RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2020-09-24	Who Were the Nephilim (Giants)?
		Gen 6:1  And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,  Gen 6:2  That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.  Gen 6:3  And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.  Gen 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.  “The sons of God” (Ge.6:4) is a term referring to angels throughout the OT (e.g., Job 38:7). These sons of God apparently had relations with the daughters of men (women), with the result of having children. These children were called “mighty men of old.” Some believe these children were associated with the “giants” and so were known as the “Nephilim”. Still others point out that these “giants” were already on the earth when the “mighty men” and “men of old” were born. That Genesis 6:4 refers to a new breed of men is alluded to in Jude verse 6. Jud 1:6  And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; Jud 1:7  as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Jude appears to refer to the same event we saw in Genesis 6. Here Jude calls it “strange flesh”. So there was some kind of celestial relationship between angels and human women. The results were the giants or nephilim. In Greek mythology they were called the Titans. Jesus preached specifically to the disobedient spirits from the time of Noah (1Pe.3:18-20), not just to evil spirits in general. 1Pe 3:18  For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 1Pe 3:19  by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 1Pe 3:20  who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. The “angels who sinned” (2 Peter 2:4), “who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode” (Jude 6), are in the same context of Noah. So there appears to be something big going on there. So if the result of the Genesis 6 event produced giants or nephilim, then there was the Flood, then they should all be destroyed in the Flood. Yes, they were all killed in the Flood. But it appears later they show up again (Nu.13:33). Num 13:33  There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." This is the same word “giants” or nephilim as is found in Genesis 6. So where did they come from if they all died in the Flood? There are a couple thoughts that may explain the phenomenon. 1. The same thing happened again after the Flood that happened in Genesis 6. That is, “sons of God” and “daughters of men” union creating “giants” of nephilim. If this is true then it was not on the same grand scale as Genesis 6. 2. Those in Numbers 13 were simply using the same word “giants” as was used in Genesis 6:4. But they are not the same. It is the same term (giants) but not from the same kind of event as the “sons of God” and “daughters of men” union. The Genesis 6 event is a real event of history, and these were very tall people, but the event did not repeat again. Some infer the Nephilim will be present in the last generation near the time of Christ's Coming (Mt.24:37). Mat 24:37  But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Though Scripture speaks of the Nephilim, the particulars are not clear. It seems God did not want us to fully understand who they were. But He provided enough information for us to know something very big and very bad happened in the past. When Jesus comes for His bride the Church we will be given clarity on some of the mysterious subjects like the Nephilim. Until then, watch our Lord is coming! Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

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