Are the “Sons of God” in Genesis 6 Fallen Angels?

Are the sons of God mentioned in Genesis 6 actually fallen angels?

That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Well, sometimes when things aren't working right, you've got to get creative, and that's exactly what one astronaut did last week. The crew of the International Space Station was able to plug a longstanding air leak after locating the source with the help of a teabag. The station had been experiencing a mysterious air leak since September of last year, but the leak was minor enough that fixing it wasn't considered a priority until the leak rate increased in August. Well, the source of the leak was finally found when Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanchin broke open a teabag allowing the leaves to float free in the service module of the station. The crew sealed off that area, and they monitored the leaves on video cameras, noting the tiny tea fragments floated towards a scratch in the wall that was then confirmed to be the source of the leak, and they were able to repair it.

Ah, pretty awesome. You know, it's so funny if you were telling that story, Bill. I thought they were going to plug the leak with the teabag. This is why I am not an astronaut.

Probably wouldn't hold up, especially in re-entry or whatever. Oh, man. Well, I'm glad they're okay, and I'm glad they got creative and fixed that. That's very cool.

Let's get to our first question of the day, Adriel. This one is an email from Alyssa, and this is just in time for Halloween. She says, There's a church in our town that has an alternative event for kids to attend instead of trick-or-treating. They encourage families to avoid Halloween festivities and instead to attend this program. It's supposed to be more wholesome and family-friendly.

I brought it up to my kids, but they thought it was cheesy. We might end up doing both, but I just wanted to hear what you think about these types of alternative events. A couple years back, we did both. We did trick-or-treating as a family, and then as we were walking through a neighborhood, there was a church that was having one of these harvest festivals.

I think they go by different names. We got to stop by and hang out with a lot of the people there at the church, and the kids got extra candy. It was a great time. My position is, when it comes to trick-or-treating, Christians are going to have differences of opinion. There are some people that just feel like, I don't want to go trick-or-treating. I don't want my kids to see all those scary costumes, that kind of a thing. There are other Christian households that feel like, it's not that big of a deal.

We're just walking through the neighborhood and getting candy. I think we have to be charitable to each other. I think this is an issue of personal conscience. I'm reminded of what the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14. He says, as for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.

One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?

It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. There at the end of that passage in verse 12 of chapter 14, Paul says, so then each of us will give an account to himself, to God. One of the issues there in the ancient world, you might be familiar with this, but one of the issues that came up a couple of times, it comes up in the book of Romans, it comes up also in 1 Corinthians, was a lot of these new believers were leaving behind paganism. In some of the pagan rituals, they would offer food to idols. Some of those meats would be sold in the meat market, and people knew that they had been offered to idols, but Christians, some believers would still eat them, recognizing that an idol is nothing. Like Paul says in 1 Corinthians, no God but one God, so it didn't bother them. They just ate the meat because it was meat.

It didn't have any sort of magical powers or evil spirits attached to it because of the fact that it had been offered up to an idol. But other believers, especially the ones who had maybe come out of that particular pagan practice, they had a really hard time with these meats that had been offered up, sacrificed to idols, and so there was this difference of opinion within the early church. There were Christians who would argue, who would fight, about can I eat meat sacrificed to idols or should I abstain from meat sacrificed to idols, and Paul emphasizes the fact that we need to be charitable. If what we're doing causes our brother to stumble, if it trips them up in their faith, well then we have to be careful that our liberty, our Christian liberty, isn't putting a stumbling block in the way of our brother or sister. But at the same time, we recognize that, yeah, there are going to be differences of opinion, and some Christians are going to do one thing and others are going to do another thing, but we have to be gracious to each other. And I think that that's how I view this issue of trick-or-treating as well. These people dressing up as ghouls and goblins, that's nothing.

It's not real. We know that there's only one God. If Christians want to go walk around the neighborhood and get to know their neighbors, frankly, I think that that's a pretty neat thing, a neat opportunity. Well, wonderful. But if you're not comfortable with that, well, we shouldn't judge each other. And if a church has a harvest festival or that kind of a thing, well, great. If it's a way for the people of God to come together and to fellowship and to break bread together, well, wonderful. I think, Alyssa, that we want to be gracious to each other. I think that we want to encourage one another, and we want to be sensitive to the fact that others in the church might have a little bit more of a sensitive conscience on these issues. And we want to be careful as far as that's concerned, too. Now, of course, with everything going on because of COVID-19, I'm not sure what trick-or-treating or harvest festivals are going to look like this year, because I know, at least in some areas, people are saying, well, there's not even going to be trick-or-treating allowed.

