Monday, February 24, 2025

Giants On Earth In Those Days (Sermon)

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Greetings again Brethren, Friends, and Co-Workers around the world. Welcome our friends in Altoona, Iowa; Prineville, Oregon; Forest City, North Carolina; and even Johannesburg, South Africa! Welcome. This is Leonard V Johnson with the Word of God, the Truth of God, and helping in understanding the LORD our God’s ultimate Plan for the redemption of all mankind!
       The last few weeks we’ve been talking about angels. About cherubims, seraphims, and angels – messengers, and agents for our LORD God, the family of God ── which now consists of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
       And the subject we’re going to talk about today is a subject that a great many people around the world appear to believe in ── falsely I might add. And, I briefly mentioned in the last message to you, that I have in my library a series of fictional books entitled “Earth Chronicles” by author Zachariah Sitchin. I had a friend back in the mid-90s ── who has since died ── who wanted me to read this series of books. And, I believe he took them to be what the back cover of the first book called, “a revolutionary body of work that offers indisputable documentary proof of humanity’s extraterrestrial forefathers.” Yet, IT CERTAINLY IS NOT! They are simply an author’s fanciful imagination of what God’s living word calls “There were giants on earth in those days.” And a person who mixed ancient Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Hittite, Canaanite, and other ancient texts and intertwined them with God’s living word regarding the Nephilim ── or what this author called “visitors to Earth from the heavens.” If you have a chance to ever read them, go ahead, he designed it as though it’s a sci-fi story! Because it is! So, we brought up the subject of Genesis chapter 6 in the previous message. And, I want to ask ── did fallen angels have sexual relations with the daughters of men and marry them?
       When you search on the Internet for this subject matter, a whole plethora of websites and online articles are devoted to the belief that Satan the Devil had sexual relations with Eve and that Eve gave birth to Cain – whom they call “the Serpent’s Seed.” Just outright blasphemous teachings, ideals, and ideas that are being taught around the world!
       Turning to the Book of Genesis, the 6th chapter we read ──
       “Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2) that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.” – Genesis 6:1-2.
       I’ll get to answering the question ── who are the daughters of men? ── in a moment, but first, it says a little further down, “there were giants on earth in those days.” The assumption is that, and sadly a great many people believe and teach, that these were fallen angels ── these “sons of God.” And that they had sexual relations and married the daughters of men, and the result was children that became giants.
       Continuing here ──
       “And the LORD said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive [or rather, abide] with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.’” – vs. 3.
       Now, there has also been much confusion regarding this verse as well. What is meant, “one hundred and twenty years”? Well, it’s not the length of years a man of that era was to live, it’s referring to how long patriarch Noah had to build the Ark. So, the LORD God’s reference here to 120 years was a countdown until the Great Flood.
       “There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.” – vs 4.
       Now were these “men of renown” those “giants on earth in those days”? Were they the children of the sexual relations between the fallen angels and the daughters of men? Let us settle those questions right here and now! Sadly, also as well ── I also had another friend, the very one who had been one of the youngest ordained ministers with the Open Bible Church organization at one time, fall into this false doctrine of “the Serpent’s Seed.” A person who was ignorant of a great deal of what God’s living word truly says.
       We’ve been going through the Book of Hebrews, beginning in chapter 1. And the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ is now “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels.” And of “how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at first began to be spoken by the Lord” Jesus! So, we’ve been delving into the subject of cherubims, seraphim, and angels. Are there any angels? Are they but superstitions? Are they simply mythology?
       Again, you more than likely never saw what a cherubim, seraphim, or an angel actually look like. God’s living word ── the Holy Bible ── speaks a great deal about them. And many of you watching or listening have never heard a great deal about them. Yet, you find that God’s living word does indeed speak concerning them.
       We’re going over ── What Are Angels? Why Are Angels? What is their purpose? What is it that they do? What are they actually like? What are they made of? All of these things ── some of which we’ve already covered. All of which I would like to answer for you ── from God’s living word.

What Is Meant “Sons of God”?

