When Angels and Giants Walked the Earth

The Bible gives a vivid description of the antediluvian world of Noah’s day. 

Genesis 6:1-4 states:  “1 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.  3 Then the LORD said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.’  4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days (there were giants 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 themThose were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.”

Bible scholars and theologians have disputed for centuries over the exact meaning of these verses.  Some have insisted that the “sons of God” were descendants of Seth, who intermarried with women descended from Cain, thereby fathering a hybrid offspring of giants.  Careful examination of the above scriptural account rules out this possibility.

In Genesis Chapter 6, it states, “When men began to multiply on the surface of the ground and daughters were born to them, then the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.” 

This statement clearly establishes as fact, that humans were from the onset already having sex and proliferating the species.  It was after children were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.  The sons of God would therefore denote a distinct genre, something other than human.

The Bible clearly identifies the “sons of God” as angels.

At Job 2:1 we read:  “Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD.”

At Job 38:4-7 we also read:   “4 Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?  Tell Me, if you have understanding, 5 Who set its measurements?  Since you know.  Or who stretched the line on it?  6 On what were its bases sunk?  Or who laid its cornerstone, 7 When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”

In both of these accounts the sons of God are seen as angels, in the very presence of the LORD, and shouting for joy at the creation of the earth.  This would clearly identify the sons of God, with the angelic realm.

The Book of Jude corroborates this, stating that angels had left or abandoned their respective positions and home in heaven, and had come down to earth to have unnatural sex or vice with humans.

At Jude 1:6-7 we read:  “6 And angels who did not keep their own domain (first estate, own principality, original position), but abandoned their proper abode (dwelling place, home, habitation), He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality (fornication, vice) and went after strange flesh (unnatural lust, sensual perversity), are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.”

Jude draws a correlation between the actions of these fallen angels and the gross immorality and sexual perversion of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them were placed before us as a warning example, by undergoing the judicial punishment of everlasting fire; so too these fallen angels were kept in eternal chains of darkness (or nether gloom), and await God’s judgment on the great day.

The Apostle Peter draws the same correlation, with the angels who had sinned in Noah’s day, and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah that were later reduced to ashes.

2 Peter 2:4-6 states:  “4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into tartarus* (hell) and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; 5 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; 6 and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter.”

(The Greek word, “tartarus,” as it appears in the original Greek manuscripts, is accurately rendered in this verse in place of the word, “hell.”  This can be validated by the reference to tartarus in the footnote or margin of most translations)

The Apostle Peter also refers to these same fallen angels at 1 Peter 3:18-20:  “18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive (quickened, brought to life) in the spirit; 19 in which also He went (in the spirit He went) and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison (the imprisoned spirits), 20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.”

After being put to death in the flesh, Christ was made alive in the spirit, and in that state He went and preached to the spirits that were imprisoned, the fallen angels.  These were the angels, who had formerly been disobedient, during the days of Noah.  (See also 1 Corinthians 6:17, 1 Corinthians 15:35-50, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, 2 Corinthians 5:15-16, Acts 10:40, & Philippians 3:20-21, which testify that Christ became a life giving Spirit)

It is important to note that preaching does not always denote a message of salvation, but can also be a message of judgment or condemnation.  In the book of Jonah 1:2 & 3:2, it states that Jonah was commissioned by God to preach a message of judgment and destruction to the Assyrian capital of Nineveh.  Jonah’s preaching later caused the inhabitants of Nineveh to repent.  In the same way, Christ preached a message of judgment and condemnation to the spirits or fallen angels, who had been disobedient during the days of Noah.  These fallen angels were still in prison (tartarus), when Christ appeared to them with His proclamation of future judgment.

The Apostle Paul at 1 Timothy 3:16 states:  “By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.”

This text confirms what the Apostle Peter had also stated, that Christ was revealed in the flesh, vindicated when raised in the Spirit, and seen by angels.  These very angels had previously been disobedient, during the days of Noah.  It was after Christ had preached to these imprisoned angels, that He was taken up in glory. (Compare also 1 Peter 3:18-20, 2 Peter 2:4-6, & Jude 1:6, previously cited)

The demons, who were on the earth in Jesus’ day, were aware of the abyss (tartarus).  In the account of the exorcism of the demon possessed man, called Legion, the demons pleaded with Christ not to send them into the abyss, but were instead sent into a herd of swine.