And so I think every neighborhood is going to look a little bit different. You know, it's interesting, Adriel, I was thinking back to when I was in college, and one of the scariest haunted houses that I ever went to, those commercial haunted houses, was put on by Campus Crusade for Christ. But then, at the end, they actually were able to share the gospel, which I thought was really cool.

And everybody is terrified, and so they're just ready to receive. Thanks for sharing that. There we go. All right, well, here's another question on core Christianity.

This is a call that came in from Kevin in Missouri. I had a question. Is it okay now for a Christian to eat pork, or is it still considered a food that you shouldn't eat? Thank you. You all have a good one.

Hey, Kevin, thank you for that question. And it is okay for Christians to eat pork now. You know, the prohibition on pork was a part of Israel's ceremonial law under the old covenant. It had to do with these religious distinctions that God made for Israel. It was related to the worship of the old covenant, the Old Testament. Now, under the new covenant, pork is on the menu.

We can eat it. And really, the passage that I would go to, and there are several passages, and actually even that one that I read in Romans, chapter 14, with the initial question on eating different foods. You know, I think that's a good passage to go to as well, not judging each other for the things that we eat. But also, and I think the main text to go to is Acts chapter 10, beginning in verse 9. It's a vision that the apostle Peter had.

Listen to this. The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray, and he became hungry and wanted something to eat. But while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air, and there came a voice to Peter saying, Rise, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And the voice came to him a second time, What God has made clean, do not call common. This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. Three times God has to speak to Peter, and he reveals to him essentially that God has made these common things, these unclean things clean.

Now, as the passage continues, one of the things that's so interesting to see is this is really focusing on what we call the Gentile inclusion, that God is welcoming the Gentiles now into the church. But with that, you also have the abolition of these food laws that were a part of the Old Covenant. And so, yes, the answer to your question is pork is okay for Christians to eat.

It's back on the menu, and I'm personally very grateful for that. Bill, how about you? Do you like pork rinds? Not pork rinds, but I'll go for a pork chopper bacon anytime, man. Oh, yeah. What's your favorite pork dish, Bill?

Let's see. I had a really good pork loin with apple cinnamon topping on it. The restaurant one time was just delicious. I'm okay with the pork rinds, man.

I'm a snacker. And I'm grateful for the New Covenant. I mean, there are all sorts of reasons to be grateful for the New Covenant.

Certainly, the main one is the forgiveness of sins, but also the abolition of those food laws that allow us to receive all of God's gifts with joy. Moving right along, this is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. And with Halloween tomorrow, we have an excellent resource we want to tell you about today.

Yes, we do. We're sharing a frequently requested resource over at corechristianity.com. It's called Nine Frequently Asked Questions About Angels and Demons, and it's free for you when you sign up for our weekly newsletter.

You know, this is one of, as I said, one of our more popular resources. And unfortunately, there's a lot of bad teaching when it comes to angels and demons. So download and share this resource that focuses on what the Bible actually teaches by heading to corechristianity.com forward slash offers to download Nine Frequently Asked Questions About Angels and Demons. Does it answer that question about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin?

Is that in there? I mean, I think that's why the resource was written, Bill. I mean, just to figure that one out. I don't think so, actually, but it answers a lot of other really good questions. All right, well check that out. Again, it's called Nine Frequently Asked Questions About Angels and Demons. You can call us for that at 833-843-2673.

That's 833-the-core. Well, here's a question that was posted by Mark on our Facebook page. He says, What does the word repent really mean? Does it mean to stop sinning or does it mean a change of mind leading to a changed life? I asked this because if we preach, repent and believe, are we preaching works done by us or a work of God done to us by God? Why preach repentance when if a man truly believes his mind has already been changed? Well, the Greek word metanoia does mean a change of mind. Now, included in this are two elements that I'm going to break down for you. And certainly associated with this is the idea of a changed life. I mean, when you have an encounter with the living God, you're not left the same.

You can't be. Martin Luther, the Protestant reform, and it's actually appropriate that we talk about him, you know, around this time of the year, because it's around this time of the year that he's said to have stapled his 95 theses. And of course, he didn't use a stapler, but to the castle door at Wittenberg, where he was basically protesting against some of the practices going on in the medieval church.

