1. Nephilim
Pastor Nathan Weller
July 23, 2017
Series: Stranger things

3. 1 Then the people began to multiply on the earth,
and daughters were born to them. 2 The sons
of God saw the beautiful women and took any
they wanted as their wives. 3 Then the Lord said,
“My Spirit will not put up with humans for such
a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more
than 120 years.”
4 In those days, and for some time after... (cont’d)
--Genesis (NLT)

4. ...giant Nephilites lived on the earth... (cont’d)
for whenever the sons of God had intercourse
with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times.5 The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 So the Lord was
sorry he had ever made them and... (cont’d)
--Genesis (NLT)

5. ...put them on the earth. It broke his heart.
7 And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and
I will destroy every living thing—all the people,
the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” 8 But Noah found
favor with the Lord.
--Genesis (NLT)

7. the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times.
1 Then the people began to multiply on the earth, and daughters were born to them. 2 The sons of God saw the beautiful women and took any they wanted as their wives… 4 In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became
the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times.
5 The Lord observed the extent of... (cont’d)
--Genesis (NLT), rearranged

8. ...human wickedness on the earth, and he saw
that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. 6 So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart.
3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years.” (cont’d)
--Genesis (NLT), rearranged

9. 7 And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race
I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and
I will destroy every living thing—all the people,
the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky.
I am sorry I ever made them.”
8 But Noah found favor with the Lord.
--Genesis (NLT), rearranged

11. Sin-->

12. Sin-->Judgement-->

13. Sin-->Judgement--> Mercy & Hope

15. a supernatural universe
We inhabit
a supernatural universe

17. but there are many divine beings
There is one God,
but there are many divine beings

19. 1 God has taken his place in the divine council;
in the midst of the gods he holds judgment:
6 I said, “You are gods,
sons of the Most High, all of you;
7 nevertheless, like men you shall die,
and fall like any prince.”
--Psalm 82.1, 6-7 (ESV)

21. 19 And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word
of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him
on his right hand and on his left; 20 and the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. 21 Then a spirit came forward and stood before the... (cont’d)
--1st Kings (ESV)

22. the Lord has declared disaster for you.”
...Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ 22 And the Lord said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said,
‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’
23 Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets;
the Lord has declared disaster for you.”
--1st Kings (ESV)

24. 8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. 9 But the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.
--Deuteronomy (ESV)

26. “My first and last philosophy, that which I believe in
with unbroken certainty, I learnt in the nursery...The things I believed most then, the things I believe most now, are the things called fairy tales. They seem to
me to be the entirely reasonable things. They are not fantasies: compared with them other things are
fantastic. Compared with them religion and rationalism are both abnormal, though religion is abnormally
right and rationalism abnormally wrong.
Fairyland is nothing but the sunny country of... (cont’d)

27. ...common sense. It is not earth that judges heaven,
but heaven that judges earth; so for me it is not earth that criticized elfland but elfland that criticized earth.
I knew the magic of the beanstalk before I had tasted beans; I was sure of the Man in the Moon before I was certain of the moon...In short, I had always believed that the world involved magic: now I thought that perhaps it involved a magician...I had always felt life first as a
story: and if there is a story there is a story-teller.”
-G. K. Chesterton-

29. We inhabit an orderly supernatural universe

31. the sons of God had intercourse with women,
In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever
the sons of God had intercourse with women,
they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times.
--Genesis 6.4 (NLT)

33. of darkness, where they are being held until
4 For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits
of darkness, where they are being held until
the day of judgment. 5 And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world
of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood
--2nd Peter (NLT)

35. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.
--Jude 6 (ESV)

37. “In your language you have a form of poetry called
the sonnet.” “Yes, yes,” Calvin said impatiently. “What’s that got to do with the Happy Medium?” “Kindly pay me the courtesy of listening to me.” Mrs Whatsit’s voice was stern, and for a moment Calvin stopped pawing the ground like a nervous colt. “It is
a very strict form of poetry, is it not?” “Yes.” “There
are fourteen lines, I believe, all in... (cont’d)

38. iambic pentameter. That’s a very strict rhythm or meter, yes. ” “Yes
...iambic pentameter. That’s a very strict rhythm or meter, yes?” “Yes.” Calvin nodded. “And each line has to end with a rigid rhyme pattern. And if the poet does not do it exactly this way, it is not a sonnet, is it?” “No.” “But within this strict form the poet has complete freedom to say whatever he wants, doesn’t he?” “Yes.” Calvin nodded again. “So,” Mrs Whatsit said. “So what?” “Oh, do not be stupid, boy!” (cont’d)

39. say is completely up to you.”
...Mrs Whatsit scolded. “You know perfectly well what I am driving at!” “You mean you’re comparing our
lives to a sonnet? A strict form, but freedom within it?” “Yes.” Mrs Whatsit said. “You’re given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself. What you
say is completely up to you.”
-A Wrinkle in Time-

41. Never underestimate the long term consequence of sin

43. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide
in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall
be 120 years.” 5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth,
and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the
Lord regretted that he had made... (cont’d)
--Genesis 6.3, 5-7 (ESV)

44. birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I
...man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and
birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I
have made them.”
--Genesis 6.3, 5-7 (ESV)

46. 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy
it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and
all the people that we saw in it are of great height.
33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons
of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so
we seemed to them.”
--Numbers (NLT)

48. And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
--1 Samuel 17.4 (ESV)

50. A supernatural universe means we have reason to hope

52. But Noah found favor in the
eyes of the Lord.
--Genesis 6.8 (ESV)

54. Nephilim
Pastor Nathan Weller
July 23, 2017
Series: Stranger things