11. Sin Continues God's Purpose for Man

Chapter 11
Sin Continues

After the flood, Noah’s three sons and wives scattered upon the earth. Shem, the oldest son settled along the Mediterranean seacoast, and is listed in the ancestry of Abraham and Jesus Christ.  Japheth traveled to the areas of Asia Minor and Europe. Ham became a rebellious son and traveled to Canaan and parts of Africa. [i]

Satan Continued His Diabolical Plan

The earth again began to increase in numbers; however, so did sin. Man still had a sin nature within and Satan was not through with his diabolical plan. He set his mind on thwarting God’s plan to bring on the seed of the woman – meaning Jesus Christ. Satan had more of his fallen angels impregnate women, which created more mutated giants upon the earth.

Nimrod

Noah’s son Ham had a son named Cush, who was more rebellious than his father. Cush then had a son named Nimrod, as spoken about in Genesis 10. Nimrod would have been Noah’s great grandson. Nimrod was a mighty “powerful warrior” on the earth through his bold and daring deeds. The Hebrew word “gibbowr,” used to describe Nimrod, means powerful warrior, tyrant, champion, “giant,” or strong one. Could Nimrod been a part of the giant population?  Yes, very possibly.  While that is uncertain, we know that Nimrod was a powerful warrior, and feared by all around him. His hunting and mighty deeds were related to killing of wild beasts, but he primarily hunted men by tyranny and forced them to submit to his authority. He became a notorious tyrant leader, banding his people together as one force against all who opposed him. He persuaded people to believe that their happiness came from him, not from God. Nimrod even dared God to send another flood. God, however, gave Noah a promise that He would never send another flood to cover the earth.

Tower of Babel

According to Gen 11:1, the people of the earth all spoke one language. At that time, shrines, called ziggurats, were common within the area of Babel - in the land of Mesopotamia. These shrines were built to the various pagan gods. The largest shrine was a tower of 430 feet height, which became known as the famous Tower of Babel. This tower, considered a temple, was meant to be built so high to where it would reach the heavens.  Nimrod and his people said:  Gen 11:4 …"Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

This evil force of unity and oneness that Nimrod was attempting to build had the potential of sin overpowering the whole earth.  God had to stop that from happening (Gen 11:6).  God then caused the people to speak various languages unknownst to each other, which brought total confusion. This forced the people to stop the building of the tower and they then scattered throughout the earth.

Latest Discovery of the Tower of Babel

The Tower of Babel was discovered in 1876 A.D. In the center of the base of the tower were many small shrines that were dedicated to various pagan gods. At the time of its discovery, following thousands of years standing, the tower stood only about 300 feet. On the top platform, which measured 60 feet by 80 feet, was a sanctuary dedicated to the god BelMerodach, along with the signs of the zodiac. There was found writings on one ancient Babylonian tablet writings that said: “The building of this illustrious tower offended the gods (meaning God Almighty). They scattered them abroad and made strange their speech. Their progress was impeded. They wept hot tears for Babylon.” [ii]

The Earth Divided Into Continents

It was during this time that the earth was suffering because of the weight of the uneven distribution of water left over from the flood as it laid heavily in the core of the earth. The land masses could no longer hold up under the weight of the water below. As such, the tectonic plates below the earth’s surface split and the land masses divided into continents and islands.  Gen 10:25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided… Who was Peleg?  He was Noah’s great, great, great grandson through the lineage of Seth.

The waters distributed into oceans, rivers, and lakes, as well as much of it seeped back into the earth.  If you compared the outer rims of each continent today, you would discover they are like the pieces of a puzzle. By taking out the water masses, those pieces would form almost a perfect solid piece of land.

New groups of people multiplied and grew on the various continents, having large bodies of water separating them from one another all over the world.

Abraham

Through the seed of Shem (Noah’s son) came a man named Abram.  The time period was around 2100 B.C., being over 400 years after the flood of Noah.  By faith Abram obeyed God and left his heathen nation near Babel to become “one who followed after God.” God later covenanted with Abram, renaming him Abraham, promising him heirs – as many as the sands of the sea. Through him came the earliest beginnings of a new nation of the people of God called the Hebrews.

The name “Hebrew” came from Abram’s descendent Eber, having a root meaning “to cross over.” After Abram crossed over from Mesopotamia (the land of the Semites, in which Eber was part) and settled in the plains near Sodom and Gomorrah, did Abram become commonly known by the Canaanites as a “Hebrew.” [iii] (Luke 3:35), meaning "one who crossed over."

The name “Israelite” did not come until after the time of Jacob when God renamed him Israel. His descendants, which eventually broke off into twelve tribes, became known as the “Israelites.”

The name “Jew” became a slang term, referring originally only to those of the tribe of Judah. During the exile, which was centuries after Abraham, the name “Jew” became a common name for all the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Today, all three names are used synonymously.

Sodom and Gomorrah Filled With Giants

Sodom and Gomorrah, neighboring cities near the plains where Abram dwelt, were filled with sin, sexual perversion, and again giants.  Is it possible that Satan was still using his fallen angels to enter into the women to have a race of giants upon the earth after the flood?  Another thought could have been that the seed of the giants were in Lot's son's wives and had proliferated over the years.   
Lot, Abraham’s nephew and his family, chose to live in Sodom, enjoying life in the city. God chose to destroy both cities to rid it of its perversion and kill off the giants; however, Abram asked God to save Lot and his family. God then sent an angel to rescue Lot and his family, with strict order to not look back. Lot’s wife, however, turned back while escaping and turned into a pillar of salt. Both Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, killing all the giants and perverted beings who dwelt within. 

