1) The sons of God (heavenly beings) took human wives and had children called Nephilim, corrupting humanity.
2) God saw that humanity had become totally evil and violent, prompting God to send a flood to wipe out all life except those on Noah's ark.
3) God gave humanity 120 more years before sending the flood, as the days of Noah foreshadow the coming judgment by Christ.
4. Our Text
Now it came about, when men began to multiply
on the face of the land, and daughters were born
to them, that the sons of God saw that the
daughters of men were beautiful; and they took
wives for themselves, whomever they chose.
Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive
with man forever, because he also is flesh;
Genesis 6:1–8 4
5. Our Text
nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and
twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in
those days, and also afterward, when the sons of
God came in to the daughters of men, and they
bore children to them. Those were the mighty
men who were of old, men of renown. Then the
LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great.
Genesis 6:1–8 5
6. Our Text
on the earth, and that every intent of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually The
LORD was sorry that He had made man on the
earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The LORD
said, “I will blot out man whom I have created
from the face of the land, from man to animals to
creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am
Genesis 6:1–8 6
7. Our Text
sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found
favor in the eyes of the LORD.
Genesis 6:1–8 7
9. Why this is an important story?
For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like
the days of Noah. For as in those days before the
flood they were eating and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah
entered the ark, and they did not understand
until the flood came and took them all away; so
will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Matthew 24:37–39 9
10. As the days of Noah
Increased population
Sexual immorality
Violence
Evil thoughts
Corrupt earth
Corrupt ways
10
11. Evil Everywhere
Now it came about, when men began to
multiply on the face of the land, and
daughters were born to them, that the
sons of God saw that the daughters of
men were beautiful; and they took wives
for themselves, whomever they chose.
Genesis 6:1–2 11
12. Sons of Seth were godly daughters of Cain were
ungodly? Doesn’t say only Seth’s lineage called on the
name of the Lord.
Doesn’t explain the Nephilim
The text calls them the daughters of Men not
daughters of Cain
No prohibition on who could marry who
Sons of God is never used of mortals in the OT
Sons of Seth
&
Daughters of Cain
12
13. Tyrant Kings
the phrase refers to the kings or tyrants or Cain’s
line of Tyrant kings who had large harems.
Polygamy isn’t mentioned in Gen. 6.
The marriages corrupted the earth.
Only in pagan religions outside of the worship of
Yahweh call their kings “sons of god”
13
14. Sons of God?
Beney ha'Elohim
God’s heavenly family
Made not begotten
Part of the Divine Counsel
14
16. Psalms
For who in the skies above can
compare with the LORD? Who is like
the LORD among the heavenly beings?
Psalm 89:6 (NIV) 16
17. A version from the Dead Sea Scrolls
And so the heavens will praise your wonderful
deed, O Yahweh, even your faithfulness, in the
assembly of the holy ones. For who in the sky is
equal to Yahweh? Who is like Yahweh among the
sons of God, a God feared greatly in the council
of the holy ones, and awesome above all
surrounding him?
Psalm 89:5-7 17
18. When the Most High
gave to the nations
their inheritance, when
he divided mankind, he
fixed the borders of the
peoples according to
the number of the sons
of God.
Deuteronomy 32:8 (ESV) 18
Deuteronomy
20. New Testament
And angels who did not keep their own domain, but
abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal
bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great
day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities
around them, since they in the same way as these
indulged in gross immorality and went after strange
flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the
punishment of eternal fire.
Jude 6-7 20
22. Notice the time frame
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned,
but cast them into hell and committed them to
pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did
not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah,
a preacher of righteousness, with seven others,
when He brought a flood upon the world of the
ungodly;
2 Peter 2:4–5 22
23. Referencing the same time frame
For Christ also died for sins once for all, the
just for the unjust, so that He might bring us
to God, having been put to death in the flesh,
but made alive in the spirit; in which also He
went and made proclamation to the spirits
now in prison, who once were disobedient,
1 Peter 3:18–20 23
24. Referencing the same time frame
when the patience of God kept waiting in the days
of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in
which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought
safely through the water.
1 Peter 3:18–20 24
25. The offspring
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days,
and also afterward, when the sons of God came
in to the daughters of men, and they bore
children to them. Those were the mighty men
who were of old, men of renown.
Genesis 6:4 25
28. The Book of Enoch
Enoch 7:1–2 And all the others together with
them took unto themselves wives, and each
chose for himself one, and they began to go in
unto them and to defile themselves with them,
and they taught them charms and enchantments,
and the cutting of roots, and made them
acquainted with plants. And they became
pregnant, and they bare great giants…
28
29. God states
My Spirit shall not strive with
man forever, because he also is
flesh; nevertheless his days shall
be one hundred and twenty
years.
Genesis 6:3 29
31. Flood Countdown
…and did not spare the ancient world, but
preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness,
with seven others, when He brought a flood
upon the world of the ungodly;
2 Peter 2:5 31
32. The Holy Spirit
And He, when He comes, will
convict the world concerning sin
and righteousness and judgment;
John 16:8 32
33. The Human Condition
Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of
man was great on the earth and that every
intent of the thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually.
Genesis 6:5 33
34. This is where we are
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge
God any longer, God gave them over to a
depraved mind, to do those things which are not
proper, being filled with all unrighteousness,
wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder,
strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers,
haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful,
Romans 1:28–32 34
35. This is where we are
inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without
understanding, untrustworthy, unloving,
unmerciful; and although they know the
ordinance of God, that those who practice such
things are worthy of death, they not only do the
same, but also give hearty approval to those who
practice them.
