"Sons of God" and their Nephilim Offspring

Awesome Friday! Today, let’s talk angels—or rather, angel half-breeds…the Nephilim. Do you believe in them? Do you know much about them? Here’s what some believe the Holy Bible has to say about them:

When men began to increase in number on earth and daughters were born to them, 2the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3Then the LORD said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is a mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.’ 4The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”

Genesis 6:1-4

There are many theories as it relates to who and what the “sons of God” and the Nephilim are.

Theory One: The “sons of God” were fallen angels. Many believe that the Nephilim were what was thought to be the giants in the Bible because it was believed they were the offspring of angels and human women.

Theory Two: The “sons of God” were probably not human, not even born on earth.

Theory Three: The “sons of God” were nothing more than righteous men, as opposed to the earthly non-righteous individuals during those sinful days before the great flood.

Theory Four: The “sons of God” are a hybrid race that is distinctly different from us humans, but sexually compatible with human reproduction. In any event, the “sons of God” are specifically set apart from the “daughters of men”, so they were obviously a separate race and their offspring were the Nephilim.

Theory Five: The “sons of God” were other created men. It is widely accepted by Biblical believers that Adam and Eve were the only human first created by God. However, the Bible does not detail or describe every individual on earth, not even every important person on earth to Him. Only significant situations and the people involved with those situations are included in Biblical Texts. There is no certainty that God created only Adam and Eve. For all we know, he could have created a whole nation of people, but only Adam and Eve were important.

Off topic: I probably could have found more theories had I kept searching. I felt this was more than enough. ;-)

To me, the book of Job leads me to believe that the “sons of God” were, in fact, angelic in nature. 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.” And again in Job 2:1, “Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.”

I am not a Biblical historian and I truly stink at deciphering its meaning, but to me those two passages would suggest that “the sons of God” were somehow related to God and not another creation of unmentioned mankind. So, for me that knocks out theory three and five above. Only one man in the Bible supposedly saw God as a burning bush and that was Moses. Paul, who became Saul, saw Him as a bright light while on a mission to persecute Christians. I didn’t think any human on earth after the fall from the Garden of Eden was able “to present themselves before the Lord”? None of them had that close of a relationship with God. So, to me, the Job passages suggest that the “sons of God” were probably angels who had the right to freely come and go in the presence of God to report the happenings on earth.

Strangely enough I also found that the Grigori were considered fallen angels who had mated with mortal women, which gave birth to a hybrid race known as the Nephilim. In the Book of Enoch, the Grigori were known as the “Watchers”, which were angels that had been sent to earth to do nothing more than watch over God’s human creation. Enoch details how the Grigori began to lust after the human women, they marry them and begin to live among the mortals. Their children, the Nephilim, are giant savages that endanger humankind by pillaging the earth. They become corrupt and teach the mortals the necessities of civilization that God had kept secret. According to Jude 1:6, God has bound the Grigori on the Earth until Judgment Day.

Even the Book of Jubilees mentions the watchers that fell from grace and married the “daughters of men”.

So, were the Nephilim the offspring of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men”? Were these “sons of God” fallen angels on the side of Satan? Or could they be angels watching and living among us that have become fascinated and enraptured by God’s mortal creation, not fallen on Satan’s side, but just fallen from God’s celestial design?

Of course, all of this is assuming one believes in the Biblical principles. As for me, I do not know enough about the philosophy or about the Bible to make an informed and intelligent decision. But for me, the “what ifs” are intriguing and that’s enough to get my creative juices flowing with possibilities.

What do you think? How do you interpret the Biblical Texts? Do you have a different theory? Or do you prefer one theory over another? Tell me…I’m eagerly listening. =)

Have a great weekend everyone and don’t forget to check back tomorrow for your chance to win a copy of our Thursday’s guest blogger, Stacy Dawn’s, e-book, Reindeer Games.