Angels & Demons 21: One Final (Sinless) Fallen Angel Story

In my two previous commentaries, I discussed the fall of angels who were involved in the rise and fall of world empires. According to Revelation, Satan (a.k.a., the Dragon) is the one who raises the world empires. After his Fall from Heaven, he fought (and lost) a few earthly battles, culminating with the Fall of the Roman Empire. Then, he was chained for 1000 years and thrown into the Abyss. During this time (The Dark Ages?), he was not permitted to raise up world empires. According to Rabbinic sources, (the angels of) the empires who ASCENDED (Jacob’s Ladder) and were in power also DESCENDED or FELL from power as, for example, Rome fell. This perspective on angels may, therefore, be considered a Fallen Angel Story. The primary source for this Fallen Angel Story appears to be Rabbi Meir, a third generation Tanna (from the first or second century AD), who served as Hakam (speaker) of the academy of Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel II. The details of the number of rungs ascended by each guardian angel is probably not traceable to Meir, according to Hermann Strack, so I will not follow that tangent.

What is clear, however, is that the Fallen Angels of this account were SINLESS, just as were virtually all other fallen angels of the New Testament period. The question of sin does not even enter the account of the descending princes/guardian angels. The vision is to be interpreted as a prophetic account of world history. The descent of the princes is not understood to be related to any moral impropriety on the part of the angels. Even if the nations which the various guardian angels represented did themselves (the nations) behave immorally, their princes were not considered sinful by association. Otherwise, Israel’s own prince would have been indicted often.
On the contrary, Midrash Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah 2.1, in an account attributed to Rabbi Eleazar the Modiite (2nd generation Tanna), the guardian angels are very much part of the divine economy (though playing a near-satanic role), and are accusing and defending men, not cognizant of any need to defend themselves. A translation of that text follows:

“The time will come regarding the princes of the nations of the world, in the future to come, that they will enter to accuse Israel before the Holy One—blessed be He. And they say, ‘Lord of the World, these (the heathen) certainly worshipped idols and these (the Israelites) certainly worshipped idols; these (the heathen) uncovered nudities and these (the Israelites) uncovered nudities; these (the heathen) shed blood and these (the Israelites) shed blood. For what reason do these (the heathen) go to hell (Gehinnom), but these (the Israelites) do not go down?’”

These national guardian angels are often hostile to Israel, a trait that makes them similar to the angels of Truth and Peace in the final Fallen Angel Story of this period, which I shall now recite. Bereshit Rabbah 8.5 provides an account of an angel who was cast to earth because his conclusion regarding the wisdom of creating man conflicted with God’s. The account of groups of angels being “consumed” because of their opposition to the creation of man can be found in other locations (see Ginsberg, Legends of the Jews, V, 69). Here, however, the Angel of Truth temporarily became a “fallen angel” because of his opposition to the creation of man. The biblical text that serves as the basis for the Bereshit Rabbah 8.5 account is Psalm 85:11-12a:

“Mercy and Truth met each other; Righteousness and Peace kissed each other. Truth will arise from the Earth.”

According to H. Freedman, however, the rabbinic account “interprets ‘met’ in the sense of ‘fought,’ and derives ‘NASHAḲU [kissed]’ from ‘NESHEḲ [arms]’, rendering: ‘have taken arms against each other.’” This combat between Mercy and Truth, and Righteousness and Peace, is then presented as an argument over the creation of man:

“Mercy says, ‘Let him be created; for he does merciful things.’ Truth says, ‘Let him not be created; for he is all lies.’ Righteousness says, ‘Let him be created; for he does righteous things.’ Peace says, ‘Do not let him be created; he is all quarrel.’ What did the Holy One—blessed be He—do? He took Truth and cast him down to the Earth. This is that which is written: ‘And it cast Truth down to the Earth’ (Daniel 8.12). The angels who attend before the Holy One—blessed be He—said, ‘Lord of the worlds, why are you spurning [the rank of] your worthy Truth? Let Truth rise up from the Earth.’ This is that which is written: ‘Truth will arise from the earth’ (Psalm 85.12a).”

The ambivalent character of mankind provides the material for this angelic debate. Obviously, each contestant in the matter could easily produce evidence to substantiate his claim. Mankind is, of course, merciful-yet-false, righteous-yet-quarrelsome. The Angel of Truth was not lying here; he was being truthful. He has not broken any of the biblical commandments. Neither is he presented as a “rebel” against God. He is not even arguing with God (even though his conclusion is in disagreement with God’s)—he is arguing (battling?) with other angels. His ultimate opponent, however, is neither God nor angels; he is opposed to “man.” He does not favor the creation of man.

