We have been studying the identity of those known as the "sons of God" in Genesis 6. The Bible says that they married "daughters of humans", as if the sons of God are something other than human. Yesterday we discussed the theory that these are angels. This is one of the most widely held beliefs regarding the identity of these creatures. But today we will take a look at a few other theories.
Some scholars propose that the sons of God are the descendants of Seth because his is the line from which the Messiah would come. These scholars think that the male descendants of Seth intermarried with the female descendants of Cain. If the descendants of Cain were not followers of the Lord, we can see why intermarriage with them could cause problems. The Bible warns believers not to marry with or form close alliances with unbelievers. (2 Corinthians 6:14) In Exodus 34 the Lord told Moses that He was going to drive the idolaters from the land which He had promised to Israel and that the Israelites were not to make military alliances with these people or intermarry with them. This is because the Lord knew that many of the Israelites would be drawn into idolatry if they mixed closely with the pagans of Canaan. If the line of Seth intermarried with the line of Cain, this could be considered yet another attempt of Satan to corrupt the human race to the point that God would be done with them. This would mean the Messiah---the King of kings and Lord of lords---would never come. Because Satan hates God, he wants to try and thwart the plans of God at every turn in the hopes he can someday laugh in His face and declare the creation of the human race a total failure. But God is going to have the last laugh. Even though the corruption that occurred from the mixing of the "sons of God" with the "daughters of humans" was severe enough to cause God to bring the great flood upon the earth, He still preserved the human race.
Another theory of some scholars is that the term "sons of God" simply refers to great leaders of old, men of high position and influence. They believe these men mixed with common pagan women, causing the men to fall away from their relationship with God. Because of their great influence and because of the respect they commanded, they drew others into idolatry with them. The Bible will say in Genesis 6:4 that the children born to the "sons of God" and the "daughters of humans" were "the heroes of old, men of renown". Due to the extended lifespans of people during this era, a man who was held in very high esteem could easily lead people in the wrong direction, so perhaps these "heroes" inspired so much hero worship that people followed them into sin. Or perhaps they are referred to as heroes and men of renown because they engaged in the magic arts. It's possible they used sleight of hand and the demonic powers of the occult in order to deceive those around them.
One theory I came across, which struck me as unlikely, is that the sons of God are human men who are possessed by demons and that they dragged their wives and children down into the mire with them. But the minority of scholars who propose this theory can't explain why the Bible would describe demon possessed men as the "sons of God" and there is nothing in the Bible to explain to us how so many men who lived near the dawn of creation came to be possessed in the first place.
Lastly, and only because it's become such a widespread theme of a number of popular TV shows, there are groups who claim the sons of God were aliens. I've watched some of these shows and they try to throw a little Scripture into the mix but most of it is from apocryphal and pseudoepigraphical books, not books that made it into the accepted canon of the Bible. They also take verses from the Holy Bible (the 66 books that most of us are familiar with) and leave parts out or add parts in to make these verses fit with their theory. For example, they leave out a good part of Ezekiel's description of his vision of seeing God enthroned, and they make it sound like God appeared to Ezekiel in a spaceship. When Elijah was taken to heaven in a whirlwind without dying, the ancient alien theorists say he was beamed up to the mother ship. Fun as it may be sometimes to think about or joke about aliens, there is no Scriptural evidence that God created intelligent life anywhere other than on the earth. God is certainly great enough to create thousands of populated earthlike planets, but it is only our own planet that the Lord Jesus Christ will someday rule over from the throne of David at Jerusalem. How can we reconcile this with the idea of many other populated planets in the universe? The only way we could is if the beings on those planets are not capable of sin. If they were, then Christ would have had to go to each planet and die for the sins of every world in order to redeem them. And the Bible simply doesn't support such a notion. Instead the Bible says God has only one Son and that the Son died once to redeem forever all who believe in Him. As large as our universe is, there may be an untold number of planets capable of supporting intelligent life, but this doesn't mean there is intelligent life on those planets. The existence of planets suitable for life doesn't necessitate the creation of life to populate those planets.
I look forward to the day when we are in the presence of our Lord and He explains to us all the mysteries we didn't understand while we lived in the flesh on this earth. For this life, God has explained to us everything we need to know in order to acknowledge that we are sinners in need of the Savior. This is the primary focus of the Bible. This is the purpose for which it was written. There are things contained in the Bible that we don't entirely understand, but those are things that don't stand in the way of our salvation. They are interesting to think about, but they aren't going to make or break our faith. The Bible reveals to us all we need to know in order to come to a saving faith in Christ and to love Him and to enjoy knowing He loves us and wants to help us. The Apostle Paul stated that without this love in our lives, all the knowledge in the world doesn't mean a thing. "If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:2)
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