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Sunday, May 9, 2010

Nephilim / Giants in the Bible: Separating fact from fiction



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WEBSITES RELATED TO THE SUBJECT OF GIANTS: I cannot vouch for veracity of the information on these sites but there is much data collected here that is factual even if the conclusions of the authors may be subjective.

The existence of ‘Giants’ on Earth is an indisputable fact, there is Biblical, mythological, and archaeological evidence that there have existed in the past human like creatures of gigantic stature upon our planet. The Bible alone has dozens of references that are tabled at the bottom of this article. The question that divides people is not whether giants existed or not but how they originated. The NEPHILIM’ school of thought insists that the giants originated as a result of the union between fallen angels and human women. This conclusion is based mainly on a single verse of Biblical scripture, Genesis 6, verse 4 that I will analyze in some detail later on in this article. This would tend to imply that giants did not exist until sometime after man was formed on the earth. However this view is not supported by scriptural, mythological and archaeological evidence.
  • Mythologically speaking the ‘Giants’ were created from Uranus’ blood as result of his castration by his son Cronos. This would imply some sort of genetic manipulation or mutation that originally gave rise to these creatures long before modern man was made custodian of the Earth. Giants have existed in all ages of mythology and therefore their origin is not as recent as the days of Noah; a mere 5000 or so years ago. Almost all cultures on all continents have myths of giants that predate their own civilization by hundreds and in some cases even by thousands of years. Many native myths of the Americas tell stories of their ancestors having witnessed and co – dwelt with giants for long periods of time. Such myths are also to be found in Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Pacific islands.
  • Archaeological evidence also suggests that most of the megalithic structures found all over the world, on the surface and underwater predate all modern civilizations beginning in Sumer about 4500 years ago. Click the link to watch video evidence of these amazing structures on every continent that mainstream academia conveniently ignores because it does not fit their severely distorted explanations of Earth’s past history. These structures could not possibly have been built by modern man even with modern technology in many cases. The sheer scale of construction points to ‘Giant’ builders. For example, the world famous Baalbek temple in Lebanon is a marvel of ancient engineering that could not be built today, even with modern machinery. According to Arab legends, Baalbek’s first city was built before the Great Flood by Cain, the son of Adam, whom God banished to the ’land of Nod’ that lay ’east of Eden’ for murdering his good brother Abel, and he called it after his son Enoch. The citadel, they say, fell into ruins at the time of the deluge and was much later re-built by a race of giants under the command of Nimrod, the ’mighty hunter’ and ’king of Shinar’ of the Book of Genesis.
  • Biblical evidence would also suggest that ‘Giant’ civilizations predate modern civilizations, ever since the time of Adam. In Genesis 6:4 we are told that ‘there were giants in the earth in those days’....Though many people attempt to misquote this scripture to prove the origin of giants, the Biblical account does not even make mention of how they originated, simply that they were here, when and from where they arrived we do not know. There were giant civilizations in the Middle East dating back to the time of Abraham, around 2000 BC. At the time of the conquest of Canaan, about 1500 BC there were many flourishing ‘giant’ civilizations, for example in Petra in modern day Jordan, a technological wonder city carved out of the side of a mountain. By the time of the Canaanite conquest, many of these ‘giant’ civilizations had already been conquered, not by the Israelites but by the Edomites and the children of Lot. In almost all cases, Biblical and mythological ‘giant’ civilizations predate man; therefore it is incorrect to surmise that the giants were somehow an offspring or offshoot of modern man, that is of Adam and his children since they were on the Earth from almost the same time as Adam’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden.