The concept of angelic-human rivalry is not at all uncommon in our period. I have already mentioned (in previous commentaries) Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 88b-89a, Midrash Shir ha-Shirim Rabbah 8.11, Mdrash Tehillim 8.74, and Pesikta Rabbati ch. 25, p. 128a, which all have some concern with the angels’ opposition to mankind’s receiving the Law/Torah. In Midrash Agadat Bereshit (Buber edition, Introduction, p. 38), Yalkut (I, p. 44), and Chronicles of Jerahmeel (p. 53)— parallels of the BHM account, in which the young girl tricked the angels into giving her their wings—the angels’ motive for descending to earth was to prove their superiority to man (their rival). Additionally, the Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 38b speaks of hosts of angels who were “consumed” because of their opposition to the creation of Adam. Peter Schȁfer wrote an entire book on the rivalry between angels and humans, Rivalitȁt zwischen Engeln und Menschen, published by Gruyter, in 1975. I commented in my Angels & Demons 18 commentary that Satan also has a rivalry with man:

“Although Satan is certainly considered the adversary of mankind in the New Testament, nowhere is he presented as the adversary of God. I Peter 5:8 warns the readers: ‘Be on guard! Your adversary, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.’ Nevertheless, I Peter calls him YOUR adversary, not the adversary of God. Revelation 12:10 calls him the ‘accuser’ of the ‘brothers,’ but does not paint him as a challenger to God. Instead, he seems to be doing exactly what God allows him to do: He ‘accuses them before our God, day and night.’”

In addition to Revelation’s presentation of Satan’s Fall as linked to his enmity toward man, rabbinic literature presents the Fall of Satan (also known as Sammael) as the result of his enmity toward man. In Midrash Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer, chapters 13-14, Sammael fell because of his conspiracy against Adam in which he misled Adam to sin. Jewish scholar Louis Ginzberg (in Legends of the Jews, V, 85) believes this “corresponds to Revelation 12:9,” as do I. The Koran also agrees, to a certain extent. In Abdullah Yusuf Ali’s translation of The Holy Qur-an (Volume I, pp. 24ff., there is an angelic debate concerning the advisability of creating man, Iblīs’s (the Devil’s) refusal to bow down to Adam, and Satan’s causing the couple to slip from the Garden.

Returning to the “Angel of Truth” story, however, I conclude that “opposition to man” was not necessarily considered a sin. It is evidently quite unsatisfactory to God, since the Angel of Truth was cast down to earth for his opinion. But, if this is a Fallen Angel Story, we find that in the resolution of the story, Truth “arises from the Earth.” Apparently, then, this angel—like the angels who gave up their wings to the young girl—was not guilty of any sins. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to return to God’s Throne.

Angels & Demons 20: Jacob’s Ladder, with the Guardian Angels of Each Nation—Rising and Falling

Jacob’s Ladder figured into the Sinless Fallen Angel Story I mentioned earlier in my commentaries—in which the righteous young maiden tricked the angels into giving her their wings and teaching her to pronounce the unpronounceable name of God. She flew away to Heaven and they were left on the earth—UNTIL they found Jacob’s Ladder and climbed back into Heaven. Jacob’s Ladder now, once again, figures into a Fallen Angel Story. This story is related to my previous commentary in which Satan (as the Raiser of World Empires) is chained in the Abyss for 1000 years, “so that HE MIGHT NO LONGER LEAD THE NATIONS ASTRAY until the 1000 years are ended.” Here, however, the angels do not actually “fall”; instead, they just “descend.”

John the author of Revelation is, of course, familiar with the Jewish concept of the guardian angels of each nation—ascending and descending on Jacob’s ladder—and he even agrees with the end of the Jewish story. The story ends with the angel of a certain nation ascending the ladder, but never descending. This is the story of the ascending and descending national guardian angels (also called “princes”) of history’s world empires. Piska 23.2 of Pesikta de-Rab Kahana [hereafter, PRK] provides the following interpretation of the Jacob’s Ladder account from Genesis 28:12:

“Rabbi Berechiah, with Rabbi Ḥelbo, the son of Rabbi Simeon, the son of Yosina, in the name of Rabbi Meir, said: ‘It teaches that the Holy One—Blessed be He—caused Jacob, our Father, to see the prince of Babel (Babylon) ascending and descending, (then the prince) of Media ascending and descending, then (the prince) of Yavan (Greece) ascending and descending, then (the prince) of Edom (Rome) ascending and descending. The Holy One—Blessed be He—said to him (Jacob), ‘Jacob, you are ascending, too.’ In that hour, Jacob, our Father, was afraid, and he said, ‘Would you say that just like what happened to these—a descending—will also happen to me—a descending?’ The Holy One—Blessed be He—said to him, ‘You will not come down, Israel (Jeremiah 30:10). If you go up, there will never be a descent for you.’ But he did not believe, and he did not ascend.”

Clearly, this passage hints at an eternal kingdom by Israel, following upon the fall of Rome. John, in Revelation, paints virtually the same picture. In John’s account, however, the Lion from the Tribe of Judah does, indeed, “conquer” (5:5), ascend to reign over the earth (5:10), stand on Mount Zion (14:1), with his 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel (7:4-8), leading the New Jerusalem (21:2) to power. And, he shall reign forever and ever (22:5), John predicts.

A parallel of the PRK account is Leviticus Rabbah 29:2. This version attributes the story again to R. Berechiah (5th generation Amora) and R. Ḥelbo (4th generation Amora) and ultimately to R. Meir (3rd generation Tanna), in agreement with the PRK passage. It identifies Rabbi Simeon ben Menasya (4th generation Tanna) as the secondary source of the story, thus varying from PRK which mentions a Simeon ben Yosina as the father of R. Ḥelbo.

