Plainer Words Online
    By
Tom L. Ballinger

February 3, 2010

PLAINER WORDS ONLINE …THE SONS OF GOD IN GENESIS 6

The footnote in the Scofield Reference Bible, regarding the “sons of God” in Genesis 6, says, “Some hold that these ‘sons of God’ were ‘angels which kept not their first estate’ (Jude 6). It is asserted that the title in the Old Testament is used, exclusively, of angels. But, this is an error (Isa. 43:6). Angels are spoken of in a sexless way. No female angels are mentioned in Scripture, and we are, expressly, told that marriage is unknown among angels (Matt. 22:30). The uniform Hebrew and Christian interpretation has been that Genesis 6:2 marks the breaking down of the separation between the godly line of Seth and the godless line of Cain …” (Page 13).

This was quoted, only, to point out the opposite view which this study will present. We purpose to see what the Bible says about the “sons of God” in Genesis Chapter Six, rather than rely on the uniform Hebrew and Christian interpretation.

GENESIS CHAPTER SIX

“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart” (Gen. 6:1-6).

Please notice in the passages listed above that the “sons of God” are set in contrast with the “daughters of men.” Now, if the “sons of God” were, in reality, the sons of Seth as the uniform interpretation goes, then, there is no contrast. What contrast is there to say that the sons of Seth saw that the “daughters of men” were fair? There were, also, daughters of Seth. It doesn’t say that the sons of Cain saw that the daughters of Seth were fair. It says that the “sons of God” (i.e., a species, one kind of being) saw the “daughters of men” (i.e., another kind of being) were fair.  The “sons of God” did the unusual ─ they went after the “daughters of men.” It was not unusual for the sons of men to go after the “daughters of men.” That was the common. That was natural.

But, what was set forth in Genesis 6 was an unnatural phenomenon. It caused God to be grieved. In plainer words, whatever the “sons of God” were, they took the “daughters of men” to wife. We will run down these beings, the “sons of God,” in the Bible. We’ll allow the Bible to speak for Itself. We will identify the species and the sex of these creatures.

In the Book of Job, we get some insight into the “sons of God.”

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

When the LORD asked Satan where he had been, Satan answered that he had been “going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it” (Job 1:7). This indicates that the scene of Job 1 is not on the earth, but rather, in the heavens. Satan had been on the earth doing some reconnoitering. When the “sons of God” took their stations in the presence of God, Satan came along, also, with them.

We must not insist that the text says something that it does not say. The sons of Seth are not in view, at all, in Job 1, but rather, some angelic beings take their appointed stations in the presence of God. As yet, no sons of men have ever taken a position in the presence of God (1 Timothy 6:16).

We read, again, of the “sons of God” in Job 2:1:

“Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.”

It should be repeated that those who were designated as the “sons of God” were not the sons of Seth. The “sons of God” made up a large part of “the hosts” of heaven. In plainer words, they were angels. They were not the “sons of God” as we find in the New Testament (John 1:12; Rom. 8:14, 19; Phil. 2:15; and 1 John 3:1-2).

The Gap Theory

There was a time when we taught that these creatures were created a million years, or so, before Adam was created and placed in the Garden of Eden. We taught that they were supernatural beings of a pre-Adamic race.  However, an in-depth study of the “Six Days of Creation” convinced us this teaching was in error. We had made a serious error in our attempt to “rightly divide the Word” (2 Tim. 2:15). We divided Genesis 1:1 from Genesis 1:2. We allowed ourself to be led astray by the writings of prominent “Right Dividers” who insisted that there was a “gap” of  countless millennia of years between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. This is known as “The Gap Theory.” These men of prominence wrote, very convincingly, about the pre-Adamic race that perished as the result of God administering punishment in which He wiped out, by an “overthrow,” ALL of His original creation. This view is often referred to as the “ruin-reconstruction” interpretation. The following paragraph is from a Plainer Words Online study, entitled “The Gap Theory” which can be found on www.plainerwords.com.

“The ‘gap theory’ allows for a pre-Adamic race of some kind to have lived on earth before God destroyed it and, then, reconstructed it in the six days of Creation as recorded in Genesis 1:3-31. Bible teachers of this persuasion even put the fall of Satan in this gap.”

When the Word was allowed to speak for Itself, it was realized that our conclusions were wrong. Genesis 2:1 contradicted the idea that the “sons of God” were a pre-Adamic creation. This is what is revealed in Genesis 2:1. Adam and the angelic hosts of heaven were created on the Sixth Day of Creation.

