17 Feb What Does It Mean that the Sons of God Married the Daughters of Men?
Genesis 6:1-2 – When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were bore to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.
Genesis 6 raises four of the most difficult questions in all of Genesis. Over the next four daily devos, we will unpack these four questions briefly but I also encourage you to study them for yourself. Today’s question is based on Genesis 6:1-2 and the idea of the sons of God marrying the daughters of man as the storyline of Genesis has gone from forbidden fruit to forbidden females. Here are the four options for what is happening:
Option 1 – Believing men from Seth’s line intermarry unbelieving women from Cain’s line.
This would be the beginning of sinful intermarriage, which Paul later speaks against, saying believers should be equally yoked, only marrying believers. Children born into homes where one parent worships the real God, and the other marries a demonic false god, are unlikely to grow up with a deep and clear relationship with the real God.
Option 2 – The Sons of God (fallen divine beings) try to marry human women as a counterfeit of Jesus’ incarnation.
In Genesis 3:15, God promised two lines would have conflict that was ultimately between Satan and God saying, “I will put enmity between you (Satan, the Anti-Christ), and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he (Christ) shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
What is curious is the first mention of Jesus here in the Bible is that, unlike the genealogy in Genesis 5, there is no mention of an earthly father, as Jesus had only an earthly mother and a Heavenly Father. It is possible that Satan tried to create a counterfeit of Jesus Christ, a literal anti-Christ, that had a divine being as a father, in place of God the Father, and an earthly mother, in place of Mary.
The strength of this view is that the Bible does speak of the “sons of God” as divine beings that exist before human beings in places like Job 38:4-7, “when I laid the foundation of the earth…the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.”
Option 3 – Demonic fallen sons of God appear as human (like the angels with Abraham in Genesis 18-19) to marry human women.
The strongest argument against this view is Jesus’ words in Matthew 22:30: “In the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” This Scripture is the strongest argument against the marriage of divine beings (including angels), but technically Jesus is only speaking of the time after the resurrection, and Genesis 6 up to our own day is before the resurrection, which leaves open the possibility of option 3.
Option 4 – Demons possess human beings and seek to transfer evil generationally.
The Bible is clear that some people are possessed by a demon and the unclean spirit uses the person and their body to do evil. This was the case with Jesus’ disciple Judas Iscariot as one noteworthy example. The theme of blessing and cursing runs through Genesis and, just as one generation of parents filled with the Holy Spirit can bless future generations, so too demonic parents filled with an unholy spirit can transfer their evil generationally.
The truth is, any of these options is viable, and there are likely even more options to consider. What is most clear is that every option has the same goal of corrupting the human family line to prevent Jesus coming as Savior. God wants to bring Jesus to save sinners, and Satan is doing all he can at this point in history to stop that from happening.
How have you seen the pains and perils of a marriage between a believer and a non-believer? If you’re not yet married, pray for your future spouse to know and love Jesus. If you’re a Christian and are married to a Christian, thank God for this blessing and, if you’re not married to a Christian, pray for your spouse to have a relationship with Jesus.
To help you study the book of Genesis with us, we have the first of three free e-book study guides here.
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