Light of Christ Truth

Is the Old Testament God a God of Love?

 

Jesus believed that the Old Testament was divinely inspired. He often referred to the Old Testament scripture and quoted scripture to his disciples, the Pharisees and others. Yet some Christians have difficulty in reconciling the God of the Old Testament with the God of New Testament, thinking, “The God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath while the God of the New Testament is a God of love", thus saying they cannot be the same God.

Atheists, agnostics and humanists are fond of hurling at defenders of the authority of the Bible that the God of the Old Testament is violent and cruel, and that since Jesus supported this "God" of the Old Testament, then anyone who believes in this "God" and Jesus are ignorant, and at best, brainwashed. Richard Dawkins, in his book, “The God Delusion” (2008), describes the God of the Old Testament as “arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction" and then goes on to label God with more than a dozen atrocious labels. There is no doubt he is an atheist and is about to make a case against God, but he hits a nerve with some Christians who cannot reconcile why God appeared as angry and judgmental in the Old Testament and then through Jesus is a loving and merciful God.

The Bible is God’s progressive revelation of Himself to us through historical events and through His relationship with people throughout history. It is an amazing book and there is no other like it on the planet. It is a collection of sixty-six individual books written on possibly three continents, in three different languages, by forty different authors over a period of approximately 1500 years, containing many different styles of writing such as poetry, narration, history, law, and prophecy, and must be interpreted in the context of those styles. Yet the Bible remains one unified book from beginning to end.

Is the Bible factual?
Not according to a lot of scholars and the archaeological evidence collected so far. A lot of scholars believe the long oral traditions of the Old Testament over time were embellished upon with the goal to unite the Israelites as a nation. While archaeologists have not found any evidence that the Patriarch Abraham ever existed, scholars generally agree we most likely will never have any external evidence because this time of Abraham was at the dawn of written history, when the archaeological evidence can't easily be correlated with any external evidence. Yet do we need evidence to believe? God has inspired the writers, translators and the people who put together the Bible to give us what we need. The factual data is not as important as what message the stories bring to those who have faith and look to the Bible for inspiration and the message behind the stories, poems, prophecy or history related within it.

As far as the accuracy of today’s Old Testament, it was confirmed in 1947 when archaeologists found “The Dead Sea Scrolls”. "The Dead Sea Scrolls" contained Old Testament scripture dating 1,000 years older than any manuscripts we had. When comparing the manuscripts we had with these from 1,000 years earlier, we find agreement 99.5% of the time. And the .5% differences are minor spelling variances and sentence structure that doesn't change the meaning of the sentence.

What Is the major theme of the Bible?
Some would say sin and redemption, God's Kingdom, or Salvation, which are all true, but few see the major theme as God's purpose for the universe, which goes far beyond the view of a man-centered focus and his salvation, although that is very important. The main message throughout the sixty-six books in the Bible is: God’s plan to establish His people and the Kingdom of God in His Creation.

The overall message throughout the Bible is that God created the universe and expressly put man in it to rule. Then Satan falls and leads man away from his proper rulership and unity with his Creator to establish the Kingdom. God has a plan to redeem fallen man and the Kingdom, sending His Son to take on the sins of the world. Satan works against that plan attempting to thrwart the birth of Christ. Yet Christ is born and remains sinless throughout His life. Satan appears to win by killing Christ Jesus, but God's plan is the resurrection and ascension. Consequently, man is redeemed and Satan has only a certain amount of time left until his final judgment with the Second Coming, whereby a new Kingdom of God is established forever.

The Bible begins with Genesis and God's creation of the universe. God separates light and darkness, creates the day and night, planets and stars, and much more, and then He creates man in His image and likeness. God is a transcendent Being. Since transcend means to "go beyond the limits of something", God is beyond the limits of His creation, meaning that God exists above and independent from time and space and all matter. The apostle John, writing under God’s inspiration, recites what was in the beginning before Genesis 1. He states: “In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:1-3). From John's inspiration we realize the Word is the Lord Jesus Christ, who was with God in the beginning and through the Word, the Logos, all things were made.

Angels are also transcendent spirits, as they exist outside of time and space. The Bible does not give any clear description of when the angels were created, although scholars believe that the book of Job might give a clue. In Job 38:4, we read, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth… when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” It seems likely that these words "sons of God" refer to angels since there was no man created as yet. If they were singing for joy at the foundation of the Earth, then they possibly saw most of creation happen. 

