Gen. 6:2-4

Gen. 6:2-4

Since there is much conflict at times over who the Nephilim were, and the sons of God, these verses will be examined together. It’s one of those cases where it’s not vital to doctrine, though, so even before I start, it’s important to remember to be of one mind in the Lord, as Paul was inspired to write in Phil 4:2-3. When it’s not an issue that is vital for doctrine – and the wording there shows it wasn’t – then we must simply accept that we can’t know all the answers, but God does, and he will bring out the truth int ime.

Sons of God

Whole books have probably been written about this topic. Whenever there is a dispute , the first place to look is Scripture so we can interpret Scripture with Scripture and not with the ideas of people,  who are fallible.

When we look for this phrase elsewhere, we see it always refers to angels. Yes, Jesus is the Son of God, as the second person of the God head He is God. When we see the plural sons, though, in the Old Testament, Job in particular, the meaning is clearly angels.(Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7)

One place where it clearly means people is John 1:12, but as we shall see, that actually works counter to those who argue that these sins of God are people.

Another clue is that it contrasts them with the daughters of men. Here, let us begin to examine the counter argument, that they could be people.

The opponents of the concept that they could be fallen angels point out that they are likely descended from Cain, as opposed to the Godly Seth it line. But, as noted, in John 1:12 the sons of God are those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ to save them by faith. This is the opposite of the rebellious Cainites. They would not be trusting God for anything as a group, though of course individuals might have been saved. And, we can from the verses they don't behave in a way that honors God, anyway. So, they go to the daughters of Cainites and take them, either, it is almost certain.

Of course, verse 5 tells how evil was everywhere,  so it is possible. Perhaps Noah waited so long to have children because his family, like the Cainites, we're filled with lust. That is quite plausible.

However, the main argument used to oppose the belief in fallen angels is twofold.

First, they claim God forbade the branches to interrmarry. This is never said, however, until Abraham was told not to marry his son, Isaac,  to a woman of Canaan. It is possible He told Seth this, but if so, it would seem that God would want us to know it. More likely, either it stems from not realizing the difference between God's chosen people and Gentiles, or given how I can confuse things, maybe something as simple as confusing Cain with Canaan.

The other reason given is that angels don't marry in Heaven. Well, first, 2 Peter and Jude both speak of angels leaving their first estate, so disobedience angels might have married even if obedient ones don't,. Second, nowhere does it say they married the daughters of men, only that they took them. While it's quite likely angels have no reproductive organs, and their looking like men could be just on the outside,  it is possible they do, too. Finally, even without such organs, artificially placing seeds in them is at least possible.

This leads to one of the big problems some have with the idea of fallen angels creating offspring with women - the emphasis some place on aliens.

But first, before we examine the facts and fallacies about that spiritual warfare, something else bears mention in verse 3.

My spirit shall not always strive with man

God had given mankind many chances.  It's easy to see how one could argue that just the evil of these people was enough to bring judgment.  God shows elsewhere that He has lots of patience and gives time to repent, but eventually He must judge sin. Thankfully,  that judgement happened on the cross,  so all who call upon the name  of the Lord are saved when they trust Jesus by faith to do so, ss Jesus took all our sin upon Himself.

However, when God says man's days shall be 120 years, He still was providing time for people to repent, yet He said nothing about combining the Seth it's and Cainites. If that had been His purpose,  it seem that would  be worth noting, especially since it would provide a model for the Jews later.

However, the command for them was because they had been set apart, chosen by God and following Him while the other people worshipped idols,  including such horrors as human sacrifice.  This is not clear from what happens to Cain and his descents. Sure, they were prideful and downright evil, but while there would clearly be a desire for the Seth it's to marry only those who worshipped God alone, the implication seems to be something far worse took place when these sons of God went and took as many of the daughters of men as they pleased.

God then says man's days shall be 120 years. This could mean that the life span would be shortened to that, but while that did eventually happen,  it took much longer to get down there.

So, this almost surely means that long and if repentance didn't come, He would destroy the corrupt world.

This leads back into the giants, the men renown.

This is yet another clue these Nephilim, as the word giants is in the original Hebrew, we're more than just Cainites. If they were merely Cainites, they would probably not have gained such huge notoriety. They also would not have been around after that - that is, after the Flood - if the Flood was to wipe them out.

