Who were the Nephilim?
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
Genesis 6:4
This story in Genesis 6 might sound like something right out of a science fiction movie. Prior to God directing Noah to build the ark, the earth became populated and wicked. It states in verse two that “sons of God” were attracted to human women and then married them. As a result of the intermarrying (the verse above), their offspring apparently became warrior giants.
First, who were the “sons of God”? This Hebrew phrase is also used in Job 1:6, and is interchanged with the word, “angels”. Satan and the fallen angels presented themselves to God after they had been “roaming throughout the earth”. Thereafter, they began to make Job’s life a living Hell with God’s permission. This was to prove Job’s unshakeable faith in God.
“Sons of God” can also be found in Psalm 29:1: “Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings (or mighty ones or sons of God), ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.”
The only other place that the word “Nephilim” is used is in Numbers 13:33: “We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” If taken literally, these descendants of Nephilim were rather tall. It would seem in the passage, however, that this word might have been used as an exaggeration due to the people’s fear of them.
Most of the oldest translations of this word, Nephilim, mean “giants” or “fallen ones”. Regardless, one could easily conclude that the Nephilim were all killed during the great flood, and perhaps were one of the main reasons God brought about this complete destruction of the earth. If Numbers 13 is literal, then the “sons of God” may have been allowed to lie with human women after the flood. If these actually were a race of half man/half fallen angel, and evil giants at that, imagine the harm they would have brought!
We still battle against Satan and his fallen angels today:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,
against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 6:12