King James Version (KJV) Joshua 24:15 - "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

 

God’s people are called upon to make a choice. That choice is simple – whether to faithfully serve the one true God, or not. It’s that simple. Whether to follow after fickle and unfaithful false gods – behind all of whom are Satan and his angels – or to obey Jehovah God, Elohim, the one true God, the subject of all divine activity revealed to man and as the one true object of all true reverence and fear from men, the creator of mankind and the entire universe. This choice has existed at least since man’s creation.

Many men chose poorly. They follow after one or more of the false gods. This is because Satan is the author of lies and confusion. He and his cometh not but to kill, to steal and to destroy. As a result of this evil desire to ruin all of God’s creations, God left a special holding cell for Satan’s angels. It’s in the "Great Deep," a place which existed before the creation of Heaven and the earth.

Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) Genesis 1:2,6-8 - "the earth hath existed (became) waste and void, and darkness [is] on the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God moved (fluttered, hovering, brooding) upon the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be a firmament (expanse) in the midst of the waters, and let it divide (be separating) the waters from the waters." And God made the firmament (expanse) and divided the waters which were under the firmament (expanse) from the waters which were above the firmament (expanse): and it is (was) so. And God called the firmament (expansion) Heaven; and there is an evening, and there is a morning – day second."

 

God made an expanse of space in the midst of the great deep of waters. In this space which He called heaven God placed the sun, moon, stars and the earth. Beyond the expanse of space the Word of God declares there to be water: "the Great Deep." It was from the waters of the deep that Noah’s floodwaters came, and to which those waters returned.

KJV Genesis 7:11 - "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened."

KJV Genesis 8:2-3 - "² The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; ³ And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated."

 

Before the time described in Genesis 1:1 & 2, in the first creation, one-third of God’s angels rebelled and were cast out of heaven. Some of them came to earth and created ruin and havoc. After a while, God bound with chains the worst of the fallen angels and placed them in the darkness of the great deep. See II Peter 2:4 - "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; and spared not the old world, but saved Noah ..."

In the days of Noah, certain powerful angel spirit beings (devil spirits) had attempted to destroy the earth in order to stop the promised Christ child from coming. They did this by breaking up the great deep beyond space and making windows in the heavens to bring water to flood the earth. For this and other actions, they were punished by banishment into the deep. See Jude 6 - "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day."

Jesus Christ was given the power to command devil spirits to go into the Great Deep and be bound there in the darkness. See Luke 8:30-31 - ³⁰ "And Jesus asked him, saying, ‘What is thy name?’ And he said, ‘Legion’: because many devils were entered into him. ³¹ And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep."

God closed the "windows of heaven" and stopped the fountains of the deep. He caused the floodwaters to return to the great deep. The devil spirits that had caused the problems were outside of the expanse of heaven in the great deep when God stopped up the holes. The Word of God declares that these spirits, but not all of the devil spirits, are now in chains under darkness, and that they are kept there until the day of judgment.

After his resurrection, Jesus visited these evil spirits there to show them – in the flesh – that God’s plan for man’s salvation had now come into fruition. See I Peter 3:19-20 - "By which [his resurrected body] he [Christ] went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing . . .."

This visit of Christ and the utterances there about His victory was foretold by the Prophet Habakkuk:

Habakkuk 3:1,10 - "A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shigionoth. ... ¹⁰ The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high."

 

On the night that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and received his spiritual body he went beyond the expanse of space and witnessed to these imprisoned spirits. He let them see that their attempt to destroy the earth and to keep the promised Christ from redeeming mankind had failed, and that all God had promised had come to pass. All goes always according to God’s plans.

These imprisoned devil spirits had left decedents on Earth – the mighty men of renown, literally giants, men that the Romans and Greeks called their gods. The Assyrian’s god – Nimrod, was another false god. There are other false gods still around today – Allah, Shiva, Ra, Isis ... the list is endless. Devil spirits posing as gods, to trick and deceive mankind. Some of these evil spirits had human offspring. Giants.

The "Nephilim" or "fallen ones" (devil spirits) were the fathers of the giants. See Gen. 6:4 - "⁴ There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown."

The race of giants had many tribal names in the Old Testament: the Anakim of the City of Hebron in Asher, the Emims, the Rephaim of Palestine, and the Zamzummims or Zuzims. Individuals recorded in the Old Testament as giants were Goliath of Gath, Ishbi-benob, and Og, King of Bashan.

