The Consequences of Dividing God’s Land Part I

On Thursday, August 24, 2017, I glanced at the TV during the evening news. They were talking about a hurricane named Harvey that had just formed that day in the Gulf of Mexico. They showed a satellite animation of a hurricane seemingly forming out of nowhere. “I wonder if the US is trying to divide God’s land again,” I thought to myself. So I headed over to www.watch.org, and sure enough, A White House delegation led by Jared Kushner had just arrived in Israel the night before.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-meets-kushner-as-part-of-us-peace-push/

The next day, on Thursday, Kushner & friends met with Benjamin Netanyahu in the early afternoon, and then with Mahmoud Abbas in the evening. The purpose of the meetings was to “jump start peace talks,” which is a euphemism for dividing God’s land.

See, there will not be peace between the Arabs and Israel without a two-state solution, which the Arabs insist upon:

“Without a clear American commitment to the two-state solution and stopping settlements and ending the occupation, we don’t expect much from this administration.”

Also from another article:

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki told the Voice of Palestine radio station on Thursday that the Palestinians would be seeking “clear answers” from Kushner on settlements and independence.

“Their answers to these questions will enable us to say if we have a historical chance for a peace process that can end the occupation or these visits are no more than a waste of time,” Malki said.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-says-meeting-with-kushner-helpful-meaningful/

The two-state solution refers to the Arab desire to create an Arab state within the borders of Israel, comprising Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. The borders of Israel are established by God in Numbers 34 and Ezekiel 47, and any way you slice it, Gaza and the West Bank are included.

http://www.factsaboutisrael.uk/future-borders-of-israel-in-prophecy/

The Bible makes it abundantly clear that this land belongs to the Jews, not the Arabs:

Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Paddan-aram, and He blessed him. God said to him,

“Your name is Jacob;
You shall no longer be called Jacob,
But Israel shall be your name.”
Thus He called him Israel. God also said to him,

“I am God Almighty;
Be fruitful and multiply;
A nation and a company of nations shall come from you,
And kings shall come forth from you.
“The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac,
I will give it to you,
And I will give the land to your descendants after you.”
—Genesis 35:9-12

To create an Arab state within these borders is to divide the Jewish land of Israel, what God calls His land in Ezekiel 36.

Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the forsaken cities which have become a prey and a derision to the rest of the nations which are round about, therefore thus says the Lord God, “Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.” —Ezekiel 36:4-5

Going to Israel for peace talks without pushing the two-state solution would be a complete non-starter, and Jared Kushner knows this. News reports suggest that Kushner was indeed in agreement with an Arab state in Israel. From the the first article:

Amman said in a statement that King Abdullah II, Kushner and Greenblatt stressed the need to start “serious and effective peace negotiations” on the “basis of the two-state solution,” during a meeting Tuesday.

From another article:

Abbas is conditioning his cooperation with the U.S. peace initiative on the Americans publicly stating their commitment to the two-state solution and their objection to continued construction in the settlements. He said at the meeting with Meretz that Kushner and Greenblatt have already expressed, in talks with him, support for those two points, but have not said as much to Netanyahu.

http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/1.808901

The timing is significant here. Harvey had been a “zombie storm” according to one article:

It’s the tropical storms you think are dead but come back to life that you need to be truly afraid of.

One such storm, Hurricane Harvey, is poised to pick up copious amounts of moisture from the bathtub warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, before making a slow-speed collision with the low-lying Texas coast this weekend.

The storm is rapidly intensifying, and is expected to be a “major” hurricane at landfall — meaning it would be a Category 3 storm or greater. If this prediction verifies, then Harvey would be the first major hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. since 2005’s Hurricane Wilma, a record long stretch.

http://mashable.com/2017/08/23/tropical-storm-harvey-flood-threat-texas-louisiana.amp

Right as Kushner & friends arrived in Israel, Harvey began turning from a tropical depression into a hurricane:

Last Wednesday night, August 23, Harvey was a tropical depression, but after just eight overnight hours it was forming a hurricane eye wall. “That’s remarkably fast,” Masters said.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/hurricane-harvey-became-extreme/

