I just completed the readings, including your notes! I couldn’t wait for January 1st. I read Enoch in college (biblical studies nerd here 🙃) and the professor brushed it off as metaohor and I was like “umm well it wasn’t just written for no reason so maybe we should pay attention.” Very excited to be diving in again! I’ve been studying biblical sexual ethics and what is sticking out to me in these readings is how God originally had a very clear plan for sex in order to protect his image. Then humans and defected angels effed up Gods image (quite literally). Then we have Jesus, born of a virgin, who restored humanity to right relationship with God and the entire New Testament is very clear that Christians are to steer clear of all sexual immorality (how people interpret this varies - not trying to make anything political here, just making observations!). I haven’t quite thought through all this yet but thought I’d share in case anyone the is struck by Gods design of sex and how when we abuse this design, we can corrupt his image and very very bad things happen. And yet Satan loves to convince us that anything that feels good is good…like this has been happening since the beginning of time.
Wow, yes, that's a very insightful comment. I'm so glad to hear more of your thoughts as an actual biblical studies student! I said this in the chat but I'll repeat it here - if the angels "took" women as their "wives" forcefully, as the original Hebrew implies (which would be the origin of sex trafficking), then God offering Mary a choice in carrying Jesus would be that much more poetic, redemptive, and merciful.
Wow, yessss thank you for making this connection! God’s mercy and redemption never ceases to amaze me. It’s the heart of our story. The concept of choice / free will is so imperative to the biblical narrative. Adam and Eve, the angels, the Israelites, Mary, even Jesus all had the choice to obey. And we have a choice. Awesome. (And just to clarify…I did a philosophy and biblical studies program in college but don’t have a degree in it. I just really love it. My actual degree is in clinical social work and I started following you because we have similar views on mental health!). I didn’t even know you were a Christian at first! So excited to engage in this study!).
Your ability to breaking things down and also connect different themes, words and ideas through out different sections of the Bible to make it both easy to understand and exciting to read is truly amazing! You have clearly spent an incredible amount of time on this and I feel so blessed to have found you in time to be a part of this. Definitely thankful for you going into the New Year. Thank you so much Adian for what you are doing, truly! I will be praying for discernment, protection and for God to work through you because you are clearly going to be reaching so many people and helping to guide them in the most important reading they will ever do
I would just like to let everyone know that Dr. Heiser created a Bible study aid that might be helpful as we go through some of these things! It's called Logos and I believe you have to go online and download it from his website. But you can look up the original Hebrew of words you have questions about and I've found it very helpful! It also connects you with different commentaries and studies for words or verses you're grappling with!
SOOOO excited! Is it weird that I prayed you would do something like this months ago? You break things down in such a way that I actually get it. I think that’s why I’ve never done this before.
As a geologist I’m finding it very interesting to try and compare what’s in the Bible to times in earths history. The idea of the destruction of the Earth by God after the fallen angel debacle and comparing it to the breakup of Pangea is super interesting to me!
I also wonder if the fallen angels mating with human women was actually the time of the Egyptians, as I believe they ancient Egyptians were a combination of human and non humans. It’s seems to parallel the extensive knowledge the Egyptians had with what is said in Enoch 6-11.
Your content is so good! I hadn’t ever even considered that possibly the animals spoke before the fall. The Bible does make it seem nonchalant that Eve was talking to a snake. This is all feeding my soul. And we haven’t even truly started.
awe, it's kind of telling- who did they need to talk to if not the humans? Animals seem to have natural telepathy with one-another, and perhaps a reminder to try listening to what God's creation has to say.
Makes me want to rewatch things like Supernatural etc. But I dont do secular/violent shows anymore in keeping with Paul. But I bet I would see so much more now than I did before.
- remembering when Adrian talked about the possibility of the stars and planets being fallen angels. Wondering how that works with Genesis 1:16. The stars are mentioned, the planets aren't so maybe that means something.
- 1:24-25. Livestock (cattle depending on translation) is mentioned separately from the wild animals. Why did He list them separately? So I looked it up and came across this commentary : Cattle – Genesis 1:24-25 | A Word from the Word - Dan Hayden https://share.google/WXu2eeh2sR0XmcT31
What's interesting is that the Hebrew word for cattle, Behemoth, comes from a root that means "to be mute." I saw other commenters wondering about talking animals and thought this was very interesting. Were the animals God created for us to use for food and labor mute and the others weren't? I've never considered talking animals before, so this is all new to me. And I went to 4 years of a Christian/Bible college.
