|
|
Genesis 6 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
What does the text mean when it says the “sons of God” saw the “daughters of men” were beautiful and took wives for themselves?
The phrase “sons of God” is used in other places of Scripture to describe angelic beings (Job 1; Job 2; Job 38). The Jewish context for this phrase would have been understood to mean angels. The daughters of men clearly means human daughters.
It is probable that the master plan of Satan was for his angelic beings (demons) to infect the genetic race with their corrupt nature. This would have been effective in stifling the coming Salvation of Jesus since demon possession would have been rampant and possibly even infected the lineage of Christ.
What happened to these evil spirits of Noah’s time that rebelled against God and tried to infect the human race? Jude gives a summary of the entire ordeal…
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, 7 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 1:6-7 NASB
After Jesus died on the cross, and before He rose again in victory, He paraded through the dwelling place of these spirits demonstrating His absolute authority over them. The plan Satan hatched long ago had failed.
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; 19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, 20 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.
1 Peter 3:18-20 NASB
What an amazing scene to imagine! Jesus preached (or proclaimed) to the spirits there who had been chained since their disobedience in Noah’s time. I do not believe this was evangelistic, but judgmental in nature. Even the evil that occurred before the flood would not escape the justice of God.
When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.
Colossians 2:15 NASB
Consider just how long it took for a portion of that justice to unfold. The evil that was committed before the flood was not condemned in victory until Jesus’ time. And it is safe to say that the final judgment for these evil powers will not take place until the Second Coming of Christ. So, in all this, we have a picture of God’s timing. God is not slow, but patient and meticulous. His details are microscopic. He will be true to His Word even when we don’t see it and can’t fully believe it. This is a timeless truth that we can bank on.