As Kushner & friends were sleeping, God was working. The next day, the tropical storm continued growing and reached full size right around the time that Kushner’s meeting with Netanyahu began. See, the meeting lasted for 3.5 hours:

Trump hailed Kushner and Netanyahu after the three-and-a-half hour meeting, writing in an Instagram post that “there is no doubt that our relationship with you is stronger than ever! See you soon.”

http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-says-meeting-with-kushner-helpful-meaningful/

The meeting ended around 9:30 AM Eastern Time (EDT), assuming it took about 12 minutes for the news to get to the CNN Newsroom and out to the public:

http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2017/08/24/kushner-netanyahu-meeting-in-jerusalem-liebermann-pkg.cnn

Which means it began about 6:00 AM Eastern Time (EDT), or 1000 UTC (Eastern being UTC-4:00):

https://infogalactic.com/info/Eastern_Time_Zone

Now look at what Tropical Storm Harvey is doing right around 1000 UTC:

Rewind a bit and play it slowly. I don’t know about you, but to me it looks like the storm reached its full size and started barreling toward Texas right around 1000 UTC, the exact same time that the Kushner-Netanyahu meeting began!

Is this a coincidence? I think not. God says a lot of things in His word about His land, and the consequences of dividing it.

I will gather all the nations
And bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat.
Then I will enter into judgment with them there
On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,
Whom they have scattered among the nations;
And they have divided up My land.
—Joel 3:2

For thus says the Lord of hosts, “After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.
—Zechariah 2:8

It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.
—Zechariah 12:3

The aftermath of this storm has been truly remarkable:

Hurricane Harvey could be the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history with a potential price tag of $190 billion, according to a preliminary estimate from private weather firm AccuWeather.

This is equal to the combined cost of Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, and represents a 1% economic hit to the gross national product, AccuWeather said.

“Parts of Houston, the United States’ fourth largest city, will be uninhabitable for weeks and possibly months due to water damage, mold, disease-ridden water and all that will follow this 1,000-year flood,” said AccuWeather president Joel Myers.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2017/08/30/harvey-costliest-natural-disaster-u-s-history-estimated-cost-160-billion/615708001/

Record-setting natural disasters in connection with the United States pressuring Israel to implement a two-state solution are nothing new. Many such events have been observed since 1991. These are the consequences of dividing God’s land.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

 

Raptureless is wrong

I read the first three chapters of Raptureless, by Jonathan Welton. It’s wrong on multiple fronts.

First, the rapture is not a new idea, going back to the Epistle of Barnabas (100 A.D.), Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Justin Martyr, and Ephraem the Syrian (4th Century).

Of course what people think doesn’t matter in comparison to what the Bible teaches, so secondly, the Bible does in fact teach the rapture as a distinct event. Welton lists four main passages used to defend the rapture, and omits a fifth.

The first is 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and related verses in 2 Thessalonians and 2 Corinthians. He correctly states that it refers to the resurrection of the dead, but erroneously assumes that it refers to the final return of Christ. There is no reason why the resurrection shouldn’t happen at the rapture, and why those resurrected shouldn’t go to heaven for a time. Welton suggests that “meeting the Lord in the air” means meeting Him here on the ground, in the atmosphere, at the final return of Christ. But this ignores the rest of the verse, which states that we will be caught up with “them” in the clouds. In that context, it clearly means the sky, not the ground. Since Jesus ascended physically into the sky, this isn’t so far-fetched.

The second is Matthew 24:40-41, where “one will be taken, and one will be left.” Welton suggests this refers to random killings by the Romans in 70 A.D., but it clearly refers to the “coming of the Son of Man.” It’s a stretch to say that the Son of Man came in 70 A.D. More likely, it refers to the rapture, or to the unsaved being taken to judgment at the end of the tribulation. Both satisfy the requirement that it happens at the “coming of the Son of Man.”

