Messianic Viewpoint

Jacques Isaac Gabizon: But with these prophecies, we have Genesis 6, which also provides us with some pieces of the puzzle. These chapters will tell us the conditions into which the world would be just before the door of the ark closes.

Guest (Male): King Solomon said that there is nothing new under the sun, and the condition of man's heart, if not renewed by God's grace, will never change. Even though societies, politics, and hairdos change, man's heart will not, left to its own.

Remember, there was only one man called righteous and seven of his family members who voluntarily entered into the ark with Noah. How sad that all the animals entered in two by two, even in order, lining up because there was an instinctive call to heed the voice of God. Not so with men; many were scoffers instead.

But the passage is not all dark. Many men did stand out in the crowd. We have men such as Enoch and Methuselah, and we see how they walked with God in the midst of a difficult and bad world, something that we believers are called to do today. Noah had the strength of the Spirit, which gave him the courage and the wisdom to walk out of the world and into the ark.

So let us, the believer, find the closest door of the ark and run into our sanctuary whenever the world floods our minds with what is not of God. Welcome to Shalom Ariel, and welcome to our continued study in the Book of Genesis with Messianic Leader Jacques Isaac Gabizon. Be blessed as you listen in, and Shalom.

Jacques Isaac Gabizon: Shabbat Shalom. Let’s open up our scriptures to Genesis 6. Are you ready to meet the giants, the Nephilim? Don't be scared; it's okay. Everything is good. By the way, going to Genesis 6, so many things are happening in the first five chapters of Genesis. It all began with the creation of the heaven and the earth and that of angels in the first verse, if you remember. Then, in between the first verse and the second verse, you have the fall of many of these angels, one-third of them, told in Revelation 12.

Then, in the first and second chapters of the book, God fixes up all the broken pieces while creating someone new: man. But it doesn't take long before man falls. This is in the next chapter. Right away, God protects him and re-establishes him. But again, he falls, and the chapter after, Genesis 4, Cain kills Abel. However, God comes back in the next chapter, Chapter 5; He again re-establishes humankind through the creation of a new promised line through Seth, through whom the Messiah was to come.

The history of the world until then consisted of going from falling to being rescued, from sin to redemption, over and over again. In fact, this has been our history since then. This cycle of sin to redemption is what characterizes our past. Man falls, God comes to the rescue. Man goes to war, man mishandles the environment, man mistreats his neighbors, but God, in His persistent and eternal grace, is present all along, acting as the restrainer. I do not believe we would have gotten so far in time if it wasn't for His constant preventive actions in history.

But what we will learn today in Genesis 6 is that there's a limit. God, in His infinite wisdom, drew a line He Himself cannot cross because, on the other side of this line, there's darkness and utter evil, so much so that His holiness cannot be brought there. But as far as man is concerned, man is able to cross this line and stay there and be even comfortable at times. He does it here in Genesis 6, and the scriptures repeatedly tell us that he's about to do it again.

What happens when he crosses this red line? This is the subject of our chapter today. In this chapter begins the account of the judgment of the flood, its reasons, and its devastations. Because sin reaches its peak, God flooded the whole earth for over a year so that nothing living escaped it. This is what happens after one crosses the last frontier of sin; God removes Himself, and judgment comes.

The story is about Noah's Ark, but let us not think of this story as a child's tale or as an outdated story. This story is real, and it's very much prophecy; it is a warning. If there's ever a time in history when the events of this chapter speak so clearly and loudly, it's today. Jude, Peter, and Yeshua Himself drew from the circumstances of this time to speak about ours today. Our Messiah prophesied that as it was then, so it is now, or so it would be.

He says in Matthew 24, "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." As unprepared and oblivious to the signs of the times the people were, so are they today. Try to tell someone that it's the end of the world, that the end of the world is coming. They won't believe you.

