Genesis 4 - 6

Genesis Chapter 4:  Adam and Eve have children.

Genesis 6: Sons of God and Daughters of Men and Noah builds a Boat

This chapter contains a story that, as one commentator wrote, “. . . has had many diverse interpretations.” That is an understatement. Genesis 6:2-7 it says that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 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. 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.” Verse 7, so the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth.”

Who were the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men?” Who were the Nephilim and why was God so angry with them that he decided to destroy all mankind?  For years I thought that the sons of God were the godly descendants of Seth, and the daughters of men were the ungodly descendants of Cain. But would this bring down the wrath of God upon all mankind? It had to be something more serious than that.

Perhaps there is another explanation, one that better explains God’s anger and the reason why some demons are already in hell, waiting for their roommates to show up in (Rev 20:10).

The sons of God can be angels. In the Old Testament the phrase “sons of God” always refers to angels (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7). What do we know about angels? We know that they are always referred to as males, not females or sexless creatures. It appears that angels can manifest themselves as human beings. In Hebrews it says that we should be kind to strangers because in this way we might entertain angels without knowing it (Heb. 13:2). An angel appeared in human form at the tomb of Jesus (Mark 16:5). Another piece to this puzzle is found in II Peter 2:4-5 where it says, “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, (Gen 6?) but sent them to hell (tartarus), putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people . . .”

Another clue comes from Jude 6,7, “And the angels who did not keep their position of authority but abandoned their own home-these he has kept in darkness (tartarus), bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion.”

Putting these passages together, as pieces of a puzzle, we find that the sin that these angels committed was similar to those in Sodom and Gomorrah; they went after “strange flesh.” It appears that some fallen angels (demons) sinned in such a way, before the flood, that God had to send them to hell ahead of time.

This may have been Satan’s attempt to corrupt the Seed of woman by having some of his fallen angels (demons) take on human form and intermarry with humankind. When God said that he “would not contend with man forever, for he is mortal,” it means that he would not continue to tolerate this evil, and the flood would come to destroy the product of these unions (called Nephilim). The term Nephilim means “fallen ones.” The term is sometimes translated “giants,” but more accurately it should be fallen ones, some type of superhuman, but not necessarily giant in size.

Critics of this view might say that Jesus said that in the kingdom, humans will be like angels in that they will not marry in the resurrection (Matt 22:30; Luke 20:36). Yes, but this does not prevent them from having married humans in this life. Jesus is speaking of the afterlife in these passages, not in the physical world.

Scholars can find problems with both explanations as to what was going on here.  But the idea that fallen angels, who took on human form and impregnated women, strange as it sounds, has fewer problems than the idea that descendants of Cain intermarried with the descendants of Abel. The first hypothesis better explains the binding of some of the demons in hell and the coming destruction of humans by way of the flood.

Chapter 6 continues with the story of Noah’s Ark and the worldwide flood. Scholars are not in agreement as to whether this flood was a local one or worldwide. I tend to believe that it was a worldwide flood. If it was only a local flood, Noah would have been told, “Head for higher ground!” rather than “Build a huge boat.” Also, a local flood would not have killed most of human life, only those in the area of the flood.

We don’t know the topography of the earth back then. Or the weather patterns. It might be more difficult for us to imagine what happened.

How long was Noah and his family in the Ark? They were in it for a total of 377-378 days. Would you need to stay that long if it was a local flood? After the flood God promised to never again bring about such an event (Gen 9:8). Haven’t we seen many local floods over the years?  How do we explain fossils of sea life high in the mountains if this was a local flood?  Perhaps they could be explained by huge plate of the earth rise up over time which pushed the remains of sea life to what would become mountain tops.

Another question asked of critics is, “How could Noah get all the animals on the ark?” Well, some were baby animals, some were even just eggs, and he didn’t have to get every species, only a pair of each kind. Even a pair of dinosaurs might be only the size of a couple of chickens.

If you look at the dimensions of the ark, it was huge with many levels. And if God could lead the animals to the Ark, He could also put them into a state of hibernation. This would mean that Noah would have less work to do (feeding and cleaning up after them) and more space for animals. Or room for a basketball court, game room and other amenities (wine cellar?).  After all, they were going to be on this vessel for a long time.