GIANTS IN THE EARTH

GIANTS IN THE EARTH “There were giants in the earth in those days;” ((Gen 6:4 KJV) There have always been “giants” in the earth. Men of renown arise like cream on milk in every generation. They are the champions and kings who dominate others by the power of body and mind. Puffed up by their potency they naively assume they can thumb their nose at God and live any way they want to. Consequently, the thoughts of men like this are only evil continually. When the flood came, however, these big shots died just like everyone else. How foolish it is for mortal man to challenge the Sovereign of the Universe. Illustrative of God’s power is the eruption of Mt. Pelee on the island of Martinique on May 8, 1902. In only a few brief minutes the city of St. Pierre was totally destroyed and 30,000 people died. Or consider Aug. 18, 1931 flood of the Yangtze River which resulted in the deaths of some 3.7 million people. Unfortunately, one thing we learn from history, is that men do not learn from history. Consider this quote from a book on The Flood by Rewinkel: “As in the days of Noah, so the world today has reached an unprecedented stage of material and technical progress. There never was a time in the history of man when physical advantages, comforts, luxuries, and leisure were so widely distributed as in our age. We harnessed the forces of nature and have compelled them to do our bidding. We have gone up into the heavens and brought down lightning, no longer the terror of man, and have forced it to bear our burdens, to run our errands, and to furnish us with amusements in our leisure hours. We have gone down into the bowels of the earth and have brought up its treasures, liquids and solids, that they might minister to our needs, pleasures, and comforts. The arts and sciences flourish among all the civilized peoples. Superstition, ignorance, and illiteracy are rapidly disappearing. Human suffering is being alleviated, life is prolonged, and men even speak of the time when death will be abolished.” So our modern day “giants”, like those in the days of Noah, naively assume that they too can live any way they want to. They are so puffed up and proud that they defiantly write their own rules. They dare to eat forbidden fruit without any fear of consequences. Unfortunately, they are dead wrong! As Peter said, these scoffers will follow their own evil desires and deliberately forget the flood (2 Pet. 3:3 - 7). The Judgement of God on sinners is indeed an inconvenient truth that rebellious people prefer not to think about. Harry Randall Truman, was a crusty old codger who became famous for a few months for saying to Mt. St. Helens, “**** you, volcano, come at me, bro.” On May 18, 1980, he got his wish. At 8:32 a.m. the volcano erupted. Within 15 seconds the whole north face of the mountain collapsed. Superheated gas radiated outward at nearly supersonic speeds and everything within eight miles was instantly destroyed. A mushroom cloud rose 12,000 feet into the air and by 8:50 a.m. rivers of hot mud were moving at over 90 mph sweeping away everything in their path. This is the kind of death and destruction experienced by sinners in the days of Noah. God has promised a different fate, however, for sinners at the end of this age. Peter put it like this: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” (2 Peter 3:10) Then he added: “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?” (2 Peter 3:11) Please think about it! Yes! When Jesus comes again it will be like it was in the days of Noah (Matt. 24:37). Even if you are a giant, or person of renown, such earthly power and fame will mean nothing at that time. The only thing that will matter on that day will be your personal relationship with God. Noah built an ark to save his family (Heb. 11:7). What are you doing to save yours?