Genesis 6:1-5 "The Sons of God"

Good Evening, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Well, let’s continue in our study of Genesis

In Genesis chapter 4 we were introduced to Cain… and the ungodly way of Cain.

And the family of Cain… the Cainites… who established a prosperous and industrious pre-flood civilization… apart from God.

We were also introduced to the Family of Seth… the Sethites… a Godly line who began to call on the name of the LORD.

From the line of Seth would come Noah… Abraham… Judah… David… Jesus.

So, this was the Messianic line.

And, then in Gen 5… we are introduced to the Family of Adam…

Who were begotten in the likeness of Adam… fallen in nature… cursed to physically die… but not without hope.

God weaves a thread of hope through these chapters in various ways.

We looked at the meanings of the names in the Family of Adam… and it’s not too far a stretch to see how in the meanings of the names… the Gospel very well could have been proclaimed.

Chuck Missler (not Chuck Swindoll as I stated last week… wrong Chuck… sorry about that)…

Chuck Missler in his study of the names… and the root words for the names spells out this message behind the meanings of the names: “Man (is) appointed mortal sorrow; (but) the Blessed God shall come down teaching (that) His death shall bring (the) despairing rest.”

Pretty fascinating… a couple of the name meanings are debatable, but there’s a good possibility that a hidden gospel message may be in the meaning of these names.

Another thread that we will talk about today is that of Gen 3:15… the protoevangelium… the first Gospel… and how that is woven in these chapters…

Influencing not only the names especially of Cain… Seth… and Noah…

But also influencing Satan’s actions to thwart God’s plan in Gen 3:15.

Which, I believe, is what we are looking at here in Genesis 6:1-5.

So, let’s now take a look at the word… in a message titled “The Sons of God.”

Let’s Pray!

In reverence for God’s word, please stand as I read our passage. Genesis 6:1–5 “Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. 3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 4 There were giants 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. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. 5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Praise God for His word! Please be seated.

This is one of the most fascinating passages in scripture. It has divided scholars regarding it’s interpretation… and three major views have resulted… which we will discuss tonight.

And, good news… we will also inform you of the correct view… which just happens to be the one we support.

Kind of like in our Romans study… we just looked at Spiritual Gifts… and which is the best spiritual gift?

Oh… that’s the one I have… for you… the one you have.

So Paul… in Romans warned against pride and encouraged a sober assessment of ourselves… otherwise we might get high minded… which never leads to good.

So… respectfully… tonight we will look at some of the other views…

… and we recognize there are really great teachers in different camps of how they interpret this passage, but this is not a place to divide.

We are not discussing a central tenet of our faith… like Jesus’ divine and human nature… or the Godhead being one, yet three… or Salvation by grace through faith alone… or the inspiration of Scripture.

Tonight… we are talking about Genesis 6 and what is meant by the Sons of God… and the result of their affair with the daughters of men.

So… picking up in V1 we read about the days prior to the flood… the Antediluvian Period… and mankind multiplied… population was increasing… and Moses notes “daughters were born to them.”

Two days prior to Christ’s crucifixion, Jesus spoke about these days… His disciples asked, “...what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matt 24:3)… which led to the Olivet Discourse, that portrays the Tribulation… the Time of Jacob’s Trouble.

And, Jesus illustrated that the times leading up to His Second Coming would be like the Days of Noah…

Which is fascinating… because Jesus not only verified the historical accuracy of the flood account, but also spoke about the condition prior to the flood.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:37–39 “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

“Took them all away” is not a rapture reference, but a declaration that the people were taken into judgment.

Which was the flood in Noah’s day… and the Sheep/Goat judgment before the Second Coming.

Luke 17:26–27 makes this clear… “And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27 They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.”

“Took them all away” in Matt 24:39 and “destroyed them all” in Luke 17:26 are parallel in thought.

The rapture does not destroy… it’s a great hope for the church… and occurs prior to the Tribulation.

