Continual Evil

Introduction

A few weeks ago I asked our Sunday morning classes, 7th grade and up, to provide a list of topics or texts that would be beneficial for me to preach on. That offer still stands. If there is a difficult text or topic that you would like for me to deal with, let me know and I will try to incorporate it in some way. The text that I have chosen tonight has been called by some as the most difficult text in the Old Testament. It is a text which appears to be disjointed and out of place. We are going to try to dissect this text without getting bogged down in the trivial, but at the same time trying to give you an appreciation for our Bible and how it is put together.

The Point of Genesis 1-11

Genesis is divided into two main sections. The first section, chapters 1-11, are intended to show the origins of life on earth. Creation, flood, death, population divisions, and beginning of languages are seen in these first chapters. The second section, chapters 12-50 are specifically designed to speak about the beginnings of the Jewish race. It is nation intensive. While other parts of the world are mentioned, the focus is on the one nation which becomes known as Israel. Other nations are listed only as they interact with God’s chosen group.

Chapter six falls in this first section. Universal beginnings are being described. Genesis 6:1-8 serves three purposes. The first is to tell us why God chose to destroy the earth by a flood. The second is to show the rapid increase of Adam’s descendants. The third has to do with sin. The writer is demonstrating the increase of sin in the world. If we keep these three purposes in mind the text becomes a bit easier to understand and decipher.

The first three verses are the most difficult. There are several words which are rather obscure. There are varied opinions about these verses. Not only modern day scholars but scholars from the second century B.C. argued about the meaning of these verses. The controversy centers around the phrases “sons of God” in verse 2 and 4; “Nephilim” in verse 4; and “120 years” in verse 3. How we understand each of these phrases or words will give definition to the text.

Difficult Phrases

Sons of God

There are three possibilities about this phrase.

First, it refers to angels. This view was held early on by students of scripture. This meaning is based upon other passages which uses the same phrase to mean angelic beings. This phrase is used in Job 1:6 and 2:1 when the angels appear before God. It is used in Job 38:7b but it may be a parallelism with morning stars rather than angels. 1 Enoch, an extra biblical writing from the second century B.C., endorses this view. Other writers continued this meaning until the third century A.D.

However, there are some problems with this view. No heavenly court is mentioned similar to Job. The entire section is concerned with humanity and its outcome, not angels. The flood is God’s punishment against man. Nothing is said about the angels being punished.

Additionally, no where in scripture are angels able to procreate. In fact, Jesus says just the opposite in Matthew 22:30. According to Hebrews 1:7 and 1:14, angels are spiritual beings not physical.

The second possible meaning is that “sons of God” mean wealthy judges or rulers. The word for “God” is “elohim.” In Psalms 82:1 and 82:6-7, the NIV translates as “gods,” but the entire passage is about unjust human rulers. The phrase in Psalm 82:6, “sons of the Most High,” is a similar phrase to what we read in Genesis 6:2.

While this view avoids the obvious problems with the idea of angels, it does not meet the context very well. Nothing in the text or surrounding the text leads us to see any kind of royalty.

The third possibility, while not without some problems, is probably the best understanding. Many of the church fathers, including Augustine, understood this to be a reference to godly men as seen in the lineage of Seth. The latter part of Genesis 4 gives us the lineage of Cain. Chapter 5 gives us the lineage of Seth. Chapter 6 shows us the intermarriage of the two groups which results in a wickedness that had never been seen before. Noah is part of Seth’s genealogy. This line does not find its completion until 9:29. The view is that during the Sethite population explosion they marry outside its godly heritage, which results in moral decline.

Support for this view is found in the fact that the author makes the marriage between the Sons of God and the daughters of men the cause of sin. This intermarriage is viewed as causing trouble. God warned Israel time and again not to intermarry with unbelievers (Deuteronomy 23:7-8).

Also, this view helps to connect the two sections of Genesis. The author is revealing that the patriarchal system as it began through Abraham actually had its beginning with Adam and Noah.

Furthermore, this view describes in language reminiscent of Eve’s sin in Genesis 3:6. She “saw” as did the sons of God. She saw that the fruit was “good” or “beautiful.” She “took” the fruit while the sons of God “married” the daughters of men. Same words are used.

Thus, the author is trying to get us to see that the descendants of Seth intermarried with the descendants of Cain which resulted in moral poverty.

The 120 Years

The 120 years of verse 3 means one of two things. Either God is specifically limiting man’s life span to 120 which seems to have lessened according to Psalm 90 to 70, or God is saying that he is going to give man 120 years to repent or he will destroy the earth. The sense of the passage seems to be that God is not going to allow man to live indefinitely. After generations of living for 8-900 years, God is tired of the evil he sees. Thus, he is going to reduce the life span to 120 years.

The Nephilim

Who are the Nephilim? The word itself is a transliteration rather than a translation of the Hebrew word. The only other usage of this word is in Numbers 13 in which the spies say the land of Canaan was filled with the Nephilim. The usage is one of exaggeration rather than accuracy. The LXX, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, translates this as giants. It appears that the author is trying to locate a time when this great wickedness was seen in the earth. We should not assume that the Nephilim were the children which resulted from the marriage of the Sons of God and the daughters of men. The Bible does not say that and neither should we assume it.

So What?

What are we to do with this information? What the author is trying to do is to reveal that sin was a part of this world. In fact, sin was so much a part of this world that God did not want this world to survive.

First, to say that this generation is worse than any other is not accurate. Verse 5 tells us that man’s heart was set on evil. The good which God created in the garden has given way to evil. Man’s inclination is evil. This is what causes God to destroy the earth by a flood. He has tired of the evil in the war and brings judgment.

No generation has a corner market on evil. It is not true that this generation is worse than any other. The same thing has been said in previous generations. Time has a way of helping us to forget the atrocities of prior generations. Is it worse now than before? I don’t think so. Of all the earth, only Noah is said to find favor in God’s eyes. Like Elijah we need to realize that others have not yet bowed the knee to another god.

Second, if the author is trying to demonstrate the effect of intermarriage, then the point is that who we choose to marry makes a difference. If the point in this section is to show how the godly lineage from Seth intermarried with the earthly lineage of Cain which led to wickedness and continual evil, then the point seems to be that such casualness in marriage is what God wants us to avoid.

It is possible to marry a person and that person lead you away from Christ. It is important that we teach our children to marry those who love God; to refuse to give up their faith for the sake of hormones; to pursue God with all their heart even when choosing a mate. A marriage which does not honor God is to be avoided.

Third, one man makes a difference. Noah is the only one who is seen to have remained faithful in his walk with God. God was going to destroy the entire world. He could have started all over again. But instead he chose one man who was righteous in his conduct to honor with life.

After the flood God promises never to destroy the earth by water again. But in 2 Peter God promises to destroy the earth by fire. A judgment is coming. We need to be prepared.

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