Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

Authored By  :
Published On :
Last Updated :



Continuing our discussion from part eight, and returning to the vinedresser character in Philostratus the Athenian's "Heroikos", the vinedresser then continued his narrative with the following. Please notice that during one discovery, they poured two amphoras of wine into the skull of one of the giants, and yet it still was not full. Now, if it had been a non-human skull, doesn't it seem probable that they would have realized this, and Philostratus would have described it as being non-human? Yet, he doesn't do that:

----- Begin Quote -----

"If those monstrous beings existed, my guest, and if they were joined with snakes, I do not know. But the one in Sigeion was twenty-two cubits long, and it was lying in a rocky cleft with its head toward the mainland and its feet even with the promontory. But we did not see any sign of serpents around it, nor is there anything different about its bones from those of a human being. Furthermore, Hymnaios of Peparethos, who is on friendly terms with me, sent one of his sons here some four years ago to consult Protesilaos through me about a similar marvel. When Hymnaios happened to dig up vines on the island of Ikos (he alone owned the island), the earth sounded somewhat hollow to those who were digging. When they opened it up, they found a twelve-cubit corpse lying there with a serpent inhabiting its skull. The young man then came to ask us what should be done in his honor, and Protesilaos said, "Let us cover the stranger completely," without doubt urging those who were willing to rebury the corpse and not to leave it exposed. He also said that the giant was one of those who were hurled down by the gods. But the corpse that came to light on Lemnos, which Menekrates of Steiria found, was very big, and I saw it a year ago when I sailed from Imbros, only a short distance from Lemnos. Its bones, however, no longer appear in their proper order: the vertebrae lie separated from each other, tossed about by earthquakes, I suppose, and the ribs are wrenched out of the vertebrae. But if one imagines the bones together as a whole, the size seems to make one shudder and is not easily described. Certainly when we poured two Cretan amphoras of wine into the skull, it was not filled. Now, there is a headland on Imbros called "Naulokhos" facing the south, under which a spring is found that turns male animals into eunuchs, and makes females so drunk that they fall asleep. At this spot, when a piece of land was severed from the mainland, the body of a very large giant was pulled out. If you disbelieve me, let us set sail. The corpse still lies exposed, and the sea journey to Naulokhos is short.

But do not yet regard as credible what I have said, my guest, until you sail to the island of Cos, where the bones of earth-born men lie, the first descendants of Merops, they say, and until you see the bones of Hyllos, son of Herakles, in Phrygia and, by Zeus, those of the Aloadai in Thessaly, since they are really nine fathoms long and exactly as they are celebrated in song. The Neapolitans living in Italy consider the bones of Alkyoneus a marvel. They say that many giants were thrown down there, and Mount Vesuvius smolders over them. Indeed in Pallene, which the poets call "Phlegra," the earth holds many such bodies of giants encamped there, and rainstorms and earthquakes uncover many others. Not even a shepherd ventures at midday to that place of clattering phantoms which rage there. Disbelief in such things probably existed even at the time of Herakles. Hence, after he killed Geryon in Erytheia and was alleged to have encountered the most enormous creature, Herakles dedicated its bones at Olympia so that his contest would not be disbelieved."

----- End Quote -----

Please note that in the previous quote, the name "Herakles" is the same as Heracles, or Hercules as he is called in the Western world. When asked by the Phoenician to describe the now-deceased Protesilaos' appearance, the vinedresser then responded in part by saying:

----- Begin Quote -----

"His height is easily ten cubits, and it seems to me that he would have exceeded this had he not died in his early twenties."

----- End Quote -----

Please note that the entire exchange between the Phoenician merchant and the vinedresser occurred near the gravesite of Protesilaos, who was the first Greek warrior to die in the Trojan War. While Philostratus the Athenian obviously meant for us to understand that the dialog between the vinedresser and the Phoenician merchant was fictitious in nature, what we need to realize, is that he was using these characters, and Heroikos as a whole, as a vehicle to inform the reader of things, persons and events which he believed to be true to some degree. In other words, while the dialog itself was a work of fiction, the contents of the dialog between these two characters was not. At least not in its entirety.

There is obviously much more that can be said regarding Greek mythology, giants, and the Greek historians and other writers who wrote about them. But suffice it to say that the region surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, as well as all of Europe, is an area of the world which is rich in such legends. Many other European cultures, such as the Romans, Norse, Bulgars, English, Irish, Scots, Welsh, Slavs, etc., each possess their own stories regarding giants, whether they were good or evil creatures, as do many other cultures outside of that region. While we as Christians cannot accept many of the tenets that other non-Christian faiths embrace, nevertheless, we cannot ignore the fact that they too possess stories concerning the giants. It seems to be a common thread that we all share.

