Genesis 6:1-5 speaks of giants. But where they demonic, angelic beings of giant size?
1. My child towers above me, and what are those things growing out of his back?
Witchcraft and demonic figures like vampires are being popularized today as being very acceptable. The movies "Twilight" and "New Moon", not to mention the Harry Potter series, have captured the minds of this generation of young people. We have tried to sanitise demons by putting them in love stories, and Harry Potter is seen as a good witch. Kids know more and more about the practices of actual witches and demons through these movies and less about what the Bible has to say about them. Does Genesis 6 speak about a demonic lovestory?
Genesis 6:1-4 says "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 married any of them 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 heroes of old, men of renown."
Now in my last message I said some people see that the "sons of God" mentioned in this passage refer to fallen angels or demons. They say "how could their children be Nephilim (giants) if there was not some supernatural union happening here?"
Here’s where I run into a problem. If the "Sons of God" are just the Godly line of Seth and the "daughters of men" are the unbelieving line of Cain, like I suggested, then why is it that they have children who are giants (Nephilim is often translated as giants)?
Obviously if "the Sons of God" were angels then they were acting out of line, so they must have been fallen angels (demons) who followed Satan in the rebellion (I won’t get into the rebellion)
So let me get into this by asking a few questions which I throw out there for you to respond to, not because I have any particular answers. Questions often help us to look at the issues.
Why aren’t the "daughters of God" not mentioned? Does this indicate that angels are only sons? All angels mentioned in the Bible are males, but male in what way?
It’s obviously possible for angels to take on human form since they appeared to Abraham as men and even ate with him. So if they appear as men, and all angels are male somehow, then is it possible for an angel to go one step further and marry women and father children? That’s what I am struggling to understand.
Jesus seemed to indicate that angels don’t marry by saying,
"For when the dead (humans) rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven." (Matthew 22:30)
It seems clear God doesn’t intend his angels to marry or have sexual relationships. This doesn’t indicate that angels weren’t able to marry them, only that it wasn’t His will for the Godly angels to marry. If they are all male in some way, then they couldn’t marry in heaven anyway, unless they were able to come to earth and marry human women. Marrying an angel is what everyone woman dreams of. Well maybe not every woman.
So it’s not God’s will for Godly angels to marry, but what about the fallen angels who clearly go against God’s will? Were the angels who were cast out of heaven able to have sexual relations with women and have children? And why would God allow such relationships even if they were possible? And does it still happen today?
I’m just throwing out these questions out for anyone who wants to interpret this passage as meaning angels, because to me it unnecessarily complicates the interpretation by thinking of the "sons of God" as meaning fallen angels. But you decide. Much more intelligent scholars and theologians and Pastors than me think that this does refer to angels.
And I’ve run out of time to consider this in too much detail but let me encourage you always to grapple with the weird things in God’s Word as well as the easy things and you seek to find how this applies to us.
2. I’ll never call my child a little devil again!...
As I said we have tried to sanitise Witchcraft and demons and associated demonic figures like vampires by putting them in love stories, but does Genesis 6 speak about a demonic lovestory too?
Genesis 6:1-4 says "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 married any of them 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 heroes of old, men of renown."
"Sons of God". That’s the problem! Those 3 words! What is meant by the "sons of God"? Are these angels - fallen angels or demons acting way out of line, by marrying human women? How could their children be Nephilim (giants) if there was not some supernatural union happening here?
Consider this - fallen angels can’t be saved but fallen humans can. So how can a child of an angel and a human be saved?
If these children were fathered by fallen angels, were these children real children who were demonically controlled or were they demons in the form of children?
And angels are eternal. They can’t die, but humans can. Would these children live eternally thus breaking the curse God put on Adam and Eve? I don’t think so!
This is about the time when violence increases on the face of the earth. Is it because of this demonic invasion of women? Or is it because Godly men from the line of Seth married unbelieving women and their faith was watered down through their children, who became famous for their wickedness?
Some say that the "Sons of God" in Job are clearly angels, but notice it mentions Satan separately. It says
"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." (Job 2:1)
Notice Satan comes among them. He doesn’t seem to be classified as a "son of God". He just joins with them on this occasion. Does this indicate that fallen angels are no longer in the category of "sons of God"? I know that even fallen angels were originally created by God but they are certainly not “sons of God” in the spiritual sense. Rom 8:14 says "For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God”. Fallen angels are definitely not led by the Spirit so although created by God, they lost their sonship. It clearly makes sense to call them "sons of evil" or “the brotherhood of Satan” or “children of the darkside” or something similar, so if they are fallen angels in Genesis 6, why aren’t they described as such? "Sons of God" gives a false impression.
The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Bible, available even in Jesus day, translates this verse as "angels of God" not "sons of God", but this doesn’t help because the word angel simply means "messenger". It is usually clear by the context whether this is a human "messenger" or an "angel" is being referred to. This passage is not so clear. So this still could refer to men. Godly men are messengers of God.
Another variation is that the "sons of God" are demons who begin to indwell and control the ungodly men of the time. Demonic possession is mentioned in the NT particularly. Are we talking about the same thing here in Genesis 6? Did these men do the bidding of these fallen angels and have relationships with beautiful unbelieving women?
Maybe the demons recognized the gene that would cause giantism, and led these ungodly men to certain women knowing that their union would produce a mutation of the gene that produces giantism. Now it’s getting into the realm of the weird. That seems to me to be a far fetched, stretch-the-scriptures kind of theory.
Maybe we’ll go crazy trying to find what this passage could mean if we want to read "sons of God" as "fallen angels"! At this stage I think the best interpretation is what I said before...I think "the sons of God" refer to the line of Seth who married unbelieving women. As a result of these marriages their faith was watered down through their children, who became famous for their wickedness.
Why did they give birth to giants? I don’t know! I can’t know everything! I’ll tell you what I think next time. What about you? What do you think?
One thing is true. Believers live lives which separate them from unbelievers. Not like monks. I mean we are in the world, but we are not to be of the world.
What about you? Are you living like an unbeliever? This Christmas what will set you apart as being a Christian?
You can live a life that is separated from the world and its ungodly behaviour, in the sense of being committed to God and His righteousness.
