Giants
“There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that.” (Gen. 6:4)
When we read our Bible we find that the account of giants is recorded nineteen times, from Genesis and Numbers, in Deuteronomy and Joshua and also in 2Samuel and 1Chronicles.
If we would ask the average Christian when the giants existed, the general answer we get is that giants were found mainly before the flood of Noah’s day. But the time period that we find from Gen. 6 until the time of the middle or latter part of David’s reign covers a span of approximately three thousand years. So, in other words, giants were around for quite some time.
On a recent trip down to Southern California from B.C. we had the privilege to be able to drive through Northern California’s coastal Redwood Forest and gazing in awe at the gigantic trees among which we travelled and on which I commented that these trees were truly giants among all the trees. I have seen the Ponderosa Pines of the Southern Mountains, the Douglas Fir in the Northern Mountains of Washington and the Red Cedar in British Columbia, but for the odd exception nothing compares to those gigantic Red Woods. And thus the word “giant” remained stuck in my mind, which prompted me to write this article.
So what constitutes a giant? A giant is a person or thing of greater than normal stature or size. Thus, with this said, let’s look where this will lead us. If we look at chapter 11 of the Book of Hebrews we will find a condensed list of some of the heroes of faith. It starts with Abel and Enoch, Noah and Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, the parents of Moses and Moses himself, Joshua and Rahab. And we could also mention Samuel, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and Ezekiel. These are all in the Old Testament of course. But also in the New Testament we can name Peter and John, Paul and Barnabas, just to name a few. These people were all giants of faith. In their convictions they all stood taller than most, they all were giants in their own way, and what about Wycliffe or Martin Luther, Calvin or John Knox? They exposed the falsified Church of Rome and started the Protestant Reformation, often at peril of persecution and death, yet they persevered and succeeded. They were giants, not necessarily in physical stature, but in their faith and drive for their Lord Jesus the Christ they stood taller than the average man. Yes! They were giants. In more recent times there comes to mind men like the late Pastor Sheldon Emery of America`s Promise Ministries, the late Pastor George Southwick of the Bible Educator Ministry and the just recently departed Pastor Pete Peters of Scriptures for America to name just a few. [ed. Or the even more impressive leaders of our Association in the past] These men stood strong and tall for their Lord Jesus Christ and for the Israel message that they brought to a mostly Biblically illiterate generation, often in face of ridicule, opposition and slander. Yet, even in face of the anti Christ forces against them, they stood firm in their message about God, country and the heritage of the Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, Scandinavian and kindred peoples, the true children of Israel today. So, yes, they also in their ways and actions were giants.
So, brothers and sisters, what about you and me? Are we just going through this life to be remembered as just a mere incident or just a puff of smoke or can you and I make an impact somewhere along the line. But, you may ask, what can I do? I’m just an average person and I really don`t have any special gifts. In Mark, chapter 9 vs 23 Jesus said, “If you canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” And again in Mk. 10:27 He said “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” The apostle Paul reminds us in Phil. 3:13,14 something that we should all keep in mind and remember, for none of us are perfect and none of us have reached our potential in this life, until the day that we are finally called home. “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; buy this one thing I do, forgetting those things, which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3: 13,14).
So you can see that even Paul was not satisfied with what he had attained, and strove for bigger and better things. Should we do less? Or should we also keep pushing onward to bigger and better things, whether in our personal life or our family life or our church life? Whether in our moral life or our spiritual life let us never be complacent, but forever strive to reach higher and to attain a closer relationship with both our fellow men and above all with our Lord and Saviour. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me.” (Phil 4:13).
So when finally our race is done, may it truly be said of us, you know that was really a person to look up to. In order to have been looked up to we would have to have been taller than the average. So yes we can all be giants. Praise God.
