5 -  The situation now :

The last biblical reference to the giants, I believe, is Isaiah 45:14, where the Lord says to Israel that: “the tall men of Seba will be your slaves”. I have not been able to find more mention in the bible after this.

At this moment there are no more Giants, but other weapons are used by Satan to force Israel out of their country. This is being done, again by Satan, for the same reason as before with the Nephilim. We now see tanks used as the weapon to have come in the place the Nephilim.

A series of wars between Israeli and various Arab forces took place during recent decades, most notably in 1948–49, 1956, 1967, 1973, and 1982.

Also here we see the same strategy used by Satan to not let the Israelites live in their country, especially in Jerusalem. Israel now is surrounded by countries which are hostile to them and who all have one goal, which is to expel the Israelites from their country (See Psalm 83:4 ... “Come,” they say, “let us destroy their nation, so that Israel will be forgotten forever.”) .... But the Israelites are no more going to be expelled from the country where they are now, and above all they will stay in Jerusalem, where Jesus will return “among his people”. (See Amos 9: 14.15: “I will bring my people back to their land. They will rebuild their ruined cities and live there; they will plant vineyards and drink the wine; they will plant gardens and eat what they grow. I will plant my people on the land I gave them, and they will not be pulled up again, says the Lord God “) .

As a consequence, Jerusalem will be the world's most discussed, contentious and controversial city. There are many prophecies in the Bible that talk about this, but this is beyond the scope of this blog and is therefore not discussed here.

6 - Conclusions      

The above has been written to be of help in answering questions that may arise on the subject of the Nephilim. Questions normally asked relate to:

- Where do they come from?

- What do they really want?

- To what are they capable?

- Why did God command to kill everyone related to them?

- The reason for their existence before and after the flood.

No more Nephilim are born any more now, because the satanic reason for their existence in the past does not exist anymore since other means are being used now. However the battle, organized by Satan, to destroy God’s plan with this world, and whereby Israel plays a key role, is still going on. This battle will continue until is fulfilled what it says in Revelation 20 verse 10: “Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever”.

        ---------------End of this blog on the Nephilim--------

Continuation of 4, - Events after the flood

As was the case with a number of the kings of Israel, also Joshua had the mission to kill the Nephilim, but he failed to kill all of them. See Joshua 11 verses 21 and 22, "... At this time Joshua went and destroyed the race of giants called the Anakim who lived in the hill country—in Hebron, Debir, Anab, and in all the hill country of Judah and Israel. Joshua completely destroyed them and their cities. 22 None of the Anakim were left in the land of Israel; a few, however, were left in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod”....Those are precisely the places where Israel now has problems with their neighbors who are attacking them exactly from the same areas as where Joshua failed to kill the giants! ! !

 (Seeing this we can better understand why God orders Saul to kill all the Amalekites... See 1 Samuel 13 verse 3: “Go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Don't leave a thing; kill all the men, women, children, and babies; the cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys”…. This is because there were Giants, Nephilim, among them.)

When God had revealed to Abraham that Canaan would be given to him and his children, Satan had over 400 years to introduce the Nephilim in the country. And that is exactly what he did. (The time between Abraham and Moses is approximately 400 years)

When Moses sent his twelve spies to explore the land of Canaan they returned and reported that giants lived in the land of Canaan. See Numbers 13 verse 28 and 32: “we saw the descendants of the giants there. Amalekites live in the southern part of the land; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and Canaanites live by the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan River.... We also saw the giants , the descendants of Anak . Beside we felt like grasshoppers , and so we watched them too ..….Everyone we saw was very tall,   and we even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. We felt as small as grasshoppers, and that is how we must have looked to them.”. 

The fear of those terrifying creatures had as result that the Israelites were forced to wander in the wilderness for 38 years.

When Joshua and the nation of Israel later on entered the land of Canaan , God instructed them to kill every man, woman and child of a number of tribes . See the texts, - not copied here- , in the following verses: Joshua 6:21 , 9:24 , 10:28, 39 , 11:24, Deuteronomy 2:34 , 7:02 , 3; 20:16-17 . 1 Sam 15:03 , 8, 18, ​​19 , Ps 137:8 , 9) .

….Apparently there was an invasion of giants in the land of Canaan. We can clearly recognize here the strategy of Satan which was, and always will be, to obstruct the entrance and existence of the people of Israel in their country, and with that to destroy Gods plan with this world. . . 

4 - Events after the flood

With regards to the Nephilim, Genesis 6 verse 4 also includes the allusive phrase: " ... and also after that .... ".  Apparently, the existence of the Nephilim was not limited only to the period before the flood.

