Who were the “sons of God” who married “the daughters of men” and had children who were giants in Genesis 6
2-4?
Posted on Jan 25, 2011
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Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
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Are these “sons of God” angels, as some have concluded? Can angels reproduce?
Scholars debate and disagree over the meaning of the obscure reference to “the sons of God” in Genesis 6:1-4. Some people read into these verses the idea that it refers to angelic beings marrying women and producing a race of giants. Christ explained that is impossible, teaching that angels are neither male nor female (Luke 20:34-36)—that is, they are incapable of reproduction.

Humans are clearly the subject in Genesis 6—not angels. God said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh” (verse 3, emphasis added throughout) and, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth” (verse 7). If angels were capable of reproducing as mankind does, their offspring would be spirit, according to the principle of “according to its kind” portrayed in Genesis 1.

The Bible labels the offspring of these marriages “giants” (Genesis 6:4), meaning simply people of giant stature. Similar people are spoken of in later times, most notably Goliath and his family.

How, then, can we understand Genesis 6:1-4? Human beings are also sons of God. We’re not referring to becoming spiritual sons of God through conversion, but to the fact that all people are sons of God by creation (Luke 3:38). The attitudes and actions of these “sons of God” were so wrong that they provoked God to send the Flood.

Halley’s Bible Handbook raises the possibility that these sons of God were the descendants of Seth. Seth, the Bible records, was made in the image of Adam, who was made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26; 5:1-3). Speaking of Seth’s descendants, Genesis 4:26 adds, “Then men began to call on the name of the Lord,” a phrase that could also be rendered, “called after the name of the Lord”—that is, the “sons of God.” If so, the women, “the daughters of men” whom these “sons of God” married were the descendants of unrighteous Cain. By marrying these women, the sons of righteous Seth turned from God, leading Him to say that the entire world was then corrupt (Genesis 6:5-7, 12).

An alternative explanation is that “sons of God” in Genesis 6:2 refers to self-willed men who called themselves “sons of god,” not in worship of the Creator, but of pagan deities. Their marriages were in defiance of the Creator God, as they lived contrary to His will. In light of God’s characterization of society riddled with violence (verses 11 and 13), we surmise that the men forcibly took the women as wives.

Regardless of which explanation is accurate, the idea that a half-spirit, half-human race resulted from angels marrying women is impossible, according to the Bible.

For more information please watch our BT Daily Video Did angels marry women and produce a race of giants?

Melanie’s Story – Grateful for experiences

“I think those who feel more grateful have always lost something.”

