Part 1

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Sincerely,

Judd

  

LESSON 5

  

"And Also Afterward: Giants in the Old Testament"

by J. Burton, Ph.D.

If the Nephilim died in the flood, how is it that they appear in later passages of the Old Testament. The passage of Genesis 6:4 suggests the answer. "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.

" Here "also afterward" implies after the flood, and the subsequent phrase suggests that not only were there Watcher angel incursions before the flood, but also after it, when additional rebellious angels mated with human females to produce additional generations of giants (emphasis mine~D.R). 

There is some flirtation in Jewish folklore with the possibility of certain giants, such as Og, surviving the flood, but a second irruption of giants is the likely explanation for the giants in the Bronze Age and Iron Age Levant.

What appears to have happened after the flood, is that the Nephilim and their branches reassert themselves in the ancient Near East. They positioned themselves so that they might attempt an additional pollution or outright destruction of the Messianic bloodline. This explains their early geographical orientation in the Near East. Over the millennia, they multiplied and dispersed into a number of tribes and clans including the mother tribe of the Nephilim, the Anakim, the Rephaim, the Awwim, the Zamzummim, and the Zumim. Variations on these names can also be found throughout the ancient Near East. In each reference, they are clearly described as being much taller and stronger than humans, vicious and war-like, and very-often associated with city- and empire-building. They had names like Og, SIhon, Saph, Arba, Anak, and Goliath.

  

After the flood, the first giants of note one encounters are the Anakim (Num. 13). These were Nephilim who had descended from a tribal founder named Anak. They were the very same giants the twelve spies viewed near Hebron (named after the giant Arba), whom they--with the exception of Joshua and Caleb--saw as a significant barrier to retaking Canaan. Later in Numbers, and in Deuteronomy, the Israelite army encountered giant kings such as Sihon and Og of Bashan (Num. 21; Num. 32; Deut. 1; Deut. 3). Og, a Rephaim, is defeated at the battle of Edrei, and his sizeable corpse laid to rest by surviving members of his tribe n Rabbah on a 13 foot long sarcophagus (Deut. 3:10-13). 

By far, the most famous giant of the Bible is Goliath of Gath, a Philistine. Goliath was over nine feet tall, had a javeline like a weaver's rod, and weaponry and armor to match his size. You know the story. Hereafter David and Goliath meet in the valley of Elah, an encounter ending with David using a sling to kill Goliath, and subsequently decapitating him with his own sword. Giants were obviously not invincible. 

Additional giants appear including Goliaths brother Lahmi, who was killed by Elhanan (1 Chron. 20:5), and Saph, another of the Rephaim (2 Sam. 21). There appears to have been a large population of Rephaim in Gath, and Philistine territory in general (2 Sam. 21).

In general, both motive and cultural model emerge in the Old Testament.   

The giants resituated themselves in the Levant to keep the Jews out, to pollute or destroy (as in the case of David) the bloodline of Messiah, and to oppress and lead astray the Jews. In terms of culture, it is evident that the giants established their Watcher and Nephilim forebears as the gods of ancient polytheism(emphasis mine~D.R.).

 Giants also seem to have established themselves as regional rulers and city-developers, as in the case of Sihon, Og, and Arba. Others aligned themselves politically with cities or nations, providing their skills as warriors, as in the case of Goliath. They seem to have retained the ambition and cruelty which led to the destruction of their ancestors in the flood.

  Their entire culture was built upon preventing the arrival of Messiah(emphasis mine~D.R.).

  

With their defeat in the Levant and the Near East in general, they diffused to disparate regions of the globe, vanishing gradually before the advent of the modern era. The conquest of Canaan seems to routed most of them from that region, with only a handful remaining as the judges and kings of Israel worked to solidify the political infrastructure of the country. The twilight of the age of giants had come upon the ancient Near East.

However, the spirits of the giants persisted, if their judgment was similar to the Nephilim before the flood. The spirits of the antediluvian giants persisted as “evil spirits” In the subsequent Inter-biblical Period and New Testament Era, Jesus, the apostles, and the early Christians contended with the ghastly remnant of these enemies of Yahweh.

LESSON 6: “GIANTS AND SCRIBES”

*READ AN IN-DEPTH ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY ABOUT THE TRIBES AND CLANS OF BIBLICAL GIANTS IN INTERVIEW WITH THE GIANT.

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^{Matt. 24:37} "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah”.

^{Luke 17:26} "And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man” D.R.