At the close of the last chapter I described the Nephilim descendants targeted for destruction in the conquest of the Land as being ―put under the ban‖ by Yahweh. The phrase actually comes from a Hebrew term, kherem, translated variously in English versions as ―cursed,‖ ―devoted to destruction,‖ ―devoted to Yahweh,‖ or ―devoted to the ban.‖ The idea of kherem was that everything designated as put under kherem was to be treated as a sacrifice to Yahweh—to be utterly destroyed and burned. Leviticus 27:28-29 illustrates this idea: ―But no devoted thing (kherem) that a man devotes (kharam, the verbal root) to the LORD, of anything that he has, whether man or beast, or of his inherited field, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing (kherem) is most holy to the LORD. No one devoted (kherem), who is to be devoted for destruction (kharam) from mankind, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.‖
The point is that nothing under kherem was to be kept—as Achan and his family sadly found out—for it was ―devoted to Yahweh‖ as an offering. When the concept of kherem is connected to warfare, as in the case with Joshua‘s wars of conquest, the result is the Old Testament‘s version of holy war, where Yahweh would claim ownership of all life under kherem as a wage of war. In this chapter we‘ll explore the kherem concept in the Old Testament as a further line of evidence that the conquest of the Promised Land is connected to Nephilim lineages.
It is important that the calls for holy war be viewed against the backdrop of what I‘ve called the ―Deuteronomy 32 worldview‖—the disinheriting of the nations by Yahweh and the immediately subsequent creation of his own nation, Israel. After Babel, the biblical worldview has Yahweh‘s ―portion‖ opposed to the nations created in conjunction with the dispersion at Babel who were rejected by Yahweh and given over to other elohim. The picture that emerges is that the disinherited nations became enslaved to inferior, corrupt (Psalm 82) elohim by virtue of their worship of those gods and being cut off from the true God, the God of Israel. Israel, of course, was just a people after Babel, and soon wound up literally enslaved in Egypt. During the bondage in Egypt, the land promised by Yahweh to his ―son‖ became occupied Nephilim descendants (Gen 6:4) and other peoples from the surrounding disinherited nations. The Land had to be cleared of both adversaries, but especially the remnant seed of the fallen sons of God whose presence was cast as an extension of the ―seed‖ cursing (the seed of the nachash) and blessing (seed of the woman, Eve) in the wake of the Fall (Gen. 3). The holy war—the war for the seedline of the deliverer and the Land of Yahweh‘s human family—had a cosmic thrust that was unmistakable to the ancients who read the account.
What’s In a Name?
The very word kherem is connected to the Genesis 6 incident and the Nephilim. The relationship would have been readily apparent to an Aramaic or Hebrew speaker.
Recalling that Hebrew originally had no vowels, kherem is spelled with three Hebrew consonants, transliterated for our purposes as kh-r-m. The ―kh‖ in our transliteration is actually transliterated in academic literature more accurately as an ―h‖ with a dot under it—but the pronunciation is basically the ―kh‖ sound. There is an ancient geographic place name with these exact same consonants—plus a final ―n‖ consonant typically used in geographic place names names: kh-r-m-n.126 The place name kh-r-m-n is spelled
―Hermon‖ in English—Mount Hermon, the mountain where, according to the
intertestamental Jewish book of 1 Enoch, the sons of God (the ―Watchers‖) descended from heaven and subsequently cohabited with human women. According to 1 Enoch, the mountain got its name because the Watchers were cursed (kharam) for what they had done.127
Not only is Mount Hermon associated with the events of Genesis 6:1-4 in the non-canonical book of 1 Enoch, that association is also evident in the Old Testament—if you know where to look and what you‘re looking at.
Mount Hermon is specifically described as the territory of one the giant clans discussed in the previous chapter: the Amorites. Deuteronomy 3:8-9 tells us, ―So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon 9 (the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, while the Amorites call it Senir).‖
Mount Hermon was also associated with Baal worship and evil serpentine cults. The cult center Baal-Hermon is mentioned several times in the Old Testament (e.g., Judges 3:3; 1 Chron. 5:23). The former of these passages describes the nations that were to be driven out of the Land by Israel in a way that interests us here: ―These are the nations: the five lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath‖ (see also Josh.
11:3). The proper noun ―Hivite,‖ as you may recall from the last chapter, has the same consonants as a common Semitic word for ―snake.‖ Further, Senir, the Amorite name for Mount Hermon (Deut. 3:8-9), was actually part of a mountainous region that included the infamous ―place of the serpent‖ discussed in an earlier chapter, Bashan: ―The members of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land. They were very numerous from Bashan to Baal-hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon‖ (1 Chron. 5:23).
Initial Failure
We read in earlier chapters about the failure of the Israelites to enter the Land when ten of the twelve spies sent out by Moses returned to the camp at Kadesh and reported that the Land was filled with the tall, powerful Anakim, descendants of the Nephilim. The ten spies convinced the people that the Anakim could not be defeated:
Numbers 13
25 At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land. 26 And they came to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the people of Israel in the wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, ―We came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negeb. The Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the hill country. And the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and along the Jordan.‖ 30 But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, ―Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.‖ 31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, ―We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.‖ 32 So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, ―The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.‖
Deuteronomy 1:26-33 also records the report of the spies, and Yahweh challenged the Israelites to defeat the Anakim: ―Do not be in dread or afraid of them. The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes‖ (Deut. 1:29-30). Israel refused to trust their God, and as a result of their lack of faith, the Amorites chased them away ―like bees‖ (Deut. 1:44) and Yahweh sent the nation wandering in the desert until the unbelieving generation would die off. But the enemy remained, and would still need to be confronted.