The word “Amora,” incidentally, refers to a Jewish academy leader/scholar who lived and wrote from 219-500 AD. The word “Tanna” refers to a Jewish academy leader/scholar who lived and wrote from 10-220 AD. Therefore, the Tannaim (plural of Tanna) lived closer in time to the New Testament period than did the Amoraim (plural of Amora). Rabbi Meir, for example, lived between 120 and 165 AD. Nevertheless, the rabbis claim that they are simply passing on information that they received from their teachers, so the teachings are understood to have been generated earlier in history than the recording of the teachings.

The Leviticus Rabbah passage is a more abbreviated form of the story. It omits the directive from God for Jacob to ascend and also Jacob’s resulting fright. This time, Jacob addresses God as “Lord of the Worlds,” and proceeds to express his concern about a similar descent for himself. The language used agrees (nearly verbatim) with PRK. God, in reply, again quotes Jeremiah 30:10, but drops the direct address (“Israel”). The conclusion is phrased as follows:

“‘Once you ascend, there will be no descent for you!’ Nevertheless, he was fearful, and did not ascend.”

In another parallel, Midrash Tehillim 78,347 supplies the number of rungs each of the princes climbed, and attributes these details also to Rabbi Meir, as quoted by Rabbi Berechiah, Rabbi Levi (3rd generation Amora), and still another Simeon—Simeon ben Jose (4th generation Tanna). PRK 23.2a provides those same details, but in a midrash belonging to Rabbi Samuel bar Naḥman (3rd generation Amora), paralleled also in Leviticus Rabbah 29:2.

In a similar vein, Bereshit Rabbah 68end refers to the princes of the four empires who ascended and descended and relates this Ladder vision to Nebuchadnezzar’s “image” vision (Daniel 2:31-45). According to the Nebuchadnezzar’s “image” vision, after the fifth kingdom (beginning with the Babylonian Empire) falls, God will establish an eternal kingdom that will never fall.

It is striking that Jewish scholars of the First to Fifth Centuries after the birth of Jesus who continued a tradition that suggests a plan of God to establish an eternal kingdom with a Jewish leader at the helm following the fall of the Roman Empire, failed to recognize that such a kingdom was developing. With the Roman Empire effectively “Christianized” by Constantine, shortly after 300 AD, this tiny sect, led by a Jewish teacher (Jesus)—a child of Israel—was finally catapulted to a position of international repute. It was not until the Renaissance of a thousand years later that Greco-Roman literature would begin to rebound from a situation in which Judeo-Christian literature and thought dominated much of the world. One can almost envision the scene of Jacob’s Ladder:

“The Holy One—Blessed be He—said to him (Jacob), ‘Jacob, you are ascending, too.’ In that hour, Jacob, our Father, was afraid, and he said, ‘Would you say that just like what happened to these—a descending—will also happen to me—a descending?’ The Holy One—Blessed be He—said to him, ‘You will not come down, Israel’ (Jeremiah 30:10). If you go up, there will never be a descent for you.’”

Angels & Demons 19: Satan Temporarily Laid Off (From 2nd Job)

According to Revelation, Satan lost his first job—that of “accuser of the brothers”—due to the “Blood” of Jesus. Revelation, therefore, places the Fall of Satan somewhere around 30 AD. The Hebrew word “SATAN” means “prosecuting attorney.” Prosecuting attorney was Satan’s FIRST job. There is no need for a prosecutor, if all of the accused have been “pardoned.” While John the writer of Revelation is familiar with virtually all of the Fallen Angel Stories I have been discussing—angels sin, angels marry human women, angels bring culture to mankind, angels rebel against God, angels refuse to worship Adam, etc.—he seems to reject them all in favor of a progressive “outmoding of Satan’s jobs” approach. The first job to go was that of accuser/prosecuting attorney. The loss of this job resulted in Satan being cast to earth because there was no longer a job for him “in Heaven.” No longer did Satan’s job(s) require him to be in the presence of God. Before whom else would Satan have accused and prosecuted the brothers? God is the ultimate Judge. Satan needed to be in His presence to present the prosecution’s case against the brothers. There is no sin in this task, but it is certainly a task God and “the brothers” were happy to see ended. Yet, Satan has other jobs: tempter, executioner, and raiser of world empires. There has never been a time in human history in which Satan’s jobs as tempter and executioner were put on hold. The end of those two jobs will eventually occur, according to Revelation, when Death and Hades are cast into the Lake of Fire. There was a time, however, in which Satan’s 2nd job--as the raiser of world empires--was temporarily withdrawn.

John predicted the temporary elimination of Satan’s 2nd job in Revelation 20:1-3:

“And I saw an angel descending from Heaven, holding in his hand the key to the Abyss and a gigantic chain. He overpowered the Dragon—the ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan—and bound him for 1000 years. He hurled him into the Abyss, which he closed and sealed above him, so that HE MIGHT NO LONGER LEAD THE NATIONS ASTRAY until the 1000 years are ended. After that, he must be released for a little while.”

