(NOTE: Some of the themes of these articles may not be appropriate for young readers. Please keep that in mind when sharing this information).
It is written:
“The number of people on earth continued to increase. When these people had daughters, the sons of God saw how beautiful they were. So they chose the women they wanted. They married them, and the women had their children. Then the LORD said, “People are only human. I will not let my Spirit be troubled by them forever. I will let them live only 120 years.” During this time and also later, the Nephilim people lived in the land. They have been famous as powerful soldiers since ancient times.” (Genesis 6:1-4)
We have seen that Satan and 1/3 of the angels rebelled against God. Indeed, the Book of Genesis chronicles at least three rebellions against God, each involving angels and humans.
The first one is the Eden account (Genesis 3); the second one is here with the formation of the Nephelim (Genesis 6); and the third is the Tower of Babel incident (Genesis 10-11).
Now, here in Genesis 6, we read about the “sons of God” having relations with the “daughters of men.”
Who are the “sons of God” here in Genesis 6?
This specific phrase had only been used at this point in time from the Book of Job. We are told:
Job 1:6-Then the day came for the ANGELS (sons of God) to meet with the LORD. Even Satan was there with them.
Job 2:1-Then another day came for the ANGELS (sons of God) to meet with the LORD. Satan joined them for this meeting with the LORD.
Job 38:4-7- “Where were you when I made the earth? If you are so smart, answer me. 5 And who decided how big the earth should be? Who measured it with a measuring line? 6 What is the earth resting on? Who put the first stone in its place. 7 when the morning stars sang together and the ANGELS (sons of God) shouted with joy?
Remember that Job is the only Book of the Bible older then Genesis. So Moses (when writing Genesis) would have been drawing on Job and his terminology. With that in mind, the phrase ‘sons of God’ used in the context of Genesis 6 clearly had reference to the angels of God.
The teaching of Judaism from the earliest time was that these sons of God were, in fact, angels who took physical form and mated with humans in an attempt to shatter the prophecy of Genesis 3:15.
“This strange passage describes the bizarre circumstances that led to the cataclysmic disaster of the famous Flood of Noah. The Hebrew term translated “sons of God” is , B’nai HaElohim, a term consistently used in the Old Testament for angels.224 When the Hebrew Torah, which of course includes the book of Genesis, was translated into Greek in the third century before Christ (giving us what is known as the Septuagint translation), this expression was translated angels.225 With the benefit of the best experts at that time behind it, this translation carries great weight and it was the one most widely quoted by the writers of the New Testament. The Book of Enoch also clearly treats these strange events as involving angels.226 Although this book was not considered a part of the “inspired” canon, the Book of Enoch was venerated by both rabbinical and early Christian authorities from about 200 B.C. through about A.D. 200 and is useful to authenticate the lexicological usage and confirm the accepted beliefs of the period. The Biblical passage refers to supernatural beings intruding upon the planet Earth….The “angel” view of this classic Genesis text is well documented in both ancient Jewish rabbinical literature and Early Church writings. In addition to the Septuagint translation, the venerated (although non-canonical) Book of Enoch, the Syriac Version of the Old Testament, as well as the Testimony of the 12 Patriarchs234 and the Little Genesis,235 confirm the lexicological usage and the extant beliefs of ancient Jewish scholars. Clearly the learned Philo Judaeus understood the passage as relating to angels.236 Josephus Flavius also represents this view: “They made God their enemy; for many angels of God accompanied with women, and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own strength, for the tradition is that these men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians call giants.”237 In accordance with the ancient interpretation, the Early Church fathers understood the expression “sons of God” as designating angels. These included Justin Martyr,238 Irenaeus,239 Athenagoras,240 Pseudo-Clementine,241 Clement of Alexandria,242 Tertullian,243 Commodianus,244 and Lactantius,245 to list a few. This interpretation was also espoused by Luther and many more modern exegetes including Koppen, Twesten, Dreschler, Hofmann, Baumgarten, Delitzsch, W Kelly, A. C. Gaebelein, and others.” (Chuck Missler & Mark Eastman, Alien Encounters: The Secret Behind The UFO Phenomenon, 205-208 (Kindle Edition); Coeur d’Alene, ID; Koinonia House)
The book of Enoch (which we will examine in greater detail) documents these facts, and shows us that there were two hundred of these fallen angels who thus corrupted the bloodline of humanity.
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