Genesis 4-6
When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.
Genesis 6:1-2
I highlight these verses not because I have a crystal clear explanation of them but because I do not. That is not to say that no explanations have been offered. Quite the contrary — theories abound. A tremendous amount of time and energy (and ink and web space) has been devoted to speculation as to what is meant by the “sons of God”. Here is a sampling:
- Fallen angels
- Extraterrestrial beings (i.e., space aliens)
- Homo Sapiens (descendants of Adam), in contrast to Neanderthal (or some such genetically compatible but otherwise unspiritual) “daughters of men”
I am not going to try to settle the matter here. Sorry about that. Instead I want to take the opportunity to recognize that there are some things in the Bible that are a bit obscure, that are hard to understand, or that are perhaps even well beyond explanation. What do we do with such things? Do we demand a full and clear explanation? In the absence of a “satisfactory” explanation (where “satisfactory” is defined by our own subjective sensibilities), do we reject the whole passage or even the whole Bible? What, truly, is our attitude toward the text? Are we trying to shape the text? Or are we allowing the text to shape us?
But, really, come on, man… What’s all this about the “sons of God” taking the “daughters of man” as wives? I don’t know. And I’m OK with that.
I was struck by God’s grace in his treatment of Cain after he murdered Abel. His punishment was severe but deserved, no doubt, but God still protected him from others who might harm him.
Is anyone else feeling very glad God decided Noah was worth saving…?
As I read Genesis 6, I began to wonder if I would have “found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Gen 6:8) at that time.
Meanwhile, Gen. 6:5-7 are perhaps some of the saddest verses in the Bible, that humans would grieve the Lord so much. It challenges me to cleanse my heart and life so that I may please him now, especially in the light of all God has done to save us.
Funny, I always thought of both as being human, just different ways of referring to them. Daughters of men are also daughters of God and sons of God are also sons of men.
I did like your point of holding the mysteries we see in the written Word without always trying to find an explanation.
For years, when interpretations and understandings are vague or difficult, I have often claimed “blessed ignorance”. God knows what He meant, I don’t. I go with my best guess and move on. Even when my best guess seems unreasonable I move on, knowing that there is a reasonable answer that simply escapes me.
In Gen. 6:7 we also see God making the decision to destroy man and animals. Was God angry? The passage doesn’t specifically say that, but in my mind, why else would He decide to destroy man and animals? Hopefully I’m not misinterpreting these passages, but anger is an emotion I’m familiar with, and usually there’s some other emotion “underneath” the anger, i.e. fear, sorrow, etc. Was God displaying anger at man resulting from His being hurt (sorrow) from man’s wickedness and sin? If so, it’s a good reason for us, as Carol suggests, to cleanse our hearts and lives so that we may please Him now.
My verse to chew on is Gen 4:4-5. Why didn’t God respect Cain and his offering? I want to know so I can avoid that! But God simply tells Cain, If you do well, will you not be accepted? It has to be something in Cain’s heart that God sees. Give us clean hearts, Lord!