Aarushi: Hey, Melanie, thanks for joining. And we are here. So excited to learn about you and your story. Could you please start by giving us a look at how your life was before you were intentional about gratitude?
Melanie: Sure, thanks for having me. I got a dog in 2015, he was supposed to be an assistance dog. And after six months, he failed. And I found life pretty hard. I have a disability. And I had previous dogs that worked quite well and could go everywhere with me and help me while I was out and about and at home.
And then I got Upton. And he failed after six months. And I didn’t know whether to give him back to the organization that gave me him or whether I should just keep him because I didn’t know when the next one would come by. And I found that I was stressing about it, and about what to do.
I found writing my thoughts out before I went to bed really helpful. And then I could sleep and not have to worry about what was on my mind a bit. So I started journaling using my phone. And then I found the Gratitude app and it gave me a place to write regularly, prompts and colors are awesome as well.
I’m usually quite positive, a person that loves life and loves doing all sorts of things. But I hate the cold. And it can get quite cold in Perth where I live. And I find that just restricts me from doing things as well, I can’t do as much work.
Yeah, Just my range of motion decreases in winter, because I can’t do as much for myself. And I don’t sleep as well in winter because I go to bed freezing cold and I can’t fall asleep.
And then I have blankets on when I wake up in the morning and I’m boiling hot and I can’t sleep then either. And so, I kind of get grumpy in winter, and I was taking it out on some of my support workers.
And one of them said, “You know, just be grateful that I’m here. I’m here to help you. Don’t take it out on me.” And so she really encouraged me to be grateful for the little things, just her turning up was good.
And the fact that I’m alive and the fact that I can put a heater on and warm up if I need to. And, there are lots of other people who don’t have that privilege as well. So I think she really was the main instigator of me feeling grateful.
Aarushi: So you said that you used to just write out your thoughts in your journal? How was that different from writing about things that you are grateful for?
Melanie: I guess I used to just write about the problems that I had. Whereas now, if it’s a rainy day, and it’s horrible weather, I can be grateful that I was home, instead of writing how awful it was, right?
If it was raining, and I didn’t get wet, then I’d write how lucky I was not to get wet. Or, just a little spin on things just a little bit. They all add up to big things at the end of the day.
Aarushi: What do you think is the importance of gratitude in the world, for everyone to feel in their lives?
Melanie: I think a lot of people probably do. It’s probably the more privileged people who don’t, the people in power, those sorts of people who make decisions about everyone else.
Probably the poor people feel gratitude for anything that comes their way because they don’t have much to start with. They’re grateful for anything that they get. You got lots of money, you’ve got lots of cars, you don’t appreciate them.
You can do whatever you like, you’re not gonna be appreciative of everything that you have. Whereas someone who has to work hard to earn the money will appreciate it more.
Aarushi: So when you have more things, you’re less appreciative and less grateful?
Melanie: Yeah. Like if I had a dog that worked perfectly, I won’t appreciate him as much. I wouldn’t acknowledge it because it’s right there in front of me. Sometimes you just take it for granted.
Like the sun? The sun is always there, except on a rainy day. I think that if you have something all the time, it’s harder to appreciate because it’s always there. You know, it’s not missing to miss it.
Like, people who have accidents and can’t walk again, and never appreciated that they could walk or take themselves to get in a car and drive somewhere. That ability to realize how good you had it?
Aarushi: Yeah, it makes me realize that it’s hard to go through these times, to then come to a point when you feel grateful. So I think gratitude helps you not to, I mean, you can’t really dictate all of your life, but you can feel grateful even without losing something because you become conscious about it.
Melanie: Yes, but I think those who feel more grateful have always lost something. The more grateful you feel, the more you might have lost and the more trauma you felt.
Aarushi: So in that sense, even the pain that you felt, is now helping you feel something good.
Melanie: Yeah. More and more grateful. I mean, same with happiness, you can’t always feel happy, unless you’ve felt sadness. You have the ups and the downs. And the lower the downs, the higher you can go.
Aarushi: We try to escape sadness. And there’s this movie that I really love, ‘Inside Out’ and the lesson from that movie is that just to escape sadness, you keep you don’t experience other emotions fully.
You put yourself away from possible harm and possible losses, possible sadness. And in that journey, you don’t even feel happiness truly. So because you didn’t feel sadness as you should have, you don’t even feel happy fully.
Melanie: And, you know, I used to feel bad, feeling angry or whatever. But, I have to be true to my emotions. If I am angry, I’m allowed to be angry. If someone really annoyed me, I’m allowed to show my anger. As long as I don’t punch anybody or anything.
But, I don’t shy away from emotions now. If someone’s made me angry, I have every right to be angry. If I’m sad, I’ll tell people I’m sad. If I’m having a good mood, I’ll tell people I’m happy. If I’m angry, I’ll tell people I’m angry.
You can’t always put on a happy face. You can’t hide your emotions. You’re allowed to experience. That’s what gratitude is to me. You’re allowed to experience every emotion, there is no harm in doing that.
As long as you don’t experience bad emotions for too long at a time. That would be bad for your mental health. Other people will notice anyway. Even when you’re trying very, very hard not to.
Aarushi: Yeah, when you’re trying really hard not to show, there comes a breaking point when it’s all going to spill over.
Melanie: And you don’t want to get to that point because it spills over into something that you know, if it’s anger, or bitterness, or jealousy or something, you’re going to do something that you might regret.
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Team Gratitude
Hey, it’s the team of Gratitude! We’re driven to nurture the well-being of people around the world and are grateful to see you here. Connect with us at blog@gratefulness.me 🙂

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25 Things To Appreciate About You

Here are 25 things that are worth appreciating about you.