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them” (Gen. 2:1).

The “sons of God” are, also, mentioned when The LORD was speaking to Job.

“Where wast thou [Job] when I [Yahweh] laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7).

The “sons of God,” mentioned in Job 38, were the angelic hosts who were created on the Sixth Day of Creation.

Two Classes of Angels

The Old Testament references to the “sons of God” revealed that there became two classes of these angelic hosts. They were created as innocent beings. But, there became two classes of angels. Some were good; some were bad. The bad angels were the ones who “left their first estate” and went after the “daughters of men.” The bad angels were the ones who fell—hence, the “FALLEN ANGELS.”

The Biblical references to the “sons of God,” in the context of the Old Testament, were always referred to as being masculine gender. They were “sons,” not daughters. A proper grasp of these Biblical facts provides us with a good foundation so that we can, more intelligently, determine what really took place in Genesis 6.

Since the Bible is self-interpreting, we will compare Scripture with Scripture. Notice that a “star” in the Bible is not, always, a circular light-bearing heavenly body. Sometimes, “stars” are angels.

“ …The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches” (Rev. 1:20).

“And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him [note the gender – him] was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit …” (Rev. 9:1-2).

Revelation 20:1-2 identifies the “star” which fell from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit, as an angel.

“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand” (Rev. 20:1).

Notice, it said, “in his hand.” It didn’t say, “in her hand.” It didn’t say, “in its hand.” The gender of the angel is masculine. Its gender is not feminine, or neuter—it is masculine.

The Lord Jesus Christ, as the Angel of the Lord, is, also, referred to as a Star.

“Jesus have sent Mine Angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and Morning Star” (Rev. 22:16).

The angels that appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18:1-2, 22 were called “three men.” They looked like men. They talked as men. They were called men. They were mistaken for men, BUT THEY WERE ANGELS. The two angels who visited Lot, as recorded in Genesis 19:1, 5, 10, and 15, were mistaken for men by the homosexuals in Sodom. The Sodomites said, “Where are the men [i..e., the angels] which came in to thee this night? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them” (Gen. 19:5). In plainer words, the Sodomites desired to have carnal knowledge with the angels they thought to be men.

A study in Judges 13 reveals that the angel who appeared to Manoah and his wife was referred to as “a man of God,” “the man,” and “the Angel of the LORD.” It should be noted  that even Manoah thought the Angel was a man. “Art thou the man that spakest  unto the woman?” Manoah asked. The Angel replied, “I am.” [The “I AM” is significant in identifying Who the Angel of the LORD was]. Check Verses 3, 6, 8-11, 13, and 19 in Judges 13.

Enough samples have been set forth to show that angels, in the Bible, are masculine gender. To say they are sexless is a misnomer. The uniform Hebrew and Christian interpretation that angels are sexless is the result of the failure to believe the clear statements of the Word of God. In order to imagine that angels are sexless, Matthew 22:30 is quoted where the Lord Jesus said, “For in the resurrection they (to wit, those who are raised from the dead) neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.” Read this carefully. It does not say that in the resurrection, the resurrected ones will be sexless, which is to say, neuter gender. It says they will be as the angels are in the presence of God. This is a real New Testament BLOCKBUSTER. If the angels do have a gender, and the Bible clearly indicates that they do, then, the reason angels in heaven do not marry, nor are given in marriage, is probably because that is not the custom among the hosts of heaven. (Notice, we say that it is “probably” not the custom in heaven; that is, to “marry and give in marriage”).

You might want to read an article written by Nathan Johnson—“Marriage in the Afterlife”—in which he discusses marriage among angels. (You might check this out:  http://precepts.wordpress.com).

Children of the resurrection are not sexless. There is no hint in the Bible that angels ever appeared in female form. No one has ever found one verse in over 31,000 which states that angels are sexless. They are always, without exception, expressed as being masculine gender. In Genesis 6, they are the “sons of God.” This is not to say that there are NOT angels of the feminine gender. We have no proof that they exist.

