Chapter 14

The Light In The Darkness

The Darkness

Only Methuselah and his son (Noah's father), Lamech, remained from the righteous line. Perhaps Noah took this time to learn the truth of their past. Adam had already been dead for 126 years by the time of Noah's birth. Noah came to know Yahweh because the Scriptures state that, "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God" (Gen. 6:9). But Yahweh "saw that the wickedness of man was great in the Earth" (Gen. 6:5}. "And it repented Yahweh that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart" (Gen. 6:6). "But Noah found grace in the eyes of Yahweh" (Gen. 6:8), despite the growing darkness.

THE SONS OF GOD INTERMARRY

As stated before, many believers are taught that the sons of God are devils that procreated with women. This doctrine is a 2,000 year old doctrine which Josephus states:

It is notable that the translator footnotes the text and says, "This notion, that the fallen angels were, in some sense the fathers of the old giants, was the constant opinion of antiquity [1]," which demonstrates the longevity of the doctrine. It is also based upon the statement in Job that says, "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh, and Satan came also among them" (Job 1:6). The implication of the verse is that this refers to all angels; Satan being an angel. Another verse in Job supports this: God speaking to Job says, "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the Earth?... when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (38:4 & 7).

Accepting this doctrine poses difficult questions. If we assume that angels can procreate with humans to create the "giants" and "men of renown" alluded to in Genesis 6:4, then that means angels and men are the same species. The Scriptures are clear that everything begets "after his kind." Birds cannot mate with mammals, neither can different mammals mate with one another. A bear cannot mate with a goat. Even with similar species, such as horses and donkeys, they create sterile offspring: mules. Does that mean that angels and humans are the same. Are the Mormons right? Are we all eternal spirit beings that become men then gods?. No! That is rubbish. We are all created beings. Only Yahweh is God. How about the Catholics? Are angels merely men who die and go to heaven? Once again, no! Men are the saints of God whereas the angels are His servants (Heb. 1:14). So we see that angels are not the same species of creation as men. Perhaps they are close to us like horses are to donkeys? But Jesus said concerning the resurrection of the dead, "For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven" (Matt. 22:30). The implication of this verse is that angels do not procreate nor marry, so how could the sons of God be angels intermarrying with the daughters of men? The only realistic possibility is that men possessed by demonic spirits married the daughters of men. But that would not genetically altar the offspring, only open doors for their possession as well.

So, who are the "sons of God" in Genesis 6:2? The Jewish view of this passage, which is also held by some Christians, is that they were the believers in Yahweh. According to Dr. J.H. Hertz, the late chief Rabbi of the British Empire (1936), it was an ancient pagan belief that giants were born by earthly mothers and celestial fathers. Philo, Josephus, and the author of the Book of Jubilees, all believed that the Genesis passage was an echo of these heathen fables. But Hertz argues that

In support of Dr. Hertz's view that the "daughters of men were descendants of Cain, the New Testament makes a similar contrast between believers and unbelievers. Paul rebuked the Corinthians for being divided and cries, "are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" (1 Co. 3:3). The implication being that men are unregenerate and their behavior should be different. For believers "are led by the Spirit of God, [and] they are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14).

If the chronology of this writing is correct, most of the sons of Seth specified in Genesis 5 are dead. That doesn't mean that this view on the sons of God is invalid. These men are mentioned because they are the direct line of Jesus Christ, as a comparison of Genesis 5 with Luke and Matthew's genealogies indicate. There certainly had to be many more that were their children who knew of Yahweh and his promise for a Messiah that were believers, too. It is highly unlikely that the messianic line intermarried with unbelievers. If this book is. right, Enoch's marriage to Naamah, Tubal-cain's sister, was to a woman singled out in Scripture because she believed (although the Bible is silent on the matter).