Some of these stories concerning giants no doubt seem rather ridiculous, and quite outlandish, to the modern reader, and may in fact be complete fabrications which were invented in the minds of very imaginative people. In fact, even I will readily admit that I find some of these giant stories to be rather silly and nonsensical, and I do not accept them as being true for a minute. For this reason, I have chosen to not even include some of them in this series. Nevertheless, even after we attempt to discard the stories and traditions which border on the insanely ridiculous, and which could not possibly be true, we are still left with some accounts which not only appear to contain certain elements of truth, but which also seem to be corroborated by sources other than the original author.

This certainly appears to be the case with the Nephilim, the post-Flood giants, our giant progenitors the Patriarch Noah and his sons, and even with the Greek giants. We have found different people from various cultures and religions who are writing and conveying the same basic message during different time periods; or at the very least, providing certain facts which add another small piece to the overall giant puzzle, by confirming what others have said before them. If there is a basic message to be found in all of these tales, it is this: Giants have lived among us.

Please understand that this is not to emphatically suggest that these remaining giant accounts do not likewise contain some level of embellishment. After all, we humans will do as we humans do. However, to outright reject all giant legends, is to suggest that the entire ancient world had gone utterly mad, and was full of nothing but liars, deceivers and people whose imaginations had gotten the better of them. Or perhaps all of these ancient cultures, each in their own time, chose to effect a practical joke on future humanity, by leaving us with fantastical tales of ferocious, warrior giants who were at least nine feet tall, and in some cases, much more. Do you honestly believe that? I don't.

That being the case, we need to stop and question why it is that so many giant tales continue to persist all around the world, even in our modern age of so-called "enlightenment". While we started this series by examining the giants which dwelt in ancient Israel and the surrounding area, with this additional information -- which still by no means offers a complete picture -- it's plain to see that the existence of towering giants in one form or another was known by, as well as experienced by, many different peoples and cultures. Even if only a small percentage of the giant legends are factual accounts, how is it that they came to occupy so wide an area of the world?

If we go back to our theory concerning the Patriarch Noah and his sons being the progenitors of the post-Flood giants, and recall what seems to have happened a few centuries after the Flood occurred, perhaps we can find a plausible answer. As you may know, modern science has proposed that in the distant past, the Earth was comprised of one super-continent, which has been referred to as "Pangaea". This super-continent then split into Laurasia and Gondwana, according to the theories proposed by paleogeographers. They then inform us that over time, as a result of continental drift and tectonic plate movement, our modern continents eventually evolved.

While none of us know with one hundred per cent certainty if this is exactly how our modern continents came into existence being as none of us were there at the time, it does seem very clear from the Old Testament Scriptures that just a couple of hundred years after the Flood, in the days of Peleg, who was the great, great, great grandson of Noah, the Earth was in fact physically divided, as we see by this verse:

"And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg; because in his days the earth was divided: and his brother's name was Joktan."


The two Hebrew words that are used in that verse are "erets palag". As we saw earlier in this series, the word "erets" can refer to the land or ground itself, as well as to the inhabitants of the land. The word "palag", from which Peleg derives his name, means to split or to divide. We know from verses in Genesis chapter ten, that following the incident at the Tower of Babel, God chose to confuse and scatter the people by giving them many different languages, as well as by dispersing them across the face of the Earth, as we see by these verses:

"And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth."


Please note that in the previous verses, the word "scatter" is not derived from the word "palag", which means to divide or split. Rather, it is derived from the Hebrew word "puwts" which means to scatter. This difference is very important. Thus, what we can gather from all of these verses, is that two things appear to have occurred a few hundred years after the Flood. Not only did God choose to physically divide and split the surface of the Earth itself, but He also chose to scatter the people upon the face of it, by dividing them into different language groups. Now, if, as we've theorized, some of Noah's descendants were giants, this would easily explain how the giants came to be dispersed in various parts of the Earth. In other words, it explains why there are legends of giants all over the world, and not just in ancient Israel.

If we consider how the Earth was physically divided in the centuries following the Flood, plus the fact that humanity was likewise divided in a lingual and ethnic sense across the face of the Earth, it also becomes easier to understand how over time the original stories concerning the existence of the giants would slowly be changed and adapted by each individual culture. These changes in the story would more than likely be affected in part by the particular politics, religion, taboos and other factors that pertained to each culture. Thus, while the basic message of "Giants have lived among us" may have remained the same despite the passage of time, peculiarities to each giant legend began to emerge.

