Exploring Human Existence in Genesis

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So we have reviewed the Genealogies of Cain and Seth and ended with Noah, who had three sons, Shem, Japeth, and Ham. So, let’s move forward in chapter 6 as we will now start to get into the flowers and weeds of human existence. (Verse 1)

Genesis 6.1-13
June 5th, 2022

The Sons of God and the Daughters of Men

Assuredly, I say to you. Genesis 6:1: And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. 5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Context of Genesis 6:1

Back to Genesis 6:1: And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them. This passage appears to hearken backward to what we studied last week when we read that all of Adam’s offspring were having sons and daughters over hundreds and hundreds of years.

It is interesting that Moses emphasizes daughters here in verse one and does not distinguish between the offspring of Cain or Seth but just says, “when men.” This appears to speak of those who called themselves the Sons of Men, and not those who called themselves, the Sons of God. Again, these men appear to have been products of Cain’s line.

And this is important, the others were sons of God, human men not angels, as some have tried to suggest.

Sons of the Nobles

Genesis 6:1: And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. The Hebrew reads: “That the sons of the nobles saw the daughters of man when they were beautifying themselves, and they took for themselves wives from whomever they chose.”

The first notation on this verse is important in the Hebrew where it reads, “the sons of the nobles.” The line, “sons of the nobles” can mean, “sons of the princes,” or “of the judges” or as “messengers” and that last interpretation (messengers) leads people to suggesting that these were angels (because angels are considered messengers from heaven).

From here people have concocted a teaching that angels came down and had relations with daughters of human beings and created some sort of super race.

The last line from the Hebrew translation is also vital as it reads, “and they (the Sons of God/nobles) took for themselves wives from whomever they chose.” This means that they took and made anything they wanted their wives, and that includes animals and males.

Now, as with everything, there is room for variation here so I am just teaching what is generally understood. But if the Hebrew insights bear any truth then the world of humankind was already pretty messed up. I would suppose that it was in

Interpretations of Genesis 6:3

Some ways of looking at the world today seem to echo the times described in Genesis. Let's begin with verse 3:

3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

It is only by the influence of the Spirit of God that the carnal mind can be subdued and destroyed; but those who willfully resist and grieve that Spirit must be ultimately left to the hardness and blindness of their own hearts, if they do not repent and turn to God. God delights in mercy, and therefore a gracious warning is given. Even at this time the earth was ripe for destruction; but God might be promising them a one hundred and twenty years' respite, meaning, if they repented in that interim, “good things;” if not, they would be destroyed by a flood. (which we discuss in greater detail next week).

From the Hebrew we read verse three like this: And the Lord said, "Let My spirit not quarrel forever concerning man, because he is also flesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years." Another translation, Darby says: And Jehovah said, My Spirit shall not always plead with Man; for he indeed is flesh; but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

Analysis of Two Views

There are two ways to interpret this passage – or at least two ways. The first is, “My spirit will not endlessly plead with men to do well and I will limit the length of life for man to generally last 120 years or so.” Supporters for this view suggest that it was at this point that God put sort of an age-limit on the life of human beings at this point – not exactly 120 years but “around” the age of 120 – and the view is supported by the fact that after the flood Joseph would live to be 110, Moses to live to 120 years exactly and Aaron would go to the ripe old age of 123 after the flood.

The other view says that God at this point was fed up with the trajectory of the Human race he created and gave the population 120 years to repent and change their ways and if they didn’t then the flood would hit. Answers in Genesis gives a more detailed timeline and believes that this was the countdown date but that in reality Noah didn’t really start construction for another few decades. I’m not so sure this 120 years even spoke to the coming destruction – though it most certainly could.

Giants Among Men

4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

OOOOOOOkay. Verse four is a passage that really gets under my skin and has for decades and here’s why – we have an enormous amount of information here in the scripture most of which serves to lead us to faith, to knowing God, and learning and choosing to Love Him and neighbor as self when read by the Spirit.

It's a life-long course for us and the process is anything but simple or of certitude. And we are talking about some pretty basic things like soteriology or ontology of God, or eschatologyStudy of “last things”—TGNN teaches all biblical eschatology was fulfilled in 70 A.D. More, right? So, while all of us struggle with how to live today in the faith, and what to really focus on and believe, there is a segment of Christian society that tends to focus on this passage (and other esoteric passages) and make them their constant topic of discussion.

