Where do demons come from? Demons show up all through the Gospels, but the Bible never directly addresses their origin. One explanation, held by Second Temple Jewish writers and revived in recent years by the late Old Testament scholar Dr. Michael Heiser, connects them to the Nephilim of Genesis 6. Were the spirits Jesus cast out once the giants of the ancient world?

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ABOUT THE EPISODE:
Josh, Michael, and Michael take up the question of whether demons are the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim. Genesis 6:1–4 describes the sons of God taking human wives, and the Nephilim appear in the same passage. Later Jewish writings, including 1 Enoch and Jubilees, taught that when the giants died, their spirits stayed on the earth as evil spirits. Some early church writers held the same view.

Heiser wrote about this in The Unseen Realm, Reversing Hermon, and Demons, and for many believers his books were their first introduction to the idea. Scripture is clear that demons are real and that Jesus has authority over them, but it doesn’t say how they came to exist. So we have to ask how much Genesis 6 can tell us and how much weight to give books that aren’t part of the canon.

We'll explore what the Bible says about demons and fallen angels and talk through which conclusions the text supports.

0:00 – Introduction
2:42 – Genesis 6 Ben Elohim
8:38 – Ancient Near Eastern Giants
19:24 – Book of Enoch's Authority
22:38 – 1 Enoch on Demons
25:46 – Heiser on Unclean Spirits
32:37 – Jubilees 10 and Mastema
35:34 – Revelation 9 Demonic Release
45:15 – Defining Rephaim and Watchers
48:13 – Church Fathers on Nephilim
54:04 – Rephaim in Isaiah, Ezekiel
1:11:56 – Bible Reigns Supreme