Angels, the “sons of God,” were able to observe the activities of men and, often, interacted with them. They “saw the daughters of men that they were fair.” Some of the angels looked upon the women and lusted after them. Many angels “kept not their first estate” (i.e., their fixed condition). See the first definition of “estate” in Webster’s 1828 which is, now, generally referred to as “state” (Jude 6). The “estate - is the fixed realm in which the angels were to stay.”  But, there were those who did not remain in the realm of the spirit—“they kept not their first estate.” Furthermore, “…they left their own habitation, …giving themselves over to fornication; and going after strange flesh”     (Jude 6-7). The angels who, thus, sinned had spirit-bodies (1 Cor. 15:44). Their bodies were different than those of human beings. The angels went after flesh that was strange (Hebrew: heteros i.e., different) to them—human female flesh. Spirit beings have flesh and bone bodies (Luke 24:39), but their flesh is different from human flesh. Thus, the angels went after flesh which was “hetero” to them—the flesh of the “daughters of men.” They gave themselves over to fornication. (From “hetero,” we get heterosexual).
 
Somehow, the angels had the ability to step into the realm of the material and physical, and cohabitate with women. As a result of this cohabitation, an offspring of “giants” was produced (Gen. 6:4). The progeny were “mighty men of old, men of renown.” These were super-human giants. Very probably, they were the “gods” of Greek and Roman mythology. They had superhuman strength, and their nature was corrupt to the point that the “imagination of the thoughts of his hearts was only evil continually … The earth also  was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence (Gen. 6:5, 11). This was “the Days of Noah.” This eruption of fallen angels was Satan’s attempt to prevent the coming of the Seed [Christ] of the woman [Eve] as predicted in Genesis 3:15.

The seed of the fallen angels began to be mingled with that of man. This was Satan’s attempt to frustrate God’s Word regarding the coming Seed of the woman. If Satan could get the human race thoroughly contaminated, then, God’s Word could not be fulfilled regarding Satan’s doom.

By the time Noah showed up and began preaching, we learn that he was the only one left on earth with a pure pedigree; “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, [i.e., his pedigree was without blemish]” (Gen. 6:9). Additionally, we are informed that:

“And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth” (Gen. 6:12).

All human flesh had been corrupted with the intermingling of seed of the fallen angels, (“sons of God”) with that of the “daughters of men.” Every household of man was corrupted except the household of Noah. Because of this corruption, the LORD repented that He made man, and it grieved Him in His Heart (Gen. 6:6). Therefore, He told Noah to build an ark for the saving of his house. This, Noah did. And the day Noah and his family entered the ark, the FLOOD came. “All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died” (Gen.7:22). Noah and his family were preserved. Thus, the coming Seed of the woman was protected.

The student should, also, note that there were “giants in the earth in those days; and also after that…” (Gen. 6:4). That is to say, the giants in the Days of Noah were the progeny produced when the “daughters of men” were taken by the “sons of God.” The fallen angels took to themselves as wives “of all which they chose” (Gen. 6:2). But, after God rendered judgment and destroyed them all in the FLOOD, there was another eruption of fallen angels.

“And Also After That”

Genesis 12:6 informed us about Abraham departing from Ur: “And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was THEN IN THE LAND.”

It was quite evident that between Abram’s call and his arrival in the Land, Satan knew the line of human descent by which “the Seed of the woman” (Gen. 3:15) would come into the world. In Genesis 6, Satan attempted to corrupt the whole human race. But, after Abram’s call, he zeroed-in on the Land in which Abram was to migrate. The Canaanite was corrupted with the fallen angels, as the whole human race had been in the days of Noah. Genesis 13:7 mentioned, again, that the Canaanite was in the Land in which Abram and his family were to dwell. The progeny of the angels and human females would, later, be ordered to be destroyed when Israel entered the Land.  Thus, the “and also after that” referred to the days of Abraham and Lot. So, about 500 years after “the FLOOD” in which God had destroyed “all flesh,” there was a second eruption directed to the Land that Abraham and his descendants had occupied.

According to the “Companion Bible,” the “giants” of Genesis 6 were called “Nephilim, which means ‘fallen ones.’”

These “hybrids,” half-human and half-angelic, were to be utterly destroyed when Israel took possession of the Promised Land (Deut. 20:17, Josh. 3:10). Israel failed to do this (see Josh. 13:13, 15:63, 16:10, 17:18, and Jud. 1:19-20, 28-36, 3:1-7). Perhaps, many got away. Goliath was one of their descendants. Very likely, so was Saul, Israel’s first King. Surely, remnants of the “Nephilim” were seen by the twelve spies who were sent by Moses to reconnoiter the Land.  The inhabitants of the Land were so large that the spies told Moses, “we are but grasshoppers” in comparison to the giants (Num. 13:33).