So much of our time is spent on picking out the problems in us, or the things that we should improve upon. Constant improvement is the key, right?
While it’s great to be a work-in-progress and become a better version of ourselves every day, don’t you think we should also work to appreciate every good thing too?
All of us have some places where we lack in, but the good parts are far more than those. Think about it, you can count your cons, but can you count all the great things about you? All of them?
Not sure? Don’t worry, I’ll handle it for you today. Here is a (short) list of all the best things about you that are worth appreciating.
List 0f 25 Things to Appreciate About You
1. How you care for the ones you love
You have their best interest at heart and keep making efforts to be there for them.
2. Your willingness to help
You’ve helped people out in small ways whenever you could, like lending a pen to someone, giving directions, opening a door. These are some really sweet things!
3. Your laugh
The great sound of your joy and amusement. It makes others feel comfortable around you and makes the day brighter.
4. Your uniqueness
You’ve probably seen this many times, but let me say it again – There is no one like you. There just isn’t! The way you look, all your features and characteristics, the story of your life, your quirks, it’s all one unique set that can’t be found anywhere else.
5. Your favorites
The things we love are an extension of our personality. You find yourself in stories, songs, places, art, and become fascinated with them. Such a great experience!
6. The stories you never get tired of
Something funny that happened at a wedding, or a super weird encounter that you keep retelling through the years. Evergreen magic.
7. All the bad days you make through
There were many days when it has hard to feel happy, but you persisted.
8. All the times you didn’t lose hope
Even when the future was obscure and the answers unclear, you kept going.
9. The shows you watched when you were a child
Those delightful worlds that you reminisce with love.
10. How passionate you are for the things you want
When there is something that you know you deserve, you do your best to achieve it.
11. You challenge your comfort zone
There have been times when some tasks were not the most comfortable to do, but you did them anyway.
12. You have been vulnerable about your true feelings
It takes true courage to openly say what you feel by beating your insecurities.
13. Your confidence
You have voiced your opinion confidently when you could’ve easily nodded along to avoid conflict.
14. The lessons that you have learned and grown with
You are wiser than ever before and it’s because of your willingness to grow.
15. Your big heart
How happy you feel for others’ success
16. Your gratitude
How you appreciate the people/things you like

17. Your singular way of understanding things
No one thinks how you do, and that’s fascinating!
18. Your dreams for how your life should be
You have a vision for your future, and that’s inspiring!
19. The skills and qualities you are known for
There are some things that you do so well that others remember you for them.
20. How you forgive people that you love
Forgiveness is a gift that takes bravery to give, and you’ve seen the good in others to give them second chances.
21. Your journey
You have worked through conflicts and messy situations in the relationships that matter to you.
22. Your efforts for others
You have done your best for others (even when you couldn’t do it for yourself).
23. You face your fears
Time and again, you took a deep breath and walked on even when you were tempted to run away.
24. You try to empathize with others
Even when it was not easy to relate to someone’s situation, you put in the effort to understand them.
25. You have solved so many problems throughout your life
Think about it, there have been many sticky situations in your life, but you found a way through all of them. Remember that whenever you feel overwhelmed. You are stronger than you think.
There you have it! Those were 25 of the very many wonderful things about you that you might overlook while focusing on the parts that need improvement.
You need your appreciation more than anyone else’s, so be sure to cherish everything awesome about you!
Continue Reading: 7 Ways to Be a Good Friend to Yourself From Today
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Aarushi Tewari
The writer and affirmations speaker at Gratitude, Aarushi believes that one of the most effective ways of feeling inner peace is by being grateful and having a loving self-relationship.

15-day New Year Challenge

Starting January 1

🌻
Begin the new year with a positive outlook
💖
Start fresh every day with a new prompt
📝
Examples to help you get ideas
⏰
Reminders to keep you on track

Start FREE Challenge
Related reads

QUOTES
4 MIN READ
50+ You Are Beautiful Quotes You, Her & Everyone
Feel beautiful!

AFFIRMATIONS
3 MIN READ
100 Sunday Affirmations to Celebrate the End of The Week
Let’s make the most of the end of the week.

AFFIRMATIONS
3 MIN READ
100 Saturday Affirmations to Enjoy a Restful Weekend
Make the best of the best day of the week!

Take the FREE New Year Challenge

15-day daily guided journaling

Start Challenge
Maybe Later
GRATITUDE

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