The Book of Enoch

Enoch was the seventh from Adam and the great-grandfather of Noah (Genesis 5:19, 29). Among the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in the caves of Qumran was the 'book of Enoch' which confirmed its antiquity and authenticity in history, as well as its popularity among the early Jews and attested even by one New Testament writer (Jude 1:14). 

This book made reference to the fallen angels mentioned in the Genesis account and painted a picture of how the world looked like before the deluge. It tells how the eyes of this patriarch was opened by God to see heavenly visions and future cataclysmic events that shall befall mankind. At the beginning of the book is a rather intriguing statement:

The words of Enoch, wherewith he blessed the elect and righteous, who will be living in the day of tribulation, when all the wicked and godless are to be removed.

Enoch a righteous man whose eyes were opened by God, saw the vision of the Holy One in the heavens, which the angels showed me, and from them I heard and from them I understood as I saw, not for this generation, but for a remote one which is to come.

The 'day of tribulation' might not have referred to the coming deluge in Noah's day, but to a 'remote' (distant) generation that is to come. Of course, Enoch could very well be hinting at this particular generation we're living in.

Notably, Enoch clearly mentioned the existence of angels. Some of these angels—the fallen ones—abducted beautiful mortal women to produce offspring of their own, hybrids that resulted from the union of angels and humans.

These demi-gods possessed not only great strength but physical stature and were given the title 'Nephilim' which means 'giants' in Hebrew. This is consistent with the narrative of the Bible in Genesis chapter six.

The book of Enoch went further and described how these giant hybrids ruled the earth in ancient times. They exhausted the earth's food resources and when humans were unable to supply their insatiable appetite, these giants turned on them and consumed human flesh for sustenance instead. Nephilim's inclination towards lusts and destruction filled the earth with chaos, immorality and violence.

Some will object to this line of thought and insist that angels do not or are not capable of sexual acts based on Jesus' answer to the Sadducees, who questioned the reality of resurrection and the spiritual world:

Matthew 22:29-30
You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage, but they will be like the angels in heaven.

Such reasoning betrays a lack of understanding on the nature of angels and the purpose they were created. As far as angels are concerned, there is no necessity for procreation since they are spiritual beings, created to serve God and the heirs of salvation. But the human race is a completely different story altogether because they need to reproduce to continue their short, earthly existence. As such, mankind is created male and female whereas angels are singularly male.

It is therefore not a stretch on the imagination that fallen angels should take a fancy on mortal women and commit the forbidden act which resulted in their premature punishment:

Jude 1:6-7
And the angels who kept not their first estate (position), but left their own habitation (place), God has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great Day—even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, in the same way giving themselves over to fornication (consensual sexual intercourse) and going after strange flesh (unnatural union), are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

These fallen angels not only intruded into forbidden territory themselves, they also led mankind astray with all sorts of dark occultic knowledge that turned their hearts away from God to the worship of the heavenly hosts and the practice of witchcrafts —detestable things which God had strictly forbidden. They also imparted the ability and skills to make weapons which resulted in ceaseless bloodshed and sufferings. The fallen angels brought their knowledge to mankind, and with it unimaginable disasters and endless miseries. No wonder the Bible solemnly states:

Genesis 6:11-12
The earth also was corrupt before God and violence filled the lands… for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

The only option left was divine judgment. The whole earth must be cleansed and rid of all the filth and evil, and the means would be through a worldwide flood. As for these fallen angels, they too would be imprisoned ahead of their time and to await their final judgment (Jude 1:6).

 

Anunnaki

According to Sumerian records, there existed a certain group of living beings known as the Anunnakis. The appearance and form of these beings closely resembled that of humans; however, in the Summerian annuls, words used to describe these beings are translated as 'dragons' and 'giant serpents'. Were the ancients hinting that these beings were actually reptilians? But how was it possible that they could take on human forms?

Ancient wall carvings depict these beings as having the ability to change their forms in different periods of time. In other words, these Anunnakis can appear in various guises and have wings like those of angels. Because of this, the ancient people regarded the existence of these humanoids with awe and worshipped them as deities and gods.

The Meso-American 'winged serpent', found on wall images, also exhibited half-human half-snake appearances. It is no wonder that the Mayans regarded these supernatural beings as divine. Archeological excavation sites in Iraq had uncovered many ancient religious relics that are rather grotesque—stone figurines with human bodies but heads of either a serpent or a lizard.

In India, predating Buddhism, the Hindus worshipped a kind of dragon-like deity that looked more like a serpent. According to local folklore, these beings could take on human form, whether fully or half-bodied.

Looking back at history, whether it's Meso-America, Asia, Egypt or Sumerian, undeniably there are creatures or beings found in these ancient civilizations which exhibited common and similar traits:

1. They have reptilian appearances like those of a dragon or a serpent.
2. They have feathered wings like those of an angel.
3. They have the ability to change form, which invariably caused humans to worship them.

These creatures must have existed in the world long before humans came onto the scene. Somehow, they incurred God's wrath and were relegated as serpents, the chief of whom appeared in the garden of Eden. The origin of the story must of necessity be traced to the book of Genesis.

Incidentally, John the Baptist and Jesus described the religious leaders as serpents and generation of vipers (Matthew 3:7; Matthew 23:33), and that they were children of the devil (John 8:44). These are strong words indeed!

Reptilians

From a biological standpoint, dragons and serpents are closely related creatures since both belong to the reptilian family and share certain common features. In fact, the Bible views both as inseparable entities:

Revelation 12:9
So the great dragon was cast out, that old (ancient) serpent…

Reptilian humanoids, or anthropomorphic reptiles, have appeared in folklore, fiction, and conspiracy theories. Cultures across the world have their legends of creatures which are part human and part reptile. One of the earliest historical depictions of a reptilian humanoid was Sobek an ancient Egyptian deity with the head of a crocodile and the body of a human. He was depicted with traits befitting that of a reptilian such as being aggressive and animalistic.

In both south and south-eastern Asian mythologies, the Nagas are considered to be semi-divine creatures with half-human and half-serpent characteristics. Are they just a figment of imagination in the minds of superstitious, ignorant pagans or is there more to it?

 

Ancient Dragon

Historical buildings throughout China are commonly decorated with a prominent creature——the dragon. Carved by skilled master craftsmen for imperial palaces as well as temples, these creatures are depicted with scales similar to that of snakes. Remarkably, its backs and tails are also furnished with feathers of some sort. So it's not surprising that these ancient Chinese dragons are believed to have the ability to take flight into the clouds just like the Mayan's winged serpent.

China and Central America are separated by a great geological distance, yet they shared a rather similar religious belief in some ways. Is this just coincidence? Considering that ancient naval and navigational technologies were still undeveloped, it was simply not possible for Asians to travel to the America continent, nor could the Mayans have chartered their way to the Chinese mainland. Yet these two distinct ethnic groups shared a vividly similar portrayal of this 'mythological' creature. The dragon in the eyes of the ancients was like a serpent that could fly. What does that tell us?

Either these ancient peoples were very imaginative——or such entities possibly existed in the past.

According to ancient writings and historical relics, there are records and descriptions of such creatures all over the world. Can this be considered pure coincidence? If these were simply made up by the imaginations of superstitious folks in the past, such a sweeping statement may prove inadequate to convince skeptics and inconclusive to satisfy the inquisitive.