- Scripture
Genesis 6:1-4
[1] Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them,
[2] that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.
[3] Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
[4] The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
This is Genesis Lecture [99].
‘The sons of God’ in the scripture refer to the male descendants of Adam who lived in the Garden of Eden.
A part of them followed Adam to settle down on this earth.
After they settled down on the earth, they took the daughters of men as their wives.
Just like in the Garden of Eden, they married and gave birth to children following the order that God had set.
Their children were the ‘Nephilim.’
Among the ‘sons of God’ from the Garden, there were also people ‘who saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.’
And their children were the ‘mighty men of old, men of renown.’
Those ‘living spirits’ in the Garden are not ‘perfect spirits.’
They are the beings who can be stained by the flesh if they take in the flesh in their free will.
A part of those who came from the Garden gradually became stained by the flesh, and they eventually followed the lust to take the daughters of men as wives.
Consequently as they traveled to the Garden, they resulted in corrupting the order of the spiritual realm.
Dear brothers and sisters.
What kind of lesson can you learn from this?
You can understand the nature of sin.
Galatians 5:9 says, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.”
The Bible compares the fault lesson or sinful nature with ‘leaven.’
For example, our Jesus also said in Matthew 16:11, “…But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
Even a small amount of leaven, or yeast can raise bread.
The nature of sin is just the same.
The people of the Garden who were living spirits were stained by the flesh as they took the flesh by their free will, and they committed sin by causing problems for both the spiritual and fleshly orders.
And their deeds accelerated the speed of the people on this earth falling into sin.
Then, it was like ‘A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.’
If the living spirits could become stained like this, how much faster could the people of this earth be soaked in the flesh?
Moreover, 1 Peter 5:8 says, “…Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
Therefore, you should be of sober spirit and spiritually awaken while you live on this earth.
Even more to the point– sin and evil prevail even more so in this generation.
If you let your guard down, even for a moment, you could be tempted by sin.
Say, if you satisfy your greed and selfish desire, you may be caught in a trap of fraud.
You may easily go off the right track; you may even get bold while acting in unrighteousness.
The result is, however, ‘misfortune.’
In addition, when you feel lonely or that life is hard, you may be easily caught in a scheme of Satan that can twist such a feeling.
You may end up actually committing the bodily deeds of the flesh that the Bible strictly forewarns you about.
Regarding this, 2 Peter 2:22 says, “It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.””
If you commit the sin again that you repented of before, how terrible it may be!
To receive the grace once again, you struggle so very much and have to rend your heart!
Others are doing well riding on the spiritual flow, passing the rock of faith and entering spirit. You must never regress.
Therefore, I urge you to keep yourselves by the truth.
If you are weak in faith yet, it is best to put yourself away from any environment where you may easily commit sin.
You should never see, and never hear the untruth; you should never convey the untruth.
Instead, you should take delight in reading and hearing the word of God, which is the truth.
Even if you are standing on the rock of faith, you haven’t cast off fleshly attributes completely; therefore you should never drop your guard.
Until you come into spirit, you should always strive to accomplish holiness through the word and prayer.
1 Corinthians 10:12 says, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.”
And Phillipians 3:12-14 says, “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
I urge you not to stop but to march on toward spirit with such a humble heart just like Apostle Paul.
You should never say to yourself, “I’ve worked so hard. We should rest a little more.”
I urge you instead to say, “It is time to begin,” and always challenge yourself.
As you do so, may you receive praise and reward from God the Father on the stand of the Final Judgment, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray!
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Let me tell you more about the descendants from these 2 categories of the ‘sons of God.’
First off, Nephilim, the descendants of the 1st group of people, were far outstanding in appearance.
Since they were born with the energy of the ‘sons of God,’ they were different from the ordinary people of this earth.
Even though Nephilims’ fathers chose the life on this earth, they didn’t stain themselves by flesh.
Hence, their good tendencies – the outstanding disposition of a man from the Garden – were inherited to their children.
The descendants of the 2nd group of people were also physically excellent since they, too, basically inherited the energy from the people of the Garden.
Therefore, they could be easily spotted any place, they were considered very special by the ordinary people.
Moreover, they were excellent in physical condition and in wisdom, hence some of them became the mighty men.
However, their descendants couldn’t inherit the superior energy for generations.
Their later generations were rapidly stained by the flesh, and they became the men of flesh.
It is by the same principle that the descendants Adam and Eve were men of flesh.
Adam and Eve were the living spirits in the Garden, but after they committed sin and became the men of flesh, their descendants were also born as men of flesh.
By the same token, as the ‘sons of God’ and their children became the men of flesh on this earth, their descendants were also born as men of flesh.
