Nephilim

Dr. Couch, I still hear Bible teachers saying that the Nephilim in Genesis 6 were a mixture between humans and fallen angels, thus creating a hybrid of strange creatures that were unusual being in early Genesis. What do you think?

ANSWER: For years I have studied these verses from the Hebrew text and am convinced that they are not referring to fallen angels! What is happening is that the two lines, the Godly and the unGodly lines of Seth and Cain, were coming together, by which the line of humans was weakened and degraded, becoming even more sinful.

By good exegesis, and reading carefully chapters 4-6, this view seems to make the most sense. While there are some Bible teachers who hold to the "angel" theory, the outstanding scholars I read hold to the fact that the two lines of Seth and Cain come together, washing down morally and spiritually the Godly line.

I just discovered the great Old Testament respected Jewish Christian scholar, Alfred Edersheim, holds to the coming together of the two lines. He writes:

"The corruption of mankind reached its highest point when even the difference between the Sethites and the Cainites became obliterated by intermarriage between the two parties, and that from sensual motives. We read that 'the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.' At that time the earth must have been in a great measure peopled, and its state is thus described, '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.'

This means more than the total corruption of our nature, as we should now describe it, and refers to the universal prevalence of open, daring sin, and rebellion against God, brought about when the separation between the Sethites and the Cainites ceased. With the exception of Noah there was none in that generation 'to call upon the name of Jehovah. … The giants (in Hebrew: Nephilim) were 'men of violence, or tyrants,' as Luther renders it, the root of the word meaning, 'to fall upon.'"

All of the above is what I teach from good, solid exegesis! Almost word for word!

The scholarly Jewish Rabbis in the Soncino commentaries hold to the same view—this is not referring to fallen angels. They write:

"There is no trace in Genesis of 'fallen angels' or rebellious angels; and the idea of inter-marriage of angels and human beings is altogether foreign to Hebrew though. The mythological explanation of this passage was in all ages repelled by a large body of Jewish and non-Jewish commentators, though it has been revived by many modern [and liberal teachers]."

There is one Jewish Christian teacher in Texas who holds to the angel theory. But he does so by following others, holding to mythology and not good exegesis from the Bible. Don't follow him blindly! I work with the best of commentators not those who buy into mythology! In fact, I do more Hebrew exegesis than this dear brother! He often does not do good independent exegesis as he should.

Thanks for asking.
—Dr. Mal Couch (6/11)

Elect

Dr. Couch, the doctrine of election is an awesome truth. What does the word "elect" mean? ANSWER:  The Hebrew word for "elect" is Bah' Char and means "elect" or "chosen."    (A) In a corporate sense the nation of Israel is chosen even though individually the Jews have sinned in that they have not accepted their own promised Messiah. God's promises still remain—the Jews will someday turn to Christ and be back in the good graces of the Lord once more. The Jewish people are "chosen" through the Abrahamic covenant (Psa. 105:8-11). The Abrahamic covenant was confirmed "to Jacob for an everlasting covenant, saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion of your inheritance." Notice that the giving of the land is the sign of that covenant. It belongs to the Jews as a perpetual inheritance. The foolish covenant guys (allegorists) try to say that the land no longer belongs to the Jewish people. They have not read their Bible!    God's chosen ones, with a shout of joy" were given "the lands of the nations, that they might take possession of the fruit of the peoples' labor. … Praise the Lord!" (vv. 42-45). As the "chosen ones" they will someday receive prosperity (106:5).    (B) There are two classes of the angelic host. There are those who are joined to the devil; they belong to him (Matt. 25:41). They were cast forth from heaven when he fell. But there are those who did not leave their position with the Lord. They are the "holy" angels (Luke 9:26), and the elect or chosen angels (1 Tim. 5:21).  Then there are the believers who are the elect of the Lord. "... just as He chose us ..." (Eph. 1:4). The Greek word here is eklego which means "to out call." Or, "to call out." We can call this word also "to elect." This election took place before "the casting down of the world," or "before the foundation of the world" (v. 4). The result of this calling would make us "holy and blameless" because we are now placed into the holy Son of God—this is our new position! This includes also His predestination which means "to before encircle," or "to put a fence around." The word is "pro-orizo" in Greek.The word of God is so clear and makes such sense when we let it just speak to us! It is not complicated!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch (12/10)

