Amazing Little-Known Facts From The Bible

A "Did you know?" section to point out some amazing Biblical facts that are rarely mentioned in churches.

CONTENT

Paul Went to Heaven During the Flash of Light
Is John 3:13 Conflicting with Other Scripture about People who Went to Heaven?
What Was the Transfiguration All About?
What Happened to the People who were Raised to Life When Jesus Died on the Cross and the Tombs Broke Open?
There Will Be a Sea in the New Earth!
Old Biblical Generations Lived to be 100s of Years Old! How was that Possible? And What Did They Look Like?
The Old Testament Prophet Elisha Performed Some of the Same Miracles as Jesus
No Marriage in Heaven
Those Who Truly Love God are Blessed to a Thousand Generations
An Amazing Story About Elijah
Who were the Nephilim in the Bible, Misinterpreted as Giants?

1. Paul Went to Heaven During the Flash of Light

2 Corinthians 12:2-4 ESV

I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows - and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.

This was Paul talking about himself. He used the term "I know a man", but he meant to hint about himself. He said "fourteen years ago..." That was the time when he saw the flash of light on the way to Damascus.

How can we be sure Paul was talking about himself? He gave a bunch of hints in the verses to follow:

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭12‬:‭5-7 ESV‬

On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses - though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.”

Hints like, "if I boast I have to tell the truth, but I don't want you to think more of me because of it...". And "I was given a thorn in the flesh to keep me from becoming conceited from all the greatness of revelations!!" Which revelations? The ones he saw in heaven!

This revelation from Paul about going to heaven and back at the time of the flash, can be interpreted in plain words as: Jesus told Paul to "step into His office" for a moment. Then He briefed him on the situation and let him know He was the Messiah. Then Paul who was a devout Jew, and wholeheartedly awaiting the coming of the Messiah, believed. Paul made a U-turn and went from persecuting and killing the Christians, to becoming one of the strongest Christian believers of those days. Then he went on to write most of the letters in the New Testament, i.e., the book of Romans and after.

A side note, John 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven, except He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. But Paul's experience happened after John's statement. So, not likely a contradiction.

2. Is John 3:13 Conflicting with These?

Enoch was Taken By God
Elijah Went Up to Heaven in a Whirlwind
Paul was Caught Up to 3rd Heaven
Thief on the Cross

John 3:13: John 3:13 No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven

Enoch was taken by God: Genesis 5:24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind: 2Kings 2:11 … Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.

Paul was caught up to 3rd heaven: 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven

The thief on the cross: Luke 23:43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

No, not conflicting.

Summary: From the view of a "true believer" who dies, he/she will fast-forward to the rapture in an instant, and become caught up with Jesus in the clouds. This is because death means we exit the earthly time-dimension and instantly wake up at rapture, as Paul said above.

From the scripture, we know of two ways our life could end:

- Die (all people on earth except 2)

- Be taken by God (Enoch and Elijah, so far)

A person's life ending (either method) does not mean they went to heaven. The Bible explains in many places that a person's life ending on earth means:

The person exited time - Exited the earthly time dimension.

Being outside of time, the dead (or the taken) fast-forward to the Rapture (or to Judgement Day for unbelievers). The Apostle Paul said, 1 Corinthians 15:51 "... we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet." And this is what happens to both the taken and the true believers who died.

My other two articles explain this in more detail: What Happens to Us when we Die, and End Times.

Side notes, in the Elijah case it said "went up to heaven in a whirlwind", but this actually meant he went up towards the sky. Because in Biblical terms and in those days, "sky" and "heaven" as a location up there, were synonymous. And in the case of Paul, he did not die. He just had that experience that he described, as detailed in Section 1 above.

I believe the main message of Enoch and Elijah being taken body and soul, is that they did not experience death. With the stigma associated with death that people fear, God for His reasons granted those 2 people the gift of avoiding it. But the end result is the same as true believers who died. What God did with the bodies of the 2 is His business, but I would not assume they became seated at the right hand of God for example, as Jesus is today. Because the Bible did not elaborate any further.

Here's what the Bible said about God's place today:

Timothy 6:15-16 …the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see...

Of course it will change at the end, after judgement day, to the "new heaven" and "new earth", where God will live among us, and where we and Enoch and Elijah will be.

