Fallen

One of the more intriguing accounts in scripture is of the mysterious "Nephilim". Who or what were they?

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. - Genesis 6:3-5
 
Something about their birth or existence prompted God to limit man's lifespan to 120yrs and after that to bring the flood to rid the earth of violence and the Nephilim. And yet somehow years later they make another appearance as Israel is about to enter the promised land...
 
When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there . Amalek is living in the land of the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites are living in the hill country, and the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” - Numbers 13:25-33

God had miraculously saved Israel out of Egypt but still these people didn't believe that He had power to do what He said He would do. God explains it again to them that He is able and willing to conquer the land for them...

But they prefered the wisdom of Homer Simpson, "“You tried your best and failed miserably. The lesson is: never try.”

I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. I will send hornets ahead of you so that they will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you. I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land. I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.” - Exodus 23:27-33

Sadly the people lacked faith and so they died in the wilderness. Years later, Joshua and Caleb would lead a new generation into the promised land. At that time God reaffirms His plan...

Now it came about after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, that the LORD spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying,“Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. - Joshua 1:1-5

The Israelites saw God's power being manifested in such fantastic ways, why couldn't they believe that He would give them total victory? They were more focussed on the giants in the land. It's actually worse than that, the spies (other than Joshua and Caleb) lied. They told everyone that the Nephilim inhabited the land, but this wasn't true. How could it be? They were destroyed in the flood. So what is the reason for this spurious account? It can only mean that they hoped the mere mention of the name would spread fear throughout the camp and help convince everyone to call off the invasion of the promised land.

How can we apply this to our lives today?

1) Moses is a type of the Law and Joshua is a type of Jesus Christ. Just as Moses could not lead Israel into the promised land the Law cannot save us, it can bring us to the border but only Christ can take us in and give us victory.

2) God can and will give us victory over every single stronghold in our lives but it won't happen in one day or one year. Why? that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land

3) We should not be afraid of any enemy or make any covenant with it. for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you

God will not fail you or forsake you.

Shameful

I think alot of Christians today are operating under the delusion that being a Christian can be "cool". I think this might be one of the root problems with the Church today.

Its like Fruity O's and Fruit loops. As a kid I loved Fruit Loops and I have never been tempted to buy the no-name generic equivalent "Fruity O's". Fruit Loops are not healthy and they are not attempting to copy any other cereal. "Fruity O's" on the other hand are trying to attract the Fruit Loop lovers as if to say "hey we can be just like your favourite cereal for less money"
Being a believer is not cool. Not because we're trying to be like the world and vying for the world's attention, that's just sad. It's not cool because being cool implies honour. Honour received from the world around us and the church at its heart is counter to what is esteemed by the world. Take for instance the Apostles of the early church. They were fools for Christ, weak and despised (1Cor 5:10). Not cool.

Believers are weak and must rely on the Holy Spirit for strength (2 Cor 12:9-10). Strength to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh, strength to get through each day, every day carrying about the death of our bodies. We are the stench of death to the world (2 Cor 2:15-16). Have you ever smelled death? I have and it is the worst kind of smell. Our belief is sometimes called a crutch, its not. Its an entire life support system.

We have become fools for Christ. To the world its shameful to believe the earth was created, that Adam and Eve were the first humans, that Noah built an ark. That Jesus will return again some day. Don't think so? Go to a university or run for office and tell people you believe these things and see if you don't suffer any shame from them.

We act shamefully... or at least we should. We are supposed to serve our brothers and sisters. Not just getting them a coffee or helping them build a fence that's all great but that can actually bring honour to the giver. It was shameful in Jesus' day for Him to wash the disciples dirty feet. It was so shameful that it embarrassed Peter. We are to serve and think of everyone else as more important than ourselves and give honour to the most lowly members of our congregation.

Some churches today are so focused on entertainment and being cool that their worship has become more like a rock concert than worship. The leader looks cool, sounds really professional and the worship experience  is created to be technically excellent. Now we even have liturgical dance. For the uninformed, this is young attractive women dancing beautifully at the front. I imagine, this is supposed to enhance the already beautiful worship experience. I questioned this to someone who was promoting it and I was told that some young girl might look up to one of these dancers and then that would provide an opportunity to witness and lead her to Christ. I replied, "that sounds logical but Jesus didn't say "if ye be lifted up" He said "if I be lifted up I will draw all men to me"

At the time I knowingly misinterpreted this scripture to make my point but it didn't matter, the person who I was talking to had nothing to say further on the matter. Now I see that it was ok that I misinterpreted it and I'll tell you what I mean. Today we think of lifting up as being highly esteemed, to think better of someone or something but that scripture isn't saying if Jesus is lifted up in our praise as a banner or someone to praise. Jesus was saying that He would be lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness. Like an enemies body hanging on a pole. It means that Jesus will be a curse because the Bible says cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree.

And this why on retrospect I think maybe I was right about quoting this scripture even if I didn't know it at the time. Our leader, our Lord became shame for us. If we are true followers we will follow Him bearing His cross and not scorning its shame but rather rejoicing that we are counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.