John,
In Genesis, the “sons of God” seem to refer to men, whereas in the book of Job, they appear to be heavenly beings. In the New Testament, those that are led by the Spirit are also said to be sons of God. Is the common link simply those that do the will of God?
Bob
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Hi Bob:
No, I don’t think it could be that because the “sons of God” in Genesis 6 were not doing the will of God in taking the wrong kind of women as their wives. I say this because the results of their marriages weren’t good, and doing the will of God never produces evil results. Also, in Job, Satan was one of the “sons of God” who gathered in God’s presence.
A general definition of “sons of God” that would work could be “belonging to God” in some special sense of belonging. Of course, everything belongs to Him since He created everything, but He does have various kinds and levels of relationships with His creatures.
jdc
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I can’t find a place in the Bible where “sons of God” does refer to common humans (without the Spirit). Since no humans in OT times had the Spirit… who exactly were these “sons of God” in Genesis? They must’ve been “special” in some way, to produce “mighty men… men of reknown.” Could it be possible that some fallen (or falling) angels were not exactly completing their missions as assigned while down here on earth — or is that way too science fiction-y? That’s what a couple of my professors have suggested, so I thought I’d ask.
~ Bekah
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Dear Bekah:
For an instance of a common human being referred to as a son of God, see the genealogy of Luke, where Adam is called the “son of God” simply because he was created.
I believe that the sons of God mentioned in Genesis 6 were spiritual descendants (at least) of godly Seth, as opposed to “the daughters of men”, spiritual descendants (at least) of wicked Cain. It is impossible that these sons of God were angels because Jesus said that those who attained to the first resurrection were like the angels in heaven, who neither marry nor or given in marriage. Don’t listen to the men who say that Jesus meant to say that when angels are NOT in heaven, they can produce children by human females. That is nonsense. Jesus’ plain meaning is that angels are not created with the capability of reproducing, and the saints who attain to the resurrection of life will be like them.