by Brian Godawa
Simon was about to tie it together and make his theological point when he was interrupted by the sound of a mighty rushing wind from heaven.
People exclaimed with fright as they saw tongues of supernatural fire rest upon each of them. Fear turned to awe when they saw that the fire did not injure their bodies or consume them. Awe turned to joy. And then to laughter.
They began to talk amongst themselves. But something even stranger had happened. They now each spoke in foreign languages unknown to them. Simon recognized some of them; Latin, Persian, Egyptian. But these were not known languages to these common folk who spoke them.
It dawned on Simon what was happening. He gestured for everyone to move out into the streets.
Peter led them across the street to the Great Arch, the stairway up to the southern gates of the Temple. He encouraged the followers to speak of the mighty works of God to those passing by. They spread out so as not to sound like a cacophony of confusion.
Simon realized that Yahweh was undoing Babel. He was reversing the curse. He had filled his new emissaries with the Holy Spirit and was using the tongues of nations to unify a new humanity, not in wickedness and violence, but in Messiah and his Spirit.
So this is how Yahweh would bring in the nations.
Simon saw Jews from every part of the diaspora, the Great Dispersion, stopping and listening all over the street. They were astonished to hear Galileans telling them of the mighty works of God in their own tongues. They were from Parthia and Media, from Elam and all over Mesopotamia. Judea, Asia, Egypt and Rome. Simon wouldn’t be surprised if all seventy of the nations were represented here at this festival of pilgrimage.
Not all pilgrims were impressed. There were mockers as well. One of them yelled out like a horn, “These men are drunk on new wine!”
People laughed in the crowd. They started to murmur. Simon could see this sensitive moment of God’s moving might so easily be ruined by the presence of hard hearts.
Peter took control at the top of the steps. He spoke with a supernatural presence. His voice boomed and curried attention.
“Men of Judea and Jerusalem! Hear my words! These people are not drunk on wine as this heckler suggests. But rather they are part of a profound movement of God that you had better consider for yourselves, or you will be sorry!”
The crowd went quiet. He had their attention now.
“These very events are what was spoken of through the prophet Joel:
And in the last days it shall be, Yahweh declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.”
Simon knew the implications of this prophesy. In their patriarchal culture, only men were allowed the privileged status of such things as prophecy and spiritual leadership. But for God to say that even women, and worse yet, male and female servants, would be equally baptized in God’s Spirit, was a scandal for their culture. A deeply offensive scandal. A spiritually liberating one. It marked the Last Days.
Peter continued his quotation of the prophet,
“And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the Day of the Lord comes,
the great and magnificent day.”
Simon looked out upon the crowd. They had no idea of the terror that was coming. The last days of the Old Covenant were upon them, just as Jesus had said. The end of the present age, and the start of the age to come, the age of Messiah. The Day of the Lord was coming for Israel. Isaiah had used that phrase, “Day of the Lord,” along with similar astronomical language when describing the destruction of Babylon and then of Edom. Ezekiel had used the same poetry for the destruction of Egypt. Now Peter was reiterating the same language to claim that the Day of the Lord was coming to Israel, just as Jesus had promised. Judgment was coming to Jerusalem.
But so was salvation for the remnant.
Peter continued, “‘And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved!’”
As Simon listened to Peter, he watched the crowd become agitated. Peter spoke of King David, the forerunner of Messiah, and how he was dead and buried in his tomb, awaiting one of his descendants to sit on this throne. He explained that the Son of David was Jesus and that David had foreseen the resurrection of Jesus when he said Yahweh would not abandon him to Hades or let his flesh see corruption. He told of Jesus ascending to heaven and being exalted to the right hand of God, from where he poured forth the promised Holy Spirit upon his followers that the crowds were now seeing.
David himself did not ascend to heaven, but rather spoke of Messiah’s apotheosis of deity, his crowning exaltation of omnipotence.
Yahweh said to my Lord Adonai,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies my footstool.”
Yahweh sends forth from Zion
your mighty scepter.
Rule in the midst of your enemies!
Adonai is at your right hand;
he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
He will execute judgment among the nations.
But then, Peter laid out his climactic accusation to the throng of people listening. “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.”
Simon felt his mind clear with understanding. Jesus was the Messianic stone of Daniel’s prophecy that would crush the iron and clay feet of Rome and grow to become the cornerstone of a new cosmic mountain that would fill the earth. Simon saw a similar understanding sweep over the listeners as agitation now melted into conviction. The Spirit of God had fallen upon this crowd. People began to weep. Others were crying out to ask what they should do.
Peter told them. “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins. You will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For this promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, everyone the Lord our God calls to himself. Therefore, save yourselves from this crooked generation, upon whom judgment is coming!”
