The Fallen Ones (Part 3 of 3)

The Sinister Agenda: Contaminating the Seed

               Welcome back! This is the third and final post in my series on The Fallen Ones. If you have not read the first or second posts, I suggest you start there before reading this one. But, that is just a suggestion.

               In Part 1, we discussed some of the background and information related to the Biblical Flood of Noah found in the Book of Genesis. As part of that background, we were introduced to the Nephilim.

               In Part 2, we explored the identity and origin of the Nephilim. We learned that the “sons of God” spoken of in Genesis chapter 6 were fallen angels. We learned that the “daughters of men” were human women. We learned that the word Nephilim means “fallen ones,” and that the Nephilim were a race of beings produced by the biological (sexual) union of the sons of God with the daughters of men. The Nephilim were the offspring of fallen angels and human women.

               But we were left with some unanswered questions. The questions that remained unanswered from Part 1 were:

• Why did the Global Flood happen?
• Why were Noah and his family spared?

The questions that remained unanswered from Part 2 were:

• What is the purpose of the Nephilim existing?
• Why would some of the fallen angels produce offspring with human women?
• Where does this activity fit into the scheme of spiritual warfare?
• Might something like this happen again?

These are the questions we will seek to answer here in Part 3.

               As we dive into these questions, I want to reiterate a point I made at the onset of our study in Part 1. This entire subject is admittedly conjectural. Although I think that my explanations make the most sense, and align the best with Scripture, I also recognize and agree that the Bible doesn’t provide enough information regarding these things for an honest scholar to be certain beyond any doubt that these conclusions are dogmatically true; at least according to my studies to date. That being said, I will endeavor to draw my conclusions from Scripture, and provide Biblical support for my assertions whenever possible. Let’s begin, or end, as the case may be.

The Plan of God

               It has been God’s plan from the beginning to provide a way of salvation for mankind. God created man in a perfect state; physically without blemish, and spiritually without sin. Death, disease, sickness, infirmity, cancer, mutation, deformation, malnutrition, wickedness, cruelty, suffering, hatred, war, famine, plague, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, disaster—these are all the result of mankind’s original and ongoing sin. When God created Adam and Eve, He gave them free agency—the ability to choose. What benefit is a relationship that isn’t by choice? Adam and Eve chose Lucifer and his path rather than God and His. In doing so, the perfection of the natural universe was shattered. Perfect ecosystems and cosmic patterns were broken. Mankind died spiritually and lost the ability to maintain physical immortality. Adam and Eve lost communion with God. The dominion of Earth and over all of its life forms, which had been given to man by God the Creator, was forfeit to man’s new master—the Devil. God was not surprised by this; He knew events would unfold this way. He had a plan to redeem (buy back) mankind and the title deed of the Earth.

               Does this mean that Adam and Eve were destined to sin—that they had no choice? No, the choice was theirs, but God foreknew what they would choose. It goes beyond knowing the future. God is outside of time. He sees the beginning and the end of the time dimension the same way someone in a helicopter can see the beginning and end of a parade, while those on the street can only see what is in front of them and remember what has gone by. This is, of course, a crude analogy.

               Does this mean that God was cruel to create mankind knowing that they would sin? No, the choice was theirs; theoretically, they could have chosen differently. Again, what benefit is a relationship that isn’t by choice? Until the possibility of choice becomes a reality, then actions have no more meaning than instinct at best, mechanical programming at worst. And that is ultimately why mankind was created, to know and commune with God. I suppose God could have just not made mankind. He certainly doesn’t need us. But such reasoning becomes self-defeating; if we hadn’t been created, we wouldn’t be here to debate God’s goodness. If one wants to persist in such an intellectual pursuit, and argue that for some people, it might be better to have never existed than to suffer in misery in a fallen world, perhaps there might be some merit to argue that some would be spared much suffering if they hadn’t been born. To have never existed? I would counter argue that if one avails themselves of God’s provision for salvation, a “future” eternity of glory far outweighs temporary, temporal suffering. It would really only be better to have never existed for those who ultimately choose to reject God and His grace; at least in terms of experiencing their eternal destination. A continuing debate of God’s goodness will not be engaged upon here, as it is far too involved of an endeavor than this blog post is intended for.

               Suffice it to say, God created mankind, gave them a choice, and knew they would choose to rebel. The choice was still real, even though God foreknew the outcome of their decision. As such, God had a plan for salvation and redemption fully formed before Adam and Eve were ever created. If you don’t completely understand the congruence of these realities, that’s alright. I don’t fully understand either. God is beyond our complete understanding, His ways are higher than our ways, and His plans are only understood by us as He chooses to reveal them.

