Christian Gnostic Understanding of Satan The devil

Christian Gnostic Understanding of Satan The devil

The theology of orthodox Christianity places the devil in juxtaposition with God. As the one is presented for worship as the source and embodiment of all good, so the other is held up for detestation and dread, as the instigator and promoter of all evil. Practically, the one is regarded in the light of the good God, and the other as the bad god. It is the polytheism of paganism in its smallest form: and the philosophy of the ancients embodied in names and forms supplied by the Bible.

The first thing we have to address is the definition of Satan. While fundamentalists will tell you that Satan was present in the Bible from the very foundations laid in Genesis, history tells us a different story. The words Satan, Devil, demon, Lucifer, fallen angel etc. simply don't occur in the whole of the book of Genesis. Throughout the Old Testament, the one and only God is presented as all powerful, without equal and in no competition with any other cosmic force. The Old Testament makes it clear that any 'adversary' to God's people was ultimately under the control of God Himself.

The period between the Old and New Testaments saw the production of a huge volume of Jewish literature advocating a personal Satan. Jewish writings speak of a figure called Beliar, a kind of personal Satan figure. The Book of Enoch and the story of the "watchers" became accepted as dogma amongst the Jews- i.e. that the "watcher" Angels had sinned and come to earth at the time of Genesis 6 and married beautiful women. Thus the Book Of Jubilees, dating from around 104 B.C., claims that God placed "over all nations and peoples, spirits in authority, to lead them astray" (15:31). Why would the righteous God place His people under the authority of those who would lead them astray- and then judge us for going astray? Jubilees 5:2 blames the flood on the fact that the earth was morally corrupt, but it claims that the animal creation also sinned and brought about the state of corruptness which required the destruction of the flood- thereby taking the spotlight off human sin as the sole cause for the flood.

The Bible clearly states that the suffering and disease that there is in the earth is a result of Adam's sin; but Jubilees claims that all such illnesses were a result of evil spirits, "And we explained to Noah all the medicines of their diseases, together with their seductions, how he might heal them with herbs of the earth" (Jub. 10:12-13).

After the fall of the second temple Rabbinical scholars rejected all of the Enochian writings mentioning Satan as a literal, heavenly figure and fallen angels, and viewing Satan to symbolize evil inclination (malicious impulses) yetzer hara (Hebrew: יֵצֶר הַרַע‎)

Satan

SATAN is a Hebrew word that has been transferred to the New Testament and to the English. It denotes an adversary, an opponent or an enemy. It has been translated seven times: “adversary”; five times: “be an adversary”; once each: “resist” and “to withstand”; nineteen times: “satan” (as in Numbers 22:22; Matthew 16:23).

The Accuser (often said by clergy to be Satan) in the Book of Job is literally an agent of the court, much like Prosecutors in the modern legal system. There’s no indication that this is a fallen angel. (One has to ask, how on earth did a fallen angel even appear before God if said fallen angel is supposed to be suffering in the fires of Hell?) The original Hebrew word HaSatan simply means adversary or accuser.

The first place where it occurs is Num. 22:22 :--"And God's anger was kindled because he (Balaam) went; and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary (SATAN) against him."

It next occurs in the same chapter, verse 32 :--

"And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? Behold, I went out to withstand (marg., to be AN ADVERSARY--a Satan to) thee."

In this case, Satan was a holy angel. Understanding "Satan" to mean adversary in its simple and general sense, we can see how this could be; but, understanding it as the evil being of popular belief, it would be a different matter. The following are other cases in which the word is translated "adversary," in the common version of the Scriptures:--

"Let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary (SATAN) to us" (1 Sam 29:4).

"And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries (SATANS) unto me?" (2 Sam 19:22).

"But now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary (SATAN) nor evil occurrent" (1 Kings 5:4).

"And the Lord stirred up an adversary (SATAN) unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king's seed in Edom" (1 Kings 11:14).

"And God stirred him up another adversary (SATAN), Rezon, the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah."

"And he was an adversary (SATAN) to Israel all the days of Solomon" (1 Kings 11:23, 25).

Matthew 16:23 - “But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of MEN.”

The foregoing literal definitions indicate certain characteristics applicable to mankind and NOT to a superhuman evil god of the lower regions.

These definitions indicate characteristics of mankind, NOT a superhuman evil god.

The devil of popular opinion (the demigod of the lower region) cannot be found in the Hebrew Old testament writings.

The deceiving phase of mind in man that has fixed ideas in opposition to Truth (adversary, lier in wait, accuser, opposer, hater, an enemy). Satan assumes various forms in man's consciousness, among which may be mentioned egotism, a puffing up of the personality; and the opposite of this, self-deprecation, which admits the "accuser" into the consciousness. This "accuser" makes man believe that he is inherently evil.

Satan is the "Devil," a state of mind formed by man's personal ideas of his power and completeness and sufficiency apart from God. Besides at times puffing up the personality, this satanic thought often turns about and, after having tempted one to do evil, discourages the soul by accusing it of sin. Summed up, it is the state of mind in man that believes in its own sufficiency independent of its creative Source.

Satan--The Adversary, the great universal negative whose power is derived from the unlawful expression of man's own being. The serpent as "Satan" is sensation suggesting indulgence in pleasures beyond the law fixed by creative Mind.

The Devil

In the New Testament, the word DEVIL is derived from the Greek word ‘diabolos’ which literally means a slanderer, a false witness, or a liar, which can only apply to mankind and not to one of God’s heavenly hosts.

