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| "And it came to pass... " after those 15 long centuries uneventful process, something out of the normal intruded into that ancient living process. |
Some recent exchanges with a few good brethren on Genesis 6 has been profitable. It is found here: https://www.facebook.com/sing.f.lau/posts/10205679279196739?pnref=story
Any attempt to study the Scriptures is good for me - any traditions I have inherited and any fables I have imbibed will be dispelled, and the truth will be recovered and learned. Of course, it may also have the adverse effect of hardening me, such that I become more entrenched in erroneous views. May the Lord save me from that! I pray the same for you too!
Let us visit Gen 6 again. Take another look if you will. Just consider the few words, "And it came to pass..."
Some facts we may wish not to overlook, and some questions we may wish not to ignore.
Gen 6:1 "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them."
a. "And it came to pass...":
What had been happening in the history of men before that event came to pass?
The procreating activities of men [אָדָם, 'adam] had been going on for a long time before the incident recorded in Gen 6:2 came to pass. The flood came in the year 1656 since the creation week, see the link here for the figure:http://www.letgodbetrue.com/reference/biblechronology.pdf].
We need to move back 120 years to account for the period mentioned in Gen 6:3, which seems to mark the beginning of what is described in Gen 6:2. Therefore, when "it came to pass" around the year 1536, the race of Adam had been happily procreating for more than 1500 years, in simple obedience to the LORD's plain command to His creature man to be fruitful and multiply. Marrying, and giving in marriage were happening for more than 15 centuries, then the activity described in Gen 6:2 came to pass. Everything was usual during those 15 long centuries of human procreating. But when the "sons of God" entered into the equation, they set off a process that necessitated the destruction of the old world by God.
Sons of men and daughters of men, i.e. male and female offspring of men, had been coming together as husbands and wives during those 1500-plus years, begetting more sons and daughters. The Scriptures give no indication whatsoever of any distinction, eg. race, colour, genealogical line, etc., involved in all those unions for 15+ centuries. This simple fact has not restrained many sincere Bible students from reading all kinds of fantastic ideas into those 15 centuries of men's procreating activity.
For example, many imagine that men in those long centuries were distinctly divided into the godly line and the ungodly line; that the two lines were clearly segregated and with no intermarriage between the two lines. Those of the godly line married ONLY those of the godly line and those of the ungodly line married those of the ungodly line - as though such distinction existed at all during those times. And that the status quo was maintained for 15 long centuries. But after 15 centuries of such neat and strict segregation, the distinction began to break down because "it came to pass" that the so-called "sons of God" (by which they meant the men of the godly line) began to lust after the daughters of men, whom they imagined were women of the ungodly line. And they conclude the union of the godly man and the ungodly women brought forth very special children, "the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown." These offspring of the so-called mixed marriage corrupted their world and called forth the universal judgment.
Others suggest that those of the godly line kept themselves separated from the ungodly line because of their conscious knowledge of the plain commandment given to them by God, forbidding them to intermarry with those from outside the line during the first 15 centuries. They also add that those of the godly line had entered into a covenant with God, and vowed to marry only those of the godly line. That explains how the so-called godly line was kept pure and unadulterated for 15-plus centuries. But after 15 long centuries, that godly resolve broke down, and the men of the godly line began to lust after the fair women of the ungodly line and united with them. (Maybe there were no more fair women of their own line! I speak as a fool!)
[Before moving further, let me state here that the "godly line" of the Scriptures - a biblical truth but grievously misunderstood by so many - consists ONLY of those specific individuals who were links in the thin and narrow chain that joined the first Adam the son of God to the second Adam, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. There is no godly line apart from that. Even then, there was little godliness found in many of the links that formed that genealogical line. There was little godliness even in that thin line, check the Genesis account for the first 1500+ years. The simple truth is that God's elect was conceived and born among all the descendants of Adam, including the lines represented by Cain and Seth; Adam had MANY other sons (and daughters), which of the two lines, do you put them? God's children, whether men or women, were found among them all the descendants of Adam. There was a godly line only because the seed of the woman had been promised, and that genealogical line is carefully traced and recorded for us.]
Moreover, this idea of the godly and ungodly lines necessarily assumes that all those born into the respective line are godly and ungodly too, i.e. the godly beget the godly, and thus perpetuate the godly race, and the ungodly perpetuate the ungodly and continued that line, i.e. they beget their own kind! Without this ludicrous fable, how could there be two distinct lines, the godly in contrast to the ungodly? How could that even be possible? Maybe some would glibly retort, "nothing is impossible with God"!]
b. "When men began to multiply" :
Chapter 5 has shown repeatedly the plain fact that when men do multiply, they beget "sons and daughters." This is true of all men, regardless of whether they are from the so-called godly line or the ungodly line (fictional, as indicated above). When men procreate, sons of men and daughters of men come together and beget "sons and daughters - OF MEN" Their male offspring are called "sons of men" and the female offspring are called "daughters of men." The terms "sons of men" and "daughters of men" simply refer to the male and female offspring OF MEN, respectively, without any other distinction attached to those terms. They apply equally to the offspring of both the so-called (imagined) godly and ungodly lines. They simply indicate their origin - of man, not of God.
"... when men began to multiply" :- to whom does the noun "men" refer? One's answer to this simple question has serious implications. The mixed-marriage view necessarily implies that the men here refer to those of the so-called (fictional) ungodly line. This is because they insist that the "daughters of men" mentioned in Gen 6:2 are the offspring of the men mentioned in Gen 6:1, and since they insist that those "daughters of men" were ungodly women of the ungodly line, thus the necessary implication is that the men, the procreators of those "daughters of men" were of the ungodly line.
