The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible

by Michael S. Heiser

But what does it all mean? Why is Genesis 6:1–4 in the Bible? What was its theological message? I’ve already noted that the goal was polemic—a dismissal of Mesopotamian religion. But that’s a little vague. Let’s explore it. Because the content of Genesis 1–11 has so many deep, specific touch-points with Mesopotamian literary works, many scholars believe that these chapters either were written during the exile in Babylon or were edited at that time.19 The scribes wanted to make it clear that certain religious ideas about the gods and the world were misguided or false. Think about the setting. The Jews, followers of Yahweh, were in Babylon, deported against their will by the greatest empire in their known world. Though captives, prophets like Ezekiel (and Jeremiah before him) had told the people that their situation was temporary—that the God of Israel remained the real sovereign. He was fully in control and was the true God. They would be set free and Babylon would crumble. For Jewish scribes, their work during the exile was an opportunity to set the record straight for posterity. And that they did.