Are demons fallen angels or the spirits of dead nephilim per Heiser?

Are demons fallen angels or the spirits of dead nephilim per Heiser? And what are the sons of god?

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[lukecox]

I personally favour Dr. Michael Heiser's view, but i respect your take and appreciate the info on how "Sons of (X)" can be used in a priestly context. Thank you for your continued insightful videos!

[TheNerdyBrew]

I would love to see an entire video on this

[Thehaystack]

I always considered them like Pre-Flood priest kings, like David. Which fell and broke their covenants with God, and used their position and knowledge to grow their own kingdoms. Kind of poetic with David slaying Goliath then being a fallen prophet king, if that is true. Would that be a chiasmus structure?

[Thehaystack]

I like what you say here, it tends to make me look at the Noah story in a more practical sense.

[louiselimb]

2 Peter 2:4-5. If the fallen Angels are chained in gloomy darkness, does that not mean that demons are something other than those fallen angels?

[rockytopbritt]

Hey, I think this was my question. I pretty much hold your view that demons are by and large fallen angles. That said I don't completely dismiss the idea that some evil spirits could be the spirits of very evil people who died like the nephilim. But I prefer to stick to what we know with certainty from the scriptures that there are hosts of heaven hostile to God and His people.

[Konxovar]

The dead Nephilim interpretation of demons seems unlikely to me. For one thing Jesus doesn’t seem to mean that demons are Satan’s angels in the way of being his representatives or messengers, but that they are Satan’s angels in that they are angels that belong to and are under the rule of Satan. Even if this isn’t explicitly the case, Paul often states that the powers and principalities, the gods of other nations mentioned in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 17:17, Deuteronomy 32:17, Psalm 106:37), are evil beings. This is evident in: Colossians 2:15, Ephesians 2:16, 1 Corinthians 10:19-21 (in a passage related to Deuteronomy 32), and other passages. These powers are yet still under the control of Satan. Satan is always spoken of by the Lord Jesus as being over the demons. This implies they and the demons are the same kind of being, especially since Jesus chose to use the same word used to translate shedim in the Old Testament to describe the kind of being which possessed people, without qualifying He meant a different kind of being. These cannot be the spirits of dead Nephilim, since according to this view Nephilim are the result of these very beings having children by human women, and if they were Nephilim the word “nephilim” would have been used instead of “shedim” by Moses. And since it is impossible God created these beings evil, they must have turned away from the true goal of their appointed task. Since Paul says that “neither angels nor rulers, ” will be able to separate us from the love of God, in a list which pairs together related entities, these rulers, which are heavily associated with demons, are also paired together as an alternative being to angels. Whatever these things are, that possess people and drive evil in the world, they are alternatives to angels as depth is alternative to height. That along with the fact that they cannot have been created evil must mean that these beings either once were themselves or were something very similar to angels. These things, along with the fact that Jesus did call them “angels” seriously implies that demons are fallen angels. There’s no reason to believe that Satan is a different class of being than them in any way except being more powerful and hierarchically above them, so it’s likely Satan was once an angel as well. In sum, I believe the fallen angel interpretation Christians have traditionally held is completely justified.

[josephbrown]

I favor Dr. Heiser's view for three reasons. My first is the use of rapha/rephaim in the Bible. This word is used to refer both to the Nephilim and to dead spirits. There's also how in Canaanite literature rapha/rephaim refers to the spirits of dead kings. My second reason is like Dr. Heiser I find Dr. Amar Annus's work on connections between the Mesopotamian apkallu and the Watchers/heavenly beings who slept with human women to be very compelling. My third reason is the question of who are the angels locked in chains of darkness who left their first estate in the New Testament and what did they do that required such punishment if it wasn't for breaking boundaries, taking on fleshly bodies, and sleeping with human women. Do you have a counter to these? I am willing to hear you out.

[davidjanbaz]

I like Heiser's view as it solves the judgment of God on the evil 24/7 of the people including children and infants from a corruption of their nature.
Thus resulting in the Large Regional flood of Noah to get rid of these models of the Greek And Roman gods.
But I don't disagree that your view isn't also possible!

[shahatoaga]

Heiser says Nephilim are the offspring of fallen angels and mortal women...not spirits.

[frogpaste]

To be fair, isn't this largely just conjecture? We can't point to any contemporary text that says, 'the Nephilim are such and such.' Anything we have that defines the Nephilim comes centuries after the Torah was written from people who were, themselves, offering conjecture, even boldly so.

Or am I missing something? Lately I've taken a very laid-back view of demons and angels because it just seems it's 90% conjecture or, in cases like Ezekiel and Isaiah, interpretation.

[rfnecio]

Is this interpretation of "Sons of God" also applicable in Job 38

4Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

5Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

6Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;

7When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

[alonzowitt]

The word is Bene ha elohim, the same word used in Job 1;2 chapter and other places and refers to the angels....

[lustralustra]

Demon is an aura of mental power, it causes trancemutation and an immortal point mutation. Everbody can develop his own spirit by meditating through pain. Accepting the pain is immortality....

[ironpt]

Yeah I believed the Sons of God were Angels way before I listened to Dr Heiser. But his work just gave way more evidence. I don't see any other view of demons making any sense or having any real evidence

[xpertdiate]

Angels are made to do God works and will never disobey God. Demon are actually Jinn that are made from fire. So if you see a ghost or something supernatural evil that is Jinn.

[dadkingcoffey]

You should spend more time with Hiser

[wkrapek]

Ah. But in Genesis 6 Moses doesn’t call them the “Sons of God.” He calls them the “sons of *the gods.*”

:-)

[Zomfoo]

So human priests impregnated human women and their offspring were giants? It doesn’t even work if you translate Nephilim as fallen ones. Why would such a union produce mighty men, men of old, men of renown? It doesn’t hold up.

[sportscardchannel]

Fallen Angels are like Zeus, Posidon, and there kids like Hercules, and where do they live mount Hermon.