The Olivet Discourse describes life on earth after the rapture. Church removed… Israel remains and is restored for Daniel’s 70th week.

Matt 24:41-42 “Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken [into judgment… destroyed… a goat] and the other left. [a sheep… a believer… left to enter the millennium kingdom. A person who survives the tribulation will want to be left behind, because then God delivers them out of the tribulation and into His Messianic Kingdom]. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.” [Second Coming]

Some Calvary Pastors teach that as a rapture reference.

To me… that seems like a contextual error and reading our rapture position into a passage where it doesn’t belong.

Matt 24-25 is about Israel.

The Church has other passages to support the rapture.

We should be living in a similar way of watching for His coming… for the imminent return of Christ.

But for the church… we are not waiting for the Second Coming, but to be “caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” (1 Thes 4:17)… that’s the rapture.

Well… back in Gen 6… societies were forming and flourishing in their invention and population explosion.

Thus, the condition of the world was getting progressively worse… because the majority of the world was living life removed from God… and wickedness was on the rise.

There was a faithful remnant from the line of Seth, but the majority of the population went in the Way of Cain.

Many lives were marked with no thought of God.

We saw this in Cain… where he travelled east away from Eden… and though God said he would wander… he established a city in rebellion of God.

The people were industrious, but there was no mention of God in their lives.

Lamech defied God’s established order of husband and wife and took two wives and proclaimed he could avenge himself greater than God… which portrayed the wicked pride of the leaders of that time.

It wasn’t until the line of Seth that we read, “Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.”

So… the condition of mankind prior to the flood was bad for sure, but in V2 we are introduced to a perplexing portion of scripture.

Where we read about the “sons of God” who “saw the daughters of men”… saw they were beautiful… and “took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.”

So… the question forms… Who are the “sons of God”… where… from their union with the daughters of men… the result was “giants on the earth”… “mighty men who were of old, men of renown.”

Morris states, “… monsters not only in size but also in wickedness.”

Certainly in wickedness. I do wonder about physical stature. More on that later.

But, is this literal? Is this allegory? Is this an ancient fairy tale?

How do we interpret this.

There are three or four main interpretations… and I’m sure a number of others.

Some Christians look at the context of what we saw in Genesis 4… which was the line of Cain and the line of Seth…

And, they state the “Sons of God” are the Sethites (a Godly line)… and the “daughters of men” are the Cainites (an ungodly line).

This is a very popular view… and humanizes the whole account… removing the supernatural.

The union of Sethites and Cainites represented believers and unbelievers intermarrying… which God certainly frowns upon as spelled out later in the Old and New Testament.

Dr. Thomas Constable… who I very much appreciate… favors this view…

I don’t favor this view, but he does… and he has the right to be wrong. I’d still have coffee with him.

But, he does do a nice job concisely presenting three views… and supporting reasons… as well as objections.

He has a free online commentary at Sonic Light.com. I encourage you to check out his reasoning behind the views.

Where I disagree with this view is… while the Bible warns against being unequally yoked with unbelievers… which could span a number of unions… marriage… business… bowling leagues…

Well… maybe not bowling leagues… but certainly official unions… partnerships.

The Bible frowns at believers entering into a union with unbelievers because how can we be like minded in practice especially in spiritual matters.

There’s strained or no harmony in spiritual vision or values… or prayer.… or giving.

It’s a bad union… it’s unwise… it’s not the biblical ideal… many Christians move forward with unholy unions… BUT… they DO NOT result in what we see here in Genesis 6.

Another view I disagree with is the polygamy view.

Where men of that day are the “sons of God” and they intermarried with multiple wives… similar to Lamech in Genesis 4…

And, the result was great wickedness… giants were born… mighty men… enough that God sent the flood.

Now… polygamy is obviously bad… it goes against God’s ideal for the one man and woman union…

I mean even today in the United States… it’s still federal law in all 50 states… even Utah… that polygamy is illegal.

That’s what Grok AI told me. It was the 1862 Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act.

