Numbers 13 [2]

In Part 1 – The Return of the Nephilim – Dun, Dun, Dun, Dun… – http://wp.me/p5nZpi-iT – we were left with the following question:

WHY DID THE SCOUTS REFER TO THE PEOPLE THEY SAW IN CANAAN AS NEPHILIM?

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THE SCOUTING REPORT FROM THE 12 SPIES EXPLORING CANAAN:
They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. BUT the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.” Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

BUT the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 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 13:26-33

A “BAD REPORT” – AN EXAGGERATION OF THE TRUTH?

At first reading, the above scouting report may seem like a factual account, but when looking closely we can see that part of the report was false. “There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim)… – Number 13:33

For significance of this claim read answer to question – WERE THESE THE SAME NEPHILIM WE READ ABOUT IN GENESIS 6? – http://wp.me/p5nZpi-iT

Reminds me of Eve’s response to the serpent’s question – “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” – Genesis 3:1, to which Eve replied, “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” – Genesis 3:1-3

“You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, (NOT TOUCH IT AS EVE SAID – emphasis mine), you are sure to die.” – Genesis 2:16-17

A subtle “untruth”, but still an untruth.

THE RESULT OF THE SCOUTS “BAD REPORT” –

So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a BAD REPORT about it— these men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord. Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived. – Numbers 14:36-38

Of the 12 scouts, only Joshua and Caleb, trusting God, were allowed to enter and take possession of the land. The other 10 scouts through fear, and a false report, were killed. But, unfortunately, not before ensuing panic through the entire nation.

IN CONCLUSION:

The Nephilim mentioned in Numbers 13:33 were not the Pre-Flood Nephilim of Genesis 6:4. Nephilim was simply a term the fearful scouts used to describe the powerful-looking people they saw in Canaan. I would compare it to people now-a-days saying, “I was shaking in my boots”. We know that does not mean I was literally shaking, or that I was literally wearing boots. However, it does paint a clear mental image that I was very afraid.

Choose your words wisely. Words are powerful. Words paint images in our minds. Words can kill or nourish life. – Proverbs 18:21

Selected information adapted from: http://creation.com/the-return-of-the-nephilim

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Recently, I received a thought-provoking, and challenging comment from the post, Names and Roles of Angels (Part 2). Original post link – http://wp.me/p5nZpi-gA, to which I replied in the post, Female Angels?? Giants?? – Replying to a Reader’s Comment – ANGELS [6], http://wp.me/p5nZpi-h7.

Since that post a follow-up question was asked about the reappearance of the Pre-Flood Nephilim mentioned in Numbers 13:33. I was puzzled and intrigued by this question, and thought…

IF ALL THE NEPHILIM DIED DURING THE FLOOD, HOW IS IT THAT THEY SHOWED UP 1,000+ YEARS LATER IN CANAAN??

PRE-FLOOD

POST-FLOOD

The Hebrew word used to describe the Nephilim occurs in only two verses of the Old Testament,

Genesis 6:4 – 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.
Numbers 13:33 – “We even saw giants, Nephilim, there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”

From the book of Numbers, we find that the descendants of Anak are part of the Nephilim. Ummm!!

What’s interesting is that there is no description of the Nephilim other than what the scouts, the men sent to explore the land of Canaan – Numbers 13:1-2, reported back to Moses in Numbers 13:30-32.

The scouts described the people they saw as strong and huge…

³⁰But Caleb tried to quiet the people as they stood before Moses. “Let’s go at once to take the land,” he said. “We can certainly conquer it!”

³¹BUT the other men who had explored the land with him disagreed. “We can’t go up against them! They are stronger than we are!” ³²So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge.

SO WERE THESE THE SAME NEPHILIM WE READ ABOUT IN GENESIS 6?

The word Nephilim does not describe a race of people. In the Bible, races of people were classified by their founding male ancestor. So, the Anakim, not the Nephilim, were descendents of Anak.

Also the term Nephilim (giants) in Gen.6:4 has an interesting history. Nephil means fallen one, (im at the end of any Hebrew word changes it to a plural, nephillim-fallen ones.) This does not mean giant, or monstrous in size but someone who possesses super human ability in strength and intelligence, not stature. This word is taken from its root word of nephal and nephel which means to fall. In 250 BC. the Rabbis that wrote the Septuagint, which is a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, changed the word Nephillim to giant. This is the word most translations currently have (giant in Greek gigentes implies earth born men of great stature Num.13:33 ). This was a significant change which has obscured the meaning even to today. While some contend the Nephilim were still around in the time of Numbers, the giants were not the same species of the Nephilim of Genesis 6. Since the Nephils recorded in Genesis were not Giant in size, but were “giant” in strength, intelligence and ability. – http://www.letusreason.org/Doct11.htm

A CONTRADICTION OF SCRIPTURE?

Since the Old Testament describes Nephilim both before and after the flood, if the Nephilim were a race, this would contradict the rest of Scripture. However, the Bible clearly says that there were only eight survivors of the flood. That very day Noah had gone into the boat with his wife and his sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—and their wives. With them in the boat were pairs of every kind of animal—domestic and wild, large and small—along with birds of every kind. Two by two they came into the boat, representing every living thing that breathes. A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind them. – Genesis 7:13-16

All the living things on earth died—birds, domestic animals, wild animals, small animals that scurry along the ground, and all the people. Everything that breathed and lived on dry land died. God wiped out every living thing on the earth—people, livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and the birds of the sky. All were destroyed. The only people who survived were Noah and those with him in the boat. – Genesis 7:21-23

Also if you look at Genesis 10, which records the descendants of Japheth, Ham, and Shem – Noah’s sons, and there is no mention the Nephilim, post-Flood. – Genesis chapter 10 link – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2010

SO WHY DID THE SCOUTS REFER TO THE PEOPLE THEY SAW IN CANAAN AS NEPHILIM?

<Look for Part 2 – The Return of Nephilim – Dun, Dun, Dun, Dun… coming soon>

The LORD our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions. – Deuteronomy 29:29

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