12 Spies and the Nephilim Giants

The story below is about the 12 spies sent by Moses to survey the Promised Land, so that they can prepare themselves to conquer the land. Instead the report from the 10 spies were that they surely could not overcome the inhabitants who appear to be so big in size.

This passage has been used for various teachings such as lessons in faith, lessons in obedience, lessons in overcoming the enemies, lessons in trusting God's promises and so on. All these lessons are valid but very few focus on the extraordinary report brought by the spies on the face value. The face value of the report is that the inhabitants of those lands were "unnatural beings" - they were Giants, not merely large men.

To examine the report in greater depth as well as the context, the following points can be noted:
- the 10 spies meant Giants - as in unnatural beings - instead of just larger people. It is not just the English translation is misrepresented using the word Giant. They actually mean Giants and in v33, the spies said "we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." These were extraordinarily and unnaturally large people.
- the 10 spies were not weak or normal people chosen at random. They were the "heads of the children of Israel" from v3. The lesson that Joshua and Caleb had faith in an extraordinary God and can overcome the giants whereas the 10 spies did not have that strong faith and trust in God is still a valid lesson. It just shows that extraordinary faith is needed to overcome such extraordinary obstacles like the giants.
- the word Giant is not an English exaggeration in translation, but instead the source points to the word Nephilim. The Nephilim were the half-breed mutants produced from the unholy union between human females and fallen angels. See Corrupted Civilization - Pre Flood
The Nephilim would be well known among the Israelites and they would not use the specific word Nephilim to describe generally large people. In addition the verses below also refer to the Nephilim and Giants being descendents of Anak specifically connecting Anak, Giants and the Nephilim. So the spies report not only refer to merely large people as giants but instead the specific Giants / Nephilim from their history whom they knew their origins.
- the Israelites will go on to fight many battles in that region with many nations. Many times they would face experienced, professional warriors and soldiers compared to themselves who were slave labourers now being newly trained to fight. In all their battles, they had never declined or avoided a fight with other nations by giving the excuse that the enemies were giants, because most of their enemies were humans, not descendent of Nephilim. So it is not the 10 spies lack courage but rather lacking in faith when facing an extraordinary and unnatural enemy such as the Giants.


Numbers 13

Spies Sent into Canaan

 1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.”
3 So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. 4 Now these were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; 5 from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; 6 from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 7 from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; 8 from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea[a] the son of Nun; 9 from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; 10 from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; 11 from the tribe of Joseph, that is, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; 12 from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; 13 from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; 14 from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; 15 from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.
16 These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea[b] the son of Nun, Joshua.
17 Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, “Go up this way into the South, and go up to the mountains, 18 and see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; 19 whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; 20 whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.
21 So they went up and spied out the land from the Wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, near the entrance of Hamath. 22 And they went up through the South and came to Hebron; Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak, were there. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. 24 The place was called the Valley of Eshcol,[c] because of the cluster which the men of Israel cut down there. 25 And they returned from spying out the land after forty days.
26 Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.”
30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”
31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants[d] (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”