Biblical, mythological, and archaeological evidence combined with legends and myths of various cultures leads to the conclusion that there existed on Earth in ancient times and past ages some rather large human like creatures, which were not descended from modern man and were not always friendly towards man although there is evidence of some co – operation between giants and man. My hypothesis is that they may have originated on Earth in an age prior to the current age or they came from another planet or planets. I am almost certain that they were not hybrids but rather genetic mutants of some sort. Somewhere along the line the genes of their ancestors were tinkered with to create these monsters but they were not hybrids: they were not a combination of two or more species. As discussed later in this article the giants were not just one single race but there were substantial differences, physiological and psychological between various types of giants. All of the giants were not a peaceable race; mythologies of all cultures describe the ferocious nature of some of these giants. It is possible that may all now be extinct although there are reports that they still exist in South America and remote South Pacific islands like the Solomon Islands.
The Bible uses several Hebrew words that have been translated as ‘Giant’ in the King James Version of the English bible. The very first occurrence of the word ‘Giant’ is in the well known chapter 6 of the book of Genesis. The word ‘giant’ in the previous verse of scripture is the Hebrew word Nephilim. This word, Nephilim, is used a total of 3 times only in just two verses of scripture; once in Genesis 6:4, and twice in Numbers 13:33. However there are literally thousands of Nephilim doctrines and theories that portray them in a variety of ways as giants, as hybrids, as spirits, as shades, and in too many other ways to catalogue here.
Nephilim is just one Hebrew word that is translated giant in the King James Bible, the two other words are Anakim (also known as Emim or Zamzummim), and Rephaim, a derivative of the Hebrew word Rapha, which actually has two different meanings that will be discussed later. A table at the bottom lists numerous Biblical references to giants, and the various Hebrew words used in these accounts. The rest of this article deals with the subject of Biblical giants, and whether the Nephilim were angel – human hybrids or merely large men like creatures, possibly 20 plus feet in height. Since all of the Nephilim mythos is based on Genesis 6:4 a thorough analysis of this verse of scripture is in order to arrive at some logical conclusions, about their origin and nature.
Genesis 6:4 / ‘There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

A great deal of misinformation is floating around on the Internet and in print regarding the nature of these giants. Hundreds if not thousands of websites claim that the Nephilim (just one Hebrew word for giant) were a product of intercourse between fallen angels and earth women and therefore some sort of mutant hybrids. This interpretation, first of all assumes that the bible claims that the ‘sons of God’ referred to in Genesis 6:2 and Genesis 6:4 were angels whereas the bible makes no such claim. Secondly the assumption is made that the Nephilim were a product of the union between these ‘angelic’ sons of God and earthly women; this too is an incorrect assumption. Here’s what the bible actually says about both the giants (Nephilim) and the sons of God in Genesis 6:4. I have broken this verse down to make clearer what the Bible actually teaches about the ‘giants’ (and the ‘sons of God’.) My comments are italicised in parentheses.
·         There were giants in the earth in those days; (the Bible does not say where they came from; just that they were here.)
·         and also after that, (indicates a time that comes after the arrival of the giants.)
·         when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, (the sons of God mated with the daughters of men; the Bible does not teach that the Nephilim or giants mated with the daughters of men, this mating occurred after the giants were already in the earth.)
·         and they bare children to them, (the women bore children to the sons of God not to the giants.)
·         the same became mighty men which were of old, (the children born to the sons of God and daughters of men were MEN not giants or Nephilim.)
·         men of renown. (the Bible reiterates that these children were MEN, so how could they have been hybrids?)

The ‘sons of God’ are commonly thought of as ‘fallen angels’; a false interpretation in my view that will be elaborated upon in a separate article. Regarding the giants (the Nephilim) all Genesis 6:4 has to say: ‘There were giants in the earth in those days’. That’s it! There is nothing else that the Bible has to say about them in this verse of scripture, and the rest of the book of Genesis for that matter. The origin of the giants is not discussed in the Bible. Although it is commonly taught that they were a result of the union between angels and women, this is not a claim that can be proven Biblically. If we carefully parse the wording of Genesis 6:4, we discover that it does not prove any of the following commonly reported myths:
NEPHILIM MYTHS