Romans 1:28–32 35
36. You are here (inventors of evil)
Transgender kids
LGBTQ+ taught in schools
Abortion is healthcare
36
37. God’s pronouncement at the end of creation week
God saw all that He had made, and
behold, it was very good.
Genesis 1:31a 37
38. Quite a fall
Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of
God, and the earth was filled with
violence. God looked on the earth, and
behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had
corrupted their way upon the earth.
Genesis 6:11–12 38
39. The Lord’s reaction
The LORD was sorry that He had
made man on the earth, and He
was grieved in His heart.
Genesis 6:6 39
40. The LORD said,
I will blot out man whom I have
created from the face of the land,
from man to animals to creeping
things and to birds of the sky; for I
am sorry that I have made them.
Genesis 6:7 40
Matthew 24:37 (NASB95) For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
Remember we use the Bible to interpret the Bible! Today we will be doing a lot of that to make sure that we get it right. Some of you may feel a little bit uncomfortable with what we discover today, but you should never have to apologize for what the Bible says. We just might have to change our predispositions.
PLEASE STAND IN REVERENCE FOR THE READING OF GOD’S WORD; Genesis 6:1–8 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh;
nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great.
on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am
sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
Let’s pray! How many of you had parents or grandparents who lived through the Great Depression? Rotten apples and making apple butter. This is an introduction to the story of Noah and the Great Flood.
Matthew 24:37–39 For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Increased population- f the growth rate in the pre-Flood world was equal to the growth rate in 2000 (0.012), there could have been about 750 million people at the time of the Flood. However, given the extremely long lifespans prior to the Flood, the growth rate could have been much higher. Increasing the rate by just 0.001 would put the population at close to four billion at the Flood. The population of the world was about 300 million at the time of Christ and changed very little in the next thousand years. The population of the world reached one billion in 1804, three billion in 1960, and rose to about 6.8 billion in 2010. 7.7 billion today
Sexual immorality
Violence- In US BLM and Antifa riots, Riots leading up to the election Jan 6. .S. murder/homicide rate for 2020 was 6.52, a 28.64% increase from 2019. More Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2020 than in any other year on record> ½ suicides. Aggravated assaults (+4%) and robberies (+19%) increased in the first half of 2022 compared to the first half of 2021. Domestic violence incidents decreased by 5% between the first half of 2021 and the first half of 2022.
Evil thoughts –Check out social media
Corrupt earth- polluted
Corrupt ways- We as a people are more violent, less empathetic and more self-centered than ever before. Church attendance is down and the action of Christians is hard to differentiate than those not professing.
Genesis 6:1–2 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.
Sons of Seth were godly daughters of Cain were ungodly? Doesn’t say only Seth’s lineage called on the name of the Lord.
Doesn’t explain the Nephilim
The text calls them the daughters of Men not daughters of Cain
No prohibition on who could marry who
Sons of God is never used of mortals in the OT
the phrase refers to the kings or tyrants or Cain’s line of Tyrant kings who had large harems. Polygamy isn’t mentioned in Gen. 6.
The marriages corrupted the earth.
Only in pagan religions outside of the worship of Yahweh call their kings “sons of god”
Beney ha'Elohim
God’s heavenly family
Made not begotten
Part of the Divine Counsel
Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy? They rejoiced at creation
Mentioned in the beginning of Job twice
Psalm 89:6 (NIV) For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD? Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings?
Psalm 89:5-7 And so the heavens will praise your wonderful deed, O Yahweh, even your faithfulness, in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the sky is equal to Yahweh? Who is like Yahweh among the sons of God, a God feared greatly in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all surrounding him?
Deuteronomy 32:8 (ESV) When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.
Some of the Sons of God left heaven
Assumed corporal form
Took wives
Produced offspring
Jude 6-7 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh, are exhibited as an example in undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.
Domain= authority to rule. Abode= dwelling place
Left their Own Domain- Sphere of authority
Proper abode- Place of residence
Just as…
since they in the same way as these indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh
2 Peter 2:4–5 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
1 Peter 3:18–20-For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient,
when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.
Genesis 6:4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
The Nephilim
Considered giants
Goliath’s Height was 6’9’ to 9’9”
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward Nephilim produced the Anakims and the Rephaim Known as the Giant Clans
Numbers 13:33 3 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
Deuteronomy 2:10–11 (The Emim lived there formerly, people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim. 11 Like the Anakim, they are also regarded as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. Deuteronomy 2:20 It is also regarded as the land of the Rephaim, for Rephaim formerly lived in it, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummin,
Nephilim- Fallen (from heaven) Moral failure, Hostile warriors. Miscarriage (Deformity at birth) Extraordinary
Enoch 7:1–2 And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants…
Genesis 6:3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
Flood Countdown- some see this as the limiting of lifespan
Holy Spirit’s activity
2 Peter 2:5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
Noah built the ark and preached righteousness for 120 years. Demonstrates God’s grace
John 16:8 And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;
Genesis 6:5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
READ SLOWLY AND COMMENT…Romans 1:28–32 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful,
inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
Transgender kids
LGBTQ+ taught in schools
Abortion is healthcare
Genesis 1:31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Genesis 6:11–12 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
Genesis 6:6 The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
Genesis 6:7 The LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”
A divine reset. He wanted a world to commune with but got one that didn’t seek Him.
Genesis 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
God always has a righteous remnant