Return of the Nephilim?

Yesterday I had to preach on Genesis 6 and Noah’s flood in the small church that meets in our apartment. It’s bad enough having to explain the bit about the sons of God marrying the daughters of men and bringing forth this mysterious generation of alleged giants who are called the “Nephilim” in the Hebrew language. But having to do it in Portuguese got a bit beyond me. The internet didn’t help either (not that you would expect much help rom that direction. Typing “nephilim” into google produced a whole array of weird and wonderful theories of extra terrestrial beings, alien abductions, UFO sightings and the like.

However I was keen to find an application of this peculiar portion of scripture to our own day, and in particular the needs of our own little community here in Park of the Nations. What struck me, in my reading of the passage, was, not so much the biology of how these beings came about, or their physical size, but that they were described as the “heroes” and the “famous ones” of their day (depending on your version of the Bible), and that God judged the influence they had on society as exceedingly harmful and evil, to the point where the society of the day required a total revision, and only one family, that of Noah’s, was found to be faithful.

So then, are there “Nephilim” in our day? Maybe not physical giants. But we have our own heroes. Our own men and women "of renown". Our celebrities. On the stages of the entertainment world, in the corridors of political power, in the ivory towers of the universities, in the fields of conflict around the world, and behind the media’s television cameras. People of stature, influence and finance who powerfully persuade (is “intimidate” too strong a word?) others into their line of thinking, which is generally pitted against God, and often against that which is honourable, good and pure. And slowly but surely, society moves in that direction. And the words of Peter begin to take on more of a reality.

"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.....So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him."

.................................................................2 Peter 3:10-14