  1. Myth #1: The giants (Nephilim) mated with the daughters of men. In no place does the Bible speak of any giant ever mating with women. As proven above, all the Bible tells us is that the giants were in the earth in those days. As a matter of fact it states in several places that the giant people and giant civilizations were generally separate from the civilizations of man. The term ‘land of the giants’ is used in more than one place to indicate that they did not mingle with the children of Adam but lived in separate civilizations.
  2. Myth # 2: The ‘Giants were the offspring of the ‘sons of God’ and human women. Rather than proving that the Nephilim were the offspring of the ‘sons of God’, the Bible actually states that the giants came first and then came the ‘sons of God.’ ....and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men...After stating the fact that the giants were in the earth already, a new clause begins that places the time of the mating of the ‘sons of God’ and women after the arrival of the giants. So how could the giants (the Nephilim) have been the offspring of the ‘sons of God’? Furthermore the Bible does not say that the children, the offspring, of the ‘sons of God’ and women were giants (Nephilim.) It states quite clearly that ‘when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown’. Not once but twice does this scripture state that the offspring of this union were MEN, not giants (Nephilim.) These mighty men of renown may have been HEROES like the heroes of the ‘Age of Heroes’ of Greek mythology. However these ‘Heroes’ such as Hercules or Odysseus were not giants; as a matter of fact heroes like Hercules did battle with the Nephilim giants. Nowhere in the Bible does it identify these ‘men of renown’ as Nephilim or giants.
THREE CATEGORIES OF BIBLICAL GIANTS
The bible uses a variety of words such as Nephilim, Anakim, Emim, Zamzummim, and Rapha or Rephaim that have been translated GIANT in the KJV. However the words Emim, Zamzummim, Anakim and a couple of other words refer to the same type of creature – these are the same word in different languages. The tribes that dwelt in the land of Canaan in the days of Moses such as the Edomites, the Moabites, the Ammonites etc. used different words in their own language to describe the same creatures that were giants. In the Hebrew language there are primarily three words translated as giant in the KJV – NEPHILIM, ANAKIM, AND REPHAIM.
In the historical portion of the Old Testament, the books from Genesis to Job, the word giant refers always to creatures of rather large size but very much shaped like man, that is they were biped intelligent flesh and blood creatures whose height may have ranged from 9–35 feet. The three different Hebrew words used for giant may refer to the difference in the size of the giants and in their disposition: the Nephilim were probably the biggest and tallest at 20 plus feet, the Anakim were shorter around 12-18 feet and the smallest giants were the Rephaim were around 8-12 feet tall. Goliath the Philistine whom David slew was a Rephaim and estimated to be around 10 feet tall. The drawing in the left column depicts the range of sizes these giants reportedly grew to in times past; they varied a great deal in their size and strength. The diagram in the right column depicts sizes of ‘Giant’ skeletons reportedly found over the centuries in various continents. Therefore the use of different words in the original Hebrew makes sense if they distinguished between various races of giants based on their size and mental disposition. The descriptions of the three races of giants that follows below are somewhat speculative and are not presented as scriptural or dogmatic. Please keep this in mind when perusing the rest of the article.
The NEPHILIM would be comparable to, and may actually have been the trolls of myth and legend. They were almost certainly cannibals and mortal enemies of man not their mating partners. Their size may truly have been gigantic as tall as 35 feet. This matter of their size has not been deduced from the Bible but rather from the study of myths and legends of almost all cultures worldwide. Their origin is a bit of a mystery but a hypothesis can be presented that may answer the question as to where they came from. They may well have been genetic mutants like the Cyclops of Greek mythology and Rakshasas of Hindu mythology. According to Greek mythology the Cyclops that were a race of one eyed mythological giants sprang from the blood of Uranus. According to Hindu mythology, “In the world of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, Rakshasas (also know as Daityas or Asuras) are a populous race of supernatural humanoids who tend toward evil”. The Rakshasas purportedly grew from the foot of Brahma (the supreme Hindu deity) and grew to gigantic dimensions. Such myths that permeate every culture and tribe across the planet would suggest some type of genetic manipulation at some time in the distant past, long before Adam was formed on the Earth. So the origin of the Nephilim giants almost certainly predates modern man, therefore they could not have arisen from man.
In all likelihood, these Nephilim giants arrived here shortly after Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden and preceded the arrival of the sons of God as stated in Genesis 6:4. They may well have been the first ‘other worldly’ creatures that mankind came in contact with after the serpent in the Garden of Eden. As evidenced by the tales of mythology such as that of Odysseus and the Cyclops, the Nephilim were a ferocious and cannibalistic race, not gentle giants.
The ANAKIM of which Og, king of Bashan is the most famous member seem to be smaller in size although still very large compared to the average size of modern man. They also seem to have had a more sophisticated culture than the Nephilim. Unlike the Nephilim trolls, Cyclops or Rakshsas, they lived in large cities and had kings and rulers over them. Petra in modern Jordan and even ancient Jericho would be examples of Anakim giant cities. They seem to have appeared shortly after the flood and established the first civilizations in the Middle East contemporaneously with the descendants of Noah after the flood. They occupied the land to the west of Shinar (modern day Iraq) while Nimrod and company were busy trying to build the tower and ancient city of Babel (Babylon) towards the East. All over the Middle East and Mediterranean islands are scattered megalithic remains that testify to the fact that giant civilizations were common in that part of the world around 2000 BC.
The size of the Anakim can be guessed at fairly accurately because the bible does give us measurements that suggest that Og the king of Bashan was about 14 feet tall and slept on a bed that measured approximately 7.5’wide by 16.5’ long. Although the bible does not state clearly what sort of abominable activities these Anakims were involved in, it is apparent that because of God’s judgment they were being driven out of the land even in the times of Abraham (Genesis 14:5). Long before Moses and the children of Israel destroyed Og the king of Bashan and his kingdom; a lot of Anakim kings had already lost their kingdoms to Edom and Moab and other descendants of Abraham and Lot. (Deuteronomy, Chapter 2).
