“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.” -Genesis 6:1-2
In the preceding chapters we read of God’s creation and Adam and Eve producing sons, Cain and Abel.
Cain and Abel show us how people relate to God through offering and sacrifice: Cain offers the Lord fruit off of the ground and Abel brings the firstlings of his flock of sheep. God shows favor to Abel and Cain kills Abel out of jealousy.
Cain’s line continues and when we get to the fifth generation, we come to Lamech who decides to take two wives and goes on to slay two people. This is the line of Cain.
Enter Adam and Eve’s third son, Seth, who later bares a son named Enos. In addition to acknowledgment through sacrifice, this is the point where men begin to actively call on the LORD.
“And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.” -Genesis 4:26
This is the line of Seth: The faithful. The spiritual.
As Seth’s line continues, we come to Enoch, who walked with God, as per Genesis 5:24, and then we come to Noah.
“And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.” -Genesis 5:29
Here we have Noah’s father referencing the Lord’s curse in the days of Adam and understanding the need to reconcile this. Noah's father reveres God.
This brings us to Genesis 6. Up to this point we've seen man in his beginning stages and then the formation of two branches: those of Cain, who refuse God and shed innocent blood, and those of Seth who walk with God and call on the LORD.
So, who are the sons of God in Genesis 6:2? Thy are simply human males, from the line of Seth, who revered God. And because they were fallible, they went on to mate with the daughters of men, those who did not trust in the LORD.
Genesis 6:4 continues:
"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."
The definition of giant from Webster’s 1828 dictionary is as follows:
“The word originally signified earth-born, terrigena. The ancients believed the first inhabitants of the earth to be produced from the ground and to be of enormous size.
1. A man of extraordinary bulk and stature.
2. A person of extraordinary strength or powers, bodily or intellectual.”
Giants are not mythical creatures that result from angels mating with humans. That's an exciting story, but the definition is a lot less interesting, Giants are large, physically powerful, human beings.
The term as it's used in Genesis 6:4 implies that when the sons of God mated with the daughters of men (those with the "earth-born" or “giant” genetics), their offspring became mighty and they developed extraordinary physical (not spiritual) traits.
It is also evident that there were larger people in existence around the time of the flood and even after as we see in Numbers 13:33: "And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."
And in I Samuel 17:4: "And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span."
The definition of renown from Webster’s 1828 dictionary is: “…exalted reputation derived from the extensive praise of great achievements or accomplishments.”
And finally, in Genesis 6:5 we see the consequences of being yoked together with the faithless, in spite of all of our wonderful achievements and accomplishments:
“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.”
This is the story of the children of Israel (not the country created in 1948) and all those who follow Jesus Christ. Believers, you are the sons of God.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. -Romans 8:14
Amen!
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