Genesis 6:1-7

 

Review of the genealogy of Adam to Noah:

  • Adam means “man
  • Seth means “appointed
  • Enosh means “mortal, frail, miserable” from root anash “to be incurable”
  • Kenan means “sorrow, dirge
  • Mahalalel means “blessed God” from “mahalal” for “blessed” and “el” for “God”
  • Jared means “shall come down
  • Enoch means “commencement, teaching
  • Methusaleh means “his death shall bring” from “muth” for “death”; “shalach” for “bring or send forth”
  • Lamech means “despairing” (similar our word lament or lamentation)
  • Noah means “comfort or rest

In order the first ten generations of first born sons makes the following statement of a promise and the gospel message:

 

“Man is appointed mortal sorrow; but the blessed God shall come
down teaching
that his death shall bring the despairing rest.”

 

6:1
When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them,

 

This age of man is described as a time of increase in population. 
Estimates of the population at this time are huge. 
Estimates range from 5 to 17 billion people  

 


6:2
the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.

Three Views of the Identity of the “Sons of God”

 

View One

View Two

View Three

“Sons of God”

Fallen Angels

Seth’s Chosen Line

Kings and Pharoahs or their Sons (Princes) 

“Daughters of Men”

Daughters of Men

The Lind of Cain

Daughters of Common Men

The Sin of these Marriages

Fallen Angels married Women

Godly people married Ungodly people

Harems and Polygamy

 

 “Sons of God” is the Hebrew “Bene ha elohim”.  “Ben” means “son of” and “elohim” is the Hebrew word for God.

 

Sons of God in scripture refer to beings that come directly from the hand of God such as:

  1. Adam
  2. Jesus
  3. Born again believers
  4. Angels

“Sons of God” refer to angels in Job 1:6; Job 2:1; Job 38:7; Psalm 29:1; 82:6; 89:7; Daniel 3:25.

 

In Luke 20:34-36 men are compared to angels, but the angelic comparison is used to point out that men will not die after the resurrection.  Mankind will not be married after the resurrection but that was not the reason that Luke records Jesus saying we will be like the angels. 

 

Apparently angels do not have baby angels since angels were created directly from God.  But, this does not mean that Genesis 6:2-5 can’t mean what it clearly is saying.

Genesis 18:2 angels appear as men and eat.

Genesis 19:1 angels are thought to be men by the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Hebrews 1:7 angels are transformed into wind or fire.

Ezekiel 28:13 describes the creation of Lucifer’s angelic body

Luke 1:35 the Holy Spirit overshadows a woman and she conceives

 

6:3
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."

 

“mortal” is the word “flesh”.  God’s problem with man was man’s state of being sinful flesh first.  The actions of man were secondary.

“a hundred and twenty years” indicates the length of time before God destroys mortal man with the flood.

 

a.      In the days of Noah the Spirit of God was trying to draw all men back to him.  The Spirit did this in a variety of ways that we know:

                                                              i.      The preaching of  Noah (1 Peter 3:19, 20)

                                                            ii.      The inward checks and the law written on their hearts (Rm. 2:15)

b.      Point One:  The Spirit strives with sinners to turn them to God

c.      Point Two:  The Spirit will eventually stop calling each individual and group back to himself.  There is a ending point to the Spirit’s work of urging men to repent.

                                                              i.      “The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. . .Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone!”                Hosea 4:16,17

d.      Point Three:  Man is mortal (also translated, “flesh”) and is naturally opposed to the immortal Holy Spirit.  It is simply natural and must be accepted that many men will resist the Spirit’s work.  Grace is not an eternal option.  In every case the day of opportunity passes.

e.      contend” (NIV)  also means “strive” with, “rules” in or is “humbled” in. In his 1870 book “Old Testament Word Studies,” Wilson gives the meaning of this Hebrew word as “to judge, contend, to be at strife.  Most of the ancient versions give it the sense of remaining or dwelling. . . .Gen. 6:3 may be translated, ‘My spirit shall not always be despised by man, i.e. I will not suffer my spirit, admonishing them and pleading with them by the prophets, to be perpetually neglected, I will punish them." More modern studies of etymology show the meaning of “contend” to be better translated as “continue” or “last”.  The Septuagint and the Vulgate confirm this.  This makes more sense of the context and fits the whole theology of the Holy Spirit than the word “strive.”