ANAKIM. A race of giants, Num. 13:28-33; Deut. 1:28; 2:10; 9:2. Defeated by: Joshua, Josh. 11:21,22; and Caleb, Josh. 14:12,15; 15:13,14; Judg. 1:20. See also Hebron.

HEBRON. 1. A city of Asher, Josh. 19:28. 2. A city of Judah, South of Jerusalem. When built, Num. 13:22. Fortified, II Chr. 11:10. Called Kirjath-arba, Gen. 23:2; and Arba, Gen. 35:27; Josh. 15:13. Abraham dwells there and Sarah dies there, Gen. 23:2.

EMIMS, a race of giants, Gen. 14:5; Deut. 2:10,11.

GOLIATH, a giant champion of Gath. Defied armies of Israel and is slain by David, I Sam. 17; 21:9; 22:10. Goliath had sons, II Sam. 21:15-22; I Chr. 20:4-8.

ISHBI-BENOB, a giant warrior slain by Abishai, II Sam. 21:16.

OG, king of Bashan. A man of gigantic stature, Num. 21:33; Deut. 3:11; Josh. 12:4; 13:12. Defeated and slain by Moses, Num. 21:33-35; Deut. 1:4; 3:1-7; 29:7; 31:4; Josh. 2:10; 9:10; Psalms. 135:10,11; 136:18-20.

ZAMZUMMIMS, called also Zuzims. A race of giants, Gen. 14:5; Deut. 2:20,21.

REPHAIM. An ancient people of Palestine, of great stature, Gen. 14:5; 15:20; Deut. 2:11,20; 3:11,13; Josh. 12:4; 13:12; 17:15.

 

These giants were born of women, but their fathers were the fallen angels, the "sons of God" who rebelled and were cast out of Heaven before Genesis Chapter 1, verse 1.

KJV Genesis 6:1-4 - "¹ And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, ² That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. ³ And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. ⁴ There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown."

 

Because these giants were successful in sowing the Devil’s lies and confusion – being abundant in wickedness – men turned to follow after these mighty men of renown, to follow after their false gods. So Jehovah God decided to save a remnant of good men and allow the world to "start over" with Noah and his family.

Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) Genesis 6:1-8 - "¹ And it cometh to pass that mankind have begun to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters have been born to them, ² and sons of God see the daughters of men that they [are] fair, and they take to themselves women of all whom they have chosen. ³ And Jehovah saith, `My Spirit doth not strive in man -- to the age; in their erring they [are] flesh:' and his days have been an hundred and twenty years. ⁴ The fallen ones were in the earth in those days, and even afterwards when sons of God come in unto daughters of men, and they have borne to them -- they [are] the heroes, who, from of old, [are] the men of name. ⁵ And Jehovah seeth that abundant [is] the wickedness of man in the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart only evil all the day; ⁶ and Jehovah repenteth that He hath made man in the earth, and He grieveth Himself -- unto His heart. ⁷ And Jehovah saith, ‘I wipe away man whom I have prepared from off the face of the ground, from man unto beast, unto creeping thing, and unto fowl of the heavens, for I have repented that I have made them.’ ⁸ And Noah found grace in the eyes of Jehovah."

 

The evil spirit creatures during the time from Adam to Noah, the giants born of women before the flood, and the giants born after the flood, were real. They were really giants – standing over 9 feet tall, some nearly 13 feet in height. They lived in the Promised Land, placed there by Satan to keep God’s covenant people out, so that the prophecy of the coming savior of mankind could not come into being. The giants were very strong, and were renown as fierce warriors. They had mighty, fortified cities. But by God’s grace and through His guidance God’s people came into their promised lands, prevailing against all of the giants, slaying them, and taking their cities and vineyards and all their gold and lands and cattle and goods as spoil. God’s plans cannot be defeated by the Devil or his minions.

KJV II Samuel 21:15-22 - "¹⁵ Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint. ¹⁶ And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David. ¹⁷ But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, ‘Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.’ ¹⁸ And it came to pass after this, that there was again a battle with the Philistines at Gob: then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was of the sons of the giant. ¹⁹ 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. ²⁰ 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. ²¹ And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimeah the brother of David slew him. ²² These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants."

