by Brian Godawa
The Spiritual World
of Ancient China
and the Bible
Biblical Background to the Novel
Qin: Dragon Emperor of China
By Brian Godawa
The Spiritual World of Ancient China and the Bible: Biblical Background to the Novel Qin: Dragon Emperor of China
1st Edition
Copyright © 2019 Brian Godawa
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without prior written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews.
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ISBN: 978-1-942858-56-0 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-942858-57-7 (ebook)
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version . Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001.
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Table of Contents
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: The Spiritual World of Bible
The Gods of the Nations
Leviathan
Chapter 2: The Characters
The Story First
Xeneotas (Antiochus the Younger)
The Magi
Ch’in Shih Huang Di
Miscellaneous Factoids
Chapter 3: The Spiritual World of China
Tower of Babel and the Tomb of Qin
The Dragon
Shang Di
Border Sacrifice
The Lesser Deities
Chapter 4: The Gospel in Chinese
Words as Pictures
Conclusion
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Chapter 1:
The Spiritual World of the Bible
The Gods of the Nations
I explained in the Note to the Reader at the beginning of the novel Qin: Dragon Emperor of China , that it is a part of the Chronicles of the Watchers series whose books all share what biblical scholar Michael S. Heiser has coined “the Deuteronomy 32 worldview.” [1]
I employ this biblical worldview or “divine council” motif as a fantasy element to tell the supernatural side of the story of the first emperor of China. The basic premise is that there is a world of spiritual principalities and powers whose territories are linked to earthly rulers under their authority.
Deuteronomy 32 tells the story of Israel and how she had come to be God’s chosen nation. Moses begins by glorifying God and then telling them to “remember the days of old”…
Deuteronomy 32:8–9
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
when he divided mankind,
he fixed the borders of the peoples
according to the number of the sons of God.
But the Lord’s portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted heritage.
The context of this passage is the Tower of Babel incident in Genesis 11 when mankind was divided and nations first created. Rebellious humanity sought divinity in unified rebellion, so God separated them by confusing their tongues, which divided them into the seventy nations (of Gentiles) described in Genesis 10. Their ownership of those bordered lands would be the “inheritance” of those peoples.
But inheritance works in heaven as it is on earth. For the people of Jacob (Israel) would become Yahweh’s allotted inheritance, and the other seventy Gentile nations were the allotted inheritance of the Sons of God .
For more detailed biblical support and explanation, I recommend reading my booklet, Psalm 82: The Divine Council of the Gods, the Judgment of the Watchers and the Inheritance of the Nations (paid link). It is the foundation of all three of my novel series, Chronicles of the Nephilim, Chronicles of the Watchers and Chronicles of the Apocalypse .
So, who were these Sons of God who ruled over the Gentile nations (Psa 82:1-8)? Some believe they were human rulers, others argue for their identities as supernatural principalities and powers. I am in the second camp.
The phrase “Sons of God” is a technical term that means divine beings from God’s heavenly throne court (Job 1:6; 38:7) and they are referred to with many different titles. They are sometimes called “heavenly host” (Isa 24:21-22 [2] ), sometimes called “holy ones” (Deut 33:2-3 [3] ), sometimes called “the divine council” (Psa 82:1 [4] ), sometimes called “Watchers” (Daniel 4:13, 17, 23) and sometimes called “gods” or elohim in the Hebrew (Deut 32: 17, 43; Psa 82:1; 58:1-2).
Yes, you read that last one correctly. God’s Word calls these beings gods .
But fear not. That isn’t polytheism. The word “god” in this sense is a synonym for “heavenly being” or “divine being” whose realm is that of the spiritual. It does not mean uncreated beings that are all-powerful and all-knowing. Yahweh alone is that God. Yahweh is the God of gods (Deut 10:17; Psa 136:2). He created the other elohim (“gods”). These “gods” are created angelic beings who are most precisely referred to as Sons of God.
The narrative is this: before the Flood, some of these heavenly Sons of God rebelled against Yahweh and left their divine dwelling to come to earth (Jude 6), where they violated Yahweh’s holy separation and mated with human women (Gen 6:1-4). This was not a racial separation, but a spiritual one. Their corrupt hybrid seed were called “nephilim” (giants), and their effect on humanity included such corruption and violence on the earth that Yahweh sent the Flood to wipe everyone out and start over again with Noah. [5]
Unfortunately, after the Flood, humanity once again united in evil while building the Tower of Babel, a symbol of idolatrous worship of false gods. So, Yahweh confused their tongues and divided them into the seventy nations. Since man would not stop worshipping false gods, the living God gave them over to their lusts (Rom 1:24, 26, 28) and placed them under the authority of the fallen Sons of God that they worshipped. Fallen spiritual rulers for fallen humanity (Psa 82:1-7). It’s as if God said to humanity, “Okay, if you refuse to stop worshipping false gods, then I will give you over to them and see how you like them ruling over you.”