 

 

6:4
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.

 

Nephilim- (Hebrew: “nepilim”) “

  • The term itself almost certainly means ‘fallen ones,’ whether morally fallen in the general sense or fallen from (i.e., cast out of) heaven in a more specific sense.
  • The word is used twice in scripture: Gen. 6:4 and Numbers 13:33
  • It has been plausibly proposed that the Nephilim were princes born into the royal houses of the ‘sons of God’ (Gen. 6:4) and that they were ‘the mighty tyrants who . . .esteemed their might to be their right.’
  • Certain Jewish exegetes have ingeniously assumed that the later Nephilim strain of Num 13:33 was preserved through the Flood in the persons of Noah’s daughters-in-law. 
  • The literature of the intertestamental period, however, takes a different track.  According to Sir 16:7 the ‘ancient giants’ were rebellious and deserved divine punishment.  Wisd. 14:6 and Bar.3:26-28 are even more specific:   The giants were destroyed by the Flood.  If so, the later Nephilim were namesakes, not descendants, of their earlier counterparts.” (New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis, 1997)
  • Virtually every ancient culture has an account of gods or star people or angels who produce offspring on the earth: Sumer, Assyria, Egypt, Incas, Mayans, Babylon, Persians, Greece, India, Bolivia, South Sea Islands, Sioux Indians.

 

 

Sons of God– In Job 1:6 and 2:1 the same Hebrew phrase “sons of God” is translated “angels.”

 

Heroes- (Hebrew: “gibbor” or “gibborim”) and is translated as “mighty men” in 2 Sam. 23:8; JOB 16:14; 2 Samuel 10:7. The LXX (Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures around 250 BC) translates “gibbor” with the Greek word “gigas” or “gigantes” (“giant”) in:

Gen.10:8-9,1 Chr. 1:10, Ps. 19:5,6, Ps. 33:16, Isa. 3:2, Isa. 13:3, Isa. 49:24-25,   Ezek. 32:12; 32:21, 27; 39:18, 20

 

 

Nephilim is used in the Hebrew in Numbers 13:32,33:

“All the people we saw there are of great size.  We saw the Nephilim

there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim).”

 

This was a true report (but, faithless) since Deuteronomy 2:10-12 records:

“The Emites used to live there (Moab) - a people strong and numerous,

and as tall as the Anakites.  Like the Anakites, they too were considered

Rephaites, but the Moabites called them Emites.  Horites used to live in Seir,

but he descendants of Esau drove them out.

 

Rephaites was the general name for people like the Anakites, Emites, Horites.  In Deuteronomy 2:20 they are called Zamzummites by the Ammonites:

“That too (region of Moab at Ar) was considered a land of the Rephaites,

who used to live there; but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites. 

They were a people as numerous, and as tall as the Anakites.”

 

The Greeks who settle in Philistia (coming from Caphtorites) and became known as the Philistines destroyed a group known as the Avvites in Deuteronomy 2:23.

 

Goliath and Og were the two best-known Rephaites.  Also named in scripture are Ishbi-Benob and Lahmi

 

Two Options

  1. Sons of God are the Nephilim (Anak, Rapha, etc.) > Descendents of Anak and Rapha would be the Anakites and the Rephaites, etc.
  2. Sons of God produced the Nephilim who were beings like Rapha and Anak who then produced the Anakites, Rephaites, etc.

