Trinity Bible ChapelTrinity Bible ChapelTrinity Bible ChapelTrinity Bible Chapel
  • Jesus
  • About
    • Service Times & Location
    • Our Mission
    • Our Four Pillars
    • Our History
    • What We Believe
      • Our Doctrinal Statement
      • Specific Issues
        • Baptism and Communion
        • Church Government
        • Church Membership
        • Church Planting Philosophy
        • Church Structure
        • Counseling Philosophy
        • Creation, Evolution and God’s Sovereignty
        • Eternal Security of the Believer
        • Sufficiency of Scripture
        • Spiritual Warfare
        • The Trinity
        • Women in Ministry
        • Worship
    • Church Staff
    • Job Opportunities
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Project Rehoboth
      • Rehoboth Updates
    • King Alfred Academy
  • Connect
    • New Here?
      • Welcome to Trinity!
      • What Should I Expect?
      • How Can I Be Saved?
      • Get Baptized
      • University Bus Shuttle
    • Get Connected
      • Step 1: Connect
      • Step 2: Consider
      • Step 3: Commit to a Small Group
      • Step 3: Commit to Serve
      • Step 4: Covenant in Membership
    • Resources
      • Weekly E-News
      • Events Calendar
      • Church App
      • Subscribe to Our Podcast
      • Pulpit Curriculum
      • Bible Reading Plans
      • Weddings
      • The Church At War Conference
      • Antichrist and His Ruin Documentary
  • Ministries
    • Trinity Kids
      • Parenting Resources
      • Web Protection Guide
      • Parenting Conference Audio
    • Trinity Youth
      • Youth Ministry Blog Posts
    • Small Groups
      • Pulpit Curriculum
      • Small Groups Blog Posts
      • Accountability Resources
    • University Bus Ministry
      • Adopt-A-Student Ministry
    • Worship Ministry
      • Family Worship
      • Weekend Song List
    • Sunday Support
    • Evangelism
      • Evangelism Videos
    • King Alfred Academy
    • Homeschool Collective
      • New to Homeschooling
      • Resources
      • Planning Pages
  • Sermons
    • Latest Sermon
    • View All by Date
    • View by Series
    • View by Preachers
    • View by Topics
    • View by Scriptures
    • Subscribe to Our Podcast
  • Blogs
    • The Pastor’s Blog
    • Trinity Ministry Blog
  • Give

The Pastor's Blog

By Jacob Reaume

Forbidden Love – The Sons of God and the Daughters of Man, Part 2: The Argument

By Jacob Reaume | September 9, 2014 | Leave a Comment |
Tagged: daughters of man, Genesis, Nephilim, sons of God

This is the second of a three-part series on Genesis 6:2. The first focused on explaining the text, the second focuses on arguing for the explanation, and the third will focus on the application.

There are two main interpretations of the sons of God and the daughters of man in Genesis 6:2. The first is that the sons of God were angels who copulated with the daughters of men, human women.

The second is that the sons of God are the descendant of Seth. They married the daughters of man, the descendant of Cain. Their marriage resulted in the apostasy of the sons of Seth and eventually led to God’s judgment in the flood. A fuller explanation can be found in the last post, but suffice it to say I find this view most compelling.

There are at least 9 reasons I find this interpretation most compelling:

1) Matthew 22:30 and Mark 12:25 say that angels do not marry.

2) Scripture uses the phrase “son(s) of God” to describe the people of God. King David is a son of God (2 Samuel 7:14; Psalm 2:7), and so are the people of Israel (Exodus 4:22; Deuteronomy 14:1; 32:5; Hosea 1:10). Thrice in the books of Moses are the people of God called the son(s) of God. Given that Genesis is a book of Moses, this is a strong argument in favour of the second position.

3) The judgment pronounced in Genesis 6:3 is on men, not on angels.

4) The judgment of the flood is the result of human sin, not angelic sin.

5) Genesis 6:4 twice says that the Nephilim are men. The Nephilim surface again in Numbers 13:33. They appear to be a giant Goliath-like warrior class of men, not some angelic-human hybrid. The flood shows that God is bigger than the biggest and scariest man. This should have encouraged the spies in Numbers 13 who saw the Nephilim in the Promised Land.

6) The act of seeing presents a major problem to people, not angels, in Genesis. Eve saw the fruit before she ate it (Genesis 3:6). Ham saw Noah’s nakedness before he took his father’s dignity, while Shem and Japheth went to great lengths to ensure they did not see Noah’s nakedness (Genesis 9:22-23). Lot saw the lushness of Sodom before he moved his family away from the Promised Land of Canaan (13:10). The sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive before they took them as wives (Genesis 6:2). Seeing connotes gazing and beholding. John calls it the lust of the eyes (1 John 2:16). Each of these people was charmed by seeing before taking something forbidden. Each stands as a warning to walk by faith in the invisible God, not by sight.

