Gilbert House Fellowship

THE PROPHET ISAIAH lived through turbulent times, with kings of Judah who ranged from the good (Hezekiah, Jotham. Uzziah) to the evil (Ahaz, Manasseh, Amon).  In Isaiah 7, the prophet is sent to Ahaz by God with a word about the invasion of his land by the combined forces of Syria and the northern kingdom of Israel. This was despite the fact that Ahaz “made offerings in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom and burned his sons as an offering” (2 Chr. 28:3, ESV), a reference to the sacrifice of children to Molech. God gave Ahaz a sign, an already-but-not-yet prophecy:  Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. (Isa. 7:14–16, ESV)This was a promise that Judah would not be conquered by his northern neighbors, but it was also a promise that a virgin in the future (Mary)

THE ESSENES who wrote the second section of the Book of 1 Enoch, chapters 37–71 (called The Book of Parables), foresaw a coming Savior called the Son of Man. This was a new doctrine for Jews in the 1st century AD. The Zadokite priesthood in Jerusalem believed that faithful adherence to the Law would redeem the world. The Essenes of the Upper Galilee taught that the world had been so corrupted by the rebellious Watchers that only God’s direct intervention could make things right. 1 Enoch is the first Jewish writing to put forward this doctrine, and the first to called the agent of God’s divine judgment the Anointed One, the Chosen One, and The Son of Man. And it’s clear in the text that the Son of Man is God Himself: For this purpose he became the Chosen One; he was concealed in the presence of (the Lord of the Spirits) prior to the creation of the world, and for eternity. (1 Enoch 48:6, Charlesworth translation) Here are the Bible verses about angels Derek referred to: “See that you do not despise o

ISAIAH WAS commissioned as a prophet in the year King Uzziah of Judah died—and it was a mindbending sight. One of the seraphim descended from the altar with a burning coal in a pair of tongs and touched Isaiah’s lips to absolve him of sin so that he could remain in the presence of God. We discuss the seraphim, who were probably winged, radiant beings of serpentine appearance. The word “seraphim” literally means “burning ones,” in the sense that they destroyed enemies by incinerating them, suggesting that the seraphim may have been what we’d call dragons. Then, after hearing the Lord ask, “Who will go for us?” Isaiah responded, “Here I am! Send me”—something all of us who follow Jesus Christ do to one degree or another when we accept him as Lord. Sharon’s niece, Sarah Sachleben, has been diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer, and the medical bills are piling up. If you are led to help, please go to GilbertHouse.org/hopeforsarah. Our new book The Gates of Hell is now available in paperback, Kindle, and as a

PROPHECIES OF the coming Messiah are woven throughout the Book of Isaiah. The one we encounter in this week’s study, chapter 4 of Isaiah, is not as well known as the prophecy of Isaiah 11:1 (“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit”), but the reference to “the Branch” (Hebrew tsemach) is also found in Jeremiah 23:5 and 33:15, and Zechariah 3:8 and 6:12. The rest of this week’s study is a sharp contrast to the prophecy of a savior who will restore “the survivors of Israel.” Isaiah 3:1–4:1 and 5:1–30 is a prophecy of God’s judgment the people of Judah for their failure to meet His standards. This week’s questions: How do we defend a futurist view of prophecy? Did Satan persuade the fallen Watchers (the sons of God from Genesis 6:1–4) to rebel? And what Bible commentary do we recommend? Sharon’s niece, Sarah Sachleben, has been diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer, and the medical bills are piling up. If you are led to help, please go to GilbertHo

ENOCH’S TOUR of the spirit realm continues with a view of the throne room of God. He describes the four archangels—Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Phanuel—and their responsibilities. Interestingly, Phanuel is the archangel believed to fend off “the satans” to keep them from approaching God to “accuse them who dwell on the earth.” Apparently, there were Jews during the Second Temple period who believed that there were multiple satans (“accusers” or “adversaries”), a concept most Christians today find odd to say the least.  Our purpose in going through the Book of 1 Enoch is to better understand the theological background of the New Testament. Although there are good reasons 1 Enoch is not in the Bible, there are clear links between 1 Enoch and New Testament theology. Sharon’s niece, Sarah Sachleben, has been diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer, and the medical bills are piling up. If you are led to help, please go to GilbertHouse.org/hopeforsarah. Our new book The Gates of Hell is now available in paperba

