Sons of God – Mystery
(i) Before Man
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding,
When the morning stars sang together
And all the sons of God shouted for joy?” – God (Job 38:4, 7, NASB)
(ii) Angels that did not Fall
“Bless the LORD, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word!” (Psalm 103:20, NASB)
(iii) Lucifer (in Latin) – morning star
The fall of a particular ‘morning star’ is mentioned in verses below which does not refer to man since no man ever fell from heaven (Isaiah 14:12).
“Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.” (Isaiah 14:9 – 20, KJV)
As prophetic Writing goes, these passages also describe the ‘earthly king of Babylon who is a man’ (Isaiah 14:4) and the ‘spiritual king of Babylon’ (Lucifer, Isaiah 14:12) in parallel.
Such type of allegorical or second meaning is common in Scripture though we must be careful to ‘assign meanings’ and thus I stick to the usual interpretation of it in this case. For example, Christ is said to be crucified in the ‘spiritual Sodom’ (Revelation 11:8).
His Fall was due to Pride (please notice the amount of “I” or self in selfish prideful ambitions mentioned in Isaiah 14:13 – 14 even daring to want to be like the Most High, a Great Blasphemy and Sin indeed!) and thereafter in continuing to do ‘evil in the world’ too (Isaiah 14:17, 20).
The common idea that Satan is Lucifer is seen in parallel with verses below. Please note that as before, this description of ‘Satan’ (as the only wicked one mentioned to be in the ‘Eden of God’ is the Serpent or Satan himself, which can be seen when these verses are seen together): Genesis 3:1, Ezekiel 28:13, Revelation 12:3 – 4 and Revelation 12:9 as listed below:
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden ‘?” (Genesis 3:1, NASB)
“You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The ruby, the topaz and the diamond;
The beryl, the onyx and the jasper;
The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald;
And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets,
Was in you.
On the day that you were created
They were prepared.” (Ezekiel 28:13, NASB)
“Then another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.
And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she gave birth he might devour her child.” (Revelation 12:3 – 4, NASB)
“And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” (Revelation 12:9, NASB)
*the phrase ‘a third of the stars of heaven’ is sometimes understood as the ‘angels which fell with him’.
These passages are difficult but as I said, I put forth the common interpretation of it (via the second meaning found in parallel in these verses) as mentioned.
Please note that the parallel to the verses in Ezekiel speak of the ‘leader of Tyre’ who ‘thinks’ that ‘he is a god’ (similar to sin or Lucifer too & the one mentioned as being in the Garden of Eden too):
“Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD,
“Because your heart is lifted up
And you have said, ‘I am a god,
I sit in the seat of gods
In the heart of the seas’;
Yet you are a man and not God,
Although you make your heart like the heart of God—” (Ezekiel 28:2, NASB)
Thus this sin of ‘some men claiming to be a god’ or ‘thinking that they are some type of god’ is more serious than what people generally think of it —> especially since ‘wanting to be like the Most High (God)’ is Satan’s primary sin itself! (Isaiah 14:14, Ezekiel 28:2, Ezekiel 28:6, Ezekiel 28:9) —-> to the point that ‘Satan deceived Eve only’ (1 Timothy 2:14) with this same temptation of desiring to like be a god (Genesis 3:5) and she then gave some to Adam (Genesis 3:6) who ‘chose to listen to his wife rather than to God’ (Genesis 3:17). Can you understand it ‘accurately’ as ‘verses’ describe each claim made?
Wanting to be ‘god’ or having ‘other gods’ is the worst sin ever since it originates from Satan and it breaks the Greatest Commandment as the Law states (Mark 12:28 – 31, Exodus 20:3).
Here’s an example of other sins referring to Satan:
“You were the anointed cherub who covers,
And I placed you there.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
“You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created
Until unrighteousness was found in you.” (Ezekiel 28:14 – 15, NASB)
“Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.