We see in the Bible that also after the flood Nephilim appear in different areas specifically in Canaan.  We can read for example in the bible about the giant races that lived there.

We may be surprised when we see how often texts appear talking about the activities of giants as if their existence were an accepted element in the life of the people of Canaan…. For example we read in 2 Samuel 21 verses 15 to 22:”There was another war between the Philistines and Israel, and David and his men went and fought the Philistines. During one of the battles David grew tired.  A giant named Ishbibenob, who was carrying a bronze spear that weighed about seven and a half pounds and who was wearing a new sword, thought he could kill David.   But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David's help, attacked the giant, and killed him. Then David's men made David promise that he would never again go out with them to battle. “You are the hope of Israel, and we don't want to lose you,” they said. After this there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, during which Sibbecai from Hushah killed a giant named Saph.

 There was another battle with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan son of Jair from Bethlehem killed Goliath from Gath, whose spear had a shaft as thick as the bar on a weaver's loom.

Then there was another battle at Gath, where there was a giant who loved to fight. He had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. He defied the Israelites, and Jonathan, the son of David's brother Shammah, killed him. These four were descendants of the giants of Gath, and they were killed by David and his men”   

It is amazing to see how often giants appear in the time of David, exactly at the moment that David was establishing the people of Israel in their country as a strong nation.  This can be understood, because it was very important for Satan to avoid that Israel would settle and get a place in the land, promised by God to Abraham. This was to avoid that once the Messiah would come into this world and live amongst his people Israel, as prophesized earlier.

 Here below follow a number of references to Nephilim. They are given here to get a better understanding of the extent of their penetration in the world surrounding Israel: 

There were tribes, such as the Emim, who were giants. We can read about them in Deuteronomy 2 verses10-11: " A mighty race of giants called the Emim used to live in Ar. They were as tall as the Anakim, another race of giants. 11 Like the Anakim they were also known as Rephaim; but the Moabites called them Emim”. Also is there the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, in the " land of giants . " See Deut.3 verse 11, mentioned before. Sometime later we read about Arba, see Joshua 14:12 an 15 . "…….We told you then that the race of giants called the Anakim were there in large walled cities…….. Before this, Hebron was called the city of Arba. (Arba had been the greatest of the Anakim)….. 

In 1 Samuel 17 verse 4: “A man named Goliath, from the city of Gath, came out from the Philistine camp to challenge the Israelites. He was over nine feet tall. He had four brothers of the same height”…. We all know that David killed Goliath. ….Here, and in other cases mentioned in the bible, we see how God used David, amongst others, to kill the Nephilim . 

Continuation of Chapter 3 - Who were the Nephilim ?

According to Hebrew writings and other apocryphal books (such as the book of Enoch), the Nephilim were a race of giants and super - heroes, who committed acts of great evil. Their great size and power seemed to come from the mixture of their demonic DNA and human genetics. All the Bible says directly about them is that they were “mighty men which were of old, men of renown". (Genesis 6 verse 4) The Nephilim were not aliens, as many people often think, they were literally physical beings produced by the union of the “sons of God” (fallen angels) and daughters of men. 

The Nephilim were one of the main reasons for the great flood in Noah's time . Immediately after the Nephilim are mentioned, the word of God tells us that, " When the Lord saw how wicked everyone on earth was and how evil their thoughts were all the time, he was sorry that he had ever made them and put them on the earth. He was so filled with regret that he said, “I will wipe out these people I have created, and also the animals and the birds, because I am sorry that I made any of them.”(Genesis 6 verses 5-7) So God proceeded to flood the world, killing all and everyone, including the race of giants, saving only Noah and his family, and the animals within the ark (Genesis 6:11-22).

The bible tells us that “Noah had no faults and was the only good man of his time.”…in other words, Noah was not contaminated with the DNA of the Nephilim.

Related to the fact that Angels had relations with human woman, it is interesting to note a text of the book of Job, the oldest book of the bible:

This book is written by the patriarch Job, who lived close to the time of the flood, thus the references to angels reflect this. There is a passage that states directly that certain angels were indeed involved in illicit relations with human women. It occurs when Eliphas, one of Job’s three friends who are trying to encourage him over the loss of his family, shares a Divine vision he had:

 We read in Job 4 verses 13 -18: “Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof.  In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men, Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake.  Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up:  It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying,  Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his maker?  Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly”.

The word “folly” in the Old Testament is used to describe sexual sin.

