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There is a lot going on right now and honestly, i could pen an entire series trying to unpack everything that is transpiring currently and it’s significance, however we’re moving forward with our discussion on Giants. We’re doing so because the paradigm put forward and information we find when we engage in a serious study of the topic has profound relevance to where we are currently, and even more relevance to where we’re going, that is; where HE is leading us.
You see, currently the spiritual warfare we’re engaged in is at a level I’ve personally never seen before – and it only promises to thicken as the fight wears on. Some of you “Righteous Gray-Hairs” (Proverbs 16:31) may have seen something like this in ages past, but I am confident when I say that this is new to my generation…
With that in mind, we must understand – as the body and as an army of the King of Kings, that there are a number of imperatives we must observe if we are to triumph in this fight. Not least among them re the principles of accepting the Word of God as authoritative – which allows further insight into the point of this series and the second principle I am pointing to; knowing our enemy.
In our last article, we had established a firm basis for understanding that the narrative presented to us in Genesis Chapter 6, does indeed refer to Fallen Angels cohabiting and interbreeding with human women. We further elaborated that while scripture tells us that the Angels were not given wives, nowhere does it state that they are incapable of producing progeny – only that their having done so was a particularly egregious sin and a complete violation of God’s established order.
Does this topic make you uneasy? It should.
I would ask you to consider whether that uneasiness you may feel is a result of discomfort with the topic, the idea that I am putting forward some fanciful tale, or the fact that the ramifications of such an event would be utterly horrific? The answer to that question is important because, as I stated previously, how we perceive this issue has a far-reaching impact on how we perceive many events throughout the rest of scripture.
There are two reasons I say this; one being the fact that the hybrid line we are presented with in the Genesis 6 narrative never got wiped out – not fully anyway. Does that surprise you? Scripture tells us this in no uncertain terms:
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days (and also after this) when the sons of God would sleep with the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children. They were the mighty heroes of old, the famous men.
Genesis 6:4
After what exactly?
I posit that given the context of the chapter being the Judgement of the Great Flood, that the “this” being referred to here is, in fact, the Flood itself – e.g. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days (and also after the Flood).
The second speaks directly to the nature of what we have come to call “demons“. Consider for a moment the simple fact that an Angel – fallen or otherwise – has no need for a body. They already have bodies and are perfectly capable of using them to interact with one another and with mankind. Scripture shows us this, over and over and over.
So why possession? Why do demonic spirits seek not only to afflict their victims, but in many cases to actually possess them and wrest control of their physical bodies? It’s not a behavior I see attributed to Angelic beings of any type in scripture… and yet possession by “unclean spirits” is known and acknowledged throughout scripture – even by the Messiah Himself.
We’ll be digging into that further… later. For now, I feel it pertinent to lay a few final “stones” in what is essentially the foundation of the argument I am putting forth.
I readily admit that their are other, seemingly viable explanations for the events described in Chapter 6 of Genesis. I went so far in my last article on the topic as to dig deeper into the term “Sons of God” and explain why I believe other interpretations fall flat. I would further shore this up by pointing out a number of theological conundrums which arise when we adopt a wrong view of these events… the crux of this being that we essentially deny the physical existence of actual, real Giants in favor of a symbolic or poetic view of the terms being used. Honestly – we wind up calling the witnesses to numerous events throughout scripture “liars“.
In order to relegate the scriptural language of giants to being purely symbolic, we are required to ignore information presented to us from the scriptures themselves which contradict that assertion:
Problem #1 : Standardized Measure
In the series Signs of the Times, I put forward that the time of Israel’s actual enslavement could not have been 400 years, but was in fact, 215 years. Even a bit over two centuries is a long, long time for Israel to have walked out of Egypt with no sense of a unified standard of measure.