Myths and Interpretations

Another way to describe this is “some people when they hear hoofbeats will think of horses. Others will think of Centares.” It’s the Centare crowd of Christianity that make me crazy! I know coming from a man who thinks the serpent in the Garden was an orangutang this seems odd but the nature of the serpent and the curse upon it necessitates investigation to me as the simplest solution (snake) is not in accord with the facts! But here, and from what we have been given in terms of details, it seems that some people choose to take the simplest solutions and turn them into living Christian myths.

And the myth they create here is derived by taking the term (sons of God) and changing it to the Hebrew, “sons

Introduction to the Nephilim

Of noble’s,” and then define nobles as really meaning, “angels,” and then suggest that angels from heaven “mated” somehow with the daughters of man, and the result was… giants! This is akin to hearing the hoofbeats of Centaurs instead of horses. Adding fuel to the flame, the Hebrew of verse 4 reads:

“The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of the nobles would come to the daughters of man, and they would bear for them; they are the mighty men, who were of old, the men of renown.”

And now we have a name for these giants – the Nephilim – and our focus on Christ is gently sold down the river so we can pontificate about this unknown.

Understanding the Nephilim

So let me hit you with some rather un-exciting facts about our buddies, the Nephilim. The Hebrew word translated giants is Nef-eel, and it best means “fall, fell or to fell.” A woodsman could be called a nef-eel in Hebrew because he fells trees but the reality of this body/group or category of men is they were in all probability called Nef-eel because they fell from once being sons of God.

In other words, the most simple example that holds water is there were some sons of God who apostatized or had fallen from their walk with God and they mated with the daughters of man. The Septuagint translates the original word to gigas, which literally signifies earth-born beings of enormous strength and ability and NOT ALWAYS TO SIZE though it can refer to size in some cases. Giants of industry would be a way we would use the phrase in that way. But most people refer to Jack and the Bean Stalk instead of these abilities.

Bottom line? The term nef-feel itself best means, “fallen earth-born men,” with animal or devilish minds and a capacity for enormous destruction. When these former but now fallen sons of God mated with the daughters of Man (most-likely, the offspring from Cain) they are rendered “mighty men;” meaning so mighty in the things of the earth that they bore some of the traits of legendary conquerors and heroes, or men of great renown.

Multiple Interpretations

It is also significant that translators have rendered seven different Hebrew words by the one term nef-eel which include gibborim, enachim, rephaim, emim, and Zamzummim and all of them speak to something with a great deal of knowledge, piety, courage, wickedness but NEVER men of enormous stature or what has become the general view today.

Now, this is not to say that there were not men of large stature in the scripture. When spies were sent into the promised land by Moses they witness a group of people said to be from Anakim from whom the famous Goliath also came. But this does NOT mean that Nef-eel were all giants in size nor does it mean that a giant was a giant of stature coming from angels mating with human women. In any case, when I read this passage I choose to hear horses. And what was the outcome of all of this?

5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Notice that God saw the wickedness of man here, not of angels or aliens not of some admixture of heavenly beings and human – just man, made in His image.

Anyway…

When God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that their “EVERY IMAGINATION of the thoughts of their hearts was ONLY evil continually”

(That’s a pretty bad state of affairs, wouldn’t you say?)

Anyway, they were human, flesh (not part angel), wholly sensual, possessing desires of minds overwhelmed with evil, their souls in a state of wickedness with even the slightest desire for God gone, so much so that the whole world was (according to verse 11) “filled with violence,” and with all the imaginations of their hearts being evil we read something really interesting at verse 6:

6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. Doesn’t this passage gives you pause? Does God repent? Does He change His mind? Isn’t he omniscient right, and if so, what does this mean that it repented God?

Turning to scripture, we read God say in 1st Samuel 15:11:

It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to…

The Concept of Repentance in Scripture

be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments.

This sort of speaks to God not knowing what Saul would do?

Then in 2nd Samuel 24:16 we read:

“And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.”