This theory can be easily proved, if one were to line up two dozen people in a room, share a short story with the first person in the line, then ask them to whisper the same story into the ear of the second person in the line, and finally, have each person share the story with the next person in the line. By the time the story reached the last person in the line, it would undoubtedly have undergone a few alterations. The basic story would probably still be recognizable; but as a result of each person's understanding of the story, as well as personal prejudices, and just plain human nature, a word might be changed or added here and there, so that when all is said and done, there may possibly be as many as two dozen versions of the very same story.

That is not all. As a result of human migration, each giant legend will be accepted as truth by that particular culture. While each giant account may contain elements of the truth, that is, elements of the original story, it is probable that only the original story will contain all of the facts in the right order, and with very little, if any, embellishment. So the question is this: Which do we trust to be the original story? Obviously, being as I am a Bible-believing Christian, I place my trust in the Bible, and in other historical and religious documents which support its contents; while at the same time, not neglecting to consider what other sources may have to say concerning this matter as well. This series is clear proof of that.

Obviously, this series will not convince someone to believe in the accounts regarding ancient giants on the Earth if they are already predisposed to certain ideas which convince them to the contrary. However, for those of you who still retain an open mind concerning this subject, it is my hope that the information which I have presented here, will at least provide you with some new food for thought. Personally, I don't doubt the veracity, reliability, integrity or accuracy of the Bible. I remain convinced that it is an honest, trustworthy account of historical events, as they pertain to the Creation of the Universe, the Earth and all life on it, and the Fall of man, as well as the consequences that have resulted from the Fall. Furthermore, I remain convinced that the Bible is a precise revelation of God's plans and intent for all of humanity, and that this plan has been in effect since the pages of the Old Testament.

Allow me to add that skepticism does have its place in our lives, as it motivates us to carefully and judiciously weigh what is presented to us as fact, and then to separate truth from error. Contrary to what some of my critics may be led to think, I do possess a skeptical side to my personality. There are many things which I do not accept at face value. However, more often than not, my skepticism is directed towards things of the world, and not those things which pertain to God, as they are revealed in His Word, the Bible.

Some skeptics will undoubtedly ask "So where is the physical proof? Where are the giant skeletal remains if these behemoth humans really roamed the Earth at one time?" That is a very good question, and one for which I obviously cannot provide a definitive answer. Yet, let me ask you a question in return. If there is positive, physical proof of the existence of the giants in our ancient past, are you absolutely certain that we would know about it? More specifically, are you sure that the powers-that-be, particularly the scientific powers, would even want us to know about such things? Do you realize how a revelation of that magnitude could not only totally alter our perception of ourselves and our understanding of our past, it could also result in negative repercussions in the arenas of science, religion, government, etc.?

I honestly do not know if the skeletal or fossilized remains of human giants have ever been discovered or unearthed. But if they have, then the previous explanation may offer a good reason why we have not been made aware of them. For many in the scientific community, it would totally turn their world topsy-turvy. Some people of faith would be forced to question their beliefs. Many people the world over would question what other things their governments have lied to them about. In a word, the revelation of the existence of giant human beings in the ancient past could potentially create quite a mess in many different spheres of our lives. The aim of governments is to maintain societal order for the most part, even if some of them tend to be very heavy-handed and oppressive in their particular approach. Most governments do not go out of their way to purposely create chaos, confusion and havoc amongst their constituents, as it would only present challenges to their own hold on power.

If you doubt what I am saying, and don't believe that certain world governments would not be forthcoming in regard to the existence of ancient giants, allow me to offer you a modern example which clearly demonstrates how unbending governments can be, even when they are confronted with sound, scientific evidence: Climate Change. If one goes back to the beginning of the George W. Bush administration, he will discover that the attitude of said administration was in essence one of total disbelief, perhaps even bordering on outright mockery, insofar as Climate Change is concerned. It took literally years of mounting scientific evidence before we began to see an attitudinal change in George Bush's administration, and the first hints that it was beginning to accept the reality of the potential threats that are posed by Climate Change.

The Bush administration clearly had the facts in hand, but it simply did not want to accept them. Why? A lot of people surmise that it may have had something to do with the Bush family's strong connections to the oil and gas industry, who continue to get filthy rich while we continue to pollute our world with dangerous emissions. So the point is this: If a world government like the U.S. government is willing to be so adamant in its resistance to the dangers posed by Climate Change, even going so far as to resist belief in the actual existence of the threat, what does that tell us about other possible scientific realities which for whatever reason, may possibly not sit well with their particular agenda? Having said that, do you still believe that all world governments would step forward if scientific evidence was presented to them regarding the existence of ancient giants? I don't. Can you imagine the snide remarks and one-liners on late night television shows if certain "respectable" people began to make public admissions about their belief in ancient giants?

