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Back to Genesis
<aside> đ This page was originally posted on my Blogger version of the blog on June 19, 2015 The content below has a few minor tweaks for clarity, and additional references, and some updated information.
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Genesis 6 through Genesis 9 details the events of the global flood including the cause, the preservation of life, and the aftermath. These chapters identify the first covenant between God and man and further illustrate the concept that the price of sin is death.
In Genesis 6, we are told that just before the flood the "sons of God" married "daughters of men" and became very evil. There is much discussion as to what is meant by the sons of God versus the daughters of men. There are people believe sons of God refer to angels even though out of the 10 times this phrase appears in the Bible only once does it refer to angels.[9] In Matthew 22:29-30, however, Jesus tells us that angels don't marry, making it highly unlikely that in this case this is a reference to Godâs angels. The only plausible chance would be if these were fallen angels, which doesn't quite make sense; why would Moses still refer to them as sons of God? The phrase sons of God is reserved for those who are righteous and follow God. If sons of God refers to fallen angels, is this something that is still occurring even today? Many believe the sons of God refers to the chosen line Seth and the daughters of men refers to the corrupt line of Cain.**[7][8]** Regardless, we are told that the children of these matches were corrupt men with great power; they are referred to as the Nephilim, sometimes translated as giants.
That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
It saddened God that man was so intent on committing acts of evil. Some have argued the fact that God repents or is sorry for creating man (Genesis 6:7) "proves" God does not know the future. However, a more logical explanation is that Godâs knowledge that man would fall to this depth did not stop it from hurting Him when He saw how they behaved. A modern example would be when people go shopping on black Friday: they know it will be hectic yet they still go looking for dealsâduring the chaos it is likely that they regret coming, even though they knew beforehand that it would be that way, and when they return home with their majorly discounted merchandise they are happy again that they decided to go.
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.
It was the evil in the hearts of man that caused God to destroy them with the flood.
In Genesis 6:3 KJV tells us that God put a limit or expiration date on mankind. The question is if this time (120 years) referred to a cap in how long man would be allowed to live (you'll notice that after the flood people live shorter lives) or if it referred to how long it would be before He destroyed the world with the flood. After the flood there are still people who live to 120 years, though if you assume God is restricting how long man can live in this passage, He does not say when He will limit the age of man. It makes sense that if He were restricting age, it would be a gradual process, as the surviving humans would need the extra time to repopulate the Earth. Supporters of this theory also argue that it is possible that the shortening of life was a trait given to Noah and his sons at the moment God spoke, which was passed down genetically (which would also take time.[1] Currently there is a woman claiming to be 127 years old, however, she does not have proof.[5] The Guinness Book of World Records cited the oldest human to ever live to have been 122 years old.[6] While this is far from the 969 years of Methuselah, it is still greater than 120 years. Yet, there are still counters to explain the possibility of someone living beyond 120 years. In this passage God is speaking of His disdain for man's wickedness an inclination to follow the flesh as opposed to God. In some versions of Exodus 20:12, like the KJV, God says that your days can be prolonged by honoring your mother and father (other translations use "long" instead of "prolonged"). Thus, it is possible that those making it above 120 years were granted a prolonged life for their conduct. It is my opinion, however, that God was speaking of how long it would be until He brought about the floodâthis theory has no contradictions. Plus, in Psalm 90:10 KJV, we are told the average lifespan of mankind is 70-80 years. Not only is this consistent with what we see, there is no contradiction as we are being given an estimate or an average. In Genesis 6:3, the 120 years appears absolute. It is hard to say for certain which is the correct interpretation.
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.
Many legends, myths, and stories have been created for the mysterious Nephilim of Genesis 6:4 (the Nephilim also appear in Numbers 13:33). So who are they? Are they the unholy offspring of angels and mankind, like some suggest? A portion of the population that grew into giants? Neanderthals!? There are three main suggestions for who the Nephilim are: half-human/half-angel offspring of "sons of God" and "daughters of men", royalty/nobility and heroes, or giants. We know that they existed both before and after the flood, so if they were giants in the literal sense the gene to produce giant offspring must have been within Noah and his sons as well since they return after the flood. If indeed fallen angel went against their angelic nature to produce children, this would have had to occur after the flood as well (which is theoretically possible). Royalty and heroes were bound to reappear after the flood, so that is possible as well.There are arguments for and against each theory (some of the arguments for and against Nephilim being half angel, half man are discussed in the section entitled The Sons of God and Daughters of Men). An in depth argument that the Nephilim were the product of fallen angels can be found here, and brief analysis on many of the theories can be found here.