The good attributes they inherited from the ‘sons of God’ were mixed with the attributes of the flesh, which canceled out the good attributes.
Therefore, from the 3rd generations of the ‘sons of God,’ they were not so much different from the people of this earth.
If they had continued to inherit the outstanding ability generation after generation, this world would be dominated by them by now.
Since they were so outstanding to be called the mighty men of renown, they would rule and subdue the people of this earth.
Fortunately, such a thing didn’t happen.
They all died and remained as ‘legendary people’ in the memory of people of this earth.
Moreover, no men were saved except Noah’s family of eight in the Judgment of Flood, and the descendants of the ‘sons of God’ also became extinct.
If you read Numbers 13:33, you can find the ‘Nephilim’ in the report by the 10 out of 12 Israelites who spied out to the land.
They said, “There (It was the land of Canaan, more specifically, Hebron which was also called Kiriath-arba) also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
Were the Nephilim that they saw truly the descendants of Nephilim? Not at all.
The people they saw were the sons of Anak that lived in Hebron.
The sons of Anak looked strong, and they were regarded with fear.
The 10 spies wanted to back up their report, and so they described the sons of Anak as the Nephilim.
They spied out the land of Canaan about a thousand years later after the Judgment of the Flood.
Yet still, the existence of the Nephilim remained in the memory of people.
It means that the story of the Nephilm was passed down to the descendants of Noah.
Dear brothers and sisters.
Nephilim didn’t bring about any troubles on this earth.
It was the ‘sons of God’ who came down to this earth following the lust and their descendants that brought about many troubles.
Just as Genesis 6:2 says, they “saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose,” which incited the wrath of God.
Furthermore, as they traveled between the Garden and this earth, they threatened not only the orders of this earth, but also the orders of the Garden.
Their deeds impacted the people of this earth tremendously.
The people of this earth easily imitated them, and together they committed perverse acts.
As God saw the situation becoming serious, He was sorry and grieved.
And He made a momentous decision.
Genesis 6:3 explains this.
It says, “Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is [flesh]; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.””
Since God is full of mercy and passion, He did judge them without notice; He initially gave them a warning.
His warning contained two things.
First is that ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh.’
Here, ‘he is flesh’ means that they became men living in the darkness, sin, evil, lawlessness, and unrighteousness that the enemy devil and Satan control.
Just as the light and the darkness cannot co-exist, God cannot be with those who live in sin and evil.
The ‘sons of God’ were those who originally lived in the Garden, the domain of light. But they came down to this earth, became stained by evil, and lived in sin and evil; and so they now had nothing to do with God.
This warning was also equally applied to the people of this earth.
God declared that He should not strive with man forever who is flesh.
The people of flesh are not the children of God, but the slaves and children of the enemy devil and Satan.
Their end is eventually death and Hell; God cannot strive with them forever.
This warning applies the same today.
2 Corinthians 6:14 says, “…for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has [light] with darkness?”
1 John 1:5 also says, “…that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”
1 John also mentions that ‘we have fellowship with God if we walk in the light.’
If God is with us, we will receive blessings, but if He is not, we may fall into Satan’s test.
It is because if God is not with the man, he then belongs to the enemy devil and Satan.
The enemy devil and Satan incites people to commit sin; as people commit sin, they face tribulations.
Do you ask yourself, “I guess I diligently manage my believing life and believe in God well. But why don’t have the evidence that God is with me? “Why aren’t things prosperous with me?” “Why don’t I receive blessing?”
I hope you can find the answer in this lecture.
If you stay in the light, God will surely be with you.
On the contrary, even if you say you believe in God, yet still you stay in the darkness, God cannot be with you.
Therefore, if you encounter trouble, please look back yourself first.
You have to serious and ask yourself. “Am I yet in the flesh?” “Do I still live in the darkness?”
1 John 1:6 says, “If we say that we have [fellowship] with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”
If you don’t live by the word of God who is the Light, it isn’t good at all to say, “I, too, believe in God,” or “I do manage a diligent believing life.”
…because such a confession is not true.
If you truly live in the light, however, God will be with you, and He will surely give you blessing.
Even if you are under a refinement to become perfect, you will still be followed by the evidence that God is with you.
Joseph was such a figure.
Even when Joseph was a slave, and even when he was wrongfully accused and imprisoned, God was with him.
God made everything go so well with him that even the unbelievers could sense it.
Now, you are not in prison. You are not a slave either. Yet, all things don’t go well, and do you always live with difficulty?
Then, you must realize what a man of flesh you are and how far you are from spirit.