The third is Revelation 4:1, where a voice tells John to come up to heaven and see the things “which must take place after this.” I’ve never heard it suggested that this refers to the rapture, so the argument is a straw-man. But if Welton took the book of Revelation seriously, he would recognize that the 1260 days, 42 months, and “time, times and half a time” spoken of in future chapters parallel those in the book of Daniel, amounting each to 3 1/2 Jewish years, and that two such periods equals 7 years, or “one week” as Daniel puts it, which is cut in half by the “abomination of desolation” which Jesus refers to in Matthew 24. Thus he would recognize that, the events of A.D. 70 notwithstanding, a 7-year period of tribulation is still to come. As Chuck Missler said, “He gives it to us in everything but nanoseconds.”

The fourth is Revelation 12:5, where the Child who is to rule all nations is caught up to God and His throne. It’s talking about Jesus, of course, but that doesn’t preclude the rapture. In fact, we can draw parallels between Jesus’ resurrection and ours. Welton says that the Greek word translated “caught up” is used only once in the Bible, in 1 Thess. 4:17. That is not true, as it is also used in Rev. 12:5. Welton suggests that “caught up” means being changed into our glorified bodies, and no doubt that is part of what will happen. But what happened to Jesus? He was “caught up” literally and physically to God and His throne. So it’s perfectly reasonable to believe that we, also, will physically be “caught up” to God and be in His presence, in Heaven.

The fifth passage, which Welton omits, is John 14:3, which reads: “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” This is in the same context where Jesus tells us that He is going to the Father, and that in His Father’s house, there are many rooms. Where did Jesus go? He literally, physically, went to the Father, to Heaven. Where will we go when He comes back? To the Father, to Heaven. I think this is the most important verse about the rapture.

The Bible teaches an imminent return of Christ. This is not just conveyed in Matthew 24:36, but also in 1 Thessalonians 5:2, which reads: “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.” This is incompatible with the final return of Christ, since that event will be announced 7 years in advance, by the signing of a covenant between the Jews and the Antichrist, as per Daniel 9:27. Anyone reading those passages the day the covenant is signed can safely assume that Jesus will return 2,520 days later. So “no one knows the day or the hour” cannot be true at that time. Thus, Jesus must have already returned in an imminent fashion by that time. Jesus doesn’t say “I will give you a seven year warning before I return.” He said “I will come like a thief” (Rev. 3:3). Notice also that those words were written down by the apostle John around 90 A.D. according to most scholars. So even after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the return of Christ was and is still imminent. The fact that Christ will return imminently supports the idea of the rapture. The rapture is the imminent return of Christ sometime before the final 7-year tribulation.

A third error Welton makes in Raptureless is suggesting that the Tribulation happened in 70 A.D. The key to disproving this is Daniel 9. Verse 27 reads: “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.” This is the Abomination of Desolation that Jesus referred to in Matthew 24:15-16, which reads: “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.” One could argue that the exact term is not used in the Daniel verse, but the exact term is used in Daniel 12:11, where an angel tells Daniel: “From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.” Notice that the sacrifice is abolished, and that half of 7 * 360 is 1260. The angel also refers to this final period as “time, times, and half a time,” or 3 1/2 years of 360 days. There may be some significance to the extra 30 days in the 1,290 day period, but that is not important here. What matters is that the Abomination of Desolation mentioned in Daniel 12 is also referred to in Daniel 9. This event has not happened yet. Nowhere in history was such a 7-year covenant made. Nowhere was such a covenant broken 3 1/2 years into it, putting a stop to sacrifice and grain offering. Nowhere in history did the Abomination of Desolation stand in the holy place (the Jewish temple) and proclaim himself to be God. How do we know that he will proclaim himself to be God? 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 states: “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” So we can draw a direct line between Daniel 9, Matthew 24, and 2 Thessalonians 2. We see that a man breaks a 7-year covenant 3 1/2 years into it, puts a stop to sacrifice in a physical temple, goes inside the temple, proclaiming himself to be God, and demands to be worshiped. Titus didn’t do this, and neither did Antiochus Epiphanes (though he foreshadowed it in some respects). Jesus and Paul make it clear that this event, the fulfillment of Daniel 9, is yet future from their perspective.

