Tag: Nephilim
Bible promiscuity
What does the Bible say about promiscuity?
A promiscuous person is one who engages in many sexual liaisons with a number of different people. In the days when purity and morality were commonly considered virtues, promiscuity was frowned upon. In our current cultural environment, however, promiscuity is promoted in television, movies, and music. Kids feel the pressure by early middle school to have a boyfriend or girlfriend and are taught in the classroom about human sexuality without biblical morality. So it is not surprising that, before American teens reach adulthood, more than half have already had at least one sexual encounter. A large number of those could be considered promiscuous. Our culture calls this progress; the Bible calls it sin (Hebrews 13:4).
Scripturally speaking, promiscuity is the repeated violation of God’s standards for sex. God created sex as a beautiful expression of love that would propagate the species, but He also knows the devastation that results from abusing His gift. When God put limits on our sexual expression, He did so for our own good. Promiscuity is an abuse of the power of sexuality. It robs those who practice it of the ability to understand true intimacy. It steals its participants’ self-worth, dignity, and purity of heart.
Even a casual glance at global issues reveals that promiscuity is at the heart of many of the world’s problems. Consider the social ills brought about by promiscuity: abortion, STD’s, single mothers in poverty, AIDS, fatherless children, adultery, divorce, the rape culture, and the proliferation of related issues such as welfare fraud, overcrowding, starvation, and pornography. Billions of dollars and thousands of hours are invested in resolving those issues, but most of the problems would disappear if people simply followed God’s instructions about sex.
While the world may consider promiscuity a normal way to live, God’s warnings punctuate the pages of Scripture (1 Corinthians 6:9; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:3). Sexual immorality is a sin that separates us from God. Galatians 5:19–21 says, “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery . . . drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” We may try to redefine promiscuity to exclude whatever behaviors we are engaging in, but our definitions don’t count. Only God’s definitions matter, and we would be wise to submit to them.
Anyone can make a mistake and sin sexually. God’s solution is repentance and forgiveness (1 John 1:9). Those who are sexually promiscuous need a radical lifestyle change. Those who continue to violate themselves by having sexual relations with multiple people do not have a heart transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:18; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
Psalm 24:3 asks the question, “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?” The answer should be the goal for everyone who desires a right relationship with God: “The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god” (verse 4). It is impossible to have clean hands and a pure heart when living in sexual promiscuity. Those who believe they can sin all they like, ask God’s forgiveness, and then do it again the next day are deceiving themselves. That is false religion, not reality. However, the radical change of heart that we all need is available in the cross of Christ. Those who come before God in brokenness and repentance will find His mercy and power ready to transform their lives (Psalm 51:16–17).
Anunnaki Nephilim
Are the Anunnaki in the Epic of Gilgamesh the Nephilim mentioned in the Bible?
Ancient Sumer-Babylon, like many cultures of antiquity, produced mythologies to explain the world around them. The Epic of Gilgamesh is one such mythology. Several versions of the epic poem exist, but the 12-tablet Akkadian version is the best known. The story centers on the friendship between the principal character, Gilgamesh, and Enkidu. Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk, is two-thirds god and one-third man. He has oppressed the people of Uruk, so the gods create Enkidu to distract Gilgamesh. Their unlikely friendship results in a journey of fantastical adventures resulting in the death of Enkidu.
An important feature of this epic is a “flood” story in which a character named Utnapishtim and his wife survive a great flood and obtain immortality. The existence of this flood story, with its many similarities to the Genesis account, indicates a common source. Rather than the Genesis flood account being copied from the Epic of Gilgamesh, both accounts are entirely separate records of something that actually occurred, namely, a global flood.
The gods who appear in the Epic of Gilgamesh are the Anunnaki, a name that probably means “those of royal blood” or “princely offspring” in the ancient Sumerian language. In contrast to this pagan mythology is the biblical account of the Nephilim. Who were the Nephilim? Biblically speaking, the Nephilim were the descendants of the sons of God and daughters of men (Genesis 6:1-4). While there are differing interpretations of this passage, it is believed it involves the fallen angels (sons of God) taking on human form and mating with the daughters of men (human females), thereby producing a race of angelic-human half-breeds.
Is there a connection between the Anunnaki and the Nephilim? Perhaps. It is definitely interesting to note that both the biblical flood account and the Epic of Gilgamesh mention supernatural, god-like beings interacting with humanity in connection with a global flood. So, it is possible that the myths regarding the Anunnaki originate in the reality that was the Nephilim.
Marine spirits
What are marine spirits?
Marine spirits is a phrase used in some expressions of the Charismatic faith, and it’s associated with beliefs related to demonic oppression and possession. So-called deliverance ministries may seek to exorcise “marine spirits” and other types of evil spirits about which they speculate.
In most cases, marine spirit is meant as a generic term rather than as a reference to one, unique, named demon. In this way the term is different from other supposed oppressive spirits, which may be given individual names such as Jezebel, Leviathan, Absalom, Python, and so forth. Even so, leviathan and python spirits are sometimes grouped as “water spirits” or “marine spirits.” Other names sometimes associated with this class are Rahab and even Merman or Mermaid.
