At the Gates of Hades
Transfiguration • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Please turn to Matthew 16.
Dr. Judd Burton, Anthropologist, Historian, Archeologist specializes in Christian history and ancient pagan religions says this,
“Our understanding of the taxonomy [classification] of demonic spirits has improved greatly over the last two decades. When you let words say what they say [i.e. mean]
in the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek instead forcing errant hermeneutics [the “art” of biblical interpretation] on them, God-revealed context becomes clearer.” ~ Dr. Judd Burton
His main point is this - there has been significant advancements and discoveries in Biblical archeology, language, translation, our understanding the ancient world – that what we need to be open to learning from these new discoveries and open to correction when needed. So, as we go through Genesis – allow God’s Word to form you, and not the other way around.
Last week we scratched the surface of Gen. 6. This is the historical narrative of the Watchers – the sons of God who defected from heaven. Jude, the half-brother of Jesus affirmed this when he wrote
And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—
The apostle Peter also affirmed this in his letter. He wrote,
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;
Jude and Peter were writing about Gen. 6.
It's clear these sons of God defected from Heaven, but what was their sin? They procreated with human women – which is an unclean or defiled union. These sons of God and their offspring, the Nephilim or giants, taught humanity forbidden knowledge and defiled humanity. In my opinion humans and animals were so defiled that they were beyond redemption – hence the flood and the preservation of Noah and his family. The main point of last week’s sermon was that Noah showed us that it is possible to live righteously in an unrighteous world – committed and loyal to God. Honestly, we have no excuse.
Some may wonder, does Gen. 6, sons of God, Nephilim, hybrids really matter? Does it affect my life? The answer – Yes! Gen. 6 is critical to understanding why our world is so messed up. Not just sin, but it’s also evil spiritual beings who corrupt humanity.
Gen. 6 is critical to the fulfillment of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In Gen. 3, God promised that a Messiah from seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. Think about it – sons of God are breeding with human women. Why? To prevent the birth of the Messiah. God had to preserve the line – Noah.
Gen. 6 is also critical to understanding the conquest of Canaan, the Promised Land. The Bible lists about 5 giant clans, remnants of the Nephilim, who lived in Canaan. Israelites encountered giants at Jericho, and David killed Goliath. Conquering the PL involved cleansing the land of unclean giants who opposed God’s kingdom.
Great, Chad, but I don’t see how that affects my life? Let's find out.
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Caesarea Philippi is about 25 miles north of Galilee. Galilee was where Jesus conducted most of His ministry. This is not a little detour or a Sunday stroll. Jesus took His disciples there for a specific reason.
Caesarea Philippi has a long history of Satanic worship, literally, and there’s a large cave system that was believed to be the gateway to the underworld – Hades. Way back in the OT, this area was known as Bashan. There was an Amorite stronghold here ruled by two kings, Sihon and Og, both of whom descended from the Rephaim and Anakim – giant clans. This area was also a center for Baal and Asherah worship – Canaanite deities. Baal was the Lord of the Dead or the Prince of the Underworld. In the NT, Baal was known as Beelzebul or Beelzebub (i.e. the Devil – the chief rebel). Israel used this place for idol worship. The Greeks worshipped Zeus there. In Jesus’ day, this place was also called Panias, because it was dedicated to the worship of the god, Pan – portrayed as half man /half goat. Baal, Zeus, Pan – all cultural variations of the Devil – the serpent from Gen. 3.
Understand that the Devil, whom we call Satan was worshipped at Caesarea Philippi for thousands of years. And Jesus went to the very gates of Hell, the epicenter of Satanic worship and declared that He is the Christ, and His Kingdom and His people will conquer the spiritual forces of darkness (the rock) – and
Nothing can prevail against the Church of Christ.
No government, wars, persecution, no laws, no UFOs … – nothing will prevail against God’s Kingdom. The Church of Christ will never be eliminated. So why live in fear? Why live as if we’re defeated?
The Church is to live from a place of victory!
So this event at Caesarea Philippi is directly connected to Gen. 3 and how we live as the Church.
But wait – there’s more! Caesarea Philippi is at the foot of Mount Hermon. In the ancient world, Hermon was believed to be a place where the spiritual and physical realms connected. So it was a place of worship. Numerous shrines have been discovered on this mountain that date back thousands of years. Let’s see what happened next.
And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.
Somewhere on Mt. Hermon, about 10-15 miles north of C.P.,
And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.
And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.
But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.”
And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.
And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.”
So what was the purpose of this event? It wasn’t for the public. It wasn’t for the 12 disciples - only 3 disciples witnessed this, and they were told to be quiet. Again – why here? Understand that
In the Bible, geographical places often have a spiritual connection.
The only spiritual connection that we can find about Mt. Hermon comes from 2nd Temple Jewish literature – namely 1 Enoch, which is entirely about the sin of the Watchers and all the events leading up to the flood in Gen. 6. Enoch, the great grandfather of Noah claimed that claimed that Mt. Hermon was where 200 Watchers, the sons of God descended onto earth and began to defile humanity. God disinherited the sons and cast them into a fiery prison until the final judgment.
Now, here at C.P and Mt. Hermon, Jesus revealed the fullness of His identity – He is the Christ. He’s the One that God’s people have been waiting for since Gen. 3. And He’s the One whom the powers of darkness dreaded, because Jesus’ arrival signified their end. And God the Father declared, “This is my Son! I’m proud of this One.”
Jesus took on the full spectrum of the spiritual forces of darkness. He’s forecasted to
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
that this was the beginning of the end. “I’m taking back what is mine.” Apart from Gen. 6 and the sin of the Watchers, this Mt. Hermon event loses some of its significance. (an event that could have happened anywhere if it were not connected to the Watchers)
So what does this mean for us? This is our Savior – not some mamby pamby Jesus. He marched right up to the gates of Hell, Satan’s stronghold, and confronted all the forces of evil and said, “Get off my lawn! And you will not prevail against my Church.”
So here’s the reality that we need to get.
1) The kingdom of darkness has an end; the Kingdom of God is a forever Kingdom.
Got to ask –
Which kingdom are you in?
Which king do you serve?
2) Gates are for defense. The Church is to advance. The only “ground” the enemy gains is “ground” that is yielded.
Are we yielding to fear, woke, to the news …? Think on that for a while.
Lastly, on Mt. Hermon, God said, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”
3) Listen (hear) means to pay close attention to and obey.
Whose voice(s) are you listening to?
When Peter, James, and John opened their eyes they saw no one but Jesus only.