I cast you to the ground;
I put you before kings,
That they may see you.
“By the multitude of your iniquities,
In the unrighteousness of your trade
You profaned your sanctuaries.
Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you;
It has consumed you,
And I have turned you to ashes on the earth
In the eyes of all who see you.” (Ezekiel 28:17 – 18, NASB)
(iv) Angels which Fell
“the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.
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 6:2, 4, NIV)
The non-canonical Book of Enoch mentions that these sons of God and their children (the Nephilims) being ‘supernaturally greater’ started grouping men to themselves to ‘take them as their gods’ (hence ‘worshiped as heroes’ by men who serve them, implied), fight each other, teach the women witchcraft, revealing how to make weapons of war from the earth (e. g. taking iron out of the earth) etc.
At the same time, they enjoyed themselves with women who were amazed at their supernatural strengths (since these were the sons of God) —> where the ‘human men’ were being ‘killed’ (terrible bloodshed) being ‘no’ match to them —-> though in ‘their version of the stories, they deceive men by stating that they did good things which they did not’ (which one Day will be revealed, Luke 8:17) —-> and the ‘blood of men cried out to heaven from the ground’.
What happened next?
Though not recorded in the Bible (only the Noah’s Flood part is mentioned in the Bible) —-> the mysterious non-canonical Book of Enoch (which was considered as Scripture by opposing schools of theology as well in early Christianity such as Tertullian, Barnabus, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Origin and even Clement of Alexandria —-> it doesn’t matter since the Bible is enough for me but I am just quoting what is mentioned there which is ‘quite interesting’, to quote (translation by R.H. Charles, 1917):
CHAPTER IX.
- And then Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from heaven and saw much blood being shed upon the earth, and all lawlessness being wrought upon the earth.
- And they said one to another: ‘The earth made †without inhabitant cries the voice of their crying† up to the gates of heaven.
3 ⌈⌈And now to you, the holy ones of heaven⌉⌉, the souls of men make their suit, saying, “Bring our cause before the Most High.”.’
- And they said to the Lord of the ages: ‘Lord of lords, God of gods, King of kings, 〈and God of the ages〉, the throne of Thy glory (standeth) unto all the generations of the ages, and Thy name holy and glorious and blessed unto all the ages!
- Thou hast made all things, and power over all things hast Thou: and all things are naked and open in Thy sight, and Thou seest all things, and nothing can hide itself from Thee.
- Thou seest what Azâzêl hath done, who hath taught all unrighteousness on earth and revealed the eternal secrets which were (preserved) in heaven, which men were striving to learn:
- And Semjâzâ, to whom Thou hast given authority to bear rule over his associates.
- And they have gone to the daughters of men upon the earth, and have slept with the women, and have defiled themselves, and revealed to them all kinds of sins.
- And the women have borne giants, and the whole earth has thereby been filled with blood and unrighteousness.
- And now, behold, the souls of those who have died are crying and making their suit to the gates of heaven, and their lamentations have ascended: and cannot cease because of the lawless deeds which are wrought on the earth.
- And Thou knowest all things before they come to pass, and Thou seest these things and Thou dost suffer them, and Thou dost not say to us what we are to do to them in regard to these.’
CHAPTER X.
- Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spake, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, and said to him:
- ‘〈Go to Noah〉 and tell him in my name “Hide thyself!” and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come upon the whole earth, and will destroy all that is on it.
- And now instruct him that he may escape and his seed may be preserved for all the generations of the world.’
- And again the Lord said to Raphael: ‘Bind Azâzêl hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dûdâêl, and cast him therein.
- And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light.
- And on the day of the great judgement he shall be cast into the fire. And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons.
- And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azâzêl: to him ascribe all sin.’
- And to Gabriel said the Lord: ‘Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against the children of fornication: and destroy [the children of fornication and] the children of the Watchers from amongst men [and cause them to go forth]: send them one against the other that they may destroy each other in battle: for length of days shall they not have.