- 2:17 what context would Adam have had for death?
- in Genesis 1 God created the fish and birds on the fifth day. In Genesis 2:18 He says it's not good for man to be alone and formed wild animals and birds of the sky. But I thought he already did that? What am I missing?
- what did serpents look like before God cursed them? Did they have legs? It probably doesn't matter, but amuses me to think about.
- I don't think I have ever paid attention to when God talks about if he lets Adam and Eve stay in the garden they might eat from the tree of life and live forever. If they were created to live forever, why is there a tree of life? Is this metaphorical somehow?
Sorry this is so long, but maybe someone else has thoughts on all of this.
I just did next week’s readings for Enoch and a lot of this is covered (though probably raises more questions than it answers!). So my quick thoughts are this: Enoch 18 makes a case for the planets (“wandering stars”) being the fallen angels; the “serpent” is theorized to be a leviathan or a dragon prior to being cursed to crawl on his belly; and I think Adam and Eve had the potential to live forever but needed to eat the fruit from the tree of life to do so. The tree of life is described in Enoch and it sounds amazing 😩
I’ve had so many similar thoughts. I also have for a long time now wondered if the serpent was actually turned into a worm rather than a snake. Since it specifically says it will be cursed to eat dust and snakes do not eat dirt…but worms do! And then God also cursed Adam to have to work the ground for food and ironically worms help that process by breaking down the waste material from decaying matter, eating it, and pooping it out creating fertile soil. I feel like unless someone is a gardener they may not initially make this connection…but as a gardener and someone who has had pet snakes I just can’t make sense of the snake concept. Worms are also considered “lowly” beings and we walk on them as they live in the earth and we “bruise their heads” with our heals.
I went back to read Genesis 2 because of what you wrote about cattle and they were mentioned separately.
It makes me think about Wicked, only certain animals can talk while others are mute.
Same with other media - Mickey Mouse, Narnia, Looney Tunes, Harry Potter, etc. Only some can talk and others don't, very interesting.
I don't think any of the animals were intended for food at the beginning, but God knew eventually they would be so cattle/domesticated animals are mute while wild animals talk. Which is usually how movies do it also.
Has anyone come across the theory of God's Redemptive Week? It basically states that God is redeeming humanity in a week (mirror His creation time of a week) every day lasts 1000 years.
Jesus was born and died on the 4th day (tied to the Passover lambs being kept for 4 days and killed on the 4th day.)
If this theory tracks we are at the beginning of (or about to begin) the 6th day, which means Jesus comes back at the end of this millennium because God rests on the 7th day (Jesus's 1000 year reign) then the final showdown happens.
So 4000 AD and 40th Century is when it will all be over (according to this Theory again no one knows the day or hour.)
I don't think we have started the 6th day because we know they have messed up the calendar and they have agenda 2030, which is about 2000 years since Jesus public ministry/death. So many things are just tying together to be a coincidence (I dont believe in those)
Wanted to share these thoughts with others on a similar journey. Looking forward to this Bible study 📖.
I have heard of this but your explanation is the clearest. This is why I want to read Jubilees with this group, for the calendar info. But wouldn’t we already be nearing or in the 7th day, using a start of the world date of 4000 BC? (I think 4004 BC is the most commonly used starting year.)
0-1000 was day 5, 1000-2000 was day 6, so 2000+ is day 7.
2030 takes on a whole new meaning.
So judgement comes on day 7 and then the 1000 year reign at 4000 AD maybe.
I got a little afraid writing this all out to be honest, I know we're in the last days, but I honestly didn't think I would be alive for the true last days.
Could be why everything is accelerated and truth is pouring out that has been hidden. Idk man this is a lot lol.
I just keep coming back to this thought about the time/age of Earth.
Could creation have taken 7,000 years as well. Making Earth almost 14,000 years old, instead of the 6,000 which young earth people like to push.
Also, what day were the Angels created? What day did they rebel?