Luke 8:30-33 states:  “30 Then Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’  And he said, ‘Legion’; for many demons had entered into him.  31 And they (the demons) begged Him (Christ) not to command them to depart into the abyss.  32 Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; and they begged Him to let them enter these.  So He gave them leave.  33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank and were drowned.”

It was because these fallen angels had left their heavenly home and transgressed by cohabiting with women, that Almighty God brought the flood so early in human history (approx. 1600 yrs.).  These very angels had a profound and evil influence on mankind.  It was for this reason that God felt sorry that He had made man and pledged to blot out both man and animals, from the face of the ground.

The account at Genesis 6:5-8 states:  “5 Then the LORD (Yahweh) saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  6 The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.  7 The LORD said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.’  8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.”

The result or consequences of these angels having sexual relations with women, produced a hybrid offspring of giants or supermen.

Genesis 6:4 states:  “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 themThose were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.”

Other translations render this passage of scripture to read:  “the Nephilim were in the earth in those days” or “there were giants on the earth in those days.”

The definition of the term Nephilim in Unger’s Bible Dictionary page 788 is:  “The Nephilim are considered by many as giant demigods, the unnatural offspring of the ‘daughters of men’ (mortal women) in cohabitation with the ‘sons of God’ (angels).  This utterly unnatural union, violating God’s created orders of being, was such a shocking abnormality as to necessitate the worldwide judgment of the flood.”  (Refer to Genesis 6:4-8 & Numbers 13:33)

The Israelites were well aware of the Genesis account and who the Nephilim were.  The account at Genesis 6:4 also confirmed that the Nephilim were on the earth in those days, both before the flood and afterward.*

Genesis 6:4 states:  “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward. . .”

This indicates that there was a second infestation of the Nephilim, following the flood.  When spies were sent to spy out the promised land, they returned and gave a bad report to the people of Israel.  All of the spies, except Joshua and Caleb, were afraid and reported that the men in the land were of extra-ordinary size (giants), and thought to be the descendants of the Nephilim.

The account at Numbers 13:32-33 states:  “32 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.  33 There also we saw the Nephilim (or giants, the sons of Anak who come from the giants, Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”‘

As a result of their lack of faith, God allowed the Israelites to wander for 40 years in the wilderness, until that entire generation died off.

Much of the literature in Greek and Roman mythology bears testimony to the pre-flood Biblical account.  The gods in Greek and Roman mythology are seen as having sex with women and producing supermen such as Hercules and the giant Cyclops (half god and half human).  The gods were also actively involved in human affairs and warfare as recorded in the Iliad & the Odyssey, by Homer.  For these many reasons God brought the flood waters on the earth.  (Refer to Genesis 6:5-8 previously quoted)

The Book of Enoch

Not to be overlooked is an ancient book, thought to have been lost to history, the Book of Enoch.  Copies of the book of Enoch were discovered in Ethiopia in what is known as the Ethiopic Bible.  Ethiopia was a stronghold of the early Christian church.  The account at Acts 8:26-40 describes the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch, by Phillip the evangelist.  Upon being baptized by Phillip, the eunuch went on his way and the good news spread to Ethiopia.

The Book of Enoch has been documented by historians and theological professors as one of the most popular books, during the first three centuries of the early Christian Church.  Jesus’ half brother Jude, under inspiration, quoted directly from the Book of Enoch.

At Jude 1:14-15 it states:  “14 It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, 15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.'”

This scriptural reference indicates that the early Christians were familiar with the Book of Enoch and viewed it as credible.  To give further validity to the Book of Enoch, whole sections of it have been found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, along with other ancient sacred texts.  The book describes in detail, the pre-flood world of Noah’s day and Enoch’s commission by the LORD of the Spirits to preach to the fallen angels.

The early church fathers, following the Council of Nicea in the year 325 CE, considered including the Book of Enoch in the inspired Canon, only to later reverse their decision and exclude it from canonization.  Their reason for excluding the book, not only involved the book’s credibility as to whether it was authentic and divinely inspired, but also whether they could accept the fact that angels had forsaken their heavenly abode and had taken on human form to have sex with women.  The book was rejected on both of these accounts from being canonized.