Some of the apostles led the repentant listeners south to the Pool of Siloam to be baptized. Hundreds of them. But Peter kept preaching as new people were drawn to the spectacle that had just occurred. Simon suspected that hundreds would turn to thousands that day.
The great ingathering had begun. The messengers of the Gospel of Jesus the Messiah were drawing in the elect from the four corners of the earth, before the great and terrible Day of the Lord. It was a day that Jesus had promised some of them would live to see. It would happen within their own generation. Days of vengeance, a great tribulation, was coming upon them.
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written.
“For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”
Jesus in Luke 21:20–27
The Chronicles of
the Nephilim continues with the next series, Chronicles of the Apocalypse, click here.
Appendix A
Jesus and the Cosmic War
Jesus Triumphant is a dangerous novel. I knew it long before I wrote it. In fact, I had originally not intended to write it because, of all the Chronicles of the Nephilim, I thought it would probably be the most scrutinized and criticized with accusations of taking liberties with God’s Word. Jesus and his story is the most prized of all Christian narratives—for me as well.
But the more I studied and the more I wrote of the Chronicles, I came to realize that I had to write this one because it is the true theological climax of the Biblical cosmic war of Christus Victor against the principalities and powers of this present darkness. Jesus Christ is the Seed which was prophesied in Genesis 3:6 to be at war with the Seed of the Serpent. Jesus Christ is the Seed to whom God made his Promises (Gal. 3:16). So how could I not finish my story with the conclusion I believed was in the Bible?
The premise of the series is to retell only those Scriptural narratives that touch upon the story thread of the Nephilim and the allotment of the Watchers (Sons of God) as described in the Divine Council worldview of the Bible. At first blush readers may legitimately ask the question “Where are there giants or Watchers in the New Testament?” But the reader of the entire series will not be so surprised as he sees key theological elements already established in previous Chronicles now show up in the New Testament in a way they had never seen before.
Chronicles of the Nephilim is primarily a theological saga that attempts to communicate a spiritual storyline that is behind the physical events and symbolic motifs and imagination of the Bible. So strap yourself in and get ready for a wild Biblical ride of theological imagination from the depths of Hades to the heights of heaven.
A Giant and Some Zealots
There may not be mention of giants in the Gospels, but I did find a giant placed in the same approximate time and location of Christ’s ministry. One of my historical resources has been the ancient Jewish historian Josephus. His rich text, Wars of the Jews, is the only detailed source we have of the events that led up to the destruction of Jerusalem and the holy temple in A.D. 70. (this will be the subject of Jerusalem Judgment). Josephus is a non-Christian source that confirms Gospel details of Pontius Pilate, the Herods, John the Baptist, the apostle James, and even Jesus Christ.[1] Though his pro-Roman agenda is well-known, he nevertheless provides helpful reliable information for the historical inquirer.
One of those interesting factoids is the reference to a 10 1/2 foot giant Jew named Eleazar who was presented as a gift to Tiberius Caesar in the presence of Herod Antipas, by the king of Parthia, Artabanus III in A.D. 33 or 34.[2]
When Tiberius had heard of these things, he desired to have a league of friendship made between him and Artabanus… Artabanus and Vitellius went to Euphrates…And when they had agreed upon the terms of peace, Herod the tetrarch erected a rich tent on the midst of the passage, and made them a feast there. Artabanus also, not long afterwards, sent his son Darius as an hostage, with many presents, among which there was a man seven cubits tall, a Jew he was by birth, and his name was Eleazar, who, for his tallness, was called a giant.[3]
Josephus doesn’t tell us if the Jewish giant was a servant or a captive, but he was certainly chattel of some kind to be traded as a means of diplomacy between the two empires. It occurred on the shores of the Euphrates in a tent constructed by Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee at the time. Antipas inserted himself into the negotiations in order to ingratiate himself to Caesar. All this, the reader will recognize occurring in Jesus Triumphant.
Vitellius, the king of Syria and representative of Caesar, brought the “gifts” of his son and the giant to Antioch, where they were presumably shipped to Rome.[4] But were they? Josephus doesn’t say. So, what if the giant Eleazar escaped? What if he found his short way down to Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus was during that last year of ministry? Thus the creative license of the novel applying to historical characters in a feasible scenario.
But that is not all the novel drew from historical characters. Many Bible readers know the name of Barabbas as the one who the Jews chose to release at Pilate’s offer instead of Jesus (Matt. 27:15-26). But what many casual readers of the Bible do not know is that Barabbas was a leader of a failed insurrection around that time in Jerusalem (Luke 2:19). He was no ordinary criminal. He was a zealot warrior, as he is in Jesus Triumphant.