Our Inheritance

Dr. Couch, is our inheritance in salvation something we now have or is it only an inheritance that we finally get when we go home to heaven? ANSWER:   In Ephesians 1:14 we are told the Holy Spirit presently (Present Tense) is the "earnest" or Guarantor of our inheritance. He IS (Present Tense of the "to be" verb) right now the Earnest of our redemption. He will be so until our final redemption comes about, and takes place.    In Ephesians 1:18 Paul says he wants the eyes of the believer to "be enlightened" to the fact of knowing "the riches of the glory of God's inheritance (for) the saints." Paul uses a Perfect Tense with the words "enlightened" and "may know." He wants for the child of God this enlightenment and knowledge to have begun in the past and then come up to the present in his experiential knowledge.  "I want you to have gone through a process of enlightenment, and to have gone through the process of learning (knowing) ..."    While there is a present awareness of our inheritance, there is also a future inheritance that will bring to fulfillment and completion our salvation. The writer of Hebrews in 1:14 says "the angels are ministering spirits ... for the sake of those who are 'to be inheriting' salvation."    "To be inheriting" is a Present Infinitive. We are going forward in "inheriting" salvation that will be brought to completion in the future. While this is a Present Infinitive it has a future component to it. This inheritance is presently going forward and will be completed with our salvation in the future.    Even though "inheritance" is a Present Infinitive it has a "resultant" thought to it, or a future thought behind it. And the translators caught this and translate the Present Infinitive in the NASB in a future sense. "For the sake of those who WILL INHERIT salvation [in the future] ..."     In my commentary series, Ger in Hebrews caught this future idea in the inheritance in Hebrews 1:14, with the Present Tense, when he wrote "the ministering spirits, the angels, are still hard at work on behalf of those who WILL INHERIT salvation (the ultimate salvation in the future), the Son is pictured as seated and at rest, awaiting His FUTURE reign following the Father's final conquest of the Son's enemies."     Conclusion: In timing, we now have a Present Tense in our inheritance but we also have a future component of completion. Our inheritance will be fulfilled and brought to completion someday in the future when we're in glory! We have the inheritance now and it will be consummated in the future!    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch (7/10)

Location of Gehenna

Dr. Couch, Revelation 14:10 seems to tell us something about the location of Gehenna. And too, it speaks of Christ and the holy angels seeing the torment of the beast, with the smoke of that torment going up forever and ever (v. 11). How could this be? The beast and unbelievers are not in the New Jerusalem in eternity. Is there something in the Greek text that would clarify this? – Reader from England ANSWER:  No, not really. The torment of the beast is repeated in almost the same language in 20:10. "The devil ... was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."    I think your problem is looking at this issue with a limitation of space. Because Christ and the holy angels witness this torment and wrath coming upon the beast does not mean that the lake of fire is in the New Jerusalem. Christ and the angels can witness this happening because, after all, Christ created all things, even the eternal lake of fire for "the devil and his angels," and of course according to Revelation, this is also the place of confinement of the beast.    Jesus can know all things, and He can see all things which He created. But this does not mean that this place is where the believers will be for eternity. We might all have to admit we do not know the exact location of the lake of fire, but this does not create an interpretative problem. Revelation 14:10 does not contradict 2 Thessalonians 1:9 that reads: the lost "will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power." Christ can still witness the wrath of God and the torment that falls upon the beast, and the lost, for the period of eternity.    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch (Mar., 10)