               As support of my assertion that God had a plan for salvation from the beginning, I offer up the following passages of Scripture:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:3-6, NASB)

“For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30, NASB)

“All who dwell on the earth will worship him [the beast], everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb [the Christ] who has been slain.” (Revelation 13:8, NASB)

The Plan of Satan

               From the time he fell, Satan (Lucifer; the Devil) has been about the work of attempting to thwart God’s plan. In fact, one could surmise that Satan’s only real plan is to try to defeat God’s plan. If Satan can, in any way, defeat God in any part of God’s plan, or cause God to in any way not fulfill His promises or keep His Word, then he will have demonstrated that God is something other than perfect, true, omnipotent, omniscient, etc. In essence, God would not be God. If this is possible, then Satan’s ultimate goal might be possible. What is his ultimate goal? To be like God; or more accurately, to be God.

               I submit the following Bible verses to describe the character and stated desires of Satan:

“How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn [Lucifer]! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’” (Isaiah 14:12-14, NASB)

“You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44, NASB)

Revelation of the Divine Plan

               When Adam and Eve sinned, how would God redeem the Earth and provide a way of salvation for mankind? The only way to do so would be through sacrifice.

“And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22, NASB)

The entire sacrificial system of ancient Judaism was for this purpose. But the shedding of animal blood could only cover mankind’s sin, it could not atone for it.

               “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:4, NASB)

This sacrificial system was a foreshadowing of the one and only true sacrifice—Jesus Christ.

“For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.” (Hebrews 10:1, NASB)

“By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He [Jesus], having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,” (Hebrews 10:10-12, NASB)

“Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.” (Galatians 3:24, NASB)

Why could animal sacrifice not atone for mankind’s sin? Because redemption can only be secured through substitutionary sacrifice. The death of an animal could not pay the price owed by a sinful human.

“Therefore, just as through one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—” (Romans 5:12, NASB)

“But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one [Adam] the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.” (Romans 5:15-19, NASB)

“For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22, NASB)

So the sacrifice had to be a human, a man. It was man that sinned. It must be man that pays the consequence for sin. Not only that, but it must be a perfect man. Why? Because a sinner cannot pay the price for another sinner. If one who has sinned dies, then they are paying for their own sin. Only one who has not sinned could be a substitute to pay the price for one who has sinned. So the sacrifice must be a man, and must be a sinless man. Why a man and not a woman? These previous verses clearly state that it was a man (Adam) who was responsible for bringing sin upon all mankind. Eve was deceived by the serpent, Satan. Adam chose of his own volition.

“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3, NASB)

“And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” (1 Timothy 2:14)

Both sinned, but it is through Adam that all of humanity inherited a sin nature. Both can be saved, but it is through Jesus that salvation is made possible for all.

               But here is another point, and this is key. If a sinless man was sacrificed, then his death could substitute the payment for a sinful man. But only one. One for one. The payment must equal the price. If Jesus was only a man, then his death could only pay the price for the sins of Adam, or Abraham, or you, or me. But Jesus was not just a man. Jesus was God in human flesh. Therefore, His death was sufficient to pay the price owed by all mankind; you and me!

“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,” (Colossians 2:8-9, NASB)

“Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, “Show us the Father”?’” (John 14:9, NASB)

“‘I and the Father are one.’” (John 10:30, NASB)

“Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.’ Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” (John 8:58-59, NKJV)

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 1:1-3, NKJV)

Some explanation on the last two passages. First, regarding John 8:58:

               When Jesus said, “before Abraham was, I AM,” He was saying at least three things. First, He was stating that He was around before Abraham, who was the ancestor of the Jewish nation and who lived thousands of years prior to Jesus. This would mean that Jesus was claiming to have been around before that, which would make Him much older, possibly eternal, a quality attributed only to God (having existed forever before creation). I know that the physics of eternity are difficult, in fact impossible to grasp, from our present understanding. So I will not attempt to do so here. But an eternal nature is one of the common attributes ascribed to God. Second, He was placing himself in a position of preeminence, or of greater priority or importance (higher), than Abraham. In Jewish culture, none was greater than Abraham as he was the father of the Hebrew people. Third, He was claiming to be God. “I AM” is a title used by God. Consider the grammar used in this passage. The proper tense would be “before Abraham was, I was” but that is not the terminology used in the original Greek from which the English Bible is translated. The English translation maintains the integrity of the original text, which specifically states “I am.” Jesus is identifying with the following passage from the Hebrew Torah:

