Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5) QUOTES

61 " Eleazer took two goats and threw lots. Caleb explained, “Now, he decides which goat will be sacrificed to Yahweh on behalf of Israel. He follows the same procedures as he did for himself with the blood of the chosen goat to propitiate for the sins of the people.” Eleazer slew the goat at the altar. But what happened next fascinated Caleb the most. The second goat was kept alive. Eleazer took his bloody hands and placed them onto the live goat’s head. Caleb said, “He confesses the sins of Israel as a ritual means of transferring them onto the goat.” Another priest then led the goat out of the tabernacle and away from the camp. Caleb commented, “He is sending the scapegoat into the wilderness to send it to Azazel. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

62 " The desert to us is tohu wabohu, a place of chaos that is unformed and unfilled. When we crossed the Red Sea, Yahweh had promised us that he would crush the heads of Leviathan and Rahab and create the heavens and the earth out of the chaos.” This was another way of saying that Yahweh would establish his kingdom covenant order out of the disorder and lawlessness that was Canaan. Sending the goat out into the desert to Azazel, was not an offering to the damnable goat demon, but rather it was a banishment of Israel’s sin to the realm of chaos outside Yahweh’s kingdom—the same realm of Azazel. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

63 " The Hebrew for the words “wild animals” and “hyenas” are not readily identifiable,[10] so the ESV translators simply guessed according to their anti-mythical bias and filled in their translations with naturalistic words like “wild animals” and “hyenas.” But of these words, Bible commentator Hans Wildberger says, “Whereas (jackals) and (ostriches), mentioned in v. 13, are certainly well-known animals, the creatures that are mentioned in v. 14 cannot be identified zoologically, not because we are not provided with enough information, but because they refer to fairy tale and mythical beings. Siyyim are demons, the kind that do their mischief by the ruins of Babylon, according to [Isaiah] 13:21. They are mentioned along with the iyyim (goblins) in this passage.[11] "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

64 " The Dictionary of Biblical Languages (DBL) admits that another interpretation of iyyim other than howling desert animals is “spirit, ghost, goblin, i.e., a night demon or dead spirit (Isa. 13:22; 34:14; Jer. 50:39), note: this would be one from the distant lands, i.e., referring to the nether worlds.”[12] One could say that siyyim and iyyim are similar to our own play on words, “ghosts and goblins.” The proof of this demon interpretation is in the Apostle John’s inspired reuse of the same exact language when pronouncing judgment upon first century Israel as a symbolic “Mystery Babylon. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

65 " it was Og’s walled city and he was the last of the Rephaim. Og had become infamous because his Rephaim were gibborim giants that ruled the region with terror. Gibborim was the word used for mighty warriors of men or giants. On the Transjordan side, the Edomites had wiped out the Horite giant clan and settled around the southern end of the Salt Sea. The Moabites had slaughtered the Emim giants and secured their land now called Moab in mid-country. The Ammonites had permanently displaced the Zamzummim giants in the lower region. The Philistine Sea Peoples overtook the Avvim giant clans on the coast of the Mediterranean. The two clans that were not displaced, but rather grew stronger than their enemies, were the Anakim in the southern hill country of the Cisjordan, and the Rephaim in the Transjordan, the land of Bashan. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

66 " His sorrow was magnified by the fact that he knew he was too hard on them, too demanding, too impatient. They were Yahweh’s way of pounding the selfishness out of his own soul. And in their youthful flaws he could see himself before his heavenly father. His own imperfection, his own selfish demands and need for guidance and wisdom. They taught him as much about his heavenly father’s love for him as any of the sacrifices could. But now they were all dead. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

67 " And herein lay a tension of paradox. For a high priest to sufficiently mediate between god and man, he would have to be sinless. But only a god could have such perfection. But a god could not represent man because he was wholly other, separate. Thus the repeated need for the high priest to be forgiven before he could perform his mediation. It was a weakness of the system that Caleb had thought could only be permanently overcome by a being of both deity and humanity, a kind of “god-man” that could become an eternal sacrifice. But he thought his imagination got away from him, for such a thing seemed impossible indeed. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

68 " The Hebrew word is actually Lilith, which the Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible explains is a Mesopotamian demoness residing in a tree that reaches back to the third millennium BC. Here we find Inanna (Ishtar) who plants a tree later hoping to cut from its wood a throne and a bed for herself. But as the tree grows, a snake makes its nest at its roots, Anzu settled in the top and in the trunk the demon ki-sikil-líl-lá [Lilith] makes her lair.[15] "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

69 " she shows up in this Biblical context connected with the satyrs and Azazel. The very next verse (Isa. 34:15) talks about the owl that nests and lays and hatches her young in its shadow. But lexicons such as the Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament and Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew Lexicon contest this Hebrew word for owl (qippoz) with more ancient interpretations of an “arrow snake.”[17] If they are correct, then the poetry of the passage would be more complete as the NASB indicates. Isaiah 34:14–15 (NASB95) 14 Yes, the night monster (Lilith) will settle there And will find herself a resting place. 15 The tree snake (qippoz) will make its nest and lay eggs there, And it will hatch and gather them under its protection. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

70 " The Dead Sea Scrolls of Qumran evidence a preoccupation with demonology that includes reference to this very Isaianic passage. In The Songs of the Sage, we read an exorcism incantation, “And I, the Instructor, proclaim His glorious splendor so as to frighten and to terrify all the spirits of the destroying angels, spirits of the bastards, demons, Lilith, howlers, and [desert dwellers…] and those which fall upon men without warning to lead them astray[18] Note the reference to “spirits of the bastards,” a euphemism for demons as the spirits of dead Nephilim who were not born of human fathers, but of angels.[19] "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