As we have seen how His coming is so imminent, we have seen how the world powers today are exactly as they were prophesied thousands of years ago before the end of our age. The King of the North—remember Russia and its allies—the King of the South, Egypt with all the other Arab countries, the King of the East, the Asian countries led by China, and the willful king, Europe, as it is today with one army, one currency. All was said before.

And Israel, back to her land. Did you know that all these countries altogether began to experience changes that led them to be as they are today at the same time as Israel came to be a country? As Jesus says, "When you see the fig tree giving leaves, you know I'm at the door." Keeping with Jesus' example, today the ark is finished and the door is about to be closed. Now we are there waiting for the trumpet sound, for the rapture of the church, which will begin the last seven years of our age.

But with these prophecies, we have Genesis 6, which also provides us with some pieces of the puzzle. These chapters will tell us the conditions into which the world would be just before the door of the ark closes. But this passage is not all dark, by the way. Many men stood out of the crowd. This is what we have to concentrate on. Enoch, Methuselah—we have seen how they walked with God in the midst of a difficult and very, very wicked world. These stand as examples to follow.

And today we will meet another one, a very, very special individual: Noah. Noah, who walked in the midst of the giant, but he wasn't scared; I don't think he was scared because he walked along with God. We have a lot to learn from this man. So it is my prayer that these things, at the end, will give us a sense of impressment to go and to share the gospel because Jesus is coming soon.

Now let us begin our adventure into Genesis 6. It begins with what must be the most mysterious passage in the Torah and also one of the most well-known and one of the most popular passages in the Bible. Verses 1 to 5 open us a window to the demonic world. There's not much that the Bible says about demons, but enough for us to have a pretty good idea of who they are, what they do, and where they're heading to.

In some circles, these verses are so popular that Genesis 6 has come down to us as one which speaks of demons only. But the story of demons is only less than 15% of the chapter. What's next is much more precious. So while we need and must know about these beings, it is clear that the Bible does not want us to be fixated on demons, but we need to know about them.

So let us read verses 1 to 5, Chapter 6. It says, "Now it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful, and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the Lord said, 'My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh, yet his days shall be 120 years.' There were the Nephilim 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. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

Who are the sons of God in verse 2? And who are the giants or the Nephilim and who are these men of renown in verse 4? In fact, there are only two verses, verses 2 and 4, that speak about them. In the universe, we know of only three beings: man, angels, and God. These giants were not men. They were not God, so they must be angels, fallen angels. This is what the other parts of the scriptures actually indicate to us, especially in Job Chapter 1, verse 6. It says, "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, and Satan also was among them."

Here Satan and his hordes of demons reported to God, as they must always report to God. Why? Because they are not that independent. And if they are called sons of God, it's not that they have a father-son relationship; it simply tells us that they have been directly created by God. All those directly created by God in the scriptures would be called sons of God. For instance, if you look at the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3, everyone is a son of someone else, except when you get to Adam; it ends with Adam, the son of God, in verse 38. He was the only man in the list created by God Himself.

But let me ask you a question. If these sons of God in Genesis 6 are angels, why not simply call them angels? Because the name "angels" depicts the function of the individual and not his nature. By nature, these were spirits, and the word "angels" means messengers, something that these demons were no more to God. The title "angel" is given to men as well. For instance, in the scriptures, men are called angels. The prophet Malachi means "my angel." John the Baptist in Matthew 11:10 is called the angel when it says, "Behold, I send my messenger, my angel, before your face."

And we have, of course, the Angel of the Lord, who is Jesus Himself. We know that He is God incarnate because He Himself created the angels in Hebrews Chapter 1. And in this verse of Hebrews Chapter 1, verse 14, it gives us a good definition of what an angel is. It says, "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who will inherit salvation?" Ministering spirits; that is, they have a ministry of serving, of serving God and man, something these demons could not do anymore.

Many have given other interpretations to the title of sons of God, thinking that these are the sons of God as the believers are in the New Testament and that they were put on earth as an attempt to reverse the evil of this world. But the context says differently. The rabbis of old understood that they were angelic beings. The Septuagint translates the phrase "and the angel of God." The Targum of Jonathan gives even the name of two of these demons.