“Then Moses said to God, ‘Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” and they say to me, “What is His name?” what shall I say to them?’ And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”’” (Exodus 3:13-14, NKJV)

Further proof of Jesus' claim to be God from this passage lies in the fact that His audience (the Jews) "took up stones to throw at Him." They wanted to stone Him for blasphemy. This was because they recognized what He was claiming with His words.
Next, regarding John 1:1-3:

               The English word used here, “Word,” is a translation of the Greek word “Logos,” and is used many times as a title of Jesus in the New Testament. John is here introducing us to the person of Jesus at the beginning of his Gospel. He says here that Jesus was with God at the beginning of time (actually, when time was created along with the other dimensions of the time-space continuum). He also says here that Jesus was God. He also says here that Jesus made all things. We know from Genesis that God made all things, therefore this is further evidence, from John’s perspective, that Jesus is God.

               “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1, NKJV)

               Let’s tie this all together now. So the only sacrifice that could atone or redeem (pay the price or buy back) a sinful human from the penalty due for sin is a perfect human. In order to pay the penalty due for all humanity, that human had to be more than just a human, as a human only could pay for a human. In order to pay for all humans, that sacrifice had to be Divine. Jesus is the only one who fits. He was fully human, being born biologically of Mary (a human). He was also miraculously conceived within the womb of a virgin by the power of the Holy Spirit. He did not inherit a sin nature having no biological human father. However, He was a male child in order to atone for the sin of his male ancestor (through Mary), Adam. And He (Jesus) was God in human flesh, thus He was Divine! He was, and is, the God-Man; fully God, and fully Man. This is a Divine mystery that cannot be fully understood, but is fully evidenced and supported in Scripture. This is the Doctrine of the Deity of Christ Jesus. This is the Doctrine of the Dual Nature of Christ Jesus. This is the Doctrine of the Incarnation (God taking upon Himself human flesh). As the third person of the Trinity, Jesus is the Son of God (the Doctrine of the Trinity is one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). As part of the Triune Godhead, Jesus is God. As a biological child of Mary, who is a biological descendant of Adam and Eve, Jesus is a man and is the Son of Man.

               This is the plan of God for the salvation of mankind. This was always the plan of God from the beginning, or if you see the beginning as the start of time at the creation of the natural universe then this was the plan of God from before the beginning. Marvelous! Isn’t it?

God’s Plan in Action

God’s plan is revealed to His people throughout the Bible. It was revealed throughout history by way of progressive revelation, a term I have explained in other blogs. While I will discuss the unfolding of God’s plan in action, as well as Satan’s attempts to counter God’s plan, I am going to focus on two primary promises, or revelations, of God about His plan to save mankind. These two promises will be the two primary focuses of Satan’s attacks as we unfold history to see the plan of God in action. Satan’s goal is to defeat God. If Satan can defeat the plan of God, in any way, then he will have, in essence, defeated God. If he can defeat God’s plan then he will have shown that God is something other than God, and if he can do that, then it might be possible for him to become God, which is his ultimate goal.

God’s very first revelation of His plan to save mankind, and the first focus passage, comes from a prophetic promise He made to Eve and to the serpent in the Garden of Eden following Adam and Eve’s act of rebellion.

“So the LORD God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”’” (Genesis 3:14-15, NIV)

Read the same passage from a different translation:

“The LORD God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.’” (Genesis 3:14-15, NASB)

The seed or offspring of the woman is a prophecy of the coming Messiah or Savior. This is actually the first Biblical prophecy, chronologically speaking, regarding the Savior. The Savior will be a biological descendant of Eve. The serpent will strike or bruise the Savior’s heal (not typically considered a deadly wound), but the Savior will crush the serpent’s head (a final, death-dealing blow). The seed of the woman is, of course, Jesus the Christ, the Messiah-king of Israel, God the Son, God in human flesh, born of a virgin, and the Savior of mankind.

               Another revelation of God’s plan to save mankind, and the second focus passage, comes from a prophetic promise He made to Abraham (or at the time, Abram), which is the foundation of what theologians call the Abrahamic Covenant.

“Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’” (Genesis 12:1-3, NASB)

This is an unconditional covenant, or promise, which God gave to Abraham. That means that there was nothing that Abraham needed to do in order for God to fulfill His promises. Abraham simply was going to be the recipient of these things because of God’s sovereign choosing. It is through Abraham’s lineage that the Savior is born, therefore it is through Abraham that all the families of the earth are blessed.

