Transcript
Walking the Old Paths, Episode 20 transcript
Summary
In this episode JP discusses the three basic interpretations of who the “sons of God” refer to in Genesis 6. This passage is a good example that believers in Christ can disagree at times on interpretation of Scripture and serves as a reminder that we are to maintain a literal, historical, grammatical approach to Bible interpretation if we are to be consistent in our approach to Scripture.
Contact JP at: jpmanson@walkingtheoldpaths.com
Transcription
I want you listeners to be as those Bereans and search the scriptures daily to see whether the things that I tell you are so. And your pastor and your Sunday school teacher and any book or commentator or author tells you about the Bible. You yourself need to be students of Scripture.
Welcome to the Walking the Old Paths podcast. I’m JP, your host on this journey through the Bible. Each week we embark on a systematic study of the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation.
“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” [Matthew 24:37-39]
Welcome, friends, back to walking the old paths. We come now to the days of Noah. Since the fall of Adam, man has been living according to his conscience. He now has the knowledge of good and evil. And with that knowledge, will he be able to follow God now? Would man guided by his conscience do that which is right and good, would he naturally follow God, or would he stray from God and that which is good toward that which is bad and sinful?
The answer, as we come to the conclusion of this dispensation, is that man, guided by his conscience, will corrupt his ways and plunge himself into wickedness. God is showing us that man will naturally decline toward sin even when he has knowledge.
We’re coming into chapter six here and the starting the chapters on the that deal with the flood. And before we get too far into chapter six, we need to deal with a specific, um, controversial subject. Uh, this passage of Scripture has much disagreement as to its meaning, and we will see why here in a moment due to its implications upon interpretation. This is, however, a good example of when brothers in Christ can disagree and yet still have fellowship with one another.
Um, as we look here at the Sons of God, this, um, is not a fundamental doctrine that should divide Bible believers. We can have good, healthy debate that can help us understand one another and the positions that we take. One rule I want you to remember when talking with someone whom you might have in a disagreement with is to listen to understand.
Our natural response to someone who we disagree with is to argue our points. That is, we listen to respond so we can win the debate or the argument. The Bible tells us to be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. God wants us to listen to understand where the other person is coming from and why they think that way. When they know you care about why they think that way, or why they hold that viewpoint, they’re more likely to listen to you. And I will say it again: listen to understand.
The focal point of the debate on this passage is the phrase “the sons of God”. Just who is the Bible referring to in this verse?
Now let me read here in chapter six, verses one through four: “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.”
As I said, what we’re looking at here, the focal point of today’s message is who are the sons of God and and also who are the daughters of men? There are three basic interpretations as to who the sons of God God are. First, there some have called them the sons of princes or nobles. Two is the interpretation that they are Sethites and are men that came from the line of Seth, or godly men. And then the third interpretation is that the sons of God are angels.
Now I’m going to give you a brief explanation of each of them before I dive into them a little bit more in depth. The first interpretation is that the sons of God are the sons of princes or noblemen, and that the daughters of men refer to people of the lower orders. And in other words, these are, um, noblemen who had married women who were of a lower status in society than they were. Now, I could not find support for this interpretation amongst the commentators that I read. This view seems to be one of Orthodox Rabbinical Judaism, and I could not find any explanation to be able to present this view, as it is rejected by commentators as not having any scriptural basis, to which I also agree with them.
The second view is that the sons of God refer to the men of the line of Seth, or godly men. The phrase the daughters of men then refer to the ungodly women from the line of Cain.
And then the third view is that the Sons of God refer to fallen angels and the daughters of men as to all women, whether of the line of Cain or of Seth.
Now, to give you some perspective on what some of the great commentators of the Bible believe concerning this I made a little chart here in my notes. Uh, the those commentators that think of them as angels: we have John MacArthur, Henry Morris, John Phillips and E.W. Bollinger and those commentators that think that the Sons of God refer to as men or the line of Seth: Uh, J Vernon McGee, David Sorensen, Matthew Henry, John Gill, Albert Barnes and Keil & Delitzsch. And those that were undecided, unclear, or were silent on the issue was: Adam Clark and F.B. Meyer. I could not find anything from those two commentators.