But what are they doing on earth? What are they doing on earth right at this moment in Genesis 6? The passage gives us a very good hint about their main intention. Notice what they came to do in verse 2. They specifically came to marry the daughters of men. The word for "they took wives" is an expression of legal marriage. They were marrying them. So they came to marry young women.

Why would they do this? This is Satan's answer to God's promise, the first prophecy in Genesis 3:15.

Guest (Male): Don't go away; we'll be right back with the second half of our program coming up just after this message. As we wind up for the second part of our program today, we would like to remind our listeners how blessed and privileged we feel to be part of your radio day. We pray that the messages you hear will instruct you, edify you, and encourage you to love the Lord more and follow Him into obedience in even greater ways.

We are all changed by the challenges and transformed by the trials of life, and as we walk them together, we keep looking up to Him who is mighty to break down the walls of Jericho that stand before us and to hand over to us the spiritual victories in life. Yeshua has broken down the greatest barrier, the greatest wall that has separated us from God the Father.

Thank you, listeners, for joining us in prayer and in financial support for this ministry. If you have it on your heart to give to this ministry, then you can by logging on to our congregation website at bethariel.ca—B-E-T-H-A-R-I-E-L dot C-A—and if God leads you to contribute from the treasures that God has blessed you with for the continuation of this radio ministry. Shalom, Shalom, as we begin part two of today's program.

Jacques Isaac Gabizon: When Jesus came and told them that He's the Son of God and when He showed them His divine power, it was no big deal to them because they are their Titans already. Even the Caesars of the time, you know who they thought they were? They thought they were sons of God themselves. Satan knows how to prepare the minds of the people against the Word of God.

Guest (Male): While Satan does convince some that they are gods and therefore have no need of the one true God, he can also have a stronghold on our own lives even as believers. One of the ways Satan attacks us is the way we question our salvation and begin to doubt it. If we are to think about our sin more than our salvation, which is what Satan wants, we might doubt God's goodness and His full plan for us.

Let's remember the story about David. When he faced the giant Goliath, he mentioned Goliath's name two times, but he mentioned the name of the Lord nine times in that very passage alone. David thought about God four more times than he did concerning the adversary who stood before him. Are we dwelling on our sin, or are we dwelling on the joy of the salvation that God has provided?

The truth about life is this: Messiah in this life will not free us from the presence of sin, but He will free us from the power that it has over us. Satan has not changed from the time of his fall, but we can. Each day, if we live by His grace, we can be changed more and more into His glory, more and more into His image. That's the only way we could ever think that we could be like God, when His indwelling Spirit fills us and transforms us into His image.

But hold on, folks, because one day soon, when we will be forever transformed, we will be like Him when we will see Him as He is. What a day that will be. Welcome to Shalom Ariel. Welcome to our continued study in the Book of Genesis with Messianic Leader Jacques Isaac Gabizon. Be blessed as you listen in, and Shalom.

Jacques Isaac Gabizon: Which prophesies the coming of the seed of the woman, the coming of the Messiah who was to come through who, a man? No, through a woman. Not a man but a young woman. So right in the outset, demons wanted to upset the prophecy because this is what they want. They do everything against the Word of God.

And they began to go after the seed of the woman to corrupt it by having grotesque offspring so that Jesus, who is sinless, would not come, could not come. This is one of the first of many attempts to stop the coming of the Messiah. This really is the second attempt in Genesis. You know when Cain killed Abel, the line of the Messiah was in danger, so God created another line in Genesis 5 through Seth. Here they struck back and went right to the woman.

And one can trace back the history of the chosen people through these many attempts to stop the seed of the woman. For instance, both Sarah and Rebecca, the mothers of Israel, were in danger of being raped by strangers. But God right away came to the rescue to protect the ancestors of the Messiah, and so He did all through the history of Israel.