               The Abrahamic Covenant is continued in the following passage:

“I will establish My covenant between Me and you [Abraham] and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:7-8, NASB)

Here, in this expansion of the Abrahamic covenant, God is stating that this covenant is going to be exist between Him and Abraham and his descendants forever. He is also promising that the land will belong to them forever.

               If Satan can defeat either of these two focus prophetic promises, then he will have defeated God. To defeat the first, he would need to prevent the Messiah from being born as the seed of the woman, Eve. In the second, he would need to break the everlasting promise God made to Abraham; one way in which to do that would be to destroy all of Abraham’s descendants. But how could he stop the Messiah from being born as the seed of Eve? Destroy humanity, or at least destroy the genetic lineage, or purity, of the seed of humanity.

               There is an important principle to keep in mind when looking at the history of humanity as well as modern day events on both a global scale and a personal scale. The following passages highlight this principle:

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12, NASB)

“Be of sober spirit, be on alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8, NASB)

“‘But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia...’ Then he said, ‘Do you understand why I came to you? But I shall now return to fight against the prince of Persia; so I am going forth, and behold, the prince of Greece is about to come. However, I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth. Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces except Michael your prince.’” (Daniel 10:13 and 20-21, NASB)

In these passages we see that our primary struggle is not against other people but against spiritual forces. Our primary enemy is Lucifer, the devil. The final passage records the words of an angel spoken to the Hebrew prophet Daniel who had been carried away earlier in his life during the Babylonian Captivity. The angel is describing to Daniel his struggle or battle with fallen angels, one of whom is referred to as the “prince of Persia” and one of whom is referred to as the “prince of Greece.” This angel also discusses how Michael the archangel came to assist him at one point during his struggle with the prince of Persia. Persia was the human empire that conquered the Babylonian Empire. Greece was the human empire that defeated the Persian Empire. Michael the archangel is the prince of Israel (Daniel’s prince). Apparently, there are spiritual entities, wicked and holy, that are assigned to the various human nations, kingdoms, empires, and political states throughout history.

               Satan has attempted to defeat God’s plans for the Savior and for Israel from the moment God revealed His plans.

               God promised the Messiah would come from Eve. Cain, Eve’s son, was stirred to jealousy against his brother Abel, also Eve’s son, and murdered him. (Genesis 4) God cursed Cain as a result. But Eve had another son, Seth, and the line was preserved.

               God promised the Messiah would come from Abraham and his wife Sarah. Abraham almost ruined things by giving his wife to human kings twice, but God preserved their union. (Genesis 12 and 20) Abraham and Sarah doubted God and were stirred to take control of the situation and Abraham had a child, Ishmael, through Sarah’s slave, Hagar. (Genesis 16) Sarah became jealous and Hagar and Ishmael were sent away. But God kept His promise and gave Abraham and Sarah a son, Isaac. And then God revealed that the Messiah would come through the line of Isaac’s son Jacob, whom God renamed Israel. Jacob’s twelve sons became the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel. One of Jacob’s sons was Joseph. Joseph’s line was further split into two tribes through his two sons, and the twelve tribes of Israel are really thirteen (with Joseph’s descendants accounting for two of the thirteen tribes), but the tribe of Levi, which is the priestly line, was given no inheritance in the Promised Land, so the land was divided among the remaining twelve tribes. One of Jacob’s sons was Judah, and God revealed it would be through Judah’s descendants that the Messiah would come.

               While in slavery in the land of Egypt, Satan attempted to break God’s promise for Israel and for Messiah by having Pharaoh kill all the Hebrew male children age two and younger. (Exodus 1) But God saved Moses as a baby. Then, after another Pharaoh finally released the Nation of Israel, he changed his mind and sent his army to destroy them, but God saved the Hebrew people and destroyed Pharaoh’s army. (Exodus 14)

               Then, while in the Promised Land, God revealed that He would work His plan through the line of David, the son of Jesse. (1 Samuel 16) Satan focused the ferocity of his attacks upon David and his line, first through King Saul, and then after David became king through infighting among his children.

After King David died, the Nation of Israel was divided into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, and at times were at war with one another. But God did not allow them to be destroyed by each other or their enemies around them. God preserved the Nation of Israel through the Assyrian Exile, through the Babylonian Exile, and through the subsequent Persian and Greek Empires. Then, the Messiah was born to a virgin named Mary, the descendent of David, the descendent of Judah, The descendent of Jacob, the descendent of Isaac, the descendent of Abraham, the descendent of Noah, the descendent of Seth, the descendent of Eve and Adam. King Herod sent soldiers to kill all the male children age two and younger in the Town of Bethlehem, but God warned Joseph (Mary’s husband and the adoptive father of Jesus) in a dream and Joseph and Mary fled with Jesus from Bethlehem before Herod’s soldiers arrived. (Matthew 2) Jesus fulfilled prophecy and God’s plan to provide a way of salvation for mankind through His perfect life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection. Satan couldn’t defeat God by stopping the plan for Messiah. But the plans for Israel aren’t complete at this point. Satan can still try that route to defeating God.

