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