Again, there are a lot of people who believe, teach, and preach, that those sons of God were fallen angels. Well, let’s study this more thoroughly. First ── if a man or a woman has received the glorious gift, and is led by, the Spirit of God, as you read in the Book of Romans chapter 8, verse 14 ── we are considered “sons of God.” There are many Scriptures in the New Testament that explain that a person is not a begotten son of God (and I’m using the word “son” here – normally I use the word “child” from the Greek word υἱός. Does not become a begotten son of God until the time when he has properly repented, been properly baptized, and had hands laid upon him receiving the glorious gift of God’s Spirit, been truly reconciled to God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, by the blood of our Lord Jesus, by the death of our Lord Jesus, and by the glorious resurrection unto life of our Lord Jesus.
       Indeed, my Brethren, Friends, and Co-Workers in Christ, there are several Scriptures in the New Testament of God’s living word where there were regular ── carnal minded ── men and women who were very important people within this present evil age, they were very upstanding and fine men and women, i.e. Joseph of Arimathea. But, unless they have within them the glorious Spirit of God, they are none of His. And, we see this in the Book of Romans, the 8th chapter. Notice verse 9 – “ … Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” This means, that if you do not have the glorious Spirit of God within you ── you are not a true Christian. And, I don’t mean to offend you in any way ── this is simply what God’s living word says.
       Also, additionally ── and you might remember that I spoke of this in 2023 in a Letter to our Friends ── the ”sons of God” in Genesis 6:2 are the descendants of Adam from his son Seth. Also, the “daughters of men” were the descendants of Cain.
       The Jamieson Fausset and Brown write, “Mixed marriages between parties of opposite principles and practice were necessarily sources of extensive corruption. The women irreligious themselves, would as wives and mothers exert an influence FATAL to the existence of religion [the very religion of the LORD God] in their household, and consequently the people of that later age sank to the lowest depravity” 1
       A Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament I have in my library also speaks of this ── “The ‘sons of God’ (Elohim) mentioned in Gen. 6 … more likely the godly line of Seth.” 2
       And yet again, additionally ── all of mankind is considered “sons of God” in the sense that we are creations of one Father as we find in the Book of Malachi chapter 2, verse 10 – “Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? …” Notice also, Luke chapter 3:38 ── going through the genealogy of the son of Joseph (our Lord Jesus Christ) ── going all the way to “ … the son of Seth, the son of Adam, …” And Adam being “the son of God.” And of course, Adam was a son of God only in the fact that the Lord GOD created him, but NOT IN ANY OTHER WAY! We are all naturally born sons of Adam. But, when you are begotten of the LORD God through our Lord Jesus Christ by conversion, you become ── spiritually speaking ── a son of Abraham, as well as a child of God, One of the very children of Abraham.
       Another point on this topic here, “sons of God,” turn in your Bible to the Book of Job chapter 38 ──
       “When the morning stars [meaning, angels] sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?” vs. 7.
       Again, spoken of earlier, the “godly line of Seth.” And you will notice that the children from Seth’s righteous lineage began to call upon the LORD God; cf. Genesis 4:26.
       Returning again to the Book of Genesis chapter 6, we can now better understand what our LORD God is speaking ──
       Verse 2 the antediluvian period or pre-flood period ── “ … the sons of God [the righteous lineage of Seth] saw the daughters of men [descendants of unrighteous Cain. By marrying these women, the sons of righteous Seth turned from God, leading the LORD God to say that the entire world was then corrupt] that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.”
        