In the creation story, the one Triune God, after creating the heaven and earth announces about His creation, "it was good". Creation appears to have gone well. And then the angelic rebellion happens. We don't find the story of why they fell in Genesis, but we can deduce that it most likely happened at around the time just before man was created. Luke records Jesus as saying, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18), where Jesus is reminding His disciples that their victory over Satan was not so surprising to Him because He had seen Satan's fall. Where does Satan fall to? To the earth where he wrecks havoc with God's creation: man.

Satan had been roaming the earth when the Lord asked him in front of the angels so they would hear what he had been doing, "Where have you come from?" (Job 1:7) Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, "From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."  Satan is not "reserved in everlasting chains under darkness to the judgment of the last day" (Jude 1:6) like the other fallen angels. He has access to the whole earth as he searches t continually, as St. Peter says, "like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8). The Bible relates many stories over many ages where Satan brings conflict, destroys harmony and incites wars and immorality, along with the worship of many gods in order to thwart God’s plan of creation and redemption for humanity.

The idea that there is a fallen angel named "Lucifer" or that Satan is Lucifer is incorrect. The confusion lies with the translations. Lucifer is not a proper name, but is the Latin word for ‘morning star’ or ‘day star.’ The KJV simply reproduced the Latin (Lucifer) in Isa. 14:12 because they were not sure what the Hebrew word meant. In places where they were not sure what the Greek or Hebrew meant, they simply translated or reproduced verbatim the Latin text. Other translations use "morning star" or "day star". Biblical scholars generally agree that the initial reference of ‘morning star’ is not to the devil but to the Babylonian king, although there is a secondary meaning believed as well, relating to the devil.

Satan is also called the devil, in 1 John 3:8: "He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." Satan is also identified as the Serpent in the Garden, and in Revelation he is the "Great Red Dragon". Our main understanding of the fall of Satan comes from Revelation 12:7-9 where the dragon is cast out of heaven by Archangel Michael, along with a third of the angels in heaven. This would be a catastrophic event for creation. While there is no description as to why Satan rebelled it is theorized that his rebellion was due to pride. Possibly he saw himself as equal to God or wanted to be lord over God's creation, and that was not in God's plan.

Now sin has entered the earth, and in God's creation, man, who is made in His own image. God has given man the earth and all therein to have reign over, but not unmitigated reign, there are guidelines that if not followed can wreck havoc in mankind's rulership. As the allegorical story of Adam and Eve unfold, they break God's conditional promises to them and disobey His commands that He established for their rulership in what they have been given to rule, and consequently, they lose His gift of immortality. Satan, as the Serpent, leads them into sin and that sin continues through their seed. Without God's intercession, mankind is doomed to a spiritual death. Yet God did not abandon humanity on its course to destruction. He sends the promised Savior as an example of a true man of Righteousness, who not only resists Satan, but causes him to flee. (Matt. 4:1-11)

In a short time the Savior is unjustly put to death, and it appears Satan has won, but God's plan was victory over death, and through Christ's resurrection Satan is defeated. Even though Satan knows the death knell is near, he will continue to roam the earth in his last attempts to bring as many souls down with him as he can. But with Jesus the Christ in the hearts and lives of men he cannot harm them, unless he can—through devious ways—lead them away from Christ. Things will only get worse as evil enslaves the world in the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21) until the final battle is won in the second coming of Jesus Christ. Christ returns to earth as the victor, triumphant over Satan and his armies, and God’s Kingdom is established for all eternity.

The First Covenants
Although some scholars doubt whether there was a covenant with Adam, there appears to be good reason for seeing a covenant at creation as all the elements of a covenant relationship are present. Therefore the first covenant (Edenic) was between Adam and God: "And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:15-17).

Adam was beside Eve when she partook of the forbidden fruit and not only did Adam not protect and guard Eve from the Serpent's wiles, he ate of the same fruit himself. After Adam broke God’s initial covenant and fell, God made a specific covenant as to what conditions would be like for man and how He would restore creation. The Adamic covenant involved God, Adam, Eve, and the serpent. (Genesis 3:15-19) Adam and Eve are then both banned from the Land and God said to Adam, "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return. This could mean that before Adam's sin man was not to die a physical death, but then sin came upon all men, and all mankind thereafter die a physical death.

To Eve God said, “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.”  And to the Serpent, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel".