Finally, under the Roman Empire, Satan persecuted the Jews and had them dispersed throughout the world; a dispersion that would last for nineteen-hundred years. During this time the Jews were persecuted numerous times including the Roman Catholic Inquisition and the Nazi Holocaust of World War II. But God kept His promise and preserved the Hebrew people, and re-gathered them in the Promised Land in 1948.

We see so far throughout Biblical and secular history God revealing His plan for saving mankind and building the Nation of Israel and some of Satan’s attempts to defeat God’s plans. But Satan was unable to stop the Messiah from being born, and he has been unable so far to destroy the Hebrew people.

How does all of this tie-in with the Nephilim? Stay with me and I will show you. You might have noticed that I didn’t discuss Noah and the Flood in this summary of history, other than to mention him in the lineage of Jesus. Now we will turn our attention to the Nephilim and how they play into this grand scheme of events. Let’s revisit our questions from the beginning of this post:

• Why did the Global Flood happen?
• Why were Noah and his family spared?
• What is the purpose of the Nephilim existing?
• Why would some of the fallen angels produce offspring with human women?
• Where does this activity fit into the scheme of spiritual warfare?
• Might something like this happen again?

We have explored up to this point that Satan has focused his attempts to defeat God by attempting to defeat God’s plans for providing salvation and for preserving Israel. How could Satan stop the Messiah from being born? One way would be to wipe out humanity first. That didn’t happen. Was it ever tried? Maybe that’s what was happening with Cain and Abel; I don’t know. But either way, it didn’t happen. Another way was to target the line of the Messiah and wipe it out before He could be born. Most of those targeted attacks seem to have occurred after the Flood as God revealed His plans for Messiah to come through Abraham, then through David, etc. There isn’t much recorded about what happened before the Flood, so we don’t know how targeted Satan’s attacks may or may not have been. But it also seems that God’s plans weren’t as specifically revealed before Abraham anyway. So how could the Messiah be stopped, short of completely destroying humanity before He could be born?

By contaminating humanity’s gene pool so completely that the Messiah could not be born as a pure descendent of Eve and Adam. If this could be accomplished, then God’s plan of salvation could be corrupted and defeated. So, how could humanity’s gene pool be corrupted to such an extent? By introducing a foreign element that would cause humanity’s lineage to be contaminated to the point that a pure human birth would no longer be possible.

So the plan was devised for fallen angels to take upon themselves a form that would be compatible to produce offspring with human women, to create such offspring, and then over time for the gene-pool to become contaminated by foreign elements to the point where a pure human could not be found. The plan was implemented during the time before the Flood. We see this in Genesis 6. How far did the contamination spread before it was wiped out in the Flood? That is unknown. But it hadn’t spread to Noah and his wife and his sons and their wives. I suspect the contamination was widespread. I suspect that is why God went to such extremes to wipe the Earth clean and start a new chapter with Noah’s descendants only after the Flood. The Bible says in Genesis 6 that the wickedness of mankind was great and that mankind’s thoughts were continuously evil. I’m sure that the time period was extremely bad and people’s depravity was great; but when isn’t that the case? The Bible is clear that apart from God’s presence mankind is not capable of doing good; that is the meaning of depravity. It is only the presence of God, through the Holy Spirit either working alongside us, being placed upon us, or coming from an indwelling within us that we act magnanimous, benevolent, or from a motivation of anything other than selfishness. I’m sorry if this offends you, and I recognize it can be difficult to accept, but it is the truth. Apart from the working of the Holy Spirit and the regeneration of life through redemption, mankind is incapable of pure good. Any good that is done is done from either overt or covert selfishness. We love either because we are loved or because we hope to be loved. The closest we can come to “agape” (Greek) or self-sacrificial love is for our children, and even that has limits. I’m not saying that someone has to be a Christian to truly love someone or do something that is truly good. Remember, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the regeneration of life through redemption are only some of the ways God can work in us and through us. He can work alongside us and upon us, and neither of those methods require salvation. Many examples of such working exist throughout the Old Testament before salvation was actually available and before regeneration through redemption was possible.

