The Early Church
I’ve heard the Bible described as B.I.B.L.E. to simply mean Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth! If the Bible is so simple, then why all the conflicting thoughts and opinions about God, heaven and hell? What really happens when we die? Angels and their interaction with mankind? All these subjects seem to be filled with mystery and confusion. Let’s look into some of these mysteries beginning in the first book of the Bible and the account of the sons of God.
In the book of Genesis 6:1 we read about human beings increasing in number on the earth. When daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and they took wives for themselves from all whom they chose.
Many people looking at these scriptures have believed them to be describing the interaction between human women and the fallen angels. If the question is a biblical one (which it is) then why wouldn’t we seek an explanation from the same source?
When we look to the Bible for an answer to this, we find that angels are simply not equipped to mate with humankind. There would be no reason for sexual contact between angels and humans. The Bible clearly explains that reproduction is for God’s earthly creation. All living creation reproduces after their kind. God created man after the God kind, in His image and likeness, but He made us a physical version so that we could reproduce after our kind.
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock, and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:26-28 NIV and throughout)
Unlike humanity, angels don’t reproduce after their kind. God created them to live forever so they don’t die and therefore have no need to replenish this number. This is explained in the following scriptures:
They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a spirit. He said to them, “Why are you troubled and why do doubts rise in your minds ? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself ! Touch me and see; a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have” (Luke 24:37-39).
Jesus replied, “The people of this age (life)marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age (life) to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels” (Luke 20:34).
They are God’s children since they are children of the resurrection (to life).
“Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Mark 12:26-27).
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
We could humble ourselves before our Creator and seek answers from Him. If our motives are less selfish, in that we are searching for truth to benefit ourselves and others in our desire to have greater understanding of God, then we’ll be guided by Him. We will have no guidance from God in our search for spiritual truth if our efforts are just an academic exercise. Such an attitude (mind) will not receive the needed truth.
Such a mind “… should not expect to receive anything from the Lord (James 1:7)
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt. Because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind (James 1:6).
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will opened. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7).
Are Angels Sons Of God ?
Are the scriptures in Genesis 6 really speaking of angels as being the sons of God ? We are told in Job 1:6 and Job 2:1 that the sons of God came to present themselves before God and Satan came along with them (accompanied, but not as a son, but separate) These scriptures are referring to angels who were righteous, and they are sons for two obvious reasons:
1. They were created by God (like human beings).
2. They present themselves as family members.
These scriptures in the book of Job also make very clear that Satan is not included as family. Yes, he was created by God, but he chose not to be a family member.
You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade (deceit) you were filled with violence and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor (Ezekiel 28:15-17).
In order to identify the sons of God as mentioned in Genesis 6:2 and who they really are, we should start at the beginning with Cain and Abel. These are two of the many children of
Adam and Eve, our first parents. Cain and Abel were instructed by God to walk in a way of life that would bring good to them. Their parents had also been instructed by God in the same way, but rejected His teaching in favor of finding their own way in life.
What Does God Teach His Creation ?
Perhaps the answer is in what do parents want to teach their children and what do good parents want for their children.
We have read in Genesis 1:26-27 that we are made in the image of our Creator but as a temporary physical version. This same desire is passed on to us from God, our parent. Children can do so much better for themselves in life if they learn from and accept the experience of their parents who have done well. Abel did just that by believing God and following in His teaching. Cain’s actions were the beginning of tragedy on the earth:
“And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth” (Matthew 23:35).
Cain and Abel were both taught in the same way, but Cain rejected God’s teaching. Cain believed that God existed but he didn’t believe what He said. We are told in James 2:19 that You believe that there is one God. Good ! Even the demons believe that and shudder (but they don’t believe Him).
Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him ? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous (1 John 3:12).
Many in the world today believe in God. They believe He exists but they don’t believe Him. We are told in 1 John 4:8 that God is love, therefore all He does is done in love. The first four of the ten commandment teach us how to love God. The remaining six teach us how to love our fellow man. If we follow the commandments, then we cannot hurt others willfully. Just consider: if humanity were ever to keep the commandments, the world would be transformed and would be filled with peace, happiness and love.
Cain
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry ? Why is your face downcast ? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted ? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it” (Genesis 4:6).
Cain knew the sixth commandment (You shall do no murder) but broke it by murdering his brother. We know from 1 John 3:4 that sin is the breaking of God’s commandments.
After the death of Abel, Adam made love to his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him” (Genesis 4:25).
Seth like Abel, believed God as did his son, Enosh:
Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord (Genesis 4:26).
These people began to follow God and to keep His commandments. These are the sons of God.
Everyone who calls on His name will be saved (Joel 2:32).
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As scripture says, “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile-the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:10-13).
For those who are led by the spirit of God are the children of God (Romans 8:14).
Do We Know God ?
Whoever says that they know God and yet do not follow His commands, is a liar and the truth is not in them (1 John 2:3-6).
We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; The one who is born of God (Christ) keeps them safe, and the evil one, Satan, cannot harm them (1 John 5:18).
To walk with God, we must keep His commandments.
Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, not His ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities (sin) have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear. (Isaiah 59:1-2)
When we call on God’s name we must be endeavoring to keep His commandments. If we sin by breaking a commandment, then we become separated from God. We must repent of our sin in order to heal the breach.
Seth To Noah
In Genesis chapter 5 each person that is mentioned, from the time of Seth to the time of Noah, walked with God and most were teachers of God’s Word. Jude 14 tells us that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, was the seventh teacher of righteousness. Genesis 5:18-22 tells us that Enoch walked with God for three hundred years. How many people were walking with God at this time? Was the ratio at that time and through the centuries, a remnant as it is today ? Luke 12:32 tells us of the little flock and Matthew 7:13-14 tells of the narrow gate that few find.
