Fallen Angels, the Watchers, and the Origins of Evil (5 page)

The Book of Genesis

           
Genesis is the first book of the Old Testament in both the Jewish and Christian Bibles.
 
Genesis means the act or process of producing, thus the text is named for the creation story.

           
The first eleven chapters are adapted from Mesopotamian and Canaanite traditions regarding the creation of earth. Other story lines were added to account for the existence of man by incorporating stories about Adam and Eve. The story of the flood is brought into Genesis, although it is difficult to know exactly which region the story was taken from as practically every culture has such a story. It is generally assumed the Deluge story was acquired from the same culture the creation story element was taken.

           
Although traditionally The Book of Genesis is attributed to Moses, most modern scholars agree that the book is a composite of at least three different literary strands: J (10th century B.C.), E (9th century), and P (5th century).
 
Oddly, one of the contributors seems to have a “feminine” voice and could have been penned, or at least influenced by a woman.

           
At the time of the “J” document, a despot ruled over the Jews around 560 B.C. The writer of “J” may have written the book to document the people’s oral history and thus give them hope and ensure there would be a record of their connection to their God, fearing their destruction.

           
Since three stories were being interwoven, the writer of Genesis took the J,P, and E stories and combined them, removing parts that were contrary to the religious beliefs of the day. One set of writings used the Canaanite term, “Elohim,” as the name of the creator God. A second used the more ancient Judean word transliterated from Hebrew and rendered “Jehovah” in English, to describe its God.  

           
By removing inconsistencies and repetitions a smooth storyline emerged.  The story coming from the Canaanite culture contained polytheistic beliefs. Traces of the two different gods and their differing personalities, as well as the Canaanite belief in polytheism may remain, but since the Jews had come to embrace monotheism at that time, the writer attempted to remove traces of such variances.

        
For a more complete picture it is always best to keep all stories and books in context. The complete translations of the books of Jubilees, Enoch, and Jasher can be obtained through most bookstores. This author has such translation available in modern English.

Preface

        
What you are about to read is not in any Bible. It is a story drawn from the pages of some of the oldest writings on earth. The stories told in these ancient pages were both historical and prophetic. All of them spoke of the same occurrences, those of the birth, history, and destruction of evil.

        
From the books of Jasher, Jubilees, Enoch, the War Scrolls, and the Bible, each narrator tells a version of the same events, rich in detail. By combining all the narratives and removing repetitive events we come to a place of awe, where the specific aspects before us are amazing and finely painted.

        
The reader is never told what line, word, or phrase came from any particular book. The story is written, as any story should be, without pause. Only the myth of Lilith is set apart by being printed in italicized font.
 
This was done to distinguish a traditional oral myth of the Middle Ages from those books honored in the halls of much greater antiquity.

        
The history of evil begs the deepest and most profound questions.
 
Was evil created, or discovered within us as a consequence of free will? Did God, who created everything, create evil?
 
Did He who is omniscient realize what would happen when He gave all sentient beings the ability to choose? How did it begin, and where will it end?
 
Let us read what the prophets say.

The Origin of Evil

           
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was formless, vacant, and chaotic. Darkness was everywhere and no light was seen except God, Himself. God formed the earth, divided the lands and waters, and set the clouds, sky, and earth in place. He made the sun and moon and all the planets and set their courses, dividing day from night. All heavenly bodies were assigned their times and paths and none varied from God’s word.

           
God created all things living, and then he created man. He created a man and a woman and gave them dominion over all things. God named the man Adam, and the woman He named Lilith. Both were formed from the dust of the earth and in both God breathed the breath of life. They became human souls and God endowed them with the power of speech.

           
Created at the same time, in the same way, there was no master, no leader, and only bickering between them. Lilith said, “I will not be below you, in life or during sex. I want the superior position”. But Adam would not relent and insisted God had created him to be the head of the family and in the affairs of earth. Lilith was enraged and would not submit.

           
Then God communed with Adam in the cool of the evening and as he entered into His presence, Adam appealed to God. As God fellowshipped with them, they reasoned together, Adam, Lilith, and the living God. But Lilith would not listen to God or Adam. Seeing that with two people of equal authority there could be no solution, Lilith became frustrated, angry, and intractable. Finally, enraged and defiant, she pronounced the holy and ineffable name of God. Corrupting the power of the name, she flew into the air, changing form, and disappeared, soaring out of sight.