We can see that also in other places such as in Genesis 34: 7 (“because he had wrought folly in Israel in lying with Jacob's daughter”) and also in 2 Samuel 13 verse 12 (“And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel: do not thou this folly”).

These and other passages in the bible give us more and more the guarantee that the giants (nephilim) were indeed beings, produced by the union of the “sons of God”, (fallen angels), and daughters of men. They have no relation whatever with the so-called “aliens”, that many people wrongly believe, are visiting us from outer space.

3 - Who were the Nephilim ?

The Nephilim were a race that came to dominate already since the antediluvian (pre-flood) world, and are referred to in the Bible as the heroes of old, men of renown. They were reportedly the children born to the "Sons of God" by the "daughters of men", and are described as giants. It is also important to note that they are mentioned almost simultaneous to God's statement that He would destroy the earth by flood, and it seems from this association that their effect upon mankind was one of the primary justifications for their destruction, whether it be by the flood or in battle.

In the Greek Septuagint the word "nephilim" was also translated as "gigantes" (gigantic). This translation is undoubtedly used because the Nephilim later became known as giants to the ancient Hebrews, as illustrated by the manner in which they were referenced to when the Israelite spies were sent into Canaan (See Numbers 13 verse 33, mentioned before).

We may wonder what could be the meaning or significance of the existence of the nephilim.  The Bible gives us clear indications in which direction we have to look for the answer:

The “sons of God”, were actually fallen angels, as explained in chapter 2.1 before. They were really demons, evil and twisted beings. Nothing they do should surprise us.

The only possible answer to the question of what their intentions were is that they were trying to contaminate the blood of the human race, with the final purpose to prevent the coming of the Messiah - Jesus Christ. God had promised that the Messiah would come from the lineage of Eve and would crush the serpent's head - Satan. (See Genesis 3 verses 14 and 15: ”You will be punished for this; you alone of all the animals must bear this curse: From now on you will crawl on your belly, and you will have to eat dust as long as you live.   I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring’s heel”.)   The demons tried to prevent this, contaminating the blood of the human race, thus making it impossible that one day the Messiah would be born, pure and without sin. All this is in complete agreement with everything the Bible teaches.

Throughout their existence we see that the nephilim were always present when there was an opportunity for them to destroy Israel, or to prevent them from establishing themselves. (See for example the story of Goliath, and Numbers 13 verse 22: “They went first into the southern part of the land and came to Hebron, where the clans of Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of a race of giants called the Anakim, lived”.)

Thinking about this “race of giants”, it makes us compare it with Hannibal of Carthage who also used “giants”, - in his case elephants-, to combat the Romans.

Indeed, the giants that lived in and around Palestine, at the time when the Israelites were to take possession of the land, were a strong force (prepared by Satan) they had to overcome. 

Here below, under chapters 2.2 and 2.3, a few alternative theories for the appearance of Nephilim are given. This is done to make sure that all possible paths for their development are covered.

2.2 – The theory of the giants being natural descendants of

         mankind.

This theory says that the giants ( " Nephilim " ) are not the result of sex between men and angels, because angels have no reproductive capacity because they were not created by God for that purpose.

The Nephilim would be in that case just a race of giants that existed before the flood.

The argument is used that in Matthew 22:30, Jesus said to the Pharisees: “For when the dead rise to life, they will be like the angels in heaven and will not marry ". ..... Also it is argued that the complete number of angels was set once and for all by God in his sovereignty from day one and for eternity. No new angels are born....

This theory leaves many questions unanswered. For example the obvious question of from where could have come the giants if they are not the result of a supernatural union between heavenly beings and human beings? Because it is clear from the bible, - and excavations confirm this - , that the giants existed. Also we cannot say that this goes in against the words of Jesus, who spoke of what will happen in heaven but not on earth….

Also with this theory there is a problem to explain where these giants came from after the flood....

2.3 – The theory of the giants being the descendants of Seth

         and Cain

Another theory is that the “Sons of God” refers to the god-fearing line of Seth; and the daughters of men refer to the daughters of the unbelieving line of Cain. Variations on this theme include the idea, that the Sons of God were kings or priests who took any woman they choose to be their wife.

But this theory cannot be maintained because from the offspring of the two it can be seen that neither was exemplary. At Noah's time there was no one except Noah and a few of his family, who lived according to the will God.

         When Noah left the ark, the Nephilim were gone from the earth; however later on they appeared again.

Also: after the flood there was no more a separation between the descendants of Seth and Cain, and therefore no more giants could have been born, - (however they were born) -, due to the union between two different offsprings of Seth and Cain.