Instead, taking away talk of aliens and space,  it's quite plausible to presume fallen angels acted in a way that may not seem natural to us, but in the massive spiritual warfare which surrounded the world, just as it does now, these fallen angels were able to interact with women this way. It may not be conclusive, but it seems to me the most likely explanation. Spiritual warfare is intense, after all.

However, whichever it was, let us be of one mind in this; that God kept showing His mercy despite this problem. There are good, dedicated Christians on both sides of the question.  Personally,  the amount of spiritual warfare in our world boggles my mind. Something could have happened in another dimension quite easily.  The ancient Greek stories, for instance,  could have risen from these creatures. I'm skeptical of the notion that these special men of renown could have arisen just because they were Cainites; Nimrod, for instance, was a “mighty hunter before the Lord” but he was not even called a giant.(Gen. 10:9) However, reasonable minds could differ.

But, that doesn't mean some demon will come pretending to be an alien to get people to worship it when what they would be doing is worshipping the devil instead. The devil can inhabit someone without having them take on alien form. Revelation 13 shows this. The devil himself put into the heart of Judas to betray Jesus.(John 13:2) Could the antichrist be an alien? Yes. But, it’s much more likely that spiritual warfare will remain of the type seen in many places today. Which is supernatural and scary enough at times without the alien stuff.

Gen. 6:1

Men began to multiply

The number of people who could have been born staggers the mind. As noted, Adam and Eve had 77 kids according to some tradition. Even figuring that sin entering the world meant some may have died early of disease or violence from other people or animals, there could have been billions on the earth.

Each of these souls was precious to God, and while it was not the age of Grace, still salvation has always been by faith. The hall of fame of faith in Hebrews 11 shows this. Even though only the greatest of the great are mentioned, it still shows us that throughout history, God has provided a means to be saved from sin that is opposite of man's way of trying to work to get there.

Works salvation is impossible because it leads to pride, which leads to boasting,  and than is sin as people try to puff themselves up rather than give full credit to God and Him alone. In a world where so many were, and where so many were seeking to reach God on their own, it proves what Jesus would say later, that the way to Heaven is narrow.

Daughters were born

From the history passed down from Adam and Eve, they knew women were special. Yes, sons were important because they knew so little about how thw promised Redeemer would come, except that He would be seed of a woman. However, dau h hers were special for another reason, the ability to one day bear that seed and, in the meantime, to be Godly, virtuous examples who should marry Godly, virtuous men and form unions in marriage - which God had ordained before the Fall of mankind. The two could be one flesh and have a relationship which  glorified God.

That us not how it happened, though, as we will see in the next verse.

(And, discussion of "sons of God" and "Nephilim" will be kind of lengthy, so it could take a few days to write up. it won't be a break like the 5 years of before, though - I'm pacing myself this time :-) Thanks to all for reading.)

Gen. 5:30-32

Gen. 5:30-32

Here, we see that Noah waited a long time to have his sons that the Bible records – and these are likely the only children he had, since everyone else in the line from Adam to Noah is recorded to have had “sons and daughters.”

He may have been too busy serving the Lord to have children. This is possible since he would have heard of Enoch and how he walked with God. A great testimony of faith should inspire others to action. Enoch was a fabulous role model. Yes , Lamech was Noah's  father and should have been the primary one, but we do a terrible injustice when we fail to recognize the good others have done and could do if they let God use them. God gives His word at times to allow us to see Godly examples, after all. We need to follow His example first, after all. As the Bible says, we ought to obey God rather than man when the two conflict.(Acts 5:29)

Whether he was like Martha, Mary’s sister, whom Jesus remaindered was too encumbered with serving and missing the most important thing, though.(Luke 11) Noah was “perfect in his generations”(Gen. 6:9), which will be looked at later, but suffice it to say that his righteousness is compared to that of the great Job and Daniel in Ezekiel 20. This is not equal to God’s righteousness, of course – all our righteousness is as filthy rags compared to the Lor’s.(Is.64:6) However, he clearly followed the Lord closely enough that he easily went out and began building that ark despite the fact it would have no purpose that mankind could see, he only had God’s promise that He would flood the whle world. And, Noah stayed close to God despite the fact that so many must have scoffed at him, for only he, his wife, his sons,a nd their wives went intot he ark. (Although, of course, some who died before the Flood may have believed him.)

Those sons, of course, may have been born so late (when Noah was 500 years old) because of God’s perfect timing being relied on by Noah. Whereas the others have sons and daughters mentioned but not referred to by name, he does not. Hence, it’s very likely that these were the only three children he had.