Angels Are of Lower Rank

So, even though cherubims, seraphim, and angels were created by the LORD God, again, where at any place, any time, and to which of the angels did Father God say: ‘You are My Son, …?’ Nowhere! So, this truly means that Job 38:7 is speaking not of angels, but of the righteous lineage of Seth, beginning with his son Enosh.
       No, our Eternal Master and Creator, the LORD God, never said, ‘You are My Son,’ to any cherubim, seraphim, or angel. They are not begotten sons or daughters of God. They are often called “stars” in God’s living word – cf. Job 38:7; Revelation 6:13.
       Turning again to the Book of Hebrews chapter 1 ── we read this also, I believe, in last week’s message to you ──
       “ …’ And again: ‘I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son’? …’”
       In other words, this is back from another passage – I believe the Book of Psalm 2:7. Speaking of our Lord Jesus of Nazareth. Our Messiah!
       Verse 6 – “But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.’” – Hebrews 1:6.
       Now, our Lord Jesus Christ was made a little lower than angels when He was a human being ── but, of course, He had always been higher than any angel, as He is now in His glory, as the One and Only resurrected Savior in His glorified state!
       Verse 7 – “And of the angels He says …”
       Including cherubim’s, seraphim’s, and all angels.
       “ … ‘Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.’
       The vital key word here ── “makes” ── meaning, He created His angels. And, as we learned in the first of this series of messages, they are created out of spirit. They are spirits. Yet, not one place in all of God’s living word will you find that man is a spirit. Now, in the Book of Job chapter 32, we are told that “there is a spirit in man,” but …. I don’t want to cover this but briefly here …
This human spirit enters the human embryo at conception. The spirit is like the “hard drive on a computer” – it stores information. The spirit essence is NOT an immortal soul or an eternal spirit. The spirit in man is NOT the man. It is something in the man. It has no life of itself.
So, nowhere does God’s living word say that man is a spirit. But, angels are spirits. Mankind is mortal, “ … the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, …” (Genesis 2:7), “ … we have borne the image of the man of dust, …” (1 Corinthians 15:49). But, continuing in that same verse there in 1st Corinthians chapter 15, we can THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST “bear the image of the heavenly Man.”
       Verse 8 – “But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.’
       And of course, He is worthy of worship of all the angels.
       Angels ── which include the different cherubims and seraphims ── are completely separate beings, creations. Again, they have never been considered “sons of God.”

An Ultimate Potential For All Of Mankind!

Yesterday I spent several hours watching documentaries on Voyager I and Voyager II. Watching what is known as “the Golden Record” that was included aboard the two Voyager spacecrafts launched in 1977. I have known of these two spacecrafts ever since I was eight years old. I remember watching on television the launch of the Titan III-Centaur lifting off for the heavens with bated breath ── even at eight years old! And, even though the LORD God had not yet touched my heart in calling me out of this present evil age ── my parents and my grandmother were trying their best to ‘train me up in the way that I should go so that when I was older I would not depart from it’ – Proverbs 22:6, paraphrased. I knew even at that young age ── almost instinctively ── that mankind has a most wonderful and glorious future potential. But it wasn’t until later that I would read and study the glorious words of our Creator – such as ──
       “’ But I am the LORD your God, Who divided the sea whose waves roared – The LORD of hosts [meaning, an army, divisions of angels] is His name. 16) And I have put My words in your mouth; I have covered you with the shadow of My hand, That I may plant the heavens, …’” – Isaiah 51:15, 16.
       Man was created and placed upon this planet Earth for a grand purpose! God [the Elohim; the family of God] is reproducing Themselves! Recall, “’ Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; …’” – Genesis 1:26. God has blessed mankind with a mind that is like God’s ── and, of course, man’s mind is a material mind that is very limited by comparison. God’s mind is spiritual, all-encompassing, perfect. Yet, our Lord Jesus Christ tells us that there will come a time when we shall be perfect, “’ just as your Father in heaven is perfect’” – Matthew 5:48. And a man can eventually become perfect if he would only yield and surrender his whole life to the LORD God. If mankind would come to realize and understand that they don’t need to waste money and resources sending probes out into deep space, or even to the outer heliopause, or interstellar space, or wherever these two probes might end up, looking for their creator, or their “extraterrestrial forefathers,” because what all mankind is truly and actually looking for isn’t far away. Our Lord God says, “’ … Can anyone hide himself in secret places, So I shall not see him? … Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ …” – Jeremiah 23:23-24. This is the very word of the Lord!
       The apostle Paul says in the Book of Acts chapter 17 ──
       “And He [the LORD God] has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.”
       Why?
       Verse 27 – “So that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” – Acts 17:26-27.
       Mankind is not complete in his creation. We NEED GOD! We NEED THE VERY MIND OF GOD – of HIS SPIRIT! We read in such passages as the Book of Philippians chapter 2 ──
       “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 2:5.
       And, as we’ve been teaching in messages for some time now, “CHRIST IN US!” the hope of glory! – Colossians 1:27.
       Turn also, if you will, to the Book of Galatians chapter 2 ──
       “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but CHRIST LIVES IN ME; and the life which I now live in the flesh I LIVE BY FAITH IN THE SON OF GOD, …” – Galatians 2:20.
       So, it’s not my faith in the Son of God ── a point that many people are confused about ── it’s not my faith in the Son of God, but the very faith OF the Son of God. As the Holy Bible In Its Original Order, the New English Translation properly translates it. “ … I live by faith ──that very faith of the Son of God, …” Which is placed within us! And that is the Way that you and I should be living.
       So, a true and real father-son relationship does not exist between God the Father and His mighty angels. And, for that matter, that kind of relationship doesn’t exist between any unconverted man or woman and God the Father. There are several passages within the New Testament of your Bible, that show us that an unconverted person is not a child of God. In the sense of a begotten child of God.