In fact, do you know that only three times in history we see such an increase of demonic activity? And it's all related to the coming of the Messiah. Here in Genesis 6, where the genealogical line of the seed of the woman began, so they came. Then in the gospel at the first coming of Jesus, they all came. And later we read in the end of the tribulation, just before Jesus comes back in His second coming, they come again. While demonic activities were always present in history, in this scale, God allowed them only these three times.

And the verse in verse 2 of Genesis 6 says that these demons took for themselves all young girls, the young girls that they could choose. They took wives from all whom they chose. How did it work, by the way? What were the men at this time? Were they scared, or were they too busy with themselves? It seems that these demons went on a rampage, taking as many young girls as they desired.

And it says that they found the woman beautiful. I'm not sure that evil can really appreciate beauty. There's no loveliness in this realm except vice and evil. Here we can understand that there was an abuse and violence of God's creation. Here we can begin to understand why God was preparing the flood.

And Genesis Chapter 6, verse 1 brings us back to the very beginning. It is a parallel account to what happened even the time of Cain. Cain, remember, was banished to the land of Nod, the land of nothing. There the demons have found an open door and began their rampage against the woman. When a place is empty, remember Jesus says, there they are, eager to fill it, and they bring their friends with them.

And what kind of offspring came out of this union? The name of these children, if you can call them children, is Nephilim. This is the name translated by "giants" in many translations. I remember when I first typed the word "Nephilim" in my computer a few years ago, my autocorrect did not allow me to put an S at the end of this word. Why? I could not figure out why until I realized that this is Hebrew; it's a Hebrew word, and this Hebrew word is in plural already. You know when a Hebrew word ends with "im," it's plural, generally plural. I was amazed, by the way, that my computer knew this.

But who exactly are these Nephilim? The word "Nephilim" comes from the root word "to fall." Fall, right? So a new race came about, a doomed one, the fallen ones. Bad beginnings. Some translations call them the giants. While they were giants, the translation "giant" is not based on the original language but based on the Greek word "gigantes," which represents beings whom the Greeks believed to be the outcome of the union of gods and men. How did they know that? Noah told them. We have a common father.

Later the word "gigantes" came to the Latin word "Titans," whom they believed to be part men and part gods. These had human characteristics, and at the same time, they had superhuman powers. It seems that Satan, through false religion and superstition, did prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah. When Jesus came and told them that He's the Son of God and when He showed them His divine power, it was no big deal to them because they are their Titans already. Even the Caesars of the time, you know who they thought they were? They thought they were sons of God themselves.

Satan knows how to prepare the minds of the people against the Word of God. And we further read that these monsters became men of renown on earth. You know what the Hebrew says? "Men of the name," that is, "Anshei HaShem." This is a translation. You know, it's interesting that God chooses Shem out of the three sons of Noah to be the ancestor of the Messiah. They tried to steal the name of the Messiah by pretending to be gods themselves and called themselves the men of the name of Shem.

But God made sure that through Shem, the name above all names came, our savior, Yeshua HaMashiach. He is the direct son of Shem. Shem, where we get our word "Semite" or "antisemite." It's right there. But this story, by the way, doesn't go for a long time. God cuts it short; He cuts short the visit of these people and very fast. See what it says in verse 3. "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh, for his days shall be only 120 years."

Notice that God does not address the demons, right? Who does He address here? For they were actually He addresses men directly. "My Spirit shall not strive with men." He turns to men, who are ultimately responsible for accepting them in their midst. Demons are demons; they cannot force themselves into us unless we open the door to them. Some say that they had a choice, but look at the name of the line of Seth all through Chapter 5. They did not accept them. So these demons were used to test the people of God, or the people there, the new creation.

But the line was crossed, and God now removes what belongs to Him. What? Life itself. His Spirit. And this is the very same thing that will happen at the end. Remember what Paul teaches just before the end in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2, verse 7. He says, "The mystery of lawlessness is already at work even now. Only He who restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way." Who is the one who restrains but the Spirit of God, the Spirit that God even speaks about in Genesis 6, and He says, "I'm going to remove it, remove Him again."