Interestingly enough there is really no record of how and when these ‘giants’ whether the Nephilim or the Anakim arrived in the Middle East. However in South America almost every culture has a legend of ‘giants’ arriving by sea to their shores. Furthermore it was about the time of Abraham around 2000 BC that this first wave of giants seems to have landed in Central and South America, and perhaps North America. Did these Anakim giants start leaving their original abode to points west because of their continued destruction at the hands of the descendants of Noah? As the children of Noah began to multiply and spread westwards from Shinar they started doing battle with these Anakim and started displacing them. That would be a valid reason to pack up and move – after all survival is a natural instinct and if their very survival was threatened why would they stick around? Is this how they ended up in South America and build megalithic structures such as those at Machu Picchu, Tiahuanaco and numerous others across Central and South America?
The REPHAIM were the smallest of the giants and lasted until the days of King David and some of his descendants before becoming extinct. These giants were extant in the old world till at least 1000 BC and may have continued even longer in the Americas, perhaps even till the time of the Spanish conquest. Goliath was the most famous of the Rephaim and in size he was around 10 feet tall and weighed over 500 pounds. These giants, unlike the wild Nephilim and the more civilized Anakim did not dwell separate from man but were a part of human civilizations, as for example Goliath not only dwelt amongst but was revered as a champion by the Philistines. It would appear that by the time of King David, there were not enough of them left to form separate civilizations.
There are two identical Hebrew words Rapha that mean GIANT or DEAD, SPIRIT, and SHADE. The reason I bring this up is that many ‘scholars’ try to prove that the Rapha or Rephaim giants were spirits or angels or hybrids, and therefore ‘giants’ or Nephilim are hybrid spirits not flesh and blood. First of all the Nephilim and Rephaim were not the same race of creatures, and may not even have been the same species although they were giants, of gigantic stature. Secondly the Rapha or Rephaim, namely Goliath that David slew was very much flesh and blood as were all the GIANTS in the bible and in mythology. The KJV correctly translates the word as Giant or Dead in context. For example in Isaiah 14:9 the KJV correctly translates the word Rapha as DEAD not as GIANT because this is the correct translation in context. The Hebrew word Rapha (7496 in Strong’ concordance) which is the root word for Rephaim means DEAD. The same word Rapha (7497) also means Giant. Though the word is the same, the meanings are entirely different and not interchangeable, and must be understood in context. For example the English word LET has more than one meaning: Let means to ALLOW but it also means to RENT, HIRE or LEASE. The two meanings are not interchangeable and the meaning must be understood in context. However if we conclude, as evidence would suggest, that the Bible teaches that there are three races of giants detailed in the Bible, then it becomes apparent that the word Rapha or Rephaim cannot apply to the Nephilim as many scholars attempt to apply.
In conclusion, the variations in interpretation of the Biblical accounts of ‘giants’, Genesis 6:4 in particular, is a result of the incorrect use of the Hebrew word Nephilim. If people used the correctly translated English word ‘Giant’ to refer to them rather than the original Hebrew word ‘Nephilim’, these misinterpretations would not be possible. If we stick to the English word GIANT when reading the English Bible rather than use Hebrew words the meaning is not so confusing. The Hebrew word for King is Melekh; we don’t go around saying the Melekh David or Melekh Solomon, we correctly use the English word King, King David, King Solomon etc. to keep the meaning plain. Unless the word has been transliterated into our language there is no need to use the words from the original language; the meaning is much clearer when we use the correctly translated word such as king to describe a king in the English language rather than Melekh or Roi or another word from a different language. Those who insist on using the word Nephilim instead of the correctly translated English word Giant do so to prove a pre-conceived notion. Their theories on hybridization or angel – human mating etc. can simply not be proven by using the simple word Giant so they give their theories a garb of scholarliness by using the Hebrew word Nephilim. However it is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. If it is that important to use original Hebrew words to understand the Bible, then we should just give up the English Bible and all of us should learn Hebrew. Where deemed necessary by the translators, certain Hebrew and Greek words were transliterated into the English Bible, but none of the words for ‘Giant’; Nephilim, Anakim, or Rephaim, were transliterated because the English word ‘GIANT’ adequately translates all three of the Hebrew words for giant so there was no need for transliteration. Using the Hebrew word Nephilim when the English word ‘Giant’ would suffice does not prove anything about their origin or nature.
The following is a list of some of the verses in the Bible that describe Giants; there are yet many more so this is just a sampling. The Bible is quite detailed not just in the description of the giants but also in mapping the geographical locations that they inhabited. It seems that they were quite widespread in the land of Canaan, from Egypt to Babylon as well as all over the Mediterranean coast and islands. Megalithic structures such as the Great Pyramids and Baal’s temple in Baalbek, Lebanon are just two examples of anomalous buildings that would seem impossible to have been built by modern sized man. There also have been reported discoveries of giant skeletons and bones in the Middle East that would support the Biblical account. As opposed to mythological accounts such as that found in Homer’s Odyssey and other Greek myths, the Biblical account is very straightforward, as it would be reported by a historian who witnessed firsthand that which he wrote. Moses and Joshua and Samuel, authors of the Biblical accounts of giants did indeed witness them firsthand, and therefore provided straightforward accounts of their cities, their size and dimensions and other facts that any good historian would take note of in his accounts.

