One of the not-so-fun aspects of being a preacher is when people ask questions I can’t answer. Over the years, I’ve had many opportunities to confess, “I don’t know,” to difficult questions.
Genesis 6 poses some difficult questions:
- Who are the “sons of God” that took wives from humans?
- Who are the Nephilim?
Let’s first look at the text and then attempt to find some answers.
When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that they were fair, and they took wives for themselves of all that they chose.
Then the Lord said, “My spirit shall not abide in mortals forever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred twenty years.”
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown (Genesis 6:1-4).
The “Sons of God”
Scholars have identified the “sons of God” in three possible ways:
(1) The term may refer to heavenly beings or lesser deities associated with the divine realm. In Job 1:6, the “sons of God” appear before God in what seems to be a heavenly counsel.
(2) Some rabbinic and Christian scholars interpret the “sons of God” as descendants of Seth (the righteous line), while the “daughters of humans” represent descendants of Cain (the unrighteous line).
(3) Another view sees “sons of God” as kings or rulers, drawing on ancient traditions where monarchs were considered divine or semi-divine.
I don’t know which of the three interpretations is best. It is one of the many passages in the Bible that are a mystery to me.
It may be that the mingling of “sons of God” with “daughters of humans” reflects concerns about boundaries between the divine and human realms.
Possibly, the more serious problem is that the sons of God “took wives for themselves of all that they chose.” The phrase suggests a sexual relationship that is not based on love but in lust and power.
The Nephilim
The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. It translates Nephilim as “giants” leading to the common association with giants.
Rudy Ross has a good explanation of the Nephilim in today’s YouTube video.
120 Years
The “120 years” indicates the maximum age for human life, contrasting with the extraordinarily long lifespans earlier in Genesis (e.g., Methuselah living 969 years in Genesis 5:27).
I highlighted a woman in yesterday’s blog article who is currently living and only 4 years short of 120. This makes me think that God’s 120 years continues to be a possibility for humans in 2025.
Judgment and Grace
In the next verses, we learn that God is grieved to the point of experiencing pain in His heart. He sees people who are not only acting wrong, but it has touched even the depths of their hearts.
The Lord saw that the wickedness of humans was great in the earth and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.
And the Lord was sorry that he had made humans on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
So the Lord said, “I will blot out from the earth the humans I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air—for I am sorry that I have made them” (Genesis 6:5-7).
(1) God saw the wickedness of humanity. It was so prevalent that every inclination of human thought was continually on evil.
(2) What God felt about human rebellion was grief and regret. The cross of Christ reveals God’s great love for humanity and we can only imagine His pain to witness their complete complicity with evil.
(3) God intended to cleanse the earth. The Hebrew word “blot out” is the same as the word we use for removing a stain or dirt from a garment.
God did not end His relationship with human and animal life. We read, “But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8).
Like other people who relate to God, Noah did not earn God’s favor. God bestowed grace on him.
The 21st Century seems to have humans repeating the sins of Noah’s age. Evil is prevalent and appears to be increasing.
No one earns a relationship with God. God’s favor is not something He owes to us, It is a gift of His grace.
Praise God! His grace is available and enables sinners to be cleansed – not through the washing of a flood – but through the blood of His beloved Son.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 