Philologos
Bible Prophecy Research
Misc Study: Ape-man
Submitted by: research-bpr@philologos.org
Date: July 25, 1999
URL: http://philologos.org/bpr/files/Misc_Studies/ms033.htm
Ape-man
In my reading of The Legends of the Jews, I came across the following that might help explain where Darwin's ape-man came from:
[Enosh]
The generation of Enosh were [thus] the first idol worshippers, and the punishment for
their folly was not delayed long. God caused the sea to transgress its bounds, and a
portion of the earth was flooded. This was the time also when the mountains became rocks,
and the dead bodies of men began to decay. And still another consequence of the sin of
idolatry was that the countenances of the men of the following generations were no longer
in the likeness and image of God, as the countenances of Adam, Seth, and Enosh had been.
They resembled centaurs and apes, and the demons lost their fear of men.
[The Tower of Babel]
...none knew what the other spoke. One would ask for the mortar, and the other handed him
a brick; in a rage, he would throw the brick at his partner and kill him. Many perished in
this manner, and the rest were punished according to the nature of their rebellious
conduct. Those who had spoken, "Let us ascend into the heavens, set up our idols, and
pay worship unto them there," God transformed into apes and phantoms; those who had
proposed to assault the heavens with their arms, God set against each other so that they
fell in the combat; and those who had resolved to carry on a combat with God in heaven
were scattered broadcast over the earth.
Note:
The German mystics identify the woodmen, werewolves and similar monsters, known in German
folk-lore, with the builders of the tower (their descendants?), and further maintain that
they were Japhethites, who were punished in this manner. Midrash Aggada, Gen 11:8, remarks
that when the tower fell, some of the people found inside were thrown into the water,
others into the forest, while still others into the desert; the first became
water-sprites, the second apes, and the third demons.
Koran 2 60:
Call to mind also when We entered into a covenant with you, and lifted up the mountain
over you:--"Take hold," said We, "on what We have revealed to you, with
resolution, and remember what is therein, that ye may fear:"
But after this ye turned back, and but for God's grace and mercy towards you, ye had surely been of the lost! Ye know too those of you who transgressed on the Sabbath, and to whom We said, "Be changed into scouted apes:"
The Wisdom in the Hebrew Alphabet,
Mesorah Publications, Ltd., 1998
Rabbi Michael L. Munk
Man is created in the image of God and is only a little lower than the angels (Psa 8:6). Though he can never attain God's holiness, he is charged with emulating Him and is assured that he can scale celestial heights. But he can do so only if his efforts are concerted and sincere. If man acts as an "image of God," his potential is boundless. If he is merely a poor imitation of what man should be, he is hardly better than a primate.
Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings
E.C. Krupp
The mythology of Tibet also speaks of strange ancestors. Overlooking the Yarlung Valley is Monkey Cave where supposedly a reclusive monkey mated with a female ogre of the cliffs. He did it to help the ogress so that she wouldn't be doomed to having ogre children who would trouble the world. They had "six monkey children who eventually proliferated into the whole population of Tibet." The monkey children were eventually turned into farmers after Tibet's divine protector reached into a mountain and withdrew the seeds of five different grains and scattered them over the children.