A simpler way to prove a future tribulation is to note that Daniel 9:27 occurs after the second temple has been destroyed. See, the final week is part of 70 weeks, which are broken up into 7+62 weeks and a final week, which are not contiguous. the 7+62 weeks culminated in the Messiah. Since then, we have been in an “intermission” time, waiting for the final week to begin. This is proven by the fact that events are mentioned which happen after the 7+62 weeks but before the final week. Daniel 9:26 reads: “Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.” Notice that the temple, the sanctuary, is destroyed, which was fulfilled in 70 A.D. under Titus. And yet, the Abomination of Desolation had not yet happened! This proves that the Tribulation has not yet happened, and that a new temple will stand in the future, and a literal Antichrist will make a 7-year covenant, only to break it. To make it really simple, Daniel 9:26 talks about the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D., while the next verse talks about the abomination of desolation, which implies that a temple is standing. The abomination of desolation could not have happened in 70 A.D. because it must happen after the temple is destroyed and rebuilt.

A fourth error, one that is glaringly obvious, is that the events of 70 A.D. were not the greatest period of distress that the world has ever seen. Even for the Jews, it was not the worst time in their history. Yes, more than a million Jews died during the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., but about 6 million Jews died during the Nazi Holocaust, between 1933 and 1945. Titus’ war was a war to restore order, while Hitler’s campaign was a deliberate attempt to wipe out all the Jews of Europe. If Hitler’s plans had not been cut short, then all the Jews in the entire world may have been wiped out. And yet, Jesus’ warning was even more encompassing, in that no flesh would be saved if those days were not cut short. A plain reading of that means no humans at all, or even animals. Everything would be wiped out. World War II has been the most destructive war known to man, so if any period in history qualifies as the time of greatest distress, it is World War II, and yet it seems that even this time period does not fit all that is prophesied in Matthew 24 and its parallels.

Welton claims to have been inspired by the Holy Spirit. No doubt he is sincere, but that doesn’t mean he is correct. The Bible is the Word of God, and if any person’s revelation contradicts that, then it is the person who got it wrong, not the Bible. Since Welton’s views contradict what the Bible teaches, as I have demonstrated, I conclude that he heard wrong, or has misinterpreted what the Holy Spirit told him. His main error, I think, is in judging the soundness of a particular doctrine based on how people react to that doctrine. In my opinion, a person’s reaction says more about the person than the doctrine. It doesn’t say anything about the truthfulness of the doctrine. The only way to determine if a doctrine is true is to examine  the Biblical evidence and analyze it logically. Welton makes a big mistake in conflating the truth of a doctrine with how people react to it. All this goes to show that what people claim to hear from the Holy Spirit should be taken with a grain of salt, at least when it comes to matters of doctrine.

The Nephilim of the Bible

The subject of the biblical Nephilim is of much controversy, which most mainstream theologians would rather avoid. I’m not a theologian, but I do know the Bible. While mainstream theologians contend that the Nephilim were the illigitimate children of lustful men who took as many women for themselves as they pleased, the Bible actually has something different to say. In this article, I’ll trace the roots of the Nephilim from their pre-flood beginnings in Genesis all the way to their end in 1 Chronicles. We’ll also see if my view has New Testament support.

Pre-Flood Beginnings

The nephilim first appear in Genesis chapter 6. Verses 1-4 state:

Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. (NASB)

There are 3 things to notice here. First, the Nephilim were the offspring of the “sons of God” and the daughters of men. Second, the Nephilim were on the earth not just then, but also after the flood. Third, these Nephilim were mighty and famous. Presumably they were fighting men of great strength.

This raises some questions. What are the “sons of God?” The Hebrew wording used here is “B’nai Ha Elohim.” We can gain some meaning from this wording by comparing it to other places where this wording is used. All other uses of this wording are found in the book of Job, 3 times. Job 1:6 states:

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. (NASB)

Likewise, Job 2:1 states:

Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. (NASB)

Also, Job 38:4-7:

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (NASB)

From these verses it is clear that the “sons of God” were angelic beings who were present at creation. The term encompasses both good and fallen angels.