We know that the point of Satan’s being bound for 1000 years is to see that the NATIONS are no longer led astray, because John repeats the rationale in 20:7 & 8:

“When the 1000 years have ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out TO LEAD ASTRAY THE NATIONS in the four corners of the Earth—Gog and Magog—to muster them FOR BATTLE.”

Going along with John’s concept of an end to the world empires who affect God’s people is the concept that each NATION/world-empire has its own guardian angel who rises, then falls. This teaching is strong in Rabbinic literature. I will discuss the Rabbinic sources of this teaching in future commentaries. There is insufficient room in this commentary to address them.

I mentioned in my commentary “Angels and Demons #4” the great world empires that had affected the Jewish nation:

The BABYLONIAN Empire 627-539 B.C. (King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon carried the Jews away into captivity in 567 B.C. The prophet Daniel and his friends—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—were among the young men who were captured. Daniel predicted the eventual Fall of Babylon to the Persian King Cyrus.)

The MEDO-PERSIAN Empire 539-323 B.C. (Jewish princess Esther becomes the Queen of Persia from 492 to 460 B.C. Around 400 B.C., under the rule of Persia, the last two books of the Bible were written—Ezra and Nehemiah—as these two men reestablished the Jewish religion in Jerusalem.)

The GREEK Empire 323-146 B.C. (In a period entirely between the Old and New Testaments, the Greek religious influence was strong. This is called the Hellenistic period. During this time, the Maccabees mounted a successful Jewish revolt against Greece and Greek ruler Antiochus IV Epiphanes defiled the Jerusalem Temple with Greek religious practices and forbade the practice of the Jewish religion.)

The ROMAN Empire (146) B.C.-476 A.D. (While the Romans conquered Greece in 146 B.C., they really did not become an “Empire” until their first “Emperor” Augustus Caesar in 27 B.C. Augustus was the Emperor during whose reign Jesus was born. Christians will certainly remember the decree that went forth from Augustus Caesar. Augustus was most likely the First Head of the seven-headed Beast of Revelation.)

John seems to be predicting that (with the Fall of the Roman Empire) there would be a 1000 year period during which time there would be a relative absence of world empires affecting the people of God.

John is not alone in predicting this period of freedom from the domination of world empires. As Daniel had predicted the Fall of Babylon to Persia, he can be understood to be predicting the succeeding empires and their falls. The conclusion of Daniel’s prophecies is invariably a period dominated by God and his servants. Daniel 7:13-18 speaks of “One coming with the clouds . . . like a son of man” to whom was given” a universal “kingdom for ever and ever.” Isaiah 11 describes this period of peace in such terminology as lambs lying down with lions, leopards, wolves, cattle, bears, and oxen. Isaiah 2:2-5 describes the period:

“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all NATIONS shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the Law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the NATIONS, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; NATION shall not lift up sword against NATION, neither shall they learn war anymore” (NIV).

The prediction from Isaiah “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation” may well be what John had in mind when he wrote of Satan “no longer lead[ing] the nations astray.” I see in John’s interpretation of the messianic reign, as presented by Isaiah and Daniel, the following elements:

• The temporary period will last 1000 years.
• It will be a time of relative peace in the sense that major “national” conflicts will not occur (nation will not rise against nation).
• A universal kingdom shall be led by a “son of man,” a representative of the Lord.
• Instead of studying war, many people will study the ways of the God of Jacob.

You can imagine how I was impressed, then, when my professor of Greek Lyric Poetry at Indiana University, Willis Barnstone, made a comment in class, nearly 40 years ago, to the effect that for a thousand years, secular Greek and Roman literature was systematically destroyed and that Christian literature was the only thing that was preserved. If one desired to study anything, the only thing available to him/her was Christian literature. Barnstone was referring to the Dark Ages—the period from the Fall of the Roman Empire to the Renaissance. His comments were in line with a quotation attributed to him on Wikiquote concerning Sappho, a Greek poet from the sixth and seventh centuries BC. The Barnestone/Wikiquote calls her a “prolific and much acclaimed writer, she is credited with either seven or nine long books of poetry, but over a thousand years of neglect and hostility destroyed most of her work” (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Sappho). Barnstone appeared to me to be unhappy that Christians had destroyed so much of Greco-Roman civilization during this thousand years. Yet, it occurred to me that Barnstone had just identified a 1000 year period in which there was a time of relative peace-in the sense that major “national” conflicts did not occur—and during which many people studied the ways of the God of Jacob. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam were all Abrahamic religions that flourished during this period and became the three largest religions in the world.

One could actually say that the Satanic job of raising world empires was temporarily eliminated for a thousand years. Nevertheless, with the Renaissance came a rebirth in interest in Greco-Roman culture. With the Renaissance came a rebirth in NATIONALISTIC spirit, and as John predicted, THE NATIONS in the four corners of the Earth have once again mustered FOR BATTLE.