Enoch
Why did God take Enoch away? Was he taken to heaven?
Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away (Genesis 5:24).
Some claim that God took Enoch to heaven as He supposedly did with Elijah. If we claim to be believers, then we should believe our Teacher, Christ. He tells us very plainly in John 3:13 that no man has gone to heaven except He who came from heaven, Himself.
When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you ?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied (2 Kings 2:9).
As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. (2 Kings 2:11)
Elijah, like Enoch, was taken elsewhere on the earth. Sometime later Elijah wrote a letter to Jehoram, King of Judah. By this we know that Elijah was not in heaven. Likewise, Enoch was taken away for his peace and protection. We read this in 2 Chronicles where Jehoram received a letter from Elijah the prophet, which said “This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: “You have not followed the ways of your father Jehoshaphat or of Asa King of Judah” (2 Chronicles 21:12).
The Godly Line Of Seth
Could Enoch have been taken away to save his life ? Perhaps those who had been with him in his walk with God were now falling away and being corrupted by the influence of Satan’s world. This was caused by the breakdown of the separation between the Godly line of Seth and the Godless line of Cain, through intermarriage. God warned Israel of this same danger in later years.
The Lines Of Seth And Cain Broken
When you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same (Exodus 34:15-16).
“Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following Me, to serve other gods and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you” (Deuteronomy 7:3).
God had seen this happen before. He saw the corruption of Satan’s influence on the church that began with Seth. Satan used the natural desires of human beings to lead the sons of God into sin as he has done from the beginning of time.
The People Of Faith
The people who lived by their faith prior to the flood are listed in the bible.
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith Abel offered the proper offering and Cain chose not to do so. By faith Abel was commended as righteous when God spoke well of his offerings and by faith Abel still speaks even though he is dead (Hebrews 11:1-4).
Some might think that these events took place five thousand years ago and much has changed since then. With God, five thousand years is less than a week.
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day (2 Peter 3:8). Some might also say that was the old Father God and not the nice Jesus.
Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things (1 Peter 1:10-12).
God Does Not Change
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17).
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
God is not human, that He should lie, not a human being that He should change His mind (Numbers 23:19).
He who is the glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a human being, that He should change His mind (1 Samuel 15:29).
When those of the early church walked in faith with God before the flood, none of the present church organizations existed. Your church did not exist. The Jews did not exist.
Christianity did not exist. Islam did not exist. The Church at that time was composed of those guided and influenced by God’s Holy Spirit and walked in faith with Him. Those who called upon His name, did so directly and not through others. They walked in equal fellowship and of like mind, not in a hierarchical system. There was no representative between God and man. That has not changed and no man or organization can ever come between God and those who are His children.
For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose (Philippians 2:13).
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God (Romans 8:14).
Who Was Noah ?
Peter tells us Noah was a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5). We read of Noah in Genesis 6:
This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God (Genesis 6:9).
Was Noah the last of those who walked with God? The Bible doesn’t say, but we know that his father died a few years before the flood and his grandfather, Methuselah, died just months before it. Jesus tells us that life continued as normal just before the flood in Matthew 24:
For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away (Matthew 24:38).
This would be all the tens of millions of people who were alive at that time.
The Nephilim
Who were those who became the Nephilim (Genesis 6:4)? Were the Nephilim already in existence? Were they physical giants or mighty hunters like Nimrod who came after? Nephilim may not mean something grand however. Perhaps tyrant or bully would be a more accurate meaning (see Strong’s 5303), particularly given the wicked condition of mankind described in the next verse that had developed. They were instrumental in the deceit and destruction of those who walked with God. Who other than Satan our adversary, would seek to do this ?
Political power and influence has always been a medium for Satan’s deceit. We see something similar in Daniel 8:
In the latter part of their reign, when rebels have become completely wicked, a fierce-looking King, a master of intrigue will arise. He will become very strong, but not by his own
power. He will cause astounding devastation and will succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy those who are mighty, the holy people (Daniel 8:23-24).
There are dictators, bullies, secular and religious, large and small in all types of societies in our world today. They are men of “renown” as the Nephilim were described and are given honor, just as it has been throughout history. People today are the same as the people before the flood. We have not changed. We still think in the same ways and with the same nature. We want to live our lives the way we choose. Like Adam, Eve, Cain and all those who perished in the flood, who chose to do things their way. We have the choice, to walk in whatever direction we want to. Does the apple look good to us ? If so, there is nothing to stop us from eating it, just like Adam and Eve did, and men of renown claim to enable us to do so. However, if we claim to follow Christ, then let us keep in mind that He began His ministry by teaching repentance (change), departing from conformance to this world towards belief in God.
“The time has come,” He said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news ! ” (Mark 1:15). Here is your opportunity if you have not already done so..
Noah, The Last Son Of God
Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8).
Only Noah kept faith with God. The rest of the world became more wicked. Wickedness can become even greater when great men become corrupt. This seems to be the case with those who failed in their walk with God.
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time (Genesis 6:5).
The people became wicked by design. They didn’t sin through carelessness or weakness, but planned to do so by deliberate thought. How could wickedness be measured in a mind that had planned it over a period of nine hundred years? Because of this wickedness, God changed the lifespan of mankind to be less than one hundred twenty years.
Noah probably had other family members and many more people whom he tried to save. But in the end he entered the ark with his immediate family, the only son of God left to walk in obedience. By so doing he condemned the world but saved us, those who are the sons of God today.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God- this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–His good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the faith God has
distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others (Romans 12:1-5).