This was sent to me by a friend. While I don't follow some of what they are talking about, the history and mythology is fascinating.

~NightSky

February 23, 2023 by SkyWatch Editor

Michael S. Heiser - Book of Enoch Companion (Part 1)

https://rumble.com/v26ufec-michael-s.-heiser-book-of-enoch-companion-part-1.html

Part II

https://rumble.com/embed/v248bz4/?pub=4

Part III

https://rumble.com/embed/v248c2g/?pub=4

Part IV

https://rumble.com/embed/v248c58/?pub=4

Genesis 6:1–4 in Its Original Ancient Contexts

It won’t seem unusual that we begin our study in Genesis 6:1–4. After all, that’s the passage behind the story of the sin of the Watchers in 1 Enoch. But it is perhaps unexpected that we’ll also be spending a good deal of time looking at ancient Mesopotamia. As we’ll see, Genesis 6:1–4 and the story of the Watchers have deep roots in Mesopotamian literature. This is a fact with which scholars of 1 Enoch are well-acquainted, but which most lay readers are not.[xiii]

More specifically, the story of the sons of God and the Nephilim in Genesis 6:1–4 is framed by the Mesopotamian story of the seven pre-Flood wise, divine sages—the apkallu. The Mesopotamian material has explicit, unmistakable point-for-point parallels to Genesis 6:1–4. These parallels show that the Genesis passage was written as a theological polemic—a refutation of Mesopotamian religious interpretation of pre- and post-Flood events. Understanding the close relationship between the apkallu saga and Genesis 6:1–4 is crucial for understanding the Watcher story of 1 Enoch for several reasons:

The Watcher story is an expansion of Genesis 6:1–4;

Several of the elements added to Genesis 6:1–4 in 1 Enoch are not found anywhere in the Old Testament—but are present in both the Mesopotamian material and the New Testament;

The above show us that the writer of 1 Enoch knew and preserved the original Mesopotamian context of Genesis 6:1–4;

This preservation demands that we take the Watcher story seriously, even though it is not in the canon, and that we interpret Genesis 6:1–4 supernaturally, understanding the sons of God (the Watchers) as being divine, and their offspring, the Nephilim, as men—but not merely men;

This context and its preservation help us understand how the Watcher story of 1 Enoch influenced the thinking of Peter, Jude, and other New Testament writers and, therefore, how considering the Watcher story as a backdrop is necessary for interpreting certain New Testament passages.