As Jesus applied "Satan" to Peter, so he applied "devil" to Judas: "Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is A DEVIL?" (John 6:70). Judas proved a liar, a betrayer, a false accuser, and, therefore, a devil. Paul, in 1 Tim 3:11, tells the wives of deacons not to be devils. His exhortation, it is true, does not appear in this form in the English version. The words, as translated, are "Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers (diabolous)." The same remark applies to 2 Tim 3:2, 3 "For men shall be... without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers (diaboloi)"; and to Titus 2:3: "The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers (diabolous)."

"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he (Jesus) also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might DESTROY him that had the power of death, THAT IS, THE DEVIL."

On the supposition that the devil here referred to is the orthodox devil, or a personal devil of any kind, there are four absurdities on the face of this passage.

In the first place, to take on the weakness of flesh and blood was a strange way of preparing to fight a powerful devil, who, it would be imagined, would be more successfully encountered in the panoply of angelic strength, which Paul expressly says Jesus did not array himself in; for he says, "He took not on him the nature of angels" (Heb. 2:16).

In the second place it was stranger still that the process of destroying the devil should be submission to death himself! One would have thought that to vanquish and destroy the devil, life inextinguishable, and strength indomitable, would have been the qualification. Undoubtedly they would have been so, if, the Bible devil had been the orthodox devil--a personal monster.

In the third place, the devil ought now to be dead, or whatever else is imported by the word "destroyed," for Christ died nineteen centuries ago, for the purpose of destroying him by that process. How comes it then, that the devil is clerically represented to be alive and busier than ever in the work of hunting immortal souls with gin and snare, and exporting them to his own grim domain?

 The devil Christ has come to destroy is sin. If anyone doubts this, let .him reconsider Paul's words quoted above. What did Christ accomplish in his death? Let the following testimonies answer:--

"He put away SIN by the sacrifice of himself" (Heb. 9:26).

"Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3).

"He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities" (Isa. liii, 5).

"His own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree" (2 Pet 2:24).

"He was manifested to take away OUR SINS" (1 John 3:5).

Christ, through death, destroyed, or took out of the way, "the sin of the world ". In this, he destroyed the Bible devil. He certainly did not destroy the popular devil in his death, for that devil is supposed to be still at large, but in his own person, as a representative man, he extinguished the power of sin by surrendering to its full consequences, and then escaping by resurrection, through the power of his own holiness, to live for evermore. This is described as "God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh" (Rom. viii, 3). Sin in the flesh, then, is the devil destroyed by Jesus in his death. This is the devil having the power of death, for it is sin, and nothing else but sin that causes death to men. Does anyone doubt this ? Let him read the following testimonies:

By one man sin entered into the world, and death BY sin" (Rom. v, 12)

"By man CAME DEATH (I Cor. xv, 21).

"The wages of sin is DEATH" (Rom. vi, 23). "SIN hath reigned unto death" (Rom. v, 21). "SIN... bringeth forth death" (James i, 15). "The sting of death is SIN" (I Cor. xv, 56).

The devil, a Bible synonym for sin - abstract and concrete - existing as the spirit of disobedience in the children of men and embodied and manifested in the persons and institutions of present order of things.


Satan The devil is a personification of human nature this is not an abstraction but that physical principle of the animal nature, which is the cause of all its diseases, death, and resolution into dust. It is that in the flesh "which has the power of death" and it is called sin, because the development, or fixation, of this evil in the flesh, was the result of transgression. Inasmuch as this evil principle pervades every part of the flesh, the animal nature is styled "sinful flesh," that is, "flesh full of sin"; so that sin, in the sacred style, came to stand for the substance called man. In human flesh "dwells no good thing" (Rom. 7:17,18); and all the evil a man does is the result of this principle dwelling in him.

the devil

Same as Satan, which see. The "devil" signifies the mass of thoughts that have been built up in consciousness through many generations of earthly experiences and crystallized into what may be termed human personality, or carnal mind. Another name of the "devil" is sense consciousness; all the thoughts in one that fight against and are adverse to Truth belong to the state of mind that is known to metaphysicians as the Devil.

The "devil" is a state of consciousness adverse to the divine good. Other names for this state of consciousness are the Adversary, carnal mind, the accuser, and the old man. There is no personal devil. God is the one omnipresent Principle of the universe, and there is no room for any principle of evil, personified or otherwise.

Devil, how to overcome the--The Devil is overcome by denying his existence and by affirming universal Christ love for God and all men. The devils that we encounter are fear, anger, jealousy, and other similar negative traits, and they are in ourselves. Christ gives us the power to cast out these devils, thereby cleansing our consciousness.

Who is Satan in Gnosticism?

If we take, for example, the Valentinian Gnostic cosmogony, the Christian notion of Satan doesn’t come into play at all.

According to the sethian Gnostics The God of the Jews and the Christians is either Yaldabaoth or Sabaoth the ill-begotten son of Sophia, who gave birth outside of the normal pattern of reproduction for the Divine Syzygies in the Pleroma.

It is I who am God, and there is none apart from me.’  When he said this, he sinned against the whole place. And a voice came forth from above the realm of absolute power, saying,

“You are wrong, Samael,” that is, “God of the blind.” . . .

And he said, “If anything else exists before me, let it become visible to me!”

