Things You Thought You Knew
Part 2
What is the truth behind the Nephilim?
One of the questions I’ve often received on our Bible questions and answer call-in program (TEMA) is regarding the mysterious giants in Genesis 6 called the Nephilim. Nephilim in the Hebrew language can mean either “fallen ones” or simply “bully or tyrant.”
Who and what they were has become a hot topic on social media and a subject of many teachings from Christian leaders. Some teach that the “sons of God” found in Genesis 6 are fallen angels.
Furthermore, that they married earthly women and sired children by them to produce a half man, half demon race of giants called the Nephilim. And some who teach this hybrid human/devil phenomenon also say that such hybrids may be amongst us today!
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So with the Scriptures as our authority, let’s read the pertinent passages in Genesis 6:1-4,
“Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. 3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
4 There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward (mark the word—“afterward.” The giants were already on the earth before the sons of God are mentioned), 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.”
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Now, you’ve often heard me say that context is extremely important in interpreting scripture. In theological studies we have a little saying: “A text without context is a pretext for a proof text.”
A proof text is a single verse or verses pulled out of context to support a teaching or theological position. The golden rule of all good Bible interpretation is that you MUST interpret a text in light of its surrounding context—what came before the verse and what follows the verse.
So, to best understand Genesis 6:1-4 let’s drop back to Genesis chapters 4 and 5. Keep in mind that in the original bible manuscripts there were no chapters or verses. The first Bible with chapters and verses was written in 1555. So for the first 1,500 years of the Christian church there were no chapters or verses.
The original Bible manuscripts were written on a long, rolled up scroll that read like an uninterrupted story.
With that in mind we first find in Genesis 4:16-24 the lineage of Cain laid out for us. It begins with Cain “going out from the presence of the Lord” to live a totally godless, self-centered life. His children and grandchildren also lived godless, self-centered lives.
They also become the founders of the professions of music, farming, and craftsmanship. But there is no mention of God in their lives!
Then Genesis 5 is dedicated to tracing the lineage of Seth. Seth was Adam and Eve’s third son, born after the tragic murder of Abel by his brother Cain. The lineage of Seth in chapter 5 is clearly shown to be the righteous lineage, while the lineage of Cain is the wicked lineage. We’re told that after the birth of Seth’s first son, Enosh, “men began to call on the name of the Lord.”—Gen 4:26
The worldly, godless lineage of Cain dies out after 7 generations while the lineage of Seth is with us to this day through Christ Jesus!
The lineage of Seth is chalk full of men of faith: We see Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech the father of Noah, and Noah himself.
So when chapter 6:2 opens with the phrase “the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful” it makes total linguistic sense that “sons of God” is referring to the righteous line of Seth. In you remove the chapter titles and verses to read as one continual flow that is exactly what you’d assume.
Hence, to claim that the phrase “sons of God” refers to fallen angels is problematic.
FIRST, never in all the Word of God is the phrase “sons of God” used to refer to a fallen, evil person.
Conversely, over 40 times in Scripture the term “sons of God” is used to describe God’s people.
Its always a phrase used to describe the righteous, including the angels in Job who are twice described as “sons of God.” They were good angels, not bad.
In the NT, “sons of God” is the given identity of born again believers. Jesus Himself is called the “Son of God” and his followers sons and daughters of God.
So would God grant a fallen, wicked spirit the same descriptive as his precious, only Son? Can you imagine Satan being called a son of God?
SECOND, angels are spirit beings, not human. They can “appear” as human, and did so several times in the Bible. Three angels appearing as men visited Abraham before Sodom’s destruction.
Hebrews exhorts us, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.”—13:2
But these are angels appearing as men to communicate with men for God’s purposes. They are not actual men.
THIRD, since angels are spirit beings they would literally have to morph into a real flesh and blood man complete with DNA, a gene pool, spermatozoa, and male anatomy in order to marry and produce offspring.
We note that all the way back to the Creation account in Genesis 1 and 2, the golden rule of every living thing God made is that it can reproduce only and exclusively “after their kind” (Genesis 1:24).
There can be (and are) differences within species, but one species (say canines) can never produce another species (say reptiles), which is one place Darwinism falls apart!
So how could spirit beings produce human offspring? Even Jesus described angels as sexless: “For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”—Mark 12:25
Further, nowhere in all the Bible do we find an angel with the power to create or procreate. They are created beings, not creators. In Scripture they sometimes appear a certain way, but this was done under the guidance of God.
Paul recognized the ability of Satan to appear as something he’s not: “Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.”—2 Cor. 11:14
The word “transforms” means “to change in appearance,” as with a disguise. But this has ZERO to do with actually becoming a human being.
FOURTH, when speaking of Noah’s generation before the flood, Jesus says, “in those days before the flood they [human beings] were … marrying and giving in marriage”—Matt 24:38
This would have been the perfect time for Him to say something about fallen angels marrying earthly women and siring hybrid children, but He said nothing about any such thing!
FIFTH, two New Testament proof texts are offered to support the fallen angel/earthly women view:
1 Peter 2:4 “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;”
Then in Jude 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.”
Now, the 1 Peter verse simply describes what we already knew—one third of heaven rebelled with Lucifer and were cast to the earth under the judgment of God.
You have to read into it that the angels mentioned were fallen angels impregnating women and coming under judgment for it. The passage says NOTHING about Noah’s time or Nephilim!
Then the Jude verse also tells us what we already knew—the angels that rebelled with Lucifer “didn’t keep their proper domain (their place in heaven), and left their abode (dwelling place).”
They rebelled against God by leaving their rightful place in the heavenlies. It says nothing about them morphing into a man to marry and impregnate earthly women.
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Then you may ask, What about the giants? Who were they?
Think with me: Why could they not have been giants through genetics. Both giants and little people are around today through genetics, right?
And since the Bible says the only survivors of the flood were Noah, his sons, and their wives (8 people) then the pre-flood giants all perished. Where then did the Philistines come from? Or the Anakim giants the 12 spies saw in the Promised Land. One answer is genetics!
The tallest human in recorded modern history was Robert Wadlow of the United States (1918–1940), who reached 8 ft 11 in tall. One inch from 9 feet. A giant! How? Genetics!
A Turkish woman is the tallest modern female measuring in at over 7 feet. Again, this happened through genetics.
Keep in mind that after the fall of man everything in God’s creation went haywire. The lifespan of man fell from centuries long to below 100. We live in a broken world where all kinds of things are not as God first intended.
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So I personally have to conclude that the “sons of God” were the righteous line of Seth. All rules of grammar and context lead me there.
God’s issue was that they essentially walked away from Him. One indicator of the universal moral decline that brought God’s judgment by the flood was the line of Seth choosing the women of Cain’s lineage—the ungodly lineage—based on looks, not godly character or faith.
“They took wives (of Cain’s lineage) for themselves of all whom they chose.” (Gen 6:2) This practice was strictly forbidden by God all throughout the Bible and it signaled the apostasy of the righteous lineage.
Noah was the only man in all the world that walked with God. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen. 6:8).
The rest of the world was corrupt. Scripture sadly records,
“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil” (Gen. 6:5).
The corruption was so complete that not once did a righteous thought enter a man’s mind in those dark days! On top of that, “violence filled the earth.” (6:13) THIS is why God finally brought universal judgment, not renegade angels.
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In closing, why does this matter?
Because one, it attributes to Satan a power he does not have.
Two, it creates an unhealthy focus. Like UFO’s, it turns our attention onto looking for hybrids and away from the Great Commission.