Angels & Demons 18: God Commanded Angels to Worship Jesus, but Not Adam

In my two previous commentaries, I considered the pseudepigraphal Book of Adam and Eve, in which angels were expected to worship Adam, because he was the “image of God.” Satan and his angels supposedly “sinned” because they refused to worship Adam, thus rebelling against the will of God. There was never, however, any “law” or “command” given to angels that they must worship Adam. The New Testament is consistent with the writings of the Jewish rabbis in the period following the New Testament, in this regard. Although Satan is certainly considered the adversary of mankind in the New Testament, nowhere is he presented as the adversary of God. I Peter 5:8 warns the readers: “Be on guard! Your adversary, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Nevertheless, I Peter calls him YOUR adversary, not the adversary of God. Revelation 12:10 calls him the “accuser” of the “brothers,” but does not paint him as a challenger to God. Instead, he seems to be doing exactly what God allows him to do: He “accuses them before our God, day and night.”

That is, until God has a justification for ending the accusing and casting “Satan out of his presence. Jesus’ blood secured forgiveness for those whom Satan was accusing: “And they overcame him by reason of the blood of the Lamb and through the word of their testimony, and they loved not their life unto death.” Unlike Adam, who disbelieved God’s warning, rebelled against God, and thus lost his life, Jesus and his followers (the martyrs) believed God, voluntarily gave up their lives, and defeated Satan, their accuser. Adam, although he was made in the “image of God,” never fulfilled the role. It remained for one of Adam’s offspring or “seed” (Genesis 3:15) to perfect the role of the true “image of God.”

Here is what the Jewish rabbis had to say about Adam-worship. Kohelet Rabbah 6.10 offers a parable of a king and a governor who were riding together. The people wanted to address the king with respect, but did not know which of the two men was king. The king therefore pushed the governor out of the chariot. Therefore, the people knew they should pay respect to him, rather than to the governor. Kohelet Rabbah was offering this as a parable pertaining to the question of whether angels should worship God or God’s image (Adam): “At the time when the Holy One—Blessed be He—created the first man, the ministering angels were mistaken in him and they wanted to pronounce before him, ‘Holy!’ What did the Holy One—Blessed be He—do? He caused a sleep to fall upon him. And [the angels] recognized that he was man. And [God] said to [Adam], ‘For dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return’” (Genesis 3:19). This story also occurs in Bereshit Rabbah 8:10, where it is attributed to Rabbi Hoshaya. Bernard Bamberger, in Fallen Angels, page 94, says that this account “seems to be directed against this [Adam-worshipping] . . . legend.” Bamberger states: “This tale rules out the notion that the angels had to worship Adam.”

Of course, one will not find anywhere in the writings of the Jewish rabbis a suggestion that God commanded angels to worship Jesus! Jewish rabbis did not believe Jesus was the Christ. But, even Moslems (who DO believe that Jesus was the Christ) are unwilling to make him the object of worship. Both Jews and Moslems reject the doctrine of Trinity. My Jewish major professor of Hebrew at Indiana University, Henry Fischel, pointed out to me that NOWHERE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT DOES THE WORD “TRINITY” OCCUR. What both Jews and Moslems may find interesting, however, is that the Book of Revelation does NOT RELY ON ANY DOCTRINE OF TRINITY to make Jesus worthy of worship. Revelation chapter 4 describes the scene in Heaven in which all the universe (including angels) worshipped the ONE Lord God Almighty, pronouncing the very word Kohelet Rabbah and Bereshit Rabbah employ in worship: “Holy!” Then, in chapter 5 of Revelation, the Lamb is also deemed worthy of worship (but not by using the word “Holy!”). This is a stunning development. Now, in a sense similar to the (incorrect) pseudepigraphal Book of Adam and Eve, someone besides God is declared worthy of worship by the angels. But, the Lamb is not presented there as a divine being. He is seated “at the right hand” of the One seated on the throne (5:1). He is presented as the “conquerer” (5:5). His conquest is associated with the shedding of his “blood” (5:9). Like God, he is “worthy” to receive praise (5:13). But, throughout the book of Revelation, although the word “almighty” is used several times to refer to the One God, it is never applied to Jesus. I comment, on page 120 of my book Revelation: The Human Drama:

Jesus is “known as ‘the first and the last, the beginning and the end,’ in 3:14; he is called ‘the [beginning] of the creation of God.’ (Similarly, 1:5 calls him the ‘first-born . . . from the dead.’) In 22:13, John provides another formula describing Jesus as [beginning and end]: ‘I am the alpha and the omega.’ Jesus, as ‘the Lamb who was slain’ (5:6,12) would serve as the archetype for John's concept of human . . . perfection. . . . Jesus as the . . . ‘Lamb who was slain’ can stand . . . for all perfect conquerors (martyrs). Hence, . . . he represents the proper response to Rome for every Christian. Jesus is never referred to as pantokratôr (the Almighty) or as the one ‘who was and who is and who is coming.’ However, John connects the phrase ‘ [the first and the last]’ with Jesus in language about his being ‘dead’ and now being ‘alive’ (a similar notion) in 1:17-18 and 2:8.

