Sin Becomes Unbearable (Genesis 6:1-8)
The tail end of this first interlude in Genesis is one of the more fascinating passages of scripture, but beware! Just as chapter five with all of its names and ages is a pitfall for over-interpretation, we need to remember the purpose of what is being written. Here in chapter six, we see a culmination of the expanse and spread of sin. Things come to a point where God is prepared to do a bit of a system reboot. But how did it get there?
We read in these first verses that—beyond the mere multiplication of sinful humanity—the perversion of God’s creation reaches incredible levels. We see that the daughters being born to humanity become a temptation for a group called “the sons of god.” In other passages in the Bible, this term is a reference to angels—spiritual beings created by God. Some of these beings have turned against God’s plans, much in the way that humanity has. It may be these fallen angels that are being talked of here. If so, Genesis six would be talking of the mixture of fallen angels and humanity. That would certainly be—like all sin—something outside of God’s plan, but also something that seems like a whole other level of rebellion.
However, there are other interpretations of this passage, and a lot of speculation has been woven over these verses. The fact of the matter is that we simply don’t have any more information than what is in these few scant verses. And fortunately the little that there is manages to serve the purpose and communicate what we need to know. Ten generations in, things got so bad that God is about to take drastic measures to keep His plan to restore creation on track…
We read in these first verses that—beyond the mere multiplication of sinful humanity—the perversion of God’s creation reaches incredible levels. We see that the daughters being born to humanity become a temptation for a group called “the sons of god.” In other passages in the Bible, this term is a reference to angels—spiritual beings created by God. Some of these beings have turned against God’s plans, much in the way that humanity has. It may be these fallen angels that are being talked of here. If so, Genesis six would be talking of the mixture of fallen angels and humanity. That would certainly be—like all sin—something outside of God’s plan, but also something that seems like a whole other level of rebellion.
However, there are other interpretations of this passage, and a lot of speculation has been woven over these verses. The fact of the matter is that we simply don’t have any more information than what is in these few scant verses. And fortunately the little that there is manages to serve the purpose and communicate what we need to know. Ten generations in, things got so bad that God is about to take drastic measures to keep His plan to restore creation on track…
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