Those who teach the existence of a special class of “marine spirits” trace those demons’ origin to the great flood of Noah’s day. Supposedly, the “marine spirits” live in water and do not feel comfortable being dry—Jesus’ reference to the “dry places” in Luke 11:24 is used as a supporting proof text. Also, the Legion that Jesus exorcised from the man in the tombs were “marine spirits” because they caused the pigs to rush into the sea (Luke 8:26–33). A “marine spirit,” according to the lore, often comes as a succubus or incubus in order to make a person a “spiritual spouse”; and they are sometimes called “husband spirits” or “wife spirits.” Their effect is sexual lust and perversion.
Belief in “marine spirits” is based on extra-biblical information, so there is an extraordinary variety of teaching about what a “marine spirit” is and what it does. Any given deliverance ministry or demon chaser could hold a set of beliefs concerning “marine spirits” that differ from another. It is hard to find consistent teaching about “marine spirits” or other types of demons within the Charismatic movement.
Scripture gives no reason to believe there is a specific class of demon called a “marine spirit” or that Christians today have a specific ability to rebuke or exorcise them. Whether or not some demonic entity is directly involved in a person’s struggle with lust, the Bible never addresses the concept of a “marine spirit.” The remedy for lust and other besetting sins is not to rebuke a “marine spirit” but to pray, seek discipleship, and submit oneself in obedience to God (James 4:7). It is no use blaming mermaids, speaking to evil spirits, or inventing a new mythology.
Nephilim
Who, what were the Nephilim?
The Nephilim (“fallen ones, giants”) may have been the offspring of sexual relationships between the sons of God and the daughters of men in Genesis 6:1–4. There is much debate as to the identity of the Nephilim (verse 4) and the “sons of God” (verse 2), who seem to be distinct from the “human beings” in verse 1.
One theory is that the “sons of God” were fallen angels (demons) who took on physical form and mated with human females (or demons who possessed human males who then mated with human females). These unions resulted in extraordinary offspring, the Nephilim, who were “heroes of old, men of renown” of a giant size and, apparently, enhanced physical abilities (Genesis 6:4). If demons were involved in producing the Nephilim, it is likely those demons are the ones who were judged by God and are now “kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day” (Jude 1:6).
Assuming the Nephilim were the spawn of demons, why would demons want to cohabit with human women and produce offspring? One speculation is that the demons were attempting to pollute the human bloodline in order to prevent the coming of the Messiah. God had promised that the Messiah would one day crush the head of the serpent, Satan (Genesis 3:15). The demons in Genesis 6 were possibly attempting to prevent the crushing of the serpent and make it impossible for a sinless “seed of the woman” to be born.
There are at least two objections to the theory that the Nephilim were demon-human hybrids: first, there is nothing in the text to expressly identify the sons of God as angels. Second, the Bible never indicates that angels are physiologically compatible with women and can procreate with them (unless Genesis 6 is the only instance).
Others have suggested that the sons of God might be fallen angels who possessed men. As in the first theory, the phrase sons of God could still refer to fallen angels, the difference being that the demons were using mortal men to accomplish their goals. While this view would resolve the physiological problems of the first theory, there is, again, nothing in the text to suggest demonic possession.
Another view of the Nephilim is that the statement “There were giants on the earth in those days” (Genesis 6:4, NKJV) simply means that everyone was big and tall and mighty. Genetically, humanity was still in a nearly pristine condition. This theory takes the view that these sons of God were simply men. This would explain why there were giants before the flood “and also afterward” (Genesis 6:4; cf. 1 Samuel 17:4–7), as primeval genetic material survived in Noah’s family. The fact that Nephilim were still around sporadically after the flood is an indicator that giants like Goliath were exceptional, but not superhuman.
According to legend (the Book of Enoch and other non-biblical writings), the Nephilim were a unique race of giants and superheroes who committed acts of great evil. In the 2014 movie Noah, starring Russell Crowe, the Nephilim are fallen angels encased in rock. All that the Bible directly says about the Nephilim is that they were “heroes and famous warriors of ancient times” (NLT) or “powerful men of old, the famous men” (CSB). The Nephilim were not aliens, angels, “Watchers,” or rock monsters; they were literal, physical beings.
As mentioned, there were some Nephilim after the flood, according to Genesis 6:4. 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). Later, as Moses addressed the people of Israel before they entered Canaan, he mentioned the sons of Anak: “You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: ‘Who can stand up against the Anakites?’” (Deuteronomy 9:1–2). These “giants” were destroyed by the Israelites with God’s help (Deuteronomy 3:10–11; 9:3; Joshua 11:21–22; 1 Samuel 17).
It’s a mysterious passage, but Genesis 6:4 states that there were Nephilim in the land in the days before the flood. The passage does not explicitly say how these giants came to be. It is best to not be dogmatic on an issue that the Bible says so little about and that is not theologically significant in the grand scheme of things.
Nephilim demons
Are the demons the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim?