That's one of the things that a lot of Christians remember around this time of the year. And there was a controversy there in the 16th century known as the antinomian controversy. Now, that might be a word that you've never heard before, antinomian. It'd be a good word to know because there are people out there today who are antinomian, anti and namos. Namos is the Greek word for law.

So anti-law, think of it that way. People who reject the law of God, even who live in ways that are totally contrary to it. So you think of, for example, the people that claim the name of Jesus Christ. They say, oh, I've repented.

I follow Jesus. But they live like the devil. They don't really love God. They're not a part of a church. They don't follow God's law.

They're antinomian, we might say. Well, in Luther's day, there were some people that were saying that repentance didn't come from the law, preaching the law, but from preaching the gospel. And Luther said, actually, true repentance requires both. First, I mean, these are at least according to him, and I think it's helpful to think about this as we get to kind of the core of your question, what is repentance? Well, first, repentance includes sorrow over sin. I recognize what my sin is and what it's done to me and to others. But it also includes, repentance also includes the intention to do better.

We're resolving to say, Lord, I'm going to follow you. Sorrow for sin comes from being confronted by God's law, and you know the feeling. You're at church, and your pastor is preaching, and he's talking about what it means to follow God, to obey Jesus, to obey the law.

And you recognize, oh, man, I fall so short of that. I don't love my neighbor as I should. I don't love God as I should. Well, that sorrow that you experience comes from the preaching of the law, but you also have the intention to do good in repentance, or you ought to have it in repentance, and that comes from the hope of the gospel. The law brings sorrow, but the gospel brings hope. You see, repentance is a turning away from our sins because we recognize that they're heinous, but it's also a turning toward God in faith with hope. And if you don't have that second part, if you just have sorrow, well, you're left in despair. And I think sometimes Christians confuse repentance for despair. They think, oh, I just got to sit and wallow in my sin for a while and beat myself up, and the more miserable I can be, the more truly I've repented.

But there's no hope. It's just complete sorrow, depression, darkness. Well, repentance includes both the sorrow over sin, but also looking in faith to the one who can cleanse our sins, Jesus. That's what repentance is.

So it's really important that you have both of those things, because if you just have sorrow, well, you're left in despair. And if you didn't hate your sin and turn from it, you were just trying to look to Jesus, quote unquote, while still clinging to and loving your sin, well, you could be deceiving yourself. And I think a lot of people do that today. I actually wrote an article over at corechristianity.com called True versus False Repentance.

What's the difference? Where I try to sort of untangle this question of, well, what about false repentance? What does true repentance look like?

But I think Luther right there is a really helpful guide. And it's important also, going to the other part of your question, Mark, where you say, if I preach, repent, and believe, are we preaching works done by us or a work of God done to us by God? Repentance is a work of the Holy Spirit.

God is the one who works in us, Paul says to the Philippians, both to will and to do. So know this, when we talk about repentance, it's not your part in the sense that you got to pull yourself up by the bootstraps. No, even repentance, I mean, recognizing that your sin is as bad as it is, and being able to look up in hope to God, even that is a gift, the work of the Holy Spirit. So you know, one thing you could do if you feel like a boy, I don't know if I, if I've truly repented, or I'm wrestling with repent, you know what you do? You get on your knees, and you go before the Lord, and you say, God, by the grace of your Holy Spirit, help me to truly repent, to hate my sin, and to turn to you by faith, to cling to you, Lord, to leave behind these things that so easily ensnare me, to cling to your cross, the cross of your son, Jesus.

Pray for it, because it is a gift given to us by God, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. So Mark, thank you for that question, and may the Lord bless you. You know, you mentioned something about godly sorrow, Adriel, and I think we have to understand the difference between godly sorrow and wallowing in shame and guilt, which is never God's intent.

You're absolutely right, and you know, there are places in scripture that talk about that, like Paul's letter to the Corinthians. He, you know, when he writes to the Corinthians, he talks about the repentance that was produced through his work, through his preaching, his ministry to them, and he talked about the fact that there was sorrow, but there also was this desire for righteousness, this turning away from sin, this hope in God. You think also of the accountability. One of the things that I think is characteristic of true repentance is the willingness to have accountability. We're bringing our sin into the light. We're saying, I'm through with it, and so I can be honest about it.

I can confess it. A lot of times, I think we try to cling to our sins, hold on to them. We don't want to let them go yet, and we'll tell ourselves we've repented.