Who Were the Nephilim ── the “Giants”?

Returning once again to the Book of Genesis chapter 6. The prophet Moses also wrote, besides “the sons of God,” “the daughters of men,” which we just covered ── we come to, in verse 4 – “There were giants on earth in those days, …”
       The Hebrew word for “giants” is Nephilim, which simply means giants.
    Well, unlike the GOBBLEDYGOOK science fiction stories that are so plentiful ── even on supposedly legitimate documentary programs on television ── I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the truth from God’s living word! And, I hope you have your Bible handy, and you can open up your Bible right now and study this with me. The prophet Moses was inspired to write that long before the Great Flood occurred, there were giants that existed on the earth. “ … in those days, …” And then is added, “ … and also afterward, …” That was certainly placed there for a reason.
       So, “ … and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. …” Verse 4.
       Pay close attention to the fact that the giants were not the progeny of those sexual relations (which is what “came in to” means). It doesn’t say this! Sadly, a great many people have not been truly seeing with their eyes, or hearing with their ears here in Genesis chapter 6. Let’s go over it again – the first part, verse 4 – “There were giants on earth in those days, …” And then there is a comma.
       Then it interjects to say, “ … and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they [the daughters of men] bore children to them [meaning, the sons of God]. THOSE [the children of the sons of God] were mighty men who were of old, men of renown.”
       So, it’s like saying, there were giants that existed during the antediluvian period, and also AFTERWARD, “when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men …” And, we find this to be true with the likes of Anakim ── the descendants of Anak. Notice the Book of Joshua 15:13 that states “Arba was the forefather of Anak.” Their formidable appearance, as described by ten of the twelve spies sent to search the land, filled the Israelites with terror – reference Numbers 13:33.
       So, in Genesis chapter 6, here are the Nephilim.
       “There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, …” – Genesis 6:4.
       So, “and also” means, IN ADDITION. In addition to the fact that there were giants during the antediluvian period, “in those days,” also AFTERWARD there were giants ── or rather Nephilim on the Earth.
       So, also afterward ──
       “ … when the sons of God [referring to the descendants of righteous Seth] came in to the daughters of men [referring to the descendants of unrighteous Cain] and they bore children to them. [And these children became] … the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.” – Genesis 6:4.
       But again, God’s living word doesn’t say that these children were the progeny of the giants, but rather the progeny of the sons of God.

Ancient Giants

Now, this also may surprise some of you. But, the remains of giants have been found by geologists and archaeologists. Giants have been dug up out of the earth, and a lot of people view it as mythical, or fake. Here is one such example ──

April 4, 2024.

A series of mysterious giant skeletons up to 10 feet tall reportedly discovered in and around Nevada caves last century — dubbed the “Giants of Lovelock” — are still baffling scientists decades later.