           
Adam stood alone, confused, praying. “Lord of the universe,” he said, “The woman you gave me has run away.”
 
At once, three holy angels were dispatched to bring her back to Adam. The angels overtook Lilith as she passed over the sea, in the area where Moses would later pass through. The angels ordered Lilith to come with them in the name and by the authority of the most high God, but she refused. As her rebellion increased, she changed, becoming more and more ugly and demonic.

           
God spoke into Lilith’s heart, saying, “You have chosen this evil path, and so shall you become evil. You are cursed from now until the end of days.”
 
Lilith spoke to the angels and said, “I have become this, created to cause sickness, to kill children, which I will never have, and to torment men.” With these words, she completed her demonic transformation. Her form was that of a succubus.

Confined to the night, she was destined to roam the earth, seeking newborn babes, stealing their lives, and strangling them in their sleep. She torments men even now, causing lust and evil dreams. Her rebellious and evil spirit forever traps her. Bound in the darkness of her own heart, Lilith became the mistress and lover to legions of demons.
 
And Adam’s countenance fell and he mourned for he had loved Lilith, and he was again alone and lonely.

 
          
God said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on him, and he slept, and He took from Adam a rib from among his ribs for the woman, and this rib was the origin of the woman. And He built up the flesh in its place, and created the woman. He awakened Adam out of his sleep. On awakening Adam rose on the sixth day, and God brought her to Adam, and he knew her, and said to her, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman for she was taken from man, and she shall be called my wife; because she was taken from her husband.”
 

Her name will be Eve, for she will be the mother of all. Therefore shall man and wife become one. Because of this a man shall leave his father and his mother, and cling to his wife, and they shall be one flesh.

In the first week of creation Adam was created, and from his rib, his wife was formed. In the second week God showed her to him. For this reason the commandment was given to keep in the times of their defilement (from birth).
 
A male should be purified in seven days and for a female twice seven days. After Adam had completed forty days in the land where he had been created, the angels brought him into the garden of Eden to till and keep it, but his wife the angels brought in on the eightieth day, and after this she entered into the garden of Eden.

           
And God spoke to Adam and Eve and said, “Be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth.”

           
In these days there was a great war in heaven. Lucifer, who is known as the son of the morning, amassed one third of the angels of heaven and fought for supremacy. In righteous anger, God arose and spoke to Lucifer, “Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.

           
“All shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought you down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols. The worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, you who 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.”

           
But Lucifer did not heed the words of God, and the war in heaven began.

           
Michael and his host fought against Lucifer and his army and Michael prevailed. And Lucifer, whose name became Satan, the devil, and Mastema, was thrown down to the earth in defeat and dishonor.
 
And Jesus, who is the word of God and with him from the beginning, watched as Lucifer was defeated in heaven and cast down. And he said unto them, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” Thus, the war in heaven would be waged on earth for the prize of the souls of man.

           
Then Satan entered into the serpent, for the serpent was willing. And he waited until the time of deceit was at hand.

           
After the completion of exactly seven years there, and in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the serpent, which God had created with them in the earth, came to Eve to incite them to go contrary to the command of God which he had given them. The serpent approached the woman, and the serpent said to the woman, “Has God commanded you saying, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

 
          
She said to it, “God said to us, ‘Of all the fruit of the trees of the garden, eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden,’ God said to us, ‘You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, or you shall die.’”

           
The serpent said to the woman, “You shall not surely die. God knows if you were to eat the fruit of the tree your eyes would be opened and you would become as a god.” And the woman saw the tree that it was beautiful and pleasant to the eye, and that its fruit was good for food. And the serpent enticed and persuaded the woman to eat from the tree of knowledge, and the woman listened to the voice of the serpent, and she went contrary to the word of God, and took from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And she took of it and ate. And she took from it and gave also to her husband and he ate. For, the serpent said, “You will not surely die. God knows that on the day you shall eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be as gods, and you will know good and evil.”