“When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. … The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
— Genesis 6:1–2, 4–5 (ESV)
Just imagine how dark and corrupted the world must have been in Noah’s day. It wasn’t only social decay or human violence. Scripture reveals a supernatural rebellion that blurred the boundaries between heaven and earth. Spiritual beings, called the sons of God (the Hebrew could also be translated as “sons of the gods”), crossed a line that God himself had set. They took human women for themselves and produced hybrid offspring: the Nephilim.
This was no ordinary sin. It was a direct assault on God’s creative order and on the very image of God in humanity. The heavenly beings sought to create their own image-bearers on earth – a rival race to God’s divine–human partnership.
A Deeper Fall Than Eden
In Jewish thought, the rebellion of Genesis 6 was considered even more catastrophic than the sin of Adam and Eve. While Genesis 3 introduced death and exile from Eden, Genesis 6 describes a corruption that reached cosmic proportions.
This was more than disobedience;
it was the attempt to rewrite creation itself.
A key interpretive text from the Second Temple period — 1 Enoch, especially the “Book of the Watchers” (chapters 6–16) — expands on this story. According to 1 Enoch, the Watchers were heavenly beings appointed to oversee humanity, but they rebelled by descending to earth, taking human wives, and fathering the Nephilim. They also taught forbidden knowledge—weapon-making, sorcery, astrology, and seductive arts—that led to moral and spiritual corruption across the earth. This was more than disobedience; it was the attempt to rewrite creation itself.
By revealing divine secrets meant to remain hidden, the Watchers repeated the lie of the serpent — “you will be like God” — but on a global scale. Violence, immorality, and idolatry filled the world. God’s response was decisive: the Flood would cleanse creation, and the rebellious Watchers were bound in the abyss until the final day of judgment.
(Scholarly note: Scholars such as Michael Heiser (The Unseen Realm, 2015) and John J. Collins (The Apocalyptic Imagination, 2016) show that 1 Enoch reflects a widespread Jewish interpretation of Genesis 6 in the centuries before Christ. This worldview shaped how New Testament writers understood evil, judgment, and redemption.)
Echoes in the New Testament
The apostles were well aware of this tradition. Both Jude 6–7 and 2 Peter 2:4–5 describe angels who “did not stay within their own position of authority” and are now imprisoned until judgment—an unmistakable echo of the Watchers’ rebellion. Jude even quotes 1 Enoch 1:9 almost word for word in verses 14–15, treating Enoch as a prophetic witness of divine judgment.
“It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’”
Jude 14–15 (ESV)
“And behold! He comes with ten thousands of His holy ones to execute judgment upon them and destroy the wicked, and to convict all flesh of all the works of their ungodliness which they have committed, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
1 Enoch 1:9
The resemblance is striking. Jude presents Enoch as a genuine prophet who foresaw the Lord’s coming in judgment. This doesn’t necessarily mean 1 Enoch was universally recognized as canonical Scripture, but it clearly shows that the apostles drew upon its imagery and theology to frame their understanding of divine justice and the coming Day of the Lord.
Throughout the New Testament we hear the same resonance. Paul warns that our struggle is not “against flesh and blood” but against “principalities and powers” in the heavenly realms (Eph. 6:12). Peter speaks of Christ proclaiming victory to “the spirits in prison” (1 Pet. 3:19–20). Revelation’s visions of fallen stars, demonic forces, and divine retribution draw on the same ancient imagery of heavenly rebellion and ultimate restoration.
While later Christian tradition in the West did not include 1 Enoch in its canon, the situation was different in other parts of the world. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church — whose biblical canon reflects some of the oldest surviving Christian traditions — has preserved 1 Enoch as sacred Scripture for more than sixteen centuries. This enduring inclusion testifies to how deeply rooted the book was in early Jewish and Christian faith, particularly in regions where Semitic languages and traditions continued unbroken from antiquity.
It is also not clear that the New Testament writers themselves drew hard distinctions between “canonical” and “non-canonical” texts as later generations did. Jude’s citation of 1 Enoch 1:9 suggests that he regarded it as a genuine prophetic witness. In the first century, Jewish and early Christian communities still operated with a broader, more fluid sense of sacred literature. The apostles engaged 1 Enoch’s themes not as peripheral speculation but as part of the worldview they inherited: evil is real, spiritual, and rebellious—but its defeat is certain through Messiah.
As It Was in the Days of Noah
Jesus himself warned, “As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man” (Matt.24:37). Our generation, too, mirrors that ancient pattern. We live in a world that is increasingly defiant toward its Creator, blurring the boundaries between human and divine, truth and deception.
The same King who once cleansed the world by water
will soon restore it by fire and glory.
The Day of YHWH is coming — suddenly, as the Flood once came upon the ancient world. On that day the Messiah will return to judge the living and the dead. Those aligned with the spirit of the Antichrist will face judgment. Those who walk in covenant loyalty to the God of Israel will enter into the Messianic Kingdom of the Lord Jesus, who will be leading all of creation to the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21). The same King who once cleansed the world by water will soon restore it by fire and glory.
A Call to Stand Firm
The story of the Watchers is more than an ancient myth — it’s a mirror for our time. The powers of darkness still seek to corrupt humanity’s image and distort our calling. But in Jesus, who is the true and faithful Son of God as opposed to the rebellious “sons of God” in Genesis 6:2, the heavens and the earth are being reconciled.
Let us live alert, holy, and faithful — not in fear, but in hope. For the earth will one day be filled with the knowledge of the glory of YHWH as the waters cover the sea (Hab.2:14).
Featured image is from Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
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