Morning Light: Genesis 6 – Who are the Sons of God in Genesis?

Today: Genesis 6: Who are the Sons of God in Genesis? In Gen. 6, we find supernatural beings identified as “the sons of God” copulating with the daughters of men to bring forth a remarkable race of giants. Are they fallen angels or some form of being not clearly explained in scripture? Obviously, they are part of the work of Satan, and once it is found out, we will see that the stakes for humanity in these events could not have been higher. For this reason, God raises up Noah with a drastic solution designed to preserve the purity of the human genome from genetic contamination by demonic principalities.
[Gen 6:1-22 KJV] 1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they [were] fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3 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. 4 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. 5 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. 6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9 These [are] the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man [and] perfect in his generations, [and] Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
We see at the beginning of our chapter that mankind begins to proliferate and spread over the face of the earth. As a result, there are creatures referred to as “son of God” who took the daughters of human families to themselves and from that union came men of renown, giants, and men of great military and intellectual prowess. Who or what are these beings?
Who were the sons of God in Genesis 6? The word used to describe them is “Elohim,” which can refer to God himself, certain “divine ones,” angels or literally “god-like” ones. One school of thought then sees the sons of God as fallen angels. Another viewpoint is that these sons of God were the line of Cain who intermingled with the sons of Seth and corrupted the line of the righteous from which Abraham and eventually, Jesus was born. In the first book of Enoch, the sons of God are described as fallen angels. In the Old Testament, the sons of God are angels (whether fallen or unfallen). In the New Testament, the sons of God are born-again men and women. Orthodox Judaism believes that the sons of God were the noble-born who intermingled with the common people. This view was popularized in the Middle-ages and during centuries of monarchial rule in the early Western-European world. The underlying thought is that noble-born people are more closely connected with deity by birth than ordinary people.
Genesis 6 is not the only reference in scripture where these “sons of God” are mentioned. They are also found in the book of Job and elsewhere:
[Job 1:6 KJV] 6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
[Job 38:7 KJV] 7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.
[Jhn 1:12 KJV] 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:
[Rom 8:14, 19 KJV] 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (v. 19) For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
[Phl 2:15 KJV] 15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
[1Jo 3:1-2 KJV] 1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
We can see from these references that the idea of “sons of God” was not introduced neither was a new concept at the time that Jesus and the apostle used the term to describe the status that you and I as new creations in Christ aspire to. These sons of God in Genesis and in Job chapter one, however, are men of evil born of demonic origination.
In verse 4, we find mention of “giants,” which is the Hebrew word “Nephilim.” These “Nephilim” were brought out of the union of these “god-like” ones and the daughters of men. They are inherently evil by birth. The word Nephilim itself comes from the root “naphal,” meaning “fallen ones,” or “one who falls upon.” They are a genetic mutation of demonic and human origination. This is important to note because demons (or angels for that matter) cannot be saved, redeemed, or become born again. Even angels serving God desire to look into but cannot fathom the plan of salvation as something they could take advantage of. Therefore if a fallen creature could pollute the human genome with his DNA the people that DNA would spread to over many generations would be genetically predisposed to be incapble of receiving the gift of redemption or of ever being born again. Satan is seen then in this strategy making a gambit to render all of humanity beyond the reach of God’s mercy and for that reason God determines in our chapter to destroy the genetically corrupted generations of man and to preserve the one man that v. 9 tells us is perfect (or not polluted with Nephalim DNA) in his generations.
Genesis 6:9, then says that Noah was “perfect in his generations.” The Hebrew word is “tamiym” and comes from the root word “taman.” This means “without blemish” as is indicated in Exodus 12:5, 29:1, Leviticus 1:3. Just as the sacrificial lamb had to be without any physical blemish, so Noah’s perfection had to by physically and spiritually pure. In its primary meaning, it refers not to any moral or spiritual quality, but to physical, genetic purity. Noah was uncontaminated by the alien DNA of the Nephalim. This implies, of course, that all the other families on Earth had been contaminated by the Nephilim.
If Satan had succeeded in corrupting the human race, he would have hindered the coming of the perfect Son of God; the promised “seed of the woman,” who would defeat Satan and restore man’s dominion (Genesis 3:15). If Satan had by any means prevented that birth, he would have averted his own doom. Satan did succeed to a large extent. It was for this reason that God drowned mankind in the Deluge.
If these creatures are angels, how do we reconcile the idea that angels are sexless as Jesus seems to indicate in the gospel of Matthew? In Matthew 22:30, Jesus said angels neither marry nor are given in marriage. This seems a clear and emphatic negative compared to these creatures marrying human wives in Gen. 6. We aren’t given an explanation, but we can speculate. Some interpret the words of Jesus as meaning that angels do not marry among themselves. Is it because they are all male? Or is it because celestial beings are deathless and thus need no offspring. Only terrestrial beings need to find conitinuation in their children. If angels or “sons of God” do not need to marry or procreate, is it still possible that they could engage in sexual acts? If not among themselves then with human spouses? Jude seems quite explicit on the matter: the angels left their own habitation, and gave themselves over to fornication, going after strange flesh. In other words, they were capable of performing human functions–eating, drinking, walking, talking, even sexual activity, and fathering children.
One other question has been raised. If the fallen angels who lusted after women of Earth in Genesis 6 have been interred in Tartarus in “everlasting chains,” how does one explain the supposed angels that freely commiserated with the pre-flood women? There is no plain explanation of this in scripture.