ISAIAH WAS a wordsmith. And the Hebrew word he used translated “idols,” ʾĕlîlim, identifies the spiritual nature and origin of the idols he condemned. Dr. Christopher B. Hays, citing work of A. T. Clay published in 1907, identified the origin of ʾĕlîlim as the name of the Mesopotamian deity Ellil, which was the Akkadian form of the Babylonian/Sumerian god Enlil. As Derek documented in The Second Coming of Saturn, Ellil/Enlil was the equivalent of the Canaanite father-god El, and thus “the abomination of the Ammonites,” Milcom (i.e., Molech). He was also known as Assur, chief god of the Assyrians, Dagon of the Philistines, Kronos of the Greeks, Saturn of the Romans, and probably Osiris of the Egyptians, among others. We believe this entity is also Shemihazah, leader of the sons of God in Genesis 6, whose rebellion created the monstrous Nephilim, the spirits of which became demons upon their deaths in the Flood of Noah. Isaiah, then, was condemning not carved blocks of wood or stone, but the demonic spirits

THE PRIDE of a king who elevated himself above what God ordained left King Uzziah with a debilitating disease. Uzziah, also called Azariah, ruled the kingdom of Judah 792–742 BC. He was a good king for most of his reign until pride got the better of him. He dared to offer incense in the Temple, a function reserved for the priests. As a result, he was afflicted with leprosy the rest of his life. This week’s question: What’s the context of Joel 2:25:I will restore to you the yearsthat the swarming locust has eaten,the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,my great army, which I sent among you. Sharon’s niece, Sarah Sachleben, has been diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer, and the medical bills are piling up. If you are led to help, please go to GilbertHouse.org/hopeforsarah. Our new book The Gates of Hell is now available in paperback, Kindle, and as an audiobook at Audible! Derek’s new book Destination: Earth, co-authored with Donna Howell and Allie Anderson, is now available in paperback, Kindle, and as a

THE SECOND SECTION of the Book of 1 Enoch isn’t as well known as the part that deals with the fallen Watchers, but it’s important for New Testament theology. The Book of Parables, chapters 37–71 of 1 Enoch, deals specifically with how the world will be purified from the sin introduced by the rebellious Watchers. To the author(s) of this section of 1 Enoch, which was probably written by Essenes in the Galilee between 25 BC and the end of the first century BC (in other words, just before the birth of Jesus), the world had been so corrupted by the fallen angels that only God’s direct intervention could put things right. This week, we share the historic backdrop of the Book of Parables: The return of Jews from Babylon who found a priesthood in Jerusalem that believed the age of prophecy was over, repeated invasions by Greeks, Armenians (yes, really), Parthians, and Romans, and civil war, which only intensified a belief among the group that came to be known as Essenes that the arrival of a Savior was imminent.

JONAH WAS a vindictive man who cared more about a plant than he did for the 120,000 people of Nineveh. Reading the short Book of Jonah aloud makes it clear that the story is as much about Jonah’s desire for the destruction of Nineveh as it is about God’s mercy and desire that all people would repent and return to Him. Not only did Jonah try to run away from God, but when he finally did proclaim God’s imminent judgment on the great city (reluctantly), he was so upset that God spared the city that Jonah asked God to kill him! This is one of those sections of the Bible that would surely have been rewritten to show Jonah in a better light if the text had been changed over the years—although we note that the time given the Ninevites to repent was changed from three days to forty between the time of the Septuagint translation (around 200 BC) and the Masoretic text on which our English Old Testament is based (about 900 AD). This week’s question: What do we make of Jeremiah 30:6 and the description of men of Israe

KING AMAZIAH of Judah is a classic example of someone whose pride got the better of him. 2 Kings 14 tells us that after Amaziah became king, he led a successful military campaign against Edom. He captured the stronghold of Sela, which was probably Petra in present-day Jordan, defeating an army of some 10,000 Edomites. This led him to provoke a war with the northern kingdom of Israel. Despite a warning from King Jehoash to “be content with your glory, and stay at home,” Amaziah wouldn’t listen, the two kingdoms went to war, Judah was defeated, and Amaziah, like his father, fell victim to a palace coup. The parallel chapter in 2 Chronicles 25 reveals that Amaziah brought idols representing the gods of Edom back to Jerusalem and began to worship them, and that this was the reason the king provoked a war with Israel—God used this war to humble Amaziah and those who followed him into pagan worship. Sharon’s niece, Sarah Sachleben, was recently diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer, and the medical bills are pili

