Studies In Genesis Part IV Chapter 6 by, Rev. Eric Alan Greene, Pastor For Thomson Memorial Presbyterian Church Centreville, Mississippi www.thomsonmemorial.com 2012
1 Genesis 6:1-4 Offending God the Matchmaker Genesis 6:1-3 1 And it came to pass when adam (man) began to multiply on the face of the ground and daughters were born to them, 2 and the sons of God saw the daughters of adam (man) for they were good and they took for themselves wives from all whom they chose. 3 And the LORD said, My Spirit will not strive with adam (man) forever, for indeed he is flesh, yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years. 4 There were giants (nephilim) on the earth in those days and also after that when the sons of God came in to the daughters of adam (man), and they begot children to them. Those were the mighty men (giborim) which were of old, men (enosh) of the name (shem). I. The Corporate Adam We will examine these verses over the next few studies, beginning today with verses 1-3, which refer to the sons of God and the daughters of man. First, notice that adam begins to multiply on the face of the ground. The word adam is the generic reference to mankind, so it certainly includes man and woman. Nevertheless, all of mankind is in solidity with the original man, which is expressed in the original language. Thus, as adam multiplies he can not escape the curse. The face of the ground is still looking at him, setting its face against him, prosecuting God s curse against adam just as God said in Gen. 3:17 to Adam He said Cursed is the ground in reference to you The corporate adam (mankind) suffers because of the original and individual Adam. This is essential to Biblical and Covenantal Theology. The full body of humanity (adam) is cursed because of one man (Adam). This is the essence of original sin, and establishes the necessity of Jesus virgin birth. Children are conceived in sin, not because of them, but because of Adam. Because of one man s disobedience sin came into the world, and because of one Man s righteous act grace now reigns (Rom.5:12-21). II. The Sons of God Verse 2 interjects a contrast between the sons of God and the daughters of man. Some traditions suggest that the sons of God were actually angelic creatures who had sexual intercourse with women. Since angels are sometimes referred to as sons of God (Job 1), some people assume angelic creatures are referred to here. However, this is certainly not the case in the context of Genesis 6. In this context the sons of God are the members of the covenant lineage. They are the visible church of this era, the Sethites. This lineage of the sons of God is listed in
2 Genesis 5, with Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth being the last remnant of the sons of God. In contrast to the godly sons of God are the wicked daughters of man who are the descendents of Cain. In context we can also equate, in a corporate sense, the sons of God to the seed of the woman and the daughters of men to the seed of the serpent. Though gender is mentioned, male versus female is not the point of the text. The point is that Satan is working as a seductress against the people of God. The seed of Satan is working to seduce the people of God, the sons of God. Now the covenant people (sons of God) are intermarrying with pagan women (daughters of men). Descendents of Cain were more culturally advanced than the Sethites. They built the first city, Enoch. There was beautiful music (4:21), and there was great craftsmen in bronze and iron (4:22). And even though he was brutal, Lamech had a great show of strength (4:23). The Cainite culture was a massive seductive force against God s covenant people. Now in its ultimate form the seduction comes in the form of sexual lust. God s people begin to marry pagan women, and in doing this they reject their covenant LORD. III. The Third Fall of Man Adam sinned against God the Father, Cain sinned against God the Son, and the sons of God sin against God the Spirit. In Genesis 3-6 the triune God is being rejected by adam both individually and corporately. We can also categorize these rebellions against God the Father, God the Brother, and God the Matchmaker. In the Person of the Son, God is our old brother. He is the image unto whom God seeks to shape and conform us (Rom.8:29). In murdering his brother, Cain s sin was against God our Older Brother. In the Person of the Spirit, God is brings harmony, love, and matchmaking unity. However, in Genesis 6 the sons of God resist