May 2, 2026

Do you know how many times giants are mentioned in the Bible? According to the New King James Version, there are eighteen occurrences, the first one found in Genesis 6:4, which reads, “There were giants on the earth in those days and also afterwards.” Now, truth be known, in none of the eighteen occurrences does the straightforward meaning of the Hebrew word give us “giant(s).” Here in Genesis 6:4, for example, the word is “the nephilim,” which might be formed from a root word that means “the fallen ones” or something to that effect, but little else is known. The meaning of the other two Hebrew words that are commonly translated as “giant(s),” rapha and raphah, is likewise uncertain. This may explain why some translations instead prefer to transliterate these Hebrew words into English as proper nouns, e.g., the Nephilim and the Rephaim.

So, do these words refer to a biblical race of giants or not? Let’s start with “the nephilim” in Genesis 6:4. There’s nothing in the context to suggest that they were gigantic. Admittedly, it does refer to them as “mighty men,” evidently strong and valiant men, but it does not necessarily state that they were men of great stature even though later Greek translations of the Old Testament sometimes translated the Hebrew as “gigantes” (from which you can clearly spot the origin of our English word for giants).

Those who interpret “the nephilim” in Gensis 6:4 as the offspring of fallen angels and human women may be more readily disposed to see “the nephilim” as a race of giants, and they may be right, for there is another piece to this puzzle that has convinced many that the Nephilim are in fact a race of giants. Do you remember the ten spies who told Moses that the children of Israel could not possibly conquer the land of Canaan? In Numbers 13:33 they lamented that “we were like grasshoppers in our own sight and so we were in their sight,” and the word they use in describing “the giants” inside Canaan is the word “nephilim.” Does that convince you that “the nephilim” were once a great race of giants or do you think the spies spoke in hyperbole?

-Daniel McCabe

Trivia

In Hebrew the word “tapuz” is formed by combining the first four letters of “tapuah” (apple) and the first letter of “zahav” (golden). What is a “golden apple” in Hebrew?

For Your Children: ACT Kids Children’s Music

A friend of mine recently launched a YouTube channel, ACT Kids, that features biblically-themed music for children. ACT stands for “All Created Things,” and thus far he has uploaded twenty-one videos in two volumes, ranging from the story of creation to the account of Jesus calming the storm.

It can be difficult finding good music for our kiddos, and what started out for my friend as a project to channel the hearts of his own children closer to the Lord has turned out to bless even me. And perhaps now you! You might enjoy the songs for homeschooling, Sunday school, family worship, bedtime routines or just anytime.

I’ve included a link to his first song, entitled “Who Made Everything?” It’s a short listen at only one minute and thirty-five seconds, and I’d love for you to let us know what you think.

-Daniel McCabe

Scripture Study:

Christology—the Hypostatic Union, part 5

Hypostasis is a Greek word, and it refers to the essential being that underlies someone. Therefore, when we talk about the hypostatic union of Christ, it refers to the unity of His divine and human nature. Thus, Jesus is fully divine and fully human in one person at the same time. He is so unique, a God-man, that we see this phenomenon in Him alone. Jesus has both a divine will and a human will, which helps us understand many of His statements in the Gospels that would otherwise cause us to scratch our heads and say, “If you’re God, then why would you say something like that?” Well, He is also fully human, and while He was on earth in His humiliated state, He did say some things that would make more sense if we were to remember that He’s human.

As believers in the year 2026, it’s easy for us to understand His divine nature, but I think we fail to really appreciate and remember that He’s also human. In His day, as He walked around with other people, they would have readily seen His human nature. They likely had to get over the hurdle that He was also God. It’s the reverse for us. We see Him first as God. It’s harder for us to remember His humanity, but we must realize both. Whereas His human nature is currently located in heaven at the right hand of the Father, His divine nature is omnipresent. For example, He said, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20), and “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (28:20). His divine nature is omnipresent. He’s everywhere. His human nature was physically weak. He got tired and hungry. He felt pain. But His divine nature is omnipotent, able to do all things. His human nature, of course, died, but His divine nature has full control over life and death.

Here’s a statement from the Bible that might be hard for some people to grasp. His human nature had limited knowledge. Remember when He said that no one knows the time of the Son of Man’s return, not even the Son, but only the Father knows? That statement can be hard for us to understand if we don’t realize He’s fully human. That’s the human Jesus telling others that right now only the Father knows when He is going to send the Son of Man back.

Jesus’ humanity had limited knowledge. When Jesus was twelve years old, Mary and Joseph left Jerusalem without Him, heading back to Galilee in a large group. Eventually they discover that He is missing and return to find Him in the temple. I’m sure that they were worried sick about Him, so His mother asks, “Where were You?” And He replies, “Don’t you know? I was in My Father’s house.” He had been debating the rabbis who were amazed at His knowledge and wisdom. I think what’s going on there is also in His humanity. Jesus stayed back at the temple because He’s beginning to grow in wisdom and stature. He is coming to the point where He fully grasps who He is and what His mission is. He’s probably at the temple thinking, “Let’s get this started. Don’t you know that I must be about My Father’s business? This is what I need to do!” So in His humanity, He’s thinking, “This is what I should be doing.” But He, of course, although a perfect person, still comes under the authority of His parents, and they said, “No, You’re coming home with us.” But of course in God’s sovereign plan, He will begin His messianic ministry around the age of thirty. Even though His human nature had limited knowledge, His divine nature is omniscient. We see this in John 2:25; 16:30; 21:17. While He was on earth, He operated His ministry by the power of the Holy Spirit, which really floors me when I think about it—the miracles that the human Jesus does and the revelation that He gives, like any other prophet, were done by the power of the Holy Spirit. Moses didn’t turn the Nile into blood. God did. Moses didn’t turn his staff into a snake. God did. Moses didn’t know the future. God did. It’s the Holy Spirit who empowered Moses’ miracles, and it’s no different with Jesus’ ministry. The Holy Spirit came upon Him at His baptism, and all the miracles that He did and all the prophecies that He uttered were done by the power of the Holy Spirit. That’s why it was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit for His opponents to attribute His power to Beelzebub. I don’t think that for the first thirty years of His life, He went around performing miracles and giving prophecy. Instead, He lived a very human life, growing in wisdom and stature, and coming to a fuller understanding of who He was and what He was to do. Then, when the Holy Spirit came upon Him at His baptism, He was empowered to do these wonderful things. When He uttered things that no normal human could possibly know, it was the Holy Spirit giving Him that information and the power.

So that’s the hypostatic union. Jesus is both God and man.

-Adam Keim

Life in the Land—Lychees

Have you ever tried a lychee fruit, sometimes called an “alligator strawberry”? Did you even know that lychees were a thing? Helen, one of our September 2022 Israel trip members, encouraged us all to try one during an evening meal at our apartment in Jerusalem. Since the 1930s Israel has been growing lychees in orchards near the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Galilee, but I honestly didn’t know anything about them.

I think everyone tasted at least one of Helen’s lychees that night. The plump, white fruit separates easily from its bumpy, pink peel, making it easy for you to pop it into your mouth in one whole piece, but watch out for the large brown seed. For me the texture was a bit like a grape, but lychees have an entirely unique flavor. It’s hard to compare them to anything. They’re medium-sweet, almost floral, and I’m told that they are commonly used in fruit salads, smoothies, juices and desserts.

Have you ever tasted one? What did it taste like to you? Let’s hear your lychee stories if you have any.

-Daniel McCabe (From the Archives, October 21, 2022)

Answer to the Trivia

B. Orange