Difficult to Believe?

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

Listen to this article

In times past, one of the things I personally have found difficult to believe is the references to giants in the Bible. I mean, let’s face it, giants have always been presented in literature as fairy tales or mythology. In Greek writings, the Titans are presented as giant gods, some of whom procreated with human women. The offspring was often as large as the fathers with interesting powers. That’s just Greek mythology, right?

Jack and the Beanstalk aka Jack the Giant Killer is another example. This and others like it are simply childhood stories used to entertain (and terrify!), little children, aren’t they? It seems that every ancient culture references giants or gods with great height and tremendous powers. Are all these the result of overactive creative minds or was there any semblance of truth to be found there?

Over the last few years, one of the things I’ve discovered is that going back to the late 1800’s/early 1900’s, newspapers were often filled with articles about the latest find of gigantic bones. Numerous states throughout the United States lay claim to unearthing gigantic bones. Some of the skulls uncovered still had traces of bright red hair, dug up on or near Native American reservations of this country. Interestingly enough, the largest skeleton ever discovered in North America was located in West Hickory, PA with a total height of 18′ tall. Yes, eighteen feet tall.

Someone might ask, Well look, if these skeletons have been unearthed, where are they now? Great question and it appears that for every skeleton located, the Smithsonian took the bones to “catalog” them. The problem is that they’ve never once put any of the bones/skeletons on display, ever. But when it comes to dinosaur bones, no problem there. We’ve probably all been to museums that display large rebuilt skeletons of numerous dinosaurs, but I’ve yet to see even one example of a skeleton of any human or humanoid giant, have you? Again, it doesn’t mean those bones do not exist. It simply means that once confiscated by the Smithsonian, they were simply stored away out of sight. Reminds me of the ending of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Once the biblical Ark of the Covenant had been found, the Smithsonian swooped in, took it and literally stored it away in their extremely huge warehouse(s) with a ton of other ancient artifacts.

In truth of course, there have been numerous “discoveries” of gigantic skeletons that also turned out to be hoaxes. In a few cases, scientists were originally convinced of the authenticity but after more research and investigation, things turned out to be fake. The Cardiff Giant is one such example, which was originally “found” in the state of New York years ago.

Real giant men next to a man if average height.

But reports of finding gigantic bones and full skeletons of human/humanoid creatures is replete in history throughout the world and there are many, many examples of finding individuals (or even two together or an entire family), of giant proportions. Most found have been in the area of between 7′ to 9′, but a few have been far taller. One listed in the Daily Public Ledger, listing Diamond Lake, Cass County, Michigan as the place where the skeleton was found, was measured to be 11′ tall and unearthed in 1894. Other giant skeletons were also located a few decades later, smaller in stature (8′). They’ve even uncovered skeletons that highlight the fact that in some cases, horns grew out of the skull. They’ve also unearthed powerfully built pygmy skeletons.

Why would the Smithsonian literally store these findings away from the public? At one point in the past, the Smithsonian did not do this with these skeletons or bones. They actually issued reports on them and their findings. Here’s part of their report on one of the skulls Augustus Mitchell, MD of Saint Mans, Georgia discovered in 1875.

A bi-section of some of these teeth showed the dental nerve to be protected by an unusual thickness on the surface of the crown. Not one carious (decayed) tooth was found among the hundreds in the mount…the second set (of teeth) was observed; while one jaw had evident signs of a third set.[1]

The report also talks about finding a huge ax, the largest the writer had ever seen. The doctor believed that the skeleton, once pieced together, was about 7′ tall. The particular book I’m quoting from is replete with example after example of newspaper articles that highlighted gigantic bones that had been unearthed. Of course, that was before the press was so controlled as it is today.

As authors Vieira and Newman note in their book that The Smithsonian Institution became the repository of most, if not all, the gigantic bones that have been unearthed throughout America. The Smithsonian actually paid to receive the bones/skeletons. It is interesting how many reports of giant bones/skeletal findings were shipped to the Smithsonian.

Dozens of reports end in something like this: The bones were shipped to the Smithsonian Institution for further study.

So if that is the case, why has the Smithsonian been completely mum on the subject? Are they still “studying” the bones? Why shouldn’t reports be issued to the public? In 1864 the Smithsonian became a governmental trust, which means, in part, that they receive the public’s tax dollars. Like all government agencies who run on tax dollars, there should be some sort of transparency, but all too often, there is little to nothing, with a lot of double talk.

But do we need to rely solely on the Smithsonian for what they will not provide the public? Not really, as it has become clear that for the past 100 or more years, there are plenty of newspaper reports highlighting the reality of giant bones, skulls, and full skeletons found or unearthed. Sure, it would help to have the Smithsonian come clean, but no one expects them to do so.