As the theory described under chapter 2.1 is the only one that leaves no unanswered questions open, and also nowhere is in disagreement with what the Bible says, and in addition fits in very well with the various occurrences described in the bible, ((such as whereby the devil tries to destroy God’s plan with this world – see later)), we will continue to develop this version and study more in detail about the Nephilim. 

2 - Theories about the appearance of giants, the NEPHILIM

2.1 – The theory of the union of supernatural beings, called in

         the bible “sons of God”, with human women.

Many well-known theologians and researchers believe that the sons of God are the divine or heavenly beings, spoken of in the Bible, such as those mentioned in Job 2 verse1: “When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord again, Satan was there among them”, and also Job 38 verse7 “In the dawn of that day the stars sang together, and the heavenly beings shouted for joy”.   And Psalm 29 verse1: “Praise the Lord, you heavenly beings;

praise his glory and power”.  And furthermore Psalm 89 verse7: “You are feared in the council of the holy ones”............ There are many more examples in the Bible where the heavenly angels / beings are mentioned.

According to this theory, the giants were born from the unnatural union of the above mentioned heavenly beings called also “sons of God” in Genesis 6 verse 2, with human women. ….These so-called "sons of God” (in other bible translations called: “heavenly beings”) are actually angels that were cast out of heaven along with the devil for their opposition against God.

                            The sin of the angels was that they revolted against God,

                             and because of this, they were cast down

This theory, has its parallel in a very ancient tradition, that the Israelites had in common with other neighboring peoples such as  the Greeks and Romans,

This tradition referred to a legendary race of giants (such as Herakles and Achilles in the case of the Greeks). But also in other religions such as Indian, Mayan, and many more, we find the same traditions..

 ( (As an additional comment, one  can say that the children of God are a creation of God , and therefore are called "sons of God" , but they were opposed to God and had joined with Satan)). 

Satan had taken one third of the angels with him, says the Bible. For Satan it was very important to have reinforcements, because the army of God at this time had twice as many angels as Satan had (2/3 against 1/3)..... It becomes clear that Satan used his evil forces to have his angels join with humans to create giants to serve him....

A well-known example of this is the giant Goliath who opposed God in front of the Israelites. In the book of Samuel we read how he cursed God and the Israelites. Here we see his evil nature, serving Satan . David took five stones, and not one, to kill Goliath. This was because Goliath had four brothers, and David had to kill these four also with the four stones he had left. Throughout the Bible we can read about giants, (Nephilim), like Goliath, trying to destroy Israel, and with that, God's plan with the world,

The destruction of Israel is so important to Satan because the Messiah was to be born in Israel, and it was prophesized that the Messiah would destroy Satan. We can read about this prophesy in Genesis 3 verses 14 and 15: “Then the Lord God said to the snake, “You will be punished for this; you alone of all the animals must bear this curse: From now on you will crawl on your belly, and you will have to eat dust as long as you live.   I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring’s heel”.

With the words “her offspring …” is meant the coming of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who will destroy, “crush”, Satan. 

Of course, Satan wants to avoid that the Messiah could de born in Israel, and therefore he always tries to destroy Israel. 

1 – Introduction

Our reference is from Genesis 6:1-8 where we read the following:

“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

And the LORD said, my spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  

And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD”.

The text of Gen 6:1-8 has puzzled Jewish and Christian Bible interpreters for centuries. Its verses contain a number of notions, raising many questions, such as on the identity of the

“sons of God” and the “daughters of men”.

A specific question is related to the appearance of the giants, the focus of this part of the blog.

The fact that these giants existed becomes clear when we note how often the bible refers to them. A few references, out of the many more that exist, are as follows:

Numbers 13:33…”and we even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. We felt as small as grasshoppers, and that is how we must have looked to them.”

Deuteronomy 3:11… “King Og was the last of the Rephaim. His coffin, made of stone, was six feet wide and almost fourteen feet long, according to standard measurements. It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah.)

Og’s bed (engraving circa 1770 by Johann Balthasar Probst)

Joshua 14:15… “Before this, Hebron was called the city of Arba. (Arba had been the greatest of the Anakim.)

Deuteronomy 2:10…”A mighty race of giants called the Emim used to live in Ar. They were as tall as the Anakim, another race of giants”.

1 Chronicles 20:8….”These three, who were killed by David and his men, were descendants of the giants at Gath”.

2 Samuel 21:18…”After this there was a battle with the Philistines at Gob, during which Sibbecai from Hushah killed a giant named Saph.”.