The Move to Egypt

Abraham’s seed grew through Isaac, Jacob and his twelve sons. They dwelt in the land of Canaan, the place where God had led them to dwell. Joseph, one of Jacob’s twelve sons, was a dreamer, which caused jealousy in his brothers. Given to a slave caravan heading to Egypt, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, and ended up in the Egyptian Potiphar’s house. Later, falsely accused of seducing Potiphar's wife, Joseph was thrown into prison. Through his interpretation of dreams, this led Joseph to the disturbed Pharaoh who was tormented by dreams.  Joseph was given opportunity to interpret his dreams, which led Joseph to advance to second in command over Egypt. Some years later, Joseph’s brothers, living in the famine in Canaan , came to Egypt looking to purchase grain to bring back to Canaan. Through a turn of events, Joseph reunited with his family and brought all of them to live in Egypt, away from the famine of Canaan.

After the death of Joseph, his family of seventy (including family members and servants) ended up in slavery. For the next 400 years the Israelites remained as slaves to the Egyptians until God brought  forth a man named Moses to set them free and take them back to Canaan – the land in which God gave them.

The Exodus

The family of Jacob entered Egypt some 400 years prior as a family of 70, and over the centuries increased to a population of 6,000,000 – a nation of people. God used a man named Moses, born an Israelite, but raised in the house of Pharaoh, to bring the Israelites out of Egypt and back to their Land of Canaan. The Israelites were, however, fearful of the giants in Canaan, so they wandered around the wilderness for the next 40 years. There in that desert land God wanted His people to get to know Him and for them to come back into right relationship with Him so they could trust Him and His Word.  God established Ten Commandments and 613 Ordinances for His people to obey.

• The Ten Commandments would be eternal, while the 613 Ordinance were laws for the Israelites to live by while roaming the 40 years in the wilderness until the coming forth of seed of a woman, meaning Jesus Christ.  At that point, Jesus would then fulfill those ordinances and become the Savior and deliverer to the whole world. 
• A tabernacle was built in the wilderness for the Israelites to bring their sacrifices to God when they sinned. This would be their preparation before entering back into their promised land - the Land of Canaan.

Giants in Canaan

It took 40 years and another new generation of people to grow up who trusted the Lord before the Israelites had the courage to enter into Canaan. Nephilims (another name for giants), sometimes referred to as Anakims or the sons of Anak, inhabited the land of Canaan (Num 13:33).

When the Israelites finally entered into Canaan, they started out by following God and went in undefeated; however, when they went off on their own, not relying upon God, they were defeated. When they obeyed Him, God was their protector, accomplishing great feats for them. Sadly, however, the Israelites did not kill off all the giants and the Canaanites in the land of Canaan as God had instructed them. They left a few here and there – pockets of Canaanites, so it took much longer to wipe out their population.

Other Giants in Scripture

The Raphaims (another name for giants) also inhabited Canaan, Edom, Moab, and Ammon (Deut 3:11; Josh 13:12).

Other races of giants were:

• The Emmins, inhabitants of the land of Moab,
• The Zamzummim, inhabitants of the land of Ammon,
• The family of Gath of the Philistines, who were defeated by David,
• And a few individual giants that were called by name.

Gen 14:5-6 And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim, And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness.

Deu 2:10-11 The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims.

One of the individual giants mentioned in Scripture was Goliath, who was a Philistine champion whom David slew. Other Philistine giants are also mentioned measuring 13'4." (Sam 17:4).

2 Sam 21:16, 18-22 And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, …then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant. And there was again a battle in Gob with the Philistines, where Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim, a Bethlehemite, slew the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant… These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

God's Promise to Noah

God gave a promise to Noah, telling him that He would never destroy the earth again with a flood. These giants, however, continued to come upon the earth following the flood so God had to destroy them in another way.  Because we don't know the source of why the seed of the fallen angels continued, we do know that if Satan's angels were still impregnating women, God had to stop them from impregnated women that created the giants so that the “seed of the woman,” meaning Jesus, could come forth from a pure seed or line of Adam through Seth (Jude 1:6-7; 2 Peter 2:4-6).  

All the fallen angels who had sex with women upon the earth were cast into a holding place in hell called Tartarus to await the judgment day of God, which will then send them into the Eternal Lake of Fire. They remain there even to this day, just waiting. The rest of the fallen angels, who did not violate this law of reproduction, are still roaming the heavenlies with Satan and will one day be defeated as well.

The giant population grew less and less as time progressed.  It could have been that the giant population lessened because of the punishment that God had imposed on the fallen angels who had sexual intercourse with the women.  Satan and his angels knew of their fate, and Tartarus was greatly feared by them all. So furthermore, the giant population eventually ceased.

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End Notes

[i] New Unger Bible Dictionary Publisher-Moody Press. Chgo 1988)
[ii] Dakes, Finis. Dakes Annotated Bible. Dakes Publishing Co. Lawrenceville, GA.
[iii] http://yhvh.name/?w=1307