who are “kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day” (J...
    Elijah vs. the Prophets of Hercules

    THE SHOWDOWN on Mount Carmel is even more spectacular than we’ve been taught.

    The story is sensational on its surface: The prophet Elijah, one of the few prophets of God still active in the northern kingdom of Israel, tells King Ahab to his face that there will be no rain until Elijah says so. Then he flees from the king and hides out for three years.

    During that time, the prophet was fed by raven...
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    THE NORTHERN KINGDOM of Israel changed hands twice in a week. And more often than not, succession in Israel involved a sword.

    Baasha became king through a coup against Nadab, son of Jeroboam. After a twenty-four year reign, Baasha died and his son Elah ascended to the throne. However, after two years, Elah was assassinated by Zimri, a commander of chariots, who lasted all of seven days before Omri, commander of the army, was declar...
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    MOST OF THE kings of Judah, and all of those who ruled the northern kingdom of Israel, “did evil in the sight of the LORD.”

    One notable exception was Asa, king of Judah between about 910 and 873 BC, whose “heart was wholly true all his days.” He got rid of the idols erected by his father, Abijah, and banished male cult prostitutes from the land. The account of his reign in 2 Chronicles further records the religious reforms institut...
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    WHERE DO DEMONS come from? The Book of 1 Enoch answers that question.

    This week, we discuss Enoch’s mission to deliver God’s reply to the petition of the rebel Watchers for mercy—not just for them, but for their monstrous offspring, the gigantic Nephilim. In short, God’s reply was “no”—the Watchers would not be allowed back into heaven because they’d given up their divine natures and defiled themselves by acting like humans.

    That’s...
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    IT DIDN’T take long for simmering tensions in Israel between north and south to erupt into civil war.

    Following the death of Solomon, Jeroboam led the northern tribes in rebellion against Judah and the House of David. Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, wanted to go to war immediately but was warned by the prophet Shemaiah that it was not the will of God to do so, since the rebellion was God’s punishment for Solomon’s fall into the worship of...
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    Enoch is the only human in history, as far as we know, tasked with delivering God’s judgment to a group of rebellious angels.

    This week, we discuss Enoch’s mission to the fallen Watchers. We note that he was called by loyal Watchers—which suggests that “Watcher” is a class or rank of supernatural being, some of which are still faithful to God (as in Daniel 4)—to announce God’s punishment to the rebels: No peace, no forgiveness, and...
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    YOU’D THINK that being anointed king over the northern tribes because of Solomon’s disobedience to God would have caused Jeroboam to be more careful about his theology.

    We follow up last week’s study with the consequences of Jeroboam’s decision to set up altars with golden calves. Contrary to some who teach that the golden calves were idols representing God, we believe the locations—Bethel (“House of El”) and Dan, at the foot of Mo...
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    KING LEMUEL is unknown outside of the reference in Proverbs 31. It may be an epithet of Solomon meaning “belonging to God,” or Lemuel may have been an Arab king descended from Massa, the seventh son of Ishmael.

    What we can say for certain is that verses 10–31 of Proverbs 31 is a well-known section of scripture that praises the virtues of an excellent wife. We discuss the value placed on trust between a husband and wife in these ver...
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    THE WORDS of Agur son of Jakeh include a prayer to be given just enough to get by, since too much can lead one to forget the source of one’s blessings and too little can drive the desperate to steal from others.

    The identity of Agur, who is mentioned only once in the Bible, is still unknown. It may be an epithet of Solomon, but the writing style differs from the rest of Proverbs. Some scholars have speculated that Agur should be tr...
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    FOR ALL of Solomon’s vaunted wisdom, he failed in the thing that mattered most.

    God had told the Israelites not to enter into marriage with foreigners. Not because of racism or any perceived superior bloodline, but because the nations around Israel followed other gods—fallen angels who’d rebelled against the Creator. Solomon disobeyed to the extreme—700 wives and 300 concubines, and they turned the king away from God.

    This cost Sol...
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    THE NOTION that grief is better than rejoicing is counterintuitive, but the lesson is profound: Wisdom is gained through suffering.

    On the surface, Ecclesiastes 7 seems terribly downbeat: “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting” (v. 2); “Sorrow is better than laughter” (v. 3); “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning” (v. 4), and so on. The point is that true wisdom is gained throu...
  • CHASING WEALTH for its own sake does not bring happiness.

    The chapters of Ecclesiastes we read today are unified by this verse: 

    Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep (Eccl. 5:12, ESV).

    Sharon’s niece, Sarah Sachleben, was recently diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer, and the medical bills are piling up. If you are led to help, please go to GilbertHo...
  • LIFE IS SHORT and then you die. That’s the surface-level interpretation of the opening chapters of the Book of Ecclesiastes.

    The book is attributed to “the Preacher,” usually identified as King Solomon. However, some scholars believe the book was written or edited by a Jewish scholar after the return from Babylon in 539 BC and attributed to Solomon since the book is in the tradition of Solomon’s wisdom.

    The first four chapters of E...
  • The author(s) of the Book of the Watchers (chapters 1–36 of 1 Enoch) saw the punishment of the rebellious Watchers resulting from the intercession of the four archangels.

    In chapter 9, Michael, Sariel (or Uriel), Raphael, and Gabriel brought the complaints of humanity to God and accused Shemihazah, Asael (Azazel), and their colleagues of creating the monstrous Nephilim and teaching humanity forbidden knowledge.

    In response, chapter...
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    ACCEPTING CORRECTION and wise counsel can be difficult, but it can save us from a world of trouble.

    The value of wisdom as opposed to following one’s unrestrained appetites is again a theme in this week’s proverbs. And, as always, we find verses that are especially timely right now:

    Like a roaring lion or a charging bear  is a wicked ruler over a poor people.  A ruler who lacks understanding is a cruel oppressor,  but he who hates u...
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