The “sons of God” were mighty men of old, men of renown. They probably accounted for the giant’s cities of Bashan;  “…only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants” (Deut. 3:11). The Nephilim probably accounted for the perplexing problems of the construction of the pyramids of Egypt, as well as the mammoth constructions of the monoliths of ancient civilizations, such as found on Easter Island. Also, we can mention the pyramids on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, as well as, other Mayan pyramids of Mesoamerica. These were the “gods” mentioned in 1 Corinthians 8:5.

They were connected with the days of Noah, Lot, and Sodom. Read 2 Peter 2:4-7. It begins with, “For God spared not the angels that sinned” and ends with the statement that God “delivered just Lot” from the judgment of fire and brimstone in Sodom.

“Fallen angels” will show up, again, during the Day of Jesus Christ, to wit, the Pre-Millennial Kingdom of God. This was made known to Daniel, as we see in Daniel 2:43:

“And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.”

This is, generally, explained away by saying that “they” are just other people who mingle their seed with the seed of other men. They use the same argument as the “noted theologians” who used the argument that the “sons of Seth” went after the “daughters of men.” The “uniform Hebrew and Christian interpretation” of Daniel 2:43 are absurd, just like it was regarding Genesis 6:1-2.

The Lord Jesus gave an explanation of this future event in one of His Parables of the Kingdom of Heaven/God—The Parables of the Tares (cf. Matthew 13:24-30, and 36-43). In this parable, more “fallen angels” mingle their seed with that of womanhood. Their progeny are the false seed—that is to say—TARES. They grow along with the “good seed”—the children of the Kingdom.

“The field is the world; the good seed are the Children of the Kingdom; but the Tares are the children of the wicked one [the hybrids]; The enemy that sowed them is the Devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels [of God]” (Matt. 13:38-39).

The “tares” are not “harvested” until the “sunteleia” which is the “consummation of the Kingdom eon.” They will be bundled up and burned, as it were, with the Parousia of the Lord Jesus Christ.

To sum up, the “sons of God” in Genesis 6 were angels. They had the ability to materialize in human form, stepping through the veil of the spiritual world and into the realm of the physical. Many angels chose to do this, thus, leaving their first estate. They gave in to the irresistible urge of theirs to take the “daughters of men” for their own pleasure. God had warned them of dire consequences that would befall them if they became sexually involved with the “beautiful earth women.”

Here are some expressions which other translations used in describing the angels’ act of the taking of the women ─ married whomever they chose, they took any they desired, they took wives for themselves, they took them wives of all that they chose (indicating more than one), they took to wife such of them as they chose, and finally, and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.

“The Living Bible” gives an interesting rendition of Genesis 6:1. We quote this version, knowing that it is really an interpretation and not a literal translation. But, we’ve gleaned some thoughts from it.

“Now a population explosion took place upon the earth. It was at this time that beings from the spirit world looked upon the beautiful earth women and took any they desired to be their wives.”

This taking was not consensual. Did the “sons of men” offer any opposition to the abductions? Or, did the “sons of men” say the same thing the twelve Hebrew spies said when they viewed the giants in the Land?  “ …and we[the spies] were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their [the Nephilim] sight” (Num. 13:13). Thereby, acquiescing?

Nevertheless, this explosion of Nephilim in the earth resulted in world-wide violence. The Nephilim’s passion was unrestrained because they had nothing to lose. Before the angels left their allotted realm, Yahweh warned them that if they did so, they would have “to die like men” (Psalm 82:7). This Psalm has primary reference to the angels, not to the judges of Israel; for the judges of Israel would die like men since they were men. But, the gods, that is to say, the “children of the Most High,” who chose to leave their own habitation in pursuit of earth’s women, were told, “ye shall die like men.” This, they did. They and their offspring will have no resurrection. Isaiah, the prophet, spoke about them saying, “They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish” (Isa. 26:14).

The eruption of angels has occurred twice in time past: in Noah’s Day, and “also after that,” while Israel was down in Egypt awaiting the iniquity of the Amorites to become full (Gen.15:16). It will happen again—during the time in which God’s Government is ruling and reigning over the world.

The Bible is the most radical book in print. It is not as hard to understand as it is to believe.

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