¿Who is this group of individuals, called giants, and what do they represent?

We will first identify a number of theories that try to explain the identity of the various individuals identified in Genesis 6 verses 1-8, and then go into more detail about the generally accepted theory for the appearance of the “giants”. 

A few words at the continuation of this blog:

I have started this blog giving comments about the visions of Daniel as described in the book of Daniel chapters 7 through 12. Later on I extended this blog with comments about the "Revelations to John.", written in the last book of the bible: the book of Revelation.

The above books of the bible lend themselves to a deep study and people may have a variety of explanations because their meaning is not always very clear.

Something similar occurs with the text of Genesis 6, verse 1 through 8, where it tells us that “the sons of God” married “the daughters of man”, and that their children were described to be “mighty men which were of old, men of renown”.

 In Genesis chapter 6, it tells us that “sons of God” came down to earth and had children with the daughters of men that came to be known as the Nephilim. One of the key characteristics of these Nephilim were their giant size.

Also here, people may have a variety of explanations for the characters described in this text.

Here below I will give a series of comments to these verses, in the hope that this will provide the reader with a better understanding of their meaning, specifically in relation to the evil forces which are present in this world and which try to destroy Gods plan with the world.

I have always tried to base my comments, formulated here below, on the bible only.  

(The part of the written text in italics is copied directly from the Bible)

This new blog has as title:

COMMENTS ON GENESIS 6, VERSES 1-8, …..........

THE NEPHILIM

INDEX OF CHAPTERS

1 - Introduction                                                                      

2 - Theories about the appearance of giants, the NEPHILIN

2.1 – The theory of the union of supernatural beings, called in the

         bible “sons of God”, with human women.

2.2 – The theory of the giants being natural descendants of

         mankind.

2.3 – The theory of the giants being the descendants of Seth and

         Cain.

3 - Who were the Nephilim ?

4 - Events after the flood

5 - The situation now

6 - Conclusions

6--- THE LAST BATTLE.

6.1 Location of the last battle.

In Ezekiel 38 and 39 we can read in many verses that the last battle will take place in Israel. 

More specifically we read in Revelation 16 verse 16 that in “Armageddon” this battle will occur: “Then the spirits brought the kings together in the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon”…

View of Jezreel Valley also known as “Valley of Armageddon”

Verses from Ezekiel 38 that refer to this event are verses 8, 14, and 16 (“You will attack my people Israel like a storm moving across the land. When the time comes, I will send you to invade my land”.), and also verses 17 and 18. See also Ezekiel 39 verses 2, (“I will turn him in a new direction and lead him out of the far north until he comes to the mountains of Israel”.), 4,7,11,12…. and more places.

 6.2 Prophecies and visions about the end.

Prophecies and visions about the end, when the final battle is over, are written in the Bible in many forms. Some examples are:

- Isaiah 56 verse 5: The Lord says: “Then your name will be remembered in my Temple and among my people longer than if you had sons and daughters. You will never be forgotten”.

- Amos 9 verse 15: “I will plant my people on the land I gave them,

and they will not be pulled up again.” The Lord your God has spoken.

- Revelation 20 v 1-3: “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the abyss and a heavy chain.   He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent—that is, the Devil, or Satan—and chained him up for a thousand years.  The angel threw him into the abyss, locked it, and sealed it, so that he could not deceive the nations any more until the thousand years were over”. (The scope of this document does not include an explanation of the "thousand years")

We can read that after the after the battle, there will be a new earth and a new Jerusalem:

- Revelation 21 verse 1: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth disappeared, and the sea vanished."

- Revelation 21 verse. 2: "And I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared and ready, like a bride dressed to meet her husband." 

(Continuation of 5,---THE MOMENT OF THE INVASION BY THE NATIONS FROM THE NORTH INTO ISRAEL)

E) -The time when the great suffering of Israel starts, see Matthew 24 verse 21 and 22: “For the trouble at that time will be far more terrible than any there has ever been, from the beginning of the world to this very day. Nor will there ever be anything like it again. But God has already reduced the number of days; had he not done so, nobody would survive. For the sake of his chosen people,

however, God will reduce the days”. This is the period of three and a half years, mentioned before.

F) -The moment of the escape of Daniel's people: “those that are written in the book of the living”. See Exodus 32 verse. 32, Luke 10 verse 20, Revelation 3 verse 5: “Those who win the victory will be clothed like this in white, and I will not remove their names from the book of the living. In the presence of my Father and of his angels I will declare openly that they belong to me”.