Bible Book
Chapter, Verse
Reference
Genesis
6:4,
there were GIANTS in the Earth in those days…(Nephilim)
Genesis
14:5
and smote the Rephaims …, and the Zuzims …, and the Emims … all three highlighted words mean GIANT
Genesis
15:20
And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims..
Numbers
13:33
And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight (Nephilim)
Deuteronomy
1:28
The people is greater and taller than we…and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there
Deuteronomy
2:10, 11, 20
The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims11 Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims…
Deuteronomy
2: 20, 21
That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims;  21 A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; but the LORD destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead: (the Ammonites destroyed the Zamzummims)
Deuteronomy
3:11
For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold his bedstead was a bedstead of iron…nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man. all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants.
Deuteronomy
9:2
A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, Who can stand before the children of Anak!
1 Samuel
17:4
And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. (This is probably the most famous Giant in history whom David defeated in battle., his height is estimated to be between 10 and 11 feet)

I will write in detail very soon on the identity of the ‘sons of God’ to prove what the Bible really has to say about them.

12 comments:

  1. "My hypothesis is that they may have originated on Earth in an age prior to the current age or they came from another planet or planets."

    -- Hmmm... Not sure if there is much evidence to back this up. Their is scriptural evidence to suggest fallen angels did breed with women. Gen 6 and the book of Enoch. Many discount the book of Enoch yet it was quoted by Jude, Peter and Christ. To this extent I am comfortable with it flushing out the details behind this obscure passage in Genesis for which there are many.

    Honestly, I am amazed. Why is it so hard for people to believe that angels have the ability to leave their estate and fool around in the flesh if they so wish. Nothing in scripture says angels are with out free will... If anything it speaks to the contrary. Furthermore, the book enoch says that when angels and man interbreed the product being an "unclean spirit" Hmm... where else have I heard the term "unclean spirit" Jesus, did you drive out unclean spirits... Indeed you did.