Therefore, John 3:13 No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven, is valid and is unrelated to any of these five case. Enoch and Elijah taken, although from their perspective where taken, they instantly appeared with Christ at the Rapture, from our perspective (those living on earth today) they are in God's hand awaiting the rapture.

If we want to assume that Enoch and Elijah went to heaven, then why not Moses too, and Daniel and King David and the disciple Jesus loved, and many others. Are Enoch and Elijah better/greater than them?!

3. What Was the Transfiguration All About?

Relying on the wisdom God gave me from many years of diligently seeking Him in the Bible, my view of this is that God opened a window into the far future, a time after judgement day. God who is outside our time dimension, showed this from His realm, likely after "the new heaven and new earth" time. God opened that window briefly, the disciples saw Moses, Elijah, and Jesus talking. Then the window closed:

Matthew 17:1-8

Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

Clarifying the point I'm trying to make. Some people think because Moses and Elijah were seen alive at that time, that it actually means they are alive right now in our time dimension, and that people can pray to them, and to others like Mary and saints. But the biblical reality is, they are alive from God's view, outside of our time dimension. From our view, still before judgement day, all humans who died are currently dead and cannot hear any prayers. We will all rise together at the same time at the trumpet sound of God's angel, at the rapture. The Bible says the only human alive today and can see and hear, is Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of God the Father.

4. What Happened to the People who were "Raised to Life" When Jesus Died on the Cross and the Tombs Broke Open?

This Bible reference from Matthew talks about tombs that opened at the time of Jesus' death on the cross. It is indeed a mysterious reference with no further elaboration in the Bible about what happened to those people afterwards. So I thought to provide my view on this.

Matthew 27:50-53

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

First note that the reference says the tombs opened at the earthquake of Jesus' death, but the people came out of the tombs later, after Jesus' resurrection. Which was meant to show the magnificence of Jesus' resurrection to life, causing supernatural events around the area. Although no further information was provided on these people, we can use similar situations in the scripture to explain, example Lazarus who was raised from the dead by Jesus. Obviously, the Bible only talked about Jesus as the only "first-fruit" who was resurrected to everlasting life and ascended bodily into heaven. There was no mention of others that ascended bodily to heaven. So we can only conclude that these people here in this reference, and all others that Jesus and prophets raised from the dead, lived their life on earth to old age like all other people, then died a natural death later.

Again, similar to the Transfiguration description above, this Bible reference is also causing some people to think that there are "dead saints" who are actually alive in heaven today, and that they can pray to them, like to Mary and other saints. But no human is alive today in heaven except Jesus. The devil uses this gray area, which is difficult to understand, to blind people and keep them away from the truth, and keep them on their way to hell with him!

5. There Will Be a Sea in the New Earth!

You may have noticed this reference in Revelation saying there will not be a sea in the new earth. But I think there will be a sea! The Bible often used the term "sea" to mean pagan / unbelieving parts of the world. Example in Revelation-13 talking about the dragon coming out of the "sea"... So obviously in the new earth these unbelieving parts will not be there. But an actual sea and oceans, will most likely be there. What did you think? that the new earth will be a downgrade of the current earth? without seas and oceans? No!! the new earth will be more magnificent than we can possibly imagine.

Revelation 21:1

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

6. Old Biblical Generations Lived to be 100s of Years Old! How was that Possible? And What Did They Look Like?

Adam died at age 930

Adam and several generations after him lived hundreds of years. In those days, before the Noah flood, the average age was 900 years old. Adam lived to age 930 years. The Bible does not tell us at what age Eve died. The winner of the oldest person in those days, was Methuselah; died at the young age of 969! Methuselah was the son of Enoch who did not die! The Bible said Enoch just disappeared one day, that God loved him so much He just took him without death. Enoch was one of 2 people on earth to experience this. The other person was Elijah.

One possible explanation to the long years, Adam and Eve ate from the tree of life in the garden. Genesis 3:22: "Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”.
Another possible explanation is, as the first human couple created by God, Adam and Eve were created without sin. In this state of perfection, they were meant to live forever in paradise on earth. But after the fall and the introduction of sin, death began to exert its destructive influence on humankind (Romans 5:12).