In God's judgment He will create an ongoing conflict between the seed of woman and the Serpent/Satan. Yet He is promising to provide a “seed” that will do the crushing of the serpent. God is going to provide a means of restoration. The ultimate seed of the woman would be Jesus Himself. Therefore, we have the first promise of a Redeemer. It is the beginning of a long line of prophecies concerning the coming Messiah.

It does not take long before there is a division of so-called "good and evil" people. Adam and Eve bear two sons, Cain and Abel. In time Cain kills his brother, thereby introducing another evil that was different from Adam and Eve's. Their sin was disobedience possibly caused by ignorance. Cain's sin was murder, and then he lies to God. But preceding these sins was that he was selfish. Abel offered his firstborn lamb to God, a truly big sacrifice. Cain offered vegetables. Well, you can always grow more vegetables, but can you create a lamb? Cain was jealous of Abel's offering being accepted by God, thereby his jealousy was another sin.

Cain is kept on earth by God to suffer the consequences of his sin. He goes on to have sons and one of them is Lamech, whose words are recorded in Genesis 4:23-24, where he tells his wives that he has slain a man. All the sons of Cain were successful in the world. Tubal-cain had invented metal smelting and possibly weapons. Cain's Enoch built a city, and possibly why Seth named one of his sons Enoch. With all the material success of Cain's family, side by side with that progress was moral degradation. Lamech speaks of Cain's own act, not as a sin to be ashamed of, but as a deed of ancient heroism, yet not comparable, however, with the glory of Lamech, who threatens not only a "seventy-sevenfold" vengeance, but "seventy times seven." It could be why Jesus later said to forgive not just, "Until seven times," but, "Until seventy times seven"' (Matt. 18:21-22).

Who Were the 'Sons of God' in Genesis 6
Then another sin was occurring on earth. "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 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. 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." (Gen. 6:1-4).

Scholars and theologians have two main views as to who the 'sons of God' are. When defining an unusual word or phrase, you look within the Bible to see how the Bible uses the word elsewhere. In Genesis 4:25 Seth was regarded by his mother as a son of God, although she only says that God has given her another offspring or seed. Thus one theory is that the sons of God were men of God. In the City of God, Saint Augustine (354—430 A.D.) taught that the “sons of God” in Genesis 6 were simply human ancestors of Seth and that they bred with the evil daughters of men/Cain.

The other view is that the sons of God were fallen angels who mated with the women of the earth. This expression is applied to angels in Job 38:7, as referenced earlier, as well as in Job 1:6. "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them." Scholars are mostly in agreement that these 'sons of God' were angels, and some Bible translations have 'angels' here instead of 'sons of God'.

Jude writes of “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.” (Jude 6). These angels are not the original angels who fell with Satan, but another class of angels who chose to "leave their first estate" and intermingle with earth beings. Jude continues, "Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh."

Many of the Apostolic Fathers and early Christian theologians believed they were angels mating with women: Justin Martyr, Tatian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Tertullian, Irenaeus, Athenagoras, Commodianus, and Ambrose of Milan. But after St. Augustine most theologians in the Christian West abandoned this theory. It’s notable, however, that Augustine's mentor, Saint Ambrose, believed that the “sons of God” were in fact angels. It seems the things that do not add up in the Genesis account are covered up by man’s mental creations about those events. Regardless of which theory prevails, the evil indicated is that through these marriages and the resultant offspring, as well as basing a marriage on such things as beauty and lust without regard to spiritual character, is wrong in the eyes of God.

As one eighteenth century minister wrote, "In all ages there has been a peculiar curse of God upon marriages between professors of true religion and its avowed enemies. The evil example of the ungodly party corrupts or greatly hurts the other. Family religion is put an end to, and the children are trained up according to the worldly maxims of that parent who is without the fear of God. If we profess to be the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, we must not marry without his consent. He will never give his blessing, if we prefer beauty, wit, wealth, or worldly honours, to faith and holiness." 

Creation of the Nephilim
The outcome of these marriages with the women of earth were the Nephilim. Who or what were the Nephilim? Genesis shares that wickedness followed the offspring of these ungodly marriages.

"There were giants (Hebrew: Nephilim) 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. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them." (Gen. 6:4-7).

The earth had become corrupt and filled with violence, uncleanness and idolatry, and corrupt with fornication and adultery and other crimes against God. And to top it all off they were without fear of God, doing what was right in their own eyes and even in contempt of Him.

While the word Nephilim is not found in the KJV or most other English Bible translations, it does appear in the original Hebrew of the Old Testament. The Hebrew word Nephilim or gigantes (giants) in Latin and Greek, is defined as someone who is a feller, meaning a person who is a tyrant or bully. The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Definitions reference simply translates the word as "giants." It appears once more in the book of Numbers.