the work of God the Matchmaker and unite themselves to an ungodly people. The three-fold offense against the triune God will serve as a three-fold witness against the world and God rendered his judgment against it in the flood. The sons of God saw that the women were good, just as the Woman saw that the forbidden fruit was good for food (Gen.3:6). Implied with these good women, is that they were pleasant to the eyes of men, just the forbidden fruit was to the Woman. Likewise, they will take these women as wives, just as the Woman took of the fruit and ate. The author of Genesis 6 obviously compares the actions of the sons of God with the fall of man in Genesis 3. IV. Three-Fold Pattern in Genesis Let us stand back and look at the book of Genesis as a whole. The threefold fall of man in Genesis 3-6 will be redeemed later in the book of Genesis. Heroes of the faith will be present in contrast to this wicked triad. Abraham will come along and honor God the Father. He will build various altars for worship in the Promised Land, in contrast to Adam s false worship in the garden. The next key figure (not the next person) will be Jacob. In contrast to Cain, Jacob and Esau will be reconciled together after a lengthy ordeal of brother-brother conflict. In contrast to the sons of God in Genesis 6, Joseph
3 will convert the pagans, and even marry a converted Egyptian woman. Taking the context of Genesis as a whole, we will see Joseph in contrast to these sons of God. It is wrong to marry pagan women because it is a compromise, but if you marry a converted woman then it is a righteous conquest. V. Three-fold Pattern in the Bible The Bible will spiral out with this emphasis of a grand and corporate three-fold fall of man. After Israel enters the Promised Land the era of the Judges will primarily focus on sins against God the Father (1 st command issues). They will reject worshipping the true God for Baal. During the era of the Kings the primarily focus will be on brotherbrother conflict, which can be seen as sins against God the Son/Brother. The making of idols will also plague the time of the kings. Just as the 2 nd Commandment threatens God s judgment against the family, even so family conflict will be predominate throughout the era of the kings. After the return from exile, Israel no longer has a problem with engraven images as earlier, but they will sin against God the Matchmaker. Ezra will confront the nation for their wrongful marriages with pagan women in the Promised Land. In doing this, they profane the name of God that is upon them, violating the 3 rd Commandment. In summary, the entire era of the Old Testament starting with the era of the Judges recapitulates the three-fold fall of man which was expressed in seed-form in Genesis 3-6. Finally, with the implementation of the New Covenant we see another rendition of the three-fold fall of man. When the Greek Empire was dominating the Israelite nation a High Priest named Jason fell for the smooth speech of Antiochus Epiphanies IV. In an attempt to reform things, a man named Menelaus seized the priesthood for himself, through murder, and in doing so brought a completion to the abomination of desolation (Dan.11:21,31). 1 In his days the Zadok-line of Jewish priesthood was broken, thus make it perpetually illegitimate. Worship was corrupted, temple leaders in the Father s house were illegitimate, and thus we can see this as a sin against God the Father. Later the nation as a whole would sin against God the Son, when they crucified Him. Many were forgiven of this sin when they repented, but the unpardonable sin came when they blasphemed God the Spirit/Matchmaker. The divine Matchmaker came upon the world at Pentecost, bring unity with the gift of tongues, yet many Jewish people still strove against the Spirit as did the sons of God in Gen.6. Old Covenant Jews who refused to join the church-bribe, rejected the New Husband Jesus (Rom.7:4). This was the last straw, especially when they persecuted the church. They became regarded as a spiritual Whore of Babylon, drinking with the blood of the saints (Rev.17:5-6). Then Jesus rendered an eye for eye judgment against them in AD 70 annihilating the Old Covenant artifacts and city. Thus even the New Creation through Christ was implemented against the backdrop of a three-fold fall of the Old Covenant leaders sinning against the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. 1 For a thorough explanation see Jordan s, Handwriting on the Wall, pg. 575-583.
