Angel Babies, Giants, and the Signs of the Seed

July 22

Read: Genesis 6:1-8

Angel Babies, Giants, and the Signs of the Seed

“When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose… The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.” (v.1,2,4)

One of the first “signs” of Satan’s seed is the desire to abandon the post / position / role that God has called you to. It is a “giving up” of your God-given responsibilities. We see this in Adam’s initial sin of being passive and standing by as the serpent seduced his wife. (Genesis 1:28 says this: “And God blessed them (man and woman). And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”) Adam should have been “having dominion over and subduing” creation (the serpent) instead of having the serpent influence and seduce his wife! This is TRUE OF US TODAY as GOD’S IMAGE BEARERS - we are designed to withstand and overcome the schemes of the devil - “subdue and have dominion over” - not be persuaded and manipulated by them. Satan call’s us to leave our roles, responsibilities, stations in this life and seeks to deceive us by painting God as a heavy handed God who withholds from us goodness, truth, and what we most need in this world. (cf. Genesis 3:1-7) When we look back and realize that Satan (a.k.a. Lucifer, The Serpent, The Ancient Dragon and The Devil) is a fallen angel - we see this truth amplified for us. Satan left his post… his position… his station and abandoned the truth of God. Satan rebelled against God. Satan coerced / enticed / persuaded other angels to join him in his rebellion. (cf. Rev. 12:3-4,7 , Matt. 25:41, etc.) This is a sign of Satan’s seed - rebellion against God and an abandonment of the position / station / and work God has called you to. This brings us to today’s passage.

After Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden of Eden - the very beginning stages of the “seed war” - we have this account in Genesis 6 that outlines the launch of humanity. The “seed of Eve” began to multiply and grow on the face of the earth. (v.1) What happens next is stunning: the “sons of God” see the beauty of human woman and decide to come to earth and procreate with them. Now this is some real sci-fi sort of stuff… right? Who are these “sons of God” anyways? It is fair to categorize them as angels of some sort. In Job 1:6-12, and Job 2:1-9 we have the “sons of God” presenting themselves to God including Satan himself. Knowing Satan is a fallen angel, and that these are angelic hosts coming before God, it seems fair to see these Old Testament sons of God as angels. So these ANGELS leave their post / station / role in the universe as those watching over humanities initial development (hence they are sometimes called “the Watchers”) and come to earth to sleep with human women whose offspring are “giants” - “Nephilim”. (v.4)

This is not the ONLY manifestation of Satan and his “seed” waging war against the “seed of Eve”, but it is a PRIME example. Just like Adam and Eve abandoned their role / station / and position in an attempt to become God-like, these angels do the same. In some sense, they see the “forbidden fruit” of these beautiful human woman and are duped into seeing God as “withholding” from them this beauty and goodness. They abandon their role (as “watchers” and messengers on behalf of the Lord) and come here to earth to take what was forbidden for them. What was the outcome of this? What happened when these “fallen angels” / “sons of God” come down here to earth - in particular, what happened to humanity? :

“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” (v.5,6,7)

Mankind became unfathomably wicked as the influence of these “Nephilim” pervaded over the face of the earth. God’s image-bearing creation (humans as God designed them) were corrupted both physically and morally. The “seed of Eve” was tainted - mutated even - by the “seed of fallen angels”. (What I would say is the “seed of Satan”) Look at the Lord’s response even: “And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land…” I bet Satan was SO EXCITED. The bloodline / origin / source of the one who would “crush his skull” was going to be wiped out by God. Right? Maybe Satan thought he had won the “seed war” there in the early days of humanity. But this was not the case! God knew his plan. God was not going to wipe out the “seed of Eve” and allow the “seed of the serpent” to prevail!

“But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.” (v.8) God was going to preserve the “seed of Eve”… the seed war was just beginning. The lineage of humankind that would some day birth Jesus Christ into this world was going to be preserved. The existence of Noah brings us HOPE even in the darkest days of humanity. The war wasn’t over… it had just begun! What are some key take aways for us from this passage?

1.) One of the first and primary ways that Satan deceives us is in the temptation to abandon one’s post / God-given station in this world and take what has been called forbidden.

2.) Satan will always paint God as a “meany” who is “with holding” and trying to “keep us from the good stuff”. In short, Satan always attacks the goodness of God and his intentions for his creation.

3.) The angelic realm / the spiritual realm can indeed interact with the physical / material realm. Even if we do not know exactly “how”, it is a clearly biblical idea that it can take place. These “sons of God” “came in to” the daughters of men and they birthed children that were literally giants.

4.) The physicality of these offspring ( The “seeds of fallen angels” = “seeds of the PRINCE of fallen angels” = “the seed of the serpent” = “the offspring / seed of Satan”) is not actually what is most stunning or emphasized. WE may be caught off-guard / struck by the “giant” nature of this offspring, but what is called out the most in this passage is HOW EVIL they are! They were tremendously WICKED. The “thoughts of their heart” were “only evil continually”. God’s answer for this level or type of perversion is DESTRUCTION.

5.) The power and greatness of these “mighty men” these “giants” came about through a partnership / blood-line / conception between a human woman and a “son of God” or angelic being. These resultant “Nephilim” were admired… they were the “titans” of their day… they were powerful and influential… and they used that power and influence in increasingly wicked and perverse ways. (see above) From this time forward, humans have ben enticed by the idea that you can “make a deal with the Devil” to receive power, influence, and wealth in this world. Satan tries to tempt Jesus with these very same things in the wilderness! (cf. Matt 4:1-11, etc.) Jesus does not dispute his ability to grant them. Think of that! We are fools to think this notion is simply folklore. I believe humans have been cutting deals with the Devil since the dawn of humanity in an effort to become “titans”, “giants”, “powerful men of renown”.

6.) Lust and sexuality is another key marker / tool that is used by Satan to wage war against the “seed of Eve” / image-bearing creation / humanity. It is lust and sexual perversion that led these “sons of God” to leave heaven and rebel against God. It was lust and sexuality that led these woman to procreate with these beings. (Although they may have been deceived or tricked at first… I do not know.) These relationships literally mutated / corrupted / affected the genetics of the “seed of Eve”. Lustful psychotic behavior, wickedness, and an evil heart are greater markers of Satan than being giant and strong are. (But being powerful, giant, and strong have been linked to the opposition of God’s people as well… think about Goliath or the spies of Israel looking into the promised land.)

I want us to end on this note: There is always the small remnant… the stand out among the many… who will withstand the corruption of the world around them. These are the ones who find “favor in the site of the Lord” like Noah did in the midst of these “Nephilim”. These are the ones who Jesus uses to “crush the skull” of the serpent in these “seed wars”. No matter how desperate or broken the world may SEEM, God has a plan and is going to prevail. The enemy will seek to entice us with promises of power, riches, influence, affluence, beauty, sexuality, and the like (just like he tempted Jesus). We will be told that God is holding out on us… that he is keeping us from the “good stuff”. We will be tempted to abandon our station and post… to seek what is “forbidden”. Resist. “Resist the Devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) This is your part in the “seed war”. The serpent may seek to bruise our heel - in Christ we are crushing his skull. We will look more at the “giants” that we face tomorrow! Love you guys! - JDP