The two “thieves on crosses” next to Jesus are another case of commonly misunderstood identity. “Thief” or “robber” makes one think of common criminals or kleptomaniacs caught stealing camels or jewelry. But the Greek word for “thief” used of the two on the cross is lestai, the same word used by Josephus to describe the zealous Jewish brigands in revolution against Rome. Crucifixion was the punishment for such organized sedition and insurrection. The “thieves” on the cross were actually revolutionaries in the tradition of the Zealots.[5]
Though the existence of bands of Jewish insurrectionists against Rome at the time of Christ is not in dispute, the exact nature and chronology of the infamous Zealots is. Some have argued they did not come into existence until around the fall of Jerusalem,[6] but others have shown that they originated in Judas of Galilee’s failed insurrection of A.D. 6.[7] He made famous the slogan “No king but God,” that came to mark the Zealot cause.[8]
Judas of Galilee’s sons, James and Simon, went on to be executed as zealous rebels around A.D. 46.[9] Josephus also describes two Zealot-like leaders Eleazar ben Dinai and Amram, who were captured and banished around A.D. 45 by Roman procurator Fadus. Another brigand leader, Tholomy was executed.[10] Eleazar was captured again later and executed in Rome in A.D. 60.[11] This means that James, John, Amram, Tholomy and Eleazar had been rising within the ranks of the newly growing Zealot movement during the time of Christ. Thus, their presence in Jesus Triumphant.
Qumran, Essenes and the Dead Sea Scrolls
In 1946, the famous Dead Sea Scrolls were uncovered in caves near the ancient Essene settlement of Qumran on the northwest shores of the Dead Sea thirteen miles east of Jerusalem. They shed light on the early monastic community that had been previously found nearby, and written about by Josephus. Much discussion and debate surrounds these texts and the people who stored them in libraries.
One of the more interesting elements of their beliefs was the similarity of Messianic hope with what would end up being the New Testament claims for Jesus. Scholar Marvin Pate explains that, like many Jews of Second Temple Judaism, they too sought a Davidic Messiah to deliver Israel from her continuing exile under Roman rule.[12]
A more recent discovery of an ancient text on stone called “Vision of Gabriel,” dated to the first century B.C., has revealed a unique correspondence with the New Testament notion of Messiah rising after three days. This is much more explicit than any Old Testament reference to such a thing. I incorporated this prophecy into Jesus Triumphant as part of the literature that persuades an Essene character of Christ’s fulfillment. Several of the lines from the stone indicate this amazing correspondence.
By three days you shall know that, thus said Yahweh of Hosts, the god of Israel,
the evil has been broken by righteousness…
Behold, all the nations gather against Jerusalem…
In just a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth…
My servant David [Messiah], ask of Ephraim for a sign…
By three days, live/be resurrected, I Gabriel, command you, prince of princes.[13]
This is not to say that the Vision of Gabriel should be considered Scripture. But it certainly adds outside corroboration to the understanding of the Jewish messianic hope fulfilled in Christ.
The Jewish expectation based on Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2 was that Messiah would come and crush the nation of Rome in history. The Qumran community had a document called “The War Scroll” that describes in detail this War of the Sons of Light
Against the Sons of Darkness, calling Romans by the symbolic name of Kittim.[14]
But as Josephus explains, the time period after Herod the Great’s death in 4 B.C. was plagued with various messianic movements and revolutionaries, many that were deeply at odds with each other. They argued over whose interpretation was correct and what marked the true people of God. Pate argues that another element of distinction emerges in the Dead Sea Scrolls: they considered themselves the only true remnant of Israel. And when Messiah came, he would deliver the Essene Community alone, while destroying the rest of Israel with his holy army![15] This is remarkably reminiscent of Jesus’ Olivet Discourse that describes God’s destructive judgment of Jerusalem and the Temple (Matt. 24), and concurrent rescue of the remnant elect believers (Matt. 24:15-22; Rom. 11:1-10). Those Essenes were so close, and yet, so far.
N.T. Wright sums up this earthly expectation of why the Jews were looking for a physical conquering king rather than a suffering servant.
Many if not most second-Temple Jews, then, hoped for the new exodus, seen as the final return from exile. The story would reach its climax; the great battle would be fought; Israel would truly ‘return’ to her land, saved and free; YHWH would return to Zion. This would be, in the metaphorical sense, the end of the world, the ushering in at last of YHWH’s promised new age. From the perspective of covenant history, this complex event would be climactic, and not merely a paradigmatic example of a general principle (such as the importance of social justice). Moreover, this whole set of ideas and themes belongs together as a whole, not as a collection of abstract ideas, but precisely as a story.[16]