And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight (Num. 13:33, KJV).

Giants did indeed exist before and after Noah's flood. These large people were especially abundant when mankind on earth were multiplying rapidly prior to the Flood.  Given the extremely long lifespans prior to the Flood, some estimate the population of the earth could have been over one billion. The Nephilim (giants), were identified by various names in the Bible including sons of Rapha, Rephaim, Anakites, and Anakim (KJV). For example:

"The Emim had dwelt there in times past, a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. They were also regarded as giants [Hebrew rephaim], like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim" (Deu. 2:10-11).

"Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath. Also it was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt, and led you forty years through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite" (Amos 2:9–10).

"For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the giants [rephaim]. Indeed his bedstead was an iron bedstead. Nine cubits is its length and four cubits its width, according to the standard cubit" (Deuteronomy 3:11).

Og is the largest giant we have details for in the Bible—his bed was 13.5 feet long, meaning Og was himself would have been 13 feet tall. Other cultures mention giants in their stories. Greek and Roman mythology mentions the Titans, Kyklopes (Cyclops), and several other giants. The Middle Eastern and Mesopotamian cultures have the Anakim (anunnaki) and Rephaim described as having descended from giant Nephilim forebears. But these records are not limited to European mythologies or only to the ancient past. African and Asian peoples also have legends of giants, as do Native Americans. For example, in his autobiography (published 1920), “Buffalo” Bill Cody wrote the following words about a legend recounted to him by members of the Sioux tribe, not only about the giants, but about their demise in a great flood.

It was taught by the wise men of this tribe that the earth was originally peopled by giants, who were fully three times the size of modern men. They were so swift and powerful that they could run alongside a buffalo, take the animal under one arm, and tear off a leg, and eat it as they ran. So vainglorious were they because of their own size and strength that they denied the existence of a Creator. When it lighted, they proclaimed their superiority to the lightning; when it thundered, they laughed.

This displeased the Great Spirit, and to rebuke their arrogance he sent a great rain upon the earth. The valleys filled with water, and the giants retreated to the hills. The water crept up the hills, and the giants sought safety on the highest mountains. Still the rain continued, the waters rose, and the giants, having no other refuge, were drowned.

The Dead Sea Scrolls contain ten copies of the Book of Giants, a pre-flood narrative that was received primarily in Manichaean literature, and tells the background and fate of the Nephilim. This theology was an important part of the theology of the Second Temple Judaism. There are several references to apocryphal books (not part of the accepted canon of Scripture) throughout the Old and New Testaments.

Another book is the Book of Enoch, (aka 1 Enoch) which is listed among the apocryphal texts, was written in Hebrew about a century before Christ. It was considered as Scripture by many early Christians. Some of the earliest literature from those considered to be Church Fathers has references to this book, on through the second and third century Church Fathers: Origin, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr and Clement of Alexandria. Tertullian (160-230 C.E) was in favor of ranking the book as Holy Scripture, and the book became a part of the official canon of the Ethiopic Church. It was widely known and read the first three centuries after Christ. 

The premise of the Book of Enoch is that fallen angels, called "Watchers", took on human bodies to fulfill their lust for the “daughters of men”, who then gave birth to a race of wicked giants. The book is a collection of revelations regarding divine judgment after the giants lay waste to the earth and humanity, resulting in the occasion for the flood, in which they are destroyed. But once their demonic spirits are released from their dead bodies, these demons wreak havoc in the world until the end time of judgment.

Saint Jude (Jude 1:14-15) directly quotes from this non-biblical document:

It was also about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying: “Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment on all and to convict everyone of all the deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

From 1 Enoch 1:9:

Behold, he comes with ten thousand saints to execute judgment upon all, and he will destroy all the ungodly and convict all flesh of all the deeds of their ungodliness that they have ungodly committed in an ungodly way, and of all the arrogant and hard words which sinners have spoken against him.

Another verse that references these fallen angels who mated with the daughters of men is in 2 Peter 2:4:

For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into Tartaros and committed them to chains of deepest darkness to be kept until the judgment;

The word "Tartarus," is not found in any other of the sacred writings so scholars have gone to other literature. In Homer, Hades is the place of confinement of dead men, and Tartarus is the name given to a murky abyss beneath Hades. The chains of darkness is figurative, darkness symbolizing their separation from God. The fallen angels are not being punished now, but they are reserved until the day of judgment.