So you see, there’s there’s quite a a controversy on who the Bible is referring to in this passage. And I think we can reject the first interpretation of the sons of God as being princes or nobles, as it really does not have any sort of scriptural basis to it. And with the lack of information from someone who holds that view, I can’t present it anyway.
Now I want to give you, before I get into this, just so you all know where I come from, where I stand on the issue. Um, I want to disclose that I hold to the view that the sons of God are fallen angels. I believe this to be the correct hermeneutical view, but I will be attempt to be fair in presenting the opposing view, which even those of my own church affiliation hold to. It is for this reason that I want to be sensitive to the subject, so I don’t cause any sort of schism.
This view of the sons of God as men has good support behind it, with McGee, Sorensen, Henry, uh, Gill and Barnes, Keil & Delitzsch. Um, but I’m going to read from one of their commentaries. Doctor Sorensen um, in his commentary, Understanding the Bible. Now, I’ve met Doctor Sorensen. Um, my wife and I have even had the pleasure of, um, taking them out to eat. Uh, he spoke at our church on a Bible conference. Um, so I have great respect for him. Uh, he holds to the position that the sons of God are men. So I just want you to hear it from his own, uh, pen, basically, and let him explain it. And it’s it’s a little lengthy, but, um, uh, and you’ll forgive me of that, but he says in, uh, on Genesis six two, and I quote:
“Some have suggested the sons of God were fallen angelic creatures who descended to earth and married women, that is, the daughters of men. However, there is no other scriptural basis for that. In fact, it would be biologically impossible. Moreover, Jesus indicated that the angelic realm is a sexless race not having reproductive ability. Rather the sons of God, likely as a reference to the sons of the godly lineage. Their quite apparently had been an effort by the godly line to keep themselves separate from the ungodly world around them. However, over the centuries, the sons of the godly line began to notice the young women of the daughters of men. Several inferences may be drawn. One, if ungodly women, then were anything like ungodly women today, they likely dressed in a provocative and immodest fashion and were not scrupulous in their morals. The attractive young women of the world caught the attention of the sons of the godly lineage. Number two evidently there was a breakdown in the principle of separation of the godly line. Their children began to intermingle with the ungodly of the world’s crowd. Accordingly, the offspring of the godly line began to intermarry with the world’s crowd of that day. The spiritual purity and integrity of the godly line was thus compromised to the point it virtually ceased to exist. The godless society which developed was that which God determined to destroy. Only Noah had kept his family separated and righteous. It may well be inferred that the daughter in law’s of Noah were from the godly lineage.” End quote.
So this position is not without merit. Okay, as it seems quite impossible that angels could cohabitate with women and produce offspring. And this seems to be the major point of all that hold to this position. And you’ll notice they quote Matthew 22:30 as evidence that angels do not marry, which says, “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.”
Additionally, those who hold to this view will also point out that the phrase sons of God in the New Testament refer to all who have been born again through personal faith in Christ. And just a couple of examples.
John 1:12 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
And in Romans 8:14, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
If this is your position, you are in good company. Many good expositor hold to this as I have told you. Now whether you are correct in your position is another question. I see where you are coming from and why you believe the way you do. It is a hard concept to grasp that fallen angels would be able to intermingle with humans in that manner. Let’s just keep in mind that just because something is hard for us to grasp does not mean that it is false.
Um, so let’s come now to the sons of God as angels, and no matter who is commenting on the Bible, I want to make this clear: whether it is your pastor, a Sunday school teacher, a scholar, a Bible commentator, or myself, always test what they say against the Scripture. You know, we need to be as the people of Berea and, you know, in the the book of Acts, chapter 17, it says “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”
You know, I want you listeners to be as those Bereans and search the scriptures daily to see whether the things that I tell you are so. And your pastor and your Sunday school teacher and any book or commentator or author tells you about the Bible. You yourself need to be students of Scripture.