    Grant it, the book of Enoch was not included into today's cannon... but there is evidence enough to suggest Christ along with the apostles all treated it as scripture. If Our Lord read from it, then I will to. Doing so answers many questions the surrounding Nephilim.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The book of Enoch has several major doctrinal problems that I address in an article on my website. http://signsoftheend.net/Prophecy/DEBUNKINGBOOKOFENOCH.html

    Ultimately there is no need that any man should teach us since God has given us of His Holy Spirit to lead and guide us into all truth. The witness of the Holy Spirit alone can confirm the truth of God's Word in our heart. I merely share that which I believe to be the truth and take no offense if someone does not agree with me. If I speculate or hypothesize I make sure to let readers know that this is speculation on my part and not scripture. I never insist that anyone take my writings on face value but should do their own study that may show themselves approved unto God. If my writings help in their spiritual growth, then I thank God for it.

    I will be writing soon on the subject of the 'sons of God' and offer my views on their identity that differ considerably from the commonly held view that they were 'fallen angels.'

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  3. Paul, have you read any of Mike Heisers writings on the Divine Council? If not I would highly recommend taking a look. He does a fairly good job of filling in the narrative between the fallen angels or "Elohim" and Yahweh.

    You make a few good points in regards to the book of Enoch in your linked paged. Certainly I would be reluctant to accept the book as the inspired word of God. However, I do find it useful to flush out the details behind Gen 6. No other explanation has been provided to date, which holds up to reasoning for intent. It would make perfect sense for Satan to try and tamper with our gene pool in order to sabotage the plan for Salvation. We read in Gen 6 that "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." Why did the writer choose to include that "Noah was just a man" No where else in the bible does God say that so and so was "just a man". The distinction is included to draw contrast between what Noah was(Man), and that which mankind was becoming... a hybrid mutant some part man / angel, others part man, part bull, part horse, part goat etc. Any other explanation leaves a lot of guess work on the part of the reader.

    This also helps explain why the giants reappeared after the flood and will reappear again in the last days. If this is not true, we are left to simply wonder which planet they came from or if maybe they built their own boat or had some magical star gate to slip through and then come back. So I will leave it at that... I apologize if this seems like bickering, but I am a little taken back why so many struggle with this passage. In my mind, it seems so clear. Furthermore, its the starting thread (for me) which showed that the bible is a complete narrative and rather interesting drama.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Having studied this subject for 25 plus years, I have heard pretty much all sides of the story and I will continue to expound what I have learnt after a great deal of research and careful study of scripture.

    Though angels can appear to be corporeal, appear as flesh and blood creatures, it does not make them corporeal. They do not have 'seed' with which they can procreate.

    The word 'Estate' as used by Jude means 'domain', rulership, principality, kingdom. Angels of a certain rank were given thrones and dominions that they wanted to leave and take over the rulership of heaven. They did not want to come down to Earth but rather to go up to heaven to set up their thrones there.

    According to Isaiah 14, the sin of the angels was not mating with women but wanting to be worshiped like the MOST HIGH.

    Angels are not 'sons' and can never be called the 'sons' of God, it is blasphemous to do so. I will expound in the near future on the serious error in such doctrines and hope and pray that it will help readers get a better understanding of scripture, of how perfectly everything fits together in God's Word and creation.

    ReplyDelete
  5. When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? - job 38:7

    Who were the Sons of God at time before man was created? Also, there is no scripture that says angels are entirely corporeal. Christ Said:


    But Jesus answered them, You are wrong, because you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven."


    Not all angels are in heaven.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Please see this 9 part series of lectures by Dr. Michael Heiser where he explains just who the nephilim were:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-W6c9a3ldQ

    The rest of the series can be found on youtube.

    Also, in this article below, Dr. Heiser refutes Zecharia Sitchin’s claim that the nephilim were “fallen ones”. But he does state that a more accurate linguistical rendering of the ancient texts is the term “giants”.
    However, he also mentions that “Jewish and early Christian commentators prior to Augustine took the literal view of Genesis 6:1-4 (angelic-human cohabitation that produced giants)”.
    So he is stating that the ancient Christian writers, prior to Augustine, did believe that there was a angelic-human co-mingling, that produced these “giants”.

    See article:

    http://www.michaelsheiser.com/nephilim.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  7. Also, the question remains: why were the children of Israel told by God,to destroy all these ‘races” of the decendants of giants, when they came into the palestinian region?

    There had to be more of a reason than just that these were very “large” evil individuals.

    God had not told the ancient Israelites to destroy the Egyptians while they were still living in Egypt. Yet the Egyptians had oppressed the children of Israel. And they also did evil to the children of Israel.