As a background, please read our articles on “Who were the sons of God in Genesis 6:1-4?”, and “Who were the Nephilim?” With the understanding that the sons of God were the fallen angels, and that the Nephilim were the hybrid offspring of the union between the fallen angels and human women, the question then arises: What happened to the spirits of the Nephilim after they were killed, whether by the flood, or in the case of the possible post-flood Nephilim (Genesis 6:4; Numbers 13:33), after the flood?
Some speculate that the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim remained on the earth and became what we now refer to as demons. The presumption is that, as angelic-human hybrids, the spirits of the Nephilim would have been different from the human soul-spirit, having the ability to remain present in this world despite no longer having a physical body. This would possibly explain the desire the demons have to possess human beings, thus gaining control over a physical body. This would also make some sense from the perspective of the fallen angels, who are outnumbered 2-1 by the holy angels (see Revelation 12:4), giving them a good reason to seek to increase their ranks.
The Nephilim explanation for the origin of the demons is partly the result of a misunderstanding of who exactly are the “spirits in prison” in 1 Peter 3:19 (see also Jude 6). Many misunderstand the “spirits in prison” to be all of the fallen angels who rebelled against God. If all of the fallen angels are imprisoned, then there must be an alternate explanation for the existence of demons; thus, the need for the Nephilim explanation. However, clearly, not all of the fallen angels are imprisoned. Satan, the leader of the angelic rebellion against God, is not imprisoned. Why would God allow the rebel leader to remain free but then confine the angels who followed Satan in the rebellion? No, it makes more sense to understand the “spirits in prison” as the fallen angels who participated in an additional rebellion, viz., the sons-of-God/daughters–of-men incident. The fallen angels who mated with human females are the ones who are imprisoned. There is no solid biblical reason to reject the idea that the demons are the same beings as the fallen angels.
The idea that the demons are the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim is also drawn from the book of Enoch, which goes into great detail regarding the Nephilim. We have to remember that, while the book of Enoch contains some truth (Jude 14), it is not the inspired, inerrant, and authoritative Word of God. We should never base a belief exclusively, or even primarily, on extra-biblical literature. So, with no need to explain the existence of demons outside of the fallen angels, and with no clear evidence in Scripture for the spirits of the Nephilim continuing on Earth, there is no solid basis on which to identify the demons with the spirits of the Nephilim. While the idea is possible, it cannot be derived explicitly from Scripture, and therefore should not be considered the best explanation of the origin of the demons.
Book of Giants
What is the Book of Giants?
The Book of Giants is a pseudepigraphal book set in the antediluvian time; its characters include Enoch and several giants, and the plot deals with the sinful state of the world before the flood. The Book of Giants was considered official scripture in Manichaeism, but it is not God’s inspired Word. Although it draws from the canonical book of Genesis, the Book of Giants is not inerrant, nor is it reliable history.
The Book of Giants has similar content to another pseudepigraphal Jewish book called 1 Enoch, which probably predates it. Fragments of an Aramaic copy of the Book of Giants were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, meaning that the book is a bona fide ancient document, having been composed before the second century BC. Portions of the Book of Giants have been found in the Middle Persian, Old Turkic, Parthian, and other languages.
The Book of Giants gives a fictional backstory for the biblical Nephilim by tying them to Enoch, Noah’s great-grandfather. Genesis 6:4 says, “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.” There’s plenty that the Bible does not tell us about the Nephilim and Enoch. Thus, the doorway for speculation (and imagination) is wide open.
According to the Book of Giants, certain angelic beings called Watchmen descended to earth and produced the Nephilim through human women. These offspring were giants who behaved monstrously, killing many humans and also destroying much plant, animal, and sea life. In the story, the giants have disturbing dreams that warn of the coming flood and their own demise, and one of them, a giant named Mahaway, seeks the counsel of Enoch. Enoch warns the giants and a Watcher named Semihaza to repent because the archangel Raphael has taken notice of their misdeeds and their destruction is imminent. In the end, the giants, the Nephilim, and a multitude of demons meet a violent fate. Depending on what version of the Book of Giants is being read, the Watchers are either killed or bound by four angels in a dark prison.
Elements of the Book of Giants found their way into the 2014 movie Noah, directed by Darren Aronofsky. The film portrays Watchers, environmental destruction, and widespread violence, but, as its own director said, the film is “the least biblical biblical film ever made.”
The general public, who, by and large, are not biblically literate, too frequently assume that entertainment products such as the film Noah relate true biblical narratives. But this is rarely the case with mainstream studio releases, and it would be helpful to think of the Book of Giants in the same way. It’s ancient, but it’s not a lot different from a contemporary movie that takes liberties with the Bible.
There are scores of ancient documents similar to the Book of Giants that have the “feel” of biblical books but do not make the cut as true history or holy canon. One reason they have lasted so long is that they appropriate the Bible’s gravitas. Documents such as the Book of Giants steal from the Bible’s plot or sometimes use biblical characters as actors to create what we’d call today historical fiction.
Works such as the Book of Giants are imaginative, and they may help us understand ancient cultures and languages. But if God wanted us to know more about the Nephilim and the giants that lived before the flood, He would have given us more information about them in His Word.
