Today, there is much belief in the likelihood of life existing on other planets. Many astronomers are “listening” for a “message” from outer space. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, great excitement was stirred up by the media over some microscopic speck of dust on a meteor, which some scientist declared proved life existed on Mars and other planets.
Many Christian either reject the belief in the possibility of extraterrestrial life for some vague theological reason, while a few Christians believe in life in outer space because of information found in the Holy Scriptures.
The Bible teaches its readers that God created heavenly angels and that some angels rebel and continue to exist in rebellion (Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14). In Isaiah 14:12-14 we read “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Therefore, it may not be unreasonable to assume that some extraterrestrial influence was responsible for a destruction of the original pre-flood planet earth.
The Bible says much about “this visited planet.” It seems that before Noah’s flood, evil’s spread upon the earth was encouraged by “extraterrestrial visitors” from outer space for we read, “When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days–and also afterward–when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” Gen.6:1-5.
Here we find beings called “The sons of God”; the first suggestion of a shortened life-span; and the Nephilim. “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days–and also afterward-” Notice “those days” before the flood, “and also afterwards” and we shall indeed “also” find them on this side of the flood. The Hebrew word Nephilim means “The Fallen Ones”, not just in a spiritual sense but that they literally “fell down from above”, descended from the sky. Gen.6:4. This passage suggests that the Nephilim either originated from another solar system or other dimension.
The actual word “Nephilim” only occurs three times in Scripture, we learn in Josh.14:15 that a certain “Arba” “was the greatest man among the Anakim” and in 15:13 that he was “the father of Anak”. In Num.13:33 we learn that the sons of Anak are descended from the Nephilim. This is the “also afterwards” – well after the flood that had destroyed “all flesh”, yet these descendants of the Nephilim are present again. There is no logic in the claim some make, that they were descendants of Seth.
They were a large and great people or “giants” as King James Version (KJV) Bible translates them. Actually, the whole of the “promised land” seemed to have been taken over by these peoples at a very early time with the Rephaim in the north, then the Zuzim and the Emim, with the Horim in the south. Og and his kingdom of Bashan are often mentioned, was the northern area, the area of the Rephaim or Giants. We are also given the dimensions of some of their equipment and furniture that confirms that “giants” means their physical size and not a title of respect for their prowess.
All these groups seem to have been related, but were named variously, by the “human” population. The descendants of Adam in accordance with God’s plans gradually over-threw and destroyed “the giants”. The Ammonites over-throw the Zuzim and the Moabites the Emim while Edom embraced the mountains of the Horim. Gen.14:5; Deu.2:10 and 11. The name Emim was given by the Moabites and meant “The Terrible”. These hybrid races, obviously an abomination and in rebellion to the divine purpose, also received special attention from the Lord that led to their final extermination, see Deu.2:21 and 22. Thus, it seems that even though all the beings on earth were destroyed by the Noah’s Flood before more of their kind visited humanity on earth again after the flood to try again to continue their evil purpose.
The two “Goliaths” of Scripture were of these people. Goliath of Gath whom David slew while still a youth, was roughly 10 feet tall. 1 Sam.17:4-7. Then there was a lesser known Goliath the Gittite who had a brother, Lahmi, “the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam”. 1 Chron.20:4-8. There was also another character at this time, unnamed, but we are told he had “six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot” v.6. We are then told that all these fellows “descended from the giants in Gath”. v.8. Therefore, they were all relatives and it seems with Gath as some sort of “headquarters”.
The reference in 2 Samuel is a parallel account to the one in 1 Chron.20:4-8, in fact it almost reads word for word. These accounts speak of several battles and the “giants” encountered, their names are Saph or Sippai whom Sibbecai the Hushathite killed. Another, Ishbi-Benob whose bronze spearhead weighed about 3.5 kilograms, Abishai son of Zeruiah slew. The other Goliath and his brother Lahmi who “had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod”, Elhanan slew, according to the Samuel record. 2 Sam.21:22 says “These four were born to the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.” Also mentioned in 2 Sam.21:20 the “huge man” with “six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot”.
If we study “context” rather than the “texts” we will not be misled. On the occasion of the slaying of the second Goliath, David was King about the time he “numbered Israel”, the next recorded event. 1 Chron.21:1-8. In David’s earlier, better known encounter with Goliath of Gath, he was still a shepherd boy, as mentioned earlier.
Another well know biblical “giant” was Og, king of Bashan, referred to earlier. Og gets notable mention 22 times from Numbers to the Psalms. We learn in Deut.3:11 that he was, by this time, “the only (northern) survivor of the giants” (Gath was in the south), and that Og’s “bedstead was an iron bedstead” and super “King Size” “it’s length was 9 cubits (13.5 feet) and it’s width 4 cubits (6 feet), which indicates that King Og was probably 12 feet tall. His repeated mention in the narrative and victory poems suggests that he was an extraordinarily formidable foe in combat.
The one “common denominator” of all these beings was their great size, physical prowess and opposition to God’s plans. In the first account in Genesis 6 the term “sons of God” and what they were called, seems to indicate the extra-terrestrial origin of the “Nephilim”. A lengthily account in the apocryphal Book of Enoch, quoted in part by Jude v.6,14,15 and another reference by Peter, 2 Pe.2:4,5, already quoted above, leaves little doubt that the term “sons of God” in Gen.6:1-4 refers to beings of human form, but not of the descendants of Adam, who bred into the human race. Their off-spring “were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown” verse four. The very next verse indicates great wickedness on the earth due to the influence of these “visitors” who “came down” and their offspring.
