Four Kinds of Men in the Bible

Appendix Note 3, from the book Song of Songs, Life in the Harem of God

The Scripture’s present us with Four Kinds of Men, however, the English translations rarely distinguish between them. Unless you can read Hebrew you will need a lexicon or concordance to find them.  They tell far more about the spiritual condition of the man or men being discussed, then the simple English word man.

Adam

This is not just a personal name for our pro-generator.  It comes from the Hebrew word for earth adamah as this is the substance from which we were made.  It represents our mortality and weaknesses.  It also has the idea of red, so it is kind of like calling someone red dirt.  Sometimes it is translated as mankind or human.

Ish

This is translated as man or husband.  Where woman or wife is isha. It has the idea of immaterial and/or personal existence.  The man with personal responsibility and commitments.

Then the man (adam) said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman (ishah), because she was taken out of Man ( ish).” Gen. 2:23

FWI: Very few languages have man and woman as related words.  Hebrew and English are two that do.

Enosh

This is mankind as an insignificant or inferior being; it roots from the word anush, to be incurably sick.  It is most often used in the book of Job.

I will make men (enosh) more rare than fine gold, and mankind (adam) than the gold of Ophir. Is. 13:12

Gever / Gibbor

These are the mighty men or men of renown.  The word can be translated as mighty, powerful, strong, bold, hero, or tyrant.  Both Nimrod and Balaam are gibbor/gever [Gen. 6:4; Num. 24:3, 15). David had his mighty men [1 Sam. 16:18; 2 Sam. 23:1].

O taste and see that the LORD is good! Happy is the man (gever) who takes refuge in him! Psa. 34:8 

Thus says the LORD:  “Cursed is the man (gever) who trusts in man (adam) and makes flesh his arm, whose heart turns away from the LORD. Jer. 17:5 

From the beginning, there have been the mighty men.  In fact, the first time we meet the gever in the Scriptures they are not the good guys.  They would have been more correctly translated as the bold ones or tyrants.  They are at the end of the genealogy for the righteous line of Seth.  This sad circumstance caused the spiritual corruptions that made the flood necessary.

When men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them,  the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took to wife such of them as they chose.  Then the LORD said,  “My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.”  The Nephilim (fallen ones) were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown. Gen. 6:1-4 

Some of you may have heard or been taught that this is about fallen angels having sexual relations with human women.  But there are no angels in the passage, it is a genealogy of humans.  It is illogical to change the subject in this way.  Beside Messiah himself said angels are sexless [Matt. 22:30].  These are men from the righteous line of Seth who took wives from the fallen daughters of Cain.  The offspring of such a union caused men to have consciences that were seared, who sought their own wealth and power, either by great deeds or by great deception.  They were the tyrants of old.

Both Nimrod and Balaam are gever, they are negative, they stand for all those who deceive, beguile, and corrupt the truth that every child of God should know.  This is not the kind of gever we want to emulate.

Nimrod

The creator of all things pagan.  This is why he had the tower built.  After the flood, God seemed very close to mankind.  And as one pagan version of the story tells it, the people’s condition was oppressive.  The sky was so close to the ground that people were forced to crawl on the ground.  Until the mighty warrior lifted the sky to the top of a rock, then a tree, and finally to the top of the highest mountain.  Then the people could stand a walk about freely.  This is what the tower did, it separated God from man, and put a religion and priests between them.  It pushed God up to the heavens in the minds of men.  Up and out of the way.  Where He can be controlled by the priests.  Nimrod’s system put God in a place far away from normal people.

We still have people who teach that God lives in heaven, that when we die we go to heaven.  All these ideas are pagan.  God is Omnipresent.  He has no place, He is everywhere at once.  And if you are not walking with Him it can be a very oppressive idea.

Where Nimrod created the pagan system it is Balaam who found a way to introduce it to God’s people.  He had taken his lesson from the Nephilim.

Balaam

The one who taught the Ammonites and Moabites how to win the ultimate battle with God’s people.  His idea was to turn God against His own people by mixing with them.  Marry with them, then the women can teach God’s people to corrupt their own faith.  The big fancy theological word for this is syncretism.  This sin was the source of all of ancient Israel’s troubles.  It is why time after time God removed His protective hand, and why the Northern Tribes ended up lost in Iran and the Southern Tribes captive to Babylon for 70 years.

The worse thing about all this, is we have not learned the lesson.  We to have gown astray after the teachings of Balaam.

Forsaking the right way they have gone astray; they have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, 2 Pet. 2:15 

But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice immorality. Rev. 2:14

They are with us still, these Rev. Balaams.  They teach corruption and deception.  They compromise with the world.  They make up laws that are not from the Bible, at the same time teaching that the true Law has passed away.

Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. Rom. 3:31

They have taught the people for centuries to walk away from God’s appointed days, and instead to take on Nimrod’s holidays by changing their names.  They have taken unembellished doctrines of obeisance and submission to God and substituted doctrines of works and drudgery, where one is never sure of being good enough for salvation.  They have invented magic word prayers, where you can be saved or become wealthy, with no effort.  Yes, salvation is free, but it requires a lifetime of commitment and work.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; Phil. 2:12 

They are not teaching from the pure word of God, but they are serving up idolatry and immoral practices that they have renamed to sound Christian.

Messiah the ultimate Gever

The last time the Old Testament uses the word gever is used it is of Messiah Himself.

“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man (gever) who stands next to me,” says the LORD of hosts.  “Strike the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered; I will turn my hand against the little ones. Zech. 13:7

He is truly the mighty of the mighty, there is none like Him.  For He stands next to God.

The one who stands next to me, in Hebrew is anit meaning my brother, neighbor, fellow,  or more precisely to have the same substance.  The rabbis are uncomfortable with the implications of this verse, for they teach that the Messiah will be a human.  The idea that He is deity sounds a lot like Christianity to them.  Yet here it is, very clearly.  He is of the same material as God and is therefore deity.  Messiah made the quite clear at His trial.  Caiaphas was so upset by this claim that he tore his garments.

Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”  Then the high priest tore his robes, and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. Why do we still need witnesses? You have now heard his blasphemy.  Matt. 26:64-65

Stephen makes the same claim as he is being stoned.

. . . and he (Stephen)said,  “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.” Acts 7:56

Paul also assures his readers that Messiah is the same substance as God.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:1 

To have that authentic walk with God we must put aside our adam natures, and become the gevers we were meant to be.

Lo, thus shall the man (gever) be blessed who fears the LORD. Psa. 128:4

 

See Also: Four Kinds of Men in Daniel