Those who win the victory will be clothed like this in white, and I will not remove their names from the book of the living

 See also revelation 13 verse 8, and Revelation 20 verse 12 and 15: ” And I saw the dead, great and small alike, standing before the throne. Books were opened, and then another book was opened, the book of the living….. Those who did not have their name written in the book of the living were thrown into the lake of fire”.  Many more places in the bible refer to these events. Daniel 12 verse 1 mentions: “….Michael, who guards your people…..”. These are the people that are saved because they have believed in Jesus Christ as their savior, and this of course counts also for us.

(Note: With much precaution, I want to mention here that the above references under F, such as Rev. 3:5, Rev. 20:12, 15 and Daniel 12:1 probably refer to those who have come to belief in Jesus Crist after the events described in 1 Thessalonians 4 verses 16,17: "Those who have died believing in Christ will rise to life first; then we who are living at that time will be gathered up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord”. … This is also called the “rapture”, and occurs before the time of the “great suffering-, (the three wars)”,- starts.   … The scope of this document does not include a further discussion of this point.

(2) --- About the angel "Michael”

In apocalyptic writings, every nation appears headed by an angel that protects and represents it. Hence sometimes conflicts between nations are described as a struggle between angels. Michael is the guardian angel of God's people. The New Testament calls him archangel (Jude 9) and presents it as an enemy and conqueror of Satan (Revelation 12.7-8).

5---THE MOMENT OF THE INVASION BY THE NATIONS FROM THE NORTH INTO ISRAEL.

At the time when the Antichrist breaks the peace pact, in that same moment, many nations from the north will invade Israel. They will be accompanied by their allies as explained in Chapter 3.1. That is also the time when the second half, (three years and a half) of the last week mentioned in Daniel 9 will start.

In Daniel 12: 1, we read: “At that time (1) the great angel Michael (2), who guards your people, will appear. Then there will be a time of troubles, the worst since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, all the people of your nation whose names are written in God's book will be saved”.

(1) --- Here below, under A through F, an explanation is given of the words: "At that time" and what happens at that moment:

A) - It is the time when the Antichrist breaks the peace pact.

B) - The time when the antichrist installs himself on Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount.

C) -The time when the angel Michael throws Satan and his angels on the earth…, see Revelation 12 versiculos7-9: “Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back with his angels; but the dragon was defeated, and he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer.  The huge dragon was thrown out—that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth and all his angels with him”.

D) -The moment when the “awful horror” will appear at a holy place in Israel.  See Matthew 24 verse15: “You will see ‘The Awful Horror’ of which the prophet Daniel spoke. It will be standing in the holy place”.

Also: 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 4:” He will oppose every so-called god or object of worship and will put himself above them all. He will even go in and sit down in God's Temple and claim to be God”. And revelations 13 verse 6: “It began to curse God, his name, the place where he lives, and all those who live in heaven“.

4.2.1 --- The Antichrist and the peace pact

The antichrist will come into the world as a man with a strong personality but friendly, helped by the false prophet who forces mankind to worship him. He is very clever. The world is going to be misled by him, in the way as is written in Daniel 11 vs. 21: “The angel went on to explain: “The next king of Syria will be an evil man who has no right to be king, but he will come unexpectedly and seize power by trickery “. The same can be red in Daniel 8: 25, “Because he is cunning, he will succeed in his deceitful ways. He will be proud of himself and destroy many people without warning. He will even defy the greatest King of all, but he will be destroyed without the use of any human power”. Here we see the image of the Antichrist, and his way to come to power. He even faces "the greatest king of all". We see how the Antichrist comes as a man who 

acts as if his intention were to reach a peaceful world.

In Daniel 9 vs. 27 we have red before: “That ruler will have a firm agreement with many people for one week (1), and when half this time is past, he will put an end to sacrifices and offerings. The Awful Horror (2) will be placed on the highest point of the Temple and will remain there until the one who put it there meets the end which God has prepared for him.”

Note: The scope of this document is not to go in much depth

          about the 70 weeks of Daniel 9 :24, that begin with The Edict

          of Artaxerxes given to Nehemiah In approximately 445 B.C.

          and the Command to "Restore And Build Jerusalem".

          (Dan.9:25)

          For a better understanding of the week that is mentioned in

          verse 27 of Daniel 9, the following explanation is given: 

 (The dates given in the above diagram are approximate)

          (1) - "For one week": The 70 weeks

           are divided into three parts: a period of seven

           weeks (49 years, verse 25.), a second period of sixty

           two weeks (434 years verses. 25-26), and a last week,

          (verse 27), the most terrible of all, culminating in the ruin of

           the antichrist.