There is an interesting verse in Genesis 6 that discusses Noah. Read the following:

“These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9, NASB)

Read it again from a different translation:

“This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.” (Genesis 6:9, NIV)

Read it once more from yet another translation:

“These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9, KJV)

As I have mentioned before, translating can be a tricky business. Sometimes words or concepts don’t exist when moving from one language to another. No matter how hard one tries, sometimes things are “lost in translation.” I might be going out on a limb here (try translating the meaning of that colloquialism into a language other than English), but I want to dissect this verse a little bit. In all three translations, Noah is described as being righteous or just. Was he perfect like Christ was perfect? Absolutely not. No one besides Jesus was morally or spiritually perfect.

               “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23, NASB)

               “as it is written, ‘THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;’” (Romans 3:10, NASB)

Noah is described as righteous here the same way Abraham is described as righteous. Because of his faith.

“Then he [Abraham] believed in the LORD; and He [God] reckoned it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6, NASB)

So the verse isn’t telling us that Noah was saved because he was perfect. Maybe he and his family were the only people of faith living at the time. I think one could build a case for that when looking at the story of Lot and his being saved from Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis 19). But I think there may be more to this verse than that alone.

               The first sentence states, “These are the records of the generations of Noah.” (NASB) Could this mean that this is the story of Noah among the people of his time? Perhaps. But what do the other translations say? “This is the account of Noah and his family.” (NIV) “These are the generations of Noah:” (KJV) So, generations seems to have a meaning of family here. There seems to be something special about his family. Could it be their faith? Perhaps. Might it be something else?

               The second sentence states, “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time;” (NASB) We’ve already discussed the meaning of righteous. What about blameless? Does this mean without sin? No, we’ve already discussed that. Maybe it means that among the people of his time or community, no one could accuse him of wrongdoing. Perhaps. But what do the other translations say? “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time,” (NIV) That seems to give some credit to the above possibility. “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations,” (KJV) Now that is a slightly odd way to phrase something. Perhaps it’s just the old English of the King James, and perhaps it simply means that among the people of his generation he was blameless. But might it mean more? We have already seen that “generations” was translated “family” in the first sentence in the NIV. Might this verse be claiming that Noah’s family lineage was genetically perfect or pure? Maybe that’s a stretch. Maybe not. I won’t definitively assert that one way or the other, but I think it is an intriguing possibility.

               So let’s see if we can now answer some of our previous questions.

• Why would some of the fallen angels produce offspring with human women?
• To produce the Nephilim.
• What is the purpose of the Nephilim existing?
• To try to defeat God’s plan for a Messiah from the seed of Eve.
• Where does this activity fit into the scheme of spiritual warfare?
• If Satan can defeat any of God’s plans, then he might have a chance at defeating God and perhaps becoming like God.
• Why did the Global Flood happen (besides the stated wickedness of man at the time)?
• To eliminate genetic contamination and preserve the genetic integrity of humanity for the birth of the Messiah.
• Why were Noah and his family spared?
• Ultimately because of God’s sovereign choosing, but in part either because of their faith or Noah’s faith in God, or because of their faith or Noah’s faith and because of their genetic purity as descendants of Eve and Adam.
• Might something like this happen again?

Let’s explore that last question next.

               We know from the Biblical record that something like this did happen again.

“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)

When were the Nephilim on the earth afterward? I am going to provide three examples. Here’s the first:

“Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, ‘We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.’ But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.’ 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 13:30-33)

This is the report given to the Israelites when the twelve spies returned from scouting out the Promised Land after Israel left captivity in Egypt, but before they conquered Canaan. If you don’t remember the last part about the Nephilim, see if this translation is more familiar to you:

“And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:33, KJV)

Here’s the second:

“(For only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was an iron bedstead; it is in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. Its length was nine cubits and its width four cubits by ordinary cubit.)” (Deuteronomy 3:11, NASB)

The Rephaim were another people group in the Bible that were giants. By conservative measurements, 9 cubits would be 13 and ½ feet long and 4 cubits would be 6 feet wide. Read the King James:

“For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.” (Deuteronomy 3:11, KJV)

By the way, the Israelites, led by Moses, killed Og. (Numbers 21:33-35) Here’s the third:

“Then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.” (Samuel 17:4, NASB)

This is the famous Goliath that was killed by David while he was still a shepherd and Saul was still king of Israel; the famous story of David and Goliath. Goliath is here described as being over nine feet tall. What happened to him?