Who their wives were – or his wife – we can’t say, though there is some speculation his wife was of the line of Cain, a woman named Naamah. This Naamah may have been the daughter of Lamech of the Cainites with Zillah. This is according to early Jewish tradition. Medieval Jewish tradition, however, lists a different Naamah, a daughter of Enoch, as Noah’s wife, though there is some problem with the age there so it doesn’t seem as likely, since Enoch was “translated” at only 365 years of age, only 300 years after begetting Methusaleh. (Methusaleh was 969 when he died and the Flood began, and Enoch was translated when he was 300 so his youngest sister would have been at least 669 years old, while Noah was 600 when the Flood began. Would Noah have married someone at least 69 years older than him? Maybe, but since the bible mentions other miraculous births when people are past childbearing age, one would suspect that if his wife had been past childbearing age God would have mentioned it. Then again, we don’t know what childbearing age was before the Flood. Speculating by just figuring today’s childbearing age times 10 is just that, speculation. But, while she could have had Shem, ham,a nd Japheth at age 569 or greater, it’s more likely that it’s another Naamah.)

 John Gill, a theologian of the 1700s with a large commentary, says Naamah was the name of the wife of Ham, in which he is clearly referring to the Naamah of the line of Cain, where not as many generations are listed but where several of the parents could easily have had the children listed   when they were a few hundred years old.

All of this speculation should not be taken as canon, but should merely be taken to show this point. There were probably not a lot of women available. While it’s possible Noah and his wife married early and then waited because of the evil coming uponthe earth till God’s appointed time, it still adds to a later verse stating that things were very wicked. People were imagining such eveil, despicable things, and only the family of Noah seems to have been above it all.

In this day and age, when so many seem to be focused on evil, we need to remember that same warning, that we must stand out as different. Our morality must not be a selfish morality where we say we are superior, though – that would not have made Noah “perfect in his generations,” rather it must be a Christ-honoring one where we share with others the hope that is within us, that certainty that God is there for us and will be for them.

It doesn’t always seem like it, but we do have a lot to offer the people of this world. The people of this world need to see that there is a difference, but whle we must not be of the world’s system that forgets God, we are called to be in the world. To stand out like a beacon. To be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. We must let our lights shine so that people can see our good works, but for them to glorify our Father which is in heaven(Mat. 5:16) we must share why it is we are so kind, gentle, compassionate, good to others, respectful, tenderhearted, forgiving, and all the other good things God calls us to be. It is not so we can work our way to heaven, but because Jesus Chrsit has saved us. And, it is our reasonable service because of that.(Rom.12:1)

Gen. 5:29

His name shall be Noah


This, like when others are given specific names in the Bible, helps us see God's plan. We don't know how many heard the prophecy, but it is interesting that God still wished to show His mercy even as the world sped toward destruction. In the same way, today He calls people to repent and trust Jesus to save them even with all the problems and how we turn from Him. Isaiah said it so well - all we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned each one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.


Shall comfort us


Noah promised to comfort a group. Who? There are two possibilities at least.
This could refer to all the people in the world.  Noah promised salvation if p8would just believe him. That is great comfort to many, to be free from this world of sin. It may last a short time, but salvation is forever.


He may have been among the few following God yet, too. Perhaps the followers of wickedness had so corrupted mankind that dealing with them was among the great toil they faced.
Either way, whether that work of their hands was farming or just life in general, we know God is always good and faithful to see us through anything when we trust Him.


However, another interesting thought is this. God mentions that it is because of the ground He had cursed. Just because we have had the agricultural revolution doesn’t mean they had it back then – perhaps the ground didn’t yield as much as it does today, and there was starting to be sporadic famine. This is just speculation, but if people had begun to focus so much on the works of their hands that they had forgotten about God, then perhaps Noah comforted them that God was there for them, and begging the people to turn to Him. Even when serving the Lord, one may become so encumbered with serving that, like Jesus warned Martha at the end of Luke 11, one can forget that which is most important, as her sister Mary did sitting and learning t Jesus’ feet.


The Great Flood would come during Noah’s lifetime, and one wonders how news of that can be a comfort, but this world is not all there is. There is everlasting life to be had, and Noah may well have preached that it was attainable for anyone who would trust God by faith to deliver them.