- The noun "men" and the pronoun "them" is co-extensive. "Men" procreated, daughters were born to those men (them), and the "daughters of men" were their offspring. The obvious connection cannot be denied.
Also, the fact that Gen 6:1 comes right after the long account in Gen 5 of men multiplying themselves begetting "sons and daughters" is enough to dismiss that notion.
c. ".. when men began to multiply on the face of the earth..."
"On the face of the earth" indicates the extensiveness of the spread of men over the face of the earth, and this is quite in line with the fact that the procreating process had been going on for more than 1500 years, beginning with Adam, and his multitude of offspring. Adam and Eve, the first parents, started multiplying on a little spot on earth, but after 1500 of such procreating activities, men were doing it on a much wider scale, i.e. "on the face of the earth."
d. "...and daughters were born unto them,"
I have endeavored to show that Gen 6:1 is a general description of the procreating activity of the human race. In such procreating activities, "sons and daughters are born." Read the continuous refrain "... begat sons and daughters" in Gen 5. But the focus is now shifted upon the female offspring of man's procreating activities, thus "daughters" were born to them. It was not because only daughters, and no sons, were born to such unions. They were daughters of men, the female offspring of men in general. They, the female offspring of men, became the centre of attention because the "sons of God" saw them as "fair", and united with them. That union started the chain of events that finally necessitated the divine judgment by the universal flood.
The "daughters of men" were simply female offspring of the procreating activities of men, when men and women come together as husbands and wives.
What happened in Gen 6:2 is distinct from what was happening in Gen 6:1. It was NOT a procreating activity involving the union of the SONS OF MEN and the DAUGHTERS OF MEN, the activities stated in Gen 6:1. It is the procreating activity involving the "SONS OF GOD" and the "daughters of men" - that is the reason for the emphasis on the daughters in the previous statement. The sons of men - the male offspring of men - whether of the so-called godly men or ungodly line, were not involved.
All the procreating activities between the sons of men and daughters of men prior to this had gone on ordinarily during those 15 long centuries until the "sons of God" entered the picture. When the "sons of God" entered the picture, it set off a chain of events and consequences that eventually brought the total and universal moral corruption that necessitated the destruction of the old world.
- The noun "men" and the pronoun "them" is co-extensive. "Men" procreated, daughters were born to those men (them), and the "daughters of men" were their offspring. The obvious connection cannot be denied.
Also, the fact that Gen 6:1 comes right after the long account in Gen 5 of men multiplying themselves begetting "sons and daughters" is enough to dismiss that notion.
c. ".. when men began to multiply on the face of the earth..."
"On the face of the earth" indicates the extensiveness of the spread of men over the face of the earth, and this is quite in line with the fact that the procreating process had been going on for more than 1500 years, beginning with Adam, and his multitude of offspring. Adam and Eve, the first parents, started multiplying on a little spot on earth, but after 1500 of such procreating activities, men were doing it on a much wider scale, i.e. "on the face of the earth."
d. "...and daughters were born unto them,"
I have endeavored to show that Gen 6:1 is a general description of the procreating activity of the human race. In such procreating activities, "sons and daughters are born." Read the continuous refrain "... begat sons and daughters" in Gen 5. But the focus is now shifted upon the female offspring of man's procreating activities, thus "daughters" were born to them. It was not because only daughters, and no sons, were born to such unions. They were daughters of men, the female offspring of men in general. They, the female offspring of men, became the centre of attention because the "sons of God" saw them as "fair", and united with them. That union started the chain of events that finally necessitated the divine judgment by the universal flood.
The "daughters of men" were simply female offspring of the procreating activities of men, when men and women come together as husbands and wives.
What happened in Gen 6:2 is distinct from what was happening in Gen 6:1. It was NOT a procreating activity involving the union of the SONS OF MEN and the DAUGHTERS OF MEN, the activities stated in Gen 6:1. It is the procreating activity involving the "SONS OF GOD" and the "daughters of men" - that is the reason for the emphasis on the daughters in the previous statement. The sons of men - the male offspring of men - whether of the so-called godly men or ungodly line, were not involved.
All the procreating activities between the sons of men and daughters of men prior to this had gone on ordinarily during those 15 long centuries until the "sons of God" entered the picture. When the "sons of God" entered the picture, it set off a chain of events and consequences that eventually brought the total and universal moral corruption that necessitated the destruction of the old world.
Many trace this catastrophic moral degradation and corruption to men of the godly line lusting and itching after the women of the ungodly line as the cause that led to the universal and total moral corruption stated in Gen 6:4. This notion also presupposes that such mixed union did not happen before in the previous 15 centuries, as noted earlier. Or perhaps it had never happened in such a widespread manner, but by the time of Gen 6 the vast majority of the so-called men of the godly line became devil-possessed and acted the evil way they did!
Read here for Gen 6:2, and Gen 6:3-5
2 http://things-new-and-old.blogspot.my/2016/02/they-saw-that-daughters-of-men-were-fair.html
3 http://things-new-and-old.blogspot.my/2016/02/mighty-men-men-of-renown.html
On godly-line and ungodly-line, take a look here:
https://things-new-and-old.blogspot.my/2012/08/godly-and-ungodly-lines-in-gen-6.html
