1 Enoch 21

The prisons of angels (Cosmic prisons)

“And I saw a deep abyss with columns <of heavenly fire, and among them I saw columns> of fire fall, which were beyond measure alike towards the height and towards the depth.  And beyond that abyss I saw a place which had no firmament of the heaven above, and no firmly founded earth beneath it: there was no water upon it and no birds, but it was a waste and a horrible place.” (1 Enoch 19:11-12)… “The angel said: ‘this place is the end of heaven and earth: this has become a prison for the stars and the hosts of heaven.’” (1 Enoch 19:14)

“And I proceeded to where things were chaotic.  And I saw there something horrible: I saw there neither a heaven above nor a firmly founded earth, but a place chaotic and horrible.  And there I saw seven stars of the heaven bound together in It, like great mountains and burning with fire. (1 Enoch 21:1-3)… “‘These are the number of the stars {of heaven} which have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and are bound here till ten thousand years, the time entailed by their sins are consummated.’” (1 Enoch 21:6)

Besides Enoch’s empirical descriptions of the places he is taken to, he also describes the places as “chaotic and horrible”.  Chaos and horror do not have an empirical shape or color which can be described; but this place is not just a waste outside of existence as anybody may be able to calmly imagine by just closing your eyes or whatever.  But this true wasteland outside of existence and creation is necessarily chaotic… and horrible.  Just as right after God created the heavens and the earth in Genesis, it was “without form and void”. 

“An from thence I went to another place, which was still more horrible than the former, and I saw a horrible thing: a great fire there which burnt and blazed, and the place was cleft as far as the abyss, being full of great descending columns of fire: neither its extent or magnitude could I see nor could I conjecture.  Then I said: ‘How fearful is this place, and how terrible to look upon!’ Then Uriel answered me, one of the holy angels who was with me, and said unto me: ‘Enoch, why hast thou such fear and affright?’ And I answered: ‘Because of this fearful place, and because of the spectacle of pain.’  And he said <unto me>: ‘This place is the prison of angels, and here they will be imprisoned for ever.’” (1 Enoch 21:7-10)

When I read the description alone, I ask myself, “well, what is so terrible about really long columns of fire?”  But the reason why long columns of fire do not frighten me is because I can’t imagine how long they are.  Not even Enoch could imagine their length, though he was looking at them, and this is exactly the reason why he was afraid.  According to Enoch, this place was terrible to look upon; the visual of the place alone caused him distress.  The place was not filled with blood and gore, it was a waste, and yet it was horrible.  This says that there are things that can cause the mind more distress than earthly ideas of pain.

This prison of angels is not like any human prison we have here on earth, these places are true horror.  Their horror is indescribable, meant to torment angels.  No human horror can compare to the horror that Enoch saw in this vision.  This brings to mind that in hell, there are horrors worst than physically damaging the body, as you see in horror movies; but these horrors penetrate the soul even unto a cosmic level.  The places that Enoch described caused psychological distress just by looking at them, and God knows the distressing properties of the human mind and how to trigger these alone.  He doesn’t need to change anything in the world around you to make you go insane.  Furthermore, these places torture you in places you did not even know you had.  Just as the Great wonders of heaven are unimaginable, so are the horrors of these places.

January 29, 2012

1 Enoch 1

Verse 9

And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of His holy ones
To execute judgement upon all,

And to destroy all the ungodly:
And to convict all flesh

Of all the works of their ungodliness which they have ungodly committed,

And of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.

Jude 1:14-15
"It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying,

'Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, 

to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness 

that they have committed in such an ungodly way,
and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.'"

July 4, 2012

Psalms 97

Verse 7

Psalms 97:7

“Those who brag about the useless idols they worship are terribly ashamed, and all the false gods bow down to the Lord.”

 

There are many other verses in the bible that indicate who or what the gods of the old testament were.

Not only were they idols made out of solid matter, but people made these images after certain entities that they may have seen or experienced.  Sometimes they thought of certain people as gods, whether they were kings or the apostles: the god of golf (Tiger Woods), the god of fast food (McDonald's)  Sometimes the gods were angels, fallen angels, or demons: which may explain what the "greek gods" were, all of their stories, and what they were doing having sexual relations and procreating with human beings.  

That is why I say, every religion has some truth in it, though it may refer to the same things differently.  I believe in the pagan gods, I believe they are real.  But whatever we may consider a god to be, we do so because of its greater amount of power; gods are relative.  

The only god that isn't relative, is the Most High God.  Which makes Him the only True God.
Other gods may or may not be gods in comparison with certain things.
But a belief in a Most High God, is a belief in ultimate perfection.  
If you believe there exist an Ultimate Perfection in Reality, that is your Most High God.

Psalms 136:2

“Praise the God of all gods. God’s love never fails.”

Psalms 138:1

“With all my heart I praise you, Lord.  In the presence of angels I sing your praises.”

In the footnotes of the CEV it says that angels could refer to gods, supernatural beings, or maybe just rulers or leaders.

September 23, 2012 

Isaiah 10:10

"As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria," 

April 18, 2013

Isaiah 24:21

"On that day the Lord will punish the powers in the heavens and the kings of the earth." 
The CEV footnotes says that, "the powers in the heavens", could mean the stars since "in ancient times the stars were thought of as powerful spiritual beings, and sometimes they stood for pagan gods." (CEV footnote on Isaiah 24:21)

Isaiah 30:33

"Long ago the Lord got a place ready for burning the body of the dead king.  The place for the fire is deep and wide, the wood is piled high, and the Lord will start the fire by breathing out flaming sulphur."  (CEV)

The foot note on this verse says: "burning the body of the dead king": or "sacrificing the king" or "sacrificing to Molech."  Human sacrifices were sometimes offered to Molech, a god whose name sounds like the Hebrew word for 'king'."

This verse is saying the God got a place ready for burning the body of the dead king.  The footnote says that the word "king" may be referring to Molech; and the description of the place certainly sounds similar to the lake of fire where the fallen angels will end up.  

The point I am trying to make with this is that, in the Bible, God refers to lower gods as very real entities with minds of their own.  Although it may not refer to idols in this way, gods may be considered "false" not because they are do not exist, but for a different reason.