What are the Nephalim?

[MennoSota]

https://www1.cbn.com/biblestudy/the-nephilim-children-of-demons
This is is what the Bible says about the Nephilim:

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, 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. (Genesis 6:4, NASB)

A basic premise in the doctrine of man's earthly dominion is that God gave His delegated authority to human beings on this planet. And God made only man as a fleshly being with a soul. Demons, which most theologians believe are fallen angels, have a soul/spirit, but no body. Animals have a body and mind, but no eternal soul/spirit. Man is uniquely made in God's image as a triune being -- spirit, soul (mind, will, and emotions), and body.

God gave dominion to man on the earth to rule as His regent because man was made in His image as a triune being. So only a triune man, made out of the dust of the earth, can have dominion under God. Demons cannot take on flesh -- there is nowhere in the Bible that says that they can. Of course we know that angels, both heavenly and fallen, can appear in human form, but they remain spirit beings only.

Also, in Genesis chapter one, God says in verse 24, "...Let the earth produce living creatures according to their 'kinds'..." A fish can not produce with a bird. And a man cannot produce with an animal -- or a demon. All creatures on the earth produce only according to their 'kind'.

In the passage in question, we see that the Bible says:

"...'the sons of God' saw that the daughters of man were beautiful..."

The Hebrew for the term "sons of God" is*ben elohim, which means literally "sons of God."

A key of biblical interpretation is to allow the Scripture to interpret itself. People fall into error when they try to make the Bible say something to fit their particular doctrinal position when the text does not say it. In this case, the text simply says 'sons of God', which is a designation for humans. There is nowhere in the Bible where demons are called 'sons', and especially not 'sons of God.'*

There are three passages in Job that refer to the 'sons of God', that seem to indicate that these were godly angels, since mankind had not received access to God's presence before the resurrection of Christ, and Demons had been expelled from God's presence.:

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. (Job 1:6, NASB)

Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD. (Job 2:1, NASB)

When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy… (Job 38:7, NASB)

Throughout the rest of the Bible, and particularly in the New Testament, when the term 'sons of God' is used it is referring to human beings.

In the genealogy of Jesus, Luke writes in chapter 3:38, '...son of Seth, son of Adam, son of God.'

Jesus referred to human beings as 'sons of God.'

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Matt. 5:9, NASB)

Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. (Luke 20:36, NASB)

Paul also referred to humans as "sons of God":

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. (Romans 8:14, NASB)

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19, NASB)

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (Gal. 3:26, NASB)

In*Gen. 6:3, God says, "My Spirit will not remain with 'mankind' forever, because they were corrupt." It says "mankind" -- not a mix of man and demon. In verse 4 it says the Nephilim were "...powerful men..." Again, not powerful demon-men.

And in verse 7, "...the Lord said, 'I will wipe off the face of the earth: man, whom I created...'" Here we see an explicit reference to who and what God intended to bring judgement to -- man. God says nothing about demons or fallen angels here. That which God created, man, would be destroyed -- with the exception of righteous Noah.

God alone is the Creator. Demons and angels do not have the power to create, so they could not have re-created, or reproduced with human beings. If these were a separate race created by demons reproducing with men -- which would not be something God created -- then I believe God would have made it clear that the demon-men were being destroyed along with the regular men.

But God only says that He will destroy MAN who he created.

If the demons were reproducing offspring with humans then, why don't we see any other instance of this in the Bible -- and why aren't they doing it today? The answer, I believe, is that it simply isn't possible.

We need to be careful that we don't try to force the Bible to say what it doesn't actually say. This is how cults and false religions are started and grow. Instead, we must use proper biblical interpretation that lets the Bible say what it says, adding nothing and taking nothing away.

God is sovereign, and He set the parameters for reproduction in Genesis chapter one, and no one, and no thing can reproduce outside of His plan.

This should give us great comfort.