Did Adam live in the garden 1000 years naming the animals before the fall, so could he have been like 2000 years old when he died? Because God rested on the 7th day, I doubt Adam/Eve sinned on the same day they were created. I imagine God resting as everything in Eden was perfect especially since He used to walk with them in the cool of the day.
Why does Genesis 1 say the animals were created first and then man while Genesis 2 says man was created and then the animals 🤔
Wow! I laughed at parts of this and had some serious ahah moments. I grew up religious and had never heard of the Sons of God being angels 🤷🏼♀️. This is super new to me. So I looked into it more and it was so striking to me to find the scripture in 2 Peter 2:4-5 - “For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment. And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood.”
Yeah that’s referencing the judgement that’s coming up in next week’s readings of the book of Enoch. There’s evidence all over that points to this but it’s particularly clear in the New Testament that they knew of Enoch and it wasn’t a metaphorical reading.
Started reading and LOLed at “the worlds first Mormon” 😆 if we have side notes about anything relevant to ole Joe smith I wouldn’t be mad! I find it all so fascinating linked into this topic of conspiracy/history
Adrian THANKYOU xxx this is so vibrant & rich … ready to deep dive & currently binge reading all of your posts … “randomly” found you on Substack only a few days ago
Genesis 1 is so beautiful. It heartens me to read it. It echos how I feel exactly when I observe nature and creation. That it is meant to be this beautiful and good. I have never read the Bible thru. Excited for this.
I just completed the readings, including your notes! I couldn’t wait for January 1st. I read Enoch in college (biblical studies nerd here 🙃) and the professor brushed it off as metaohor and I was like “umm well it wasn’t just written for no reason so maybe we should pay attention.” Very excited to be diving in again! I’ve been studying biblical sexual ethics and what is sticking out to me in these readings is how God originally had a very clear plan for sex in order to protect his image. Then humans and defected angels effed up Gods image (quite literally). Then we have Jesus, born of a virgin, who restored humanity to right relationship with God and the entire New Testament is very clear that Christians are to steer clear of all sexual immorality (how people interpret this varies - not trying to make anything political here, just making observations!). I haven’t quite thought through all this yet but thought I’d share in case anyone the is struck by Gods design of sex and how when we abuse this design, we can corrupt his image and very very bad things happen. And yet Satan loves to convince us that anything that feels good is good…like this has been happening since the beginning of time.
Wow, yes, that's a very insightful comment. I'm so glad to hear more of your thoughts as an actual biblical studies student! I said this in the chat but I'll repeat it here - if the angels "took" women as their "wives" forcefully, as the original Hebrew implies (which would be the origin of sex trafficking), then God offering Mary a choice in carrying Jesus would be that much more poetic, redemptive, and merciful.
Wow, yessss thank you for making this connection! God’s mercy and redemption never ceases to amaze me. It’s the heart of our story. The concept of choice / free will is so imperative to the biblical narrative. Adam and Eve, the angels, the Israelites, Mary, even Jesus all had the choice to obey. And we have a choice. Awesome. (And just to clarify…I did a philosophy and biblical studies program in college but don’t have a degree in it. I just really love it. My actual degree is in clinical social work and I started following you because we have similar views on mental health!). I didn’t even know you were a Christian at first! So excited to engage in this study!).
Have you read St. Pope John Paul II Theology on the Body?
I haven’t! I would love to though
So interested in hearing more of your thoughts on biblical sexual ethics!
Your ability to breaking things down and also connect different themes, words and ideas through out different sections of the Bible to make it both easy to understand and exciting to read is truly amazing! You have clearly spent an incredible amount of time on this and I feel so blessed to have found you in time to be a part of this. Definitely thankful for you going into the New Year. Thank you so much Adian for what you are doing, truly! I will be praying for discernment, protection and for God to work through you because you are clearly going to be reaching so many people and helping to guide them in the most important reading they will ever do
🙏❤️💕
🥹🙏
I would just like to let everyone know that Dr. Heiser created a Bible study aid that might be helpful as we go through some of these things! It's called Logos and I believe you have to go online and download it from his website. But you can look up the original Hebrew of words you have questions about and I've found it very helpful! It also connects you with different commentaries and studies for words or verses you're grappling with!
I don’t know if I should read everything and then comment or comment now and come back later 🫣.