Back then… that Act was probably founded due to morality… today… I’m surprised that with ALL the other sinful things our country has allowed to be legal… including homosexual unions…

… that polygamy would not be legal.

The biggest objections beyond morality I read about that hasn’t pushed this over the edge to legality dealt with legal clarity… regarding child custody, property rights, inheritances and so forth.

But give it time. Godlessness abounds.

Biblically speaking… polygamy was common in the OT…

Patriarchs… Judges… kings…

Abraham… Jacob… Esau… Gideon…Samuel’s father (Elkanah)… Saul, David, Solomon…

And, several others.

But… the ungodly result of giants was not what we see in their progeny.

Nor did God feel the need to take a dramatic measure to wipe out the human race except for one small family.

Plus, “men” and “sons of God” in vv 1-2 are distinct.

Notice that… “Sons of God” “ben elohim” in V2… “men” / “adam” in V1.

Different words for two different groups.

Another thought… is ungodly rulers of the time were possessed by demons… and they procreated with the women of that time.

Which is a stretch and fails for reasons already mentioned… and is there even any biblical support for this view?

Dr Andy Wood… I don’t even think he mentions this view. Constable did… though briefly.

So… there’s a lot of views… but as I look at scripture… these fall short for various reasons… some already mentioned… and only one rises to make sense…

… given the context… AND provides harmony for other scriptures… and finds support from other scriptures…

And, this is the Angel View. Which is a view some people struggle with because then you have to acknowledge the supernatural… and the reality of Angels and Demons…

This view basically holds that fallen angels married women resulting in these giants… these mighty men of old… and the race had become so defiled and wicked continually as we read in V5… that God’s only remedy was to send a flood and wipe out… not just humanity… but also these demonic half-breeds… who potentially were or would have been the majority.

Now… that’s the view… and I’m going to provide an overview of a defense for this position, but for further study…

I highly recommend checking out the Angelology Series by Dr Andy Wood.

Andy’s teaching on the Doctrine of Angels… is a 34 message series…

… where he introduces an overview to Angels in 4 parts (their origin and nature… their classes… their activities)...

Then he discusses Satanology in 14 lessons… very thorough.

Demonoloy in 10 lessons… and the Sons of God in 6 lessons.

If you wanted to just expand your understanding about what we are reading in Genesis 6 tonight… those final 6 lessons titled “Sons of God and Daughters of Men”… are what you should focus on.

You’ll get a taste tonight… but Andy’s teaching goes far deeper… and he does an excellent job connecting scriptures to explain this topic…

… he presents the other views and explains in greater detail where they fall short… and he provides a deep defense for the Angel view.

So… I highly recommend listening…

And, one of the things I got most out of it… was how much harmony there is in scriptures.

I think we know that… but when you make the connections… it’s just so rich.

The Bible is not disconnected… it’s very interconnected. It’s not just a history lesson… it the History of Redemption…

And, it’s not only us that knows this, but Satan knows it too.

In Genesis 3:15 the LORD God… directly said to the serpent… “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

Rev 12:9 and 20:2 tell us the “serpent of old” is the Devil and Satan… so, there is no ambiguity whom God spoke to.

And, God gave Satan the first gospel message… what is titled the “Protoevangelium” proclaiming God’s victory through a coming Messiah.

Now… If you had the perspective of Satan as a Cherub… and the cunningness of Satan… and God Himself had revealed to you, in general, how He would destroy you… what would you do?

Oh… let’s add in that is you had the twisted nature of Satan…

Who was an anointed cherub… who became filled with violence and pride… and corrupted his wisdom… and was cast down because of a multitude of iniquities (according to Ezk 28)…

So, Satan’s fallen position is settled. His heels are firmly planted… there’s no repentance… Angels are not subject to redemption.…

They had a choice to follow God or rebel… and demons rebelled and their fate is sealed. They are fallen angels. The Gospel does not apply to them.