 

[Andrew]

Demons aren't mentioned until the Apocrypha and then all of a sudden, 400 years later everyone including the apostles knew exactly what Jesus was talking about when he mentioned demons.
Maybe we should listen a bit more to our fore fathers in Christ instead of calling each and everyone one of them an apostate or heretic and pay attention to what the Jews still observe to this day, the laws in Maccabees mentioned in the NT.. but whatever...
If Nephilim are demons I guess that answers the question then..
Perhaps we should ask what demons are first... and then relate them to Nephilim.
The pit is reserved for Satan and his angels... that's a clue...
I never read of any Nephilim being benevolent in the eyes of God so I assume they are possessed just as Cain was, by ultimate wickedness ("Cain" = Possessed one)....
Maybe demonically possessed?
They maybe fallen angels/Demons, or are they your average pagan joe??

 

[Andrew]

But yeah I do believe the Sons of God to be human, just stuck on.. -if they were human souls then wouldn't their offspring count as one of the 8 souls that survived the flood??

 

[RichWh1]

So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
Numbers 13:32-33 NASB

Goliath was also thought to have been one of the Nephilim.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MennoSota]

So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
Numbers 13:32-33 NASB

Goliath was also thought to have been one of the Nephilim.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Explain how Goliath was a Nephalim when the Nephalim are brought up before the flood?
What does the term, nephalim, mean? It certainly cannot pertend to some alien being who copulated with human women and produced a creation outside of God's ordinance.
Nephalim must be a reference to a human. That human gene had to have been within Noah and his family in order for Goliath to have any connection to Nephalim.

 

[psalms 91]

Explain how Goliath was a Nephalim when the Nephalim are brought up before the flood?
What does the term, nephalim, mean? It certainly cannot pertend to some alien being who copulated with human women and produced a creation outside of God's ordinance.
Nephalim must be a reference to a human. That human gene had to have been within Noah and his family in order for Goliath to have any connection to Nephalim.

Only if you dont see the sons of God as celestial beings who with women created an offshoot of the human race with greater strength and stature.

 

[Andrew]

Only if you dont see the sons of God as celestial beings who with women created an offshoot of the human race with greater strength and stature.

That's an entertaining thought, but it says the Sons of God bore children, these were the might men of old, men of renown... Old men hardly describes children, I believe perhaps that the Sons of God were the old men of renown, human... I really am back and forth on this because we just don't know. People lived a long time then, the Sons of God (godly high priest wise in age) would definitely be known to the public, but if they find other women attractive and mated with them I am guessing it would not turn out so well, the offspring may have a complex that makes them aggressive and hostile yet admired... Or not lol
Who knows weird stuff happened, I used to read all of Sitchins books that concluded that there was a race of beings that were inner-dimensional (not just aliens from space all though they dwelled in their abode supposable on a rogue planetoid.
The thing that still catches my eye with them is their knowledge of planets even the ones we recently discovered in the last few centuries.
They are a witness (so claimed) to the creation of the solar system which actually makes a lot of sense, how the planets got into their orbits, how the moon was created, why some planets have a 90 degree tilt with rings, the asteroid belt etc...
Now we can dismiss this and frankly I myself am still a sceptic, but who else would have this knowledge but the Angels?? To have a complete detailed account of the early solar system... there is a picture of a tablet with 9 planets and the sun, (moon is counted as a planet) and they are all correct sizes in comparison.
I believe if there were fallen angels that they would have shared that kind of knowledge with humans if they were interacting with them. We know for a fact that God has sent Angels, we must conclude that the rebel Angels exist too.
We can only wonder but it is erie, I assume the Nephilim could have been a figure like gilgamesh :/

 

[MennoSota]

The offspring between French fur traders and Native Americans was called the Metis. The mix between Africans and Europeans was called Mulatto.
It seems to me that the mix between the line of Seth and the line of Cain was called, Nephilim.

 

[RichWh1]

The offspring between French fur traders and Native Americans was called the Metis. The mix between Africans and Europeans was called Mulatto.
It seems to me that the mix between the line of Seth and the line of Cain was called, Nephilim.

That is the most common interpretation of what Nephilim are. There are two more theories that aren’t as solid in evidence


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk