Sin Matrix III Genesis 6 Fall of the Watchers

Imagine, if you will, a time where fantasy was reality. Where fire-breathing dragons chasing damsels in distress were commonplace. While some people debate fire-breathing giant lizards existing, replace them pursuing women with angels pursuing women, and you gain insight into the world Noah was living in during the Genesis 6 account.

Building upon our original article on the Sin Matrix which summarized temptation and spiritual warfare, and its follow-up the Sin Matrix II, which focused on the fall of man through Adam and Eve’s sin, this article will continue exposing the sources of temptation in our lives.

Discovering these sources of temptation aids us in our spiritual battle. This time we will examine the spiritual ramifications of the fall of the watchers through the angels’ sin found in Genesis 6.

We will answer the following questions:

• What is a Watcher?
• What is the Genesis 6 account?
• How does the Fall of the Watchers affect you?
• Will this happen again?
• What can you do about it?

What is a Watcher?

Genesis shares the story of God’s creation. In particular, it shows the consequences, both positive and negative, of their decisions. From Adam and Eve biting the forbidden fruit, to Joseph forgiving his brothers for selling him into slavery, the Old Testament shows the results of humanity’s rebellion and obedience.

The history contained within the Bible shows the heights and depths of God’s image-bearers. But there’s another segment of God’s creation and their rebellion we need to review. 

The term Watchers appears only in the Old Testament book, Daniel, which was written in both Hebrew and Aramaic. Strong’s Definitions define watchers as:

עִיר ʻîyr, eer; (Aramaic) from a root corresponding to H5782; a watcher, i.e. an angel (as guardian):—watcher.

We find this term in Daniel 4:13:

I saw in the visions of my head while on my bed, and there was a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven.

Daniel 4:17:

This decision is by the decree of the watchers,

And the sentence by the word of the holy ones,

In order that the living may know

That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men,

Gives it to whomever He will,

And sets over it the lowest of men.

Daniel 4:23:

And inasmuch as the king saw a watcher, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its stump and roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze in the tender grass of the field; let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let him graze with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him.’

The non-canonical books, Enoch and Jubilees, mention the watchers. In the book of Enoch, Enoch reveals these watchers took an interest in human affairs, with some taking it too far when they took women as their wives. Genesis 6 also examines the Fall of the Watchers.

What is the Genesis 6 Account?

The Genesis 6 account reveals the reason God brought the great flood.

Genesis 6:1-4 (ESV):

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

The sons of God are the angels/watchers who left their proper domain (Jude 1:6) and fornicated with women. This angelic sin (2 Peter 2:4), birthed the Nephilim, the angel-human hybrid known as the mighty men, the men of renown.

After the Nephilim conversation, God spoke to Noah about the future of Earth’s inhabitants in Genesis 6:13-14:

And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.” 

Once Noah built the ark and got everyone inside, the Lord unleashed the great flood as told in Genesis 7:1-5:

Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation. You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth. For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.” And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. 

Genesis 7:22-23 continues:

All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.

The flood destroyed all land-bound living creatures except those within the ark. But what happened to those spirits within the human-watcher offspring, the Nephilim? 

Why Does the Fall of the Watchers Affect Me?

Demonic origination is unclear in the Bible. There are those who believe they are fallen angels, yet others believe they are the post-flood disembodied spirits of the Nephilim. 

Jesus twice mentions what happens to demons when removed from a person. In Matthew 8:31-32, it states:

And the demons begged Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the pigs; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters.

Then again, Jesus discusses in Matthew 12:43-45:

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.”

These two instances indicate a need for the disembodied spirits to find a living creature to reside in. 

As wild as that sounds, a more subtle way demons affect humanity is their fiery darts. In Ephesians 6, where Paul discloses the true battle we face through spiritual warfare, he articulates the spiritual armor we have in Christ Jesus. In Ephesians 6:16, Paul states:

above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 

Fiery darts are demons’ devious instruments of warfare. Extinguishing the flame results in minimal damage. But if the flame is not extinguished, it will spread and engulf the surrounding area. 

These fiery darts of the wicked one are demonic thoughts that enter your mind. When you take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5), you will recognize these demonic darts and extinguish their flame before they overwhelm your life.

The result of the Fall of the Watchers is the potential for demons to harass humanity through demonization. But will the Watchers return?

Will the Fall of the Watchers Happen Again?

God promises to never flood the earth again in Genesis 9:12-15:

And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.” 

So God will not flood the earth again. But what about the Nephilim, will they exist again?

Genesis 6:4 provides a clue:

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

This verse could talk about after the flood, but it could also talk about the pre-flood landscape. But there’s another verse that may give credence to the Nephilim and/or their ancestors surviving the flood in Numbers 13.

The Lord told Moses in Numbers 13:2:

“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.”

When the spies came back, they told Moses in Numbers 13:27-28:

And they told him, “We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.” 

Not sure who the descendants of Anak are? After Caleb inspires confidence that they can overtake them, the others rebuke Caleb and say in Numbers 13:31-33:

Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

Hyperbole? Fact? Biblical scholars debate this, but today, there are those who long to bring forth a modern-day Nephilim. And Satan is all too ready to assist. But that’s a topic for another article.

Until then, the spiritual influence within the Sin Matrix needs to be dealt with. But how? Keep reading to find out.

What Can You Do About It?

Jesus gave authority to His 12 disciples to cast out demons as shared in Luke 9:1. Further on, John His disciple told Him in Luke 9:49-50:

Now John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.”

Jesus also gave authority to 70 others and sent them out two by two. When they returned, they told Him in Luke 10:17:

Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 

Jesus explains further in Luke 10:18-20:

And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” 

As disciples of Jesus Christ, Jesus blesses us with the same authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. But as Jesus declares, we should not rejoice in this, but rejoice that our names are written in heaven.

Paul also clarified this spiritual power in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6:

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

Paul continues this discussion in Ephesians 6:10-18 and in particular, verse 12 states:

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

The Fall of the Watchers led to the demons (principalities, powers, etc.) we face today and the spiritual component of the Sin Matrix. Therefore, Paul continues in his exhortation for us to put on the full armor of God. And the only weapon we possess is Jesus Christ. For this is a spiritual battle, and He is our strength.

But unless you call on Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you are weaponless in this spiritual confrontation. Call on Him and He will equip you for battle and you can overcome the Sin Matrix.