Along the same lines, let us not overlook the arrogance of quite a few members of the modern scientific community. As I noted earlier, for many of them, the world, and perhaps even the Universe, is as they want it to be. In other words, if they put their stamp of approval on a particular pet theory, then it is as they say it is, regardless of what God's Word may say about it, and perhaps in some cases, even regardless of what the actual scientific evidence may point to. Thus, if scientists scoff and say that giants never existed, who are we to doubt their word; right? Wrong!

While this series has dwelt much on events from the distant past, I am going to conclude it by discussing a topic which, according to some people, may possibly have something to do with our future. As I mention in the series "2012: New Age Deception and Psychobabble", currently, there is a popular belief that is being promoted by several Bible teachers and authors which claims that the Nephilim may possibly return to rule the Earth. For example, according to one author, Tom Horn, the Nephilim will be led by the false god Apollo, who Horn equates with the ancient Babylonian ruler, Nimrod, and also with the ancient Egyptian god of the underworld, Osiris. Furthermore, in his writings, Mr. Horn also insists that this resurrected Apollo/Nimrod/Osiris deity is the same being as Abaddon -- or Apollyon the Destroyer -- who we find mentioned in the Book of Revelation, as we see by these verses:

"And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter."


"And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt."


At this current time, personally, I haven't formed any solid conclusions regarding the identity of Abaddon/Apollyon, or of the "horde from hell" that follows him out of the Bottomless Pit. Whoever that vast army of two hundred million is, they certainly do not seem human to me. Furthermore, as we have already seen, God's Word and the Book of Enoch make it rather clear that the Nephilim giants were utterly destroyed during the Flood. None of them survived, and there is no mention of their spirits being cast into the Bottomless Pit. What we are told, is that the Fallen Angels were imprisoned in Tartarus, and that the spirits of the Nephilim became demons upon the Earth. Allow me to share those verses from part two with you again:

"And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men, and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin; they shall be evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits shall they be called. As for the spirits of heaven, in heaven shall be their dwelling, but as for the spirits of the earth which were born upon the earth, on the earth shall be their dwelling. And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble: they take no food, but nevertheless hunger and thirst, and cause offences. And these spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded from them. From the days of the slaughter and destruction and death of the giants, from the souls of whose flesh the spirits, having gone forth, shall destroy without incurring judgement -- thus shall they destroy until the day of the consummation, the great judgement in which the age shall be consummated, over the Watchers and the godless, yea, shall be wholly consummated."
Book Of Enoch 15:8-16:1

To reiterate, based on the previous verses, I don't see how the Nephilim could possibly ascend out of the Bottomless Pit in order to rule the Earth, when they were never cast into the Bottomless Pit in the first place. Enoch plainly informs us that the spirits of the Nephilim are condemned to wander the Earth as demons, so the army of two hundred million must be something else. Exactly what they are, I honestly don't know, but they certainly don't appear to be flesh and blood human beings.

Furthermore, let me remind you again that the giants known as the Nephilim resulted from the sexual union of the rebellious Fallen Angels with human women. They resulted from a blend of Angel DNA with human DNA. That being the case, it seems to me that unless a new incursion by rebellious Angels occurs, and unless they again mate with human women, I honestly don't see how we can expect the Nephilim to arise once again. Based on my current understanding of the Bible, I find no Scriptural evidence to support another mating of Angels with humans, or the return of the Nephilim, in the Scriptures, or anywhere else for that matter.

On a side note, I again urge everyone to please exercise a great deal of caution if you choose to read the writings of Tom Horn. He is just another money-making Bible huckster in my view. Like many other 2012 promoters, I imagine that he was rather embarrassed when his 2012 predictions failed to materialize, including his predictions regarding the return of Apollo and the Nephilim. But then again, already knowing what such scammers are like, he probably found some way to weasel out of what he had written back then. I honestly do not follow the man, but I imagine that he probably earned a handsome profit from his wayward books, just like so many other similar 2012 authors. It is sad the way that authors such as Horn take advantage of the gullibility and naivety of so many people who are searching for the truth.

With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

⇒ Click Here To View Giant Images . . .

2012: New Age Deception and Psychobabble
Demonic Possession and Sickness: A Biblical Perspective
Origin of Demons: Spirits of the Nephilim?
The Book of Enoch: Truth or Heresy?
The Earth Is Under 7,000 Years Old
The Fruits of Disobedience
The Lamb of God Was a Goat
The Triumphant Touchdown of Jesus Christ

Click or Tap Icons to Share! Thank you!

---

---

Please avail yourself of other areas of the Bill's Bible Basics website. There are many treasures for you to discover.