Douglas Van Dorn - Giants: Sons of the Gods

Giants:

Sonsof the Gods

Giants:

Sonsof the Gods

Douglas VanDorn

2013by Douglas Van Dorn, 1970-

Allrights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical,photocopy, recording, or otherwiseexcept for brief quotations for the purposeof review or comment, without the prior permission of the author.

Unlessotherwise noted, references are from the English Standard Version (ESV) ofthe Bible.

CoverDesign by Stephen Van Dorn

Acknowledgements

Nobook worth its salt is the product of a single person. Therefore, I want tothank the following people. First and foremost, thank you to my loving and supportivewife Janelle. You are my strength and my joy. You always support me in anythingI attempt, be it climbing a crazy mountain or writing on such a strange topicas this. Thank you to Annie, Tim, Janelle, Tony, Marsha, Justin, Jonathan, Monte,Jeff, Rob, Scott and Meg and others who proofread part or all of this book and/oroffered ideas and suggestions. It isnt perfect, but it is immensely closerthanks to you. Thanks to my bro Steve for the sweet cover design. I can onlydream of having your talents. Thanks to my mom and dad for being the bestparents ever. There is no repaying all that you have done for me, especiallybeing so willing to learn from your son. Thank you to my Bible Study guys whowere tolerant enough to let me take you through this material (and itspredecessor on the fathers of these giants: the Sons of God, a book that willprobably never see the light of day). Thanks to the church family who listenspatiently. Thanks to my girlsjust for being you: Alesha, Breanna, Annika, andElianna. I love you dearly. One day, youll read this. I hope you enjoy it! Thanks to Tom who called me out of the blue after hearing Tony and I discussthis topic on the radio show. I have a friend-for-life because of it. Itreasure our conversations. And special thanks to Dr. Michael Heiser. BecauseI accidently stumbled onto your article on Deuteronomy 32 in preparation fora sermon on Exodus, my life has never been the same. Thank you for sharing somuch of this information with others. Ive often told my wife that now,because of you, I know Im able to actually understand the people of the OldTestament.

Endorsements

This intriguing bookwill shed tremendous light on an often neglected but important biblicalsubject. By examining ancient records and comparing them with the biblical record,Doug Van Dorn has put together one of the most detailed studies on the subjectof giants. Even though I have studied and written at length on the subject, Istill found a wealth of new data to mull over.

-- Tim Chaffey, MDiv.,ThM., apologist, and author of The Sons of God and the Nephilim

Whatdo Buffalo Bill Cody and Katy Perry/Kanye West have in common? They talk andsing about "giants" and aliens. Maybe they referenced thesesubjects in ignorance, but now Doug Van Dorn has revealed the light of BiblicalTruth on these matters in his book GIANTS: Sons of the Gods. About three yearsago my studies caused me to become a Berean on the subject of "sons ofgod" in Genesis chapter six. I discovered some very helpful works done byextremely capable researchers and scholars, but Doug's work has taken me toanother level on what scripture has to say on this matter. In addition, on apractical matter, the Apostle Paul's writing on spiritual warfare as becomemore than just words. Without a doubt if you've ever wondered if Goliath wasonly biblical folklore read this book and you will greatly benefit from ascholarly effort and an obvious labor of love from Doug.

--Tom Graham, NFL Linebacker (1972-78), Denver Broncos (1972-74)

When I first read this book, I was skeptical. Nearly everytheological giant (pun intended) in history has denied the spiritual view ofGenesis 6 and the many implications that follow. Augustine, Calvin, and Luther eachdismissed it, and nearly every professor and pastor I have ever known hasdenied this view, or at least minimized it.

What Doug demonstrated in this book, using Scripture and a wealthof research from both Jewish and early Christian sources, is that the spiritualview of Genesis 6 is the only view that is consistent with Scripture and whatmost interpreters believed for most of history.

As I have slowly assimilatedand adopted this world-view, so many Scriptures that I previously considereddifficult or even odd are now beginning to make sense. Above all, Doug's bookis no mere book of facts about Sons of God and the giants. It is first andforemost about the Unique Son of God who has triumphed over all other gods andhas been given a name above every other name, the Lord, Jesus Christ.

-- Tony Jackson, M.Div.

Do you have thecourage to look at Scripture objectively and explore what is actually there withan openness to have truth revealed rather than seeing only what you have alwaysbeen taught? Doug Van Dorn does. He is deeply committed to the historic Christianfaith, and at the same time willing to jettison preconceived notions and letthe Scriptures speak for themselves. Read "Giants: Sons of theGods"-- You will be entertained, fascinated, informed and challenged byVan Dorn's careful and passionate discussion of this largely ignored topic ofthe Bible. Warning: It could radically change the way you see the world.

-- Monte J. King, Th.M., M.A., author of The Simple Math Diet

Table of Contents

Abbreviations

AD AnnoDomini (Year of our Lord)

BC BeforeChrist

BBE Biblein Basic English

CTA Corpus tablettes alphabetiques

ca. circa

cf. consult,compare

DDD Dictionaryof Deities and Demons in the Bible

DULATA Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the AlphabeticTradition

ESV EnglishStandard Version

etc. etcetera

JPS JewishPublication Society (Old Testament)

KJV KingJames Version

KTU Keilalphabetische Texte aus Ugarit

LA LastAccessed (image references)

LXX Septuagint

NAS NewAmerican Standard

NIV NewInternational Version

NLT NewLiving Translation

NT NewTestament

OT OldTestament

RSV RevisedStandard Version

TNK JPSTanakh

Preface

The sons of men, being insensitive to [God, spirits,heavenly armies, Holy Ones, archangels, angels, thrones, and authorities], keepsinning and provoking the anger of the Most High.

Testament of Levi (3:10)

Ill be honest. Myinitial interest in this topic grew out of a life-long curiosity of our verymysterious human past and a gut-level feeling that people need to begin tounderstand it better. As a youngster, one of my favorite shows was InSearch Of..., starring Leonard Nimoy. The show presented conspiracytheories, unorthodox views of history, mysteries of the paranormal,speculations into the origins of ancient stone monuments, and so on. Since the1970s, these kinds of shows have flourished.

Yet, even though a part of me enjoysthe speculation about our past and, to some degree about our future, there is arational and, frankly, biblical part of me that is very concerned with booksthat come out on this topic, using this subject especially to promote end-timesspeculations. Though there is always some truth in these books, thesespeculations are neither safe nor good. They create anxiety caused by worryingabout the future. They can distract the reader from what has taken place inChrists first coming, and put the focus on what has not yet come to pass,often times on things that even Jesus said he did not know in the flesh, suchas the day and hour of his return. They delve into mysteries that no humanbeing could possibly know all the answers to, but they claim a kind of authoritythat some people take as virtually equal to the Bible itself.