The Nephilim that were produced by the angel/mankind marriage were much different from either of their parents. This went against God's plan for the Earth in which each animal and human being was to reproduce "after its own kind." (Genesis 1:24 KJB) This is perhaps the best demonstration that the parents of these creatures were not simply descendants of Cain and Seth. Had they been, they would have produced human offspring, rather than the Nephilim.
The Nephilim were more than simply large beings or giants. The Hebrew word
Nephilim has been translated into Greek as
gegenes. This is the same word used in Greek mythology for the "Titans," creatures created through the interbreeding of the Greek gods and human beings. (The English words "genes" and "genetics" are built around the same root word as
gegenes;
genea means "breed" or "kind.")
In the past there has been criticism of the theory that human beings could be genetically modified to become giants or superhuman creatures. Science has recently proven otherwise.
In April 1997, scientists at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore revealed that they had discovered a gene in mice which they called growth/differentiation factor-8 (GDF-8). When mice cells were altered genetically to delete this gene, the creatures that were conceived from these altered eggs grew enormous muscles, becoming "super mice" for all practical purposes. (Reuters, "Absence of gene makes for mighty mice," 11:42 AM ET, April 30, 1997.)
The scientists wrote in the science journal
Nature:
We disrupted the GDF-8 gene by gene targeting in mice. [Mice lacking the gene] are significantly larger than wild-type animals and show a large and widespread increase in skeletal muscle mass. Individual muscles of mutant animals weigh two to three times more than those of wild-type animals.
Notice that not only were the animals with the gDF-8 gene stronger, they were
two to three times larger. In other words, the super mice were stronger and considerably larger than their natural brothers and sisters having an unaltered genetic makeup.
That's with just
one gene altered.
It doesn't seem unreasonable to believe that if such creatures would result with just minor genetic modifications, that the offspring of an angel/human coupling would not be just as - if not more - modified. Because angels are noted for their great physical strength, it isn't unreasonable to think that the offspring of human interbreeding would also have such strength.
This is reflected in the second title given them in the Genesis 6:14 passage: "mighty men" and "men of renown." In other words, the "lab rats" of the past were human beings, with the "scientists" conducting their genetic research being fallen angels.
While several other Hebrew words translated as "giant" are used in the Bible, the only other place the actual word
Nephilim is used outside of the Genesis 6 passage is in Numbers 13:33:
And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, which come of the Nephilim, and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
This passage becomes very important in understanding Satan's plans for attacking mankind in the near future as this passage takes place long
after Noah's flood which God sent to wipe out the offspring of the angel/human being interbreeding. That the Nephilim would be present in Canaan at this point in history can mean only one thing: the interbreeding between angels and mankind can and has happened not just once and not just in the distant past before the Great Flood. It wasn't so widespread and didn't threaten the entire human race, but it happened again long after the flood and has happened many other times as well.
A careful reading of the first introduction of this word in Genesis also shows that the Nephilim have appeared more than one time in history. The verses don't say that the first account was the only time this occurred. Rather,
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... (Genesis 6:4 KJB)
It is important to notice that there were giants "in those days" and "
also after that" time as well. Since the giants could only be coming from the sons of God interbreeding with the daughters of men, and since God wiped out the first instance of this with the Great Flood, this would have to mean that such couplings have occurred more than just once before the flood.
The passage about the giants in Numbers also explains why the word
Nephilim is often translated into "giants" in English. The Jewish spies who reported the land was filled with Nephilim take the time to describe the creatures' size in relationship to human beings. The spies tell those who listen that the Jews were like grasshoppers both in the sight of the giants as well as in the sight of the spies.
If one stops to consider the relationship presented here, even given possible exaggeration of the differences in the mind of the spies, it is only logical to assume that the "sons of Anak" were huge, dwarfing the human beings who saw them. This passage also suggests that their strength might have been as great as that of a man compared to that of an insect. Little wonder, then, that the majority of the Jewish spies suggested that the Promised Land wasn't worth fighting for.
Unfortunately, the nay-sayers had the final say. The Jews didn't invade the Promised Land and instead wandered in the wilderness for another 40 years. But when their descendants finally entered what would become Israel, God exacted a judgment on the inhabitants of the land.
Like the Lord telling the Isrealites to go wipe out an entire race for instance. Genocide some say, and perhaps it was...but for a darn good reason. And if there had been intermingling of the beings, and corruption of the gene pool...then it begins to make perfect sense as to why God would order such a thing to be done.
There was indeed such “intermingling of the beings, and corruption of the gene pool.”
Just as God destroyed the Earth with a flood to wipe the Nephilim from the face of the Earth during Noah's time, so he used the flood of invading Jews flowing into the Promised Land to wipe out the giants they encountered. Realizing that some of the cities in the Promised Land were filled with Nephilim explains why God ordered some of the cities totally destroyed with the citizens in them to be put under the edge of the sword. God didn't want any of these monsters to once again pollute the human gene pool. God dealt out the same total destruction to these beings as he had with Noah's flood.
Sadly, most Christians and Jews are unaware of the biblical accounts that giants were found far and wide in the Promised Land. Most artwork, movies and the like further the ignorance by portraying everyone but Goliath as being normal size.
This misses the mark. Careful reading of the Bible reveals that in many areas the Nephilim held control of the cities. One hint at their widespread control is found in Deuteronomy which outlines the areas the invading Jews had conquered following their invasion of the land; this section of the Bible tells to which tribes the land was given. In one small excerpt from this, we can see that the Nephilim originally controlled much of the area:
And we took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that [was] on this side Jordan, from the river of Arnon unto mount Hermon; (Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion; and the Amorites call it Shenir;) All the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.
And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites. And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants. (Deuteronomy 3:8-13 KJB)
This passage proves that the giants were controlling the land when the Hebrews arrived. It was only through their courage in slaughtering these monsters that God was able to bring the reign of the Nephilim to an end in this region. (It should also be noted that the iron bed described in this passage could accommodate an individual over twelve feet tall.)
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