. . . Not unexpectedly, ‘God’ is also linked with such perfectionist language. In 21:6, apparently God is the self-designated ‘alpha and the omega, the [beginning] and the [end].’ And in 1:8, the phrase just quoted is applied to God along with another equal phrase: ‘who was and who is and who is coming,’ plus ‘the Almighty.’ Likewise, 1:4 identifies God as the one ‘who was and who is and who is coming.’ 4:8 and 11:17 repeat this identification of God and include [almighty.] Other verses which identify God as [almighty] include 15.3, 16:7,14, 19:6,15, and 21:22.”

While these parallels indicate a close resemblance between God and Jesus, so does the terminology “the image of God” as it is applied to Adam. If John were trying to advance a picture of the Trinity, it seems strange that he does not include an extra chapter dedicated to worshipping the Holy Spirit. There are only TWO in Revelation who are worthy of worship--not three. I am reminded of the fact that Revelation does not promote the doctrine of Trinity every time I sing the song “Holy! Holy! Holy!” The lyrics of the song surely come from Revelation 4 and 5, and yet they offer the conclusion: “God in three persons, Blessed Trinity.” This is not found in Revelation.

Any Jew or Moslem who objects to the Doctrine of Trinity need not be offended by the approach of the Book of Revelation. Certainly, Jesus is worshipped by angels (and all other creatures), as is God. But the logic of why Jesus is so worshipped seems not to be related to a doctrine of Jesus’ divinity. It seems closer to the view that the “image of God” should be worshipped. Adam did not fully fit the bill for deserving worship, because Adam sinned and brought death upon mankind. Jesus—Adam’s seed—more clearly fits the bill, because he did not sin and yet shed his blood to nullify the role of Satan in heaven. Satan was cast out because his job as accuser had been outmoded. Jesus' blood defeated the Satan/accuser.

Angels & Demons 17: “The Life of Adam and Eve”- (Satan Refuses to Worship God’s Image)

In my previous commentary, I promised to supply the excerpt from the pseud- epigraphal work in which the Devil is cast out of Heaven for refusing to worship Adam. The following is Wells’ translation of the Latin text, The Books of Adam and Eve 12-17, taken from The Apocryphy and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, edited by R. H. Charles, Volume II: Pseudepigrapha (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913), p. 137:

XII 1) And with a heavy sigh, the devil spake: “O Adam! All my hostility, envy, and sorrow is for thee, since it is for thee that I have been expelled from my glory, which I possessed in the heavens in the midst of the angels and for thee I was cast out in the earth.” 2) Adam answered, “What dost thou tell me? What have I done to thee or what is my fault against thee? 3) Seeing that thou hast received no harm or injury from us, why dost thou pursue us?”

XIII 1) The devil replied, “Adam, what dost thou tell me? It is for thy sake that I have been hurled from that place. 2) When thou wast formed, I was hurled out of the presence of God and banished from the company of the angels. When God blew into thee the breath of life and thy face and likeness was made in the image of God, Michael also brought thee and made (us) worship thee in the sight of God; and God the Lord spake: ‘Here is Adam. I have made thee in our image and likeness.’

XIV 1) And Michael went out and called all the angels saying: ‘Worship the image of God as the Lord God hath commanded.’ 2) And Michael himself worshiped first; then he called me and said: ‘Worship the image of God the Lord.’ 3) And I answered, ‘I have no (need) to worship Adam.’ And since Michael kept urging me to worship, I said to him, ‘Why dost thou urge me? I will not worship an inferior and younger being (than I). I am his senior in the creation, before he was made was I already made. It is his duty to worship me.

XV 1) When the angels, who were under me, heard this, they refused to worship him. 2) And Michael saith, ‘Worship the image of God, but if thou wilt not worship him, the Lord God will be wrath with thee.’ 3) And I said, ‘If He be wrath with me, I will set my seat above the stars of heaven and will be like the Highest.’

XVI 1) And God the Lord was wrath with me and banished me and my angels from our glory; and on thy account were we expelled from our abodes into this world and hurled on the earth. 2) And straightaway we were overcome with grief, since we had been spoiled of so great glory. 3) And we were grieved when we saw thee in such joy and luxury. 4) And with guile I cheated thy wife and caused thee to be expelled through her (doing) from thy joy and luxury, as I have been driven out of my glory.”

XVII 1) When Adam heard the devil say this, he cried out and wept and spake: “O Lord my God, my life is in thy hands. Banish this Adversary far from me, who seeketh to destroy my soul, and give me his glory which he himself hath lost.” 2) And at that moment, the devil vanished before him. 3) But Adam endured in his penance, standing for forty days (on end) in the water of Jordan.

For purposes of comparison, I supply my translation of Revelation 12:7-13. I drew the comparison and contrast in my previous commentary.

And war came to pass in heaven; Michael and his angels had to war with the dragon. And the dragon waged war, also his angels, but they did not prevail, nor was there found a place for them in heaven, any longer. And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent, who is called Devil and Satan, who misleads the whole inhabitable (world). He was cast to the earth and his angels were cast with him. And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying: “Now has come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and of His Christ, because the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, is cast out. And they overcame him by reason of the blood of the Lamb and through the word of their testimony, and they loved not their life unto death. Because of this, Rejoice! Heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe! (upon) the earth and the sea, for the Devil came down to you, having great fury, knowing that he has a short time.” And when the dragon saw that he was cast to the earth, he pursued the woman who brought forth the male.