The claims about supersized humans who roamed the area around Lovelock, a remote town 90 miles northeast of Reno, thousands of years ago are rooted in Native America lore, which tells of fierce, redheaded, pale-skinned giants who arrived from Central America by boat and attacked local tribes. …

Radiocarbon dating later placed human bone fragments and plant material found in the cave between 2030 BC and 1218 BC. …

The remains reportedly measured at 8.5 and 10 feet, respectively, and were described as having red hair.
Here is another one ── and reports like this are plentiful from all around the world ──

Cambridge University Press: 18 July 2016.

A human skeleton of phenomenal size was uncovered during the excavation of a prehistoric site located in the city of Shangnan, Shaanxi province, China, in 2006. The skeleton dates to … the Longshan culture (4400–4000 yr ago). The skeletal characteristics point to a young male 16–18 yrs old with a height of (6½ feet).
Notice this from the National Library of Medicine from 2014 ──

Giants have been around since time began; they are first described in the Bible in the book of Genesis … After the great Flood, giants remained present in the scriptural texts, … Giants lived together as a number of separate races, before and after the Flood. … For example, the Nephilim (Numbers 13:32-33), appear to be present before and after the flood. The Anakim ── the descendants of Anak. [Recall that I mentioned them earlier]. … As well as a people called Rephaim (Deuteronomy 2:10-11), and they existed AFTER the great Flood. … The Anakim seems to be derived from the Nephilim. The Rephaim although similar to the Nephilim, appear to be distinct from them with respect to family lineage.
Now, I’ll be sure to leave links to these articles I’ve mentioned here down below in the information section.
       So, Brethren, Friends, and Co-Workers in Christ, there have been a great many things discovered that many people have never heard about. Giants of ancient times have been discovered and their bones have been dug up. So the terrible accusations that God’s living word is untrustworthy is disproved!
       Now, absolutely, there is ── and there has been all through the generations of mankind ── superstitious religions. I’ve mentioned this before, I have in my library a book entitled “The Illustrated Golden Bough” by author Sir James George Frazer. It’s a book of the study in magic and religion. In the very introduction by Robert Temple, it states that Mr. Frazer is describing “man as progressing from a belief in magic as a means of controlling his environment to religious belief, which propagated gods and spirits.” And yes, a great many religions around the world is a religion of superstition. And if you even remotely believe that you are involved in one, you’d better “GET OUT” immediately! But, the LORD God’s true religion is not, and God’s living word is not.
       Still, in Genesis chapter 6 we see that the LORD ── the LORD God ── again, the family of God, with mercy, and sorry that He had made man on the earth, was grieved in His heart. And said, “’ I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air; for I am sorry that I have made them.’” – Genesis 6:6-7.
       And sadly, as you know, in biblical prophecy direct from our Lord Jesus Christ, His word says, “’ And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man.’” – Luke 17:26.
       Well, today, in this 21st century ── what they call the Doomsday Clock has officially been moved by scientists to signal how close we are to the end of the world. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has once again moved its iconic “Doomsday Clock” to just 89 seconds before midnight. This marks the closest humanity has ever been to theoretical annihilation in the clock's 78-year history!
       Our Lord Jesus Christ gave this prophecy some 1,992 years ago, “ … unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; …’” – Matthew 24:22.
       As it was in the days of the patriarch Noah, the LORD God did intervene! He saved eight people. It was the LORD God’s great mercy that allowed the great Flood to occur. And as a great many of us are aware of now ── there is massive evidence of a great Flood. It wiped out the men on earth who were perpetrating the “evil continually.” The LORD God saved a man and his family ── a man who was still walking with God, obeying God, and preaching of righteousness ── of keeping and obeying the LORD God’s holy commandments.
       Well, let’s end this message today here. We’ve got quite a few more messages to give on cherubims, seraphim, and angels. Next week, I’ll pick it back ── because there are still some wonderful and astonishing things I want to teach you regarding angels from God’s living word!
       So, until next time, this is Leonard V Johnson for the Church of Jesus Christ Online Ministries. Goodbye for now. □


1 Jamieson, R., Fausset, A.R., Brown, D., Jamieson Fausset and Brown Commentary of the Whole Bible, Zondervan Publishing House, 1982, pp. 22.
2 Harris L. R., Archer, L. Gleason, Jr., and Waltke K. Bruce. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 1980, #254, pg. 114.


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