Rev 12:4a speaks about a great, fiery red dragon, and states, “His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.”

Which many take as Satan influenced a third of the angels to rebel against God and now they are fallen demons.

I agree with this view.

Satan before his fall proclaimed “I wll ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God… I will be like the Most High.” (according to Isa 14)

Rebelling against God and seeking to de-throne Him.

Whom Jesus describes as a “murderer from the beginning” and the “father of lies.” (John 8:44)

Who’s intention is to devour whomever he can like a “roaring lion” (1 Pet 5:8) and “accuse the brethren” (Rev 12:10).

If you were that sort of twisted demon… and God told you that a Seed… a descendant from the woman (Eve) would come one day and crush your head…

If you had the information of Gen 3:15… and seemingly time and influence over people was on your side…

Would you just say, “Oh. That’s interesting. I’ll just tuck that information away and do nothing about it until that day comes.”

Or… being a rebellious and twisted angel… having already been given a glimpse of your end… would you continue to rebel and fight God and His prophecy over you?

Satan chooses the later… and this is a theme throughout scripture.

It’s very eye opening to look at Gen 3:15 as not an isolated proclamation from God to Satan… but as a proclamation that would serve as the very motivation for violence and anti-semitism by Satan.

Because if Satan can take out the seed of the woman… he can invalidate God’s plan… and he and his demons can live on and rule the earth.

And, we see a number of strategic plans by Satan and his demons to thwart God’s Gen 3:15 prophecy.

When you read about attacks against specific kings… attacks against Israel… attacks to take out the first born sons of Israel… these are not disconnected, but very connected and thematic…

Gen 6 is just one of several chapters in a long war of Satan, who is trying to STOP the plan of God.

I’m going to borrow a few slides from Dr. Wood (why re-invent the wheel)… and in this first slide Dr. Wood outlines key moment when Satan attempts to stop the Messiah… the seen of the woman from being born.

And, Satan does this largely through influence… through whispering into the ears of key leaders in history…

Kind Herod the Great… who ruled at the time of Christ’s birth… after the Wise Men came… gave the order for all male children to be killed in Bethlehem… two years and younger. (Matt 2:16-18)

And, you could look at that and say… “Well, Herod was crazy and killed anyone… even his own family who was a threat to his rule.”

That’s true, and with his twisted mind… how easy would it be for Satan to influence him?

And, Satan was indeed behind this attack.

Rev 12:4b declares, “And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.”

That was Satan attempting to stop the seed of woman… who was the seed of Mary… Jesus Christ.

Interesting Side Note on Antichrist (who receives power from Satan)… Daniel 11:37 reads, “He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all.”

This verse has been mis-interpreted to mean that Antichrist will have no desire for women… that he will be homosexual.

But, what was the “desire of women”? Going back to Gen 3:15… Jewish women knew from the seed of the woman would come one who crushed the head of Satan.

The desire of women was their child would be the Messiah.

We’ve been talking about this… in the naming of Cain… Seth… Noah…

The meaning and context in their names give a strong indication that they parents were very hopeful that these guys would be THE SEED… the Messiah.

Of course they were wrong, but that was their desire.

And, Antichrist will not regard the desire of women, because he is rebellious towards Messiah.

Going back to the list of Satanic Attempts to stop Messiah…

Quickly… and study these on you own…

Cain was under the influence of Satan… when he killed Abel (1 Jn 3:12) who offered a more excellent sacrifice.

Pharoah killed the male children of Egypt.

Athaliah… the mother of the king… “destroyed all the royal heirs of the house of Judah.” (2 Chr 22:10).

Why did she target Judah?

Because in Genesis 49:10 it was prophesied, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.”

So, Satan… with that information… could now more specifically target the Tribe of Judah as bringing forth the seed of woman.

And, he almost won here. Fortunately, king Joash was hidden… and would eventually be crowned king at age 7… and the Messianic line continued.

The other two mentions of Satan’s attempts to end the line… are in Esther… with wicked Haman plotted against Israel.

