GENESIS 6:1-8

THE SONS OF GOD AND THE DAUGHTERS OF MEN 6:1-4

 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took for themselves wives from whomever they chose. Then the Lord said, My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days — and also afterward — when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the mighty men from old, men of renown.

ž Many commentators today would agree with the teaching of some ancient rabbis and early Church Fathers who said that the “sons of God” were heavenly, angelic beings who came to earth and had unnatural relations with “the daughters of men.”

Job 1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 

Job 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord.

ž Some scholars would further argue that these fallen angels had illicit relationships with the “daughters of men” which resulted in the birth of giant creatures identified as the “Nephilim” in verse 4.

This supernatural view is problematic for two very good reasons:

1. The expression “took for themselves wives” is the same as saying “they married,” but there are no supporting passages in the Bible indicating that angels or heavenly beings either marry or have the ability to reproduce in any way.

Luke 20:34-36 Jesus replied, The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels.

ž A reading of verses 1-4 nowhere concludes that the Nephilim are the fruit of the marriages in question. In fact, according to this passage, it is clear that the Nephilim were already on the earth before this event and are found even after the flood in the land of Canaan as reported to Moses by the scouts sent in to spy out the land (Numbers 13:31-33).

ž The Hebrew word for Nephilim (nāphal), simply means “fallen ones”.

2. All scriptural references used to identify the sons of God with heavenly beings come from outside the Pentateuch. Thus the immediate literary context provides no support for the interpretation that the “sons of God” were angelic beings.

ž Other interpreters suggest that “the sons of God” were sons of rulers, or princes, who married women from a lower social caste. Little historical, grammatical or linguistic evidence exists to support such a position.

ž It is more reasonable to conclude that “the sons of God” are those of the godly line of Seth, and “the daughters of men” are the descendants of the ungodly line of Cain.

This interpretation is sound for 3 reasons:

1. It fits the context of the book of Genesis which reveals the unfolding of two distinct lines from Adam; one ungodly and the other godly.

2. It was the line of Cain that emphasized the physical attraction of the women and it was the line of Seth that emphasized men calling upon the name of the Lord.

ž No doubt the sons of God (men from the godly line of Seth) intermingled and allowed themselves to be seduced by the daughters of men (from the ungodly line of Cain) to have illicit relations with them and take them for their wives.

3. It was the intermarriage between the ungodly line of Cain and the godly line of Seth that helped to pollute the entire human race.

Deuteronomy 7:1-4 When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations — the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you —  and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally.

Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord's anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.

Joshua 23:11-13 So be very careful to love the Lord your God. But if you turn away and ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations that remain among you and if you intermarry with them and associate with them, then you may be sure that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you. Instead, they will become snares and traps for you, whips on your backs and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land, which the Lord your God has given you.

Ezra 9:1-4 After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites. They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them.

And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness. When I heard this, I tore my tunic and cloak, pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down appalled. Then everyone who trembled at the words of the God of Israel gathered around me because of this unfaithfulness of the exiles. And I sat there appalled until the evening sacrifice.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is tFor we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. here between the temple of God and idols?

Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

ž Because of the spiritual bankruptcy and pollution these mixed marriages produced upon mankind, God’s anger was provoked, and He pronounced judgment on humanity.

ž God in wrath remembers mercy and gives mankind 120 years to repent: his days will be a hundred and twenty years.

ž Mankind did not repent. Like the majority of mankind today, they thought nothing of the riches of God’s kindness, tolerance and patience. As a result, their stubborn and unrepentant heart brought upon them the full fury of the wrath of God.

THE FINAL VERDICT ON MANKIND 6:5-8

The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every purpose of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said, I will wipe out mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth — men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air —

for I am grieved that I have made them." But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

ž Whereas God’s works are deemed to have been very good, mankind’s works are pronounced “wicked.” Humanity had been fruitful and multiplied by filling the earth with evil continually.

ž The term “heart” is the seat of a man’s conscience, his very being. Man’s very being had become corrupt and depraved. Thus what we see is the condition of total depravity reigning among mankind on earth.

The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.

ž Some translations depict this passage as saying that the Lord “repented” or “was regretful” that He had created mankind. Such an understanding is inconsistent with, and contradictory to, many other passages which teach God’s immutability or unchangeableness.

Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind.

1 Samuel 15:29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man, that He should repent.

Ezekiel 24:14 I the Lord have spoken. The time has come for Me to act. I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent.

 

Malachi 3:6 For I am the Lord, I change not.

So the Lord said, I will wipe out mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth — men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air — for I am grieved that I have made them." But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

ž God’s judgment is to destroy all living creatures on the face of the earth. The idea translated “wipe out” literally means to “erase, expunge completely.”

ž The destruction of the animal kingdom along with humanity demonstrates that mankind’s wickedness has world-wide implications. All of God’s creation was affected by the fall.

ž In the midst of great judgment and wrath, God bestows His sovereign (particular) favor, or grace, on the man Noah, thus preserving the seed of the woman.