Flood - Erosion of Humanity and the Heart of God

Tuesday, September 29

This week’s passage asks a lot of you. There is historical complexity, cultural distance, and theological weight that can feel overwhelming. Give yourself permission to sit with unanswered questions. The goal of this discussion is not to resolve every mystery in Genesis 6 but to allow the truths embedded in the text to do their work.

Read Genesis 6:1-4- When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.” 4The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward —when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

I want to draw your attention to two things today. First is the Creation language- human beings began to increase, some translations have multiplied and the daughters were beautiful (tov). God gave us the command to multiply and what he created was good.
But then notice that the sons of God “married”, some translations say took. That language should already give us a clue of what we are talking about. Who took in the creation story? Eve and then Adam. They took from the tree of knowledge of good and evil versus trusting that God was going to provide. So even in these four verses we are getting a glimpse of the creation story, but that there is something wrong.

What are we talking about when we are talking about the sons of God? There is much debate about this and if I was teaching a class we would most likely dive deeper into this debate.

Some argue this is the Sethite view. Where they see the sons of God as the line of Cain and the beautiful daughters as the line of Seth. But what gets lost in that argument is that Seth’s line isn’t perfect or sinless and it doesn’t wrestle with other areas in Scripture where sons of God is referenced.

Some argue sons of God mean the kings from other dynasties. We talked about the Sumerian King’s List from the Mesopotamia or Babylonian culture, again, I do believe there is some correlation, but it doesn’t answer the mystery that is woven underneath, especially this picture of taking.

I believe these verses are talking about the heavenly rebellion, that the sons of God are spiritual beings and just because we don’t understand the thin veil between the physical and the spiritual, doesn’t mean it couldn’t exist.

If you want to do some extra reading dive into the passages about the heavenly council in Job 1:6, 2:1. Job is brought before God and it says that Satan was roaming among the earth. Or jot down Psalm 82:6-7.

Finally, a little book in the back of the NT, Jude, actually refers to this passage in Genesis. Jude 1:6- And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.

They broke the boundary between physical and spiritual, they took, they live in darkness and will be judged accordingly when the time comes.
What are we to do with this? Why is it important? The author of Genesis is getting our attention that there is more that is going on than just bad decisions. The author is showing us that there is something truly coming against us, that the heavenly rebellion influences the human rebellion and to ignore such a battle will mean we are flat footed against our enemy.

Tim Mackie puts it this way. “Bible claims there are powers and rulers in the heavenly realm with agency who are at work in ways very different for humans to be aware of …. This interpretation may make us uncomfortable or a be difficult to understand, but that doesn’t mean it is not what the ancient authors are trying to communicate.”

Application- “The sons of God” represent a heavenly rebellion, pointing to the reality of spiritual forces at work in the physical world -- how seriously do you take the existence and influence of spiritual evil in your daily life, and does your awareness of it affect how you live?

Genesis 6 pulls back the curtain on a reality most of us would rather ignore -- there are forces at work beyond what we can see. The heavenly rebellion described in the opening verses of the flood narrative is not mythology meant to entertain. It is a warning. Jude references these spiritual beings who abandoned their proper boundaries. Paul urges believers in Ephesians 6 to recognize that our struggle is not against flesh and blood. Ignoring the spiritual dimension of life does not make it disappear -- it simply leaves us unprepared. Put on the full armor of God today (Ephesians 6:10-18). The battle is real, but so is the victory.