And, Matt 4… when Satan directly tempts Jesus to throw Himself down off the pinnacle of the temple.

If He fell for it… and the angels didn’t catch Jesus… Game over.

Of course that didn’t work either.

But, who does fall is Satan… over and again through history.

His plans keep failing. And, I’m going to borrow another slide from Dr. Wood. Maybe take a picture of this one for your own studies.

Because I’m not getting into the details, but Satan fell from heaven… was expelled from Eden… his Gen 6 attempt fails… he loses at the cross…

… and then at the mid-point of the Tribulation he is cast to the earth (Rev 12:9)… which makes him furious and ushers in the Great Tribulation…

Then, he is bound at the beginning of the Millennium and cast into the Lake of Fire at the end of the Millennium.

And, even knowing all this… he still rebels against God and tries to stop God’s plan…

Because as Ezk 28:17 declared “You corrupted your wisdom...”

Proverbs 9:10 declares, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom...”

And, Satan’s wisdom is corrupted… he does not revere God… therefore he lacks true wisdom… and continues to rebel against God.

So… there is a thread in Scripture of Satan’s attempts to stop the Gen 3:15 prophecy… to stop the Messiah… the seed of the woman who will crush his head.

A head shot is a fatal blow… and Satan indeed will receive it… ultimately as he is bound in the Millennium with loss of authority… and then cast into the Lake of Fire…

Which Jesus describes as “everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matt 25:41

Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels… demons. Not for people.

God loves the world… and did everything He could… even sending His Son to die for our sin… and all we have to do is accept that.

It takes a strong will of denying creation (Rom 1)… and cauterizing one’s conscience… and rejecting Jesus… to make it to everlasting fire.

But… many do. There is a broad road that leads to destruction and many go in by it.

The biblical description of hell is terrible… couple that with the idea that Satan and demons will be there too…

You think you don’t like your neighbors now…

Anyhow… so going back to Genesis 6 with some of this foundational groundwork now laid…

We can now see the motivation behind the Angel View.

Satan rallied his demons to breed with human women… because if Satan corrupted the genetic line of humans… how then could a “seed of a woman” come to be?

This was a preemptive strike by Satan.

It reminds me of the movie Braveheart… when Edward King of England re-instituted the “Prima Nocta” law… giving English Lords breeding rights over the Scots.

Instead of fighting the Scots… the thought was to corrupt their genetics.

The famous line by Edward was “If we can’t get them out, we’ll breed them out.”

And, this is not a far fetched idea… in fact… as we continue in Gen… we will read in Genesis 6:9 “This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.”

Why was Noah “perfect”? Was it his perfect moral character?

It can’t be… just one verse earlier in V8 we read “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”

Noah needed grace because he wasn’t perfect. His Dad may have hoped that Noah would bring “rest”… that he would be the Messiah, but he wasn’t.

The Messiah had to be perfect morally… and Gen 9:21 tells us that Noah “drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent.”

That one indiscretion alone disqualified Noah. The Lamb of God had to be blameless.

Only Jesus’ blood was “without blemish and without spot” (1 Pet 1:19)

And, when you think about the sacrificial animals… and how the OT spoke about them being “without spot or blemish” (Lev 5:18, Num 6:14… and so forth)…

What was “without blemish” referring to… in light of animals?

Their perfect moral code? A lamb that didn’t steal from the other lambs… and didn’t covet his neighbor’s wife?

No. It referred to genetics. There were not to offer God their physical cast aways.

Remember in Malachi 1:8? God was displeased when they did this… “And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?” Says the Lord of hosts.”

None of the failing of those animals were moral. They were all physical.

Noah was perfect because his gene pool was pure. He was fully man… not a 1/2 breed of man and demon.

Jesus would be born fully man and fully divine. Gen 6 is an attempt to ruin the genetic line of the seed of the woman.