It is because God declared thousands years ago that He should not strive with a man of flesh forever.
Dear brothers and sisters.
In Genesis 6:3, God said to man who became flesh, “nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
If it is literally interpreted, it means man cannot live longer than 120 years.
Now, who is ‘man’ in this verse, and what does it mean by that ‘his days shall be one hundred and twenty years’?
It contains a couple of meanings.
I said that those ‘sons of God’ who saw the daughters of men, followed the lust, and took them as their wives could travel between the Garden and this earth back then.
After God said, ‘his days shall be one hundred and twenty years,’ however, they couldn’t go back to the Garden.
God put strong restriction on them so that they could no longer mess with the orders of this earth and of the spiritual realm.
As its result, they were degraded to the men of flesh.
If they had lived in the Garden, they would live forever, but their lifespan had limit after they became men of flesh.
This change to the lifespan also took place for the men of flesh who originally lived on this earth.
Although their lifespan of over 900 years wasn’t shortened to 120 years over night, it was gradually decreased after the Flood of Noah.
As written in Genesis 11:10-25, the lifespan of those descendants of Shem, a son of Noah proves this.
Shem lived 600 years, Arpachshad, 438 years, Shelah, 433 years, Eber, 464 years, Peleg, 239 years, Reu, 239 years, Serug, 230 years, and Nahor, 148 years.
Before the Judgment of Flood, the average lifespan was over 900 years, but the number kept decreasing after that.
Dear brothers and sisters.
As God said, “His days shall be 120 years,” it contains another important meaning, other than their lifespan was shortened.
It could be 110 years, or 130 years. But God said that it shall be 120 years.
Why did God come up with the number 120?
It contains the number 12, the ‘number of light.’
Therefore, as God said that ‘his days shall be 120 years, it has a spiritual meaning of ‘separating of light from darkness.’
Concretely speaking, it means that God will draw a line so that the men of flesh that belong to darkness will never sneak into the domain of light.
That is, the ‘sons of God’ in Genesis 6:2 could never go back to the Garden of Eden.
Along with this, this 飐 years’ means the suspended period for the people of this earth to receive the judgment.
By that time, the sin and evil of men was rampant on this earth.
Because of those who came down from the Garden, followed the lust and did disorderly things, the people of this earth became more rude and arrogant.
God foreknew that the evil of the people of this earth would prevail all the more.
He also foreknew that they could not but receive the judgment.
So, God described the suspended period until the judgment with the number 飐 years.’
However, it doesn’t mean that the judgment would be made precisely 120 years later.
This 飐 years’ is like a number symbolizing the suspended period until the evil is rampant and the judgment should be made.
You can find other examples of this ‘suspended period’ in the bible.
In Genesis 15:16, God said to Abram, “Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
In the future, the descendants of Abram would live in Egypt and come back to the land of Canaan in the fourth generation.
It was because the iniquity of the Amorite that were living in the land of Canaan back then was not yet complete.
It means that in the 4th generation, their sin and evil would pile up big enough to receive the judgment of destruction.
Since God foreknows the future accurately, He accomplishes His providence accordingly.
The judgment and the blessing are made in justice.
It is along the same line as God mentioned 飐 years’ in the scripture.
There will be the judgment of God for sure, but there is a suspended period until then.
God doesn’t wait until evil reaches its limit.
God doesn’t favor destruction.
By all means, God hopes people will turn back from their sin and evil and receive salvation; that’s why God forewarns people and gives them chances.
The people of those days, however, ignored God’s 1st warning, and continued to live in sin and evil.
And so, they eventually see the Judgment of the Flood.
Ezekiel 18:21-23 says, “But if the wicked man turns from all his [sin]s which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices [justice] and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live. Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord GOD, “rather than that he should turn from his [way]s and live?””
As said here, if the people of those days had heard the warning of God and thoroughly repented, they could have received an opportunity of salvation.
The people of Nineveh in Jonah is a good example of this.
To them, Jonah was a foreign prophet from Israel.
Nevertheless, they didn’t ignore the warning of judgment Jonah delivered.
Although Jonah said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown,” they believed in God.
And they immediately took the action of repentance.
Not to mention that the king, his nobles, and all the people fasted, they even made their cattle fast.
They called on God earnestly, and they turned from their wicked way and the violence which was in their hands.
Then, Jonah 3:10 says, “When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked [way], then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.”
As said, our God the Father treasures us and loves us.
Even though God gives a chance in His love, if a man continues to pile up sin and evil, he cannot but face the judgment according to justice.
That’s why God had to decide the Judgment of Flood in the days of Noah.
Regarding this, I will continue to talk in the next lecture.
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