 

 

The Descendents of the Nephilim

Og, King of Bashan

Rephaites

Deut. 3:11, 13; Jos. 12:4; 13:12

Anak comes from the Nephilim

Anakites

Num.13:33

Moab called them

Emites

Dt. 2:10-12

Ammonites called them

Zazummites

Dt. 2:20

Edom

Horites

Dt. 2:12

Philistines drove out the

Avvites

Dt. 2:23

Descendants of Rapha

Raphaites

2 Sam. 21:16, 18, 20, 1 Chr. 20:4-8


Joshua 11:21-22 – Joshua drove the Anakites out of Judah and Hebron into Philistia.  The descendents of the Nephilim resided only in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod.

 

1 Samuel 17:4 – Goliath was one of the descendents of the Nephilim living in Gath.

1 Samuel 17:40 – David picks up 5 smooth stones.

2 Samuel 21:15-20 – Four more of the descendents of the Nephilim from Philistia are killed by David’s mighty men.

 

Skeletons 3.2 meters tall have been excavated in Palestine (Wiseman, 23; cf. 244, n. 58 from Dictionary of OT Theology and Exegesis)

 

 

 

 
A dry river bed in the Valley of Elah where David faced Goliath.  Galyn picks up five stones from the same creek bed that David picked up five smooth stones before he faced Goliath.

 

 

6:5
The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.

 

6:7
So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

 

Demons

Demons – seek bodies Lke 8:26 and Mark 1:24

 

2 Peter 2:4 - Tartarus – is the abyss or one of the “bottomless” pits in the Abyss.  The word is used in Greek mythology where hero’s and gods were thrown.  For example, the Titans were punished here.  Hellenistic Judaism took the word and used in the book of Enoch as the place for fallen angels (1 Enoch 20:2).  The angel Uriel rules Tartarus.  It took 9 days for a rock to fall into it from the earth. 

 

In Revelation 9:1-11 at the sounding of the fifth trumpet, the key to the Abyss was given to a fallen angel who opened it and released locust like creatures, probably demons.  They torment the earth for five months.  The king over them is the angel of the Abyss whose name is Abaddon (Hebrew) or Apollyon (Greek). The name means “Destroyer.”

 

Jude 6, 7

Compare what Enoch says with Jude 6:

12:4 – The angels have abandoned the high heaven, the holy eternal place= Jude 6a

10:4 – Bind Azazel hand and foot and throw him into the darkness = Jude 6b

10:6 – that he may be sent into the fire on the great day of judgment = Jude 6c

 

Verses 7 of Jude says:

“as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them HAVING IN LIKE             MANNER WITH THEM (toutois or toutoiV)given themselves over to fornication                 and indulged in unnatural flesh.

The word “THEM” (toutois or toutoiV)is masculine and can not refer to “them” “cities” because “cities” is feminine.  “THEM” refers back to “angels” in verse 6 making the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah sexual.  Jude is in agreement with the Jewish Rabbis who held to the common view that the beings in Genesis 6 were angels.

 

1 Peter 3:19 – spirits in prison

Map of underworld

Seed of the Woman verse the Seed of the Serpent

Genesis 3:15:

 “I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers.”

Satan’s continual attack on the seed of the woman:

  1. Cain and Abel
  2. Nephilim
  3. Abraham
  4. Hebrews in Egypt
  5. David’s line such as when Athaliah killed all the royal grandchildren but one, Joash, escaped to spare the line of David (2 Chron. 23:10-20
  6. Jews in Persia
  7. Greece with Seleucids and Antiochus Epiphanies
  8. Herod and Bethlehem boys
  9. Anti-Semitism
  10. Revelation 12 with the vision of the woman and the dragon

 

The Great Delusion of the End Times

2 Thessalonians 2:3,

Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.  He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called  God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be  God.”

 

2:9,

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, . . For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”

 

Revelation 13 records worship of the beast, a fatal wound that is healed, miraculous signs including fire coming down out of heaven, an “image” that was given life and could speak and the killing of anyone who opposed this “god”.