And if there’s one thing that I would desire for my listeners to come away with is that they would deepen their walk with God by reading His Word daily and in prayer, asking for wisdom to understand the scriptures. We need to be Bible literate and we live in a time, I believe, where we are very Bible illiterate. We have more Bibles, more helps than ever before in history. Yet we probably know the least, and we fight and squabble over things that probably have no meaning to God whatsoever.
I mean, look at all the denominations in our churches. They have split because of many disagreements, and I cannot imagine that God is very well pleased with that.
Now again, I’ve said that this podcast is is not for preachers, not for pastors. It probably never will be. It’s for the common person. It’s the person out in the pew that listens to the to the preacher who studies his Bible. It’s a help to the church. And if I can get you guys to enjoy reading the Bible and making it a part of your daily practice, then I have accomplished what I’ve set out to do.
My opinions and anyone else’s do not matter. What matters is the Word of God. There are just times that we need to stand in the ways and see and ask for the old paths, and ask God for the good way to walk. And be patient, you don’t have to make a decision on matters that are unclear right away. Take your time. Study the Bible in prayer and wait for God to give you an answer or peace about your questions.
All right. So with that being said, let me explain the position that I hold and why that I hold it. First of all, my issue with the sons of God being men is a hermeneutical one. Now, I try not to use too big of terminology on this podcast, but hermeneutics is one of those that I probably have to repeat over and over to you guys. And that is the the science and art of Bible interpretation. Okay. It’s very important.
Every student of the Scripture should have a hermeneutical, a way of interpreting Scripture. And you guys know that I take a literal, historical, grammatical approach to Scripture. I believe that is the only way to approach Scripture. That is hermeneutics. That is how I interpret Scripture.
And like normal books that we would read, we would look at what is the author trying to say in its historical context and in grammatics. And that God does the same thing for us. So why should we not apply that same principle to the Bible that we do to any other book. We can’t abandon good Bible interpretive principles just because something is hard to understand. We need to step aside from our preconceived ideas and be consistent in our approach to the Word of God. And I think that is where my biggest issue with the sons of God being as men is, is because it’s not consistent in the approach of Bible interpretation.
Now, there are four hermeneutical questions that we’re going to ask here. What is the context? Number one. Number two, what is the plain sense of the text? Number three are we able to apply any of the mention principles? Number four are there any supportive texts in Scripture that can shed additional light on our text?
So let’s look at that first one here. What is the context? When we look at the context we can observe these points. Let me look. “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them.” First we see that there is a multiplication of people on the earth.
In verse two we see that there is a definite distinction made between the sons of God and the daughters of men, “That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.”
In verse four we see that the product of this unholy union produced giants. The Bible says, and “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.” And also in verse four, we see that these giant, these giants became known as mighty men and men of renown. “The same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.”
In verse five we see the result of this great wickedness in the earth, so much so that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it says, “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.”
I don’t know if you can imagine what that must be like, that every single thought was only evil continually. What kind of society would that produce? I mean, we think it is bad now, and granted it is getting worse and worse. But I don’t believe that we are at that point right now of the days of Noah, where the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually.
The church still is somewhat effective in reaching this world and holding back sin by the power of the Holy Spirit. But as in every dispensation that we’ve looked at and we will look at, there is a failure in it. And that is one thing that we need to keep before us.
And today in our dispensation, is are we individually, as members of the Body of Christ, being ineffective or failing in our duty to fulfill the Great Commission in preaching the gospel to every creature? If we do, then naturally we must assume that this world is going to plunge itself further and further into darkness, and the imagination of the thoughts of our hearts will be evil continually.