And then what about Malachi 3:6 where we read: “For I am the LORD, I change not,” if He does not change, does that include his mind? To repents literally means, to change ones mind, right?

And what about Numbers 23:19 where we read, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”

Somehow, we have to come to terms with these passages and what they mean in light of other passages that seem to say the opposite.

Language and Interpretation

And that includes the very next scripture here in Genesis six (verse 7) where after verse 6 here we read:

7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

Let me make the subject even more difficult by appealing to language. Verse 6 and 7 (here in Genesis 6) use the Hebrew term “nah-kham” which is translated to repent. Verse 6 plainly says:

6 And it repented (nawkham) the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

But then Numbers 23:19: God is not a man that he should lie neither the son of man that he should repent :

And 1st Samuel 15:29: And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent : for he is not a man that he should repent (nah-Kham).

And the word repent is from the same Hebrew term! This makes interpretation even more problematic because we get zero help from language.

Understanding God's Repentance

I think one thing we can say definitively is that the Lord does NOT repent as a man repents in the sense that he commits sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace. and must change His mind about His actions. To me that is self-evident.

I have tried to look at a number of other factors to help get to a reasonable solution to this impasse and this is what I have come to believe. Both uses are true and are not in conflict with each other.

Before presenting my take, let’s read verse 5-8 again here in Genesis 6:

5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Here is how I would form my response at least:

• God created human beings in His image and gave them freewill.
• The sadness and price for giving Man freewill would without question end up in failures, loss and suffering because people with freewill will choose badly.
• The words God says about Saul confirm this when we read Him say: It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments.
• These losses and pain, however, are part of Him culling from His freewill creations those who chose to walk by faith.
• In the case of all the inhabitants of the earth that God established through Adam and Eve, it seems that there was no chance of ANY of them looking to Him in faith. They were a wholesale lot of really evil souls. And in this sense and this sense alone, God regretted the outcome of humankind. So much so that He grieved over what he had to do next – destroy them.
• He did not change His mind about having made them, because amidst them…

The Concept of Regret in Creation

There was still Noah and his sons and their wives and in their freewill choice God was apparently pleased. But in the face of what he was about to do, and what they choose to become, He regretted the outcome of what man chose to focus on and become with the life He gave them. This is the meaning of “it repented him” – He was sorry for the outcome of the freewill choices of Man. But the saving grace (pun intended) is verse 8, which says, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” and speaks volumes as to why God created human beings in the first place – that amidst all the heartbreak and grief, there can be found good.

The Analogy to Parenthood

Let me put it this way, which is something I am borrowing from ancient Hebrew culture. Do we choose to have children? We do. Do we know that someday our children will die – perhaps even before we do? Yes. Do we still have them? We do. And we have them knowing that they will experience pain, shed tears, and suffer sometimes in ways beyond our abilities to comprehend? We do. And yet we still have them and we rejoice in their lives and existences, all the while knowing that some could even cause us to wonder why we had them in the first place – like if we brought a Dahmer or a Pol Pot into the world – let alone a bratty two year old.

It does not seem so much that God repented from having created human beings in His image but moreso He regretted the place the human race had gotten by virtue of their own devices – and so in this state of mind He decided to destroy them all – except Noah – for the simple reason He knew that not one from the pool of wretchedness (outside of Noah) would ever come around. And this He could regrettably discern. Some believe that here the God of Love came to a place where Love would have to be expressed in judgement instead of clemency – sort of like a rancher who has to put down all of his mature herd due to hoof and mouth disease. He does not regret being a rancher or having created and love his herd, he regrets what he has to do out of love for what they had become – a diseased crop headed for deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God..

Verse 7

7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

The Hebrew reads:

And the Lord said, "I will blot out man, whom I created, from upon the face of the earth, from man to cattle to creeping thing, to the fowl of the heavens, for I regret that I made them."

Why does God include blotting out all the animals too? The simple explanation is the animals were made for man and if they were all going to be wiped out all the animals ought to follow suit. But there could be a more harsh reality to it when we consider the meaning of verse 2 above, which says:

2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

The Line of Righteousness

We posited the idea that man had become so brutish in this day that they took for wives (had relations with) anything they wanted – including other men and/or animals. If that was the case, then perhaps God wanted to remove any repercussions of such activity and start anew with the animals a righteous line would bring with them through the flood – meaning those Noah brought onto the ark.