Angels & Demons 16: Did Satan Disobey God by Refusing to Worship Adam and/or Jesus?

Since the Book of Enoch “claims” to be written by the man Enoch who lived before the Flood of Noah, we are pretty certain that the “claimed” authorship of the book is false. Enoch certainly lived long before the Greek language even came into existence, yet he wrote in Greek! We call such a book (whose authorship is falsified): “pseudepigrapha.” Another book that is termed “pseudepigrapha” is the Latin book, The Life of Adam and Eve. This book is written in Latin, but Adam and Eve lived long before the Latin language even came into existence.

This book about Adam and Eve, however, presents another possible Fallen Angel Story. The Devil is presented as an angel who was cast out of Heaven because of his refusal to bow down and worship Adam. He was expected to worship Adam because Adam was the “image of God” (Genesis 1:26). Later human cultures would make “graven images” of their gods and worship those images, so the author of The Life of Adam and Eve thought it logical that angels would have been expected to worship the (living) image of the one true God—Adam. According to this source, when the Devil’s angels, over whom he was placed, heard of the Devil’s refusal to honor Adam by bowing down, they also refused. Michael, who had been the first angel to worship Adam, then warned the Devil of the wrath of God should he persist in his refusal to pay homage to Adam. Whereupon the Devil was quoted as saying that he would set his seat above the stars of Heaven and would be like the Highest. I and Ginzberg (Legends, V, 35) see this last statement as a reference to Isaiah 14:12-14 (the Lucifer passage), a reference which Ginzberg says R. H. Charles (the editor of the Pseudipigrapha text in which the Life of Adam and Eve is published) failed to recognize. I will present the full text of this Life of Adam and Eve Fallen Angel Story in my next commentary.

In this excerpt from The Life of Adam and Eve, however, we have parallels in Revelation 12:7-13. In both accounts, it is Michael who leads in opposing the Devil. In both accounts, the angels of the Devil are also indicted, along with the Devil himself. In both accounts, the Devil is cast down from Heaven to earth. Both accounts also refer to the “anger” of the Devil and his “pursuit” of mankind (Adam and Eve 12 and Revelation 12:12-13).

Missing from the Revelation account, however, is any allusion to the Isaiah 14 passage. Missing from the Adam and Eve account is the strong “dragon” imagery of the Revelation account. There is no mention in Revelation 12 of the Devil’s refusal to worship Adam, though the Devil/Dragon has an apparent feeling of enmity towards the new-born child. He stands in the presence of the woman who was about to give birth in order to devour her child when he is born. I agree with R. H. Charles’s (I:320) and Martin Kiddle’s (p. 213) commentaries on Revelation when they say that the “child” of Revelation 12 is a messianic reference. Jesus is the child. I Corinthians 15:45-47, in stating that the first Adam became a living soul, while the last Adam became a life-giving spirit, strongly implies that Jesus should be understood to be a second Adam. In this same vein, Ginzberg (V:85) comments: “It is quite possible that Hebrews 1:6 goes back to [The Life of Adam and Eve] . . . and . . . makes the angels worship the second Adam (=Jesus), instead of the first.” Hebrews 1:6 states: “And again, when He leads the first-born into the inhabited world, He says, ‘And let all of the angels of God prostrate themselves before him!’”

A parallel indictment of the Devil in both accounts is that he “misleads.” In the Adam and Eve account, Eve was misled; in the Revelation, the Devil/dragon misled the whole world. There is no indication, however, in Revelation that the Devil/dragon is an angel like the Devil of the Adam and Eve account, nor is it clear whether “his angels” in Revelation 12 are, like the Devil’s angels in the Adam and Eve account, actually “angels of God under the Devil’s authority.” I have already discussed the Devil’s “misleading” in prior commentaries. I do not find it to be a sin.

The parallels between Revelation and the Adam and Eve account do seem to indicate that John, the author of Revelation, was familiar with the pseudepigraphal book, The Life of Adam and Eve. Frankly, John is familiar with a tremendous amount of literature and he draws profusely on images from that literature as he writes the book of Revelation. This, of course, does not mean that John believes The Life of Adam and Eve is inspired. He does seem to think there is merit in belief that the second Adam is worthy of worship, however. He shows how the transition from worshiping only God (in Revelation 4) to worshiping BOTH God AND the Lamb (in Revelation 5) was accomplished. And, he asserts that both God and the Lamb are “worthy” of worship by every creature in Heaven and on earth, in the seas, and under the earth (Revelation 5:13-14).

So, Revelation helps us to establish that Jesus, the second Adam, is worthy of worship. It does not present the Devil and/or his angels, however, as refusing to worship him. The Devil is, indeed, cast out of Heaven in Revelation 12:7-9, but not because of any refusal to worship Jesus. He was cast out because “there was no room found for him in Heaven.” His job as accuser had been downsized. Jesus’ blood had paid the price for the sins of all those he was accusing.