So, seems plausible, but is there more? How can we be sure “sons of God” is actually referring to demons… and not Cainites… or polygamists… or some other corrupted human?

Well… we know the Bible is the best cross reference to the Bible.

And, is there anywhere else in the Bible the phrase “sons of God” is written?

Yes there is. 10x in fact. 5 of those times are in the NT… so we rule those out for three reasons.

The NT context refers to the spiritual relationship believers have to God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Which is a totally different context and phrase then Gen 6.

Not to mention the NT is written in Greek… and the “sons of God” (bene elohim) in Hebrew has a specific context and the phrase in the OT… all 5x refers to angels.

Twice here in Gen 6… which is contested. But, the other three times exists in the oldest book of the Bible… a book that Moses very likely read for it existed prior to his life and writings… and that is the Book of Job.

Moses never read the Gospels or Pauline writings where the NT phrase “sons of God” appears.

But, if he read Job… In Job 1, 2 and 38.

Job 1:6–7 “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”

It’s widely accepted that this is a heavenly scene and the sons of God are angels.

When Moses penned Genesis, Job was the only book he had to read… and so to use this accepted phrase for angels… “sons of God” would have created no confusion.

Moses wouldn’t have been thinking, “Oh… I better be more specific. Some people may think that sons of God refers to the people of faith.

There are times when the OT called believers God’s children… or even “sons of the living God” (Hos 1:10)…

But that came later… using a different phrase… and with a different context.

I hope the ground work for this foundation of the Angel View makes sense and connects various verses of the Bible.

But again… for a deeper study… check out the Angelology Series from Dr. Wood.

Henry Morris in his book “The Genesis Record” also subscribes to this view and lays out a thorough defense.

And, so… continuing in our passage V3 “And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”

Some people get confused here and think God is saying man’s future lifespan will not exceed 120 years, but this can’t be the case… even Abraham lived to 175 years (according to Gen 25:7) and he was 11 generations after Noah.

Then there’s Isaac (180 years Gen 35:28), Jacob (147 years Gen 47:28).

So, maybe they just received divine favor as patriarchs?

Probably not… because Ishmael live 137 years, Genesis 25:17).

Well… maybe the lifespans just gradually faded.

Possibly… and lifespan beyond 120 years really doesn’t happen.

There was a woman named Jeanne Calment… who supposedly lived 122 years, 1875–1997), but this is debated.

Regardless, I think what God was actually saying is the clock is ticking… in 120 years the flood is coming.

Even the name Methuselah means “when he is dead it shall be sent”… and some link his life and death to the flood.

Imagine living at the same time as him.

Every time he sneezed or had a cough… it would be stir up world ending feelings.

People would treat him like Bubble Boy…

I do favor the view that God time stamped the flood to be 120 years after this V3 proclamation… and I find this to be a tremendous grace.

He give Noah… Mrs. Noah and the baby Noah’s a chance to build the Ark…

And, what is there were any other righteous people… they too had a chance to get in the Ark, but there was not.

Which is not surprising if there was a demonic takeover as just described.

God Spirit… His Holy Spirit would not strive with man… strive means “to judge”…

One translation reads “My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time...”

The Holy Spirit today “convict[s] the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…” (John 16:8)

But, like the time of Noah… a day is coming when He will be removed.

2 Thessalonians 2:7 “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.”

The Holy Spirit in dwells believers and works through us to hold back the corruption of the world. We are called to be be salt… which is a preservative against decay.

But a day is coming when the Holy Spirit will be taken out of the way… which is when the church leaves the earth during the Rapture.

And, then will be the coming of the lawless one… the Antichrist will be revealed and lawlessness will abound.

And, in Noah’s day… we read this result of the breeding of demons and mankind… V4 “There were giants 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. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.”

A verse like this has a rather mythological feel to it. Like we are reading out of Greek or Roman mythology.

And, there may be some ties here to mythology… specifically in the word “giants.”

In Hebrew Giants is translated as Nephilim… and we see this word linked to men of tall stature in Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, 2 Samuel.