Samael  is an archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic lore; a figure who is the accuser (Ha-Satan), In the Apocryphon of John, On the Origin of the World, and Hypostasis of the Archons, found in the Nag Hammadi library, Samael is one of three names of the creator God, whose other names are Yaldabaoth and Saklas. 

In the system depicted by the sethians there is no satan and there is no need for one, for “Yahweh”—the God of Jews and Christians alike—himself acts as chief of the fallen angels who seduces and enslaves human beings. By declaring himself to be the supreme and unique God of the universe

The Albigenses or Cathari believed that the "the creator of the material world is the source of all evil (Albigenses by Nicholas Weber in Catholic Encyclopedia, 1907)

In the Old testament Yahweh is referred to as Satan by comparing 1 Chronicles 21, and 2 Samuel 24 In the Book of Samuel, Yahweh himself is the agent in punishing Israel, while in 1 Chronicles an "adversary" is introduced. The adversary seems to have been God; for we read in 2 Sam. 24:1, "The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and HE moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah." The angel of God was a Satan to Balaam, as we have seen, and, in this case, God proved a Satan to Israel. Moved, doubtless, by the general perversity of the people, He impelled David to a course which resulted in calamity to the nation.

In contrast, Ptolemy, and other Valentinians steadfastly maintained that "the creation is not due to a god who corrupts but to one who is just and hates evil" (Letter to Flora 3:6). He carefully distinguished the Demiurge from both God and the Devil. According to Ptolemy, "he is essentially different from these two (God and the Devil) and is between them, he is rightly given the name, Middle" (Letter to Flora 7:4). He is "neither good nor evil and unjust, can properly be called just , since he is the arbitrator of the justice which depends on him" (Letter to Flora 7:5)

In the gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Philip Satan and the devil never appear. however the devil appeas once in the Gospel of Truth  

Be concerned about yourselves. Don’t be concerned about other things which you’ve rejected from yourselves. Don’t return to eat your vomit. Don’t be eaten by worms, because you’ve already shaken it off. Don’t become a dwelling-place for the devil, because you’ve already brought him to naught. Don’t strengthen your obstacles which are collapsing, as though you’re a support. For the lawless one is nothing, to be treated more harshly than the just, doing his works among others. (Gospel of Truth)

To be “a dwelling-place for the devil” implies that the Devil enters us. “The lusts of other (sinful) things entering in” (Mk. 4:19) cause us to sin. Our lusts are described several times as physically moving into our heart from our evil nature where they are stored "an evil man brings forth evil things from his evil storehouse, which is in his heart, and says evil things. For out of the abundance of the heart he brings forth evil things." (Gospel of Thomas Saying 45)

Do not become a place for the Devil, for you have already defeated him defeating the devil or bringing him to naught refers to 1 John 2:13: ‘because you have overcome the evil one.’

From the use of the word in Matthew 6:13; 13:19, it is obvious that it is the flesh that John is referring to, and which these ''young men had conquered by their acceptance of Christ. The evil propensities of the flesh dominate the world (1 John 3:12; 5:18-19), but these "young men had come out of the world, and had learned to conquer the flesh.

The Gospel of Philip like the book of Isaiah (45:7) does not see good and evil as cosmic opposites instead—“light and dark, life and death, good and evil”—are in reality pairs of interdependent terms in which each implies the other.

Philip, on the other hand, interprets the human inclination to sin without recourse to Satan

The gospel of Thomas and Philip teach that within each person's heart lies the root of wickedness. This is Philip’s interpretation of the traditional Jewish teaching of the yetzer hara, which the rabbis called the “evil inclination.” So long as we remain unaware of “the root of evil” within us, Philip says, “it is powerful; but when it is recognized, it is destroyed.” 

45. Jesus said, "Grapes are not harvested from thorn trees, nor are figs gathered from thistles, for they yield no fruit. Good persons produce good from what they've stored up; bad persons produce evil from the wickedness they've stored up in their hearts, and say evil things. For from the overflow of the heart they produce evil."

The Root of Evil

Let each of us also dig down after the root of evil within us and pull it out of our hearts from the root. It will be uprooted if we recognize it. But if we are ignorant of it, it takes root in us and produces fruit in our hearts. It dominates us. We are its slaves, and it takes us captive so that we do what we do [not] want and do [not] do what we want. [cf. Rom. 7:14—15] It is powerful because we do not recognize it. As long as [it] exists, it stays active. .

Essential to gnosis is to “know” one’s own potential for evil. According to Philip, recognizing evil within oneself is necessarily an individual process: no one can dictate to another what is good or evil; instead, each one must strive to recognize his or her own inner state, and so to identify acts that spring from the “root of evil,” which consists in such impulses as anger, lust, envy, pride, and greed. This teacher assumes that when one recognizes that a certain act derives from such sources, one loses the conviction needed to sustain the action. In order to do evil— whether to indulge in an angry tirade, commit murder, or declare aggressive war—one seems to require the illusion that one’s action is justified, that one is acting for right reasons. This author holds, then, the optimistic conviction that “truth ... is more powerful than ignorance of error.”90 Knowing the truth in this way involves more than an intellectual process; it involves transformation of one’s being, transformation of one’s way of living: “If we know the truth, we shall find its fruits within us; if we join ourselves with it, we shall receive our fulfillment

https://www.gnosticdoctrine.com/2018/09/elaine-pagels-on-satan-and-devil.html

The Knowledge of Astrology

the knowledge of Astrology


When the rulers of this world discussed their desire to keep mankind in darkness, I was there, I became as one of them and heard of their boasting, they said among themselves in secrete,


" Let us not give knowledge to man of travel for they may become as we are, let them not know of the stars, less they may travel them and bring war to our home "


" let this be the decree " and this was agreed among their elders, so they, their chiefs, sent their deceivers with the delusion of travel, humans was given the knowledge of cars and of trucks this was the knowledge of earthly travel this was done to keep humans grounded to this earth, never to know true travelling.