I'm done with that, but in reality, we want to still have it and protect it and engage in it. Well, bring it into the light, because when you bring sin into the light, that's where it dries up and dies, and I think that's one of the things that's so beautiful about the Christian community, about the church, is we get to fellowship with each other. We can be honest with one another, and as we're honest with each other, bringing sin into the light, that's how it's put to death. It flourishes in the darkness, but in the light, in the light of Jesus Christ, in the light of Christian community, it dies. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and if you have a question for us, you can call us anytime at 833-843-2673.

That's 833-THE-CORE. Hey guys, this is Tommy, and I have a question, and I've read articles on your website recently about it, and this past Sunday, we had a sermon, and in that sermon, our pastor mentioned a view that he has changed, I guess recently, and doing some research for the sermon, and it is regarding angels, and specifically in Genesis chapter 6, one and two, the sons of God saw the daughters of man, and saw that they were attractive, and they took as their wives. Specifically, the sons of God, who they are, it was posed that they might be angels. And so I wanted to know your thoughts on this.

Thanks a lot guys, I enjoy your show, and I really enjoy listening. Well, thank you for that question, and this is one of the more controversial passages in the book of Genesis, and there have been several different interpretations. I think probably the most popular interpretation, and this is the one that you see evidence for early on, is the one that it sounds like your pastor has angels. And the phrase, sons of God, is often used to describe angels.

You think of Job chapter 1 verse 6, or chapter 2 verse 1, you know, the idea of the sons of God is a reference to the angels. And so the reason that that view is unsettling for a lot of people is because, I mean, it talks about these beings, these angelic beings having relations with women and having offspring. And so that raises all sorts of questions, but that is one of the views on this passage. And I think there are biblical reasons for embracing that view.

I mean, I think there's some controversy, obviously, and that's why there are differences of opinion on this text. I mean, another reason that people embrace this view, Tommy, is because when you look at the New Testament in particular in 2 Peter chapter 2, and then a parallel text in Jude verse 7, it does seem to indicate there, too, that there was this sort of event that took place related to sexual immorality and angelic beings. And so there seems to be some New Testament corroboration for this view that the sons of God are angelic or were angelic beings that were later judged by God, basically because of what they had done, condemned by the Lord and judged severely. Another view, which I think is legitimate and has biblical warrant, is that really what's being talked about here are the two lines, the line of Seth and the line of Cain.

And Seth is obviously the good line. Cain was the first murderer. And it's the idea that the Sethite good line was marrying the Cainite women, corrupting the godly line. Now, there are some questions that are raised even with that view. And I think the primary one is, well, then why does verse 4, when it talks about the Nephilim who were on the earth, talk about them in the way that it does? Another view is this sort of divine kingship view. And that's sort of on the basis of Psalm 82. It's this idea that rulers or judges are sometimes referred to as gods.

You think of 2 Samuel 7, verse 14. And in this view, the idea is these rulers are engaging in polygamy, taking multiple wives, and so that that's what's being condemned. Well, Tommy, each one of these views, I think, has a degree of warrant.

And I think that there are things about them that are problematic as well. I think more and more I'm sort of partial to the angel view. Maybe, and this is one of the ways it's been sort of parsed out, is that these angelic beings, these evil beings, possessed men, people, through possessing them, essentially engaged in these relations.

And that's how you ended up with these offspring. But the fact of the matter is, like I said, just principle of biblical interpretation that I think is really important for us is, let the clearer passages of scripture interpret the less clear passages of scripture. And so with that, I think, we do know that angels don't have sexual relations, so I think we have to be careful just imagining these angelic beings coming straight down from heaven, not through possessing someone or something like that. And with all of this, I think, Tommy, one of the things we want to keep in mind is this really important principle of Bible interpretation, and that's that we let the clear passages of scripture interpret the less clear passages of scripture. And while in some ways I'm partial to the angel view because of the fact that it's got a lot of support in the history of the church, and also because of some of those New Testament texts that seem to corroborate it, I think also one of the strengths of the other view, the sort of Sethite view, is in the book of Genesis, what's being traced is the godly seed. You think back to the promises in Genesis chapter 3, where the seed of the woman is going to crush the head of the serpent, so the focus is on this seed of the woman that's coming, and that's being traced throughout the book of Genesis. And if that's one of the major themes, maybe that's supposed to be the focus, and we know that the seed of the woman who crushes the head of the serpent, this is the hope of the gospel, that seed is Jesus Christ. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this podcast, and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.