The Greek translation of the OT… the Septuagint renders the word “giants” as gigantes…

And there were Giants in Roman mythology who were formed from the blood of the Roman God Uranus.

Titans in Greek mythology were the product of Greek gods and human woman.

Are there some glimmers here… some early influences… oral traditions passed down… that were adopted and twisted to form the myths?

I don’t know that it’s directly provable, but it’s plausible.

Now… What these giants were specifically, I do not know.

Powerful… no doubt. Evil and corrupt… for sure.

Bad enough for God to wipe them out with a flood… yes.

Were they 4500 feet tall (3000 ells), as described in the Book of Enoch? Probably not.

Were they the height of Goliath? "six cubits and a span" (about 9 feet 9 inches tall)? 1 Sam 17:4

I don’t know. That’s more plausible.

Or were they figuratively “giants of men”… mighty heroes of old… famous men as some bibles translate.

We have an expression “he or she is a giant in their industry.”

Whatever the case… what seems clear… and what is more important… is that the gene pool was being corrupted…

In Genesis 6:12 we read, “So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.”

I hold this is an assessment not only of the wicked morality of this time, but also the compromised genetics because of demonic infiltration into the human race.

V13 states, “the earth is filled with violence through them...”

And, things were so violent and corrupt that God had to bring the flood.

Satan’s work was so thorough in contaminating the human race… that God had to cleanse the world with a flood to preserve the human race.

And, the necessity of the flood argues for the Angel interpretation… because moral corruption alone falls short to explain the extreme action of the flood.

And V5 reveals God’s assessment of the world when the sons of God bred with the daughters of men forming giants.

V5 “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

This assessment here exceeds the depravity of typical mankind.

No doubt… unbelieving mankind can get to a place where they sear their conscience… where none is righteous… no not one. All mankind needs a Savior.

But is every thought and imagination consistently and totally evil?

We see unbelievers demonstrate acts of kindness… compassion… love… humanity.

There are good natured people on earth.

But, V5 testifies of an absolute that exceeds the fallen condition of mankind… and provide further support that mankind was compromised beyond what we see in the world.

God’s move to flood the earth was an extreme judgment. He’s never again completely eradicated the human race.

So, things had to be tremendously bad in the state of the world… and the only interpretation that really drives home the depth of how bad it was is the Angel view.

And are there any New Testament proof to drive home this position?

There are. Let’s quickly look at 3 verses and then close.

In 1 Peter 3:19–20 speaking of Christ and the three days between His death and resurrection… “… by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.”

Here we have a strong timestamp to the days of Noah… and a diving imprisonment of the spirits of that day.

Heb 1:14 titles angels as “ministering spirits”… so from there and the next cross references… a good conclusion can be made that demons are in view here.

So, it would seem Jesus “preached”… or “proclaimed”… not the gospel, but a victory proclamation to the demons who attempted to corrupt the human gene pool.

Essentially proclaiming to them… “Your wicked strategy failed.”

I do wonder if future demons were so shaken by this imprisonment… that they never dared attempt something like this again.

We see when Jesus goes to the country of the Gadarenes… the demons there beg Him not to “command them to go out into the abyss.”

Interesting thoughts.

In 2 Peter 2:4–5… instead of “spirits”… now we explicitly read “angels.” “For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;”

Strong support for the Angel view.

Lastly, Jude 6–7 “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”

And, in that final verse we see the angels are compared to what happened in Sodom with sexual immorality… again strong support that indeed Demons bred with human women.

Resulting in an abomination… and a Satanic attempt to corrupt the human gene pool.

I hope this study tonight was helpful in your understanding of one of the most enigmatic passages in the Bible.

I’m not sue what your application is… but perhaps it’s this… with good cross references… and word studies… we can come to a sound biblical interpretation…

And, in doing so we can stand confident that we put in the work… to rightly divide the word of truth… which is pleasing to God.

Amen? Let’s Pray!