Angels Procreating with Women

Dr. Couch, Genesis 6 talks about angels coming down to earth to procreate with women. How can this be? ANSWER:  First of all, where did you get the idea that this is what Genesis 6:1-5 is really about? You heard this from some Bible teacher who really didn't give any evidence that this is what the passage is all about. I have done a detailed teaching on this via Question 87 also I believe it can be listened to in our Archive section: Genesis 6-9 The Angelic World Part One Part Two Part Three    Bible teachers who say is about fallen angels really have not thought it through thoroughly! The best scholars I know agree with me that this is not what's going on in the passage.    First, the Jewish rabbinical understanding in no way sees the passage speaking about fallen angels. In their Genesis commentary they write: "The mythological explanation of this passage was in all ages repelled by a large body of Jewish and non-Jewish commentaries, though it has been revised by many modern [liberals]. There is however, no trace in Genesis of 'fallen angels' or rebellious angels; and the idea of inter-marriage of angels and human beings is altogether foreign to Hebrew thought."    Without going into details here, because of limited space, I will simply quote two of the best Christian scholars available, such as H. C. Leupold:    "Verse 4 is really a simple verse, unless one proceeds from the misinterpretation of the preceding verses and tries to link it up with the idea of angel marriages, a misconstruction prevalent since the days of the Septuagint translation. The basic rules of interpretation merely have to be observed: the presupposition, namely, that the Scriptures make good sense" as is.    Leupold then asks, "Who are the Nephilim? ... They were the 'heroes' of antiquity, the men of renown (Heb. 'men of the name'). They achieved a reputation the world over by their violence, but a reputation better deserving of the term of notoriety. ... The translation 'giants' is most unfortunate. It originated with the Septuagint. It does not follow from Num. 13:33, even if there the 'attackers' should also happen to have been giants. Modern interpreters combine angel marriages and claim that the giants were the result of this union. But, in reality, nothing of the sort is found in the text. It is the result of a clever combination or of a mistranslation. ... Certain older translators were nearer the truth than the Septuagint. Aquila, who like Symmachus wrote to correct the Greek version, rendered Nephilim 'they who fall upon.'"    And Stigers adds: "The meaning of Nephilim is to be determined from the root naphal='To fall upon.' The nephilim occur among the Anakim of Numbers 13:32-33. Since they are tall of stature, the word cannot mean giant. We then need to look elsewhere for the meaning. Joshua 11:7 and Job 1:15 give a picture of falling on victims to tyrannize by such action, to do it by force of arms. The children of these mixed marriages became gibborim. The inference, therefore, is that these gibborim contributed to that increase of wickedness, so that the meaning of the words 'famous men' connote men honored by unbelieving men. So it can be said that the sons of these mixed marriages in their lives helped along the progress of iniquity. Here are the facts of the degradation of mankind when these mixed marriages came along."    Be careful not to just go about quoting people who don't know what they're talking about. The arguments from root words, and from the grammar is extensive, and I've not given all the material or the arguments that are necessary to prove the point. Sorry! Don't just be a "quoter" because you like some Bible teacher. And don't jump to the "ridiculous" because someone has "said it."    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch

The Chosen Angels

Dr. Couch, what is meant by "the chosen angels" in 1 Timothy 5:21? ANSWER: The Greek word for chosen is "eklectos" and is two Greek words put together meaning: "The out called ones." In the NT it is used some 29 times, with 28 times referring to the election of the saved in Christ. God protected and preserved many of the angels and did not allow them to apostatize when Satan fell from the presence of God.    Many believe that when Isaiah said that Satan said in his heart that he wished to "raise his throne above 'the stars of God,'" (14:13) he was referring to the heavenly angelic host. Unger also writes: "The sinless angels of light, are His first creatures—including the greatest of them, who later became Satan—were also called 'morning stars' (Job 38:7), because they were resplendent, unfallen creatures of light."    Thanks for asking.    Dr. Mal Couch