Gen. 6:1-7; Jude 6,11, The Antediluvian “Sons of God” (2)

Before going back to the NT, here is something not compelling at all but interesting: as I was studying the Genesis passage in the NKJV I notices that there was not a single cross-reference (you know, the “center column”) taking me to any of the passages we are considering.  That proves nothing, but it does tell me that in the view of the “scholars” who put this together they did not feel that you had to leave the immediate context to understand the passage.  If you stay in the immediate context it seems to be that the interpretation of “sons of God” is that they were from the line of Seth given in the verses immediately preceding (Gen. 5).

·       2 Pt. 2:4-5; Jude 6: You are probably aware of the similarities of Jude 1 and 2 Pt. 2.  We spoke about 2:4 in the previous post.  I just want to point out that Peter seems to make a distinction between v4 (angels reserved for judgment) and v5 (the story of Noah and the flood).  Jude has no reference to Noah.  To me, neither is trying to encourage a connection between the two.

·       Jude 11: There is such a thing as “the way of Cain.”  When you read Gen. 4-5 you see this.  The descendents of Cain, after he killed his brother, are in rebellion while the line of Seth are those who worship God in truth.

·       1 Pt. 3:18-22: To me this passage was the “kick-start” to the idea that the fallen angels in chains of darkness came from the “days of Noah.”  Those “days” are said to be the 100 years Noah spent building the ark.  But of course, the wickedness of earth was on the rise before that, which is why at the age of 500 Noah was instructed to build the ark.  For 100 years “the Divine longsuffering waited.”  Angels are properly called “spirits” (Heb. 1:14; Ps. 103:20).  Their disobedience is connected to Noah.  And Jesus’ preaching to these spirits is also connected to His authority, with “angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.”  More on this in a moment. First …

·       2 Pt. 3:5-6: Peter again speaks of the flood, and again, it is in the context of the Divine longsuffering.”  The longsuffering of God that Peter is talking about is with men, people, not angelic being.  Thus, this and the previous passage tell me that I am not required to think that the judgment in mind in the time of Noah was a judgment of demons.  It is a judgment on all who are on the earth, by water, and then, in 2 Pt. 3 it is the future judgment of all who are on the earth of fire.  The ”Divine longsuffering” is God’s grace.  Even as in 2 Pt. 4 and Jude 6 where the point is that God knows how to deliver the righteous from world-wide judgment.  Again, it is emphasizing His grace.  Jesus may have, in fact, preached to the fallen spirits in prison who were part of Satan’s work before the flood.  It does not tell me that the disobedience was the fault of demons.  It appears that the accountability for the flood lies with wicked men.