One Giant Step Back

Genesis 6:1 - 4

Vs 1:  In Genesis 1:28 God gave the command to the man and woman to be fruitful and multiply.  Apparently this was happening as the population of humanity was steadily increasing and daughters were born.  Obviously children were being born and humanity was being faithful to God’s command; this was good but soon the beautiful act of procreation would become tarnished as wickedness increased and the task of being fruitful and multiplying becomes a defiled act of wickedness.

Vs 2:  The sons of God – We are now introduced to our first group of mysterious biblical creatures.  The phrase “sons of God” is mentioned only three other times in the Bible and all three are in the book of Job (Job 1:6, 2:1 & 38:7).  There are varying opinions as to who these sons of God are but if we look at the context of these passages I think we can safely deduce that they are angels. In the first two passages (Job 1: 6 & 2:1) the passage alludes to these sons of God as spiritual beings as they present themselves to God and Satan is there with them. They are not actually “sons” of Elohim; the idiom is a poetic way of describing their nature and relationship to God. The phrase indicates their supernatural nature, and their submission to God as the sovereign Lord.[1]  In the third and last passage (Job 38:7) the sons of God were present when the foundation of the earth was laid.  The oldest and most popular interpretation is that they were in fact supernatural beings and most probable angels or fallen angels.  In the non-canonized (not considered inspired) Jewish book of 1 Enoch chapters 6 – 7 we are given a glimpse of another description of the Sons of God.

1 Enoch 6
1. And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. 2. 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 and beget us children.' 3. And Semjâzâ, who was their leader, said unto them: 'I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.' 4. And they all answered him and said: 'Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.' 5. Then sware they all together and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it…
1 Enoch 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 and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. 2. And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells: 3. Who consumed all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, 4. the giants turned against them and devoured mankind. 5. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and fish, and to devour one another's flesh, and drink the blood. 6. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones

In pagan literature sons of God refer to lesser gods or deities of the Pantheons.

There are three interpretations as to who the sons of God were.

1. Angels/fallen Angels – Possibly possessing the bodies of men so they could procreate with women.
2. Some believe they were members of the lineage of Seth and the daughters were descendants of Cain.
3. Powerful tyrants who viewed themselves as divine and who followed the example of Lamech who practiced polygamy.

Regardless the sons of God saw the women or daughters were beautiful and took for themselves wives any they chose.  It is interesting to note this sin lines up with the sin of Adam and Eve… Adam and eve saw the fruit was a delight to the eyes.  The sons of God saw the daughters were attractive.  Adam and Ever took the forbidden fruit and consumed it.  The sons of God took for themselves the forbidden daughters for themselves.  In both cases they saw and took what was forbidden.

I believe the Bible shows this to be the pattern of sin.  This is really what the root of sin looks like.  Sin often looks attractive, pleasant or satisfying and we selfishly partake in what is clearly forbidden our response of partaking or consuming that which is forbidden leads to full blown sin.

Vs 3:  “My Spirit will not remain in (contend or strive with)” God has had it with humanity and their sins.  God will no longer put up with sinful humanity.  He passes judgment.  The judgment is the days of man will be 120 years.

2 possibilities

            1.  The life span of a human should not exceed 120 years.
            2.  In 120 years the flood will come.

Vs 4:  The Nephilim – The offspring of the sons of God and daughters of men are a race of creatures called the Nephilim.  The actual Hebrew word is uncertain but it is translated as giants and is used one other time (Numbers 13:3).  The Hebrew transliteration means “fallen ones”.  We are told the Nephilim are mighty heroes or warriors of the world.  They gained a lot fame in the land.  Many commentators suggest that the Nephilim are similar to the cultural legends of the demigods and Titans.  It is widely held that these Nephilim were the basis on what these legends were based on.  The NET Bible says they were super human beings who held the world in their power and who lived on in ancient lore outside of the Bible. 

[1] Biblical Studies Press. (2006). The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press.