Then to humans they gave the knowledge of Astrology that they, humans may stay grounded, always looking up to the stars never to know their true celestial bodies of which they, the rulers call their heavens.


This the rulers sought out to deceive mankind, but it was them who was deceived, for when they gave humans the knowledge to travel from city to city and state to state, this allowed mankind to travel from mystery to mystery and realm to realm.

The knowledge of travel came to be because of mankind for travel belongs to, mankind, and the realms came to be because of the mysteries for the realms exist within the mysteries.


Understand this mystery where ever Sige is mankind can go, for Sige came first, and all beings and rulers, and kingdoms and worlds and their heavens, exist within the mystery of Sige, Sige gives life and knowledge to all.


Another mystery I give the rulers created humans to mirror mankind, and the humans are the bodies that mankind dwell in, this is the prisons to which mankind are held in, and it is death that is sent to free mankind from the prison of human, this is what is meant by the saying of " the enslavement of mankind by the rulers of this world " soon mankind will no longer have need of death to free them " Christ " has brought " Life " of mankind back to them, this life, was and did belong to mankind in the beginning before all things came into existence, all, things, brothers and sisters learn of this life which is your inheritance, then the door to your prison will open of it's own, life is superior to death and that life is yours.

Humanity is the name that is given when spirit life gives life to the human body, we are not a body but spirit life encased in a human form, the body is hewned, then later called " hu-man ". Do you get it?

Spiritual Gifts and Realm Travel

The Potters House Jeremiah 18:6

The Potters House Jeremiah 18:6

The Potters House:
Jeremiah 18:6 ►

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Nation of Israel, can't I do with you as this potter does with clay? Nation of Israel, you are like the clay in the potter's hands.

In the Church:
Brothers, when i was in church, that statement was to me both, Deep and Profound.
As in a deep sleep, the Dawn came and i was awaken, and found that statement was neither deep, or as profound as I was led to believe.

The Potter and His Hands:
The Potter is the god of this world, his hands is his will, by us being inside of the clay bodies, it is as if we to are in his hands, Ignorant; he does not know that which is with-in the clay pottery, created by his hands, that is to say we are.

In the Potter's House:
2 Timothy 2:20 ►
Berean Study Bible
A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use.

Our Birth:
In the Kingdom of our Father, we was told before we left, we were going to be hidden from the thieves and robbers, even then for most, even that Mystery was hidden from you,

The Mystery:
These bodies are the vessels, Gold and Silver; Fame and Fortune, Wood and Clay; common and poverty.

The Demiurge did not know that it was that which was with-in each vessel, caused each and every vessel in which we were in, to be honorable for all, though the vessel contain no value, the treasure with-in, transformed it into a priceless thing,

It is us that has made the vessels, whether our bodies be that of, Gold and Silver; or wood and clay, all of our vessels are priceless to our Father, but to the god of this world it is not so!

Spiritual Gifts and Realm Travel

Spiritual Gifts and Realm Travel

Greetings to you my brothers and sisters:

Let me remind you of these things: Spiritual Gifts and Realm Travel.

Different Realms

In the Kingdom of light there are many different realms, different in the sense that one is of an higher order, and each order has it's own unique form, but the same seeing that all are within the Father.

One must recognize his or her order of glory and once it is known to you, then one should walk in it.

We all reflect who the Saviour is and our own unique reflection is in him, so my brethren see, that is, know, the saviour is not to be known as a mere human but son of man, who in his true nature supersede the nature and forms of the aeons.

For even they could not comprehend the image to which they saw, but we have the nature and form which is superior to theirs as well, so it is with great joy to see that you have received the words of the Begotten One with great understanding.

Spiritual Gifts

We were taught as children that in order to operate in spiritual gifts, you must be saved and when you do it's only for a short while, because it is by the will of the holy spirit.

Brethren look at that statement again, " you must be saved " if you had a friend and some one came up to you both speaking French, and your friend began to speak french with that person, and once they and your friend have finished speaking to one another, you might say to your friend " you must be French " you speak French very well and fluently.

The same it is with spiritual gifts, like French some were born speaking French while others learned at a later time, do you get me brothers and sisters?

In the spiritual realm these abilities are common place, I have told you that when I went to the worlds of the rulers of this world, that resurrection, and raising one from the dead, was common place with them, that was because, It Is!!

No one truly teaches you any thing but only bring back to your remembrance that which you have long forgotten by coming to this world, for this I continue to say to you, " know yourselves " then you will become known, again most was born with those abilities as an inheritance while others will soon inherit them, so when you both the inheritors and those that inherited reach the spiritual realm living and doing things in the spiritual realms those abilities will be common practice with you all.

And as for that statement " you must be saved and born again " this means you were into being long before the rulers of this world came into existence, you appeared in this world in their physical forms which is the bodied you have now, and was born as a physical being is born, first born a spiritual being then born again

"As " a physical being, and when you operate in your spiritual gifts, you are using your natural spiritual abilities in a physical body in a physical realm or physical world, ruling over both the dead and alive.