“David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, ‘I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.’ And David took them off. He took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine… Then it happened when the Philistine [Goliath] rose and came and drew near to meet David, that David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground. Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David’s hand. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.” (1 Samuel 17:39-40 and 48-51, NASB)

Why did David take five stones from the brook? He only used one with Goliath. I don’t know for sure, but check this out:

“Now when the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David went down and his servants with him; and as they fought against the Philistines, David became weary. Then Ishbi-benob, who was among the descendants of the giant, the weight of whose spear was three hundred shekels of bronze in weight, was girded with a new sword, and he intended to kill David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him. Then the men of David swore to him, saying, ‘You shall not go out again with us to battle, so that you do not extinguish the lamp of Israel.’ Now it came about after this that there was war again with the Philistines at Gob; then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was among the descendants of the giant. There was war with the Philistines again at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim the Bethlehemite killed Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. There was war at Gath again, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also had been born to the giant. When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down. These four were born to the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.” (2 Samuel 21:15-22, NASB)

Here were four other giants who were killed during David’s time. Some scholars suspect that they may have been relatives of Goliath, whom David had previously killed; perhaps even his brothers. We don’t know for sure, but that could be the case. Perhaps that is why David picked up five stones originally; perhaps Goliath was one of five brothers, or at least five family members, who were giants and perhaps David had intended to fight them all. Now, I wonder if all the Nephilim had six fingers and six toes? Again, we don’t know for sure. But at least there was one that did. This is another indication to me that the Nephilim were something more than simply human.

               So we see from these three examples that there were Nephilim living in the Land of Canaan when the Israelites conquered it after leaving Egypt. How would this align with the strategy of Satan in his attempts to defeat God? Well, we know that God had promised the land to Abraham’s descendants. Satan had over 400 years to prepare his plan to stop the descendants of Abraham from getting that land while they labored in Egypt after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died. It seems that the previous strategy from before the Flood was implemented again. This time, to populate the Land of Canaan with hybrids in an attempt to destroy the Hebrews or to intermingle with them and pollute the gene-pool from which the Messiah was to come, thereby breaking God’s promise either to preserve the descendants of Abraham or defeating God’s plan to provide a Savior, at least through the promised line of Abraham. But again, it didn’t work. What was God’s command to the Israelites when they entered the Land of Canaan?

“Only in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes. But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the LORD your God has commanded you,” (Deuteronomy 20”16-17, NASB)

Many people have difficulty with God commanding the Israelites to kill all the Canaanites, despite the fact that the Canaanites were extremely wicked and depraved, even to the extent of practicing widespread child sacrifice to their pagan gods. They were certainly deserving of the righteous judgment of a holy and sovereign God (through His chosen instrument of the Nation of Israel). But it also makes the command more understandable when considering that the pollution of the Nephilim needed to be wiped out again, before it could threaten to contaminate all of humanity.

Tying Up Loose Ends

               What happened to the fallen angels that performed the heinous act of reproducing hybrid offspring with human women? I have discussed this previously, but will address it here again. I believe that there are at least two passages of scripture that discuss the fate of these fallen angels.

“And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.” (Jude 1:6-7, NASB)

“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;” (2 Peter 2:4-5, NASB)

I believe that according to these passages, the angels who were involved directly in this sinful activity are chained in a hyper-dimensional prison, suffering torment as they await the final judgment of God (Revelation 20).

               Might something like this happen again? Perhaps it might. Satan cannot stop God’s plan for Messiah at this point. Jesus has already finished His work of providing a way of salvation for the repentant. But what about the Jews? If Satan can still destroy them, then he still has a chance to break God’s promise to Abraham and thereby defeat God. Why does the world hate Israel so much? Ultimately, because they are stirred up in their hatred by the one whose very existence so many deny—the devil. Perhaps there might be one more attempt to populate Nephilim on the Earth, either to destroy Israel directly through war or indirectly through genetic contamination. I don’t know for sure, but when considering the modern day accounts of alien abductions and the fascination that so called “aliens” or “extra-terrestrials” seem to have with human sexual reproduction and biological experimentation, I can’t help but wonder. See my blog titled Alien Arrivals for more information regarding my views on aliens.