Deuteronomy 32 hints at a spiritual reality behind the false gods of the nations, calling them “demons” (Deut 32:17; also Psa 106:37-38). The Apostle Paul later ascribes demonic reality to false gods as well (1 Cor 10:20; 8:4-6). The New Testament continues this ancient notion that spiritual principalities and powers lay behind earthly powers (Eph 6:12; 3:10). The two were inextricably linked in historic events. As Jesus indicated, whatever happened in heaven, also happened on earth (Matt 6:10). Earthly kingdoms in conflict are intimately connected to heavenly powers in conflict. [6]
When earthly rulers battle on earth, the Bible describes the host of heaven battling with them in spiritual unity. In Daniel 10, hostilities between Greece and Persia is accompanied by the battle of heavenly Watchers over those nations (described as spiritual “princes”).
Daniel 10:13, 20-21
The prince of the
kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia.” …Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of Greece will come. 21 But I will tell you what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except Michael, your prince.
When Sisera fought with Israel, the earthly kings and heavenly authorities (stars or host of heaven) are described interchangeably in unity. [7]
Judges 5:19–20
“The kings came, they fought; then fought the kings of Canaan…From heaven the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera.
When God punishes earthly rulers, he punishes them along with the heavenly rulers (“host of heaven”) above and behind them.
Isaiah 24:21–22
On that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth . They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit; they will be shut up in a prison, and after many days they will be punished. [8]
This notion of territorial archons or spiritual rulers is Biblical and carries over into intertestamental literature such as the Book of Enoch and others. [9] It is one of the foundational storylines of this series, Chronicles of the Watchers, as well as Chronicles of the Nephilim and Chronicles of the Apocalypse.
In the Bible, the term “Watchers” only appears in Daniel 4, where a Watcher, also called a “holy one,” came down from heaven to proclaim to Daniel the “decree of the Watchers” that Nebuchadnezzar would go mad like a beast (Dan 4:13-17, 23). Though the Watchers of Daniel 4 are not specifically equated with the “princes” over the kingdoms of the nations in Daniel 10, they are considered by ancient Jews to be synonymous. The Watchers over the nations were the princes or principalities of those nations.
Two examples of how the ancient Jews interpreted Deuteronomy 32:8-9 illustrate this notion of territorial principalities watching over nations:
Jubilees 15:31-32
(There are) many nations and many people, and they all belong to him, but over all of them he caused spirits to rule so that they might lead them astray from following him . But over Israel he did not cause any angel or spirit to rule because he alone is their ruler and he will protect them.
Targum Jonathan, Deuteronomy 32, Section LIII
When the Most High made allotment of the world unto the nations which proceeded from the sons of Noach [Noah], in the separation of the writings and languages of the children of men at the time of the division, He cast the lot among the seventy angels, the princes of the nations with whom is the revelation to oversee the city . [10]
But it is the book of 1 Enoch that uses the term “Watchers” most commonly of these territorial princes (or angels or spirits or holy ones). The Sons of God of Genesis 6 are called Watchers all throughout 1 Enoch. [11] And those Sons of God are described in the Old Testament as Yahweh’s heavenly host that surround him in his divine council.
Job describes the Sons of God as divine beings who were heavenly host present at the creation (Job 38:4-7), and who gathered around Yahweh, along with the satan, to council with him and perform his decrees (Job 1:6-7; 2:1-6). 1 Kings 22:19-23 depicts these same “host of heaven” as spirits surrounding Yahweh who do his bidding. Psalm 82 and 89 describe the assembly of heavenly host as his “divine council” of “gods,” “holy ones,” and “Sons of the Most High” (82:6).
All these terms are used synonymously for the divine beings of God’s heavenly host, the Sons of God to whom Deuteronomy 32:8 declared were allotted the nations for an inheritance to watch over (territorial powers).
So the Bible says that there is demonic reality to false gods. But since those Sons of God who were territorial authorities over the nations were spiritually fallen Watchers, that makes them demonic or evil in essence. So what if they are the actual demonic beings behind the false gods of the ancient world? What if the fallen Sons of God were masquerading as the gods of the nations in order to keep humanity enslaved in idolatry to their authority? That would affirm the Biblical stories of earthly events with heavenly events occurring in synchronization.