Noah died at age 777. After the flood, the average human life span began to shrink drastically. The post-flood people from Noah’s son Shem (who died at 600) to Peleg (who died at 239) lived an average of 435 years. By Abraham’s time, humans were living less than 200 years. Then later, Moses was considered very old when he died at 120.

So what did these people look like, say in their midlife around the age of 450? The Bible did not tell us. But for us curious people, I have done some extrapolating from the Biblical information on Sarah (Abraham's wife) below.

6.1 Sarah Was Stunningly Beautiful at Age 65 and Had a Baby at Age 90

The Bible says Sarah, Abraham's wife, was "stunningly beautiful" at age 65, and conceived Isaac at 90. Sarah died at age 127. So 65 was about mid-life age for her, compared to a 38-year old person today (using today's average lifespan of 77). So if we do the extrapolation math, a 450-year old person in the days of Adam may have looked like a 38 year-old person today. It was a much slower aging process. The same amount of aging we do in 10 years today for example, took 100 years in the days of Adam and Eve.

Genesis 12:4: "So Abram left just as God said, and Lot left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran." And we know from Genesis 17:17 (below) that Sarah was about 10 years younger than Abraham. So Sarah was 65 years old. Then in Genesis 12:14-15: "When Abram arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians took one look and saw that his wife was stunningly beautiful. Pharaoh’s princes raved over her to Pharaoh. She was taken to live with Pharaoh."

Genesis 17:17

Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”

There was no plastic surgery in those days. You may ask, "what's the point?" Well for those of us seeking God in every way, stories like these give us more knowledge about God and the chronology of His creation, instead of the "evolution" junk being pushed down people’s throats today.

Abraham married again twice after Sarah's death and had more children, then died at 175, Genesis 25:7. Abraham’s father had died at age 205, Genesis 11:31-32.

That was a time when the human age was on its way down to settle at around the 120 years max of today. Genesis 6:3: "And the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain with mankind forever, because they are corrupt. Their days will be 120 years.”"

7. The Old Testament Prophet Elisha Performed Some of the Same Miracles as Jesus

Elisha raised a dead boy, and fed 20 loaves of bread to hundreds of people and had leftovers!

2Kings 4:32-35

32 When Elisha got to the house, he discovered the boy lying dead on his bed. 33 So he went in, closed the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the Lord. 34 Then he went up and lay on the boy: he put mouth to mouth, eye to eye, hand to hand. While he bent down over him, the boy’s flesh became warm. 35 Elisha got up, went into the house, and paced back and forth. Then he went up and bent down over him again. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.

2Kings 4:42-44

42 A man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with his sack full of twenty loaves of barley bread from the first bread of the harvest. Elisha said, “Give it to the people to eat.” 43 But Elisha’s attendant asked, “What? Am I to set this before a hundred men?”

“Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said, “for this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat, and they will have some left over.’” 44 So he set it before them, and as the Lord had promised, they ate and had some left over.

Notes: Jesus later referred to all the prophets of the old-testament as the servants of God, and Himself as the son of God, the final one to come. So all the prophets had similar miraculous powers as Jesus, bestowed on them by God. Jesus clarified it in this parable:

Matthew 21:33-39

33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner, who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. He leased it to tenant farmers and went away. 34 When the time came to harvest fruit, he sent his servants to the farmers to collect his fruit. 35 The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Again, he sent other servants, more than the first group, and they did the same to them. 37 Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

38 “But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

8. No Marriage in Heaven

Luke 20:34-36

34 Jesus told them, “The children of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are counted worthy to take part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 For they can no longer die, because they are like angels and are children of God, since they are children of the resurrection.

Notes: God gives us glimpses about heaven throughout the Scriptures, example the reference above. Many take these verses to speculate further about heaven. One common question has been about whether there will be sex or marriage in heaven.

I saw this interesting story on the web. I am not saying this is correct, but have a feeling there is some truth to it. Summarizing the story from the web: "A 9-yr old boy was told that when he grows up, sex will be the most pleasurable thing. He asked, do they eat chocolate while doing it?" In that boy's world, chocolate was the greatest thing! Adults are the same as that 9-yr boy. We all see sex as the greatest thing and ask if there will be sex in heaven. Possibly yes as we'll have physical bodies, but it is likely that there will be far greater blessings in heaven that will make sex fade in comparison.