Now let us go back to Matthew 24:38 one more time, and let's pay attention to what Jesus is really saying. There's something in there. He says, "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark." Jesus specifically speaks of marriage. Why? He says that the people will be marrying and giving in marriage as it was then. Was Jesus making allusion to the marriages of these demons? And if He does, what would be today's counterpart? What do you think it is?

Let me tell you that the Spirit of God makes a direct relation between the events of Genesis 6 with those of Sodom and Gomorrah in Jude. In Jude verse 6, again let's read it. It says, "Then the angel who did not keep their proper domain but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day, as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality."

Jude makes or speaks of the sin of these fallen angels being of a similar manner as those of Sodom and Gomorrah and as those as we have today, leading to the end of this world. What is that similar manner? Who is getting married today and at the same time in God's assessment is of sexual immorality? Let us not water down what God calls sin in the scriptures. I believe that Jesus was speaking in both cases of legal and accepted marriages, which are corrupt in nature.

The institution of marriage is so precious to God all along the Bible as He speaks of no other types of marriages but the one He designed Himself between a man and a woman. To us, the other marriages are signs that He's coming soon. This is what it says. To us, this predicts an imminent end and a fast one because this is what triggered the immediate judgment before that. Because it is these things that brought God to bring a fast judgment on humanity. And the reason God gives for removing His Spirit in verse 3, it says, "Because he is also flesh." But what else can he be? I think it has to do with what else man thinks he is. Being flesh, he thinks he is God. That's a problem, a problem that you find in the scriptures as well.

When man is deep into sin, he thinks he is God himself, like a drunkard who thinks he is invincible and thinks he can beat up anyone because he doesn't feel the pain anymore. But at the end, he is a mere man. This is the argument, you know, of Psalm 82, speaking to false teachers whom are the counterpart of the modern-day Nephilims. They thought they were gods, and God comes to them and tells them, "I said you were gods and all of you are children of the Most High, but you shall die like mere men and fall like all the princes."

These people thought they were so good, so perfect, because they were very good at what they were doing. And God comes and says, "You know what? You're not really God." Yeshua brought the same argument in the gospel against the established religious system. They accused Him of being God, and He says to them, "Is it... well, hold on a minute. I remember isn't it you who thinks you are God?" and He quotes that verse. And we noticed before how Jude makes a direct correlation between the Nephilim and the false teachers today. That's important. Modern-day Nephilim, according to the Bible, are those false teachers. This was Jude's argument in verse 4. "For certain men have crept in unnoticed who long ago were marked out of this condemnation, ungodly men who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ." They deny the divinity of the Messiah. You heard this one, right? It's rampant.

Guest (Male): Shalom Ariel is a daily radio program emphasizing the Jewish perspective of scripture. God is not through dealing with Israel, nor will He renege any of the promises He has made to her. Our teacher for this program, Jacques Isaac Gabizon, is a Messianic Jewish believer and Messianic Leader at Beth Ariel congregation right here in Montreal. If you've been encouraged by the messages, we'd love to hear from you.

Give us a call at 1-888-685-5902, or you may write us at info@bethariel.ca—B-E-T-H-A-R-I-E-L, all one word, dot C-A. You are also welcome to join us for our Saturday morning services. We are located at 6297 Monkland Avenue, corner of Madison in NDG. The message is given in English, but we do offer simultaneous translation into French and Russian. Services begin at 11:00 AM.

We have Shabbat school for children of all ages, up to and including teens. You may also download audio messages from our website at bethariel.ca and enjoy other in-depth teaching from Jacques Isaac. If you would like to sign up for informative newsletters, log on to our website and add your name to our email list. Shalom Ariel is a listener-supported program. If you have it on your heart to donate, it will be a great blessing for the continuing ministry and outreach of Beth Ariel. Thank you, and Shalom, Shalom.