           (2) --- "The awful horror": is also described in

           (Daniel 11:31 and 12:11). This mysterious expression

           refers to the desecration of the sanctuary by King Antiochus

           in 168 B.C. (see also Daniel 7:25). Also the Lord

           Jesus referred to this event as we read in

           Matthew 24 verse 15: “You will see ‘The Awful Horror’ of

           which the prophet Daniel spoke. It will be standing in the

           holy place”.

           We can conclude from this that a desecration of a holy site

           in Israel will occur again under the command of the  

            antichrist.

We read that the Antichrist makes a peace pact for the duration of "one week", which is actually seven years. But in the middle of these seven years, or after 42 months, the Antichrist suddenly interrupts this covenant and shows its true face.

The same we can read in 1 Thessalonians 5vs3, where it says: “When people say, “Everything is quiet and safe,” then suddenly destruction will hit them! It will come as suddenly as the pains that come upon a woman in labor, and people will not escape”.  We see how suddenly the pact of peace is broken (by the antichrist). 

4.2 --- The Antichrist

Throughout the Bible there are many references to the antichrist.

One of them is in the New Testament, in 2 Thessalonians 2 verses 3 and 4: “Do not let anyone deceive you in any way. For the Day will not come until the final Rebellion takes place and the Wicked One appears who is destined to hell.   He will oppose every so-called god or object of worship and will put himself above them all. He will even go in and sit down in God's Temple and claim to be God”. "The day" refers to the return of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being united with him. "The wicked one" is the antichrist. Here it is explained already what will be his mission: "To oppose every so-called god or object of worship and will put himself above them all”.

As already described in Chapter 3 of this blog, major world wars will break out soon after the Tribulation begins.  (The Tribulation encompasses a future seven year period when God will complete his final judgment upon the unbelieving citizens of the world).

The first war of the tribulation is described in Revelation 6.

Although the Antichrist will rise to world power through cunning, deception, and intrigue (Daniel 8:23), he will have to resort to military power to conquer the world. We are told in Revelation 13:7 that the Antichrist will ultimately achieve "authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation." This authority will be achieved through war. Revelation 6 records the outbreak of one these world wars. It results in the death of one-fourth of humanity, or 1.7 billion in today's terms (Revelation 6:8).

Some more references to the antichrist are: Daniel 7: 8, “While I was staring at the horns, I saw a little horn coming up among the others. It tore out three of the horns that were already there. This horn had human eyes and a mouth that was boasting proudly”.  Daniel 9:27, “That ruler will have a firm agreement with many people for one week (other translations say: seven years), and when half this time is past, he will put an end to sacrifices and offerings. The Awful Horror will be placed on the highest point of the Temple and will remain there until the one who put it there meets the end which God has prepared for him”. … Also in Revelations 13: 5 and 6, “The beast was allowed to make proud claims which were insulting to God and it was permitted to have authority for forty-two months. It began to curse God, his name, the place where he lives, and all those who live in heaven”.

..... There are many more references to the antichrist.

It is important to note that the last two references have been chosen because in there, are mentioned two events: a) "... he will have a firm agreement ....… when half this time is past and b) "for forty-two months." I advance here that in the book of Daniel it says that the ruler will have a firm agreement for one week. This one week of 7 days indicates seven years. Half of 7 years are 42 months, the same timespan as is indicated in Revelation 13, as the time allowed for the antichrist to have authority............ I will come back to this issue in the next chapter.

One more reference to the antichrist we read in Daniel 12: 6 and 7 –“One of them asked the angel who was standing further upstream, “How long will it be until these amazing events come to an end?”  The angel raised both hands toward the sky and made a solemn promise in the name of the Eternal God. I heard him say, “It will be three and a half years. When the persecution of God's people ends, all these things will have happened.”  Again we see here the 42 months or three and a half years. 

4.1 --- The False Prophet

We will first talk about the false prophet: He's the individual whose mission on earth is to induce humanity to worship the Antichrist.

Already in Jeremiah 23 verses 16 and 17 we are warned to not listen to those who call themselves prophets but are in reality false prophets. It says in this chapter of Jeremiah: “The Lord Almighty said to the people of Jerusalem, “Do not listen to what the prophets say; they are filling you with false hopes. They tell you what they have imagined and not what I have said. To the people who refuse to listen to what I have said, they keep saying that all will go well with them. And they tell everyone who is stubborn that disaster will never touch them”….