There is still ongoing debate over whether the Book of Enoch should have been canonized.  There is also debate over the dating and authorship of the Book of Enoch.  Most scholars concur that the book was written by more than one author and emerged between 300 and 100 BC.  Others maintain that the book contains fragments or excerpts, from Enoch’s own penmanship.  This would chronologically date these fragments as being 5,000 years old.  The fact that Jude quotes directly from the book of Enoch and whole sections of the book appear in the Dead Sea Scrolls, certainly gives the book credibility.  The book also describes in great detail the descent of the fallen angels, their cohabitation with women, and the catastrophic effects of this unholy union.  According to the Book of Enoch, 200 angels entered into a pact to take on human form and cohabit with the daughters of men.  These angels are described as, “watchers,” or angels whose function was watching over the earth, in a manner of custodianship.  This was similar to the role of Lucifer (the Shining One), who was anointed as the covering cherub in the Garden of Eden.  (See Ezekiel 28:11-19 & Isaiah 14:12-15)  Ironically, most of the early church fathers viewed the book as credible and inspired.  (E.g., Augustine, Origen, Barnabas, Clement, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Athenagoras)  Some scholars and historians have credited it as being the most popular book in the early Christian churchMost sources recommend reading the Book of Enoch, both for theological and historical incite.  The book describes in detail the antediluvian world of Noah’s day, and sheds further light on the pre-flood scriptural account.

After being rejected from canonization, the Book of Enoch was deemed heretical by the Catholic Church.  Anyone found with the book was sentenced as a heretic and excommunicated or executed.  The book survived in Ethiopia, which was geographically outside of the sphere and influence of the Roman Catholic Church.  The Book of Enoch appears as part of the inspired Canon, in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Church.

The Book of Jubilee

There is another ancient book, thought to have been lost to history, the Book of Jubilee.  The Book of Jubilee is a parallel account and commentary on the Book of Genesis.  Deemed by scholars to have been written in the second century B. C., by a Pharisaic upholder who was probably a priest of the Maccabean dynasty; it was also discovered in its entirety in Ethiopia in what is known as the Ethiopic Bible.  Similar to the Book of Enoch, the book gives credibility to the fact that 200 angels known as,  “watchers,” entered into a pact to descend on the earth and have sex with mortal women (the daughters of men).  As a result of the flood, the majority of these angels were imprisoned or cast into tartarus.  The account relates how, following the flood, a chief of these fallen spirits, Mastema, petitioned the Lord Creator to let some of these angels remain on earth and execute power over the sons of men. 

And the Lord Creator said: “Let the tenth part of them remain before him (Mastema), and let nine parts descend into the place of condemnation (tartarus).”  See Jubilee X:5-11 

As a result, all of the malignant evil ones were bound into the place of condemnation, and a tenth part of them were left, that they might be subject to Satan on earth.  

The Book of Jubilee confirms what Genesis 6:4 had already stated:  The Nephilim (or giants) were on the earth in those days (before the flood), 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.”   

The account from the Book of Jubilee explains how a tenth part of these angels (or watchers) were spared imprisonment, and were allowed to remain on earth and mislead the sons of men.  These fallen angels continued to have sex with mortal women, after the flood.  This would explain the infestation of the Nephilim (or giants) that the Israelites encountered, when they invaded the promised land many centuries later.  (See Numbers 13:32-33, previously cited)

Note, the many verses from the Old Testament that refer to these giants and the conflict that ensued, when the Israelites entered the promised land.  (Rd. Numbers 13:25-33, Deuteronomy 2:10 & 3:11, 1 Samuel 17:4, 2 Samuel 21:15-22, 1 Chronicles 11:23 & 20:5-8, & Amos 2:9)

In Conclusion

Knowing the truth concerning the fallen angels, their hybrid offspring of giants, and the state of the pre-flood world, helps one understand why the LORD God (Yahweh) brought a deluge upon the earth, so early in human history (approximately 1600 years).  These pre-flood events also reinforce the fact that there were was a universal rebellion which occurred on our planet earth.  This was not only a challenge of God’s universal sovereignty, but also a challenge involving God’s universal arrangement and order of things.  

Jesus Christ paralleled the last days of this world and the coming of the Son of Man, to the days of Noah.

At Matthew 24:38-39, Jesus stated:  “38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand, (took no note) until the flood came and took (swept) them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.”  (Refer also to Luke 17:26-30)

The Apostle Peter used this same parallel, comparing the flood of Noah’s day with the destruction of ungodly men at the second coming of Christ.  

2 Peter 3:5-7 states:  “5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, 6 through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.  7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.”