1 Corinthians 2:9
But as it is written, what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has conceived - God has prepared these things for those who love him.

9. Those Who Truly Love God are Blessed to a Thousand Generations

God said this in the old testament. And being the same God always, we can be assured this applies to us today!

Deuteronomy 7:9

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

Notes: The Bible did not directly elaborate more on this verse. But for those of us maturing in God, I can say that God knows that those who truly love Him, will make every effort to teach their children all they know about God. Who in turn will teach their children, and so on. A thousand generation of our descendants are blessed by God! What an amazing feeling! Then we will all reunite in heaven!

Also note, "keep His commandments" in the new-covenant become "keep Jesus' commands". So start teaching them to your children as early as possible. So when they get to college they're less likely to be swept by the Athiest current.

10. An Amazing Story About Elijah

1Kings 18:1-2 & 16-38

1 After a long time, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year: “Go and present yourself to King Ahab. I will send rain on the surface of the land.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.

16 Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him. Then Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, the one ruining Israel?”

18 He replied, “I have not ruined Israel, but you and your father’s family have, because you have abandoned the Lord’s commands and followed the Baals. 19 Now summon all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. 21 Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him.” But the people didn’t answer him a word.

22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. 23 Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The God who answers with fire, he is God.”

All the people answered, “That’s fine.”

25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god but don’t light the fire.”

26 So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they danced around the altar they had made.

27 At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!” 28 They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them. 29 All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention.

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near me.” So all the people approached him. Then he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been torn down: 31 Elijah took twelve stones—according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel will be your name” 32 and he built an altar with the stones in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold about four gallons. 33 Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. He said, “Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood.” 34 Then he said, “A second time!” and they did it a second time. And then he said, “A third time!” and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water.

36 At the time for offering the evening sacrifice, the prophet Elijah approached the altar and said, “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that you are God in Israel and I am your servant, and that at your word I have done all these things. 37 Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back.”

38 Then the Lord’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell facedown and said, “The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!”

Notes: I like this story from the Old Testament. It's a "feel-good Elijah showed them! story". It continued in the next chapter. Jezebel the wife of King Ahab found out about how Elijah humiliated the king, so she set out to kill him. There you have it, human nature at its worst. This woman was told about this magnificent miracle from God. And what did she do? Sought revenge on the prophet who did it! Of course God protected Elijah, and instead killed her. A side note, Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (which is in today's Lebanon).

But the important message I wanted to point out here was, King Ahab, his hundreds of prophets, officials, and all the educated people, were living in luxury for a long time, thinking that they had the right god with them. Then came Elijah, this uneducated individual, living in the wilderness, and showed them otherwise. This is a perfect example of a one person with wisdom from God, showing a large number of people who missed the truth for years.

10. Who were the Nephilim in the Bible, Misinterpreted as Giants?

Summary: The Nephilim were the "bad" descendants of Adam & Eve, before Noah's flood, who lived to be 100s of years old and became cunningly powerful. They were not giants nor children of fallen angels (see explanation below), but were the ones who lived up to 900-something years old. They were crafty people bent on evil, who gained power and control after living so long. The "Nephilim" were mentioned in a few places in the Bible. But the mis-interpretations came from a so called "Book of Enoch", which was not written by Enoch, was not included in the Bible, nor in the Jewish Torah.

Sharing my view on this subject. Also acknowledging that this is another subject that is not fully explained in the Bible. Which then leaves a lot of room for speculations and sensational mis-interpretations that people love to hear, and book-sellers take advantage of.

Question: What would humans be like if they were bent on evil and also lived hundreds of years?

Answer: They would become experts at conning, swindling, becoming powerful rulers, and abusing their powers.

If such people can do this today in their few years of life, how much more if they lived to 900 years of age?

There are only two references about the Nephilim in the Bible. This is one of them. The other is further below:

Genesis 6:1-4 (NIV)

[1] When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, [2] the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. [3] Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.” [4] 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.

In other words, sons of Adam & Eve found the daughters of other humans God created beautiful, and had children by them.

Remember that, as detailed in my other article on the children of Adam & Eve, the Genesis term “sons of God” means the sons of Adam & Eve.

