Dr Paul Allen

So the Bible doesn’t record an ancient expulsion from heaven by hordes of angels who then became known as demons, where do demons come from? There’s actually a straightforward answer to that question, but it’s likely one you’ve never heard of:  In ancient Jewish texts like the Dead Sea Scrolls, demons are the disembodied spirits of dead Nephilim giants who perished at the time of the great flood. While I referenced the Dead Sea Scrolls above, don’t be misled. This explanation for the origin of demons has secure links in the biblical text, they just aren’t obvious—to us anyway.  To an ancient reader, someone who lived during the time of the Bible, this explanation would have been quite clear. For us to see what they saw, we need to go back to the Bible’s account of the great flood. The sons of God, the Nephilim, and the Mesopotamian Apkallu Noah's Ark: The first four verses of the Bible’s flood account read: When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were ...

In the twentieth century, the German biblical scholar Rudolf Bultmann gave a massive critique of the Scriptures, arguing that the Bible is filled with mythological references that must be removed if it is to have any significant application to our day. Giants myth! Miracles myth! Bultmann’s major concern was with the New Testament narratives, particularly those that included records of miracles, which he deemed impossible. Other scholars, however, have claimed that there are mythological elements in the Old Testament as well. Exhibit A for this argument is usually a narrative that some belief parallels the ancient Greek and Roman myths about gods and goddesses occasionally mating with human beings. In Genesis 6, we read this account: "When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. . . . The Nephilim were on the earth in those da...

“So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” ( Isaiah 59:19 ) The great enemy of our souls “the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” ( 1 Peter 5:8 ). Yet he can also be “transformed into an angel of light,” and so can “his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness” ( 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 ). He and his ministers are perhaps most dangerous when most deceptive, quoting Scripture and spiritual sentiments in a superficial show of piety, yet distorting the “Scriptures, unto their own destruction” ( 2 Peter 3:16 ), and we must use the sword of the Spirit against them. Then there are those times when angered that their deceptions (sometimes even their own self-deceptions) are not persuading the true people of God to compromise their stand for God’s truth and His great salvation...

“And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.” ( Genesis 9:11 ) When God gave Noah this promise, the world had just been through the devastating cataclysm that flooded the entire globe and destroyed all except those on Noah’s Ark. The world was fearful and barren and there seemed nothing to prevent another such flood from coming on the earth. Nevertheless, God’s promise—not only to Noah but also to the animals ( Genesis 9:9-10 )—has been kept for years. God later reminded Job of this promise when He told him that He had “shut up the sea with doors. . . . And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed” ( Job 38:8 , 11). The psalmist also referred to this covenant. When the whole earth had been covered “with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled. . . . Thou...

English: The ark of Noah and the cosmic covenant / L'arche de Noé et l'alliance cosmique / 04 CATACOMBES NOE ET LA COLOMBE SAINTS PIERRE (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The last of the ten antediluvian Patriarchs and hero of the *FLOOD. He was the son of Lamech, who was 182 (Samaritan Pentateuch, 53; LXX, 188) years old when Noah was born (Gn. 5:28–29; Lk. 3:36). a. Name The etymology of the name, nōaḥ, is uncertain, though many commentators connect it with the root nwḥ, ‘to rest’. In Genesis (5:29) it is associated with the verb nḥm (translated ‘comfort’ in AV and RV; ‘bring relief’ in RSV), with which it is perhaps etymologically connected; though this is not necessarily required by the text. The element nḥm occurs in Amorite personal names and in the name Nah̬mizuli which figures in a Hurrian fragment of the Gilgamesh epic found at Boǧazköy, the Hittite capital in Asia Minor. The LXX gives the name as Nōe, in which form it appears in the NT (AV). b. Life and character Noah ...

English: Noah. Mosaic in Basilica di San Marco, Venice (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “By faith Noah , being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” ( Hebrews 11:7 ) Noah was indeed a man of mighty faith, believing God’s word even about “things not seen as yet,” preparing for a worldwide flood in a day when God had never yet even “caused it to rain upon the earth” ( Genesis 2:5 ). Noah was “a preacher of righteousness” ( 2 Peter 2:5 ) to an unbelieving world for at least 120 years ( Genesis 6:3 ), “while the ark was a preparing” ( 1 Peter 3:20 ), without gaining any converts except his own family. But why would he have been “moved with fear"? Noah was surely not afraid to die! He had “walked with God” ( Genesis 6:9 ) for 600 years ( Genesis 5:32 ; 7:11) before the Flood, and he was certainly not afraid to die and go to me...

