GIANTS

GIANTS

“The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim) We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes and we looked the same to them” (Nu. 13:32, 33).

“In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot — twenty four in all. He also descended from Rapha. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him” (2 Sam. 21:20, 21).

If the Bible says there were giants, then there were giants! The Guinness Book of World Records lists the tallest man “living” as Sultan Kosen in Ankara, Turkey. On Feb. 8, 2011 he measured 8 feet, 2.8 inches tall. Goliath, the giant killed by David, was said to be six cubits and a span tall (1 Sam. 17:4). This computes to over 9 feet tall. As the Bible states, some of these huge men had extra fingers and toes. There are other examples of giants mentioned in the Bible (Genesis 6:4; Joshua 12:4). Og, king of Bashan (Deuteronomy 3:11); the giant people in Canaan that Moses’ spies reported (Numbers 13:30-33); the Anakites (Deuteronomy 9:1-2, etc.)

Every informed person knows that there have been and still are giants in the world. John Carroll was born in Buffalo, New York and was known as the Buffalo Giant. He died in 1969 and while his height was not recorded at the time, it is believed that he was very close to nine feet tall. John Rogan was born in 1868. His height was not officially recorded until his death in 1905 at which point he was 8’9" tall. Robert Wadlow is the tallest man in history whose height is verified by indisputable evidence. He is known as the Alton Giant because he came from Alton, Illinois. At the time of his death he was 8 feet 11.1 inches tall and weighed 440 pounds. He was only 22 years old when he died, and his coffin weighed half a ton and required 12 pallbearers.

The idea that men could have six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot is also easy to document in modern times. Antonio Alfonseca is a major league baseball player who is just such a man. The extra fingers and toes is medically described as polydactylism. Antonio has played for the Florida Marlins, the Chicago Cubs, the Atlanta Braves, and the Texas Rangers. His nickname is El Pulpo (The octopus). If the Bible says something, however, it is true whether we can verify it or not.

There are basically three lines of evidence regarding giants in history: archeology discovering large bones and weapons, archeologists discovering pictures of giants, and historical literature. For those who out of hand dismiss the Bible, there are other books outside of the Bible that mention giants, such as the books of Enoch and Jasher, and the history of Josephus. Josephus, for example, describing the Israelites move to Hebron mentions “the race of giants, who had bodies so large, and countenances so entirely different from other men, that they were surprising to the sight, and terrible to the hearing. The bones of these men are still shown to this very day”.

At a time when some claim to have seen aliens, and others the abominable snowman, we need to be cautious in considering historical accounts of giants. The stone likeness of a petrified giant known as the “Cardiff Giant”, for example, was proven to be a hoax. In this instance Stub Newell hired sculptures to carve a 10 foot giant out of stone. He buried it at night and waited many months for it to be “discovered”. This “amazing discovery” came on Oct. 16, 1869. Newell immediately set up a tent and began charging admission. P.T. Barnum offered $50,000 for the giant and when his offer was refused he had other sculptures duplicate it. While both made money, both were revealed as fakes. Interestingly, no one died as martyrs for this hoax. This is in sharp contrast to the true testimony of faithful martyrs who died testifying that they saw, heard, and touched the resurrected Christ!

The Scriptures teach: “Man does not life on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). In some strange way: “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). One reason, perhaps, that God told us about giants is that everyone of them was conquered by little people like us who were grasshoppers by comparison. David wasn’t afraid of Goliath, and neither should we be afraid of any giant that stands between us and God!