Realm travel

Do not confuse realm travel with out of the body travel, one, out of the body travel leads to torment, or to the places of the rulers of this world, this you will know in a short period of time.

Realm travel one goes back to the region of their birth and remembers all things, then sees oneself alive in both places and live in both places physical and spiritual realm, no longer leaving either but ruling in both, the more you see yourselves in the regions of your births the more you travel, in both places, here in this physical world and in the spiritual, you will soon appear physically in other places in this world, first in your neighborhood, then other cities, then states, and afterwards countries, and you be known there as you are known in your home you will see how simple it is,

These are the beginning stages of gnosis, knowing the difference between the spiritual beings from the physical these things will come in time, faster for some none attainable for others, learn the mystery of " being filled " and " being emptied " and why it is better to be emptied!

Again stand before the face of the eternal Saviour, and for Eternity stand before his face, for in him you see your for the eternal beings that you are.

Moses and Jesus John 1:17,18

Moses and Jesus John 1:17,18

John 1:17   Because, the law, through Moses, was given, favour and truth, through Jesus Christ, came into existence.
18  No one, hath seen, God, at any time: An Only Begotten God, The One existing within the bosom of the Father, He, hath interpreted him. (Rotherham's Emphasized Bible)

Some say (Jews,Ebionite and Christians) that it is legislation given by God the Father; others (Marcion Christians), taking the contrary course, maintain stubbornly that it was ordained by the opposite, the Devil who causes destruction, just as they attribute the fashioning of the world to him, saying that he is the Father and maker of this universe. Both are completely in error; they refute each other and neither has reached the truth of the matter.

Ptolemy begins by showing these two views are utterly in error

For it is evident that the Law was not ordained by the perfect God the Father, for it is secondary, being imperfect and in need of completion by another, containing commandments alien to the nature and thought of such a God. (Ptolemy's Letter to Flora)


First, you must learn that the entire Law contained in the Pentateuch of Moses was not ordained by one legislator - I mean, not by God alone, some commandments are Moses', and some were given by other men. The words of the Savior teach us this triple division. The first part must be attributed to God alone, and his legislation; the second to Moses - not in the sense that God legislates through him, but in the sense that Moses gave some legislation under the influence of his own ideas; and the third to the elders of the people, who seem to have ordained some commandments of their own at the beginning. You will now learn how the truth of this theory is proved by the words of the Savior.

In some discussion with those who dispute with the Savior about divorce, which was permitted in the Law, he said Because of your hard-heartedness Moses permitted a man to divorce his wife; from the beginning it was not so; for God made this marriage, and what the Lord joined together, man must not seperate. [Matt 19:8] In this way he shows there is a Law of God, which prohibits the divorce of a wife from a husband, and another law, that of Moses, which permits the breaking of this yoke because of hard-heartedness. In fact, Moses lays down legislation contrary to that of God; for joining is contrary to not joining.

The Savior also makes plain the fact that there are some traditions of the elders interwoven in the Law. For God,he says, Said, Honour your father and your mother, that it may be well with you, But you , he says addressing the elders, ...have declared as a gift to God, that by which you have nullified the Law of God through the tradition of your elders. Isaiah also proclaimed this, saying, This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, teaching precepts which are the commandments of men. [Matt 15:4-9].

Therefore it is obvious that the whole Law is divided into three parts; we find in it the legislation of Moses, of the elders, and of God himself. This division of the entire Law, as made by us, has brought to light what is true in it.

For if the Law was not ordained by the perfect God himself, as we have already thaught you, nor by the devil, a statement one cannot possibly make, the legislator must be some one other than these two. In fact, he is the demiurge and maker of this universe and everything in it; and because he is essentially different from these two and is between them, he is rightly given the name, intermediate. (Ptolemy's Letter to Flora)

 the demiurge is the intermediate just like the angels been the intermediary Galatians 3:19 

Moses and Angels

The Law was given through Moses by angles or the Elohim this can be seen from Stephen's speech in acts 7 and Moses’ testimony to his encounter with the Angel of Yahweh (Ex 3:16 Ex 14:19,20).    

Acts 7:53  Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it

The word "disposition" is the Gr. diatagas and signifies "ordinance." It has the idea of constitution or arranging. The NIV has "the law that was put into effect by angels," whereas the NEB has "the law as God's angels gave it to you." In receiving the Law, Moses did not see the great Uncreated and Eternal Spirit personally, but an angelic representative (Num. 12:8; Exo. 20:1; Gal. 3:19; Heb. 2:2; Acts 7:38). 

In the case of God's own Son, the circumstances were entirely different (Heb. 1:1 -2); he was elevated to become the medium of the divine will, described as the "Word made flesh" (Jn. 1:14).

Galatians 3:19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. (English Standard Version)

By Angles: See Exo 3:2; 23:20; Isa 63:9; cp Heb 2:2-4.

Exodus 3:2  And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

"And the angel of Yahweh appeared unto him" — The angel spoke in the name of Deity, and therefore can be identified with the angel referred to in ch. 23:20-23.

Examples of angels speaking in the name of God are found throughout the Word. A typical example is given in Judges 2:1. The angel of Yahweh visited Israel with the message: "I made you to go up out of Egypt." The work is there attributed to the angel, whilst elsewhere it is declared as being of Yahweh. In fact, the work of deliverance was effected by Yahweh through "His ministers," the angels as the Elohim (cp. Psa. 103:20-21; Heb. 1:14).


