Sun am 31 May – Kobus Swart
(Matt. 13:24-30, 37-43); (Gen. 3:15); (2 Cor. 3:2-3); (2 Cor. 3:6); Gen. 6:4; Jude 14-16; (Eph. 6:12); Num. 13:22, 24-33; (Josh. 15:14); Josh. 14:6- 15; (1 Cor. 10:26); (Matt. 24:35); (Luke 7:20); (Heb. 4:1); (Rom. 16:20); (1 John 3:8); Josh 15:13-14.
We refer you to the previous lesson in which we looked at the separation of the wheat and the tares(Matth 13), as well as the curse spoken to the serpent in Genesis 3:15. Throughout the Bible we find the two seed lines. On several major occasions the seed of the serpent has tried to interfere with the royal seed line of the Christ, and on several instances the royal genealogy has been affected. This scheme of the devil has surfaced every so often even throughout the church age.
The story of the Nephilim in Genesis 6:4 has become a battle ground for many theologians. It is obvious that more revelation is needed on this issue. Even the book written by Enoch, in which he deals with this issue of fallen angels, was eventually dropped from the Canon of Scripture. The book of Jude, which refers to Henoch, refers to what happened in Genesis 6. It is clear, that on certain occasions there has been demonic interference in the genealogy of humankind, where the serpent tried to contaminate the Royal seedline. More about that in our next lesson.
If Satan had succeeded in corrupting the human race, he would have hindered the coming of the Son of God, the promised Seed of the woman. If Satan had by any means prevented that birth, he would obviously have averted his own doom. Before the Flood, Satan did succeed to a large extent; it was for that reason that God drowned mankind in the flood. It grieved God that he had made man. The earth was full of wickedness. There was a dimension there that upset God. But then he found Noah, who had a walk with God.
The question remains, “How did the Nephilim spirit survive the flood?” Five hundred years later it is back in the earth. Only twice in the whole Bible do we find mention of the Nephilim, in Gen. 6 & Num. 13. At this point we must remember that, our battle is not against flesh and blood. We are not looking for physical giants. Our battle is against principalities and powers in heavenly places.
When twelve spies were sent by Moses into the land of promise, they discovered that Satan – the anticipator – had preceded them. There were mixed seeds in the land of promise. The Canaanites – descendants of Canaan, the cursed son of Ham – were living there. The spies brought back word from Canaan and the giants that were there, including the Nephilim! They felt like grasshoppers in the sight of these giants. Caleb and Joshua also saw the giants, but believed the promise of God. They had a different spirit. You only become a “grasshopper” in your own eyes when you quote the facts and you forget the Word of the Lord. Then “… Caleb drove out from there the three sons (All giants!) of Anak: Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the children of Anak” (Josh. 15:13 -14). Then the people had rest from war.
The Redeemed Community is presently busy transitioning into the “land of promise”; the rest of God.(Hebrews 4). We can expect resistance (and schemes) from the enemy. However, there is going to be a Caleb company who is going to execute the finished works of Jesus – crushing the head of Satan under their feet.
Lord, enlarge our understanding of these things, shift our paradigms; destroy the obstacles in our thinking so we can understand spiritual things better and see the strategies of the enemy.