Footnotes:

1. 21:16 That is, Ishbibenob’s spear about 7 ½ pounds (about 3.5 kilograms)

2. 21:19 Or son of Jair the weaver

3. 21:19 So in Hebrew and Septuagint; I Chron. 20:5 - son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath.

King David had a close call, yet God’s people still prevailed. We too might have a close call, but by the living Word of God we shall prevail! Giant after giant came at the people of God, yet they killed them all. God’s plans cannot be defeated.

YLT II Samuel 21:15-22 - "¹⁵ And again have the Philistines war with Israel, and David goeth down, and his servants with him, and they fight with the Philistines; and David is weary, ¹⁶ and Ishbi-Benob, who [is] among the children of the giant -- the weight of his spear [is] three hundred [shekels] weight of brass, and he is girded with a new one -- speaketh of smiting David, ¹⁷ and Abishai son of Zeruiah giveth help to him, and smiteth the Philistine, and putteth him to death; then swear the men of David to him, saying, ‘Thou dost not go out again with us to battle, nor quench the lamp of Israel.’ ¹⁸ And it cometh to pass afterwards, that the battle is again in Gob with the Philistines, then hath Sibbechai the Hushathite smitten Saph, who [is] among the children of the giant. ¹⁹ And the battle is again in Gob with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jaare-Oregim, the Beth-Lehemite, smiteth [a brother of] Goliath the Gittite, and the wood of his spear [is] like a beam of weavers. ²⁰ And the battle is again in Gath, and there is a man of stature, and the fingers of his hands [are] six, and the toes of his feet [are] six, twenty and four in number, and he also hath been born to the giant, ²¹ and he reproacheth Israel, and smite him doth Jonathan son of Shimeah, brother of David; ²² these four have been born to the giant in Gath, and they fall by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants."

 

KJV I Chronicles 20:4-8 - "⁴ And it came to pass after this, that there arose war at Gezer with the Philistines; at which time Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Sippai, that was of the children of the giant: and they were subdued. ⁵ And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver's beam. ⁶ And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot and he also was the son of the giant. ⁷ But when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David's brother slew him. ⁸ These were born unto the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants."

So long as David was right with God, in fellowship, and so long as the nation of Israel was walking in fellowship with God, obeying God’s commandments, they won against every force, every host of armies, every giant that came against them, time after time. The same shall always be true of us. We shall always conquer by God’s grace, by His strength, and through His guidance. Our Adversary, the roaring lion, never gives up. But he can never triumph over God and His people. We are more than conquerors through him who loves us.

YLT I Chronicles 20:1-8 - "¹ And it cometh to pass, at the time of the turn of the year -- at the time of the going out of the messengers -- that Joab leadeth out the force of the host, and destroyeth the land of the sons of Ammon, and cometh in and beseigeth Rabbah – David is abiding in Jerusalem -- and Joab smiteth Rabbah, and breaketh it down. ² And David taketh the crown of their king from off his head, and findeth it [in] weight a talent of gold, and in it a precious stone, and it is on the head of David: and spoil of the city he hath brought out very much, ³ and the people who [are] in it he hath brought out, and setteth to the saw, and to cutting instruments of iron, and to axes; and thus doth David to all cities of the sons of Ammon, and David turneth back, and all the people, to Jerusalem. ⁴ And it cometh to pass, after this, that there remaineth war in Gezer with the Philistines, then hath Sibbechai the Hushathite smitten Sippai, of the children of the giant, and they are humbled. ⁵ And there is again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan son of Jair smiteth Lahmi, brother of Goliath the Gittite, the wood of whose spear [is] like a beam of weavers. ⁶ And there is again war in Gath, and there is a man of measure, and his fingers and his toes [are] six and six, twenty and four, and also, he hath been born to the giant. ⁷ And he reproacheth Israel, and smite him doth Jonathan son of Shimea, brother of David. ⁸ These were born to the giant in Gath, and they fall by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants."

