#19 "Sons of God and Daughters of Men" Genesis 6

Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men of old, men of renown. Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6:1-7 NKJV

This is a passage that people have been divided on, as far as interpretation, so I am going to start with  the phrase, "sons of God."  In Job 1:6: Now there was a day when the "sons of God" came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. NKJV

Sons of God here, in the context of this passage, is referring to the angelic host and Satan is among them. When God asked Satan, "From where do you come?" He answers, "from going to and fro on the earth, and walking back and forth on it." So He is no longer there but instead he is in the presence of God Almighty. In Job 2:1 we see a recurring instance where the angelic hosts are referred to as the "sons of God" in another meeting. The reference to angels, using the same words, is made again in Job 38:7. Looking at it from the first sentence in Gen 6: men multiply, daughters born to them, sons of God saw daughters of men, it naturally draws a distinction between men and sons of God. 

Angels were not made with the purpose of procreation in mind.

For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. Matthew 22:30

And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to this, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Jude 6

The verse above draws comparison between the sexual immorality of Sodom and that of the fallen angels. It is uncertain if the angels literally had sex with women since they were not designed with the intent of marriage, as we see in Matthew, or as some writers have stated, possessed men. Either way it was against God's command and stepping outside of His design. The passage also states that the daughters of men bore children to them, and that there were giants on the earth. The sentence structure appears to indicate that the giants were already there in those days and not a product of copulation. Why they are included in this particular passage may be to indicate that they were the preferred instrument of the fallen angels for sexual exploits if it was indeed a matter of possession, but that is me speculating.

It is at this time that God also decides to shorten man's days. We will see the His instrument for this in the following chapters.  Will God destroy all men, or will He keep His word to Adam and Eve about a promised seed?