That is the biblical premise of the Chronicles of the Watchers . The pagan gods, like Yu Huang and the Three Pure Ones in the novel Qin , are actually fallen Sons of God, Watchers of the nations, crafting false identities and narratives as gods of the nations that are connected and reflected in the earthly events of human history and its rulers. For a detailed biblical defense of this interpretation see my booklet, Psalm 82: The Divine Council of the Gods, the Judgment of the Watchers and the Inheritance of the Nations . (paid link)
Leviathan
Leviathan is a crucial character in the Chronicles universe. He shows up in Chronicles of the Nephilim, Chronicles of the Apocalypse, as well as Chronicles of the Watchers. He is drawn from the ancient Near Eastern worldview that permeates the Bible.
Contrary to what some hyper-literalists may think, Leviathan is not a real world sea dinosaur or even an extinct sea monster, it is a spiritual image that was used by ancient Near Eastern religions to symbolize the chaos of the cosmos that their god fought to bring about his rule and order. The Babylonians called it Tiamat, the Canaanites called it Lotan, the Ugaritic translation for “Leviathan.” Hebrews called it Leviathan and sometimes Rahab. [12]
The battle of divinity to create order out of chaos is called “chaoskampf” by theologians. [13] In Mesopotamian religion, Marduk defeated Tiamat the sea dragon and split her in half to create the heavens and earth that symbolized the establishment of Babylonian world power. [14] The Canaanite Baal defeated the Sea (Yam), River (Nahar) and Leviathan (Lotan) in order to become the Most High ruler of the Canaanite pantheon. [15]
So, Yahweh is depicted as defeating Leviathan to establish his covenantal order with Israel at Sinai.
Psalm 74:13–17
You divided the sea by your might;
you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters.
You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
You split open springs and brooks;
you dried up ever-flowing streams.
Yours is the day, yours also the night;
you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.
You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
you have made summer and winter.
In the Psalm above, the Red Sea deliverance of the Israelites (“dividing the sea”) was the metaphor of God taking them out of the chaos of pagan Egypt. As in other ancient religions, Yahweh is depicted as defeating the sea, which also represented chaos to land dwellers. And Leviathan is in that sea as its instrument of power. But Yahweh crushes the heads of the sea dragon of chaos, and the creatures of the desert feast on his body. This banquet of eating the flesh of Leviathan symbolizes Yahweh’s victory and is a common theme that appears in both biblical and extrabiblical Jewish poetry. [16]
The book of Revelation describes the victory of Christ over his enemies in chapter 19 as the “great supper of God” where the birds of prey eat the flesh of his defeated foes (19:17). While Leviathan is not included in this Revelation passage, it is the same kind of nature banquet motif as described in Psalm 74: creatures feasting on the flesh of the enemies of God. The “banquet of flesh” was a common way of symbolizing deliverance from and victory over one’s enemies.
And Leviathan does show up in Revelation as the seven-headed sea dragon who is the satanic enemy of chaos against God’s people. [17] Once again, the sea dragon’s defeat is symbolically linked to God establishing a new order, namely the new covenant kingdom of God in Christ’s blood (Rev 12:9-11).
But did the monster grow some new heads in Psalm 74? Not necessarily. If one looks closely at the fourteenth verse, even in the Hebrew, it says that Leviathan has multiple heads , plural, not h
ead , singular (Yahweh “crushed the heads of Leviathan”). And it is no coincidence that the Leviathan of the Canaanite Baal epic has seven heads. [18]
But the last component of Psalm 74 above is the creation language that reminds the reader of Genesis 1. Yahweh separates day and night, establishes the heavenly host and makes the seasons (v. 15-17). This is not some unconnected jump back to the creation of the universe, it is another cosmic metaphor of the covenant in terms of a “heaven and earth.” Right after Yahweh delivers them through the sea, he brings them to Sinai, where he establishes his covenant order. The Mosaic covenant was a spiritual cosmos, a heaven and earth of God’s operations with his people. Yahweh delivers his people, destroys the dragon of chaos with victory and creates his covenantal order with Israel, a new “cosmos.”
Hyper-literalist assumptions may cause distress in the believer who thinks this would mean that the Red Sea deliverance was “just a myth” or a spiritual symbol that didn’t really happen in history. But this is simply a misunderstanding of the nature of ancient storytelling. Everything is not all “literal” or all “symbolic.” It is very common for biblical writers to describe historic events with poetic or symbolic flair. So the Red Sea deliverance connected to the Sinai covenant was an historic event, but it had spiritual ramifications that were so important they had to be described using symbolic terms of Leviathan and creation.
Leviathan cannot be a literal physical creature, because it is destroyed and eaten here in Psalm 74, yet it is described by Isaiah as being alive again then slain in the future at another victory of God, namely, the coming of Messiah (Isa 27:6, 9). Leviathan is a spiritual symbol of the chaos that battles against order through history.
Isaiah 27:1
In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.