4 VI. Resistible Grace Our tradition and denomination has emphasized the doctrine of Irresistible Grace. This is the I in the acronym of TULIP (Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints). Irresistible Grace teaches that an eternally elect individual will eventually give in to the wooing and convincing work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will work in those individuals, overcoming their initial resist, and winsomely bring them to saving faith in Christ. This only occurs to those who have been eternally elected unto salvation. (Acts 13:48,I Thess. 1:5,Eph.1:13). However, notice that in Genesis 6 the Spirit does not striving irresistibly against the sons of God. They effectually resist the Spirit, apostatize, and go to hell with the daughters of men. Here we must make a distinction. The sons of God in this instance were not eternally elect, but historically elect. 2 They were chosen to be a part of the covenant community, the visible church of that era. They were a chosen body of people within history, yet this does not mean they were chosen unto eternal salvation. When these sons of God rejected the covenant and apostatized they demonstrated that they were only historically elect for a time, not eternally elect for salvation. For those historically elect only, the Spirit does not strive in an irresistible manner. These covenant people eventually forsake the Faith and insult the Spirit of grace (Heb.10:29). However, the eternally elect remain in the covenant and persevere. Applying Genesis 6 to our present day, we often see covenantal sons of God strive against the Spirit and intermarry with a pagan world or with pagan people. This can happen literally or spiritually. Many Christians have married non-christians and eventually forsake Christ and his church. Other Christians have married the world in the sense of throwing off the commands of God, only to embrace the immoral world around them. In these instances, such apostates were once part for the historically elect community of the visible church. But after striving against the Spirit, God eventually cut them off (Rom.11:22) and gave them over to a reprobate mind (Rom.1:28). Therefore, the warning of Genesis 6 is still pertinent today as it was then: God s Spirit can work in a resistible manner, so take heed and see that you do not refuse Him who speaks (Heb.12:25). 2 See John Frame, The Doctrine of God, pgs. 317-330.
5 Land of the Giants Genesis 6:4 The following is a translation of this passage in context: Genesis 6:1-4 1 And it came to pass when adam (man) began to multiply on the face of the ground and daughters were born to them, 2 and the sons of God saw the daughters of adam (man) for they were good and they took for themselves wives from all whom they chose. 3 And the LORD said, My Spirit will not strive with adam (man) forever, for indeed he is flesh, yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years. 4 There were giants (nephilim) on the earth in those days and also after that when the sons of God came in to the daughters of adam (man), and they begot children to them. Those were the mighty men (giborim) which were of old, men (enosh) of the name (shem). I. 120 Years Last time we looked at verses 1-3. Today we will study verse 4, but first let us look at the significance of 120 years mentioned in verse 3. Sometimes is it wrongly assumed that when God said his days shall be 120 years it means that the life span of humanity will not surpass the age of 120. This is certainly wrong interpretation because Genesis 11 is filled with individuals who lived well beyond 120, even Abraham lived to be 175. In context it means that the death-waters of judgment will be unleashed upon humanity in 120 years. Noah has 120 years to build the salvation-ark. Since the flood came in A.M.1656, it means God gave this prophetic warning in the year A.M. 1536 when Noah was 480 years old. Twenty years later his first born son, Japheth, was born. During that 120 year period would preach about a flood to come, all while he was building a boat on land. Certainly people were mocking him, and ridiculing him and his family. But he persevered. During this 120 year period Noah was preparing for a new creation work of God. This was a transitional era between the old world and new world to come. Likewise, according to biblical chronology there are a few transitional era in history. Interestingly, critical events with 120 years between them will identity these transitional eras. (The following chart is basis on the chronological data we have learned from other studies, but are too involved to explain the details in this study.) Old & New Eras: 120 year transition: 1. Pre-flood to Post-flood world - Warning 120 years earlier 2. Moses life (Pre & Post Exodus) - 120 years old when Moses died 3. Tabernacle to Temple era - Eli s death (AM 2881) - Temple built (AM 3000) 4. Kings to Empire era - Josiah dies (608 BC) - Nehemiah rebuilds (489 BC) 5. Jewish mission to Global mission - 120 in the upper room in Acts 2. 15 years later is Paul s first mission trip. Number 15 is a triangular multiple of 120.
