“And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation (oiketerion= spirit body), He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day” Jude 6
“There were giants (nephalim) in the earth in those days (pre-flood); and also after that (post-flood), when the sons of God (fallen angels) came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.” Gen 6:4
Early in the history of the universe, Lucifer led a rebellion against God. He enlisted the support of one third of the angelic hierarchy in an unsuccessful bid to overthrow heaven and overtake the universe. God put down the mutiny and pronounced judgment upon the traitors. This resulted in the global cataclysm recorded in Genesis 1:2 (for more information on this, read The Secret History of Earth and the Universe).
Lucifer appealed the judgment. He impugned the character of God, arguing that a Loving Creator could not possibly condemn his creatures—he basically called God a liar, implying that God never loved him.
God granted Lucifer an appeal trial and agreed to put His Word to the test. The only way Lucifer wins the appeal trial is if he can somehow show that God is a liar, a futile proposition.
God re-created the earth in the seven literal days of Genesis and renewed it with life. God created man under the same conditions as the angels, to resolve the appeal trial of Lucifer. God endowed man with free will to choose either for or against Him. Humans have the unique opportunity to serve as witnesses for either grace or evil.
Round one went to Satan (Lucifer’s new name in his fallen state) after he persuaded Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of knowledge. Their disobedience toward God resulted in immediate spiritual death—they were cut off from communion and fellowship with God and exiled from the Garden. Physical death would eventually follow, and this is the curse we all inherit from birth. We are all born spiritually dead, cut off from God and in need of regeneration by faith. We are also destined to die physically.
But God did not leave us totally without hope. From the beginning, a redeemer was promised. God said that a man would rise up, someone born of the “seed of a woman” who would crush the head of Satan and totally destroy his power over death (Gen 3:15; 1 Cor 15:26). This was revealed immediately after the fall, that a Messiah would be born, a man (seed of the woman) who would defeat the works of the devil.
Thus began the epic battle throughout time. Satan would try to prove God a liar by preventing the coming of Messiah. Since God first said that Messiah would come of the “seed of the woman” (i.e. be a fellow human), Satan and the fallen angels interbred with humans in an effort to pollute the pedigree of the Messiah. The offspring of humans and angels were giants of supernatural strength, knowledge, and abilities. Genesis 6:4 records two irruptions, one before the flood and one after: “There were giants (nephalim) in the earth in those days (pre-flood) and also after that (post-flood).”
The Hebrew word “Nephalim” translates as “fallen ones.” The first demonic assault was directed at the whole human race “in the days of Noah” (1 Pet 3:20; 2 Pet 2:7). Only Noah and his family preserved their pedigree pure from Adam. The rest of the human race had been corrupted with angelic seed: “Noah was a just man and perfect (tamim) in his generations.” The Hebrew word “tamim” means “without spot or blemish” and is the technical word for bodily and physical perfection, not moral. Noah and his family were the last remaining “uncorrupted” human bloodlines on the planet (compare Gen 6:9 with Gen 6:12, 13). The flood was necessary to destroy the Nephalim and preserve the human race.
But a funny thing happens. We see the Nephalim again in Numbers 13:33—“there we saw the giants (nephalim), the sons of Anak, which come of the giants (nephalim).”
How could this be? If the flood was meant to wipe out the Nephalim, how do we see them in the post-flood era? Again, Genesis 6:4 speaks of two irruptions of angelic-human offspring, one pre-flood and one post-flood: “there were Nephalim in the days of Noah and also after that.”
The second irruption was smaller in scope and scale. It was not directed at the whole human race but at Abraham and his descendents. For God revealed that in Abraham “all families of the earth (shall) be blessed” (Gen 12:3). Satan sought to frustrate the plan of God by occupying the land of Caanan in advance of Abraham’s arrival.
The fallen angels polluted the bloodlines of the various peoples in the land of Canaan. Their offspring go by many names, such as Nephalim from Anak and Raphaim from Rapha. In Deut 2:10 we see the description: “The Emmims (translated ‘terrible ones’) dwelt therein in times past, a people great and many and tall as the Anakims; which were accounted giants (Rephaim) as the Anakims but the Moabites call them Emmims.”
A problem arises because various translations of the Bible render “Raphaim” as “giants,” “dead ones,” or “deceased.” But one must understand that these Raphaim were a branch of the Nephalim, another sect of fallen angel progeny.