While giants being the product of demons procreating with women is not likely, nonetheless, Satan probably influenced the sons of God to intermarry with nonbelievers. Satan knew the promise and reality of the Messiah better than the believers. It has always been his intent to thwart and corrupt the promise of God. Satan does not know from whom the Messiah would come. Although Adam and Eve mistook Cain to be the Messiah, Satan knew Cain's heart was proud and couldn't be the One. Abel had a heart after God. If he isn't the One, then from him the Messiah might come. So he moved upon Cain to slay his brother. Likewise, with the believers, Satan knew that through intermarriage he could corrupt the line, thus making none usable for God. This tactic was used upon Abraham in procreating with Hagar (Gen. 16:1-4), and later upon the Israelites by King Balak at the suggestion of Balaam who compromised his obedience to Yahweh (Num. 25:1,3 & 31:16). Satan's desire to thwart God's Word caused Herod to murder all the children 2 years and younger in an attempt to slay the baby Jesus (Matt. 2:16). In his failure to overcome Jesus, Satan still tries to thwart God's word in the lives of believers. Even though Christ has come, God's word to the Jews still remains. Jesus promised to come back and save the Jews. If Satan can murder all the Jews, then God's word would be thwarted, proving God unreliable. This is why the Jews have suffered genocide throughout history: the attempt of genocide in Esther, the Spanish inquisitions, the Russian pogroms, and most horrifically, in the Nazi Holocaust. If there are no Jews left alive, and the promise God is unkept, then God is not all powerful, which makes Lucifer just as good as God.

GIANTS IN THE EARTH

The conclusion that giants were the offspring of the demonic sons of God marrying the daughters of men takes the verses out of context. Verses 1 and 2 speak of intermarriage, but verse 3 breaks the continuity of the theory from verses 2 and 4. There is no direct statement in these verses that the intermarriage resulted in giants The only direct statement of offspring in verse 4 is that "they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." Furthermore, the statement concerning giants, does not necessarily have to mean humans, although this writer believes that it does, too. The point, though, is that it could refer to all of the gigantic life that existed under the canopy, man and creatures. It is thought provoking to consider that the word giant is relative. All of the men living in that era were giants compared to us. Moses wrote these verses to his generation which was comparable in stature to ours. This verse may simply have been given by the Holy Spirit to indicate that antediluvians had continued to grow under the canopy [3]. But suppose it did mean in comparison to the other antediluvians. If Adam was up to 16 feet tall and Noah 15 feet, these would be giants of the fairy tale order!

THE MIGHTY MEN OF RENOWN

Jesus said that our "Father which is in heaven... makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matt. 5:45). He means that the laws of Creation apply to all people impartially, for "God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34). When God gave Moses the 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai, He was not making new commands, but declaring his commands made in the beginning, for He said, "I am Yahweh, I change not" (Mal. 3:6). The second commandment against worshiping idols carries a generational promise: "For I Yahweh thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that: hate me, and showing mercy unto the thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments" (Ex. 20:5b & 6). In enforcing his laws and promises, it is the character of Yahweh, "the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; and repays them that hate him to their face, to destroy them" " (Deut. 7:9 & l0a).

This means that the children of believers receive blessings from God up to a thousand generations whereas the children of iniquity inherit the sins of their fathers to the third and fourth generations. The sins of the fathers does not mean that they are punished for their fathers sins for "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin" (Deut. 24:16). But rather, the tendency to commit the same sins of the fathers will be visited upon the third and fourth generations as Abijam the son of Rehoboam who "walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him" (1 Kings 15:3). This means that every generation receives inherited blessings and curses to deal with that came from their forefathers.

In the case of the sons of God who married the daughters of men, and bore children who became mighty men and men of renown, these spiritual laws were the reason for their strength and fame. From the Messianic line the promise of blessing extended to a 1,000 generations, but the sons of God who compromised by marrying unbelievers brought the iniquities of the fathers upon their descendants. These descendants further compromised their lives in pursuing ungodly influences, yet benefited by the blessings of their righteous ancestors. Consequently they were worldly people that became mighty men, and men of renown, due to the faithfulness of God's promises.

