Yes, there really are giants in the Bible… more than just Goliath

Nov. 20

Read: Joshua 6

Yes, There Really are Giants in the Bible… more than just Goliath

“And the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor.” (Josh 6:2)

Have you ever wondered, who exactly were the inhabitants of Jericho? Maybe you have thought to yourself that it seems harsh for God to “devote to destruction” everyone and everything in Jericho? Did you ever realize that Jericho was - at the least in part if not totally - filled with giants who were the offspring of the Nephilim… the “exceedingly wicked and every intention of their heart is evil” by product of humans aligning with fallen angels? (cf. Gen. 6:4,5) Maybe you read that last sentence and said, “What !?!, Hold up!” … LOL… Most Christians probably would.

There is a phrase in Joshua 6:2 that is actually pretty unique and stands out in the bible. It is this phrase “mighty men” or the term Gibborim / Gibor in Hebrew. These Gibborim (plural of Gibor) - or “mighty men” - are linked to some of the worst parts of the bible. This phrase is a direct tie back to Genesis 6:4 where we read this:

“The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.” (Gen. 6:4)

You see, the Gibborim (“mighty men”) were giants and the byproduct of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men”… they were what the bible calls Nephilim. The perversion, sin, wickedness, and brokenness that came about from the corruption of these fallen “sons of God” led to God saying:

“And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” (Genesis 6:6,7)

This is the evil that brought about the flood. This is the sort of evil that comes about when humanity joins forces with the agenda of the devil and is given over to evil and darkness. It is hard for us to grasp the level of depravity that could bring about a Genesis 6:5-7 sort of world. Many people think this phenomenon stopped with the flood, but the scriptures say otherwise. The first example of a Gibor after the flood is Nimrod. (Gen. 10:8) He would go on to build the tower of Babel in direct opposition to God’s instructions. God would foil those plans and divide humanity up because of it. Yet again, the “mighty men” or Gibbori stand opposition to God Most High.

When the spies came into the land - the original 12 with Joshua and Caleb - they found living in Canaan all those years later none other than the same offspring of the Nephilim… they encountered yet again the Gibborim having expanded into different tribes and bloodlines over time:

“So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” (Num. 13:32,33)

The Israelites were facing giants who were the byproduct and offspring of rebellious spiritual beings who were at war with God Most High and had been for many generations. These were not simply some people being displaced from their land but rather they were the physical / earthly counterpart to a spiritual war that had been waged since Genesis 3 and Genesis 6… from the times of the garden of Eden and the Flood. This is why it is do crucial that we see yesterdays devotion / the reality of the battle belonging to the Lord. As the commander of the Lord’s army points to in Joshua 5 - this battle must not be rooted in human terms… it is the Lord’s cosmic battle and we are a part of it… conscripted into HIS army. It is still a heart wrenching tale to read, but without the biblical understanding or backdrop to the inhabitants of Jericho it can seem downright cruel. The sobering truth is opposition to God Most High and alignment with the Devil / “Dragon” / demons / fallen rebellious angels deserves nothing short of total destruction. The flood is one example. Jericho is yet another. The stunning rescue of Rahab becomes all the more powerful when we realize the evil that she was redeemed out of. God was quick to forgive her, redeem her, offer her hope and rescue her and her family. Rehab came from this same context - and yet turned to the Lord and was saved. She aligned herself and family with the Lord as against the agenda of the Gibborim / Nephilim. These biblical roots will be important for us to frame the rest of this conquest story. For today - let all these giants, cosmic battles, fallen angels, and story of fantastic redemption and rescue sink in. Think of those Israelites as they marched around those walls… about to face giants who were aligned with the most evil spiritual powers on earth that were warring against God. Now we know why the Commander of the Lord’s Army shows up with his sword drawn! Love you guys! - JDP