Israel was commanded to “utterly destroy” them without exception (Deut 20:17). Without the contextual understanding that the peoples of Canaan were superhuman giants descended from fallen angels, one might think it cruel of God to tell Israel to kill every man, woman, and child with the sword. But Israel failed to carry out this command (Josh 13:13, 15:63, 16:10, 17:18; Judges 1:19, 20, 28, 29; 2:1-5; 3:17). This eventually left God to destroy the mongrels on His own (Isa 26:14).
It was Mark Twain who said that truth is stranger than fiction. Superhuman giants descended from fallen angels may sound preposterous, but the Bible record is clear. The Nephalim occupied Canaan in advance of Abraham (Gen 12:6). The Rephaim were a branch of the Nephalim (Deut 2:10). They inspired great fear in the ten spies who reported back to Moses (Num 13:28-33). They were of such large and intimidating stature that the Israelites are compared to as “grasshoppers in their sight” (Num 13:33).
How big were these monstrosities? We are provided a partial explanation in Deut 3:11. King Og, a descendent of the Rephaim, is described as a giant who slept in a bed that was nine cubits long by four cubits wide. A cubit is the length of a man’s elbow to his middle finger, which works out to approximately 18 inches. So just imagine, King Og slept in a bed that was 13 ½ feet long by 6 feet wide. He was about as big wide as a modern man is tall!
The Rephaim are further mentioned in Isaiah 26:14 and verse 19 as having no resurrection. In KJV Bibles, the words “deceased” in verse 14 and “the dead” in verse 19 are translations of the proper noun “Rephaim.”
“…they are deceased (Rephaim), they shall not rise” Isa 26:14
“Thy dead men (Hebrew word methim= Jehovah’s dead) shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise… and the earth shall cast out the dead (the Rephaim)”
Isa 26:19
The fallen angel progeny receive no resurrection, as God has already, “visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish” (Isa 26:14). As for the original fallen angel forefathers who interbred with women, they are “reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day” (Jude 6).
History becomes quite fascinating with a proper contextual understanding of fallen angel progeny. Greek and Roman mythologies were no mere inventions of the human imagination but represent a remnant of corrupted truth that grew out of the memories, stories, and legends of these mighty demigods.
The construction of the great monuments in Egypt—specifically how giant stones were transported several miles and put together with such great technological precision—has always baffled engineers. Mysteries such as how the Great Pyramid configures to pi, the magnetic poles, and certain astronomical scales have never been explained. Many of these feats would be impossible to accomplish even by today’s standards. A possible solution exists when you consider these creatures of supernatural strength, knowledge, and abilities roamed the earth. Stonehenge, the Great Pyramid at Gaza, and other megaliths could be their enduring legacy to our modern age.
To review, recall that Satan’s whole purpose in polluting the human bloodline was to prevent a pure lineage for Messiah’s birth. Genesis 6:9 says that Noah was “perfect (tamim) in his generations.” “Tamim” is usually rendered “without blemish” or “without spot” in most instances (See Exod. 12:5, 29:1; Lev. 1,3, 14:10; Num 19:2 28:3, etc.). All other flesh on the earth had been corrupted (Gen. 6:11), so God eradicated the first irruption of angelic progeny with the flood.
When it became clear that Messiah would come through Abraham (Gen 12:3), Satan occupied the land of Caanan in advance of his coming. God later commanded Israel to eradicate the second irruption of angelic progeny with the sword, but they failed in this regard. Thus God said He would make the angelic progeny a constant “thorn” for Israel (Judges 2:3) until He eventually eradicated the half-breeds on His own (See Isa 26:14; the word rendered “deceased” is the proper noun “Raphaim).
How far these creatures migrated or how long they lived is unknown. But we do know that scripture testifies of two irruptions of half-human, half-angelic offspring. These two irruptions represented attempts by Satan to prevent Messiah’s coming and frustrate the plan of God. Their purpose was to prevent the fulfillment of scripture, thus showing God as a liar and winning their appeal trial by demonstrating its chief accusation.
But we already know the outcome of this trial and are blessed with the opportunity to take part, providing testimony for the Lord. We are endowed with free will and our situation mirrors that under which the angels fell. Anytime we exercise faith and resist temptation we become witnesses for Christ as the angels gaze at us through the windows of time.
I hope and pray that this study has been informative, stimulating, and enlightening. May the Peace and Love of Christ enrich your walk and lead you in the paths to righteous living.
Larry Word
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