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THE SONS OF GOD AND 'NEPHILIM' IN GENESIS 6 - WHO ARE THEY?
There are many professed Christians today who believe that Genesis 6 is telling us that fallen angels fornicated
with human women and produced giants known as Nephilim. They believe that the 'sons of God' in Genesis 6 are fallen angels and that the 'giants' or 'Nephilim' are the offspring of fallen
angels and women. Is this true, or is it just another of the many false teachings circulating around the churches? We will examine the verses in question and use the only means to find the truth,
which is the Bible itself. So let us start with the verses in question in Genesis 6:
Genesis 6:1-5 ...'And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 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. 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. 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.'
Now the very first mistake that many people make regarding this is ignoring the context. If we just lift out verses on their own from the Bible we will end up making all sorts of false doctrines. But if we take in the context, the truth will be opened unto us. So let us do that with Genesis 6. Let us read the context and see what is being said. In Genesis chapter 4 we read of how Cain killed his brother Abel. We then read from verse 17 the family line of Cain. In Genesis 5 from verse 6 we read of the family line of Seth, the son who replaced Abel. So we have two family lines, the line of Seth and the line of Cain. This is the context for Genesis 6. So it is clear that the 'sons of God' and the 'daughters of men' are the two family lines of Seth and Cain, which we will prove in this study. The descendants of Seth being the 'sons of God' and the descendants of Cain being the 'daughters of men.'
Look at the verses again above from Genesis 6. There is nothing there to do with angels. It is all about MAN ... 'My Spirit shall not always strive with MAN' ... 'the wickedness of MAN was great in the earth.' God isn't dealing with angels here, He is dealing with MANKIND. This is so clear from the context.
Now if we look at the original meaning for the word 'giants' in Genesis 6, the true meaning does not mean 'giant' in a physical sense. The Hebrew word 'Napil' means a 'faller', a 'rebel', an 'apostate' - one who has turned away from God. And if you look carefully at the verses, you will see that the 'giants' or 'Nephilim' are NOT the offspring. Look again at the verses in question:
Genesis 6:4 ...'There were giants ['napil' - fallers, apostates] 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.'
Do you see? We are told that the 'giants' [which really means apostates] are there BEFORE the sons of God take the daughters of men. Do you see that? So the 'giants' so called are not the offspring. They are the apostates from the 'sons of God' who turn away from God's will and take the heathen daughters (daughters from the line of Cain). And then we are simply told that 'mighty men' were born of them, which were of old, from times past. So those who apply the giants to literal giants as offspring from angels and women are not reading the Word correctly. Genesis 6 is simply telling us of the 'sons of God' [the line of Seth] who become 'rebels' and 'apostates' turning away from God's will and fornicate with heathen 'daughters of men' [line of Cain].
2 Corinthians 6:14 ...'Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?'
"Not as Cain who was of that wicked one and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." So the Lord banished Cain, and put a wide distance between him and his father's house so that his wicked influence might not affect the younger members of the family, and their posterity. But when Cain's posterity began to multiply, and spread out over the earth and came in contact with the posterity of Seth, it is said, Gen. vi, 2-3, 'That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose." (Review and Herald, March 10, 1868, p.1)
"Dr. Adam Clarke says: Nephilim from naphal, 'he fell.' Those who had apostatized or fallen from the true religion. The Septuagint translates the original word by yeyavrec, which literally signifies earth born, and which we, following them, term giants, without having any reference to the meaning of the word which we generally conceive to signify persons of enormous stature. But the word when properly understood makes a very just distinction between the sons of men and the sons of God; those were the nephilim, the fallen earth born men, with the animal and devilish mind. These were the sons of God born from above." (Review and Herald, June 26, 1879, p.2)
So as you can see, this has nothing to do with fallen angels mingling with women and bearing children who were 'giants.' This is all about 'apostates' who turned away from their Creator - the 'sons of God' [line of Seth] turning away from God's will and intermarrying and fornicating with the 'daughters of men' [line of Cain].
Now there is a serious and valid question we have to ask ourselves concerning this, and that is what does it mean to be called a 'son of God'? Is there any special criteria to being called a 'son of God'? Again, let us use the Bible to interpret itself, rather than just make fanciful claims. Take a look at the following Bible verses:
Romans 8:14 ...'For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.'
John 1:12 ...'But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.'
Philippians 2:15 ...'That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.'
Are fallen angels 'led by the Spirit of God'? Have fallen angels 'received Jesus Christ'? Are fallen angels 'blameless and harmless'? No, they are NONE of these. So the sons of God in Genesis 6 cannot be fallen angels. Genesis 6 must therefore be referring to the children of Seth who WERE led by the Spirit of God, who HAD received Christ and who WERE harmless and blameless, BUT they 'apostatized' [so called 'giants'] from the truth and fornicated with the children of Cain.
But what about the 'sons of God' in Job 1, amongst whom Satan appeared before God?
Many people apply the sons of God in Genesis 6 to angels because the same phrase seems to apply to angels in Job 1. But as we have seen from the verses above, the Bible gives a specific rule for being called a 'son of God', and that is ONLY those who are 'led by the Spirit of God.' So the sons of God in Job 1 are either representatives from the unfallen worlds, or the angels of God who did not fall. Take a look at verse 6 of Job 1 and you will notice something interesting:
Job 1:6 ...'Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.'
Notice how Satan is mentioned separate from the sons of God? This is because he was not one of them. Do you see that? Satan appeared among them, but was not one of them. This is because Satan is no longer a son of God due to his rebellion against God. The same applies to the fallen angels. They rebelled against God and chose to side with Satan. Therefore they are no longer the sons of God. Who are they sons of instead? Look at the following quote from Jesus concerning the Pharisees:
John 8:44 ...'Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.'
Who did Jesus say the Pharisees were sons of? The devil! Were the Pharisees led by the Spirit of God? No, they were led by the spirit of the evil one, which is why the Pharisees were NOT the sons of God, instead they were the sons of the devil, just as Jesus confirmed above. The same applies to the fallen angels. They are not led by the Spirit of God, they are led by the spirit of their 'father' - Satan. And once you understand this clear truth, you will see that the sons of God in Genesis 6 CANNOT be fallen angels. Yes, the sons of God in Job 1 could be unfallen angels, because they ARE led by the Spirit of God and can be called the 'sons of God.' But the sons of God in Job 1 could also be Adam's counterparts in the unfallen worlds. You see, if Adam never sinned, then he would have been the leader and representative of earth. But when he sinned, he handed the dominion (temporarily) over to Satan. This is why Satan appeared among the sons of God in Job 1. He came to represent earth, claiming to now be its leader. The sons of God he appeared among might well have been the representatives of the unfallen worlds. But they could NOT be fallen angels. The above truth shows that without doubt.