7) Genesis 4 portrays the women of Cain’s line as attractive which is the one descriptor of the daughters of man in Genesis 6:2. The name, Adah, infers physical beauty (Genesis 4:19). Zillah can be a reference to the sweetness of a female voice (Genesis 4:19). Naamah can mean pleasant (Genesis 4:22).

8) Moses wrote Genesis to the Israelites who were on the brink of entering Canaan. Over and over, God warned them not to marry Canaanite women (Exodus 34:11-16; Deuteronomy 7:3-4). Marrying foreign wives was a serious problem for Israel in the Old Testament (Malachi 2:10-15; Ezra 9:1-4; Nehemiah 10:30). As an instruction to God’s people, Genesis 6:2 is a warning to future Israel by showing that God’s predeluvian people were destroyed by taking foreign wives. The people of God are to be holy and separate from the world.

9) Read within the context of Genesis 3-5, this makes most sense. See this post for a fuller explanation of the context.

The view that sees the sons of God as angels depends on the pseudepigraphal Book of Enoch. The Book of Enoch, written a few thousand years after Genesis, explains that angels married human women at the time of Noah. The scholars who hold to this view read the Book of Enoch into 1 Peter 3:19, 2 Peter 2:4-5, and Jude v. 6. They conclude that Peter and Jude validate at least that aspect of the Book of Enoch. It is a bit of a stretch, to say the least. Commenting on Genesis 6:2, Calvin says it well: “The ancient figment, concerning the intercourse of angels with women, is abundantly refuted by it own absurdity; and it is surprising that learned men should formerly have been fascinated by ravings so gross and prodigious.”

____________

Sources Consulted:

Agustine. 2003. The City of God (Penguin Classics). Translated by Henry Bettenson. Toronto: Penguin Books.

Calvin, John. 2003. Commentaries on the First Book of Moses Called Genesis (Calvin’s Commentaries). Translated by John King. Grand Rapids: Baker Books.

Cassuto, Umberto. 1998. A Commentary on the Book of Genesis, Part One: From Adam to Noah. Jerusalem: Magnes Press.

Hamilton, Victor P. 1990. The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17 (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Leupold, H.C. 2010. Exposition of Genesis, Volumes 1 and 2 (Heritage of Faith Library). Chillicothe, Ohio: Deward Publishing Company.

Longman, Tremper. 2005. How to Read Genesis. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press.

Matthews, Kenneth A. 1996. Genesis 1-11:26 (The New American Commentary). Nashville: B&H Publishing.

Ross, Allen P. 1998. Creation & Blessing: A Guide to the Study and Exposition of Genesis. Grand Rapids: Baker Academics.

Sarna, Nahum. 1989. Genesis (The JPS Torah Commentary). Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.

Sailhamer, John H. The Pentateuch as Narrative (Library of Biblical Interpretation). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Waltke, Bruce K. 2001. Genesis: A Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Wenham, Gordon J. 1987. Genesis 1-15 (Word Biblical Commentary). Edited by David Hubbard, Gen Barker, and John Watts. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.


SHARE


Comments

Related Posts

  • We Lost our Constitutional Appeal: Now What?

    By Jacob Reaume | March 14, 2023

    The week before last the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled on Trinity Bible Chapel’s constitutional challenge.  I’ll talk about that in a moment, but first let me offer some background. Back in 2020 and 2021, the Canadian people got scared because the news said we were facing a death-dealing pandemic.  Our provincial government granted PremierRead more

  • Wine at the Lord’s Table: Our Broken Tradition

    By Jacob Reaume | February 9, 2023

    Paul, when admonishing the Corinthians to be orderly and proper at the Lord’s Supper, said, “For what I received from the Lord that I also delivered to you” (1 Corinthians 11:23).  In other words, the institution is a tradition that is passed hand to hand and generation to generation.  Starting with Jesus, He passed itRead more

  • The Rainbow Flag, Local Council, and Elmira’s Streets

    By Jacob Reaume | August 23, 2022

    Elmira is Ontario’s latest community to look at painting a trendy rainbow on one of it’s streets.  Apparently, the Canadian Association of Mental Health has requested that the municipality paint one on a local crosswalk as a show of support for the LGBTQS2+ community.  Those letters — LGBTQS2+ — are likely the latest alpha-numeric codeRead more

  • A Gay Bar with Free Math Lessons

    By Jacob Reaume | June 15, 2022

    I have been advising parents to pull their children from public schools for several years.  The primary objective of education should be to foster Christian virtue in the hearts of children.  Apparently this view was once shared by the majority of Ontarians to the point that they had it enshrined in law.  Section 264.1.c ofRead more

  • Protect Your Children from Public School

    By Jacob Reaume | June 9, 2022

    A few months ago, I reported (here) of a Waterloo Region public school teacher who the WRDSB chair censored at a board meeting.  Her offence?  She questioned whether school officials should be teaching children that hormone blockers are a good idea.  She did so while quoting a public school library book that presented hormone blockersRead more

Newer PostOlder Post

Top 5 Trending

  • What does “makes her commit adultery” mean? (Matt. 5:32)

    October 25, 2018
  • We Lost our Constitutional Appeal: Now What?