 

First Enoch Chapter 6 and 7

This is the text of the First Book of Enoch chapters 6 and 7:

Chapter 8
1 And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto
2 them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men
3 and beget us children.' And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: 'I fear ye will not
4 indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.' And they all answered him and said: 'Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations
5 not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.' Then sware they all together and bound themselves
6 by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn
7 and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And these are the names of their leaders: Samlazaz, their leader, Araklba, Rameel, Kokablel, Tamlel, Ramlel, Danel, Ezeqeel, Baraqijal,
8 Asael, Armaros, Batarel, Ananel, Zaq1el, Samsapeel, Satarel, Turel, Jomjael, Sariel. These are their chiefs of tens.

Chapter 7
1 And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms
2 and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And they
3 became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells: Who consumed
4 all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against
5 them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and 6 fish, and to devour one another's flesh, and drink the blood. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.

Chapter 15:8-12
8 And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon
9 the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin;
10 they shall be evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits shall they be called. [As for the spirits of heaven, in heaven shall be their dwelling, but as for the spirits of the earth which were born upon the earth, on the earth shall be their dwelling.]
11 And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble: they take no food, but nevertheless
12 hunger and thirst, and cause offences. And these spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded from them.

Josephus
In his book Antiquities of the Jews, written 70-90 AD, Josephus writes the following:

Chapter 2:3 – This is about the tribe of Judah with the help of the tribe of Simeon destroying the Canaanites in the land of Judah
”For which reason they removed their camp to Hebron; and when they had taken it, they slew all the inhabitants.  There were till then left the race of giants, who had bodies so large, and countenances so entirely different from other men, that they were surprising to the sight, and terrible to the hearing.  The bones of these men are still shown to this very day, unlike to and credible relations of other men.”

Chapter 12:2 – This portion records one of David’s mighty men, Sibbechai the Hittite, killing those who claimed to descend from the Nephilim
”When they were gathered together at the city Gaza, he sent an army against them, when Sibbechai the Hittite, one of David’s most courageous men, behaved himself so as to deserve great commendation, for he slew many of those that bragged, they were of the posterity of the giants, and vaunted themselves highly on that account.”

The Early Church Fathers 160-245 AD
These are some comments written by the early church leaders that we still have.  They wrote these views from around 160-245 AD.

Justin Martyr (160 AD)
”The angels transgressed this appointment and were captivated by love of women,.  And they begat children, who are those who are called demons.”

Athenagoras (175 AD)
”These angels, then, who have fallen from heaven, and haunt the air and the earth, and are no longer able to rise to heavenly things, and the souls of the giants, who are the demons who wander about the world, perform similar actions.”

Irenaeus (180 AD)
”In the days of Noah, He justly brought on the Deluge for the purpose of extinguishing that most infamous race of men then existent, who could not bring forth fruit to God.  For the angels who sinned had commingled with them.”

Clement of Alexandria (195 AD)
”The angels who had obtained the superior rank, having sunk into pleasures, told the women the secrets that had come to their knowledge.  In contrast, the rest of the angels concealed them, or rather, reserved them for the coming of the Lord.”

Tertullian (197 AD)
”By our sacred books, we are instructed how from certain angels, who fell of their own free will, there sprang an even more wicked demon brood.”

Commodianus (240 AD)
”And from their seed, giants are said to have been born.  By them, arts were made known in the earth. . . When they died, men erected images to them.”

Julius Africanus (245)
”When men multiplied on the earth, the angels of heaven came together with the daughters of men.  In some copies, I found “the sons of God.”  What the Spirit means, in my opinion, is that the descendants of Seth are called the sons of God, because of the righteous men and patriarchs who have sprung from him (even down to the Savior himself).  However, the descendants of Cain are named the seed of men, as having nothing divine in them, because of the wickedness of their race. . . . However, if it is thought that these refer to angels, we must take them to be those who deal with magic and sorcery, who taught the women the motions of the stars and the knowledge of things celestial.  By the power of those angels, they conceived the giants as their children, by whom wickedness reached its peak on the earth.  Finally, God decreed that the whole race of the living should perish in their impiety by the deluge.”

Origin (248)
”Among angels, some are angels of God, and others are angels of the devil.  But among demons, there is no such distinction. For they are all said to be wicked.”