First, let’s tackle the really “low-hanging fruit”; the Hebrews were NOT building the Pyramids, the Sphinx, the many statues of Rameses (who won’t come along for another two-centuries by the way) or any other such. Scripture tells us exactly what they were tasked with:
So they put foremen over the Israelites to oppress them with hard labor. As a result they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread. As a result the Egyptians loathed the Israelites, and they made the Israelites serve rigorously. They made their lives bitter by hard service with mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service in the fields. Every kind of service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous.
Exodus 1:11 – 14
As a quick aside, don’t be thrown off by the inclusion of the name ‘Rameses” here; Rameses wasn’t exactly as common as the surname “Jones” is in America today, but “Ramesses the Great” was FAR from the first utilization of this name. He is, in fact, known as Ramesses the Second – which is our first clue that not every mention of this name is in reference to him. Furthermore, if you are looking for the Pharaoh of the Exodus – this isn’t him…
In this passage we are talking about a place, not named for a Pharaoh, but which would have been called “Created of / by Ra”. It’s essentially a in which the Pharoah was asserting his “divinity”… you see it?
More importantly to our focus here; this passage (and others) tell us exactly what kinds of labors were imposed upon the Hebrews and one of these tasks is very, very telling; they made bricks. The text further tells us that they made these bricks and built the “store cities” or treasure cities of Rameses and Pithom.
Full stop!
Would you allow someone to build your home – or even remodel it if they had no concept of a unified standard of measure? Would you let them undertake the work if they didn’t even use a tape-measure or some device to ensure uniform measurement? If so, I’d ask that if you have any work being done on your home to STOP READING THIS IMMEDIATELY and HALT ANY AND ALL CONSTRUCTION.
These men and women didn’t just make bricks, or even build a house. They built cities. Plural.
Think about that for a moment. How could they have done this if they didn’t possess and understand a unified standard of measure? Answer: they did.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is a Cubit Rod. It is the defacto-standard “tape-measure” of the age we’re discussing and it is actually nothing short of a smoking-gun for any discussion pertaining to Biblical Giants! Consider this: in Deuteronomy chapter 3, continuing the narrative of the Hebrew exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses himself, we find the following:
‘Og king of Bashan was the last survivor of the Refa’im. His bed was made of iron; it is still in Rabbah with the people of ‘Amon. It was nine cubits long and four cubits wide, using the normal cubit.
Deuteronomy 3:11 (CJB)
Are you wondering what a “normal” cubit is?
I’m glad you asked! There were / are two cubits by which measurements were (and are) made; the standard or “normal” cubit an the “royal” cubit. We’re told that a cubit was a measurement of length based on the distance from the elbow to the tip of the longest finger… and I would posit that this is what it was based upon – but no serious degree of construction accuracy could have been achieved without creating a standard – like the one pictured above.
Now, the “normal” cubit used among the Egyptians measures 17.67 inches while the “royal” cubit measures 20.61 inches. It’s interesting that the “royal” version is significantly larger, seeing as many ancient cultures claimed their royalty to be of divine origin and of giant stature. Things that make you go “hmmm…”
Now here’s the point; the Torah makes a direct reference to a specific unit of measurement – one that is known and still exists to this day. In the cited passage and, elsewhere in scripture, the cubit is used to reference the size of giants, and yet there remains an insistence to relegate this to poetic language.
Poppycock. No offense, but Moses knew exactly what he was writing and what that measurement meant. Moreover, while there do exist other cultural “cubits”, to suppose that after two hundred years of using the Egyptian system, he was speaking to any other standard of measure is willfully ignorant. This refusal to accept what Moses himself wrote down for posterity has given rise to all manner of ridiculous debates within theological circles; things like how tall Goliath really was and so forth.
As a quick aside and a bit of a “bonus”; the cubit is still actually in use today and many agencies engaged in metrology still use this as a frame of reference for standardizing measurement. I know this because I have worked with precisely such an agency… but I digress.
Last point – it’s a bit of a drive-by:
He also measured its wall, 144 cubits according to human measurement, which is also the angel’s.