The fact that the Nephilim were also on the earth after the flood is significant because it allows us to trace them later in history and gain much more detailed information on them. One can also speculate on the motivation for them being there after the flood. In particular, it could have been Satan’s plan to use the Nephilim to discourage the Israelites from entering the promised land. Indeed, they delayed their entry into the promised land for a whole 40 years.

Why are these Nephilim mighty and famous? If they were just illegitimate children, would there be any reason for them to be mightier or more famous than any other people? No. Clearly, there was something else going on. How is it possible that the Nephilim were the result of intercourse between angels and women? The Bible offers some more clues in that angels can appear as men, in human flesh. This is made abundantly clear in Genesis 19, where Lot unwittingly invites two angels to stay the night with him. They even eat the feast that is put before them. If angels can eat like humans, why can’t they breed like humans?

Delving into some theory here, there is speculation in the field of physics that the universe is made up of 10 or 11 dimensions, not just 3 or 4. Whereas humans can only operate in 3 dimensions, angels could theoretically operate in more of those dimensions. This means they could do strange things, like materialize and dematerialize at will, travel in any way they choose, and take any form they wish. Now if angels can take any form they wish, why couldn’t they become giant humans with modified genetics? Anything is possible. The theory is that fallen angels took the form of giant humans with modified genetics, bred with the women on the earth, and thereby created a race of giants that kept going for multiple generations. This is why the the Nephilim, their offspring, were mighty and famous.

Nephilim and Rephaim

The Bible also mentions a group of people called the Rephaim. These are the same as the Nephilim, and can be used interchangeably. The key to this discovery is the Anakim, who were a specific tribe of Nephilim descended from a man named Anak. Numbers 13:33 states:

“There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” (NASB)

Deuteronomy 2:11 states:

Like the Anakim, they are also regarded as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. (NASB)

So the Anakim are Nephilim, and the Anakim are also Rephaim. Clearly, the Nephilim and Rephaim are one and the same. Similarly to the above verse, Deuteronomy 2:20 also links the Anakim to the Rephaim, through the Zamzummin. Interestingly, both of these verses describe the Anakim and Rephaim as great, numerous, and tall.

Now a word about definitions. What do the words “Nephilim” and “Rephaim” actually mean? “Nephilim” means “fallen ones” [NIV Study Bible publish Zondervan, through Wikipedia]. “Rephaim” can also refer to residents of Sheol (the place of the dead), and can literally mean “dead ancestors” [Wikipedia].

My own speculation is that the definition for “Nephilim” could be derived from the fact that they were spawned from fallen angels, though I do not know if such beings were referred to as “fallen angels” by the ancient Hebrews. Isaiah 14:12 would seem to lend some credence to this, however, in that it symbolically refers to Satan, the chief of the fallen angels.

Rephaim is a bit more difficult, but it has connotations of a spirit being not tied to a body. Perhaps they were so named because their male ancestors were angels or spirits which could appear and disappear at will. They could also be described as ghosts or phantoms.

Post-Flood Nephilim

The first mention of Nephilim after the flood is in Genesis 14:5 and 15:20, during the time of Abraham. The term used here is Rephaim, but I will use the terms interchangably, as they are one and the same. Here they are also connected with the Emim and Zuzim, which could be a variant of Zamzummin mentioned in Deuteronomy. Several middle-eastern kings defeat the Emim, Zuzim, and Rephaim. In the next chapter, God promises Abraham that his descendents will inherit the land of several Canaanite tribes and the land of the Rephaim. Apparantly the fallen angels had come back already, during Abraham’s time, and intermarried with the Canaanites. At least part of the Canaanites were described as Rephaim, which gives credence to the idea that they came specifically to thwart God’s plan to give Abraham’s descendents the promised land. Of course the Bible records that simple lust was also a motivation, so there may have been a dual motivation here.

The next place where we see Rephaim mentioned is in Deuteronomy 2. Here we learn that the Moabites called them Emim, and the Ammonites called them Zamzummin. The Emim formerly lived in the land of Moab, and the Zamzummin in the land of Ammon. It is interesting that God specifically commands the the Israelites not to attack the Moabites or Ammonites, because God gave that land to them. It appears that God was on a campaign to wipe out all the Rephaim, giving some of their land to the Moabites, some to the Ammonites, and some to the Israelites.

