Battle For The Truth (Part 38)
Notes
Transcript
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.
Introduction
We have now reached a very critical point in the Genesis narrative. As previously mentioned, Chapter 6:1-4 are among the most controversial and important portions of text in the entire Bible. The fact that many Christian scholars disagree on the interpretation of these verses causes many preachers and teachers to shy away from this text. When it comes to Genesis 6:1-4, most Christians that I have encountered simply accept and repeat the interpretation given to them by whomever they trust the most to provide answers to the more difficult and controversial portions of the Bible. While I understand that position, it is always best to adopt a Berean approach to Scripture, as found in Acts 17:11, which reads, “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Thus, when it comes to biblical interpretation, we must be willing to do the hard work by praying for understanding and diligently searching the Scriptures. For us to be honest interpreters of the Bible, we must follow established rules of interpretation. The theological term for the science of biblical interpretation is hermeneutics, and the best interpreter of the Bible is the Bible itself. Amen somebody. Furthermore, the Bible must be interpreted according to its historical-grammatical context. Meaning that one must consider the words used in their original language and historical context of both the OT and NT. In other words, how would the children of Israel in Moses’ time have understood Genesis 6:1-4, and how would a 1st Century Jew have understood it? Those of you who have been under my preaching and teaching should be aware that expository preaching is what I strive to practice, which calls for a proper exegesis of any text under consideration. Expository preaching endeavors to expose and explain the text through exegesis, which means to draw out what is in the text, as opposed to eisegesis, which means to read into the text what is not there.
One area where there is complete unity and agreement among Christians is that the Book of Genesis is the Book of Beginnings. To name a few, we see The Beginning of...
Time
Light
The universe (sun, moon, stars, etc.)
Life on earth (plant and animal)
Humanity (man and woman)
Sin
Procreation (Cain and Abel)
Murder
Therefore, whatever Genesis 6:1-4 means, it is the beginning of something, and since it is in the Bible, we can rest assured that it is important. What we hope to discover is in our study is not only what the text means but to also understand how it informs us today so that we may be effective witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ, and live lives pleasing to God. Amen somebody.
Since the 3rd Century, the dominant traditional Christian interpretation of the Genesis 6:1-4, supported by scholars such as Augustine of Hippo, Martin Luther, and John Calvin, viewed “sons of God”and “the daughters of men”to be the sons of Seth and daughters of Cain and the sin as the mingling of the two seeds, defiling the godly line. This view is known as the Sethite View. On the surface this may appear contextually appropriate, but philologically or linguistically, it does not stand up for these reasons:
1. The word Hebrew word for men in 6:1, is ‘adam, aw-dawm’, which is generic for humanity and daughters or ‘bath, bot’ refers to their female offspring. Furthermore, the Sethite View assumes that the men in V.1 are Sethites and that they are righteous, and the daughters are Cainites and wicked.
2. Between vv.1-2, there is nothing in the text that warrants a change in meaning from “men” to “sons of God” or “sons of Elohim.” (More on that later)
3. Not only does the immediate text not support this view, but we find out in subsequent verses that of all of humanity (including the godly line of Seth) grieved God except for Enoch whom God raptured and Noah. Thus, only eight souls survived the Great Flood– Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their son’s wives.
4. There was no law prohibiting the marriage between the offspring of Seth and the offspring of Cain. To draw that conclusion, you would have to read that into the text.
V.1-2 – “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.”
So, the question comes down to who are “the sons of God” that took in marriage “the daughters of men” and produced children that were described as giants and mighty men or warriors? Well, we can find this phrase, “sons of God,”used elsewhere in the OT. For instance:
Job 1:6 – “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.”
Job 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.”
Job 38:6, 7 – “Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; (7) When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
Psalm 82:1 – “God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods.”
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, let me tell it to you plain: my position is that the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:2 are fallen angels or demons. To view them as Sethites is to strip the supernatural from the text. And the author of Genesis who is Moses, without a doubt, has a supernatural worldview. Would you not agree that the Creation account as recorded by Moses is a supernatural event? Amen somebody.
Moreover, as you often hear me say, the didactic or teaching literature of the NT helps interpret what is in the other genres of biblical literature—historical narrative, prophetic, wisdom, etc. To illustrate this point, we need look no further than the Apostles Jude and Peter, who refer to this Genesis 6:1-4 event in their epistles. I believe this is the strongest evidence that the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:1-4 are indeed fallen angels or demons.
Jude 6 – “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”
1 Peter 3:19-20, “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; (20) Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.”
Side Note:
There are some foundational attributes about the Bible upon which all Believers agree. We believe that...
The Bible is the inspired word of God.
Because of its inspiration, the Bible is infallible, and inerrant in its original autographs or manuscripts.
The Bible is immutable meaning it never changes; and,
The Bible contains no contradictions.
Given these attributes of Scripture and the clear view of Jude and Peter that “the sons of God” reference in Genesis 6:1-4 were angels, is it possible that Jude and Peter were wrong? God forbid! We know that that is not possible.
Vv. 3-4, “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.”
Alright, so what is going on here in Genesis 6:1-4? I am so glad you asked. Portrayed here are fallen angels or demons who committed an egregious sin by leaving their spiritual abode to enter the human realm for the purpose of producing offspring through women. This ungodly union produced a demonic-human hybrid of superior size and strength, referred to as “giants or Nephilim.” The thing to bear in mind is that this demonic-human hybrid people were evil and became legendary for their superior fighting abilities and warrior-like accomplishments.
The text describes them as “mighty men which were of old, men of renown.” These “mighty men which were of old,” leads us to another matter that deserves a deeper discussion. However, I am out of time for today and will have to pick it up next week. Next week we will examine some questions that naturally occur when looking at this section of Scripture:
Why did these “fallen angels” committed this rebellious act?
How is it possible for spirit beings to cohabitate with mortal beings?
What does it mean in v.4 when it says, “...and also after that...”?
So, until next week, should the Lord tarry, please study this section of Genesis and be prepared to explore the deep treasures of the word as it unfolds. May the Lord bless and keep you is my earnest prayer. Amen.