Had to say - I can’t believe I never gave much thought to the talking snake before then my husband reminded me of the talking donkey in Numbers 👀.
SOOOO excited! Is it weird that I prayed you would do something like this months ago? You break things down in such a way that I actually get it. I think that’s why I’ve never done this before.
Ok this is amazing 🥹 thank you for praying for me!! I’m only able to do this because of the immense support I’ve received.
It’s time! 🎉❤️
As a geologist I’m finding it very interesting to try and compare what’s in the Bible to times in earths history. The idea of the destruction of the Earth by God after the fallen angel debacle and comparing it to the breakup of Pangea is super interesting to me!
I also wonder if the fallen angels mating with human women was actually the time of the Egyptians, as I believe they ancient Egyptians were a combination of human and non humans. It’s seems to parallel the extensive knowledge the Egyptians had with what is said in Enoch 6-11.
Your content is so good! I hadn’t ever even considered that possibly the animals spoke before the fall. The Bible does make it seem nonchalant that Eve was talking to a snake. This is all feeding my soul. And we haven’t even truly started.
Jubilees 3:28 suggests that animals used to talk in Eden and they lost the ability to speak the day Adam was sent out of the Garden.
awe, it's kind of telling- who did they need to talk to if not the humans? Animals seem to have natural telepathy with one-another, and perhaps a reminder to try listening to what God's creation has to say.
Intrigued! I had no idea
Am I the only one who immediately thought of Wicked? They weave so much of this into our media, books, movies, etc.
Yes, everything in media is disclosures to us.
Makes me want to rewatch things like Supernatural etc. But I dont do secular/violent shows anymore in keeping with Paul. But I bet I would see so much more now than I did before.
Right even like the Narnia books
Ooo I never thought about it that way.
Thoughts/Question from Genesis 1-3
- remembering when Adrian talked about the possibility of the stars and planets being fallen angels. Wondering how that works with Genesis 1:16. The stars are mentioned, the planets aren't so maybe that means something.
- 1:24-25. Livestock (cattle depending on translation) is mentioned separately from the wild animals. Why did He list them separately? So I looked it up and came across this commentary : Cattle – Genesis 1:24-25 | A Word from the Word - Dan Hayden https://share.google/WXu2eeh2sR0XmcT31
What's interesting is that the Hebrew word for cattle, Behemoth, comes from a root that means "to be mute." I saw other commenters wondering about talking animals and thought this was very interesting. Were the animals God created for us to use for food and labor mute and the others weren't? I've never considered talking animals before, so this is all new to me. And I went to 4 years of a Christian/Bible college.
- 2:17 what context would Adam have had for death?
- in Genesis 1 God created the fish and birds on the fifth day. In Genesis 2:18 He says it's not good for man to be alone and formed wild animals and birds of the sky. But I thought he already did that? What am I missing?
- what did serpents look like before God cursed them? Did they have legs? It probably doesn't matter, but amuses me to think about.
- I don't think I have ever paid attention to when God talks about if he lets Adam and Eve stay in the garden they might eat from the tree of life and live forever. If they were created to live forever, why is there a tree of life? Is this metaphorical somehow?
Sorry this is so long, but maybe someone else has thoughts on all of this.
I just did next week’s readings for Enoch and a lot of this is covered (though probably raises more questions than it answers!). So my quick thoughts are this: Enoch 18 makes a case for the planets (“wandering stars”) being the fallen angels; the “serpent” is theorized to be a leviathan or a dragon prior to being cursed to crawl on his belly; and I think Adam and Eve had the potential to live forever but needed to eat the fruit from the tree of life to do so. The tree of life is described in Enoch and it sounds amazing 😩
I’ve had so many similar thoughts. I also have for a long time now wondered if the serpent was actually turned into a worm rather than a snake. Since it specifically says it will be cursed to eat dust and snakes do not eat dirt…but worms do! And then God also cursed Adam to have to work the ground for food and ironically worms help that process by breaking down the waste material from decaying matter, eating it, and pooping it out creating fertile soil. I feel like unless someone is a gardener they may not initially make this connection…but as a gardener and someone who has had pet snakes I just can’t make sense of the snake concept. Worms are also considered “lowly” beings and we walk on them as they live in the earth and we “bruise their heads” with our heals.