The false prophet of the end times is described in Revelation 13:11-12, where we read: “Then I saw another beast, which came up out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb's horns, and it spoke like a dragon. It used the vast authority of the first beast in its presence. It forced the earth and all who live on it to worship the first beast, whose wound had healed”.

This "another beast" also called "second beast" is the false prophet who made ​​the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, who is the antichrist. More about the false prophet we read in Revelation 16:13, “Then I saw three unclean spirits that looked like frogs. They were coming out of the mouth of the dragon, the mouth of the beast, and the mouth of the false prophet”.

Other information about him we can read in Revelation 19: 20, “The beast was taken prisoner, together with the false prophet who had performed miracles in his presence. (It was by those miracles that he had deceived those who had the mark of the beast and those who had worshiped the image of the beast.) The beast and the false prophet were both thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur”. ….. The antichrist and the false prophet will gather the kings of the earth and their armies to prepare for war against "He who sits on a white horse" (Jesus Christ, revelation 19:11)). This final battle results in the beast being seized, along with the false prophet, where they are thrown alive into "the lake of fire".

And finally in Revelation 20:10, “Then the Devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had already been thrown; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever”…..…

These last references in Revelations about the false prophet and also about the antichrist are given here to show what will be their final destination. 

4 --- EVENTS LEADING TO THE INVASIONS INTO ISRAEL.

                                                               

From the first year of the existence of Israel as a nation in 1948, talks are going on about reaching a lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors.

David Ben-Gurion during the declaration of independence of Israel.

At the time I write these words there has begun another round of negotiations in a new attempt to arrive at peace.

Many wonder if one day a lasting peace can be reached.......

It could be that, for the purpose of arrive at a lasting peace, there will be a peace pact prepared that will divide Israel. There is talk about that Israel should return to the borders it had before 1967. Mount Olives (the place where Jesus will return) would then return into Arab hands. However God will not permit that, because He will not allow the land of Israel to be divided again . Joel 3 verses 1 and 2 refer to this division of the land: “The Lord says, “At that time I will restore the prosperity of Judah and Jerusalem. I will gather all the nations and bring them to the Valley of Judgment. There I will judge them for all they have done to my people. They have scattered the Israelites in foreign countries and divided Israel, my land”….

(See also Amos 9: 14, 15, as was mentioned before, where it says that Israel will never be pulled out of their land again once it has returned there).

Hereafter I will discuss the (false) peace attempts by the antichrist, as explained in the bible. We will discuss its negative results, culminating in the outbreak of the war against Israel, by the nations located to the north of Israel.

To understand the circumstances that will lead to this invasion of the northern nations into Israel, we have to talk first about two figures that will appear at the end of time: The false prophet and the antichrist.

3.3 --- The final attack of the nations against Jerusalem.

The final attack of the nations against Jerusalem will culminate with the final victory of God against the enemies of his people. Because of its importance, I repeat here what it says in Zechariah 14: 1-4, about this great battle: “The day when the Lord will sit in judgment is near. Then Jerusalem will be looted, and the loot will be divided up before your eyes. The Lord will bring all the nations together to make war on Jerusalem. The city will be taken, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half of the people will go into exile, but the rest of them will not be taken away from the city. Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he has fought in times past. At that time he will stand on the Mount of Olives, to the east of Jerusalem. Then the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west by a large valley. Half of the mountain will move northward and half of it southward”.

Mount of Olives. 

 More about this we can read in Joel 3: 9-21, from where I will copy the following verses: “……. 9 Make this announcement among the nations: ‘Prepare for war; call your warriors; gather all your soldiers and march!.......14 Thousands and thousands are in the Valley of Judgment. It is there that the day of the Lord will soon come. 15 The sun and the moon grow dark, and the stars no longer shine. God Will Bless His People. The Lord roars from Mount Zion; his voice thunders from Jerusalem…………“19 Egypt will become a desert, and Edom a ruined waste, because they attacked the land of Judah and killed its innocent people. 20-21 I will avenge those who were killed; I will not spare the guilty. But Judah and Jerusalem will be inhabited forever, and I, the Lord, will live on Mount Zion.”

 Mount Zion; Zion is an archaic term that originally referred to a specific mountain near Jerusalem (Mount Zion), on which stood a Jebusite fortress of the same name that was conquered by David. "Zion"

 …There are many more places in the bible which refer to this final moment. The texts here referred to are clear and do not require more explanation.