6 In the list above the counts for Eli s and Josiah s death should include the years of their death and the years in which the temple and city wall was rebuilt. Including those years the span of time is 120 years for those transitional eras. A triangular multiple is when you add up all the digits leading up to a certain number. That sum total is a triangular multiple, and it demonstrates the fullness of that original number. (For example 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10 Thus the triangular multiple of 4 is 10, and the number 10 can be appreciates a the fullness of the number 4.) So then, this symbolically squares up with the book of Acts. In 30 AD, 120 people were fill with the Holy Spirit, baptizing them with the ability for global evangelism. 15 years later, in 45 AD, the Apostle Paul embarks on his first mission trip. I like to think that the 120 in the upper room symbolize a great transitional era is in the work, just as this number represented in the Old Testament. And by the power of the Holy Spirit that great transition of global evangelism occurs only in 15 years, the fullness of which is compared to 120. II. Nephilim The word for giants is nephilim. These giants were the offspring of the sons of God who married the daughters of men. In other words the covenant people compromised with paganism, and thus gave their strength to the pagan world. The strength of God s people sustained a pagan civilization and empowered it to produce mighty men who were more like giant monsters. God s people produce giant problems for themselves when they compromise and unite themselves to a pagan culture. Notice that the last part of verse four literally says: Those were the mighty men (giborim) which were of old, men (enosh) of the name (shem). I understand this to be a reference primarily to the sons of God. They were mighty men but in giving their strength to pagan women, they produced even worse mighty men who became evil giants. Likewise, as of now, I understand Nimrod to have started off as a godly mighty man (same word). He was a hunter before the Lord, and it was said, Like Nimrod the might hunter before the LORD (Gen.10:9-10). Even though he was not part of the covenant lineage, he evidently used his godly strength to build Babel and Assyria. But his descendants would use their inherited godly strength to make a name for themselves (Gen.11:4) and corrupt those civilizations. Eventually, Babylon (same as Babel) and Assyria would later become destructive giants destroying the northern and southern kingdom in judgment. A godly man founded those cities, but when godliness mingled with paganism is produce very destructive powers. The wise book of Proverbs warned ruling kings saying, Do not give your strength to women, nor your way to that which destroys kings. (Prov.31:3) We see the same principle applied here. A king who compromises with pagan women (literally and metaphorically) will lose his strength. Such compromises will produce destructive giants that turn to destroy kings. Thus we should marry Lady Wisdom who is personified as a virtuous wife bringing blessings to one s life. Goliath was a giant in more ways than one. Yes, he was big and tall. But he was a Nephilim Man who benefited from centuries of God s people compromising with the
Philistine culture. Like the daughters of men, the Philistine high class culture lured the Israelite people throughout the days of Samson. Culturally speaking, Israel was in bed with the Philistines for about 300 years, and this empowered the Philistines to produce giant enemies for God s people. Thus, God raised up Samson, a Mightier Man, to bring destruction upon the Philistines. Then, God raised up an even Mightier Man, David, to destroy the Philistine Giant. Biblical theology leads us to see that Goliath as a type of Nephilim Enemy he symbolized the evil offspring Israel s love for Philistine society. Interesting, the strengthen of any pagan culture or person is only what is borrowed and twisted from the Christian heritage or background. The strength of America was rooted in its Biblical and Protestant worldview with many founding fathers who were outspokenly Christian. The only strength that America has is what was given to us from that predominantly Christian beginning. But this Christian heritage has married paganism and polytheism. Therefore American society is now a pagan society, after the once-mighty Christians as a whole have given their strength away to become a highly sophisticated intellectual culture that embraces all things, all religions, and all lifestyles. An apostate culture such as ours produces strong enemies of the church, or at least very difficult times, which is what our increasingly socialist type of government will inevitably produce. 7