The Fallen Angels
"Fallen Angel", by Julia Kaye
While most people have heard the term fallen angel, few know where it comes from, because it cannot be found in the bible directly. The origin of the term lies in the Hebrew word for giants in this verse:
Genesis 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
The Hebrew word translated as giants here is Nephilim, a plural, which itself derives from the root word Naphal, which means to fall. Further, in Ezekiel, the same Hebrew word, Naphal, is translated as "fallen":
Ezekiel 32:27 And they shall not lie with the mighty that are fallen of the uncircumcised, which are gone down to hell with their weapons of war: and they have laid their swords under their heads, but their iniquities shall be upon their bones, though they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
The Book of Enoch explains that a group of rebellious angels—referred to above as the sons of God—"left their first estate" (heaven, or the sky) and came down (fell) to Earth to marry human women and have children with them. Jude makes mention of these angels in the New Testament:
Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Due to the disasterous results of this forbidden intermingling, as detailed in the Book of Enoch, many have come to view the word fallen as denoting a fall from grace, though it seems clear that the original meaning was simply to descend from the heavens.
How can angels have sex?
Most of us have been misled by TV and movies to think of angels as spirits, not flesh and blood, so the question naturally arises: how could angels take human wives, have sex with them, and get them pregnant? But the fact is, the bible doesn't describe angels as spirits. Rather, they are described as flesh and blood beings, who ate and washed their feet:
Genesis 18:1-8 And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My LORD, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said. And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
And even wrestled with men:
Genesis 32:24-30 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
So who are these beings anyway? Where do they come from? Where are they now? The bible says that some of them left their "first estate". Where is that? Given everything we are learning about extraterrestrials today, I think an answer may come soon.
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