Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today’s video we’re going to discuss the Watchers,
a group of 200 fallen angels who unleashed evil into the world, triggering a chain of
events that saw the world savaged by giants and later inundated by a world-consuming flood,
saw the creation of the first demons (this coming from a more esoteric and marginally-endorsed
origin story of how demons came to be), and saw the Watchers fall prey to ruination when
the consequences of their actions finally caught up with them in the form of divine retribution.
We’re going to begin by looking at what the Book of Enoch is, then looking at the Dead Sea Scrolls,
a cache of religious texts found in the 1940s that forced people to rethink the importance of
the Book of Enoch, now shown to be thousands of years old. After that, we’ll go through
the story of The Watchers, cover to cover, beginning with their departure from heaven
and ending with their incarceration in the abyss. Lastly, we'll examine an intriguing, lesser-known
origin story of demons. While the mainstream belief holds that demons are fallen angels,
this alternative account suggests that demons are the restless souls of the Nephilim, a race
of fierce giants who were driven to extinction through deadly conflict orchestrated by the
machinations of a cunning archangel. Alright, Let’s get into it.
The Book of Enoch is an ancient Jewish religious work ascribed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of
Noah. Although it is not part of the biblical canon for most Christian denominations and is
not considered part of the Hebrew Bible, the text has been influential in Christian eschatology
and apocryphal literature. Composed during the Second Temple period (around 300 BC to 70 AD),
it consists of five distinct sections, each addressing unique themes and purposes.
The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the late 1940s significantly impacted the way scholars and
theologians viewed the Book of Enoch. Before this discovery, it was primarily known through
Ethiopian and some Greek manuscripts, which led many to believe that it was a relatively
late composition, perhaps dating from the early Christian era. However, the Dead Sea Scrolls
included fragments of the Book of Enoch, which were written in Aramaic, demonstrating that the
text was much older than previously thought. These Aramaic fragments, dated to the Second
Temple period, proved that the Book of Enoch was an ancient Jewish religious work,
predating the Christian era by centuries. This finding led to a reassessment of the importance
of the Book of Enoch in the development of Jewish and Christian beliefs and literature.
The first section of the Book of Enoch describes the fall and condemnation of the Watchers.
The story of the Watchers - you could say - begins as they fulfill their divine roles
as celestial beings, observing and guarding humanity. Though this isn’t explicitly stated,
it can be reasonably inferred. The Watchers are called "Watchers" because their primary role
was to observe and monitor humanity on behalf of God. As celestial beings, they were entrusted with
the responsibility of watching over the earth and its inhabitants, ensuring that God's will
was executed and dutifully reporting any misdeeds they noticed during their ceaseless surveillance.
As the narrative unfolds, a group of these Watchers, captivated by the beauty of human women,
become ensnared, enamored by the sight of comely countenances and nubile figures.
They become discontent with their heavenly duties, now coveting the pleasures of the flesh and no
longer satisfied with the perpetual monotony of being glorified sentries. Led by Samjaza,
they conspired to forsake their divine positions and descend to earth in pursuit of their desires.
These angels, driven by lust, made a pact, swearing an oath together on Mount Hermon.
They agreed to carry out their plan and accept the consequences, fully aware that
their actions would lead to punishment. Thus, the story takes a dramatic turn as
the Watchers abandon their heavenly posts and descend to earth, seeking out the daughters
of men. This event marks the beginning of their transgressions, which were numerous and egregious,
and sets the stage for the consequences that will befall both the Watchers and humanity.
Here’s the passage that describes what happened when the watchers descended from heaven:
“And all of them together went and took wives for themselves, each choosing one for himself,
and they began… to defile themselves with sex… And the angles taught them charms and spells,
and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants.
And the women became pregnant, and they bore large giants, whose height was three thousand
cubits. The giants consumed all the work and toil of men. And when men could no longer sustain them,
the giants turned against them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds,
and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another’s flesh, and drank blood…
And Azazel [one of the fallen] taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates,
and taught them about metals of the earth and the art of working them [;and to women
he showed] bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids,
and all kinds of precious stones, and all coloring dyes [-these the devices women would henceforth
use to tempt men and drive them mad with lust.] And there was great impiety… [humanity] turned
away from God, and committed fornication, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in
all their ways… and as men perished, they cried and their cries went up to heaven.”
Following the birth of the Nephilim, the world was plunged into chaos and corruption. These
giant offspring of the Watchers and human women possessed immense strength and size,
causing destruction and spreading woe and wickedness throughout the land.
The Nephilim were insatiable, and with their voracious appetites matching their colossal size,
it wasn’t long before their devouring nature left the whole of the earth bare, or near to it.
