Who Were the Nephilim in Genesis 6?
by David K. Bernard
Podcast recording (no venue stated in the delivered transcript)
Kind: teaching
Scripture: Genesis 6, Hebrews 1, Luke 24, Matthew 22, Hosea 1:10, Genesis 10

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/david-k-bernard--who-were-the-nephilim-in-genesis-6
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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well first first of all let me address the term Nephilim in Hebrew actually Scholars say the meaning is quite uncertain nobody really knows for sure the King James says Giants and so the most common understanding is these are if not physical Giants some as you read heroes or Mighty people or exceptional people so a common thought there are basically two explanations the first one is well these are Angelic beings who came down and procreated with human women and that might be at first glance what you you would think and to support that the people would say well the term sons of God is used in The Book of Job for Angels um second Peter and Jude also talk about angels who fell and who sinned of course that itself is not determined because we all agree that originally uh you know the demons or Fallen Angels were created by God as good beings and they fell so that not dependent on this passage of scripture and it wouldn't imply that they fell in certain a particular way in fact the idea is probably the devil and his angels became evil before the creation of humans because you see Satan in the Garden of Eden so second Peter and Jude could be referring to nothing more than what we know already happened before Adam and Eve but here's the problem I have with that whole idea first of all it's not explicitly stated in Scripture then exegetically it talks about yes these Giants were born but it also says after that so if you're really talking about um this happening in a supernatural way it would not be just one occurrence but two before the flood and presumably After the flood but the more you think about it Angelic beings according to Hebrews chapter 1 they are spirits they're Spirit beings they're not flesh and blood so they do in the old test you find and even in the New Testament Angels appearing in the form of humans but a human form is different from having a physical human body that would actually be capable of this kind of relationship and you see this even in Luke 24 when the resurrected Christ appeared to the disciples and at first they thought he was a ghost or spirit and he says no I'm not a ghost I'm not a spirit I've got Flesh and Bones you can see me and touch me a spirit doesn't have flesh like me well is Jesus right well if those Angelic beings are spirits as Hebrews 1 says and if they don't have flesh and a nor normal human could actually look at them or touch them and know it's not flesh well then how could this story mean they could actually have physical relationships and not only that but let's think through this logically if there spirit being beings it would be one thing to say they have the appearance of a human I grant you that it would be another thing to say they could actually be tangible and have a body and body parts like humans I think that's problematic but let's say that that still doesn't mean they could procreate procreation we know would involve DNA so do Spirit beings have DNA that's compatible with humans uh that really seems very bizarre to think that um not only reproductive organs but reproductive capacity uh reproductive cells that could join with human cells to create a human being or a human hybrid uh that goes far beyond anything that the Bible speaks of angels and in fact Jesus words go against that in Matthew 22 when he was addressing something about marriage and the resurrection he says don't you even know there is no marriage in the resurrection but the people in the resurrection are like the angels of heaven and so you could interpret it very nearly well there's no marriage in heaven but I think the implication is Angelic beings do not procreate there's no need for them to do so just as when we are in eternity we won't need to procreate and so whether you think of the sexual relationship number one it's for procreation number two it's for Union of husband and wife in a spiritual way well neither of those uh purposes would apply at all to Angels um and notice they would have had to have the capacity before they're fallen so it doesn't make any logical sense to me that Spirit beings created by God would have the ability to physically procreate with with uh human beings and if they could is that still happening today if not why not and uh could it happen with men you know you you just open the door to a lot of bizarre questions I and I think the scriptures I've given you where Jesus himself said Angels do not marry there's no procreation Angels or Spirits uh a spirit doesn't have flesh like you see me have uh I think that's pretty strongly against it so then what's the second alternative well if you read Genesis this point you know it's Adam and Eve started off in innocence they fell into sin uh their son Cain became the first murderer and then another son Seth was born and Genesis actually traces the two lines and shows that Cain's descendants increased in ungodliness and you find lamic for example you find polygamy introduced through that line you find vengeful murder multiplied in that line whereas in Seth's line you see where they begin to call on the name of the Lord Yahweh they worship ship God so there's a before Genesis 6 there's a very clear attempt to show there was a Godly line that worshiped God serve God and there and resulted in Noah who who was walking with God even when the whole world started going into sin but then you had but then you had an evil line it was continually uh separated from God so the most natural thing would be the sons of God would be these Godly humans now some will say well that's not used in scripture actually it is Hosea 1:10 talks about godly people being the sons of God of course the New Testament does that as well so if you're going to go to job to say well sons of God could be Angels you can go to Hosea and the whole new testament to say sons of God could be Godly humans and I really think that's the more logical explanation that these Godly um men instead of seeking God 's will they were tempted by the sinful and I'm not you know all have sinned but basically there were a group of people trying to serve God and there group of people that had no intention of living for God and their culture was worldly and secular and evil just as we have today and this would fit the rest of the Old Testament where God wanted Israel to be separate from the other nations not based on ethnicity but really based on serving the true God because Rahab was not of the ethnicity but she was brought in uh Ruth was not of the ethnicity but she was brought in so it's not based on ethnicity but are you serving the one true God and if you're not we can't marry if you are then we can uh and so I think this is the first example of that is that godly people instead of continuing to preserve Godly Heritage and godly culture and God's will they were tempted through lust and they went after women who were ungodly now why would it be the Nephilim it's a little strange but maybe it's saying they did excel in the natural but not in the spiritual and you do see an example later in Genesis 10 of nimrod who was a mighty Hunter before the Lord but yet he was evil and he established the city of baby and Babylon so maybe that fits in where the Bible is saying these Godly men were tempted and went after Daughters of evil men when they should have kept a separation and the result was in a physical sense maybe great success um Mighty Men renowned men but evil men not Force for good but a force of evil and you see the contrast Noah was a mighty man in the spirit well these were Mighty Men but only in the flesh and then that would also make sense of the statement after that it happened again in the sense of After the flood uh not a second fall of some Angelic being and uh second procreation of some mythical beings who theoretically could exist today if it was after the flood you know who Among Us is really not a human but you know a son of an evil spirit um and but if you look at it as this is a recurrence of mighty men like Nimrod who were sinful men so they were Mighty in the flesh but they were flawed in not serving God so even though that pass message may sound a little strange I strange I think the idea that Spirit beings could procreate and have DNA and have reproductive cells is so um beyond what anything we see in scripture and actually I as I've already pointed out I think contrary to the clear statements of Jesus I think we're left with the more logical alternative here's an early example of God wanting his people to be separated from the world around them