Deuteronomy 3 mentions Og king of Bashan,  who was one of the last Rephaim. Specific dimensions are given for his beadstead, being nine cubits in length and four cubits in width. This is by ordinary cubit, literally “by a man’s forearm,” so that works out to about 13 feet long. Clearly he was a giant, and this is significant, because one can argue about the meaning of words, but one can’t argue about specific dimensions. The Bible indicates that there were whole people groups of such dimensions, ruling out genetic anomalies and rare health conditions.

The Nephilim are mentioned again in Deuteronomy 9 in the form of the Anakim. Joshua admonishes the Israelites to trust in God, who will go before them and defeat the Anakim, of whom it is said “Who can stand before the sons of Anak?” The Anakim are also described as great and tall.

Joshua 14 and 15 record how Caleb son of Jephunneh asked Joshua for the land that had been promised to him by Moses. Anakim were living there at the time, but Caleb defeated them and took over the land, which was named Hebron. Joshua 11:21-22 gives a broader overview:

Then Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab and from all the hill country of Judah and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities. There were no Anakim left in the land of the sons of Israel; only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod some remained. (NASB)

This last verse is important because it allows us to continue tracing the Nephilim. Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod were Philistine-controlled territory at the time, and it appears that the Anakim intermarried with them. In fact, hundreds of years later, during the time of David, the Nephilim make their final appearance.

The Remnant from Gath

We’ve all heard the story of David and Goliath, and we know that Goliath was big. Taken by itself, one could assume he had a genetic anomaly, but when you look at the bigger picture, you can see much more significance.

How tall was Goliath? He was 6 cubits and a span, which gives different measures depending on which cubit was used. The Egyptian royal cubit was different from the common cubit, and it is not specified which measure was used. Based on the Wikipedia article about ancient Egyptian units of measurement, Goliath would be between 9.6 and 11 feet tall. This is less than Og king of Bashan, but still far bigger than an ordinary human. After hundreds of years, his angelic DNA would have been diluted from successive generations of marriage with humans. Nevertheless, he was still very much a giant.

The important thing to note is that Goliath was from Gath. This is recorded in 1 Samuel 17:4, along with his height. Gath was one of the few towns where some of the Anakim had remained! Clearly, given his dimensions, Goliath was one of the remnant of the Anakim, who were Nephilim. Goliath was a distant descendent of the Nephilim! More support for this comes from 1 Chronicles 4-8:

Now it came about after this, that war broke out at Gezer with the Philistines; then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the giants, and they were subdued. And there was war with the Philistines again, and Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. Again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had twenty-four fingers and toes, six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot; and he also was descended from the giants. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him. These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants. (NASB)

The word translated “giant” here is Raphah, the singular form of Rephaim. The change in wording may be due to a gradual language change, since 1 Chronicles was written much later than Deuteronomy and Joshua. The meaning is clearly the same. There were Rephaim left in Gath, and Goliath’s brother was one of them. Therefore, Goliath himself was one of them. It’s interesting to note the descriptions of Goliath’s equipment, both here and in 1 Samuel. Though we don’t intuitively know how big they were, it is clear that the Bible is describing big, heavy weapons, which a normal human could not wield. Then there was yet another man of great stature, who had 6 fingers on each hand and 6 toes on each foot. Clearly not human genetics!

New Testament Support

Is there any New Testament support for this view of the Nephilim? There is, in fact, one passage in the New Testament to support this view. It is Jude 1:6-7:

And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. (NASB)

This makes it pretty clear. Angels left heaven and came to earth, and engaged in sexual immorality with the people, like the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. The result was the Nephilim, a race of angel-human hybrids that lasted for hundreds of years, both before and after the flood. The idea that the Nephilim are merely illegitimate human children simply doesn’t explain half of it. The angel-human hybrid theory is the only one that makes sense.

Note: Much inspiration was gained from the works of Chuck Missler, though I have not used his writings for this article, apart from what I can remember.

Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them,

that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.

Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.