(Verse 8)

8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. We will see a similar theme or situation occur with Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah and then again in the end of the ageThe close of the old covenant era, fulfilled in 70 A.D.—not the end of the world. when the wicked are wiped out but whomever was righteous was saved. Here Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Why? Scripture tells us in verse 9, where it reads:

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and “Noah walked with God.” He was “a just man,” which in the Hebrew means he was a man who gave to

The State of the Antediluvian World

All their rightful due. God appears to love this and does not seem to appreciate when people cheat others out of what is rightfully owed them. We also read that he was “perfect in his generation” which suggests that he was in all things a consistent character, never departing from the truth in principle or practice before God. But why the line, “in his generation?” Some read this negatively and suggest that this is all relative meaning that if Noah was living in the age of Abraham he would have been considered a lightweight, but compared to the evil around him in his day, Noah was perfect. Could be. Finally, just as Moses described Enoch before him, we have him say of Noah that, “He walked with God” meaning that he followed or pursued a communion with Him in how he lived his life.

10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (we talked about this order last week as Japeth was the eldest but mentioned last – verse 11) 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. Interestingly, the Tanakh reads that the earth became full of robbery. The Hebrew word is KAW MAWCE and can mean all sorts of evil but every English version I consulted reads, violence. In the Tanakh the word is translated to violence, evil, cruelty, wrong, injustice, damage, and oppression but violence is most common and I think is best.

12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. As terrifying as this may sound, the language here suggests that all flesh, not just man, was corrupted – beasts, cattle – everything had, as Moses writes, corrupted his way. I have an opinion which may or may not hold water, but I believe in the trickle down theory relative to most things. Generally speaking. Not always, but it is often the case.

The Trickle Down Theory

When it comes to business, I think the attitude and lifestyle of the owner will somehow get passed down to the employees. When it comes to most families I think that the attitudes of parents will often trickle down to the children – that is why my mother in law used to say, “you don’t need to meet the parents of a family to know about them – just meet their children.” And wonder if the same is true in all life in general – even down to all mammals.

Looking at this picture of the antediluvian world, it seems to me that men became utterly barbarous – so much so that the settled earth was overwhelmed with violence in all of its forms – murder, rape, and everything surrounding such. I think this trickled down to the females, who were subject to the men, and who also became what the men were, and I think the zeitgeist of that age of violent barbarism somehow entered even the animal world and in the end the whole thing was a mess both spiritually and materially – without the possibility of correction – it was like a moldy loaf of bread that is so invaded there was nothing left of value and zero hope for salvation.

The Corruption of Creation

Notice the wording of verse 12:

12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it (the earth) was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. God has a way in which he created us all to be, a way for all of us to act and live. But this passage suggests that all creatures have the capacity to walk or live differently, in a way that is not of Him.

So, verse 13, God said to Noah (verse 13)

13 The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Let’s take that word translated violence here and repeat all the synonyms that are used in scripture using this verse:

13 The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with

Every kind of violence to the ways of God Including “evil, cruelty, wrong, injustice, damage, oppression” THROUGH THEM – the flesh – “and, behold,” God says, “I will destroy them with the earth.”

In verse 17 we will read God saying next week the following: “And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is.

The Great Flood

In chapter 7 we will also read:

21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
22 All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
23 And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

Questions About the Flood

Were the fish destroyed or the whales or the sea life? It seems to me that if the whole world was immersed in waters so voluminous that they could cover all the dry land that this “mixture” of everything would wipe out life in the salty seas, let alone fresh water river and lake life. But God does not say that these creatures would die as well – only the creatures that live on land. Maybe I’m being too demanding on the text but Moses does seem to specifically describe terra-firma animals here.

Contemplations for Next Week

So what about the sea creatures? And what about water in large enough quantities to cover everything? And what about the ark Noah is going to make? And how many animals was he commanded to take on board? And what about feeding them, and managing their waste, and fresh water, and the habitations required to sustain life? And what about the dinasoars? And and and

(beat)

And we will enter the wildly contested and discussed story of Noah and the ark next week.

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