- And no request that they (i.e. their fathers) make of thee shall be granted unto their fathers on their behalf; for they hope to live an eternal life, and that each one of them will live five hundred years.’
- And the Lord said unto Michael: ‘Go, bind Semjâzâ and his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness.
- And when their sons have slain one another, and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgement and of their consummation, till the judgement that is for ever and ever is consummated.
- In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire: 〈and〉 to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined for ever. And whosoever shall be condemned and destroyed will from thenceforth be bound together with them to the end of all generations.
- And destroy all the spirits of the reprobate and the children of the Watchers, because they have wronged mankind. Destroy all wrong from the face of the earth and let every evil work come to an end: and let the plant of righteousness and truth appear: ⌈and it shall prove a blessing; the works of righteousness and truth⌉ shall be planted in truth and joy for evermore.
*Please note that the phrase ‘eternal’ or ‘forever’ is more accurately ‘age or ages or ages of Ages’ or equivalent as sometimes this phrase is translated ‘accurately’ reflecting this in the quoted verses above too.
Source: http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/boe/boe012.htm
(v) Punishment for Satan and his angels
Be it allegorical or literal or a mix of both:
“They will bring you down to the pit,
And you will die the death of those who are slain
In the heart of the seas.
‘You will die the death of the uncircumcised
By the hand of strangers,
For I have spoken!’ declares the Lord GOD!” (Ezekiel 28:8, 10, NASB)
“All knowing thee among the peoples Have been astonished at thee, Wastes thou hast been, and thou art not — to the age.” (Ezekiel 28:19, YLT)
“Brought down to Sheol hath been thine excellency, The noise of thy psaltery, Under thee spread out hath been the worm, Yea, covering thee is the worm.” (Isaiah 14:11, YLT)
“Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” (Isaiah 14:15, KJV)
“Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?” (Isaiah 14:9 – 10, KJV)
“Then shall He say also to those on the left hand, Go ye from me, the cursed, to the fire, the age-during, that hath been prepared for the Devil and his messengers [angels];” – Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 25:41, NASB)
“Thus you shall say to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.” (Jeremiah 10:11, NASB)
For example: Haven’t you heard of a child in starvation or someone dying in cancer or that evil men prevailed on earth even in oppressing and killing the righteous?
It’s due to the work of ‘their gods’ (Ephesians 6:12) and thus God Will starve these ‘gods’ itself (Zephaniah 2:11) in Judgment (Psalm 82:1) till they ‘die like men’ (Ezekiel 28:9, Psalm 82:7) on that ‘Terrible Day’ when He is Revealed (Psalm 82:8):
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12, NASB)
“Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the LORD.” (Job 2:1, NASB)
“{A Psalm of Asaph.} God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; He judgeth among the gods.” (Psalm 82:1, KJV)
“The LORD will be terrifying to them, for He will starve all the gods of the earth; and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down to Him, everyone from his own place.” (Zephaniah 2:11, NASB)
“Will you still say, “I am a god,”
In the presence of your slayer,
Though you are a man and not God,
In the hands of those who wound you?” (Ezekiel 28:9, NASB)
“But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.” (Psalm 82:7, KJV)
“and the Devil, who is leading them astray, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are the beast and the false prophet, and they shall be tormented day and night — to the ages of the Ages.” (Revelation 20:10, YLT)
*Please note that I have to switch between translations to choose the ones which are more accurate than the other especially with respect to the “actual words found” in the ‘original manuscripts’ in a verse by verse basis in order to see closer toward the intended meaning in the quoted verses.
The word translated as ‘gods’ in verses above is Elohim (in Hebrew) and in these context, it clearly refers to these ‘fallen sons of God’ as described below with ‘verses’:
“I said, “You are gods, And all of you are sons of the Most High.” (Psalm 82:6, NASB)
These ones are ‘not’ really ‘gods’ (in the absolute sense):
“For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.” (1 Corinthians 8:5 – 6, NASB)
Thus we see that these ones were ‘made as gods’ (created) by God Himself Who said (spoke) that ‘ye are gods’ in Psalm 82:6 (as Christ spoke to these ‘gods’ who were leading the Pharisees astray too in John 10:34 likewise).