The Law is given by the angels it is called the word spoken by angels in hebrews 2:2 that is, by the ministration of angels.. the

5 ¶  For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, 

This age or world is subjected  meaning  controlled by the angels 

 Because Angels control world rulers, "principalities and powers" can refer both to them and the Angels behind them. 

The words, “No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.” (John 1:18), were spoken, not by the Baptist, but by the disciple. 

No one, hath seen, God, at any time Not even Moses (Exo 33:18,20).

Moses’ experience of seeing a veiled manifestation of the Glory of God whilst he was hidden in a cleft of the rock (Ex. 33:22). “No man hath seen (and goes on seeing) God at any time”, not even Moses/ for the theophany he beheld was specifically limited (v.22, 23). When the covenant was made at Sinai a theophany was not only heard but also seen (Ex. 24:10,11);

 An Only Begotten God, The One existing within the bosom of the Father, He, hath interpreted him

 led him forth, i.e. into full revelation.

(Matthew 11:27) All things have been delivered to me by my Father, and no one fully knows the Son but the Father, neither does anyone fully know the Father but the Son and anyone to whom the Son is willing to reveal him.

"Exegeomai": to declare, interpret (cp English "exegesis"). In this final verse of the prologue is the climactic and ultimate statement of the career of the Logos, "the Word of God made flesh", Jesus of Nazareth. His whole life, all his teachings, and at last and especially his death and resurrection and ascension to heaven, all "expound" or "interpret" his heavenly Father.

This verse proves that, Jesus had a knowledge of God above that which any of the ancient prophets had, and that the fullest revelations of his character are to be expected in the gospel. By his Word and Spirit he can enlighten and guide us, and lead us to the true knowledge of God; and there is no true and full knowledge of God which is not obtained through his Son. Comp. #Joh 14:6 1Jo 2:22,23. 

God cannot be understood in his completeness by outer consciousness. The indwelling Word, the Christ, God's spiritual idea, declares God and makes him manifest to outer consciousness by redeeming the life and substance of the body and raising it to spiritual glory.

John 1:18 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him

Verse 18: No man hath seen the Creator at any time. "God" meaning "elohim" refers to angels. See Exod# 33. 11, 20. The showing of YHWH to Moses was the showing of a highly placed angel, typifying that the people would see the manifestation of God in Jesus.

The Book of Tobit

The book of Tobit has all the outer trappings of a historical account however the book is best understood as an allegorical story. The story is intended to edify and to inspire faith in God

the author of Tobit uses Job as a model for Tobit  the two persons are both men of outstandingly good deeds and rightousness who thought they suffered and were tested job 1:6-2:10 Tobit 12:14 did not loss their faith job 31:37 Tobit 3:2-6  and ultimately were rewarded with even greater blessings job 42:10-16 Tobit 14:1-2

the moral sense of the book of tobit is that God answers our prayers

Tobit is a symbol of Israel's blindness 1enoch 93:8
Tobias is a symbol of redeemed Israel
Raphael is a symbol of God redeeming Israel
Sarah is a symbol of the nation of Israel in exile
Asmodeus – ruler of lust,the demon is an aspect of the misfortunes of Israel in exile in a gentile land
the demon is also a symbol of the fallen priesthood

Tobiah's marriage to Sarah can be taken as an allegory of Christ's mystical marriage to His Bride the Church. 

Just as Tobiah's marriage was made possible by the exorcism of a demon, Christ's marriage to the Church was made possible through the defeat of the Devil.

 Just as Christ's resurrection from the dead took place at the conclusion of the seventh day of the week-i.e., the ``eighth'' day-so Tobiah was the eighth husband of Sarah.

Christians who were used to symbolising Jesus as a fish would naturally see the fish of the Book of Tobit as a type of Christ. Just as Christ healed the sick and cast out demons, so it was the miraculous medicinal powers of the fish's organs that made possible the exorcism of Asmodeus and the healing of Tobit's blindness. 

The blindness and poverty of Tobit would represent Adam's bondage to sin and death, so Tobiah's healing of his father is like Christ's spiritual healing of Adam's sin. 

Hannah's grief at the departure of her only son Tobiah also reminds us of Mary's grief at the suffering and death of her son Jesus (Luke 2:34-35).

Again, the Sadducees' rhetorical example of a woman with seven husbands (Matt. 22:23-28) might be an oblique reference to Sarah,

the demon was "bound up by the angel" (ch.8:3)
neither the liver nor the heart or the bile of the fish per se were the objects that cured and drove out the demon, but were merely SYMBOLIC means, through which God performed the miraculous cure of Tobit, and the expulsion of the demon.  

The Parable of the Fallen Watchers 1Enoch

The parable of the fallen Watchers

The words of the blessing of Enoch, wherewith he blessed the elect ⌈and⌉ righteous, who will be living in the day of tribulation, when all the wicked ⌈and godless⌉ are to be removed. 2. And he took up his parable and said--Enoch a righteous man, whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, ⌈which⌉ the angels showed me, and from them I heard everything, and from them I understood as I saw, but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come. 
3. Concerning the elect I said, and took up my parable concerning them but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come. (in the Last Days)."

The Last Days

1Enoch 1:3. Concerning the elect I said, and took up my parable concerning them but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come.

