“When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days– and also afterward– when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.” <Gen.6:1-2, 4 (NIV)>
A STRANGE AND TERRIBLE EVENT OCCURRED <Gen.6:1-2, 4>: There were giants (KJV), Nephilim (NIV); monsters, not only in size but also in wickedness.
WHO WERE THEY AND WHERE DID THEY COME FROM? <Gen.6:4> “the sons of God” <cf Job.1:6>; these references speak of angelic beings: <cf Dan.3:25> here in the book of Daniel, is a reference to Christ in one of His pre-incarnate appearances. Thus, the phrase “the sons of God”, has to be interpreted as angelic beings, and in the context of the passage, these beings were “fallen angels”; those that had rebelled against God and were cast out of heaven.
The passage refers to their offspring as “giants” or “Nephilim”. The Nephilim are considered by many as giant demigods, the unnatural offspring of the “daughters of men” (mortal women) in cohabitation with the “sons of God” (fallen angels). Giant – An abnormally tall and powerful human being of ancient Bible lands; the rendering of several Hebrew words [Nephilim (nef’i-lim; Rephaim(ref’a-im; Anakim (an’a-kim; Emim (em’im); Zamzummim(zam’zum-im)] Anakim – A gigantic race descended through Anak from Arba a Hittite, one of the descendants of Ham <Gen.23:3; 10:15>. The name “Arba” is mentioned in Jos.14:15 as “the greatest among the Anakites”. In their presence the Israelites reckoned themselves only as grasshoppers <Num.13:28, 33>. The Anakim were like the Emim, who were great, and many, and tall, and it was a common saying among the Israelites, “Who can stand before the children of Anak?” <Deut.9:2>. “the daughters of men” were descendants of human beings that populated the earth at that time, and the result of this type of marriage produced the giants or Nephilim.
THE WICKEDNESS OF MANKIND WAS GREAT! “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.” <Gen.6:5, 22 (NIV)>. The union of fallen angels and human beings not only produced giants, but also a race of wicked and evil people who had totally rejected God and did what was right in their own eyes.
THE NATURE OF THEIR WICKEDNESS: to understand this let us look at the other descendants of Adam, in particular – Lamech who was the 7thdescendant of Adam, and was evil personified. “Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.” <Gen.4:23-24 (NIV)>. He was a member of a line of Adam that departed the ways of God and their father Adam. He was aware of the account of Cain and Abel <Gen.4:1-18>, and knew of the curse that God had laid on Cain. His statement in v24 shows his militant defiance against God in declaring that he took the life of another person and would be avenged for it. That is, he had the means to defend himself and no one, not even God, could punish him for his actions. Lamech had three sons, who by their actions and professions dominated the godless line of Cain in their prosperity, pleasure and power. Jabal: a nomadic cattle rancher (ie. to possess or acquire) . A new way of life in that he dominated or “cornered” the market. Anyone who required beef had to come to him. Jubal: his speciality was music. This new world order had its entertainment in music as it needed to find pleasurable ways to structure its time; ways to “drown out” the thought of God; ways to fill the void in their souls. Tubal-Cain: he introduced the first industrial revolution with the “cutting instrument”. He too had a monopoly on the business and no doubt supplied his father with the means of defending himself.
The growing anarchy of the antediluvians caused God to “look” from His throne in heaven upon their wicked philosophies, their obscene artefacts, their filthy causes, and their fashionable vile sins in which the society was being molded. So the influence of godlessness spread among the people of the antediluvian world, to the extent that their wickedness and evil caused God to regret forming man and placing him on this earth, “The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.” <Gen.6:6 (NIV)>.
GOD’S INTERVENTION: “So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” <Gen.6:7 (NIV)>. Since God is the creator of all human, animal, and plant life, He has the right to destroy as He sees fit. The fatal line between God’s mercy and His wrath was crossed as the race had sinned beyond recall, and He had set the machinery in motion to destroy the world by flood.
GOD’S PROVISION: “But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD… So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out…. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.” Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” <Gen.6:8, 14, 18-22 (NIV)>. The first biblical account of God’s preservation of His truth (other occurrences – the conquest of Canaan, the Jewish captivity in Babylon, the flight to Egypt of the Christ-child).
AS IT WAS – SO IT WILL BE: “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” <Matt.24:37-39 (NIV)>. Giants: fascination with the occult produced giants then, and will do the same today. Evil controls thoughts, actions and attitudes then and will continue today. There was increasing ungodliness then which continues today and rejection of God at every level of society, in Noah’s day and in ours. The Occult: the “sons of god” accomplished their purposes by an equivalent to demon possession. That is, they possessed the bodies of human men and women that were open to the mysteries of the spirit world. By such possession they controlled not only the men they exploited but also the women they took to themselves, and their evil control extended to the children that were born; <see Jude 6-7; Eph.2:2; 6:12; cf Matt.5:2-5; 8:28; Lk.8:29>. Demon possession can cause the possessed person to have great physical strength. Demons feared the Lord Jesus Christ because they were originally destined for the abyss (gloomy dungeons) <see 2 Pet.2:4>. The people in Noah’s day, no doubt because of their fascination with spiritualism and the occult, were possessed by such demons.
EVIL CONTROL OF SOCIETY: is evident in the control of economic markets, both in government and business in general, causing a great deal of difficulty for consumers. Certain music of the world today can certainly drown out all thought of God – consider the effects of some modern music groups and individuals upon the lives and minds of society in general. Human rights and individual rights have certainly stressed our society in modern times, as we consider the decisions of our political and judicial systems in regards to individuals connected to crimes. Increasing violence among people in our communities and increasing corruption is evident in every segment of our society; “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time….Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.” <Gen.6:5, 22 (NIV)>. The occult and evil control in our present social circles has led to and will increasingly lead to ungodliness and a total rejection of God by the people of our day; God’s people were being enticed and it was difficult for Noah and his family, and God’s people today are in great danger of this ever appealing ungodliness <see 2 Pet.2:1-2; Jude 11-13>.
JUDGMENT: God’s patience ended in Noah’s day an will end for this present world in the not too distant future; as it was unexpected and denied by Noah’s society it is also rejected and denied by the world today <see 2 Pet.3:3-9>. Judgment was certain upon all who rejected Noah’s warning and is certain on all who reject it today <see 2 Pet.3:10; Rev.19:11, 17-20; 20:7-15>.
GOD’S PURPOSE: was the eradication of evil from Noah’s world and will be the eventual eradication of evil from this present world; from the earth itself and from people in general. A new heaven and earth will be brought into being, just as after the flood the earth had been purged of evil and in this new state evil will forever be purged from mankind <see Rev.21:1-5>. As in Noah’s day the whole creation was eagerly awaiting God’s intervention, so it is today! <see Rom.8:19-23>.
The creation groans as it did in Noah’s day to be liberated from the decay of sin, and we, as God’s children, also groan as we await the redemption of our bodies from this sinful state. We are God’s children – “sons of God” <1 Jn.3:1>, Because of, and only through, faith in Jesus Christ <Jn.1:12-13>, and are led by His Holy Spirit (as opposed to the “sons of god” in Noah’s day).
Are you beyond doubt a “child of God”? Only God’s children, those who are truly born again into His family, will escape the impending judgment upon this evil world!