Food became scarce, leading to famine and suffering for the human population. As they
continued to wreak havoc, the earth itself became imbued with sin and drenched in blood.
The Watchers imparted forbidden knowledge - knowledge previously hidden away in the lofty
halls of heaven - to humanity, further contributing to the moral decay of the
world. They taught humans various arts and sciences that were previously withheld,
conferring the arcane secrets of metallurgy and astrology and showing them how to wage war.
While some of this knowledge benefited humanity, much of it was used for nefarious purposes,
leading people astray from the righteous path and exacerbating the world's degeneration.
As the situation worsened, the cries of the afflicted reached the heavens, and the
archangels bore witness to the tragic state of the earth. Four archangels, Michael, Raphael, Gabriel,
and Uriel, approached God, beseeching Him to take action and put an end to the suffering
caused by the Watchers and their progeny. In response to the archangels' pleas, God decided
to intervene and restore order to the world. He assigned tasks to each of the four archangels
to enact His judgment upon the fallen Watchers, the Nephilim, and the sullied soil of the earth.
To Michael, God assigned the task of informing Samjaza and the other fallen
Watchers of their condemnation and binding them for seventy generations, until judgment day.
Raphael was given the duty of binding the Watcher Azazel, who had taught humanity to make weapons
and engage in warfare, among other sins. Raphael was to bind Azazel hand and foot, cast him into
darkness, and cover him with jagged rocks in the desert, where he would remain until Judgement Day.
Gabriel was entrusted with the responsibility of dealing with the Nephilim. He was to incite
them to turn against each other in a great battle, ensuring their mutual destruction. This internal
conflict resulted in the elimination of the Nephilim from the face of the earth.
Finally, Uriel was instructed to warn Noah, Enoch's great-grandson, about the impending
divine judgment. A great flood was to be sent to cleanse the earth of the evil that had taken hold,
the defiling filth of it saturating and spoiling down to the core. Uriel's guidance helped Noah
build an ark to save his family and at least one pair of each species of bird and beast, thus
ensuring the continuation of life after the flood. As the archangels carried out their assigned
tasks, the world underwent a dramatic transformation. The Nephilim were wiped
out in the violent conflict instigated by Gabriel, while the fallen Watchers,
including Azazel, were bound and imprisoned by Raphael, awaiting their final judgment.
Meanwhile, Uriel warned Noah of the coming flood, and under divine guidance, Noah built
the ark that would preserve his family and the beasts of the earth and the birds of the sky.
When the flood arrived, it extirpated the evil that had spread across and seeped into the earth,
drowning the remaining sinful inhabitants and purging the world of corruption.
After the floodwaters receded, the earth was renewed, and Noah,
his family, and the animals emerged from the ark to repopulate and restore the world. God
established a covenant with Noah, promising never again to destroy the earth by flood.
This nearly takes us to the end of the video, so it’s time to wrap things up
with an unorthodox theory that speaks to the origins of demons.
Following the comeuppance and condemnation of the Watchers, a theory emerged suggesting that
the souls of the Nephilim, the hybrid offspring of the Watchers and of human women, became the
demons in Christianity. This theory posits that when the Nephilim were destroyed in the great
battle instigated by the archangel Gabriel, their spirits were left to wander the earth as evil,
malevolent entities. Here’s the passage from the Book of Enoch that explains this:
“"And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits
upon the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. Evil spirits have proceeded from their
bodies; because they are born from men, and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal
origin; they shall be evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits shall they be called. [As for
the spirits of heaven, in heaven shall be their dwelling, but as for the spirits of the earth
which were born upon the earth, on the earth shall be their dwelling.] And the spirits of the giants
afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble:
they take no food, but nevertheless hunger and thirst, and cause offenses.
And these spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women,
because they have proceeded from them." Dr. Michael S. Heiser, a biblical scholar
and author specializing in ancient texts and the supernatural world, is one notable figure
who argues for this theory. In his works, including "The Unseen Realm" and "Reversing
Hermon," Heiser explores the connections between the fallen angels, the Nephilim, and the demonic
realm within the context of ancient Near Eastern literature and the Bible. According to Heiser,
the spirits of the Nephilim are the origin of the demons in Christian theology.
This theory is by no means universally accepted - far from it, in fact - and remains a subject
of debate among scholars and theologians, and it could fairly be called a ‘fringe
theory’ compared to the theory that claims demons to be fallen angels. Nonetheless,
it offers an intriguing perspective on the origins of demons within the Christianity.
And that’s it for this video. If you enjoy the content,
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