“Now it happened, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were good in appearance; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.

Then Yahweh said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever because he indeed is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be 120 years.’

The Nephilim were 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 who were of old, men of renown.

Then Yahweh saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And Yahweh regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. And Yahweh said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I regret that I have made them.’

But Noah found favor in the eyes of Yahweh.” (Gen 6:1–8)

First of all, we must establish who this verse is talking about when it refers to the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men”. Some translations, such as the NIV and NLT, translate the latter term as “daughters of humans” or “of humankind.” This seems to take a side unfairly, instead of allowing us to form our own opinions.

The traditional Jewish interpretation says the “sons of God” are angels.

Angels are called the sons of God in various other passages, so this is definitely a possibly way the term can be used.

These angels left heaven and came to earth, where they met the human women. At this point, the angels and human women married and had children. Their offspring were basically demigods or super-powerful hybrid angel-people.

This theory has some problems though. The biblical text only records God’s judgment upon humankind. It never mentions or describes God punishing any angels. Additionally, we already know that the Jews didn’t properly understand angels. Just because they eventually came up with this interpretation doesn’t mean that it reflects what Moses originally meant. Besides all that, we have some a comment from Jesus in Matthew 22:30.

“For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”

Here Jesus implies that the angels do not participate in marriage, presumably because they do not have the need or even ability to reproduce. How could they come to earth and do exactly that?

If the text doesn’t mean “angels and humans,” what does it mean?

Consider the previous two chapters. Whenever we’re trying to figure out what a passage means, the best thing to look for is any clue from the context. In chapter four, we can read about the Cain’s sin and then his descendants, who follow in his footsteps. Then at the end of the chapter, we learn about his younger brother Seth, during whose life men began to “call on the name of the Lord” (Gen 4:26). Chapter five then gives a genealogy of Seth’s descendants, leading directly into this chapter.

I believe the correct reading is that the “sons of God” are not angels, but the once-righteous descendants of Seth. They are not wicked men, but good men—just foolish. The “daughters of men” are the descendants of Cain, or even of Seth, who are not righteous women.

Now that we’ve gotten that figured out, what’s the story here? What’s this chapter about? It’s telling us about how Satan corrupts good people. Satan is a corrupting influence, and we haven’t heard a peep from him since Genesis 3, when God cursed the serpent. Yet we see that his influence is alive and well, hundreds of years later.

Satan will corrupt you with your desires.

“Now it happened, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were good in appearance; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.” (Gen 6:1–2)

Satan begins with the same tactics he used with Eve. He plays off our own desires. He has no need to produce his own sources of temptation, because our desires are powerful enough. All Satan has to do is corrupt them and persuade us to act accordingly.

The descendants of Seth may live good and righteous lives, but they still have their own desires. Satan knows this, and he takes advantage of it. These men come along and take for themselves “whomever they choose,” with regard only for what they want.

We have just as many emotions and desires as those who are wicked. Just because we are born again doesn’t mean we don’t struggle with anger, fear, lust, pride, and other natural feelings that easily turn into temptations.

“But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully matured, it brings forth death.” (Jas 1:14-15)

Our own desires carry us away into temptation. Therefore, we actually have the ability to prevent temptation. If we avoid temptation, we prevent sin. Obviously, we can’t eliminate the natural desires we have, but we can control them and how we seek to fulfill them.

Satan will corrupt you with time.

“Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever because he indeed is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be 120 years.'” (Gen 6:3)

The problem here is that nobody is immune to temptation at all. Satan tempts us through our desires. God gave us our natural desires because our fleshly bodies need those desire to function properly. As a result, anyone with a fleshly body is subject to temptation.

Paul writes about this frustration in Romans 8:

“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (Rom 8:20–21)

We cannot simply stop being made of flesh. We can do a lot of things to fight off temptation, but it all wears away at us, chipping away at our spirit.

Satan doesn’t need to make you fall tomorrow; he’s happy to make microscopic progress day after day, until eventually he has you! Time is on his side.

Notice the mercy God shows to the people of Noah’s day: instead of letting Satan’s corruption continue to develop, He gives the people a chance to experience a cleansed world. He gives them 120 years to get things right. At the conclusion of that time, God will clean the world from everything and let them live in a new, perfect world again.

But for nearly all of these people, it’s too late. Satan has them firmly in his grasp.

How do we fight time?

Time is on Satan’s side, not ours. Every day we live is another chance he has to get us—and that can be frightening! But there’s a basic solution. Don’t feed your temptations. If you give in to the little things, Satan can eventually get you with the bigger things.

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Gal 6:7–8)

This whole concept is why the Bible talks so much about patience and perseverance. Staying faithful to God is hard work, especially in the marathon of life.

Satan will corrupt you with your associations.

“The Nephilim were 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 who were of old, men of renown.” (Gen 6:4)

We can’t control the fact we’re made of flesh, and we can’t control how long we live, but here’s something a lot easier to control: our associations. Satan influences us by using people we know and love.

The God-fearing descendants of Seth fall in love with the less enthusiastic descendants of Cain, and look at the result.

The souls of the “daughters of men” were already lost, or at least in danger. Now, their influence threatens the souls of their spouses. The children hardly stand a chance!

I’m certainly not saying that if you are a Christian currently married to a non-Christian, then you are in sin. I am warning you of the danger to their soul, your soul, your children’s souls, and even your grandchildren’s souls.

Whether or not your grandchildren will be saved is directly related to the faithfulness of you and your spouse. Look at how few generations it took for Satan to corrupt Seth’s line beyond our imagination. Enoch, who walked with God, was only five generations prior.

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” (2 Cor 6:14)

If your spouse is not a Christian, or your parents, or your close friends, I encourage you to actively try to change that. Satan has time on his side, and we don’t know how much there is.

Satan will corrupt you with his skill.

“Then Yahweh saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen 6:5)

Notice also a few verses later:

“And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.” (Gen 6:12)

This is rather depressing, but Satan is successful here. He has been trying to corrupt the righteous, and they have been corrupted.

Satan knows exactly what he is doing—he is a skilled adversary and hunter. He has become terribly talented and experienced.

Beyond that, he desires to corrupt those of us who follow Christ.

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat. But I have prayed earnestly for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, once you have returned, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31–32)

Jesus tells Peter that Satan wants to have him and the other disciples, and in fact they are all going to fall away, and only then will they come back.

We have to be careful, because Satan knows what he’s doing. A great comfort to us, however, is that

“The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who go after the flesh in its corrupt lust and despise authority.” (2 Pet 2:9–10)

This leads us into our next observation from the text:

God will destroy corruption.

“And Yahweh regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. And Yahweh said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I regret that I have made them.'” (Gen 6:6–7)

Here we come to yet another difficult and controversial passage; does God regret decisions He has made? I don’t think so at all. Rather, God has reached the point where He must intervene.

God’s holiness moves Him to destroy the corruption Satan produces, so that God can re-create. When God sees that something is not-good, He takes action to make it good again. Remember during the Creation, when God had made the man, but not yet woman:

“Then Yahweh God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.'” (Gen 2:18)

God promptly made the woman from the man’s rib, so that He could conclude.

“And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Gen 1:31)

God doesn’t interfere with our free will to make decisions. He let the people become wicked and turn their backs to Him. But when God saw the corruption upon the earth, He determined to remove the wickedness and sin so He could start over with Noah.

God will spare the uncorrupt.

“But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” (Gen 6:8)

Noah was special. God didn’t destroy him or his family. Why? Come back tonight and we’ll see.