The mighty men and men of renown of the antediluvian world are a landmark in the Satanic world system. Using the blessings of God upon descendants of righteous men, Satan used their prosperity as a point of envy. Proverbs says, "Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?" (Prov. 27: 4). Envy creates a burning desire to have, or be better than, another's. These men had fame and power. Fame and power became a misleading desire of the world system that has driven men to the ruin of others, and themselves, with the promise of self esteem and security, of which, neither is obtained. History is filled with famous people who commit suicide (Marilyn Monroe and Janis Joplin to name just two contemporary stars) because their fame never satisfied their need of acceptance - acceptance that only the love of God can satisfy. Instead they have external esteem, but internal emptiness. Wars and manipulations are campaigned in the quest for power, yet sudden destruction is often their bitter end (Alexander the Great died at 33 in drunkenness, Roman Emperors were assassinated, etc.). Once again, power is a deceptive security which is pursued instead of trust in God. Satan created the world system to drive people away from God, and millions who never achieve fame or power, live frustrated lives trying to control theirs and other's lives, and create false images of themselves in a vain attempt to live up to other people's expectations. And those mighty men and men of renown of that bygone era who did achieve fame and power, they bought Satan's lie, given to Adam and Eve, that they were "gods." Tales were told to the pagans in the post-diluvian world of their grandiose lives and they were worshiped in their polytheistic societies as the gods of mythologies.

All of world history is marked by mighty men of renown who were movers and shakers of the Earth. It is the argument of this series that if one examines the ancestry of the great historical personages, one will discover a righteous ancestor who overcame the tendencies of their father's sins and learned to walk with God. As will be seen later in the next volume, all three sons of Noah have the blessings of God, even though they create their own sins, too.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF INIQUITY

This section had been titled, "The Golden Age of Iniquity," tongue in cheek. There, of course, is nothing "golden" about this age of the antediluvian world. It became -horrendous and despicable. But in the studies of pagan mythologies, many cultures tell tales concerning the pre-Flood world of the "gods." To the ancient pagans after the Babel dispersion, the stories handed down from Noah and his three sons, were glorified as the best time of the world. Even the three sons of Noah, like the children of Israel after fleeing Egypt and wandering in the wilderness, probably looked back upon that life as wonderful. Especially in contrast to the devastated Earth. An even temperature, mild seasons, lush and abundant vegetation grown in gigantic proportion, with a multitude of wildlife must have been remembered in contrast to the slowly regrowing vegetation which was so much smaller, the harsh climates, thinner air, and scattered wildlife that was repopulating. So myths look back to this time when men lived a millennium with robust health in a paradisaical world, which to them must have been the home of the gods.

Satan had been active in this world. Supernatural manifestations of angels and devils were more commonplace. Even in the era before Christ, angelic appearances were more open. Abraham entertained angels (Gen. 18), Lot spoke with the angels (Gen. 19), Gideon met the Angel of the Lord (Jud. 6:11), and more to name just a few biblical examples. When one considers pagan stories, such as Homer's "The Illiad", and other tales of the ancients, "gods" play an active part in the stories (of course, much is pure fiction contrived by the story teller, and - some outright lies of legendary origins). But considering the biblical precedents, devils no doubt manifested themselves as "gods" to the pagans, as well. It is no wonder when Paul and Barnabas healed the crippled man that the men of Lycaonia cried, "'The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.' And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercury, because he was - the chief speaker" (Acts 14:11 & 12). But when Jesus "spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them" (Col. 2:15) which forced their hand and drove them underground. Today demonic activity is secretive. If devils more actively showed themselves in our world before the cross, then it stands to reason that they were even more open in the pre-Flood world, too. Their acceptance and worship would be ripe during a time when "the wickedness of man was great.. .and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen.6:5).

