Sons of God, Daughters of Men

"And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 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. 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. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that He had made man on earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them." (Genesis 6:1-7)

 This is a difficult passage to understand; partly because of the use of the term "sons of God." This terminology appears (to various biblical scholars) to be speaking of angels in these following passages:

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 38:7 "…when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"

 But, to other biblical scholars, it appears to be speaking of the descendants of Seth (as disciples of God, thus sons of God) specifically in Genesis 6:2. It does seem to me that the term "sons of God" could, in fact, have two different meanings, that would have to be interpreted according to the sentence in which it is used.

If the meaning is "angels" would it indicate "fallen angels?" Surely angels who were obedient to God would not leave their heavenly station to co-habitate with earthly women, would they? But certainly the fallen angels had already left their heavenly abode when they fell with Lucifer (Satan) (Jude 1:6), so that, if these are indeed angels, they must be fallen angels versus the obedient ones.

It does appear that because of this cohabitation (whether of angels or of men) there were "giants on the earth." The Hebrew form of the word giants is "nephilim" and is used by at least one bible scholar as the name for the race that was formed from such a union. Nephilim comes from a Hebrew root word nepheth meaning "a height."

Yet, another sense of the word "giants," even as used further along in Genesis 6, is that they became "mighty" men: as in strong, ferocious, terrible, "renown" for their wickedness rather than for their godliness…perhaps made more "mighty" by the use of the forged instruments of brass and iron invented by Tubal-cain (Genesis 4:22). Apparently this wickedness increased relentlessly; causing the Lord to "grieve" all that He was a witness to.

If, however, this term refers to the descendants of Seth who at least began as godly; why was God's spirit striving against them….unless the godly descendants of Seth took ungodly women from the line of Cain? Perhaps these women were considered to be "daughters of men," simply because they did not know or walk with God, but walked only according to the ways of man. If indeed, this is the case, which seems more logical, then men did what men still do today….they sinned. They formed sexual unions with ungodly and degenerate women from the line of Cain, apparently not involving God in this decision, and eventually became degenerate themselves. And all because they found the women to be "fair"….sounds a little like the same affliction Eve had in the garden when she saw that the forbidden fruit was "pleasant to the eyes" (Genesis 3:6). Lust strikes again! And, since these "sons of God" took "wives of all which they chose," perhaps these were also polygamous relationships; just one more affront to God.

Whichever the case may be here, whether fallen angels or fallen men from the line of Seth, the end result is rampant wickedness, relentless turning away from God, such that God is grieved to know that He must now destroy them.

So much wickedness, as we will see in our study, that there is only a remnant who can be called righteous, and who will be saved from the devastation that God is about to bring upon the earth because of the wickedness therein.