Also, we see here that God determines to destroy man from off of the earth in verses three and in seven he says, and the Lord said, “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh.” In verse seven “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.”
When we look at the context of this passage, these are the points that we’re going to observe. So this helps us in our interpretation. Remember all Bible study has three processes observation then interpretation, and then finally application.
So we need to make our observations. That is what helps direct us to our proper interpretation.
Now our second hermeneutical question that we’re going to ask is what is the plain sense of the text? If you can come to the Bible without any sort of preconceived idea in your head. And, you know, that is difficult for us to do because we naturally do those things. But can you step aside from yourself for just a moment? Read the passage and try to gather the plain sense of it.
We note that the plain reading of the text suggests that whoever the sons of God are, they produced an ungodly offspring of giants, where mighty men and known as men of renown. And I know what I just said there has a little bit of controversy as well. I might dig into that on the next episode. Um, but the context is not one favorable to being renowned for good. Okay. But for evil and great wickedness. It would seem then to be very questionable. Why, if the sons of God are just godly men of the line of Seth did they produce giants, or why would the entire earth become corrupt as a result?
There is a saying in hermeneutics if the plain sense makes sense, seek no other sense. The plain sense is that the sons of God are not godly men, or even men in general, but something else.
Next, are we able to apply any mentioned principles here to our passage? The next step is to define the sons of God. Now the phrase the sons of God is bane Elohim. Remember from our early study on in Genesis 1:1, Elohim is the Creator God. God created Adam and Eve, but all after them were born to them. The natural interpretation then, is that these beings are sons of God rather than of men, because they had been created and not born.
So who was created then by Elohim? Well, we need to look at that. Now in Luke chapter three and verse 38, you know which it says, “Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam.” Now notice we see a line here of who’s born to whom. We’ve gotten to Adam. But now what does it say? “Which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.” Okay. Adam is the only one here that is attributed as being a son of God. Enoch and Seth, they were all sons of their father.
And Psalm 148:2-5 we read this: “Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that” are “above the heavens.” Praise “them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.”
So we see in that verses here of Psalms 148, that the heavens, the stars, the sun and moon and angels were all created by God. The only ones that Scripture says were directly created then are Adam and the angels.
Now do we see the phrase sons of God used elsewhere in Scripture? This is the first mention of it as in Scripture. Therefore, it is setting the definition of it according to the law of first mention. As I mentioned, the supporters of the sons of God being men refer to the usage of that term in the New Testament. There are two considerations that need to be made with with regard to that application. The first is the language used. Now the Old Testament is in Hebrew and the New Testament is in Greek. So are the definitions the same?
Also, how was this phrase translated by the translators of the Greek version of the Old Testament called the Septuagint? Now to answer that in the Septuagint, that translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek translates that as the angels of God. That’s something that they should that we need to take into consideration. That was the same version that Jesus would have used in the disciples back in their times.
Second consideration to be made is are we taking a definition from one dispensation and applying it to another? If the sons of God referred to created beings in the Old Testament, that is Adam and angels, then could we look at that term in the new as being created as well? But how? John 1:12 says, “But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” This is the first mention of it in the New Testament, and it refers to those who have received Christ and became sons of God through faith in his name.
This could not possibly be applied to our text in Genesis six. Why? Because this would be taking one thing from one dispensation and applying it to another, thus violating another principle of Bible interpretation or hermeneutics.
Now we also now let’s look here at the first mentioned principle. Is that term used elsewhere in the Old Testament the sons of God? Yes, it is used actually three other times. And all are found in the book of Job: Job 1:6, Job 2:1, and Job 3:7.