 

To prevail against the Adversary and his spirit followers, we only need to believe God’s promises. We need to believe that we are more than conquerors. We need to stay fixed on His Word. We need to act like we believe God! We need to take believing actions. We need to know that we know that we are throughly able to do it! We need to be strong in the spirit, like Caleb before Moses:

Numbers 13:28-33 - "²⁸ only, surely the people which is dwelling in the land [is] strong; and the cities are fenced, very great; and also children of Anak we have seen there. ²⁹ Amalek is dwelling in the land of the south, and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite is dwelling in the hill country, and the Canaanite is dwelling by the sea, and by the side of the Jordan.’ ³⁰ And Caleb stilleth the people concerning Moses, and saith, ‘Let us certainly go up -- and we have possessed it; for we are thoroughly able for it.’ ³¹ And the men who have gone up with him said, ‘We are not able to go up against the people, for it [is] stronger than we;' ³² and they bring out an evil account of the land which they have spied unto the sons of Israel, saying, `The land into which we passed over to spy it, is a land eating up its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in its midst [are] men of stature; ³³ and there we saw the Nephilim, sons of Anak, of the Nephilim; and we are in our own eyes as grasshoppers; and so we were in their eyes.’"

 

Caleb saw the giants and their towering walled cities, but he chose instead to believe God’s promises – even when the eyes of the other scouts condemned them. Their hearts had fear caused by a lack of believing. But not Caleb – he believed! He was ready to take believing action! We are not to be discouraged of heart by what our five senses tell us, our eyes see, or what others say. We have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power! We are to believe God! Trust His Word! In Him is no darkness or even a shadow of turning.

Deuteronomy 1:28 - "²⁸ Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there."

Deuteronomy 2:10 - "¹⁰ The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims;"

Deuteronomy 3:11 - "¹¹ For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man."

FOOTNOTE: Og’s final resting bed ("sarcophagus") was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide (about 4 meters long and 1.8 meters wide). It was still there in the city of Rabbath at the time this biblical passage was written.

Deuteronomy 9:2 - "² A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom thou knowest, and of whom thou hast heard say, ‘Who can stand before the children of Anak!’"

 

They saw the giants. They saw the walls of their cities towering up towards heaven. They felt like grasshoppers up against giants nearly 13 feet tall. Indeed, who can stand against our giant adversary? Well, even a little boy can, if he chooses first to believe!

I Samuel 17:1-8 - David and Goliath ¹ Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Socoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. ² Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. ³ The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them. ⁴ A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet ^[1^] tall. ⁵ He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels ^[2^] ; ⁶ on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. ⁷ His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. ^[3^]

Footnotes:

1. 17:4 A Hebrew was six cubits and a span (about 3 meters or 9 feet).

2. 17:5 That is, Goliath’s bronze scale armor weighed about 125 pounds (about 57 kilograms).

3. 17:7 That is, Goliath’s spear’s iron point weighed about 15 pounds (about 7 kilograms).

The key is not our size. It also matters not what is the size of our enemy. Fear comes not from the size of the enemy. Fear come not from God at all! Fear is a weapon of our Adversary. We fear only because we lack trust in God. Replace fear with believing. Believe God! Whether we face mortal enemies 9 feet tall, or 13 feet tall, does not matter. What matters is our believing, our willingness to take believing actions! Trust God!

God loves us. Therefore he sets us apart, hedges us around with His protection. Remember that! Because He first loves us, we love him back. So, don’t let iniquity – sin – win. Don’t let your love for God grow cold.

King James Version (KJV) - Matthew 24:12, 37-39 - "¹² And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. ... ³⁷ But as the days of Noe [Noah] were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ³⁸ For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, ³⁹ And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

Young's Literal Translation (YLT) - Matthew 24:12, 37-39 - " ¹² and because of the abounding of the lawlessness, the love of the many shall become cold; ... ³⁷ and as the days of Noah -- so shall be also the presence of the Son of Man; ³⁸ for as they were, in the days before the flood, eating, and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, till the day Noah entered into the ark, ³⁹ and they did not know till the flood came and took all away; so shall be also the presence of the Son of Man."

When things look black, remember the Hope! Things always look darkest just before the dawn. Remember the second coming of the Son of Man, our redeemer. When we let ourselves forget God’s promises, when we let our faith grow cold, then we begin to let the Adversary win. We need to remember to believe. Have the faith of a child like David. Or the believing of young Caleb. We’re never too old, or too young, to believe! For whosoever calls upon the name of our risen Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, is saved from whatever assails him or her.

KJV Romans 10:11-13 - "¹¹ For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. ¹² For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. ¹³ For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."