THE TEMPLE in Jerusalem fell into disrepair within a century of the death of Solomon. The king who repaired it was a good man—sort of. Joash (or Jehoash), son of Ahaziah, reigned in Judah 835–796 BC. He was made king at age seven by the high priest Jehoiada and is credited with restoring the Temple—even pushing the priests, who seemed rather slow to make repairs even after they were ordered to do so. However, the account in 2 Chronicles 24 records that after the death of Jehoiada, Joash fell away and returned to the pagan gods of the Canaanites. Worse, he had the son of Jehoiada, Zechariah, murdered for calling him out! As a consequence, God allowed Judah to be defeated by a relatively small army from the neighboring Aramean kingdom of Damascus, and Joash was assassinated in his bed by two of his servants. We also discuss the death of Elisha in the northern kingdom of Israel, and why King Joash (same name, different king) failed to completely defeat the Arameans. Sharon’s niece, Sarah Sachleben, was recen

THE FIRST SECTION of the Book of 1 Enoch concludes with Enoch’s travels to the ends of the earth, including a visit to Eden.  We discuss the author’s description of the portals through which the stars and winds pass, noting that evil winds came from the north, the direction from which bad things always came in Jewish thought (physical and supernatural). We also note Enoch’s travels proceeded counterclockwise from east to north, west, south, and back to east, and compare that to other counterclockwise rituals from ancient times, on the summit of Mount Hermon, to the present day, at the Kaaba in Mecca.  When we return to 1 Enoch at the end of November, since we’ll be in Israel next month at this time, we’ll begin the Book of Parables, a prophetic section that influenced New Testament theology.  You can help Josh and Christina Peck with the medical and funeral expenses incurred for their 11-year-old son Nathan who went to be with the Lord on September 22, 2025:  • GiveSendGo: http://GiveSendGo.com/NathanTheB

THE END of Ahab’s line came within a span of seven years. Jehu, an Israelite military commander under Ahab’s son, King Jehoram (or Joram), was anointed king over the northern kingdom at the direction of the prophet Elisha. Jehu moved quickly to eliminate Jehoram and the rest of the sons of Ahab. We explain why Ahab didn’t literally have 70 sons (the number 70 in the ancient Near East was not a quantity; it was a symbol that represented “all of them”). Jehoram’s nephew, King Ahaziah of Judah, was also killed by Jehu as he fled in his chariot, finally dying at the city of Megiddo. Then Jehu went to Jezreel and found Jezebel, the queen mother, whose last act in this world was probably screaming after she was tossed out of a tower window by her eunuchs. That left only Athaliah, mother of King Ahaziah. Athaliah was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, the sister of King Jehoram of Israel. When she heard that Ahaziah was dead, she tried to kill all of her grandsons. Why? She—and really, it was the Fallen realm mot

A MIRACULOUS healing led to a Syrian warrior carrying mule loads of dirt from Israel back to Damascus. Why did Naaman the Syrian do that? In the ancient world, it was understood that every nation had a patron deity. For Syria, that was the storm-god Hadad, better known to us as Baal. For Israel, it was Yahweh—although Jezebel and her children tried hard to replace the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with Baal, Astarte, and the rest of the Canaanite pantheon. When the prophet Elisha instructed Naaman to wash in the Jordan to be healed of his leprosy, Naaman was angry, expecting something more elaborate—a ritual of some kind. But after following the prophet’s instructions and being restored to full health, Naaman realized the true God was Yahweh, not Baal, and Israel was His home. So, Naaman loaded two mules with dirt and carried it back to Syria—not because it held magical properties, but because it was a reminder of the one God with the power to heal. The concept of “holy ground” was established after the

THE KING of Moab sacrificed his oldest son on the wall of his capital city, causing the combined armies of Israel, Judah, and Edom to withdraw from their siege. How do we process this? Then he (King Mesha) took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath on Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land. (2 Kings 3:27, ESV) On the surface, it appears the king of Moab’s sacrifice was successful. But that’s not how we read it. The wrath against Israel was God’s anger that they didn’t trust in His promise, through the prophet Elisha, to deliver Moab into the hands of kings Jehoram of Israel and Jehoshaphat of Judah. God does not honor or condone human sacrifice. We also discuss the miracles of the widow’s oil, the son of the Shunammite woman, whose birth was no less a miracle than Elisha raising him from the dead, and Elisha’s purification of the poisoned stew. S haron’s niece, Sarah Sachleben, was recently diag