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman; Paolo Veronese and workshop (1585);  (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” ( Isaiah 12:3 ) This beautiful verse is in the midst of a psalm of praise for God ’s deliverance of His people “in that day” (v. 4)—the coming day when the Lord shall return to the earth and reign “in the midst of thee” (v. 6). Until “that day” comes, however, we can appropriate its spiritual blessings right now. The word translated “wells” is more often translated “fountains,” denoting flowing springs of water that never run dry. It is first used at the time of the great Flood when in one “day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up” ( Genesis 7:11 ). On that day, the primeval fountains provided by God for the perpetual supply of living waters to the inhabitants of the “very good” world He had created were cleaved open, the living waters became lethal waters, and “all that was in the dry land, died...

Elijah and Enoch (ancestor of Noah) - an icon 17th cent., Historic Museum in Sanok, Poland (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Anyone who’s ever played Bible trivia knows that Methuselah lived longer than anyone else. He died at the ripe old age of 969. But have you ever wondered why? Putting aside all of the environmental factors of a pre-Flood world (where lifetimes lasted a lot longer than they do today), I’m convinced the answer has more to do with the character of God than the physical constitution or health consciousness of Methuselah. When Methuselah was born, the text of Genesis 5 indicates that his father Enoch began to walk with God in earnest (Gen. 5:21–22). Many commentators believe that it was during the time of Methuselah’s birth that God revealed to Enoch the reality of the coming Flood—which is why Enoch spent the next three centuries warning the world around him of God’s impending retribution ( Jude 14-15). Methuselah’s name can be translated as either “man of the jave...

English: Noah. Mosaic in Basilica di San Marco, Venice (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Make thee an ark of gopher wood . . . . The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits , the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits." ( Genesis 6:14-15 ) The Bible is a unified book with one Author, God , who uses words interconnected in specific literary ways to communicate His message. The Flood perfectly exemplifies how truth can be gleaned from careful study of literary clues in the text. Genesis 6-9 are unusual in their level of careful detail, compared to all the preceding chapters. In Genesis 1-5, God accounts for about 1,600 years of history with very little narrative detail. Yet God takes four chapters--a snail's pace--to set the stage for and describe the single year of the Flood. Several clues point us to the reason why: (1) The exclusivity of God's salvation : Only Noah and his family were saved out of an entire world of people that wer...

English: Cain and Abel (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." ( Genesis 6:8 ) Genesis 3:15 clearly implies that Satan 's offspring and the woman's offspring will be at war until Satan is finally and fully crushed. Hence, we would expect to find accounts of battles between the two parties until the final blow is struck. Genesis 6:1-8 is one such account. "Sons of God " (their exact identity is unknown) were producing offspring with the daughters of men ( 6:1-2 ). Whatever these reproductive unions were, God was displeased with them: "My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years" ( 6:3 ). Both the word "striving" and the fact that God limited the existence of that generation to 120 years indicate His disapproval. Why would God have been angry? Shortly after these procreative acts, violence and wickedness were widespread ...

Image via Wikipedia "So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts." ( Psalm 104:25 )   The oceans of the world are indeed great and wide and comprise essentially one sea, in contrast to the Seas of the pre-Flood world ( Genesis 1:10 ), which were probably relatively narrow, numerous, and distributed more or less uniformly around the globe, as inferred from the marine fossil deposits laid down in those basins by the Flood. The present oceans, however, now contain the vast reservoirs of water poured out through the fountains of the great deep--all of which were broken up in one day--plus the torrents coming from the windows of heaven, which were opened that same day ( Genesis 7:11 ). The Flood not only destroyed everything on the land ( Genesis 7:22 ), but also great numbers of marine organisms.  After the Flood, however, with the vastly enlarged oceanic environments available, the surviving marine organisms quickly spr...

Image via Wikipedia "They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man." ( Job 12:25 )   The godly patriarch Job lived in the early centuries after the Flood , and he frequently makes passing reference to the events of those difficult times. The twelfth chapter of Job is especially intriguing in this regard.   For example,  verse 12  may refer indirectly to Shem , who lived 502 years after the Flood ( Genesis 11:10-11 ). "With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days is understanding." The coming of the Flood is suggested in  verse 14 : "Behold, he breaketh down, and it cannot be built again: he shutteth up a man, and there can be no opening." The latter clause could even refer to God 's shutting the door of Noah's Ark ( Genesis 7:16 ), thereby shutting off forever the ancient wicked world to him and his descendants. The next verse describes the Flood itself. "He sendeth them out, and they overturn the...