Reversing Hermon: Enoch, the Watchers, and the Forgotten Mission of Jesus Christ

by Michael S. Heiser

Publisher:

Lexham Press

, 2017

Reversing Hermon

Reversing Hermon is a groundbreaking work. It unveils what most in the modern Church have never heard regarding how the story of the sin of the Watchers in 1 Enoch 6-16 helped frame the mission of Jesus, the messiah. Jews of the first century expected the messiah to reverse the impact of the Watchers’ transgression. For Jews of Jesus’ day, the Watchers were part of the explanation for why the world was so profoundly depraved. The messiah would not just revoke the claim of Satan on human souls and estrangement from God, solving the predicament of the Fall. He would also bring the nations back into relationship with the true God by defeating the principalities and powers that governed them. Jews also believed that the messiah would rescue humanity from self-destruction, the catalyst for which was the sin of the Watchers and the influence of what they had taught humankind. The role of Enoch’s retelling of Genesis 6:1-4 in how New Testament writers wrote of Jesus and the cross has been largely lost to a modern audience. Reversing Hermon rectifies that situation.

Topics include:

• Understanding Genesis 6:1-4 and the sin of the Watchers in their original context: how the ancient Mesopotamian story of the apkallu aligns with Genesis 6:1-4 was preserved in 1 Enoch and sets the stage for the theme of reversing the evil of the Watchers
• How the theme of reversing the transgression of the Watchers colors the gospel accounts of the birth of Jesus, his genealogy, and his ministry
• How the writings of Peter and Paul allude to the sin of the Watchers and present Jesus as overturning the disastrous effects of their sins against humanity
• How the descriptions of the antichrist, the end-times Day of the Lord, and the final judgment connect to Genesis 6 and the nephilim

Though every topic addressed in Reversing Hermon can be found in scholarly academic literature, Reversing Hermon is the first book to gather this information and make it accessible to Bible students everywhere. The book also includes lengthy appendices on the ancient debate on the inspiration of the book of 1 Enoch, New Testament allusions to the book, and academic resources for studying 1 Enoch and the Book of Giants from the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Contents

• Part 1: Genesis 6:1-4 in Its Original Ancient Contexts
  • The Sons of God and the Nephilim: Taking Genesis 6:1-4 Seriously
  • The Sin of the Watchers in 1 Enoch and Other Enochian Texts
  • The Mesopotamian Apkallu, the Watchers, and the Nephilim
• Part 2: Reversing Hermon in the Gospels
  • The Sin of the Watchers and the Birth of Jesus
  • The Sin of the Watchers and the Genealogy of Jesus
  • The Sin of the Watchers and the Ministry of Jesus
• Part 3: Reversing Hermon in the Epistles
  • The Sin of the Watchers and Human Depravity
  • The Sin of the Watchers and the Head Covering of 1 Corinthians 11
  • The Sin of the Watchers and Baptism
• Part 4: Reversing Hermon in the Book of Revelation
  • The Sin of the Watchers, the Nephilim, and the Antichrist
  • The Sin of the Watchers and the Apocalypse
  • Conclusion

Top Highlights

“Why is this noteworthy? Because Jewish tradition took this chronology to mean that Noah’s birthday was Tishri 1. This is the same day as the birth of the Messiah, Jesus, if we take Revelation 12 as indicating the celestial signs present at his birth. A messiah born on Tishri 1 would inevitably have created mental and theological associations between Noah and Jesus.” (Page 69)

“Rather, the reason Genesis 6:1–4 is in the Bible is because the writer sought to target the deeply held religious beliefs of Mesopotamia and, most pointedly, the myth of Babylonian superiority.” (Page 49)

“The text does not say angels cannot have sexual intercourse; it says they don’t.” (Page 18)

“Why are there four women, possibly all Gentiles, in the bloodline of Jesus?^{132” (Page 71)}

“These parallels show that the Genesis passage was written as a theological polemic—a refutation of Mesopotamian religious interpretation of pre- and post-Flood events.” (Page 7)

Product Details

• Title: Reversing Hermon: Enoch, the Watchers, and the Forgotten Mission of Jesus Christ
• Author: Michael S. Heiser
• Publisher: Lexham Press
• Publication Date: 2017
• Pages: 326
• Format: Logos Digital

About Michael S. Heiser

Dr. Michael S. Heiser was a former Scholar-in-Residence for Faithlife Corporation, the makers of Logos Bible Software. He then served as the Executive Director of the Awakening School of Theology and Ministry. His varied academic background enabled him to operate in the realm of critical scholarship and the wider Christian community. His experience in teaching at the undergraduate level and writing for the layperson both directly contributed to Logos’ goal of adapting scholarly tools for nonspecialists.

Dr. Heiser earned his PhD in Hebrew Bible and Semitic languages and holds an MA in ancient history and Hebrew studies. He was the coeditor of Old Testament Greek Pseudepigrapha with Morphology and Semitic Inscriptions: Analyzed Texts and English Translations, and he was able to do translation work in roughly a dozen ancient languages, including Biblical Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Ugaritic cuneiform. He specialized in Israelite religion (especially Israel’s divine council), contextualizing biblical theology with Israelite and ancient Near Eastern religion, Jewish binitarianism, biblical languages, ancient Semitic languages, textual criticism, comparative philology, and Second Temple period Jewish literature. In 2007 he was named the Pacific Northwest Regional Scholar by the Society of Biblical Literature.