Salvation has always been by faith. Now, that is by grace through faith(Eph. 2:8-9) - for if it is by works it is no more grace, and if by grace then it is no more works.(Rom. 11:6) however, even before, it was by faith. Abraham’s faith was counted to him for righteousness.(Gal.3:6, James 2:23) The men of the Hebrews 11 “Hall of Fame of faith” were all justified by faith. Indeed, the Bible shows that is how the just live, by faith.


So, for noah to comfort the people, perhaps it was in urging them to have faith in god delivering them, either by that ark he was building or that if they died before the Flood that he would forgive them through whatever means He would.


Now, of course, we know what he planned – He planned to come to this world, live a dinless life, and then die on the cross to take the punishment for each of our sins and rise from the dead. They may not have totally understood that plan in those pre-Flood days, I don’t know, but Noah, at least, knew enough to believe God would make a way where there seemed to be no way.

Genesis 5:25-28

Genesis 5:25-28

The same pattern from before returns again. We don’t know what other people also walked with God at the time of Enoch, or whether anyone else really even followed the Lord. There will always be a remnant that does, however, because of faithful men and women that follow the Lord and provide examples for us.

Enoch provided that example for Methuselah and then for. Lamech. Methusaleh lived 969 years, longer than anyone else in the Bible. More will be said about him later on. However, a few things are interesting here.

Same Name, Different Person

First, Lamech shares his name with a wicked man in the line of Cain. We don’t know if they overlapped substantially, though given the life spans they almost surely overlapped some. We don’t know if they were in different parts of the world at this time – or even if it was different continents or one like some geologists suspect – and that view is possible, since the “fountains of the deep” also opened up during the Floord, and massive earthquakes could have moved everything around such that a fairly level Earth suddenly had massive mountain ranges.(The tallest mountain, in fact, Mr. Everest, is still rising.)

Anyway, whichever it was, Lamech and his counterpart, Lamech the Terrible, have some interesting distinctions.

First, Lamech doesn’t boast here the way the Lamech who descended from Cain did. He simply lived a life that was apparently pleasing to God, though of course he was a sinner who needed to be saved by faith just like any of us.

His grandfather, Enoch, also shared a name with one of Cain’s sons, so it’s possible CEnoch’s son, Methusaleh, knew of this. And, if Seth’s ilne’s Lamech was born after, simply decided to name him the same thing, too.

Of course, it’s also possible that Cain’s line’s Lamech was born after and it was a case of the devil copying God to try to provide his own means of salvation, one which leads to tyranny and Hell. The devil’s ways are always about works, not by faith like God’s.

However, it’s important to remember that just because something or someone has the same outward appearance – such as a name – the inward heart much be looked at. Many times, something with the same name is used innocently, too, or in the English language just because there aren’t enough words, such as love – in the Greek there is eros(lust, a physical sensation), phileo(brotherly love, love toward a best friend), storge(family love, the way it should be, incredibly closeness and devotion) and agape(God’s unconditional love, greater than that of a family because God loved us before we ever knew Him and in fact while we were yet His enemies.)

Works are an outward action, just like a name. If Lamech in Cain’s line had decided he was going to change his name to change his image, it wouldn’t have worked unless his heart changed. God has changed peoples’ names once their heart was changed – Abram became Abraham, Jacob became Israel(though he still went by Jacob often, too), and Saul of Tarsus became Paul. This, however, signifies an inward transformation.

When we pay too much attention to the outward appearance, to the point we neglect the inward man, we become like the Pharisees. We must guard against putting too much emphasis on the outward appearance, including avoiding things that are unbiblical, just like was noted earlier where Even added to God’s message in Genesis 3 and said that they couldn’t touch the tree, when all God said was they couldn’t eat it.

Gen. 5;22-24

Gen. 5:22-24

I’m sorry I lost track of this for so long – I got burned out doing so much and so went on to other ministries, including starting in Global Media Outreach around when I stopped this. I will try to to update this some, though it won’t be as often.

Anyway, to continue…

Walked with God

The phrase “walking with God” is not limited to Enoch. David points out how to do it in Psalm 16:8, having the Lord ever before one. It means keeping ones eyes on Jesus, as Peter did when he stepped out of the boat for a moment. Hezekiah asks the Lord to remember how he did it – and he was a great king. The Lord, through the prophet Malachi, speaks of Levi walking this way. Micah 6:8 commands it. And, in the next chapter, Noah is said to have walked with God, as well.