How do we answer the matter of sexuality in these events? The suggestion by other verses is that angels are asexual and cannot copulate with the opposite gender. This isn’t clearly what Jesus implied in Matthew 22. So it isn’t that they are incapable of sexual relations, but they do not marry or are given in marriage. These demonic creatures were apparently keenly involved in the birth rate among men and woman. Isn’t that interesting that marriage is in such decline today, and the birth rate due to no desire to have children coupled with abortion is so low? Satan only wants his progeny on the earth and purposes to destroy future generations no matter what.
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. 15 And this [is the fashion] which thou shalt make it [of]: The length of the ark [shall be] three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. 16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; [with] lower, second, and third [stories] shalt thou make it. 17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein [is] the breath of life, from under heaven; [and] every thing that [is] in the earth shall die. 18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every [sort] shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep [them] alive with thee; they shall be male and female. 20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every [sort] shall come unto thee, to keep [them] alive. 21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather [it] to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them. 22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
Because of the corruption of the human genome, God determines to destroy man. The word used here in v. seven means to “rub out” as though to remove evidence that mankind ever existed. God’s ultimate plan is to obliterate the curse and the marks of the fall upon the annals of cosmic history. This is His plan on the macro scale and so also on the micro-scale in our individual life. He doesn’t do anything by half measures. Even though this is God’s purpose, thankfully in verse 8, we see that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah’s name means rest. When you approach God from a position of rest and enter into the rest of trusting in His faithfulness, you provoke a release of His mercy. Noah personifies the means by which God delivers and shows His mercy – through returning and rest.
Verse 9 tells us that Noah was perfect in his generations. The word here is revolutions. Notice it is plural, a direct reference to his bloodline. The Septuagint Old Testament uses the same Greek word to translate this that originates the word genetics. We then find mention of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. In verse 10, there are suggestions that Shem, Ham, and Japheth were triplets. Genesis 11:27 also gives an indication that Abram, Nahor, and Haran the sons of Terah were triplets.
In verse 11, God frowns upon the earth that is now filled with violence and corruption. The word violence here implies not just physical violence but a propensity to extreme subjectivism. What is subjectivism? It is the academic and social doctrine that knowledge is merely subjective and that there is no external or objective truth. The violence being done was not only through war but through intellectual rejection of the sovereignty of God or even the existence of God. In verse 12, the word corrupted means to be marred, spoiled, and ruined. The implication is that there was a normative template God was working from. He had to have a comparative basis on which to make this determination of loss. So it begs the question of what is normal? Jesus is the only genuinely normal human being. He lived out his 33 years on the earth, demonstrating what normal looks like in an un-fallen state. Anything less than that standard is sub-normal.
God purposes to cleanse the earth and at the same time, sparing Noah and his family. Noah is instructed to build an ark of Gopher wood (v. 14). Gopher wood is thought by some to be a now extinct tree of some sort. If you do an extensive word study, you will find it probably is best defined as simply as wood daubed with pitch. In verse 15, specific dimensions are given as Noah commences the project. We see this and remember that Jesus declared as it was in Noah’s day so in our own. If God directed the construction of an ark of salvation in Noah’s day so there is an ark of salvation available to us. We then can study the ark and learn something about God’s purposes in our generation. The dimensions of this vessel were 30, 50, and 300. This is not an accident. These numbers are all very significant in the Bible. God’s Bible is a book of numerical perfection. Psalm 90:19 says, “So teach us to NUMBER our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
Now, why did God specify these particular numbers? 300 Cubits Long: The number 300 in the Bible speaks of complete deliverance, of victory in conflict. Gideon defeated the Midianites with 300 men. Solomon crafted 300 shields of beaten gold for the temple. In Mark 14:3-6 a woman anointed Jesus with spikenard in alabaster valued at 300 pence. Lastly, the three gates or veils in the tabernacle of Moses were 100 cubits square each which when combined are three hundred cubits. The courts were outer, inner, and the Holiest. This foreshadows God’s linear purpose through time and also His full salvation of SPIRIT, SOUL, and BODY.
The ark was 30 cubits high. This speaks of FULL STATURE in CHRIST (Eph. 4:11-14). Jesus began His ministry at age 30. Solomon’s temple was also 30 cubits high. Joseph was 30 when he stood before Pharaoh (Gen. 41:46). David was 30 when he began to reign (2 Sam. 5:4).
50 Cubits wide: 50 is the number of Pentecost. The ark was to be 50 cubits wide. In Exodus 36:12 the curtains of the tabernacle were held together by 50 loops and 50 taches of gold. The Baptism of the Holy Ghost is a great uniter and at the same time, a great divider as well.
In verse 16, we see that the ark held a window and a door. The window speaks of revelation, but the door speaks of access. God never shows you something He doesn’t give you access to. In verse 17, we see the deluge of water beginning. Water represents the word. The word brings accountability. The famine of our day is not a famine of the word but a famine of hearing the word. We need to be conservative about making people accountable because they word that would save them will precipitate their destruction if they disdain it. God’s purpose is to destroy sinful flesh still today. Flesh is the sin principle. Flesh is the principle of independence from God. Flesh is that part of us where self-referral obscures God-consciousness.
Take note that in the plan of salvation, there is a part for us to play and a responsibility to accept. God offered Noah a plan of salvation, but it was Noah’s job to build the ark. God caused all the animals to come to the ark but it was Noah’s job to keep them alive. God offered salvation to Noah’s family but it was Noah’s responsibility to bring them in to the boat. It was Noah’s job likewise to gather the food for all the animals that God’s favor brought to him. If you want authority with God, you must accept responsibility for everything and everyone that authority involves. Finally, we see in addition to being perfect in his generations, Noah was also described as a just and righteous man. He was a man that did what God told him to do. He was, in fact, a man that did ALL that God told him to do. Jewish historians make note of this describing a flawed man yes but a man who once he heard the voice of God did exactly and completely what God instructed him to do.