Now I’m going to read part of this first part of of Job chapter one. Um, this I’m really glad for the book of job, for one thing. Uh, there’s a lot to learn from that book. And we see interactions here between, uh, the angels and God. And in verse six we read, “Now there was a day when the sons of God”, here’s our second usage of it, “came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.” [Job 1:6-12]
You know, when we get there, it’s we’re gonna look at the sufferings of Job, and we’re going to note that not every suffering happens because of sin. There is an interaction in heaven that we don’t see where Satan and the angels come before God to accuse men, and God gives sometimes permission that they are able to go and test man to see whether his faith is real or not. As he said, you know, doth God doth Job, Job fear God for nought? And he says, if you if you let me put my hand to him, he’s gonna curse thee to thy face.
But we but all commentators note that the sons of God here in Job 1:6 is referring to angels, and we see actually two interactions of that in the book of Job. And that happens again in Job chapter two, verse one, where it gives the same phrase again. “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.”
So Satan and the angels, they get to come before God. Um, to present themselves what they’ve been doing. What and what accusations they might have. You say, why does God allow that? I don’t know. Ask him. Uh, I don’t have all the answers and know everything. Uh, but God has purposes in everything, doesn’t he?
And in Job 38:4, we see that, uh, through seven, we see the same, um, the third or fourth time, actually that this term is used. When God was answering Job after his trial, he said, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.”
That’s our context here is when God was laying the foundations of the earth. “Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof.”
Notice this “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
Again, the angels were there when God laid the foundations of the earth. So we know that when the angels had to have been created before, based upon that text right there.
But after looking at those verses and the context, we can determine what the meaning of the other three phrases of the sons of God refers exclusively to angels.
Now, it is interesting to note that all the commentators who propose that the sons of God as being men in Genesis six, all refer to the other three references as being angels. As even Sorensen comments in his, um, commentary on that. He says in this context, the Sons of God undoubtedly refer to angels, and that was from his commentary on Job chapter one in that, um, text I read.
So they’re breaking the law of first mention. If that law kind of sets the tone through the stage of Scripture, and we’re talking in the Old Testament now as the sons of Elohim, those that were created. If they’re, um, consistent in their approach to Scripture, the sons of God being men would then also refer to that in Job chapter 1, 2, and 38.
Now, the next question in our hermeneutics that we’re going to ask is, are there any supportive texts in Scripture now that can shed additional light on our text? Now, have angels appeared in physical bodies of men? Yes. We see that in Genesis 18. Uh, when it says, “And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.” [Genesis 18:1-4]
Now we see here in this passage I read, Abraham here has an encounter with the Lord. Now you’ll notice that they have physical bodies, because he says, little, little water, I pray you be fetched and wash your feet. Well, if they were spirit, how is he going to wash their feet?
No, that was a very common practice amongst that time. That is a cultural significance there, because they would wear sandals and their feet would get dirty, so they would wash their feet.
And he says, and rest yourselves under the tree. Okay. How would a spirit rest themselves under a tree? No, they had physical bodies here. And at the end of verse eight and he says that he fed them and they did eat, so they physically ate food.
Now in Genesis 19 one through five, we see that the two of those angels then go towards Sodom and Gomorrah. The whole purpose of this passage here, which we’ll get to when when we reach Genesis 18 and 19, has to deal with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the wickedness that came from them.
And it says here in verse one, “And there came two angels to Sodom at even.” So now we have two, that originally we had three back here when they were talking with Abraham, one being the pre-incarnate Christ. And we’ll talk more about that. And then the other two were angels with him.
But when he sends those angels to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and actually to rescue Lot, uh, there’s just two of them at this point. But he comes there and to the gate of Sodom, “and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night.” And notice again: “wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways.”
And again towards the end of verse five, he says, “Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.” These wicked men of Sodom and Gomorrah knew that these two men came not knowing that they were angels, but rather than thinking that they were ordinary men.
And they came to Lot’s house, desiring that lot would send them out, that they might practice their immoral, um, abominations on these men, that he says, bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
So we see the here that angels are able to appear in physical bodies of men.
And the New Testament in Hebrews chapter 13, verse two, it says, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”
Friends, did you know that you might entertain an angel unaware? I believe this has happened to me, and I’ll tell that story sometime. But where the Bible tells us, be not forgetful to entertain strangers. Because you might entertain an angel unaware.
