January 4 - Evening
"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.
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them."
- Genesis 6:4-7
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them."
- Genesis 6:4-7
Nephilim and Judgment
In Genesis 6:4, we read:
“The Nephilim were on the earth in those days – and also afterward – when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”
The Nephilim may have been the offspring of fallen angels and human women. The Bible says the Nephilim were legends; their abilities and accomplishments made them well-known heroes. Greek mythology is probably based on these historical events, recording stories of “gods” and “sons of gods.” I am not impressed when someone says Genesis 6:1-4 can’t be talking about angels because Jesus later said angels don’t marry. These people often cite Matthew 22:30 which says:
“At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.”
To use this verse to extrapolate too much information about angels is bad hermeneutics. It is using isogesis (reading your predetermined doctrine intoscripture) rather than exegesis (letting the scriptures speak for themselves and determine your doctrine). This verse explicitly says there will be no marriage and no families in heaven. Marriage and families are institutions God has given mankind on earth for the well being of the human race.The same debate is revisited in Luke 20:34-36 when Jesus says:
“The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection.”
Is Jesus telling everyone here that when you go to heaven you cannot have children because you will be like angels who cannot reproduce? Not exactly— although we do know from scripture that angels don’t give birth to baby angels. But that isn’t the point here. The point is that men in the age to come are being compared to angels in that “they can no longer die.”
There are three basic ways to interpret Genesis 6:1-4:
- The Sons of God are the good boys from that time who attended Sunday school, wore nice clean clothes, and never got in trouble, while the daughters of men are bad girls—probably descendents of Cain—who liked to drink, cuss, and wear short skirts.
- The Sons of God are the sons of kings and pharaohs. They are royal princes. The daughters of men are the daughters of common folk gathered up by the royal princes to form their harems.
- The Sons of God are angelic creatures. The daughters of men are the daughters of men.
Josephus (70-90 AD) wrote concerning the Nephilim: “For which reason they removed their camp to Hebron; and when they had taken it, they slew all the inhabitants. There were til then left the race of giants, who had bodies so large, and countenances so entirely different from other men, that they were surprising to the sight, and terrible to the hearing. The bones of these men are still swhewn to this very day, unlike to any credible relations of other men.” (Antiquities ch. II vs. 3)
Justin Martyr (100-165 AD) wrote: “The angels transgressed this appointment and were captivated by love of women. And they begat children, who are those who are called demons.”
Iranaeus (130-202 AD) wrote: “In the days of Noah, He justly brought on the Deluge for the purpose of extinguishing that most infamous race of men then existent, who could not bring forth fruit to God. For the angels who sinned had commingled with them.”
Tertullian (155-230 AD) wrote: “They are the same angels who rushed from heaven on the daughters of men.”
New International Dictionary of the Old Testament (1997), page 678 says: “There have been skeletons excavated in Palestine that are 3.2 meters or 10 ½ feet.”
I Enoch (recorded around 160 BC) which is quoted by Jude in Jude 14 and 15 says: “And it came to pass when the sons of men had increased, that in those days there were born to them fair and beautiful daughters. And the angels, the sons of heaven, saw them and desired them. And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us choose for ourselves wives from the children of men, and let us beget for ourselves children.’ And they took wives for themselves, and everyone chose for himself one each. And they began to go into them and were promiscuous with them…And they became pregnant and bore large giants, and their height was three thousand cubits. These devoured all the toil of men, until men were unable to sustain them. And the giants turned against them in order to devour men. And they began to sin against birds, and against animals, and against reptiles and against fish, and they devoured one another’s flesh and drank the blood from it. Then the earth complained about the lawless ones.” -I Enoch 7:6-7
There was clearly much wickedness during the time of the Nephilim:
“The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time…So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth.’” Genesis 6:5, 6
It is at this time that God speaks to Noah and asks him to build an ark so he can preserve the human race and the promised seed, while destroying everything that had become corrupt on earth. All these events are detailed in Genesis 6-9. The dimensions of the ark are given, and journal entries are recorded with the precision of an eye witness like Noah himself. These records include the date of entry and a vivid description of the geological occurrences resulting from the flood. One entry dated the 17th day of the 2nd month of the 600th year says:
“On that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.”
The flood wasn’t just an enormous rainstorm. What happened during the flood could never be duplicated because the pressurized water under the continental plates and above the atmosphere was released once and for all. When the “great deep burst forth” the continental plates cracked and water erupted. At the same time, (maybe as a result of atmospheric changes created by the blasts of water), the canopy of water above the atmosphere broke, causing the “floodgates of the heavens to open.” The fallout of this cataclysmic event lasted forty days and forty nights. All life on earth perished while the ark maintained buoyancy—an enormous barge riding on top of the water.
Euangelistes (Gr) - Evangelist (Eng) - euangelistes is a Greek word that means "one who proclaims good news."
Am I hearing sound teaching from God's Word?
Do I forsake the truth from God's Word that I do know?