71 " Sending the goat out into the desert to Azazel, was not an offering to the damnable goat demon, but rather it was a banishment of Israel’s sin to the realm of chaos outside Yahweh’s kingdom—the same realm of Azazel. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

72 " Hear O Israel! We are entering into a land that worships the Serpent! These fiery serpents that have attacked you are an example of what will happen to you in Canaan if you continue to grieve Yahweh with your unfaithful hearts! The Serpent will bite your heel and you will die. Turn now from your unbelief and turn back to Yahweh. If a fiery serpent has bitten you, and you look upon this Nehushtan, you will be healed! Trust in Yahweh and he will do it!” Nehushtan was a Semitic wordplay on the words for bronze and Nachash, as well as a third word for practicing sorcery. It was a sarcastic jab at Israel’s wayward tendencies. Everyone was coming out of their tents to see the great sign before them. And those who had been bitten would merely look upon the bronze serpent and they were healed. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

73 " tracking the fleeing Molech, only to discover he had holed himself up in the territory of the Ammonites east of Sihon’s old kingdom. Because the Ammonites were sons of Lot, the nephew of Abraham, Yahweh had given them special dispensation so that Israel could not possess their land. By hiding himself in Ammonite territory, Molech was legally protected from Uriel’s jurisdiction. If Molech left the area, Uriel could arrest him, bind him, and send him to Tartarus. But inside the territory of Ammon, Molech was free. He was under their protected inheritance. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

74 " Scholar Karen Randolph Joines adds more to the Egyptian origin of this motif, by explaining that the usage of serpent images to defend against snakes was also an exclusively Egyptian notion without evidence in Canaan or Mesopotamia.[32] And Moses came out of Egypt. But the important element of these snakes being flying serpents or even dragons with mythical background is reaffirmed in highly respected lexicons such as the Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew Lexicon.[33] The final clause in Isaiah 30:7 likening Egypt’s punishment to the sea dragon Rahab lying dead in the desert is a further mythical serpentine connection.[34] But the Bible and Egypt are not the only places where we read of flying serpents in the desert. Hans Wildberger points out Assyrian king Esarhaddon’s description of flying serpents in his tenth campaign to Egypt in the seventh century B.C. “A distance of 4 double-hours I marched over a territory… (there were) two-headed serpents [whose attack] (spelled) death—but I trampled (upon them) and marched on. A distance of 4 double-hours in a journey of 2 days (there were) green [animals] [Tr.: Borger: “serpents”] whose wings were batting.”[35] The Greek historian Herodotus wrote of “sacred” winged serpents and their connection to Egypt in his Histories: There is a place in Arabia not far from the town of Buto where I went to learn about the winged serpents. When I arrived there, I saw innumerable bones and backbones of serpents... This place… adjoins the plain of Egypt. Winged serpents are said to fly from Arabia at the beginning of spring, making for Egypt... The serpents are like water-snakes. Their wings are not feathered but very like the wings of a bat. I have now said enough concerning creatures that are sacred.[36] The notion of flying serpents as mythical versus real creatures appearing in the Bible is certainly debated among scholars, but this debate gives certain warrant to the imaginative usage of winged flying serpents appearing in Chronicles of the Nephilim.[37] "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

75 " before the huge bronze altar, called a “high place,” that was situated just outside the city. High places were elevated platforms and altars devoted to the worship of the gods. Molech worship included veneration of the dead, which would be invoked to protect their forces against the living. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

76 " Joshua had been overcome by his own righteous indignation. He had become so obsessed with Yahweh’s war that he forgot he was a servant and not the sovereign. He became momentarily blinded by the delusion that he could do no wrong. And when his hatred for evil was projected outward, he was overwhelmed by his rage and forgot the evil in himself. His momentary madness was the potential of every living person. This simple yet profound truth was what kept Caleb humble in his own perception of himself. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

77 " Come, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days. The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, the oracle of the man whose eye is opened, the oracle of him who hears the words of El, and knows the knowledge of Elyon, who sees the vision of Shaddai, falling down with his eyes uncovered: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Seth. Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities! "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

78 " Judah is a lion’s cub; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes. And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” And then Sheshai said, “Lion and scepter. The kingly seed we seek is the line of Judah within Israel.” Talmai said, “One out of twelve tribes. But that is still not as specific as we require. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

79 " Apparently, this Balaam seer was conscientious about earning his money. So after he spoke the blessing of Yahweh four times in favor of the Israelites, he gave the Midianites and Moabites some advice on how to undermine the blessing from within.” “Indeed,” said Sheshai. “Seduce them with women. As we all know, the way of man is such that if you please him sexually, he will give you anything and everything in return, even his soul. The Israelites have developed a liking for Moabite and Midianite women, and with them their local deities. Their god Yahweh is a jealous god who demands exclusive allegiance to him and the destruction of all other gods. One can only imagine the anger he now has toward his own people. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)

80 " It could not be more perfect. Ba’al, the very god of the Anakim, Israel’s ultimate enemy, was already undermining Yahweh’s inheritance through spiritual adultery, and they had not even yet faced off in confrontation. “Well then,” said Sheshai with a pleased smirk, “We must certainly let the influence of Ba’al do his work on these people, And we will see which god ends up dispossessing which people after all. "

― Brian Godawa , Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)