Please also note that these ‘same gods’ are also called as ‘sons of the Most High’ or equivalently, ‘sons of God’ in this same verse (Psalm 82:6)! Can you see it?
These ‘sons of God’ (fallen angels, be it Satan or otherwise) became the ‘spiritual evil’ power in the heavenlies (Ephesians 6:12) which is clearly seen if these verses are taken together. They lead men to them claiming to be ‘gods’ [instead of leading men to YHWH] and in their ‘dominion given to them’ (Luke 4:6), they give it to the ‘wicked’ and ‘do evil’ (Luke 4:7, Psalam 82:2 – 4) causing the Judgment of Evil upon the ones deceived by them [e.g. sickness, sins, famine etc., Isaiah 45:7, Amos 3:6, Deuteronomy 28:61, Deuteronomy 28:58 – 60, Jeremiah 22:7, Jeremiah 15:3, Isaiah 33:1, Jeremiah 48:8, 1 Corinthians 10:10] —> and for all these sins ‘which they caused’ they will be judged as verses discussed prior clearly state as well.
(vi) Believers as sons of God in the Coming Age
“That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:9 – 13, KJV)
“for ye are all sons of God through the faith in Christ Jesus,” (Galatians 3:26, YLT)
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14, BLB)
“not only out of Jews, but also out of nations [Gentiles],
as also in Hosea He saith, ‘I will call what [is] not My people — My people; and her not beloved — Beloved,
and it shall be — in the place where it was said to them, Ye [are] not My people; there they shall be called sons of the living God.’” (Romans 9:24 – 26, YLT)
“For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking.” (Hebrews 2:5, NASB)
“For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.” – Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 22:30, NASB)
For those made worthy by Lord Jesus Christ (Blessed be His Most Holy Name!):
“Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts?
Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life?” (1 Corinthians 6:2 – 3, NASB)
“Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:4, NASB)
“He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” – Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 3:21, NASB)
“And the one overcoming and keeping My works until the end, I will give to him authority over the nations,
and he will shepherd them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken in pieces—just as I also have received from My Father.
And I will give to him the morning star.” – Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 2:26 – 28, BLB)
‘The Bible teaches that we have to lose in our life on earth in many ways to gain His Kingdom’ – Anonymous
“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” – Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:25, NASB)
“strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:22, NASB)
“Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12, KJV)
“Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection;
and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment.
They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.” (Hebrews 11:35 – 38, NASB)
Conclusion
The deception of the ‘sons of God’ in Genesis 6 happened just prior to the ‘days of Noah’ (so, we expect a similar deception be it in ‘any way’ by them likewise too):
“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.” – Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:37, NASB)
Thereafter, God Himself Will Return to Judge the World with the intent of Saving it thereafter:
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16, NASB)
“Arise, O God, judge the earth!
For it is You who possesses all the nations.” (Psalm 82:8, KJV)
“For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,” (John 5:22, NASB)
“Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle.
In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.” (Zechariah 14:3 – 4, NASB)
“And I saw the Heaven having been opened, and lo, a White Horse, and He who is sitting upon it is called Faithful and True, and in Righteousness doth He Judge and War,” (Revelation 19:11, YLT)
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the Churches. I am the Root and the Descendant of David, the Bright Morning Star.” (Revelation 22:16, NASB)
Is there hope for these ‘fallen sons of God’?
Please consider the Write-Ups below for further edification:
https://www.anonymouschristian.org/blog/satan-and-fallen-angels-hope-for-them-or-heresy/
www.anonymouschristian.org/blog/the-unchangeable-god-everlasting-chains/