Is there anything else that helps provide clarity for this particular subject of giants? Yes, there is always circumstantial evidence found within the realm of archaeology. Joel Kramer has a wonderful YouTube channel called Expedition Bible.[2] He is an actual archaeologist and has lived in the Middle East (mainly Israel), for the past few decades. There, he does most of his expeditions and his discoveries are fascinating.

One video in particular that my wife and I watched recently is titled, Archaeological Evidence for Giants in the Bible?[3] In this twelve minute video, Joel takes us to a museum where several spearheads had been discovered in Israel. The size of the largest spearhead was a massive (roughly) 14″ long. Again, that is just the spearhead and it is clear it came from the Bronze Age.

Joel takes us through the process of attempting to determine if there is any validity to believe that this particular spearhead was used by a gigantic person. He explains that other archaeologists concluded that this spearhead was used only for decorative purposes. Yet, at the same time, they acknowledge that the spear had actually been used as a spear because of the slight chinks missing from the edge of the spear and other markings indicating actual usage.

So Joel’s point is that most archaeologists are secular so they will deliberately avoid any reference to the Bible, rarely if ever using it as any type of source material. They don’t care that the Bible, in numerous locations, mentions giants and even provides anecdotal evidence that indicates extremely tall men or women lived during ancient biblical days (i.e. Og of Bashan, as noted previously). They don’t even realize their own contradictory statements. If the spearhead had been actually used as a spear, then it was not made solely as a decorative piece, was it? The opposite also holds true.

I like Joel’s videos because he seems to honestly go about the business of trying to determine the truth about what he finds. He’s gone on many searches that he has video taped so that we can understand the context of Scripture better than simply by reading it (although that is exactly where our study of His Word should always start).

The Bible seems to take for granted the fact that giants existed before and after the great flood of Noah’s day. We don’t exactly know how giants existed after the Flood, but the Bible tells us they did (nephilim). We see this is the case because of what the Israelites found as they moved through and toward the Promised Land. They encountered giants at various points, whether it was Og, Goliath or some other large human/humanoid. We’re all familiar with David taking on Goliath of Gath, who may have been one fourth Nephilm and three fourths Philistine (which may account for his “smaller” size of under 10 feet). Let’s not forget that Goliath had four brothers. David killed Goliath and it appears he was far more indignant toward Goliath than afraid of him. David instinctively knew that God would slay the giant through him (David), and He did.

If we stop to consider it, there are many things in Scripture that are often difficult for us to navigate mentally. That’s because the Bible does not provide much information. For instance, when the Red Sea parted as Moses stood before it, what did that look like? We only know what the Bible says, but it is difficult for us to imagine how that must have actually appeared to those standing there watching and as they crossed on dry ground.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. (Exodus 14:21-23)

So the Israelites moved forward as the waters split in the middle and created a wall on each side. That must have been freaky to observe. Did they see creatures from the water swimming around on each side but held back by the edge of the walls of water? Was there noise associated with this parting (aside from the wind)? Seems to be the case here, but try to rationalize this with your mind to understand what the Israelites saw and it is difficult to do.

The Bible is filled with miraculous events, many are difficult for us to process because we were not there. However, not being there does not mean we do not believe they occurred. It’s just that we sometimes wish we had greater understanding of those events. As John the apostle was privy to see the future unfold and saw how things looked, he was yet still confused at many things, as was Daniel and other prophets from old.

As for me, if I had access to a time machine, I’d want to go back in history to be able to view events as they occurred. Wouldn’t you love to have been able to see Jesus, hear His voice, sense His deep compassion and watch how He interacted with ordinary people, His disciples and the religious leaders?

Did giants exist in Scripture? I believe so because the Bible appears to make it clear. The giants were remnants of sin perpetrated by fallen angels with humanity in their attempts to create things in their (giants) image. What they did was make matters far worse for human society that they had no business becoming part of, but did.

I believe we are quickly heading to the time when there will be repeats of these types of things perpetrated by fallen angels, only next time, it will be perpetrated by “aliens” from space. From 2012 forward, there are already scientific examples of crossbreeding attempts in the lab with various animals and even human DNA for cloning purposes. What will happen when aliens reveal themselves and then Antichrist comes on the scene? Seems the dam will break allowing anything and everything with respect to genetic-modification.

While we should not be looking for the Antichrist (but Jesus Christ instead), it is helpful to understand the times in which we live. It should not cause undo worry or concern. It should push us back on Jesus at every turn.

[1] Giants on Record, by Jim Vieira and Hugh Newman, p189

[2] https://www.youtube.com/@ExpeditionBible

[3] https://youtu.be/dlUJxNFyRBM?si=eRziNvUEOkNoupgB

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective