Answers to "Ask Mike" Questions
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19a. Who are the sons of God [referred to in Genesis 6:1-4]? (Follow-up)
There are occult legends of the Succubus, an evil spirit who can impregnate human women, but unless I am missing something in Scripture, I find nothing to base that on. As I stated in my article, the four options seem to be that the sons of God mentioned in Genesis are (1) angels, (2) human beings from aristocratic families, (3) men who walked with God – i.e., had a special relationship with God, and (4) descendants of Seth. I feel most comfortable with options 3 or 4, but I admit my decision rests on human reason not divine revelation. It is, therefore, an opinion. I would certainly not make it a bone of contention in the body of Christ. Take into consideration the fact that the word "giant" means fallen. I am certainly not a Hebrew scholar, so I am taking the word of others here. I do know that Genesis 6 is a transition from Creation to the Flood. Dr. Tom Sharp of The Creation Truth Foundation has a huge human femur bone that indicates the size of the individual would classify them as a giant! His conclusion is that prior to the flood, human beings may have been quite large in addition to living extraordinarily long lives. You can visit their web site with a simple search, and I believe Dr. Sharp would answer any queries you might have about his possession. In my judgment, any discussion about who these Nephilim are comes back to opinion. Some would argue that a literal understanding of the text would require them to be fallen angels. Even that statement needs to be considered carefully since the sentence structure could lead to a couple of different conclusions. Question #19
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My thinking about the Nephilim is based on the fact that Jesus said there would be no marrying or giving in marriage in heaven. Therefore, I have always thought that angelic beings (fallen or otherwise) have no need for reproduction or even the need for it. The Bible never speaks of angels impregnating human women unless you take the reference to the "sons of God" marrying the "daughters of men" as such a reference.