In the realm of the Nephilim

Most of Dr Michael S Heiser's book “The Unseen Realm” is available for free on Kindle, if you click on the free sample button. I first heard about Dr Heiser a few years ago when I read a number of peculiar novels about fallen angels and Nephilim, one of which was authored by him. On one of Heiser's websites, he took apart New Age cultist Zecharia Sitchin's foolish speculations about aliens and UFOs in ancient Sumer. Apparently, Heiser is something as unusual as a Biblical scholar doubling as a UFO-logist! He is also a Christian, although his denominational affiliation isn't at all clear. Not-so-mainline Protestant?

As another reviewer have already pointed out, “The Unseen Realm” is not a how-to guide about how to contact angels or spirits (nor the Nephilim), apparently a frequent misunderstanding. Rather, it's a somewhat dry and tedious theological work. That being said, its contents might rock a few boats. Heiser attempts to place the Bible in the context of its own time, which includes an uncompromising supernatural worldview. Mainline Christians uneasy about references to demons and giants, or anthropomorphic descriptions of God, will find little comfort here. Many “fundamentalists” won't like the book either, since Heiser occasionally references the apocryphal First Book of Enoch. While Heiser's theology isn't identical with Margaret Barker's, I don't think it’s a complete coincidence that Amazon has paired “The Unseen Realm” with Barker's works. Some parallels to the Mormon faith can also be discerned.

Heiser argues that the ancient Israelites believed in two versions of Yahweh, one invisible and the other appearing in the form of an angel or a human. Human encounters with an angelomorphic or anthropomorphic version of God should be seen as descriptions of literal events, not clever metaphors. The second Yahweh had the divine essence of the first Yahweh, and was therefore both separate and identical with him. The second Yahweh later incarnated as Jesus. God rules the world together with a council of “sons of God”, who are created supernatural beings, a kind of archangels. The original plan of God was to have a second council headed by Adam ruling directly over the Earth. This plan failed when Adam fell, but at the fullness of time, Christ will restore part of fallen humanity, turn humans into “sons of God” and make them co-rulers with Jesus in a restored Eden, even judging angels.

The temple at Jerusalem was a symbolic picture of the cosmos, and a large part of the book deals with its sacred symbolism and Israel's “sacred geography” in general. Another substantial portion of Heiser's book deals with the Watchers and the Nephilim. Heiser believes that the infamous Biblical verses about the “sons of God” begetting offspring with “the daughters of men” either refers to fallen angels mating with human females (the view of 1 Enoch), or to some other supernatural process by which demonic beings can influence the natural procreation of humans. He rejects the more common interpretation, that the “sons of God” were the male descendants of Seth who unlawfully married the daughters of Cain. The Nephilim didn't just exist before the Flood. They were commonly found in Canaan in Biblical times. Indeed, the Israelite conquest of Canaan, with its attendant genocide of the native population, was actually a holy war directed at the Nephilim (now known as Anakim). Since Nephilim turn into disembodied demons when killed, all of Israel's history can be seen as a struggle between Yahweh and the Watchers. As a side point, Heiser claims that Eden was a perfect place in an otherwise imperfect world, and that the Flood may have been local.

“The Unseen Realm” is a Christian theological tract, and hence blends scholarship (including frequent references to Ugaritic and Mesopotamian material) with ideas that secular scholars would consider pretty fringey, such as the notion that the Hebrew scriptures really are fulfilled by Jesus Christ. That being said, I think Heiser's work is interesting, especially when placed alongside Barker's books on the Temple and the Great Angel. It does explain many peculiar or difficult Bible passages. Of course, alternative interpretations are always possible, but I think Heiser at least deserves a hearing. Incidentally, this book does *not* deal with the UFO phenomenon. Those interested in that part of Dr Michael S Heiser's work should consult the author's websites.