Now, are there any New Testament passages that might give additional details? And what we’re looking at here is the progressive mentioned principle. Yes, we see there are two references that have a possible connection to Genesis chapter six, and that is Jude 6 and 2 Peter 2:4-6.
Now let’s look at these and see what we can understand from them. If this is applicable to the progressive mentioned principle of our “sons of God”, and it says in Second Peter chapter two and verse four through six, “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly.”
And in Jude there’s only one chapter. Verses six and seven it says, “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”
Now, from these two references that we see in the New Testament, we can observe that since not all fallen angels are confined to this place that Peter refers to in the Greek as Tartarus, uh, these particular angels sin beyond the rebellion in heaven that cast them down to earth. Because we noted in Second Peter, “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.” And then again in Jude “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”
So these are special angels that are right now reserved in this place called Tartarus. Now, just to give you a little brief explanation of what I said there, because in 2 Peter says they cast them down to hell, that’s the Greek word tartaroō there. And basically Peter is using a, uh, making a reference here to this Greek mythology. This is a subterranean abyss of Greek mythology where the demigods were punished. Um, it is mentioned in the pseudepigraphical book of Enoch as the place where fallen angels are confined. It is only found only in its verbal form here in Second Peter, which meaning to cast into or consigned to Tartarus. And that, uh, comes from The Complete Word Study Dictionary.
Um, but also to observe here from these passages is that Jude refers to these angels as they kept not their first estate, which literally means their principality. They left that which they had been assigned to.
And number three, we observe that both references in 2 Peter and Jude liken this angelic sin to the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, which went after strange flesh. And of course, that would be, um, coincidence, that would coincide with what we read back here in Genesis chapter six, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose.
But to answer the question, what about Matthew 22:30 that says, “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven?” What we first note that Jesus is talking about the angels of God in heaven, he is illustrating the fact that after we die, we will no longer be married to our spouse on earth, and we will not marry in our glorified bodies. The passage does not say that angels are incapable of procreating, just that they do not marry.
And as a side note, there is no reference in the Bible to a female angel. They always appear and are referred to as male. If the fallen angels did in fact take them wives of all which they chose, how did they do it?
Now, there are two possible ways that this could have happened. First is by taking on a physical form, such as we saw in Genesis 18 and 19. Or two, that they could possess men and use their bodies, which we see elsewhere in Scripture we’ve have discussed before. Those are all considerations to be taking into account.
But when we look at this, there are two main trains of thought, um, as to who the sons of God are. One are they Sethites or godly men? Or two, are they fallen angels who kept not their first estate? Commentators are divided on this issue, yet both have good support behind their reasoning for how they interpret it.
But as with every verse and every passage in the Bible, we must follow good Bible interpretation, good hermeneutics in order to come to our conclusions. To do this, we need to lay aside any preconceived ideas and allow the Bible to interpret itself. After all, the Bible is its own best commentary.
So, I mean, this is why I come to this conclusion on my interpretation of Genesis six and the sons of God. I believe it’s the correct hermeneutical one. Uh, when we were trying to take a consistent approach here and walking the old paths as we come to Scripture, sometimes it’s gonna just rub us the wrong way. It’s going to, uh, slap upside the face and what we believe, but we just need to take a step back. Ask the Lord. What? What do you mean here? And approach it from that literal, historical, grammatical view to see if we can come to the correct interpretation.
And like I said, you don’t have to make a decision on this. You know, if if you’re torn about it, you just pray about it and you ask God to give you the wisdom. You know, there are many things that I still struggle with and wrestle with in my own, um, approach, uh, with, I guess, uh, denominational, um, distinctions and reconciling them with the Bible, and that’s fine. I mean, if you don’t have peace about it, you just pray and and you continue to read the Bible over and over again, and God may someday give you the answer to it, whether that’s to confirm a distinction that’s in your denomination or to reject it as being unbiblical. Uh, that’s how it is. I mean, not everybody is going to be correct. And as we said, why is there so many different views on the Bible? It’s how we interpret it. And so that’s why we need a consistent approach.