    So, the question then, is why were the children of Israel told to destroy all those many races, all those “ites” of whom they came in contact with in the “promised land”?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Most of these anti - scpritural doctrines date back to the time of the Babylonian captivity, and were formulated by the Jews of that time. The apostle Paul warned us about Jewish fables and the apostle Peter said that false prophets have always existed even at the time of Moses. So the doctrines of the so - called 'fathers' are not to be trusted if they contradict scripture.

    God did not command the Israelites to destroy the 'giant' nations but rather the human nations, Deut 7:2 1When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou...

    God may not have asked the Israelites to destroy the Egyptians (for one they were not in a postion to do so yet) but he judged Egypt rather harshly Himself. Egypt was hardly the same nation after Israel left than when they were still there.

    A careful parsing of scripture will dispel most of these myths because they are not founded on the Word of God.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi- did you view the 9 part video I posted, so that you could get a clearing understanding of what you are responding to, rather than merely speaking in generalities?

    In the video series, Dr. Mike Heiser does not base his conclusions about who the "Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou..."on
    "jewish fables during the babylonian times",that you mentioned. But rather, goes into great detail of what and who the origins of these races were.

    It would be helpful if you made your comments based on specifics that were brought out in the video series.

    Then you could draw accurate conclusions to the material.

    God has specific reasons for everything that He does.And the ancient children of Israel were told to destroy these particular races FOR a very specific reason.

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  10. I have not yet watched the series; will do so as soon as I have free time. I do plan on doing a follow up show and article to address some of the issues concerning this topic. Thanks for dialoguing and hopefully God will give us the wisdom to understand these difficult subjects with scriptural backing.

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  11. Great show, as always with Paul. The information regarding the use of Hebrew words and the assimilation of such words was very enlightening and one I had not considered before.

    As to the Giants; I understand Paul is allowing for various explinations as to their origin, but instead of an off planet origin, it strikes me that the earth was undoubtedly a very different place "back in the day." It would seem that enviromental factors, possible due to increased Co2 or some sort of water/vapor layer in the atmosphere enhanced biological systems to allow gigantasism. If there were extreme sizes of animal life such as dinosaurs, as well as fauna, why not extreme sizes of some sort of humanoid creature as well?

    One other quick point is that while megalith construction seems a dunting task, there are some examples of the creation and manipulation of such things in the work of Dr. Davidovitch of the Geopolymer institute, who has done work showing that plant extracts used as a binder (Akaloids) in conjunction with aluminum silicates found locally makes excelent building materials in the form of cements. His theory is that the Pyramids were cast in place.

    Also W.T. Wallington has a site where he shows the minipulation of very large concrete blocks with minimal effort in relation to their size. Very interesting indeed.

    While the stones at Baelbek may pose a problem in this regard, it's not inconceivable that they were using geopolymers and given the fact that giants using such material moving techniques as Wallington has shown, would have no problem transporting such objects, it really makes you wonder whether the UFO/Atlantis/Nephelim crowd do any research what so ever.

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  12. Dear Deshpal

    Interesting article and comments. Here is a factor you may not have considered:

    The phrase 'sons of God' refers to the godly line of Seth, and it is intermarriage with the more developed civilisation founded by Cain that corrupts the world. Godly cultures take longer to develop because they do not resort to oppression and robbery.

    We find support for this in later biblical events. Marriages between the priestly people (later Israel) and the Gentiles were to be under the Covenant. For instance, Solomon's first marriage to an Egyptian was Covenantal - as was Joseph's. But his later marriages were on the terms of the Canaanite cultures. We also see such marriages ended in the book of Ezra. John says that Christians are now the 'sons of God', ie. the priesthood. Christians are not to marry unbelievers.
    So Jesus' mention of 'marrying and giving in marriage' refers to Genesis 6. He called the first century Jewish polity an adulterous generation.

    I have a book out that demonstrates these patterns:
    http://www.amazon.com/Bible-Matrix-Michael-Bull/dp/1449702635

    There is also a fascinating article called "The Nephilim Factor" here:
    http://www.biblicalhorizons.com/open-book/no-39-the-case-against-western-civilization-part-4/

    Kind regards,
    MIke Bull
    Australia

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