Sons of God and the Nephilim?

By Michael Griego on March 7, 2025 • ( 0 )

Here’s a topic that seems to be getting more attention these days. What’s going on and what does this really mean for us today? ◊

There’s a very controversial passage in Genesis that can lead Christians and non-Christians into fascinating discussions and/or leave people very confused.

Of course, the passage is Genesis 6:1-4. Here is the full passage:

When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. – Genesis 6:1-4

In my experience, churches do not do a very good job in helping people sort through this passage. Seems to be easier to just gloss over it or make the assumption that the sons of God is referring to Godly men, like Adam’s line of Seth.

The passage introduces the term Nephilim and describes them as the offspring of these sons of God who mated with the daughters of humans.

What follows their introduction in Genesis 6:1-4 is a further indictment on this behavior and situation in verses 5-8. Their appearance on the world scene is what actually leads to God initiating the destruction of the world via the global Flood, save for Noah and his family:

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. – Genesis 6:5-8

When Nephilim is mentioned again in the Numbers 13:33 – at the time Caleb and other solders gave their report to Moses as to what they spied in the Promised Land – there is no way around certain characteristics of these people:

But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

So, What’s Going On Here?
When the Bible is studied in totality, not as a religious document, nor simply as isolated stories, prophetic words, historical accounts, or instructive letters, but as the Word of God who created ALL things in the heavens and on earth, in the physical and supernatural realms, then we can begin to grasp the implications of what is going on here in Genesis as well as throughout the BIble. Here are a few other relevant verses for context:

“The Emites used to live there, a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites.” – Deuteronomy 2:10
“(Only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the giants. His bed was made of iron and was more than nine cubits long and four cubits wide.)” – Deuteronomy 3:11
“And the territory of Og king of Bashan, who was one of the last of the remnant of the giants.” – Joshua 12:4
“Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.” – Joshua 14:12
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” – Ephesians 6:12
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” – 1 Peter 5:8
“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” – 2 Corinthians 10:4

The Spiritual Realm
The implications are profound. The intent here is to only slowly open up the can of worms and deal in upcoming posts on the topic of the spiritual realm and what is seen and unseen. From where it derives is becoming clearer to many but has always been presented to us in the Word of God.

How we interpret what is evident makes all the difference in the world and in how we address and cope with it.

What is clear is that from the very beginning of all that God created, evil was born out of choices, in both the heavenly/spiritual and earthly/physical realms. That is, angelic beings, sons of God, in the heavenly realm, rebelled and defiantly imposed evil onto the earth and inbred their spiritual nature into humankind. Note that Satan was in the Garden already at the time of Adam and Eve.¹

While these beings were destroyed in the Flood, this behavior arose after the Flood as well. Recall Genesis 6:4:

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them.

While the Nephilim were manifested in the days of Israel moving into the Promised Land, physical giants as such did die off and no longer appear in that form. That, however, does not preclude the existence today of a demonic realm that Jesus Christ Himself encountered, confronted, and instructed mankind to combat at the spiritual level.

Conclusion
The spiritual dimension is real and the power of God/Christ via God’s Holy Spirit is available to each of us today who call upon His name. Evil spirits will flee at the sound of His name. We need not fear but need to stay clear of any practices of sorcery and any dabbling with any occult practices. We certainly should not deny the powerful forces in the unseen spiritual realm nor underestimate the capacity for humans around us to engage in evil and demonic practices.

Are you operating today in a healthy way with the forces and powers in the unseen realm?
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“And the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.” – Matthew 13:39

¹ The Unseen Realm, Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, by Michael S. Heiser, 2015, Lexham Press, Bellingham, WA. Heiser does good work in examining the ancient context of Scripture to help us expand understanding of the spiritual realm.