Genesis 6:1-4; The Sons of God ...

[SavedOnebyGrace]

 

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Genesis 6:1-4 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The Corruption of Mankind

6 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, ² that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were ^[a]beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. ³ Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not ^[b]strive with man forever, ^[c]because he also is flesh; ^[d]nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” ⁴ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

Footnotes:

1. Genesis 6:2 Lit good
2. Genesis 6:3 Or rule in; some ancient versions read abide in
3. Genesis 6:3 Or in his going astray he is flesh
4. Genesis 6:3 Or therefore

Cross references:

1. Genesis 6:3 : Gal 5:16, 17; 1 Pet 3:20
2. Genesis 6:3 : Ps 78:39
3. Genesis 6:4 : Num 13:33

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

 

This is a passage of scripture I've been interested in since I first became a born-again believer.  I stumbled on the website linked below while searching about something else.  The questions at the end of the topic answered by the author John Tors with the signature "Saved.by.Grace" are mine.  I found John Tors' article and website most interesting, although he hasn't convinced me that the Nephilim were not the result of a fallen angelic attempt at contaminating the bloodline of the future Messiah.

There are four sections of analysis.  The first section linked below can be used to link to the other three sections.

Truth in My Days: Genesis 6:1-4 Discussion

I believe a proper understanding of Scripture is essential to knowing God's will and purpose.  We must understand the Bible in context, and not make it conform to our preconceived ideas.

[other one]

Angels...    and the nephilim are the offspring, and demons are the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim that died in the flood and after when the Israelite's went into Canaan.

[SavedOnebyGrace]

19 hours ago, other one said:

Angels...    and the nephilim are the offspring, and demons are the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim that died in the flood and after when the Israelite's went into Canaan.

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New American Standard Bible
And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,  [Jude 1:6]

New American Standard Bible
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;  [2 Peter 2:4]

And who are the angels in chains until the great judgment?  The Bible nowhere says that demons are held in chains and we read about demons roaming freely in the Bible.  The Bible seems to differentiate between demons and angels, supporting your point, at least in my opinion.

Can you cite some Biblical references that would back up the idea as to the difference between demons and fallen angels?  For angels to procreate with women, they must either have DNA or the ability to create DNA, ex nihilo, to form hybrid humans we call the Nephilim.

We know Lucifer was the leader of the angels who rebelled against God.  But we also know that Lucifer/Satan is not in chains.  Job mentions how Lucifer has free access in and out of Heaven.

Edited September 20, 2016 by Saved.One.by.Grace

[kwikphilly]

Blessings Saved One

   I don't believe any of that & I don't agree but I'm not sure I really want to get into all this-lol?WE don't know much of the nephilim except to speculate . (Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.)We do know they were mighty,probably the giants like Goliath .......The could have been a possessed people but they were "people"....people have DNA & people pro-create,not spirits.....spirits do not have bodies but they can & do possess bodies(this is known throughout Scripture & they can be cast out)

   Fallen angels are the demons,lucifer fell & became satan...a fallen angel     I believe the Sons of God were those of the line of Seth & the daughters of men were those of the line of Cain.....What about after the flood many will ask,,,,,the principalities(demons) stay attached to whoever they can& they seem tr o stay attached9possess or oppress) lineages(cursed line)   Eh,I don't feel up to this really,in any event all spirits are disembodied unless they INHABIT a body,still it is not their DNA that gets passed on because they don't have any(as far as my finite mind can tell-lol)

                                                                                                                                      With love-in Christ,Kwik

[SavedOnebyGrace]

2 hours ago, kwikphilly said:

Blessings Saved One

   I don't believe any of that & I don't agree but I'm not sure I really want to get into all this-lol?WE don't know much of the nephilim except to speculate . (Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.)We do know they were mighty,probably the giants like Goliath .......The could have been a possessed people but they were "people"....people have DNA & people pro-create,not spirits.....spirits do not have bodies but they can & do possess bodies(this is known throughout Scripture & they can be cast out)

   Fallen angels are the demons,lucifer fell & became satan...a fallen angel     I believe the Sons of God were those of the line of Seth & the daughters of men were those of the line of Cain.....What about after the flood many will ask,,,,,the principalities(demons) stay attached to whoever they can& they seem tr o stay attached9possess or oppress) lineages(cursed line)   Eh,I don't feel up to this really,in any event all spirits are disembodied unless they INHABIT a body,still it is not their DNA that gets passed on because they don't have any(as far as my finite mind can tell-lol)

                                                                                                                                      With love-in Christ,Kwik

Mary was the human mother of Jesus.  Mary had a human father and human mother who both contributed their DNA to Mary at conception.  Mary then had different DNA but was related to both parents.  Jesus had human DNA from Mary, but He wouldn't have human DNA from His Father until the Holy Spirit completed conception of Jesus, ex nihilo, so that Jesus was/is/and always will be fully God and fully man.  So we have an undisputed Biblical case of a spirit being causing a human being to have a child, with DNA from both parents. 