I went back to read Genesis 2 because of what you wrote about cattle and they were mentioned separately.
It makes me think about Wicked, only certain animals can talk while others are mute.
Same with other media - Mickey Mouse, Narnia, Looney Tunes, Harry Potter, etc. Only some can talk and others don't, very interesting.
I don't think any of the animals were intended for food at the beginning, but God knew eventually they would be so cattle/domesticated animals are mute while wild animals talk. Which is usually how movies do it also.
Has anyone come across the theory of God's Redemptive Week? It basically states that God is redeeming humanity in a week (mirror His creation time of a week) every day lasts 1000 years.
Jesus was born and died on the 4th day (tied to the Passover lambs being kept for 4 days and killed on the 4th day.)
If this theory tracks we are at the beginning of (or about to begin) the 6th day, which means Jesus comes back at the end of this millennium because God rests on the 7th day (Jesus's 1000 year reign) then the final showdown happens.
So 4000 AD and 40th Century is when it will all be over (according to this Theory again no one knows the day or hour.)
I don't think we have started the 6th day because we know they have messed up the calendar and they have agenda 2030, which is about 2000 years since Jesus public ministry/death. So many things are just tying together to be a coincidence (I dont believe in those)
Wanted to share these thoughts with others on a similar journey. Looking forward to this Bible study 📖.
I have heard of this but your explanation is the clearest. This is why I want to read Jubilees with this group, for the calendar info. But wouldn’t we already be nearing or in the 7th day, using a start of the world date of 4000 BC? (I think 4004 BC is the most commonly used starting year.)
Yes, you're right, I did my math wrong.
0-1000 was day 5, 1000-2000 was day 6, so 2000+ is day 7.
2030 takes on a whole new meaning.
So judgement comes on day 7 and then the 1000 year reign at 4000 AD maybe.
I got a little afraid writing this all out to be honest, I know we're in the last days, but I honestly didn't think I would be alive for the true last days.
Could be why everything is accelerated and truth is pouring out that has been hidden. Idk man this is a lot lol.
Also 4000 BC - 4000 AD lines up perfectly with God's love of the number 40.
I just keep coming back to this thought about the time/age of Earth.
Could creation have taken 7,000 years as well. Making Earth almost 14,000 years old, instead of the 6,000 which young earth people like to push.
Also, what day were the Angels created? What day did they rebel?
Did Adam live in the garden 1000 years naming the animals before the fall, so could he have been like 2000 years old when he died? Because God rested on the 7th day, I doubt Adam/Eve sinned on the same day they were created. I imagine God resting as everything in Eden was perfect especially since He used to walk with them in the cool of the day.
Why does Genesis 1 say the animals were created first and then man while Genesis 2 says man was created and then the animals 🤔
So many questions....
This is blowing my mind. I have never heard of any of this.
Wow! I laughed at parts of this and had some serious ahah moments. I grew up religious and had never heard of the Sons of God being angels 🤷🏼♀️. This is super new to me. So I looked into it more and it was so striking to me to find the scripture in 2 Peter 2:4-5 - “For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment. And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood.”
2 Peter 2:4-5 NLTCE
https://bible.com/bible/4249/2pe.2.4-5.NLTCE
Oh my.
Yeah that’s referencing the judgement that’s coming up in next week’s readings of the book of Enoch. There’s evidence all over that points to this but it’s particularly clear in the New Testament that they knew of Enoch and it wasn’t a metaphorical reading.
Can’t wait to go through this with le husband tonight 🔥
My husband is doing it with us too. I’m excited.
Thank you for doing this book club, having the Bible reading plan, and making it available to everyone! ♥️
Started reading and LOLed at “the worlds first Mormon” 😆 if we have side notes about anything relevant to ole Joe smith I wouldn’t be mad! I find it all so fascinating linked into this topic of conspiracy/history
Adrian THANKYOU xxx this is so vibrant & rich … ready to deep dive & currently binge reading all of your posts … “randomly” found you on Substack only a few days ago
I’m glad you’re here!
Genesis 1 is so beautiful. It heartens me to read it. It echos how I feel exactly when I observe nature and creation. That it is meant to be this beautiful and good. I have never read the Bible thru. Excited for this.