Getting Back on the Horse
After nearly forty years of wandering, Yahweh brought the Israelites back to the same location of Kadesh (Numbers 20:1) where Israel had faltered. Moses requests passage through the country of Edom, whose inhabitants were related to the Israelites through Esau, Jacob‘s brother, but the king of Edom refused (Num. 20:14-21). Moses‘ brother Aaron died shortly thereafter, and Israel was attacked by the king of Arad, whose city was ―devoted to destruction‖ in response (Num. 21:1-3).
Eventually, the people left Kadesh and proceeded along the border of Edom, coming to the land of Moab, which was under the control of the Amorites, a giant clan led by king Sihon. As he had done with Edom, Moses asked permission to pass through Moabite territory, but was again rebuffed (Num. 21:21-23). Moses had been told that Edom and Moab were not to be conquered, since that territory had been given to Abraham‘s nephew, Lot. Amazingly, even before the wandering nation arrived at this point in their journey, Yahweh had providentially cleared the land of Nephilim descendants, not for the people directly descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the Israelites—but for more distant relatives of the divinely chosen patriarchs.128 Apparently the separation between
anyone related to Yahweh‘s ―portion,‖ his elect people, was to be strictly enforced to cut off any route of lineage infection. In Deuteronomy 2 we read:
8 So we [the Israelites] went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the Arabah road from Elath and Ezion-geber. ―And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab. 9 And the LORD said to me, ‗Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the people of Lot for a possession.‘ 10 (The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim. 11 Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, as Israel did to the land of their possession, which the LORD
gave to them.) 13 ‗Now rise up and go over the brook Zered.‘ So we went over the brook Zered. 14 And the time from our leaving Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them. 15 For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished. 16 ―So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, 17 the LORD said to me, 18 ‗Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. 19 And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession.‘ 20 (It is also counted as a land of Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim—21 a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they dispossessed them and settled in their place.
Like Edom and Moab, Israel was not to harass the Ammonites, for their land had been granted to Lot and his descendants. There was one problem, though. While certain of the Nephilim descendants had already been driven out, more had moved in—the Amorites—
and now blocked the way through Ammonite territory. Numbers 21:21-23 describes the situation:
Numbers 21
21 Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, 22 ―Let me pass through your land. We will not turn aside into field or vineyard. We will not drink the water of a well. We will go by the King‘s Highway until we have passed through your territory.‖ 23 But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his people together and went out against Israel to the wilderness and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel.
God‘s response and the ensuing rout of the enemy under Moses is given in both Numbers 21:21-23 and Deuteronomy 2:24-25:
Numbers 21
And Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong. 25 And Israel took all these cities, and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. 26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon.
Deuteronomy 2
24 ‗Rise up, set out on your journey and go over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land.
Begin to take possession, and contend with him in battle. 25 This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.‘
Moses apparently asked for safe passage through Moab (Num. 21:21-22), since the territory had been given to Lot. He may not have known that the Amorites were there, a people whom Yahweh had said must be eliminated, and who were of unusual height (―Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars and who was as strong as the oaks; I destroyed his fruit above and his roots beneath‖). A better answer is that God used this occasion to harden the heart of the Amorite king before punishing him, as he had done with Pharaoh earlier. God had told Abraham that the bondage in Egypt would serve to build up God‘s wrath against the Amorites (Gen. 15:16 – ―the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete‖). Well, it was complete now. Judgment day had come.
The annihilation of Sihon, king of the Amorite giant clan is chronicled in Numbers 21:23-26:
23 But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his people together and went out against Israel to the wilderness and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel. 24 And Israel defeated him with the edge of the sword and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as to the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strong. 25 And Israel took all these cities, and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. 26 For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon.
Sihon‘s ally, Og of Bashan, was next. This territory was not part of Lot‘s inheritance.
After the defeat of Sihon, Og of Bashan attacked the Israelites and came to the same end.
The incident is chronicled in Numbers 21:31-35 and Deuteronomy 3:
Numbers 21
31 Thus Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. 32 And Moses sent to spy out Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there. 33 Then they turned and went up by the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against them, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 34 But the LORD said to Moses, ―Do not fear him, for I have given him into your hand, and all his people, and his land. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.‖ 35 So they defeated him and his sons and all his people, until he had no survivor left. And they possessed his land.
Deuteronomy 3
1 ―Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 2 But the LORD said to me, ‗Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.‘ 3 So the LORD our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, and we struck him down until he had no survivor left. 4 And we took all his cities at that time—there was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages. 6 And we devoted them to destruction, as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, devoting to destruction every city, men, women, and children. 7 But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as our plunder. 8 So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon 9 (the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, while the Amorites call it Senir), 10 all the cities of the tableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11 (For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.)
The focus could not be clearer. Before Moses and the Israelites ever even set foot in the Promised Land, the area on the other side of Jordan, the ―Transjordan,‖ had to be cleared of the Nephilim bloodlines. The idea of the ―seed of the nachash‖ is also in view here since, as noted in the last chapter, Bashan and the cities of Ashtaroth and Edrei,
The focus could not be clearer. Before Moses and the Israelites ever even set foot in the Promised Land, the area on the other side of Jordan, the ―Transjordan,‖ had to be cleared of the Nephilim bloodlines. The idea of the ―seed of the nachash‖ is also in view here since, as noted in the last chapter, Bashan and the cities of Ashtaroth and Edrei,