(The generation "to come" that Enoch alludes to in Verse 3 above is the generation from "200 BC to 135 AD,

you will remember that God said to Abraham that after 400 years He would deliver Israel, "...in the fourth generation." A generation in the Bible is normally 40 years long. However, here a generation is 100 years (4 x 100 = 400 years).

The Book of Enoch is not a record of the pre-flood history of the world it is an apocalyptic record about the last days of the Jewish people

The writers of the apocalyptic books glances at the contemporary history of the world around him, to which many a cryptic reference is made. However, these references are only made with a view to comforting the oppressed and affected with the thought that even the mightiest of earthly powers are shortly to be overthrown by the advent of the new and glorious era. So that every reference to the present is merely a position taken up from which to point to the future

The Book of Enoch should first be understood as history allegorized which is the nature of apocalyptic literature. Secondly it can be understood as a prophecy of the End Times therefore we can read again

but not for this generation, but for a remote one which is for to come. (in the Last Days)."] (The generation "to come" that Enoch alludes to in Verse 3. above is the generation from the Maccabean Revolt till the time of King Herod the Great, not our Generation.


“‘And in the last days,’ God says, ‘I shall pour out some of my spirit upon every sort of flesh . . . And I will give signs in heaven above and signs on earth below, blood and fire and smoke mist; the sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great day of the Lord arrives.’” (Ac 2:16-20)

In this case “the last days” preceded “the great day of the Lord” which “day” apparently brought “the last days” to their conclusion. (Compare Zep 1:14-18; Mal 4:5; Mt 11:13, 14;)

Since Peter addressed natural Jews and Jewish converts, his words must have had particular reference to them and evidently indicated that they were living in “the last days” of the then-existing Jewish system of things with its center of worship at Jerusalem.

Parable

And he took up his parable and said....Concerning the elect I said, and took up my parable concerning them

The parable is concerning the Elect on the subject of or in connection with; the Elect it is about them and meant for them alone

what does parable mean?

a simple story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson,

English “proverb” or “parable.”

A “proverb” embodies a truth in expressive language, often metaphorically, and a “parable” is a comparison or similitude, a short, usually fictitious, story from which a moral or spiritual truth is drawn.

"And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the demons casteth he out demons. And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?" (Mark 3: 22, 23).’

The Book of Enoch should be understood in the same way we would understand the book of Revelation

Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, to show to his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John: (Revelation 1:1 AVKJ) 

"Signified it." That is, revealed it by many signs and symbols which he deems to be comprehensible and enlightening to the " bondservants " as to " scribes instructed unto the kingdom of heaven " (Matt. 13:52), who bring out of their treasures (the Scriptures) things new and old. "

He indicated them by sign:

A revelation by Jesus Christ, which God gave him, to show his slaves the things that must shortly take place. And he sent his angel and presented it in signs through him to his slave John (Revelation 1:1 NWT)

"It was not sent in plain form, but in an enigma or sign form. To 'signify' is to represent by sign or symbol. That this is what is meant by the use of the verb 'signify' in this case is shown conclusively by what John saw and heard. He saw certain things which he describes, and concerning these he is repeatedly informed that the mystery or meaning of what he saw was this and that

The same method of imparting knowledge was delivered to the prophets —Hos. 12:10.

The Story of the fallen Watchers in the Book of Enoch should be understood as a parable a revelation or apocalypse given in signs and symbols it should not be interpreted literally

the relationship in the story between cosmos and society is analogical the myth is a allegory the myth reflects a certain attitude toward society the hidden meaning

Thus the Book of Enoch is an allegory or parable about the events leading up to the Maccabean Revolt till the time of King Herod the Great

14 King Antiochus had gone to the temple with some of his most trusted advisers, so that he might marry the goddess and then take away most of the temple treasures as a wedding gift. 15 After the priests had laid out the treasure, he and a few of his men went into the temple to collect it. But the priests closed the doors behind him 16 and stoned him and his men from trap doors hidden in the ceiling. Then they cut up the bodies and threw the heads to the people outside. 17 Praise God for punishing those evil men! Praise him for everything!

The Watchers

woch’-er (Aramaic ‘ir, "wakeful one"): In Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Da 4:13,17,23 (MT 10,14,20)) a messenger who with "a holy one" descended from heaven, they having joint authority to issue decrees. In the apocryphal literature the doctrine of the "watchers" is much elaborated. In Jubilees they are regarded as angels sent to instruct mankind in righteousness. In Enoch they sometimes appear as archangels and at other times as fallen angels. In the latter condition only we find them in the Book of Adam and Eve. The place of descent was according to Enoch 6:6 the summit of Mt. Hermon.

Daniel 4:17  This matter [is] by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

13 “‘I continued beholding in the visions of my head upon my bed, and, look! a watcher, and a holy one, coming down from the heavens themselves. 