Um, and then sometimes there’s just really hard things to understand. And even when we come at it with a literal, uh, grammatical and historical approach, we may not get our answer. There’s some things that we just need to give into God’s hands and allow him, uh, just by faith, to trust him that he knows what he’s doing. That he worded it that way for a reason. You know, why did God say the sons of God? Why couldn’t he have said the sons of Seth or the sons of Adam? In fact, that phrase, the daughters of men, when we look at that in the Hebrew, is literally the daughters of Adam.
Um, we can ask questions and we can talk to God about those things. He delights in us interacting with him in his Word. It is one of the great joys of being a Christian, being a Son of God, now, as a born again Christian. Uh, I enjoy that privilege to be able to go to the father and say, Lord, I don’t understand. Help me to understand or help me with my unbelief. Uh, these are all things that God just delights in us interacting with him over. Uh, because he says, you know, if any of you lack wisdom, ask of me and I will give it to you. You know, he wants us to come to him and ask him for wisdom and understanding and discernment.
And and it’s such a joy to study the Bible and to grow in it. And you know what? When you just start out, you’re like a a baby. You need spiritual milk. God is going to feed you that spiritual milk. And, uh, your pastor, you know, he has a he has a difficult job, you know, and I’m, I’m sometimes I’m hard on the on the local church, uh, because I find that there’s a breakdown there in what we’re doing for the Lord. Uh, but we need to also be have some grace with our pastors because they have a very difficult job of having to burp babies.
A lot of you guys, you literally are stuck on a bottle and you’re not growing from it. You haven’t moved on to the spiritual meat. You ain’t ready for no T-Bone or ribeye steak. You need a bottle of milk. And that’s okay at first, but you should grow. It is a tragedy for a Christian who does not grow in his faith and never moves beyond the needing the bottle to needing strong meat.
But support your pastor. You know, you guys get out to church and you know it’s it’s so important and I believe heavily in the local church. We need to be in it. You know, the Bible says to forsake not the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is.
You need to physically be present in a church. Why? Because you need to serve. Some of you, you’re just content in, not going to church. Not looking for a church or staying at home. Instead of going to church. But what are you when you do that? You’re a consumer. You’re not actually contributing to anything, and you should be involved in a local church serving alongside other brothers and sisters in Christ. That’s our job.
And Satan loves to try to break us apart from the the from the fold. Right. If he can get one sheep away, that sheep is vulnerable. That sheep is vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. And. But when you’re amongst the the herd, you, you have protection there. The shepherd’s close by.
But, you know, thank goodness that God, he doesn’t let us just wander off and stay there. He goes out after us. You know, God gave him 100 sheep, and he’s going to come home with 100 sheep. When one runs off, he’s going to go after that one sheep, bring it back. Here, dumb sheep. Let’s come back to the fold. Let’s get back to studying the Bible again. Talking to the father, growing in our relationship and our walk with him.
Well, support this podcast, brethren, where you know, I’m moving forward, where we’re working on growth. And, um, coming up in some weeks here, I’m going to be kind of explaining some of that. You know, what the vision is of the the ministry here, walking the old paths and, and are called to help, you know, uh, we’re we want to call out to our brothers and sisters here that believe that share in the vision and the ministry of walking the old paths and want to see it grow and ask for your support in it.
Uh, but share it. Share it with people that you know and, uh, you know, like and subscribe to us on social media. Help it to get out there. That’s a great way, uh, nowadays, to be able to spread, um, the ministry and to reach others and grow the podcast, and we’ll give it over to the Lord and and see what he wants to do with it and how he wants to grow it.
Um, I’m his you’re his, uh, let’s serve alongside one another. Now, the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.