The Apostle Paul affirms this at 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10:  “6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed — for our testimony to you was believed.”

The final destruction and judgment of this world will be with fire and the destruction of ungodly men.  Never again will God use water to indiscriminately engulf and destroy His creation.

At Genesis 9:11-17, the LORD gave an oath:  “’11 I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.’  12 God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; 13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.  14 It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, 15 and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.  16 When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’  17 And God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.'”

This pledge, by God, to never again destroy every living thing by water, is known as the Noachian Covenant.

Knowing the truth, concerning the pre-flood world of Noah’s day and why God brought the flood so early in human history, helps fortify our faith in these end times.  Just as Enoch and Noah preached God’s message of judgment to the fallen angels and the pre-flood world of mankind, so we today wrestle with demonic forces in the heavenly places, as we herald the second coming of Christ to an ungodly world of mankind.  (See 2 Peter 2:5, Ephesians 6:12, & Revelation 12:12 & 17)  Through our faith and endurance, we will acquire our souls at the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will gather His saints to heavenly glory.  (See Luke 21:19, Luke 18:8, & Mathew 24:30-31)
__________________________
*Red print in brackets is used to show variations in scriptural renderings from different translations or the original languages. Also used for clarification of scripture.

*Tartarus:  (Greek) A term borrowed from Greek mythology to indicate the infernal regions.  Also referred to as pits of dense darkness or nether gloom, a prison.  Tartarus is an abased place or prison, reserved for the angels that had sinned in Noah’s day.  These fallen angels were cast into tartarus and await a future judgment.  The term tartarus only occurs once in Holy Scripture at 2 Peter 2:4.   (Refer also to 1 Peter 3:18-20 & Jude 1:6)

The term, “tartarus,” is incorrectly translated as, “hell,” by many Bible translators.  The word tartarus is an entirely different word than the Greek word, “hades,” from which we derive our English word “hell.”  In Greek mythology, tartarus is represented as an underground prison as far below hades (or hell) as earth is below heaven.  In it were imprisoned the lesser gods, Cronus and the other Titan spirits.  It is worth noting that the mythological tartarus was not presented as a place for humans, but as a place for the gods or spirit beings.  In the same manner, Holy Scripture defines tartarus as a place in the underworld for the fallen angels or spirits, whom the ancients or pagans referred to as “gods.”  In Greek mythology, tartarus is located deep within the earth.  This would coincide with the location of tartarus given in Holy Scripture. 

*Note what the Apostle Paul chronicles concerning the resurrected Christ, prior to His ascension at Ephesians 4:7-10:

“7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.  8 Therefore it says, ‘WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.’  9 Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?  10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.”

Various translations render, “He that descended into the lower parts of the earth” as:  “He that descended into the under parts of the earth; into the world beneath; to the under regions of the earth; into the lower regions of the earth; and into the depths of the earth.”  These various renderings coincide with the previous scriptural evidence presented: that Christ was raised or vindicated in the spirit; in that state He went and preached to the spirits (the angels) that were in prison; these angels had been disobedient during the days of Noah and the construction of the ark. 

Christ descended into the lowest regions of the earth (tartarus), to deliver His proclamation of judgment to the fallen angels.  The above scriptural testimony indicates that Christ’s descent into tartarus took place after His resurrection from the dead.  This would have occurred sometime during the forty day period that He was still on earth, prior to His final ascent to heaven. 

Acts 1:3 states:  “After His suffering He (Christ) presented Himself alive to them (the disciples) by many convincing proofs, appearing to them forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”  (Rd. also Acts 1:-5)

Another verse that gives credibility as to the location of tartarus and the future judgment of these fallen angels is found at Philippians 2:10:  “so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on the earth and under the earth.”

The expression “under the earth” would indicate the location of the fallen angels, those who were imprisoned in tartarus in the lowest parts of the earth.  These angels will have to kneel to Christ and confess Him as Lord.  They will render an account for their evil deeds, at the great judgment.  (Rd. Philippians 2:9-11)

The Apostle Paul refers to the saints, who will judge not only the world of mankind and matters of this life, but also angels.  This would include the angels, who had sinned during the days of Noah and the construction of the ark.

1 Corinthians 6:2-3 states:  “2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world?  And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?  3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels?  How much more matters pertaining to this life!”

See also the Book Of Enoch and The Book Of Jubilee for more information on the fallen angels, tartarus, Enoch, and the pre-flood world of Noah’s day.