    March 14, 2023
  • Yes, Bruxy Cavey Is A False Teacher

    July 11, 2018
  • The Bloodlines of Jesus

    October 13, 2014
  • Wine at the Lord’s Table: Our Broken Tradition

    February 9, 2023

Latest Posts

  • We Lost our Constitutional Appeal: Now What?

    March 14, 2023
  • Wine at the Lord’s Table: Our Broken Tradition

    February 9, 2023
  • The Rainbow Flag, Local Council, and Elmira’s Streets

    August 23, 2022
  • A Gay Bar with Free Math Lessons

    June 15, 2022
  • Protect Your Children from Public School

    June 9, 2022

About the Author

Jacob Reaume

Born and raised in Guelph, Jacob holds a Master of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He became pastor of Trinity Bible Chapel in August, 2009. Jacob is married to his high school sweetheart, Joanna, and together they have six children.

CHURCH LOCATION
Address:    1373 Lobsinger Line
Waterloo, ON, N2J 4G8

Phone: 519-658-6333
Email: info@trinitybiblechapel.ca

NEW HERE?

  • Service Times & Location
  • Welcome to Trinity!
  • What Should I Expect?
  • How Can I Be Saved?
  • University Bus Shuttle
  • Our Mission
  • Our Doctrinal Statement

OUR MINISTRIES

  • Trinity Kids
  • Trinity Youth
  • Small Groups
  • University Bus Ministry
  • Worship Ministry
  • Sunday Support
  • Evangelism

GET CONNECTED

  • Step 1: Connect
  • Step 2: Consider
  • Step 3: Commit to a Small Group
  • Step 3: Commit to Serve
  • Step 4: Covenant in Membership
  • Get Baptized
  • Events Calendar
Trinity Bible Chapel on Rumble
Copyright © 2022 Trinity Bible Chapel
  • Jesus
  • About
    • Service Times & Location
    • Our Mission
    • Our Four Pillars
    • Our History
    • What We Believe
      • Our Doctrinal Statement
      • Specific Issues
        • Baptism and Communion
        • Church Government
        • Church Membership
        • Church Planting Philosophy
        • Church Structure
        • Counseling Philosophy
        • Creation, Evolution and God’s Sovereignty
        • Eternal Security of the Believer
        • Sufficiency of Scripture
        • Spiritual Warfare
        • The Trinity
        • Women in Ministry
        • Worship
    • Church Staff
    • Job Opportunities
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Project Rehoboth
      • Rehoboth Updates
    • King Alfred Academy
  • Connect
    • New Here?
      • Welcome to Trinity!
      • What Should I Expect?
      • How Can I Be Saved?
      • Get Baptized
      • University Bus Shuttle
    • Get Connected
      • Step 1: Connect
      • Step 2: Consider
      • Step 3: Commit to a Small Group
      • Step 3: Commit to Serve
      • Step 4: Covenant in Membership
    • Resources
      • Weekly E-News
      • Events Calendar
      • Church App
      • Subscribe to Our Podcast
      • Pulpit Curriculum
      • Bible Reading Plans
      • Weddings
      • The Church At War Conference
      • Antichrist and His Ruin Documentary
  • Ministries
    • Trinity Kids
      • Parenting Resources
      • Web Protection Guide
      • Parenting Conference Audio
    • Trinity Youth
      • Youth Ministry Blog Posts
    • Small Groups
      • Pulpit Curriculum
      • Small Groups Blog Posts
      • Accountability Resources
    • University Bus Ministry
      • Adopt-A-Student Ministry
    • Worship Ministry
      • Family Worship
      • Weekend Song List
    • Sunday Support
    • Evangelism
      • Evangelism Videos
    • King Alfred Academy
    • Homeschool Collective
      • New to Homeschooling
      • Resources
      • Planning Pages
  • Sermons
    • Latest Sermon
    • View All by Date
    • View by Series
    • View by Preachers
    • View by Topics
    • View by Scriptures
    • Subscribe to Our Podcast
  • Blogs
    • The Pastor’s Blog
    • Trinity Ministry Blog
  • Give
Trinity Bible Chapel