JERUSALEM IS the center of the world in the Book of 1 Enoch. That echoes Ezekiel 5:5 and 38:12, where Jerusalem is “the center [literally, “navel”] of the earth.” This is a concept probably best known from Greek religion, where the oracle of Delphi was at the site of the omphalos, the stone that was supposedly substituted for Zeus by his mother Rhea because Kronos was eating their children as soon as they were born. The omphalos represented the connection between Earth and Heaven—in other words, it was the center (or navel) of the world. Ezekiel, whose prophecies were well known to the authors of 1 Enoch, wrote that it was the city God desired for His eternal dwelling place (Psalm 132:13–14) that was the true center of all things. The description of Jerusalem in 1 Enoch chapters 26 and 27 also includes a description of a “cursed valley,” which is a reference to the Valley of Hinnom, where children were sacrificed to Molech at the Tophet. Although we didn’t make it explicit in our discussion, this is the ori

THE PASSING of the mantle from Elijah to Elisha was spectacular: A fiery chariot pulled by horses of fire in a whirlwind carried Elijah off to heaven. The whirlwind was a theophany, an appearance by God Himself. The chariot, as Sharon noted, was believed to be the vehicle that carried human spirits to the netherworld—but in this case, Elijah was carried off to heaven. We discuss the location of the event, the plains of Moab across from Jericho, and why that has supernatural significance. For one thing, it’s where Moses was buried after his death, and it’s probably not coincidental that Moses and Elijah are the two who joined Jesus on Mount Hermon, the “Canaanite Olympus,” for the Transfiguration. The place from which Elijah was caught up was below the ruins of Sodom, at the southern end of the Jordan River called the Valley of the Travelers by Ezekiel. “Travelers” was a term used by the Canaanites for the spirits of the Rephaim, which were venerated by the pagan neighbors of the Israelites. It’s also the

Psalm 83 appears to be an already-but-not-yet prophecy that may be key to understanding the end times. Bill Salus, in his book The Psalm 83 War, wrote that Psalm 83 prophesies a future war in which Israel is attacked by its Muslim neighbors. We think Bill is correct, and further, this war may be used to deceive Jews into welcoming a false messiah—i.e., the Antichrist. We also note the hints at a deeper supernatural meaning to the psalm—for example, the neighboring nations are not described as enemies of Israel, but as enemies of God Himself. Sharon’s niece, Sarah Sachleben, was recently diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer, and the medical bills are piling up. If you are led to help, please go to GilbertHouse.org/hopeforsarah. Our new book The Gates of Hell is now available in paperback, Kindle, and as an audiobook at Audible! Derek’s new book Destination: Earth, co-authored with Donna Howell and Allie Anderson, is now available in paperback, Kindle, and as an audiobook at Audible! If you are looking for

PSALM 82 is a courtroom scene in heaven. This psalm is the source of the term “divine council,” a concept well known in the ancient Near East. The high god in the pantheon was believed to preside over a group of lesser gods, who were tasked with carrying out the will of the king of the pantheon. But in the religions of Babylon, Canaan, Egypt, Greece, Rome, etc., the lower gods were part of a polytheistic pantheon. This is a twisted version of God’s council. We see God’s divine assembly in action in Job 1 and 2, and especially in 1 Kings 22, where God asks the council for recommendations on how to lure King Ahab to go to war with the Syrians where he will fall in battle. To be clear, God doesn’t need a council to carry out His will. He created one for His pleasure, because He desires family. However, just as with us humans, the spirits in the unseen realm were created with free will, and many of them chose to rebel against His authority. What we see in Psalm 82, then, is God passing judgment on those lesse

THE SHORT BOOK of Obadiah prophesied judgment on the nation of Edom for its role in the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon in 586 BC. However, Obadiah also prophesied a future reversal of fortunes, when, on the Day of Yahweh, the people of Israel would possess the lands of their tormentors—which includes Philistia (the Gaza Strip) and Zarephath (southern Lebanon, recently occupied by the IDF as a buffer zone against Hezbollah). Sharon’s niece, Sarah Sachleben, was recently diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer, and the medical bills are piling up. If you are led to help, please go to GilbertHouse.org/hopeforsarah. Our new book The Gates of Hell is now available in paperback, Kindle, and as an audiobook at Audible! Derek’s new book Destination: Earth, co-authored with Donna Howell and Allie Anderson, is now available in paperback, Kindle, and as an audiobook at Audible! If you are looking for a text of the Book of 1 Enoch to follow our monthly study, you can try these sources: Parallel translations by R.