How much lower than God the Father are the angels?  We know from the Bible that we are lower than angels.  We know they can take human form and interact with humans, at least sometimes without a human beings' knowledge.  All this is Biblical.  What I'm trying to do with my discussion with John Tors and here is arrive at a better understanding of the Nephilim, Anakim, and Rephaim.  That would give me a better understanding of the need for Noah's Flood.  Genesis 6:1-4 plainly states the source of the problem.  But it also states that the Nephilim also survived the flood.  They are not listed as humans who survived the flood.  But the Nephilim's offspring spawned the Anakim, who spawned the Rephaim, which refers to giants like Goliath.  No other explanation of the Nephilim make sense to me. 

If I take the Bible as literal truth (which I do wherever possible), I am left with choice 1 in John Tors 4 piece article.  Other One's reply above goes further than my belief, but that doesn't mean he's wrong.  If I'm not mistaken, I believe some of his reasoning is based on the works of Enoch.

[Ezra]

On 9/19/2016 at 8:42 AM, Saved.One.by.Grace said:

I believe a proper understanding of Scripture is essential to knowing God's will and purpose.  We must understand the Bible in context, and not make it conform to our preconceived ideas.

The preconceived ideas in this connection are (1) angels cannot take human form and cohabit with women, and (2) this must be the so-called "line of Seth" even though there is not a shred of evidence in the OT.

The plain literal understanding of this passage, based upon the application of "sons of God" to angels in Job is that these were fallen angels (not demons) who procreated with human women and produced giants and men of renown. This is backed up by the Scriptures which speak of "the angels which kept not their first estate" (also called "the angels that sinned") and the context is always sexual sins.

It is interesting to note that the renowned Jewish historian Josephus came to the same conclusion, therefore this must have been the common Jewish belief also.

NOW this posterity of Seth continued to esteem God as the Lord of the universe, and to have an entire regard to virtue, for seven generations; but in process of time they were perverted, and forsook the practices of their forefathers; and did neither pay those honors to God which were appointed them, nor had they any concern to do justice towards men. But for what degree of zeal they had formerly shown for virtue, they now showed by their actions a double degree of wickedness, whereby they made God to be their enemy.

For many angels of God accompanied with women, and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own strength; for the tradition is, that these men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians call giants.

But Noah was very uneasy at what they did; and being displeased at their conduct, persuaded them to change their dispositions and their acts for the better: but seeing they did not yield to him, but were slaves to their wicked pleasures, he was afraid they would kill him, together with his wife and children, and those they had married; so he departed out of that land.

[SavedOnebyGrace]

10 hours ago, Ezra said:

The preconceived ideas in this connection are (1) angels cannot take human form and cohabit with women, and (2) this must be the so-called "line of Seth" even though there is not a shred of evidence in the OT.

The plain literal understanding of this passage, based upon the application of "sons of God" to angels in Job is that these were fallen angels (not demons) who procreated with human women and produced giants and men of renown. This is backed up by the Scriptures which speak of "the angels which kept not their first estate" (also called "the angels that sinned") and the context is always sexual sins.

It is interesting to note that the renowned Jewish historian Josephus came to the same conclusion, therefore this must have been the common Jewish belief also.

NOW this posterity of Seth continued to esteem God as the Lord of the universe, and to have an entire regard to virtue, for seven generations; but in process of time they were perverted, and forsook the practices of their forefathers; and did neither pay those honors to God which were appointed them, nor had they any concern to do justice towards men. But for what degree of zeal they had formerly shown for virtue, they now showed by their actions a double degree of wickedness, whereby they made God to be their enemy.

For many angels of God accompanied with women, and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own strength; for the tradition is, that these men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians call giants.

But Noah was very uneasy at what they did; and being displeased at their conduct, persuaded them to change their dispositions and their acts for the better: but seeing they did not yield to him, but were slaves to their wicked pleasures, he was afraid they would kill him, together with his wife and children, and those they had married; so he departed out of that land.

I am in essential agreement with you here.  Only eight undiluted souls in the Godly line of Seth were spared by Noah's Flood if we take the Bible literally.  While the Nephilim may have escaped total annihilation by Noah's Flood, they and their posterity, the Anakim, and Rephaim were mortal and would eventually die out.  Their stories are the basis of legends.  To keep the line to the Messiah pure, God instructed the Jews to have nothing to do with their neighbors and often told them to utterly destroy cities they conquered.

[Ezra]

42 minutes ago, Saved.One.by.Grace said:

Their stories are the basis of legends.

Those legends were based on reality.  They have recently discovered the remains of  one of these giants in Japan.

[SavedOnebyGrace]

1 hour ago, Ezra said:

Those legends were based on reality.  They have recently discovered the remains of  one of these giants in Japan.

I've seen photographs of some of the giants found in many diverse lands.  I believe much of the information about the offspring of the Nephilim is being suppressed, maybe in an attempt to discredit the accuracy of the Bible.

[SavedOnebyGrace]

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New American Standard Bible
"For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.  [Mark 12:25]

Just to be clear about angels and marriage, Jesus specifically referred to the angels in Heaven, not the angels cast from Heaven.  That's an important distinction that has long been overlooked.