Nephilim

[Chad]

Who / what were the Nephilim?

The Nephilim (fallen ones, giants) were the offspring of sexual relationships between the sons of God and daughters of men in Genesis 6:1-4. There is much debate as to the identity of the "sons of God". It is our contention that the “sons of God” were fallen angels (demons) who mated with human females and/or possessed human males and then mated with human females. These unions resulted in offspring, the Nephilim, that were "heroes of old, men of renown" (Genesis 6:4).

Why would the demons do such a thing? The Bible does not specifically give us the answer. The demons are evil, twisted beings - so nothing they do should surprise us. As to a distinct motivation, the best speculation is that the demons were attempting to pollute the human blood line in order to prevent the coming of the Messiah - Jesus Christ. God had promised that a Messiah would come from the line of Eve (Genesis 3:15) who would crush the head of the serpent - Satan. So, the demons were possibly attempting to prevent this by polluting the human blood line, making it impossible for a sinless Messiah to one day be born. Again, this is not a specifically Biblical answer, but it is plausible and not in contradiction to anything the Bible teaches.

What were the Nephilim? According to Hebrew and other legends (the Book of Enoch and other non-Biblical writings), they were a race of giants and super-heroes who did acts of great evil. Their great size and power likely came from the mixture of demonic "DNA" with human genetics. All that the Bible directly says about them is that they were "heroes of old, men of renown" (Genesis 6:4). The Nephilim were not aliens, they were literal, physical beings produced from the union of the sons of God and daughters of men (Genesis 6:1-4).

What happened to the Nephilim? The Nephilim were one of the primary reasons for the great Flood in Noah's time. Immediately after the Nephilim are mentioned, God's Word tells us this: "The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, 'I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth — men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air — for I am grieved that I have made them'" (Genesis 6:5-7). So, God proceeded to flood the entire earth, killing everyone and everything (including the Nephilim) other than Noah and his family and the animals on the ark (Genesis 6:11-22).

Where there Nephilim after the Flood? Genesis 6:4 tells us, "The Nephilim were on the earth in those days — and also afterward." It seems that the demons repeated their sin sometime after the Flood. However, it likely took place to a much lesser extent than it did prior to the Flood. When the Israelites spied out the land of Canaan, they reported back to Moses, "We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them" (Numbers 13:33). This passage does not specifically say that the Nephilim were genuinely there, only that the spies thought they saw the Nephilim. It is more likely that the spies witnessed very large people in Canaan and mistakenly believed them to be the Nephilim. Or, it is possible that after the Flood the demons again mated with human females, producing more Nephilim. Whatever the case, these "giants" were destroyed by the Israelites during their invasion of Canaan (Joshua 11:21-22) and later in their history (Deuteronomy 3:11; 1 Samuel chapter 17).

What prevents the demons from producing more Nephilim today? It seems that God put an end to the demons mating with humans by placing all the demons who committed such an act in the Abyss. Jude verse 6 tells us, "And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home - these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day." Obviously, not all of the demons are in "prison" today, so there must have been a group of demons who committed further grievous sin beyond the original fall. Presumably, the demons who mated with human females are the ones that are "bound with everlasting chains." This would prevent any more demons from attempting such an act.

 

[Hisalone]

This is a very interesting topic I once did a little checking into at one time.

Chad, I am not wanting to debate this with you, because I do not think it is worthy of debate, but I would like to express a little of what I believe about this.

I personally do not believe that demons and fallen angels are one in the same. Let me explain.

We can both agree that the sons of God referred to in Gen. 6 were in fact fallen angels, angels who transressed against God in the heavenlies.

However, I believe demons are actually disembodied spirits. What happened to their bodies? Well let us examine the nature of Nephilim. They were half human and half angel. Hybrids if you will and Noah's family was the only purely human line left. When the flood devoured the land, it can be called into question as to what happened to the spirits of angel/human hybrids.

Though the source is not Scripture, the book of Enoch is considered a reliable source of Jewish tradition and beliefs, and is even quoted by Jude in in his New Testement epistle. Consider:

"And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men, and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin; they shall be evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits shall they be called. [As for the spirits of heaven, in heaven shall be their dwelling, but as for the spirits of the earth which were born upon the earth, on the earth shall be their dwelling. And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble: they take no food, but nevertheless hunger and thirst, and cause offences. And these spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded from them." 1 Enoch 15:8-11

This source also identifies the sons of God as fallen angels just like we believe today. It would make sense that since demons are disembodied spirits, they are looking for bodies to inhabit, what we know of as demonic possession. Fallen angels have celestial bodies, so naturally there would not be a need to inhabit any earthly body (save for Satan entering Judas).

It can also be deduced that Paul differentiates between these two classes of beings in Ephesians 6:12:

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

Demons are the rulers of the darkness of this world, while fallen angels are the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly realms [high places].

There is much more we could discuss about this but I will leave it at that for now.

Grace and peace

Hisalone

 

[Deep_MindQuest]

agree demons are not fallen angels there 2 diffrent things if the Bible wanted us to think demons were fallen angels it woulda called them that but it doesnt

 

[letusgo27]

I dont know if its just me but i do not see that at all.

why does everyone straight away call the sons of God demons or bad angels?

why could they not be exactly what was there. two groups those who followed GOd (Sethits) and those who folloed the devil (Cananites) we simply see a union here with the men that followed GOd with the women who followed satan.