As an aside, and along the same line, in my book Revelation: The Human Drama (p. 80), I comment:

Wellhausen claims, "The [image of the Beast] is the alter ego of the empire just as Jesus was called the [image] of God" (cf. II Corinthians 4:4 and Colossians 1:15), then a living human being serves as the "image" of the beast, just as the human, Jesus, serves as the "image" of God. Where exactly Wellhausen derives his information that Jesus is the [image] of God, Charles does not indicate; and the explicit statement is found nowhere in Revelation. However, the [Life of Adam and Eve] 13-14 passage clearly calls Adam the "image" of God, and Ginzberg sees in . . . Heb. 1:6 the link which makes Jesus a second Adam in the fashion of [The Life of Adam and Eve], hence making him worthy of worship. Thus, intertestamental literature with which John could easily be familiar has a human serving as an "image," and therefore receiving "worship."

If John is making the "image" of God (Jesus) in Revelation 5 "worthy of praise," then, in antithetical fashion, he could be making the "image" of the beast (the high priest) in Revelation 13 the object of (unworthy) antichristian worship. In this way, John could be saying that ironically the abomination which the Jews had felt that they had avoided in the assassination of Caligula happened anyway! Instead of an image of stone, the Jews had in the middle of their temple an amazing sign--an image that could "speak" (13:15)! He was the voice of the Empire in the midst of the temple.

Angels & Demons 15: If He Is NOT Satan, Who Is Lucifer?

Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton (and former-First-Lady-now-Secretary-of-State Hillary Clinton) are fans of Saul Alinsky, the author of the book Rules for Radicals. The book—which is also recommended by the NEA (National Association of Educators) contains a quote about Lucifer: "Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins -- or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom -- Lucifer."


Who is this Lucifer whom Alinsky acknowledges as the first radical, the first rebel against the establishment? Surely, Alinsky—in citing “legends, mythology, and history”—was intending to refer to Satan, thinking that Satan/Lucifer was a Fallen Angel who rebelled against the establishment imposed by God. This view of Lucifer is based on an interpretation of Isaiah 14:12-15 (KJV):

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.”

Granted, if we begin reading in the middle of this chapter, at verse 12, Lucifer can appear to be a powerful angel who has fallen because of his attempt to rebel against “the Most High.” That is, until we reach verse 16, where it is clear that Lucifer is a man: “They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, [and] consider thee, [saying, Is] this the MAN that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms?” Verses 18-20, furthermore, point out that Lucifer is a “king”: “All the kings of the nations, [even] all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, [and as] the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, [and] slain thy people.” We confirm this identification of Lucifer as the “king of Babylon” in the 4th verse of chapter 14: “That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon.” What follows, including the Lucifer passage in the middle of this chapter, is all a proverb denouncing the king of Babylon. Nowhere else in the entire Bible do we find an account of Satan being “buried”; yet we find burial concerns for Lucifer throughout verses 18-20, and in the verse immediately preceding verse 12’s Lucifer reference, Isaiah states concerning Lucifer: “Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, [and] the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.”

Politicians, especially those as powerful as the Clintons and Obamas, should be very hesitant to endorse Alinsky as he acknowledges Lucifer. This is true not because Lucifer is a “fallen angel” (he is NOT), but because Lucifer was a deluded “POLITICAL ENTITY!” As the king of Babylon, Lucifer relished his power. Lucifer, the king of Babylon, as a powerful king “oppressed” the people of Israel, God’s people (14:1-6). He did not hesitate to “persecute” (verse 6) the religious followers of the God of Abraham. Perhaps, in his freely oppressing God’s people, he thought he was, thus, equal to the Most High (verse 14). Isaiah 14 is a condemnation of a political entity who thought he was so important that he could oppress and persecute followers of the Most High God.

Only two passages in the New Testament allude to the Lucifer passage in Isaiah:

Matthew 11:23 quotes Jesus: “And you Capernaum, were you not exalted to heaven? Brought down to Hades you will be.” Jesus explains (in 11:20-25) that Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum were cities (political entities) that did not repent from their conceited rejection of Jesus, and that other political entities such as Tyre and Sidon and Sodom would receive more grace on the day of judgment than they.

Luke 10:8-15 reports the same account, but in a somewhat more abbreviated form: “Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will sink to Hades.” Here, Jesus suggests that these towns would be treated less leniently than Sodom, Tyre, and Sidon, but not just because of their treatment of him. It will be so because of their treatment of his followers.

Notice that neither of these passages make any reference to Satan. Clearly, they understand the Isaiah passage to represent a condemnation of HUMAN political entities—those who mistreat the followers of the Most High God. The Lucifer of the Bible is not a fallen angel. Although there are some indications that Isaiah may have drawn upon some Babylonian mythology in his condemnation of the king of Babylon, he is not introducing a Fallen Angel Story. If any conclusions may be drawn from the Lucifer passage in Isaiah 14, it is that political entities who exercise power over God’s people should be extremely careful not to mistreat God’s followers.