God's Judgment - Mixing Genetic Codes
The reason many cannot accept the idea of angels breeding with earthly women is because Jesus told his disciples after his resurrection, "spirit does not have flesh and bones", (Luke 24:39) meaning he was really in the flesh showing them his wounds in his hands and feet. Again, in Matthew 22:30, the verse states that angels, "neither marry, nor are given in marriage", but this verse pertains specifically to the angels of heaven. The angels who came down to earth remained until they were taken to "Tartarus" as explained above. Angels were made to reside in the "2nd heaven" from where they have spiritual (divine) influence upon humans. From that place they can also enter human form through spiritual powers.

In Genesis 19 two angels appear in Sodom, where then Lot invites them into his house and feeds them. Later, the men of Sodom come to Lot's house saying, "Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them." The meaning is they want to have sexual relations with the angelic men. In Genesis 32-33 Jacob wrestles with an angel all night. Then in Acts 5:10 an angel opens a prison door to free the apostles. In modern times stories abound where angels have appeared physically, as like ordinary men, and have rescued people. Undoubtedly, angels can choose to be physically present in the world. Yet these fallen angels who mated with women stepped across the boundaries of what angels are allowed to do with humankind. Devils or demons can also inhabit form through compromised humans, and perform all manner of acts that defy physics. And one of their sources, as per 1 Enoch, is the fallen angels. Once taking possession they can manipulate that human form and take over the mind and soul.

Another connection in Scriptures to the angels being able to have sexual relations with those of earth is the use of the word "folly". Eliphaz the Temanite, one of Job’s friends is consoling Job over the loss of his sons in a Satanically empowered wind storm, whereupon he shares a Divine vision he had. At the end of his vision he states, "Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?  Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly" (Job 4:13-18). The word “folly” is used in the Old Testament in other places to describe sexual sin where men have raped women. (2 Samuel 13 and Genesis 34:1-7) In this following verse, a woman has been a whore. "Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore in her father’s house: so shalt thou put evil away from among you" (Deuteronomy 22:21).

In Genesis 6:4 the Nephilim/giants “became mighty men which were of old, men of renown". The Hebrew words of "men of renown" mean these men are legendary, mortals of great feats whose names are known. These Nephilim made a name for themselves terrorizing the countryside. They were evil and wicked and caused violence and sinning. They also corrupted the seed of God through Adam. After the explanation of the creation of the Nephilim in Genesis 6, "the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them" (Gen. 6:7), and God instructs Noah to build an ark. Not Seth's seed, nor Cain's seed are chosen by God to be saved, except Noah and a few of his family. All the rest of the inhabitants of the earth are contaminated by Satan's wickedness, his seed and the fallen angel/sons of God seed.

God is not an "angry God" unjustly killing all life for no reason, although we cannot speak for God, but God's inspired Word through the Bible can help us understand—as with the main theme of the Bible mentioned earlier—to give us the understanding that redeeming mankind through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was important. If the Sons of God that mated with the daughters of men were of Seth's generation why would their procreation with Canaan's descendants who were of a different religious view produce unnatural offspring? It was this unnatural procreation and the resulting abnormal creatures that were designated as a principal reason for the judgment of the Flood, the Flood then would be God’s way of preserving the human race and its bloodline, before it became completely corrupted by the Nephilim giants. Noah was chosen by God to carry on with the seed of Adam after the Flood because he was a believer in God. "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God" (Gen. 6:8-9). He was “perfect in his generations” meaning that his genetic bloodline and ancestry was 100% human.

The Flood would have served the purpose of destroying the Nephilim giants and saving humanity from certain destruction. Yet the Nephilim or some kind of giant men return after the Flood. "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.13:33). If these Nephilim were the same pre-flood giants there are several theories postulated as to how they could have remained. One is that the Flood wasn't a worldwide flood and thus some Nephilim survived. The other theory is that one of Noah's sons or daughter-in-laws carried the Nephilim seed within them. Since the fallen angels were already imprisoned in darkness by God, they could not have continued to mate with human women.

Why were the animals destroyed in the Flood as well? Noah is told by God to bring two of each animal aboard the ark "after his/their kind".

