STAND FIRM: Biblical Foundation of the Unseen World - Glimpses of the Second Celestial Rebellion

      Satan is on the prowl, as Peter warned. As Paul tells in Ephesians, he and the other rebellious celestial and spiritual entities under his command scheme against us, but the origin of these other rebellious celestials and spirits is more complex than we typically state. The first century and earlier Jewish audience of the Bible believed there were at least three celestial rebellions. The first is Satan in the Garden of Eden. The Bible only briefly deductively talks about the other two rebellions, but the Bible repeatedly gives glimpses into these events. Without the knowledge of these other two rebellions, the later glimpses in the Word seem very odd.

      There are at least four seemingly strange passages in the New Testament that, on the surface, seem to be completely random. But these passages aren’t as random when we have the foundation of the unseen world as the first audience of Scripture had of the second celestial rebellion. Here are those odd passages:

         • Revelation 9 — Here we find two of these accounts. First, in the telling of the fifth trumpet judgment, it is said an angel is sent to open the abyss, and out of the abyss comes demonic creatures that torment people of the earth for five months. It’s a wild passage and a future event. It hits us today as something completely beyond comprehension and, therefore, must be symbolic. Still, this was not an unfounded event for the Old Testament and Second Temple writing audience of the first century. They knew of demonic creatures in the abyss. These creatures have their origin in the second celestial rebellion.

      Immediately following the telling of that event in Revelation 9, another wild event is foretold. In the telling of the sixth trumpet judgment, a command is given for four angels to be released from beneath the Euphrates River. Again, this sounds like absolute fiction to us today. We can’t comprehend it. We sure don’t have a category for these incarcerated celestial beings in our modern angelology, but again, that early audience did. The origin of those rebellious angels and their imprisonment is found in the second celestial rebellion.

      We might write those two passages off as “just more crazy stuff in the Book of Revelation,” but New Testament writers Peter and Jude also allude to that second rebellion.

         • II Peter 2 — Peter tells of how false teachers will receive judgment from God. In doing so, he uses three examples to show how God punishes sin. Two of those examples are understandable for us — the flood in the days of Noah and the raining down fire on Sodom in the days of Lot. The other example again is an allusion to that second rebellion: “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell [Tartarus] putting them in chains of darkness [or gloomy dungeons] to be held for judgment” (II Peter 2:1-5 NIV).

      Notice how this passage connects with Revelation 9 and the angels incarcerated beneath the Euphrates River. This passage uses a unique word that most English translations translate as Tartarus, which is especially noteworthy in connecting this to the second celestial rebellion.

         • Jude — The final odd passage that is a glimpse into this second rebellion is found in Jude. This glimpse given by Jude is done in the same context as Peter. Jude writes about the dangers of false teachers and then provides examples of how severe God’s judgment has been in the past. He uses the examples of the Israelites who rebelled against God in the wilderness after being brought out of Egypt and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Then, as Peter did, Jude uses the punishment on the rebellious angels of that second rebellion to show further the severity of God’s wrath: “And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling — these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day (Jude 5 NIV). Again, this passage connects with the angels under the Euphrates River.

      These four passages are only glimpses of the aftermath and future consequences of the second divine rebellion. The actual rebellion is only addressed directly in a four-verse narrative found in Gen. 6:1-4. The whole story of this rebellion is found in The Book of Enoch and other ancient Jewish writings. The Book of Enoch isn’t in the Biblical canon and, therefore, shouldn’t be treated as Scripture, but before we throw it out, we must recognize that it is quoted throughout the Bible.

      Regarding Gen. 6:1-14, the original audience saw this as a celestial rebellion, but today, that is only one interpretative view of the passage. It once was the complete consensus interpretation, but in modern days, it has become a view of a minority. I’m in the minority. It is dangerous to be in the minority regarding Bible interpretation, so you must be a Berean and study yourself. I will share and compare the three prominent views in the next article.

         — Jake is a state missionary and would love to share about the work in Northwest Arkansas and encourage your church to stand firm. (standfirmministries.com)