The main biblical points supporting my interpretation:

The Nephilim were connivingly-powerful people who lived hundreds of years as in Verse 4 above - “the heroes of old, men of renown.”
All the descendants of Adam & Eve died in the flood. Except Noah from "the living" line of Seth - Luke 3:36-38 ...Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Kenan, the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Notice how the Bible described life-details and age of the ones in "the living" line, like Adam, Seth, ..., Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah. But the rest of Adam & Eve's descendants, the Bible described in one word, "the Nephilim".
In the Genesis 6:1-4 scripture above, notice how in Verse 3 God said He’s no longer putting up with long age of people, and lowered the age limit to 120. The fact that He said it in the same paragraph as the Nephilim, supports this explanation.

The So-Called "Book of Enoch"

According to many internet sources (you can do a quick search for yourself), this ancient Hebrew book was written hundreds of years after Enoch was taken up to heaven. So it was not written by Enoch! And was rejected and excluded from both the Torah and the Bible.

From Wikipedia and many other internet sources: "The Book of Enoch was excluded from both the formal canon of the Tanakh and the Septuagint and therefore, also from the writings known today as the Deuterocanon. The main reason for Jewish rejection of the book is that it is inconsistent with the teachings of the Torah."

Note, although called the "Book of Enoch", it does not mean that Enoch wrote it! Obviously the people who compiled the Torah and the Old Testament, were guided by God, and saw that the contents of that book were inconsistent with the rest of the scripture. Yes Enoch was a man from that time, declared righteous by God, but no evidence that Enoch himself wrote this book!

Fallen Angels with Giant Children?!!!

They were not children of fallen angels; they were the children of the "bad" sons of Adam & Eve. They were not giants. They were the connivingly-powerful people who lived hundreds of years - “the heroes of old, men of renown.”

I did some research into the translation of the Nephilim verses from Hebrew. My findings:

The word "Nephilim" is an English word. It was not used in the original text language of neither the Torah nor the Bible.

What was used in the Torah & the Bible, was a term that can be translated to any combination of these: Tough men, powerful, renown, titans, aggressive, ungodly. Although "giants" can be used, it is completely out of context to mean “physical size”.

I know, people today just want to call it “giants” (as in the King James Bible translation; defending their church) and move on in life. Not me! I am wholeheartedly seeking God. And I see a more proper interpretation in line with the rest of the scripture.

If there were angelic beings or fallen angels having children with human daughters, why did they stop? Are today’s daughters of humans not beautiful?

The Spies in the Days of Moses

The ones Moses sent ahead to spy the land, said they saw the Nephilim…

Numbers 13:32-33 NIV

And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. 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.”

This was superstition talk from people who did not believe in God. How do I know this? They were the ones who refused to trust God and refused to go into the land and possess it as God instructed them. Instead, because they saw some people larger than usual, they followed their evil instincts. Which they likely got from the unbiblical “book of Enoch”. They were obviously overwhelmed and scared, and exaggerating everything out of fear.

The Anaks were not the Nephilim. Because the Nephilim died in the flood, and were not mentioned on Noah’s ark. the Anaks were just people who were larger in size than the average person. Possibly reached a height of 8' to 9'. Goliath was one of them, and his height was specified in the Bible. Extra tall, yes, but not the sci-fi giants described in books today. Actually this "extra tall" subject is still being researched by historians, archaeological experts, and Bible scholars. Evidence seems to dispute the idea of any height above 9'. Example in this link.

In other words, the two terms - “tall people” and “the Nephilim”, were connected by misinterpretations, speculations, and unbiblical books, not by God in the Bible. These two terms are not related in any way.

Only Adam & Eve and Their Descendants (Before the Flood) Lived to Age 900

As I recently studied this subject in more detail, and prayed about it, I have come to discover another likely explanation - That only the descendants of Adam and Eve (good or bad) lived to hundreds of years, likely because Adam & Eve ate from the tree of life. The descendants of the other humans likely did not live long. But the marrying between them likely produced a variety of lifespans in those days before the flood. Which was likely one of the reasons God took the age-limiting action in Genesis 6:3.

According to this Genesis reference, Adam & Eve lived so long because they ate from the tree of life. Here is what God said when He banished them from the garden of Eden:

Genesis 3:21–23

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

We keep seeking God in the Bible. We never stop learning about Him. We never declare we know everything about God then attack anyone who points to Bible verses that contradict the church! We keep studying and seeking Him.

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God's Perspective