Do not be unequally yoked. or sum such thing.

further more the passage does not say that the giants were a consiquence. rather it says that in the days that the sethit men slept with the cananit women there were giants in those days.

why all this speckulation when there is a straight forward answer to the question.

 

[scofieldII]

very interesting guys. .When I first came across this on a forum I doubted it, thinking it was abominable. .But after assessing the various biblical references, it got me believing . .good to know

 

[Deep_MindQuest]

The difference between the fallen angels and demons. The fallen angels are those angels who were cast out of heaven with Lucifer (Satan) as described in Revelation 12:4 and Jude 1:6. They --because of their rebellion and sin against mankind-- were cast into Tartaros, the lowest abyss of hell. They are to be kept there until the time of the Great Tribulation Period --a time of Judgment upon unrepentant men-- as seen in Revelation, Chapter 9. These fallen angels are not the same demonic beings which have caused so much havoc throughout history, but they are directly responsible for the existence of demons.

Here's the scoop: The idea I am about to present is by no means a new one. The early church subscribed to this view, Josephus, in his writings, quotes at great lengths about it; Justin Martyr, Irrenous, Pythagoras, Tertullian, Eseubius and Julian subscribed to the same idea. That is, "That the sons of God (angels) saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose (Genesis 6:2)

The fallen angels mated with the daughters of men which produced half-human, half-fallen-angel creatures called the Nephilim. This is where the legends of such half-god, half-human heroes was born including Hercules and many others. The Nephilim are not the fallen angels who are kept in chains of darkness in the bottomless pit called Tartaros (2 Peter 2:4; Jude v.6). Those found in Tartaros are the fallen angels only. Again, they are the ones who mated with the daughters of men and were thus cast into Tartaros. The offspring of this unnatural union are the Nephilim, coming from the Hebrew word nephiyl, meaning "giant" (Genesis 6:4). They cannot take material form as do angels (Hebrews 13:2) or as did the fallen angels before they were cast into Tartaros, but they can have a great effect on the material world and the minds of those who readily accept and look for such phenomenon as "extra terrestrials" and so on.

The Nephilim are the offspring of the fallen angels and the daughters of men, part human, part fallen angel. Therefore, when the flesh part died, these spirits became disembodied spirits, because spirits cannot die. These demonic disembodied spirits are ever searching for new bodies to inhabit. Neither do they die when the bodies of their new victim dies. This is why so many who tend toward the occult --through psychics, mediums, familiar spirits, and so on-- believe in reincarnation. Upon opening themselves up to the occult, that is, the world of "familiar" spirits, they become possessed by these immortal beings who have lived in previous bodies. The re-embodied spirit --having the thoughts and memories of previous victims-- may convey those thoughts and memories to the new victim. The new victim is thus convinced that he or she has lived before in a previous life. This is a very deceptive tactic of Satan. These are the demons or demonic spirits who have played havoc on behalf of Satan, their leader.

Seth lineage. Some believe that the sons of God were the Sethites and the daughters of men were from the lineage of Cain. In the 4th century the church was under attack by the world and the angel belief was challenged. So the Seth theory was invented and became embraced by Augustine, thus, it is embraced by the Catholic church. Therefore, the Seth-Cain connection was carried into the mid-evil world and even bled over into mainline Protestant denominations. When the true church (born again believers) separated itself from Roman Catholic dominance during the Dark Ages, it went far into the salvation issue, but not far enough into other theologies, one being the sons of God issue.

There are some problems with the Seth-Cain lineage mix. The structure of the grammar in the Hebrew is given to reveal an antithesis, the sons of God, the daughters of men. The argument lies in the assumption that the whole of the line of Seth was faithful. However, Seth's son Enosh was the one under whom men began to defy God. If the Sethites were so faithful, why did they perish in the flood? The real clincher is that the offspring of this union were unnatural. If a believer and an unbeliever get married and have children, they may be little monsters, but they are not monstrous.

I agree with the consent of the Rabbi's, who, by and large, held the angel view. I agree with Philo, Justin Martyr, Irrenous, Pythagoras, Tertullian; with the Dehaan's, Morse's, Mackintosh's, Lindsey's of today when looking into the sons of God and the daughters of men issue.

 

[Logos57]

I dont know if its just me but i do not see that at all.

why does everyone straight away call the sons of God demons or bad angels?

why could they not be exactly what was there. two groups those who followed GOd (Sethits) and those who folloed the devil (Cananites) we simply see a union here with the men that followed GOd with the women who followed satan.

Do not be unequally yoked. or sum such thing.

further more the passage does not say that the giants were a consiquence. rather it says that in the days that the sethit men slept with the cananit women there were giants in those days.

why all this speckulation when there is a straight forward answer to the question.

Because the early believers believe this was the case. Peter even mention it in II Peter 2:4, along with Jude (Jude 6). Some even believe this is what Paul was referring to in I Corinthians 11:10.

 

[JHM]

No opinion on "Demons" because I have not researched that subject. Re "Sons of God" and "Nephilim", THAT subject I have researched extensively; and I believe that the "Nephilim" WERE the "Fallen Angels", not their offspring; and that : "The Sons of God" is a MAJOR translation error in every different translation in my collection of Bibles. The "Targum Onkelos", (depending upon which translation one uses), says either :"The sons of the Great Ones" or "The sons of the Mighty".

NOTE that the former IS PLURAL, and the latter can be either singular or plural; and in either case could very well refer to Satan and his followers rather than GOD. Would also note that one thing I encountered in my research about the "Fallen Angels" was the statement "They are mortal".