               Here are a couple of additional thoughts about the possibility of the return of the Nephilim. When the disciples asked Jesus about His second coming, one of the things He said was:

“And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:26-27, NASB)

The obvious reading of this passage, especially when read in context, simply indicates that Jesus’s second coming will take the unbelieving world by surprise. But some scholars read a little more into the portion of the text that compares the last days with the days of Noah and think that there might be a reference to something more happening in the last days that make them similar to the days of Noah, perhaps such as the presence of the Nephilim. Also, when the Hebrew prophet Daniel interpreted the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue, he stated:

“In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery.” (Daniel 2:41-43, NASB)

This part of the statue of Nebuchadnezzar’s vision was a prophetic reference to the final kingdom of mankind before the Messiah’s kingdom is established. This is a reference to the kingdom of the Beast—the Antichrist. It all makes sense until the last sentence. What does it mean that “they will combine one another in the seed of men?” Read another translation of that last verse:

“And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.” (Daniel 2:43, KJV)

Both of these translations talk about “they” combining or mingling with the seed of men. If they are combining or mingling with the seed of men, then that implies that they are not of the seed of men. Might this be another reference to fallen angel activity during the last days? On the other hand, here’s one more translation that doesn’t seem to reference anything unusual happening:

“And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.” (Daniel 2:43, NIV)

The New International Version here makes it seem like the Beast’s kingdom will simply just not be completely unified. Again, I won’t make a definitive assertion here, but I suspect there might be something more happening in those final days. Satan will be pulling out all the stops at the end.

Thankfully, I have confidence that Satan will fail. God will prevail. God already has prevailed. There was never a possibility otherwise.

I have one final thought, and this references back to something I mentioned in Part 2 of this post and stated that I might elaborate on here in Part 3 (although I said not to hold me to it). But I have decided to elaborate. What happened to the Nephilim that died in ages past? Well, obviously, their bodies ceased to function and were subject to decay as are all the bodies of living things on Earth. But did they have souls? I don’t know. I mentioned in Part 2 that I suspected that there might be a difference between fallen angels and demons. Fallen angels seem to have similar capacities as angels, they are just in rebellion against God; therefore, they follow Satan in wickedness and sin. Demons, on the other hand, seem to be different. They always seem to be in search of bodies to possess, whether it be man or animal. (Matthew 8:28-32, Matthew 12:43-45) They don’t seem to have bodies of their own, as God’s angels, and fallen angels do. Might it be that demons are the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim, having nowhere to go, other than to possess the bodies of others, until such time as they face the final judgment? (Revelation 20) Again, I don’t know, and I won’t definitively assert either way, but it is an interesting consideration. This is certainly a subject of theology that I need to study more. But, if mankind is ever successfully able to clone human bodies, I wonder if such bodies might simply provide empty shells to be inhabited by demons? Humanity could potentially create an army of bodies for Satan’s demons to possess. God is certainly under no obligation to place a human soul inside of a body that is created outside of the method that He designed and intended. But, this is just speculation. I did state a warning in Part 1 of this post that this study would be a little different, and a little disconcerting.

Conclusion

               So our fight is not against other people. Our battle is not against one another. Our war is a spiritual war. God has always had a plan. The enemy has devised plans of his own. God is the victor. To Him be the glory. Here is the cosmic battle that rages in the heavens and has raged throughout human history:

“A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems. And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.’ And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” (Revelation 12:1-17, NASB)

The woman is Israel. The sun, moon, and twelve stars are representative of Jacob (Israel), his wife Rachel, and his twelve sons (the twelve tribes of Israel). See Genesis 37:9-10. The dragon is Lucifer (Satan), the devil. See verse 9 of this passage, as it explains itself. The third of the stars swept away by the dragon are the third of the angels that rebelled against God and fell with Satan. See Job 38:7. The male child born to the woman is the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the world, Jesus the Christ. Jesus (the male child), the Jewish Messiah, the Savior of the world, was prophesied to be born from Hebrew lineage, the line of Abraham, the Nation of Israel (the woman). He will rule the nations with a rod of iron. See Psalm 2:9 and Revelation 19:15. He ascended to heaven after His resurrection to sit at the right hand of God the Father. See Mark 16:19. Israel was dispersed among the nations shortly after the ascension of Jesus. Also, Israel will specifically flee to the wilderness during the persecution of the Antichrist during the Great Tribulation. See Daniel 11:41, Matthew 24:15-16, Zechariah 13:8-9, Micah 2:12 (KJV), and Isaiah 63:1-6. The 1,260 days mentioned has relevance, but I won’t get into it here. See Revelation 11:3 and Daniel 12:11-12.

               This passage speaks to the great spiritual war between the forces of God and Satan and his forces. This passage speaks of Satan’s attempts to destroy the Messiah and the Nation of Israel. It also speaks of his attacks upon the followers of Jesus, which are adopted into the line of Abraham (Revelation 12:17, Romans 11:17, Ephesians 1:5, and Galatians 3:28-29). This is the battle we face. This is the story of humanity. This is the story of history.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it and maybe encountered something new. I encourage you to pray to God and study His Word.

Grace and peace to you.