I will hear and commit to the Truth of God's Word today.
Do I forsake the truth from God's Word that I do know?
I will hear and commit to the Truth of God's Word today.
Bible Reading Descriptions Here
Personal
Safety on roads
Church
Commitment to the truth of scripture
Nation
Equal Rights
World
Religious extremism
of Afghanistan and Pakistan
of Afghanistan and Pakistan
Someone to Quote
"When the Bible speaks of fools and folly, it is referring not to mental deficiency but moral perversity… First, we deny God’s existence (Psm. 14:1), and then we deny life’s values." - Alistair Begg
Something to Ponder
The proton is 1836 times more massive than an electron. This ratio is required for the molecules necessary for life to form. Stephen Hawking himself said, "The remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers seem to have been very finely adjusted to make possible the development of life.”
Here’s a Fact
When all the landmarks that have been identified (Temple Mount, Gihon Springs, Ophel, Kidron and Hinnom Valleys, northern wall of ancient Jerusalem) then the location of the David's palace and the residence of the kings of Judah that followed him can be generalized to a very small plot of land. This site has been excavated and a large stone structure that served as a governmental building and a defensive center of the city of David's time has been discovered. It is believed that the royal palace of David and his descendants has been discovered by Eilat Mazar.
(See photos here.
Details here)
(See photos here.
Details here)
Proverb
"Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man."
- Proverbs 3:3-4
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man."
- Proverbs 3:3-4
Coach’s Corner
Experiencing sorrow is part of life, but never let sorrow oppress you.
Genesis 8
New International Version (NIV)
8 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. 2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. 3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, 4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.
6 After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark 7 and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. 9 But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.
13 By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.
15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”
18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
22
“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”
New International Version (NIV)
8 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. 2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. 3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, 4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.
6 After forty days Noah opened a window he had made in the ark 7 and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. 9 But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.
13 By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.
15 Then God said to Noah, 16 “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17 Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”
18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
22
“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”
Job 4-5
New International Version (NIV)
Eliphaz
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2
“If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking?
3
Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands.
4
Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees.
5
But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed.
6
Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?
7
“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed?
8
As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.
9
At the breath of God they perish; at the blast of his anger they are no more.
10
The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.
11
The lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12
“A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it.
13
Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people,
14
fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake.
15
A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end.
16
It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice:
17
‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?
18
If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error,
19
how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth!
20
Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever.
21
Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
5
“Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?
2
Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
3
I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.
4
His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender.
5
The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
6
For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground.
7
Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.
8
“But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him.
9
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
10
He provides rain for the earth; he sends water on the countryside.
11
The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12
He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.
13
He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away.
14
Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night.
15
He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
16
So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
17
“Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
18
For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.
19
From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will touch you.
20
In famine he will deliver you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
21
You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes.
22
You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the wild animals.
23
For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
24
You will know that your tent is secure; you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.
25
You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth.
26
You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season.
27
“We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself.”
New International Version (NIV)
Eliphaz
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite replied:
2
“If someone ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? But who can keep from speaking?
3
Think how you have instructed many, how you have strengthened feeble hands.
4
Your words have supported those who stumbled; you have strengthened faltering knees.
5
But now trouble comes to you, and you are discouraged; it strikes you, and you are dismayed.
6
Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?
7
“Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished? Where were the upright ever destroyed?
8
As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.
9
At the breath of God they perish; at the blast of his anger they are no more.
10
The lions may roar and growl, yet the teeth of the great lions are broken.
11
The lion perishes for lack of prey, and the cubs of the lioness are scattered.
12
“A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it.
13
Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on people,
14
fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake.
15
A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end.
16
It stopped, but I could not tell what it was. A form stood before my eyes, and I heard a hushed voice:
17
‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can even a strong man be more pure than his Maker?
18
If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error,
19
how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth!
20
Between dawn and dusk they are broken to pieces; unnoticed, they perish forever.
21
Are not the cords of their tent pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
5
“Call if you will, but who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?
2
Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
3
I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.
4
His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender.
5
The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
6
For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground.
7
Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.
8
“But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him.
9
He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.
10
He provides rain for the earth; he sends water on the countryside.
11
The lowly he sets on high, and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12
He thwarts the plans of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success.
13
He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away.
14
Darkness comes upon them in the daytime; at noon they grope as in the night.
15
He saves the needy from the sword in their mouth; he saves them from the clutches of the powerful.
16
So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth.
17
“Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
18
For he wounds, but he also binds up; he injures, but his hands also heal.
19
From six calamities he will rescue you; in seven no harm will touch you.
20
In famine he will deliver you from death, and in battle from the stroke of the sword.
21
You will be protected from the lash of the tongue, and need not fear when destruction comes.
22
You will laugh at destruction and famine, and need not fear the wild animals.
23
For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
24
You will know that your tent is secure; you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.
25
You will know that your children will be many, and your descendants like the grass of the earth.
26
You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves gathered in season.
27
“We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself.”