Psalm 136:19-20

Psalm 136:19-20

Removing the nephilim

The Amorite kings were Sihon and Og, (king of Bashan) and you may remember that it was Moses who defeated these two when he led the Israelites up the eastern border of the River Jordan, thus clearing the way for those tribes who would inhabit the eastern lands, namely Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh. (Numbers 21:21-25) Various Scriptures, including  Deuteronomy 2:24-37, 3:1-11 and Amos 2:9-10, describe these events showing that they had considerable significance in Israel’s history. 

This was not just a battle for land, it was a conflict between YAHWEH and other gods! Bashan (fertile land) was considered to be a pagan place. In ancient Mesopotamian writings it was ruled over by divine but dead warrior kings who inhabited the underworld! In that language it was called “Bathan” which means serpent. The ancient people called Bathan “the gates of hell.” In later times, one of its cities, Caesarea Philippi, was devoted to the god Pan and housed Roman and Greek temples, Jesus took His disciples there and the story is worth is read! (Matthew 16:13-23) Mount Hermon dominates this area; it is a mountain range stretching between Israel and Lebanon and in the book of Enoch this is where the sons of God descended and cohabited with human women! It was here that King Og ruled. 

The purpose of this total destruction was not Israeli blood lust or the judgement of a bloodthirsty God; it was to eradicate the Nephilim or their descendants! The Hebrew word is “kherem” which is the same root word that is translated “Hermon” which means “devoted to destruction.” The Nephilim bloodlines were not like the disinherited nations; they had a different pedigree. It was believed that they were produced by other divine beings as Genesis 6 tells us! They did not belong to YAHWEH and they had no place on His earth, He would not allow co-existence with the spawn of other gods. The kherem continued under Joshua and the target of the destruction was the Anakim – the descendants of the Nephilim. (Joshua 11:21-23.)

Ridding the land of the Nephilim bloodlines was the motivation for all that happened in Canaan in the next few years. It was their descendants that were to be eliminated, not the Canaanites. How tall were these giants? The only measurement is of one of their descendants still left standing when David came to rule. The Hebrew measurement of his height is 9ft 9inches. The Dead Sea scrolls / Septuagint records 6ft 6inches, that was at a time when the average height was 5 ft.  David’s first job was to kill one of these last surviving giants whose name was Goliath! 

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