Angels and Giants

       God destroyed the world for a reason. There was a real purpose for the Flood. It wasn’t an arbitrary burst of anger. The Bible says there was a specific reason.

God was very open about His motivation for scouring the planet. “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6: 5). All sins are wrong (evil is evil), but this was a degradation was so prevalent and thorough, that God decided to essentially take the world back to what it was like just a few days into Creation. It was a major setback. However, to fully understand why God would go to such great lengths, it’s necessary to address a potential misconception.

The misconception involves mistaken identity. “Now it came about, 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 beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose (Genesis 6:1-2). Some readers have concluded that this passage is describing angels coming down to earth and physically interacting with human women, who then in turn produced “Nephilim” a.k.a. “mighty men” (Genesis 6:4). Although the word “angel” is not mentioned, the phrase “sons of God” is indeed used elsewhere in Scripture to describe angels (Job 1:6). The conclusion in this case would be that the Nephilim were a hybrid of angel and human. This in turn might explain why we eventually encounter such giants as Goliath.

However, there are several aspects of this passage which suggest this account has nothing to do with angels.

The phrase “sons of God” is also used in Scripture to simply describe people who belong to God. “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Romans 8:14). This is the more likely application here due to several other factors.

When the Sadducees tried to corner Jesus with a hypothetical dilemma, His primary counterpoint was built on a particular characteristic of angels. They don’t get married (Matthew 22:30). One might argue that a lack of marriage doesn’t automatically mean of lack of sex. Yet, at the very least, this verse draws attention to the lack of any Scripture that indicates angels are capable of this physical process.

Just the fact that sex is a physical process suggests complications. One of the distinctive traits God pinpointed about His newly created physical creatures was that they were capable of reproducing. There are no passages that suggest propagation outside of the physical realm. The arrangement of propagation being exclusive to the physical realm makes sense in that this realm is notoriously temporary. With impending limitations to lifespans for each physical living thing, reproduction is the one means to maintain each species. Such an arrangement for angels isn’t necessary being that their framework is already essentially eternal.

Throughout Scripture, during several direct interactions between the spiritual realm and the physical realm, there is a glaring incompatibility. The book of Hebrews emphasizes this contrast. Here, physical things are described as “those things which can be shaken, as of created things” and spiritual things are described as “those things which cannot be shaken” (Hebrews 12:27). This basic difference is emphasized in that the physical realm’s fragile nature is made more stark when there is overlap with the spiritual (Exodus 20:19; Isaiah 6:4). The material from which spiritual beings are created far outshines any earthly ingredients (I Corinthians 15: 40).

First, a spiritual being has no need of reproduction and therefore has no DNA to pass along. Second, even though angels have appeared in human form, their inherent nature is powerful to a fault in the presence of flesh and blood. A tryst with a “shakeable” human woman would not be conducive to her survival, let alone an accidental upgrade in the form of baby giants.

As a side note, there is a common misunderstanding promoted by Hollywood that celestial beings have a tendency to pine away, longing to live a life on earth and find “true love.” This is a relatively laughable angle on angels when one has a clear perception of this existence compared to the existence beyond this one. ¹

The Nephilim were not the progeny of celestial beings. In fact, the significant nature of these “mighty men” had nothing to do with their DNA. Although they probably had the biceps and abs necessary to ravage a few battlegrounds, their mightiness was not simply due to genetics. We can deduce this with some simple math and a brief word study.

Simple Math: Before the Flood, there were Nephilim (Genesis 6:4). After the Flood, there were Nephilim (Numbers 13:33). There were no Nephilim on the ark (cf. ark passenger manifest—Genesis 7:7). The solution to this story problem is that although the Nephilim were certainly big and scary, they were more about character than breeding.

Word Study: The word “Nephlim” comes from a verb which means “fall, lie down, be cast down, or fail.” In other parts of the Bible, the word is used to describe those who have fallen in battle (Judges 20:46) or who were defeated (II Kings 25:11). There are also indications that it is essentially a word associated with violent people. ² The Nephilim were mighty, but their name basically means they were the “Fallen Ones”—or to put it more simply—The Defeated. At best, the etymology might present them as the ones who fall on their enemies, violently and without mercy. Still not an admirable legacy.  

During this prelude to the Flood, as men began to prosper, they made the bad decision of choosing women simply for their looks. Drawn to their beauty, men “took wives for themselves, whomever they chose” (Genesis 6:2).  Their children grew up to be “mighty men,” who in turn furthered the corruption instigated by their fathers. They were physically impressive but most important of all—they were spiritually defeated. This resonates with one of the most important commands God has expressed time and time again throughout Scripture.

Don’t marry those who don’t belong to God (Exodus 34:11-16; II Corinthians 6:14-18).

As seen multiple times throughout Scripture, men have a tendency to compromise their spirituality through their choices about women. Solomon, Samson, and numerous others can testify to this.

If we conclude that this account is a record of angels interacting with human women, resulting in super-humans, we are left with merely an interesting tale. However, the Bible is designed to instruct and to give insight about our current circumstances. Everything recorded in the Old Testament is meant to have some kind of bearing on being a Christian right now (Romans 15:4). God’s Word is filled with threads that can be followed through the passages which lead to truths designed to help us survive this world. Spiritual concerns always trump mere physical concerns.

The angelic explanation for Genesis 6 would for the most part be an entertaining blip. However, the conclusion that Genesis 6 is dealing with the danger of interacting with worldly people supports a prevalent lesson that God considers to be extremely important.

When the “sons of God” joined their souls to women who were not “daughters of God,” this ultimately led to a wide-spread corruption.  “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). It was a chain of decisions and events warranting a vast execution with water. The account of the “sons of God” sets the stage for the Flood. But it wasn’t about genetics, it was about spirituality.

¹ II Peter 2:4-8 and Jude 5-8 both seem to support the angelic interpretation of Genesis 6, but such a connection is vague at best and could easily refer to other events not recorded to any specific degree in Scripture.

² There are other verses containing the concept of “Nephilim” (Joshua 8:25, Psalm 145:14, Jeremiah 39:9, 52:15, Ezekiel 32:22, 24).