While these men lived, however – and may have done quite well at serving God – the Lord singles out Enoch, with those few others, for his much closer walk, the kind we should all seek, and sadly, the ways of the world distract us so often, this writer included.

 Still, it’s a tall order, one that not many Christians do with Christ. It’s an order tall enough, God singles out only a few men who have done so, Enoch being one.

The phrase “walked with God” is used, to show a difference between that and merely living. Many sit in and out of churches around the world who are saved, yet aren’t really living for the Lord. At least in the early days, before sin became so common, others – even those not in this specifically line – probably lived for the Lord, just as those in the line from Adam to Enoch had.

However, there is a further large gap between those who live for Him, and those who truly walk with Him. Consider the following:

To live for something means you dedicate yourself to something. But, you can do this via serving in some way – like Martha, who Jesus tells in Luke 11 was “cumbered about with much serving” – and yet be ignoring that which is most important – which Jesus says her sister Mary was doing, sitting at His feet and learning.

This doesn’t mean that Martha wasn’t doing a good work. She lived for Christ, lived to serve Him. But, we can so easily get burned out. This can happen when something is too overwhelming, like when I thought to try to comment on the whole of Genesis, if not the whole Bible, and then found it so inexhaustible that it could take me ten thousands years and I might not be finished.  It can also happen when something is so totally on one’s own effort that he or she doesn’t have help.

Thus, it can be said that Enoch walked with God, constantly communing with Him just as Mary did at Jesus’ feet. But, there is a further meaning, too.

And he was not, for God took Enoch

There was something different about this walk, something which led to what many feel is a picture of the Rapture of the church as mentioned in Ephesians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. It is not said that he died, but that God took him.

Some say he may be one of the 2 witnesses in revelation 11, though personally I think it will be Moses and Elijah. Their identities are not important right now,t hough. What is important is that God had a special plan for him, a purpose far beyond merely serving him.

Was he a prophet of antediluvian times? He certainly uttered at least one prophecy, as noted. Before is recorded in Jude and another with the naming of Methuselah.

But, whatever God’s purpose was for him, Enoch may recognized it first with methuselah’s birth, since the Bible says he walked with God “after he beget Methuselah.” Something may have been told to him by God which caused him to name Methuselah the way he did. Perhaps he was constantly serving the Lord before, perhaps he was only shown then how great a responsibility he had, something parenthood does to some people, though if they attempt ont heir own strength to handle that responsibility they fall woefully short.

Whatever it was, though,  it casued Enoch to realize a need to be so close to God that he poured everything he had into serving the Lord, but also into being with Him. One preacher once said that it was as if Enoch and God were walking and God sayd one day, “We’re a lot closer to My house than yours, why don’t you just come homw tih me.”

The fact he could walk with God in a very fallen world, one getting worse and worse, shows we shouldn’t make the excuse that the world is too much of a mess. True, there were still hundreds of years before man’s mind was on evil continually, but it was much closer to that than it was to the pristine Eden which Adam and Eve had to be evicted from.

And, god protected Enoch from that evil world. We don’t know if he faced any kind of persecution, though I’d personally be shocked if he didn’t. We do know that he didn’t die, since that term is not used for Enoch the way it was for the others. Indeed, Paul says of those in the end times, “We shall not all sleep(die) but we shall all be changed.” The pains of this world are still with us till then, as they no doubt were to Enoch, but we deal with them – when we walk with God – with a confidence that he will guide us through. Jesus didn’t promise to keep us from everything, but He did say, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”(John 16:33)

Enoch had this testimony; that he pleased God.(Heb. 11:5) He didn’t work his way to God, as salvation is by grace through faith, and not by works.(Eph.2:8-9) God doesn’t want us to boast of ourselves. He wants us to be hmble, for He resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble.(James4:6)

Since God can’t touch sin due to His holiness, than, how could Enoch have pleased god or walked with him, unless Enoch was humble, realizing God was in charge. When we realize God is sovereign in our affairs, that is when we please Him. That is when we can walk with Him.

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Again, I won’t update this all the time, but I’ll try to get through Genesis 11, perhaps, or maybe a few verses beyond that, dealing with the promise to Abraham.

And, thanks to those who read. I don’t have the time for a lot of comments so I really got little positive feedback, but looking at the number of page views recently made me realize there are people who really enjoy this. So, thanks.