Just as the identity of the "sons of God" is sometimes a controversial subject, so is the subject of who the Nephilim were in our passage today. We will take a look at the text and then discuss it.
After the "sons of God" married with the "daughters of humans", the Lord makes a statement. "Then the Lord said, 'My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.'" (Genesis 6:3) This shortening of the human lifespan doesn't happen overnight, but in the Old Testament we gradually find the human lifespan decreasing. For example, many of the men in the genealogy from Adam to Noah lived nearly a thousand years, but by the time we get to Moses we will learn he only lived 120 years. Eventually lifespans will decrease even more until living to about the age of 70 is the norm in the Bible. King David died at the age of 70. Due to good medical care and access to clean water and nutritious food, people in our day in highly developed countries are once again living into their 90s and to over 100. Two of my great-aunts who passed in recent years were aged 106 and 101. Several of my other great-aunts and great-uncles lived to be in their 90s. My late mother's only living sibling is about 96 right now. So we see that due to modern technology we have managed to gain some ground and are coming close to regaining a 120 year lifespan, but without the advances we've made in science our lifespans would be closer to what the people of King David's era were familiar with.
"The Nephilim were on the earth in those days---and also afterward---when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown." (Genesis 6:4) Some versions of the Bible render the word "nephilim" as "giants". This ancient Hebrew word has proven difficult to satisfactorily translate, but I feel that "giants" is the best rendering of it after consulting a number of commentaries. Some scholars feel the root of this word is the Hebrew "naphal" which means "fallen". But other scholars disagree with this theory, although it could be argued that the "sons of God", if indeed they were angels who mingled with human women, were fallen. They did something they were never intended to do. They may represent a small portion of the third of the angels who followed Satan in his rebellion and if so then they are likely the group of fallen angels to which the Lord's brother Jude refers when he says they have been locked in chains ever since, awaiting judgment day.
There are scholars who don't believe the Nephilim (believed to be the offspring of fallen angels and human women) were literal giants but that the word is used as a reference to great and highly respected men who performed amazing deeds. The problem with this is that the Bible clearly states that there were literal giants on the earth. References to these extra tall humans can be found in the Scriptures all the way up through the book of 1 Chronicles. In some cases their actual size is noted in the Bible. They appear to die out from the earth as time goes on until eventually we don't see them mentioned anymore. Gigantism in modern times is almost always caused by a tumor on the pituitary gland that causes the growth hormones to remain turned on past the point of adulthood, resulting in a human being who is unnaturally large. I don't believe that's what the giants of the Bible were afflicted with, since gigantism in the Bible appears to be a genetic trait that was passed down the line until this particular trait became too weak to keep reproducing itself. Scientists have found a mutated gene that is the cause of the cases of genetic gigantism of modern times, though in our day it's not common to find anyone with gigantism that compares to the size of the giants in the Bible, but it's not at all unrealistic to believe that in ancient times there was a genetic cause for the extreme cases of gigantism. The Bible indicates that this genetic cause was that the "sons of God" mated with human women.
In verse 4 of our passage today the Bible tells us that these giants were on the earth before the flood and also afterwards. We know that only Noah, his wife, his three sons, and his three sons' wives were saved from the great flood. Someone on the ark had to be carrying the genetic material of those known as the Nephilim. It has been proposed by some scholars that the genetic material came from the family lines of the women Noah's sons married. It's impossible for us to know for sure, but the Bible indicates that these giants were just as mortal as any other creature. For example, David killed the Philistine giant known as Goliath with a well-aimed stone from his slingshot. So I don't believe the giants survived the flood physically. But the genetic material that caused there to be giants on the earth survived the flood in the DNA of at least one person on the ark.
This intermingling of the "sons of God" and the "daughters of humans" is somehow responsible for the rapid and monstrous decline of morality and godliness on the earth. "The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that He had made human beings on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled." (Genesis 6:5-6) It's not that the Lord didn't know how the human race was going to turn out. But that doesn't mean He wasn't grieved by it. There are things in our lives that we know ahead of time are going to work out in a particular way, yet this knowledge doesn't ease our sorrow.
"So the Lord said, 'I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created---and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground---for I regret that I have made them.'" (Genesis 6:7) As we said earlier in our study of Genesis and in our study of Revelation earlier this year, the animal kingdom became the collateral damage of man's fall from grace. Man's sin is not their fault, but because they inhabit the earth with man they have been affected by everything man does. In order to have kept from destroying most of the animal kingdom in the flood, the Lord would have had to supernaturally remove them from the earth somehow to keep them out of the flood. Instead He allows the majority of them to perish with the human beings who perished. We don't know how the wicked people of the world, whose thoughts were "only evil all the time", were treating the animals. We have no idea what life was like for the animal kingdom in those days. It could be that perishing in the flood was a more merciful fate for these animals than allowing them to perish and/or go extinct at the hands of sinful man.
Our portion of Scripture today has been serious and sad, but it closes on a hopeful note. "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord." (Genesis 6:8) Why did he find favor with God? Because in tomorrow's passage we will be told that he "walked faithfully with God". Not only did Noah's faith save him, but it saved his whole family too and---by extension---the human race. Yet it is only Noah, out of his whole family, who is credited with walking faithfully with God. The reason this ought to give us hope is that the Lord so often does miraculous things for our loved ones because we are faithful to Him. Later when we study the life of Abraham we will find that the main reason the Lord spared Abraham's nephew Lot is because of Abraham's faith. The reason the Lord sometimes does great things for people is not because those people are walking faithfully with Him, but because someone who walks faithfully with Him interceded for them in prayer. This ought to comfort us regarding family members and friends who don't know the Lord. This ought to encourage us to keep praying that they will come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord hears the prayers of the faithful and "His ears are attentive to their cry". (Psalm 34:15) Keep praying for that lost person. Keep asking the Lord to keep them alive and safe so they don't leave this world before placing their trust in the Savior. There is much value in intercessory prayers prayed by the faithful, for the Bible tells us, "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16b)
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