Jer 4:16  Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, [that] watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

When it comes to the account of the fallen angels we should not understand this literally but has an allegory of corruption within the Jewish Priesthood The priests who, similar to the sons of God in Genesis 6, violated the boundaries of the cultural purity by marrying non-Israelite women

Therefore the language about the fallen Watchers and the angels approaching God indicates that some of the angels are understood to be priests in Enoch 10:11 in which God accuses the watchers of defiling themselves with women in their uncleanness should be understood as marrying non-Israelite women

The fallen angels who commit fornication should be understood as criticism against the Jerusalem priesthood

the text is concerned with purity of the angels themselves and the pollution of their bodies that results from taking human wives the effects of the angels actions on the human race is secondry

the angels have defiled themselves through contact with women 10:9-117:1 9:8

the  incongruity of marriages of angels and women is underlined by 1 en 15:4-12 which claims that spirits are immortal and therefore have no need of women while men are mortal and therefore need wives "so that nothing should be lacking for them on earth 15:5"

God's Face and the Creation of Humans 2 Enoch 44

God's Face and the Creation of Humans in 2 Enoch

According to Genesis, humans are created in the image of God. 2 Enoch takes this idea and likens God's face to the human face, which is God's image, and which should not be treated with contempt.

Chapter 30:10 On the sixth day I commanded my wisdom to create man from seven consistencies: one, his flesh from the earth; two, his blood from the dew; three, his eyes from the sun; four, his bones from stone; five, his intelligence from the swiftness of the angels and from cloud; six, his veins and his hair from the grass of the earth; seven, his soul from my breath and from the wind.

11And I gave him seven natures: to the flesh hearing, the eyes for sight, to the soul smell, the veins for touch, the blood for taste, the bones for endurance, to the intelligence sweetness [enjoyment].

12I conceived a cunning saying to say, I created man from invisible and from visible nature, of both are his death and life and image, he knows speech like some created thing, small in greatness and again great in smallness, and I placed him on earth, a second angel, honourable, great and glorious, and I appointed him as ruler to rule on earth and to have my wisdom, and there was none like him of earth of all my existing creatures.

13And I appointed him a name, from the four component parts, from east, from west, from south, from north, and I appointed for him four special stars, and I called his name Adam, and showed him the two ways, the light and the darkness, and I told him:

14This is good, and that bad, that I should learn whether he has love towards me, or hatred, that it be clear which in his race love me.

15For I have seen his nature, but he has not seen his own nature, therefore through not seeing he will sin worse, and I said After sin what is there but death?

In this respect another, even more striking parallel between the account of creation in 2 Enoch 30 and the Gnostic materials should be mentioned. In the longer recension44 of 2 Enoch 30.8 the deity commanded his Wisdom45 to create man out the seven components.46 Scholars have previously noted the parallels between this role of Wisdom (Gk. Sophia) in the creation of the first human in the Slavonic apocalypse and the Gnostic texts.47 Some scholars even suggested that the Sophia tradition in 2 Enoch 30 might be an early Jewish prototype of the later Gnostic developments.48

Enoch instructs his sons, that they might not insult the face of any person, small or great

2 Enoch 44:1 The Lord with his hands having created man, in the likeness of his own face, the Lord made him small and great.
2 Enoch 44:2 Whoever insults a person's face insults the face of the Lord;... Whoever treats with contempt the face of any person treats the face of the Lord with contempt.

In this passage, 2 Enoch likens the human face to the divine face, vers 1; reminds us of Gen 1:27 it has similar wording

44:1 The Lord with his hands having created man, in the likeness of his own face, the Lord made him small and great.

Gen 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

"in the image of God" That is, in the image of the Elohim whom the Father used in the work of creation. Man is In the Image And Likeness Of The Elohim, or angels . The word image means a shadow, or a likeness. The word is reproduced in Daniel 2 in relation to the image, and thus relates to form or appearance.

Genesis 5:3 states that "Adam begat a son in his likeness after his image" which illustrates its use here.

Man was made "in the image" of the Elohim, and inasmuch as they are "sons of God," the image is divine (though the nature of man is not).

Of the Lord Jesus Christ also, we read that he is "the exact representation of his (God's) very being" (Heb. 1:3). Yahweh has corporeal existence in heaven.

"While image, then, hath reference to form or shape, 'likeness' hath regard to mental constitution, or capacity... Adam's mental capacity enabled him to comprehend and receive spiritual ideas

But whereas Adam was made in "the image and likeness of the Elohim," the descendants of Adam inherit the consequences of the Fall. Seth was "in the likeness after the image" of Adam (Gen. 5:3), and not that of God.

Therefore, since the Fall it has been impossible for man to reflect the divine excellence in its fullness, and this has required the formation of a New Man who should exactly reveal the divine image and likeness. This Christ accomplished by conquering the flesh (Rom. 1:3; Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:15).

Man is a facsimile of god that is of god's visible face
any disrespect for any human being is to disrespect  God himself

2 Enoch 44:2 Whoever insults a person's face insults the face of the Lord; ....Whoever treats with contempt the face of any person treats the face of the Lord with contempt.

James 3:8 But the tongue, not one of mankind can get it tamed. An unruly injurious thing, it is full of death-dealing poison. 9 With it we bless God, even [the] Father, and yet with it we curse men who have come into existence “in the likeness of God


And now, my children, it is not from my own lips that I am reporting to you today, but from the lips of the Lord who has sent me to you. As for you, you hear my words, out of my lips, a human being created equal to yourselves; but I, I have heard the words from the fiery lips of the Lord. For the lips of the Lord are a furnace of fire, and his words are the fiery flames which come out. You, my children, you see my face, a human being created just like yourselves; I, I am one who has seen the face of the Lord, like iron made burning hot by fire, emitting sparks. For you gaze into (my) eyes, a human being created just like yourselves; but I have gazed into the eyes of the Lord, like the rays of the shining sun and terrifying the eyes of a human being.