The Sons of God (Genesis 6:1-4)

1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

A Debated Passage

Before diving into this portion of Genesis, it is worth mentioning that it has been debated for a few thousand years now. Scholars have long considered it one of the most difficult to interpret. And, though I am no scholar, I agree.

The sticking point of the passage centers around the identity of the sons of God and the daughters of men (2). The text implies that their sexual union produced Nephilim, or giants, who were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown (4).

Various lines of interpretation have been presented over the centuries. The early church fathers interpreted the sons of God to be angels who came to earth and impregnated women. This view is problematic because it seems to borrow from pagan mythology, but also because it seems to contradict Jesus' teaching about angels (Matthew 22:30). He said they aren't given in marriage, the implication being that God did not give them the ability to procreate.

Jewish rabbis taught that the sons of God were human judges; in their roles of power, they sat in the seat of the sovereign God. But the problem with this view is the implication that something unnatural came from the sexual union described in the passage. Why would an important government official have offspring like the Nephilim?

Eventually, a line of interpretation developed that said the sons of God were the righteous line of Seth, while the daughters of man were the unrighteous line of Cain. Again, the problem has to do with the offspring: why would a descendant of Cain and Seth have such strange offspring?

And in our modern era, some critics of Scripture have said this is the mere adoption of mythology. Lesser gods come down to earth and impregnate women, giving rise to the heroes of old, additional lesser gods to be followed and revered.

The Point in Context

So what are we to make of such a passage? Should we build elaborate theories on the identity of the Nephilim? Should we take a hard stand on the identity of the sons of God? Does this even matter?

For these questions, the context provides us with relief. Remember, we are still in the book of the generations of Adam (Genesis 5:1). And what do we find all throughout this book? Death. Death spread from Adam to all men (Romans 5:12). This is what has come before this section: death.

But what comes after? The flood. More death. Why? Because, as we will see in a moment, the wickedness of man was great on the earth (Genesis 6:5).

So what does the context show us? That everyone died, everyone was impacted by sin and everyone gave into sin.

With that said, it seems logical to view the sons of God as something more than mere men, but also something less than angels. Ezekiel and Daniel both show us how demonic princes are behind many of the great kings and rulers of the earth (Ezekiel 28:11-19, Daniel 10:13). So perhaps this passage gives us a glimpse into nobles who succumbed to the demonic world, fallen angels who looked for bodies to inhabit. This might be the sin of specific angels Jude points out in his epistle, angels who left their proper dwelling (Jude 6).

And maybe the people of that era did think the Nephilim came from these unholy unions.

But the point is this: no one escaped sin and its terrible effects. Everyone was corrupted by sin. Everyone did evil. Everyone would succumb to the flood.

And for the original readers of Genesis (Israelites who had come out of Egypt), this was an all-important message. They'd been told the Pharaohs were god-men on earth. But this passage would show Israel that no one is above the judgment of God. No one lasts forever. Sin has destroyed us all. We all die.

God's Determination

As a response to all this sin, God said, "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years" (3). Some have thought this was God's way of limiting the life spans of humans. This, in a way, makes sense. Long life spans did not lead to greater righteousness, but the proliferation of evil. Perhaps shorter life spans would curtail wickedness a little.

This might be the correct interpretation. But we seem to be living proof this isn't always the case. We don't need long life spans to do great evil.

It seems God was giving an indication of when his judgment would come. He'd extended mercy for a long time already, and would wait another 120 years before he brought discipline upon the earth. But there had to be a limit to humanity's debauchery. And what would happen 120 years later? The flood.

They Saw and Took

But before moving on, we should note how their sin occurred. Though there is a mystery surrounding the identity of the sons of God, one thing is clear: they sinned when they saw that the daughters of man were attractive, and took as their wives any they chose (2).

Their sin is meant to be an echo of Adam and Eve's original sin:

"So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate." (Genesis 3:6)

Eve saw and took. These sons of God also saw and took. Without any restrictions, they gave themselves to their desires. This is seen here as a downward spiral of depravity. In other words, humanity only gets worse when we give in to our base desires.

And the text goes on to show us just how far their brokenness ran.

The Corruption of Humankind (6:5-8)

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

The Lord Repented

Now, unfortunately, many people have had a difficult time seeing the empathy and pain God experienced as a result of man's sin. He saw the wickedness (5). He knew everyone's thoughts, that they were only evil continually (5). He felt regret and was sorry (6, 7). Through all this, Moses wants us to see God's attitude regarding sin. It pains him. It breaks his heart.

We often focus on the specific words rather than the overall mood of the text. We wonder how an all-knowing and sinless God could have regret or feel sorry for his actions. Did God not know what would occur? Was God repentant like you or I would repent?

But all we see here is a human description of God's indescribable activity. Of course, God knew. Of course, God is perfect. He has no sin to confess. All the blame was firmly fixed onto mankind's shoulders.

None of this means God is unfeeling, however. He is. And Moses sought to express the attitude and heart of God.

Let this settle into your own heart. Though God gives grace, though God is merciful, he is greatly pained by sin. It breaks his heart. He is our good Father. Let's walk with Him and seek to live a life of righteousness.

A Time for Judgment

When God saw all that wickedness, after years of extending mercy and grace, especially in the form of long life spans, God had to act. One scholar interprets this as God balancing the scales. His mercy and grace ledger had been depleted, which is why he is sorry, and now his righteous justice and judgment must be exercised (John H. Walton, NIV Application Commentary).

So God said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land..." (7).

Grace During Judgment

We'll talk about this in our next Genesis study, but here we learn that in the midst of God's decision to judge, Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord (8). Before he built an ark for God. Before he became a preacher of righteousness. Before he did anything for God, he found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Though all of mankind would fall under God's judgment, Noah would receive God's grace.

We will think more about Noah in our next study together, but let's close by thinking of the ancient Israelites' understanding of this passage. They were heading into a land filled with giants. They had come from a land filled with false gods, the preeminent one being a man who claimed to be divine. And in this passage, they learned that none could stand in the presence of the righteous God and his judgment. All false gods would be judged. All men would be judged. No giant would stand. But only one elect, chosen, favored, graced man of God would go forward. Noah.

And they were likely meant to see themselves as the new Noah. The giants and false gods would not stand. They would win victories, not by their own merit, but by the favor and grace God gave them. They were elected and loved.

And we should sense the same thing. In Christ, we are chosen, adopted, loved, and elected by him. He has graced us. It is our new position. Let's run victoriously in the favor he has decided to impart to us.