But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. (Genesis 6:18-20)

The Ancient Book of Jasher is referenced in Joshua 10:13; 2 Samuel 1:18; and 2 Timothy 3:8. The  Biblical meaning of the name Jasher is: Righteous, upright. The Book of Jasher is also known as the “Book of the Upright One” in the Greek Septuagint and the “Book of the Just Ones” in the Latin Vulgate. While there a few translations, some defintely known to be fradulent copies, there is one copy published 1840 from a copy of the 1625 Hebrew edition that some believe is authentic, although it is not believed to be an authentic copy of the book in rabbinical Judaism.

The Book of Jasher relates that man began mixing different kinds of animals together. Consequently, if this book has any truth to it, not only the genes of man were tainted, but the animals as well:

And their judges and rulers went to the daughters of men and took their wives by force from their husbands according to their choice, and the sons of men in those days took from the cattle of the earth, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and taught the mixture of animals of one species with the other, in order therewith to provoke [Yahuwah]; and [Elohim] saw the whole earth and it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon earth, all men and all animals. (Jasher 4:18)

Greek mythology is literally loaded with animal-human hybrids such as the Centaurs, Minotaurs, Satyrs, etc.. In other ancient cultures there are legends of creatures like Pegasus, Griffins and Unicorns. Scripture has mention of some these creatures in at least ten verses in different chapters. For example:

"The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest" (Isaiah 34:14).

and

"His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns" (Deuteronomy 33:17).

After the Flood God commanded the destruction of the Canaanite nations. Canaanites specifically refers to the people of the lowlands and plains of Canaan such as in Joshua 11:3; while in other passages, Canaanites is used more broadly to refer to all the inhabitants of the land, including the Hivites, Girgashites, Jebusites, Amorites, Hittites, and Perizzites. The Canaanites were a wicked, idolatrous people that descended from Noah’s grandson Canaan, who was a son of Ham. In the story in Genesis 9:18-25 Ham finds his father passed out from wine and naked. Rather than cover his father up he told his brothers of what he had seen. Because this is mentioned in the Bible it has great significance, especially with the curse put on Ham's son, Canaan, and his genetic line. Possibly in what Ham did he brought shame to the entire family or he tried to seize the leadership of the family. In ancient Hebrew when one speaks of a man’s nakedness it is referring to sexual intercourse with the man’s wife. The consequence would be Canaan was conceived by incest. Yet whatever the cause of Ham's sin, it was a grave sin against Noah and the wicked Canaanites were the result.

The mixture of the genetic code of mankind was contrary to God's plan for humanity. In the beginning man was created in God's image. After the original sin God promised to send a seed of woman that will crush the head of the serpent. God is going to provide a means of restoration that would redeem mankind. The Serpent/Satan, knowing God is going to send a seed is not going to idly stand by and do nothing to stop that development. Satan actually believed he was in some way equal to or as powerful as God. Thus Satan and the fallen angels infected that seed. If left unchecked, this genetic contamination would have become so pervasive that it would have made it impossible for the Messiah to be born pure and without blemish. The Nephilim should never have come into existence and had to be destroyed. If God had not send the Flood, and again by way of Israel's sword to the Canaanite nations in killing every man, woman and child, as well as their beasts, all bloodlines would ultimately have become contaminated with the Nephilim genes or other genetic manipulations. All hope of salvation through the promised Messiah would have been lost. Without this understanding, the Old Testament looks genocidal for no apparent reason.

Today this intermingling can be seen (beyond actual possession) as well through that same manipulation of the genetic code of animal and man. God gave mankind dominion over the earth and all living things. This is the great divide today between good and evil. From scientists to farmers, there is a drive to create, destroy or manipulate life for one's own greed and lust for money, power or control. This is not part of God's plan. Man has come to believe that he can substitute himself as god without any need of a connection to the Creator, even to creating babies in test tubes or cloning life. Killing unborn babies is legal simply by calling them a fetus. Purifying the actions of mankind and the renewal of the face of the earth itself is impossible without God in the picture. God's Will has never changed for His creation, that His will is done on earth as it is in heaven.

Many Christians believe we are in the end times. It is not hard to imagine as we look around civilization. The Bible teaches that societies will degenerate in the end times, becoming as evil as it was in the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37-39). The Apostle Paul, speaking as a prophet said, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away" (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

Whether we are near the end times or not, our responsibility is to follow in Christ's footsteps, and put on the whole armour of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. We need to pray, to follow God's will and to serve God's plan as best we can by remaining pure in heart, mind and soul, while giving our lives in service and praise to God. It is not that hard if we determine to just do it!

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For more enlightening information on the sons of God; the lesser elohim (not God Elohim); and the pre-incarnate Christ in the Old Testament see Old Testament Surprising Insights.