Revelation 21:17
So… the standard unit of measure for the ancient world is the same unit of measure used by the Angels… I wonder where we got that from? You still think the “Sons of God” in Genesis 6 weren’t Angels? Think again.
Problem #2: The Gulliver Dilemma
It has been put forward, more times than I can count, that the ancient Hebrews were small… therefore, what constituted a “giant” to them, might not constitute a “giant” by the standards of modern peoples.
At face value, this may sound imminently reasonable, but this – once again – overlooks the plain evidence provided to us in the scriptures themselves. Repeat after me: Ancient Hebrews were NOT Lilliputians.
I’ll try to keep this short and concise – we’ll be focusing on Golyat or Goliath as it presents us with more than enough information to draw an accurate conclusion…
There came out a champion from the camp of the P’lishtim named Golyat, from Gat, who was nine feet nine inches tall. He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore a bronze armor plate weighing 120 pounds. He had bronze armor protecting his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was as big as a weaver’s beam, and the iron spearhead weighed fifteen pounds. His shield-bearer went ahead of him.
1 Samuel 17:4 – 7 (CJB)
I diverted from my standard use of the NET here because it puts Goliath at a mere seven feet tall… which honestly, I’m thankful I wasn’t drinking anything when i read that! In fairness, this is because the NET utilizes the Septuagint as it’s primary source material and the Septuagint states that Goliath was 4 cubits and a span. The Masoretic text however, puts Goliath at six cubits and a span. The Complete Jewish Bible, which I have quoted here, actually utilizes an old English translation of the Torah that had become public domain. In other words, were we to crack open any Torah used within Judaism today, Goliath is going to be listed at six cubits – or exceeding nine feet.
Consider for a moment that the total weight of the equipment Goliath is described as carrying would be around 170 pounds. His spear-head alone weighed 15 pounds ad his breastplate was 120 pounds – not including his helm and greaves. By contrast, a modern infantry soldier carries in the vicinity of 95 pounds at an average height of 5’10″… and he’s gearing up for a decidedly ranged engagement. None of our soldiers modern equipment is designed to help them maneuver in ways that would be intrinsic to the type of melee combat Goliath was geared up for ~ and with nearly double the weight load none-the-less. Seven-feet my… left foot.
But wait – there’s more!
I stated that scripture gives us adequate information and quite frankly, that last paragraph – damning as I find it to be to contrary views – is purely conjecture…
There was a Benjaminite man named Kish son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Becorath, the son of Aphiah of Benjamin. Kish was a prominent person. He had a son named Saul, a handsome young man. There was no one among the Israelites more handsome than he was; he stood head and shoulders above all the people.
1 Samuel 9:1 – 2
Historic and archaeological data puts the average height of Judean men during the reign of Saul and later, David, at about 5’3″ – 5’5″ in height. With that in mind, for Saul to stand “head and shoulders” above the people puts him firmly in the six-foot range. And guess what? They don’t call him giant.
Then there’s the entire confrontation. Goliath is calling out a challenge that was very common throughout the ancient near-east; you send your best to fight me and the victor decides the battle… and yet, Saul shrank from this? Think about it for a moment – Saul is a seasoned warrior:
The women who were playing the music sang, “Saul has struck down his thousands, but David his tens of thousands!”
1 Samuel 18:7
So, the tallest, strongest man among the Israelites – himself a seasoned warrior anointed by God almighty, is going to cower before a Philistine not much taller than himself? Folks, that dog don’t hunt. The simple fact of the matter is, the bible is chock-full of giants. There are giants in Genesis 6 – giants in Babylon, giants in Canaan and Jericho, giants among the Philistines (Goliath had at least one brother, if not four). My point is that whether we readily recognize it or not, the bible presents us with the offspring of the Nephilim over and over.
Until next time,
שלום עליכם – Shalom Aleichem – Peace Be Upon You