It is difficult to understand verse 6 which says "it repented Yahweh that he made man on the Earth." If God is omniscient, i.e, "all knowing",. and God changes not, then how can he "repent"? I believe it is in understanding the nature of the Trinity that an answer can be found. God the Father exists in eternity and knows the beginning from the end. God the Word., or Son, is the expression of the Father and the go between of Father and Spirit. God the Holy Spirit exists in the realm of time and matter and is the manifestation of the Word's expression of the Father. All make up the one entity called God, yet each is his own individual being. The being of the Holy Spirit, which touched and moved the writers of the Bible, speaks the mind of the Father, yet speaks his own mind in the context of time and space. The Father knew how bad the wickedness would get, but the Holy Spirit witnessed the wickedness for the Father; hence expressed the disgust of that point in time. Even we as humans can know in advance how something may be, but when it actually happens, our experience overwhelms our expectations. With God, "the ways of man are before the eyes of Yahweh, and he ponders all his goings" (Prov. 5:21) and "the eyes of Yahweh are in every place, beholding the evil and the good" (Prov.15:3).

Satanic work had spread throughout the whole world. When we read that God will destroy not only man, but the "beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air" (Gen. 6:7), one wonders why all the animals had to be destroyed, when it was man that was evil? The suggestion is that Satan's demons were defiling all the animals, too. We know that Satan possessed the snake in the garden Eden which was cursed to crawl on its belly for allowing Satan to use him (Gen. 3:1 & 14), and that the Legion of demons in the demoniac of Gadarenes begged permission of Jesus to possess the swineherd, which then "ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked" (Luke 8 33). It is probable that demons had a field day possessing animals and driving animals into unnatural and violent behavior hence the verses 11 & 12 "the Earth was filled with violence [both man and beast]," and "all flesh had corrupted his way upon the Earth."

There comes a time when the corruption of a man becomes so vile that God gives "them up to uncleanness through. the lusts of their own hearts" (Rom. 1:24) and gives "them up into vile affections" (Rom.. 1:26) as "the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another" (Rom. 1:27). If Lamech practiced polygamy, it. is certain that homosexuality occurred, too. And worse. Even "their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature" (Rom. 1:26). Not just lesbianism, but bestiality. When Saul is given instruction for the conquest of the Amalekites, even the animals were to be destroyed. They may have practiced bestiality like the other Canaanites (Lev. 20:15 &16, 23, 25; 1 Sam. 15:3). Many pagan myths describe the birth of heroes as the result of a "god" assuming the form of some animal and procreating with a woman who bore that particular hero. History records the abominable practices of cults who believe their "god" inhabited the beast being abused. No doubt, these doctrines of devils were genuinely believed by these fools whose hearts had become "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jer. 17:9). The truth, of course, is that no such births occurred. The animals changed from friendly tame creatures to aggressive creatures due to demonic forces who hate everything that God has created. This may be why God calls some animals clean and others unclean. The unclean may have allowed themselves to be moved more readily upon by Satan.

NOAH FINDS GRACE

God greatly esteemed the faith and works of Noah. Not only does the Bible say that he "was a just man and perfect in his generations" (Gen. 6:9), but the Lord includes Noah among three men whose righteousness would deliver them from destruction. "Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it [Israel], they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness [from God's judgment upon Israel]" (Eze. 14:14). The implication is that their prayers or intercession, like Abraham with Sodom, wouldn't persuade the Lord to repent. And Noah must have prayed fervently for them. Not only prayed, but he was a "preacher of righteousness" (2 Pet. 2:5), who tried to bring people to God. But they would not hear. Jesus said, "For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away" (Matt. 24:38 & 39). In other words, they continued to live in the blithe assumption that their lives would go on as always. It can also be a interpreted that they had a callous regard for marriage, divorcing and remarrying frequently. They thought, as Peter states, "For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished" (2 Pet. 3:4-6). And the Word states, "When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases: but the righteous shall see their fall" (Prov. 29:16). So Noah saw their fall.