Considering in more detail the suggestion that the Nephilim were “not of this planet” is that Gen.6:4 records that “the Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also afterwards, when the sons of God came into the daughters of men and they bore children to them.” Now “those days” were the days before the flood of Noah and it was the sinfulness of those days that caused the Lord to say “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land…” v.7, and God said He would destroy “all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven, everything that is on the earth shall perish.” v.17. Long after that event we find in Num.13:33 that the Nephilim are here again. “And 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.” Their presence in the Promised Land caused enough fear and doubt in the Israelite camp to cost them another 40 years in the wilderness because many of these giants were roughly 12 feet tall, according to archaeological finds.
As mentioned earlier, after Israel was established these hybrid beings were methodically destroyed. It was as though they represented a threat to the descendants of Adam, which I suggest, in fact, they did. The story of David and Goliath was only one example of removing that threat. As a result of the fall and the corruption of humanity in God’s “likeness and image”, God made Satan a promise, “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” Gen.3:15. We will later make a short study of Genealogies and the laws of marriage God imposed to further illustrate this point, but for now let us say that the subsequent later contamination of the human race by inter-marriage with Satan’s seed may have been an effective way of attempting to circumvent the divine judgment.
Looking at Gen.6 may help us see more than mere conjecture in that thought. The Bible says that “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” The reason is interesting. According to the New International Version (NIV) Bible: “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” Gen.6:8,9
“This is the account of Noah” more correctly reads, “These are the records of the generations of Noah.” Now if you go back to chapter 5 you will see to what this statement refers. Noah’s pedigree is carefully listed all the way from Adam to Noah and his three sons. It is interesting that at the end of a most precisely dated and detailed record of births and deaths, Noah is suddenly the father of 3 sons in his 500th year. What is important here and the one thing of which we can be sure. Noah is a true descendant of Adam, able to trace his ancestry, his family tree, by accurate record back to the father of the race. He was “perfect in his generations”. “Noah was a righteous man,” This is his only Character Reference. Not repeated 3 times as some teach. “Blameless in his time”; This is the Key. If we look at another equally valid rendering of this statement it can read “complete”, “perfect” or “having integrity” in his generations” note the plural, “generations” as in the KJV. Noah had a truly human family tree, it contained no hybrids of the Nephilim.
Noah “walked with God.” This was his Lifestyle. He walked with God and believed God but was human, remember how he “slipped” after the flood? Gen.9:20-24. The word “blameless” in phrase 3 is a poor choice as Noah’s righteousness and walk is clearly stated in phrases 2 and 4 however, phrase 3 points us to phrase 1 and the previous chapter, Noah had a “perfect” pedigree. The record of his “generations” was complete, had integrity, no alien mixtures. The ideas of perfection and completeness would hardly be applied to his character no matter how upright he may have been, he was human as we have already mentioned. Again, the word “time” is not a good translation of the Heb. “dor” which contains the idea of “posterity” and is translated “generations” (pedigree) over 100 times in the KJV.
Thus, the correct meaning of the passage is that Noah was set apart from the rest of mankind for the following reasons: first, Noah had uncorrupted human DNA or genes; second, He was a righteous man; third, “walked with God”.
To preserve the Human genetic “blood-line” and the validity of the “promise” to Satan, drastic steps were necessary. Noah and his family had to be taken away from the contagion of the evil genes that were contaminating mankind and inviting God’s judgment, the destruction of “all flesh”. We know the story of how this was accomplished and if we read the very detailed record of Genesis chapters 6, 7, and 8 we will need a vivid imagination indeed to believe that this was just a local flood as some expositors would suggest. Both Messiah Yeshua and Peter apparently believed the record. Read Matt.24:38, 39; Lu.17:26,27; 1 Pe.3:20; 2 Pe.2:5. Peter says twice that only 8 survived.
After the flood there was almost a replay of the instructions given at Eden, with God giving Noah “dominion”. Read Gen.9:1-19 “be fruitful and multiply: populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it”.
A long time has passed, over 1000 years, in Num.13:33 The Nephilim are here again. It is hard to explain this “Return of the Nephilim” other than that they were extra-terrestrial in their origins and that their presence among the “children of Adam” brought about biological changes that distinguished these “offspring” from the rest of humankind at the time. Those were the giants, “the mighty men of old, men of renown.” Gen.6:4.
There seemed to be no “continuing presence” as this “second invasion” was systematically stamped out and the evidence suggests – as far as we can tell, when this second attempt was destroyed the tactics were changed. There are some who believe descendants of the Nephilim still exist in the North and South Poles deep underground.
It is of little consequence as once God’s Son was born of true Human descent on His human side, the overthrow of Satan, as promised in Eden, was assured. The Seed of the woman shall crush the serpent’s head. Yeshua, on the cross, declared, “It is finished!”.
Finally, after the Victory of Calvary and the Resurrection of the foretold Savior/Messiah, the fulfillment of the “promise” given in Eden was inevitable. This does not mean that evil beings not privy to the innermost secrets of God’s plans might not try again, perhaps in many different ways to corrupt and mislead mankind further. If there is any
RELATED SOURCES
King James Version Bible; 2000. New King James Version Bible; 2000. New International Version Bible; 2000. Who were the Giants?; Keith Relf and others; 2001.The Book Of Enoch. The Book Of Jubilees. The Book of Jasher.