BeachCast.TV: Bible Exploration, Apologetics and Church History with Dr. Chase A. Thompson:

When I was a kid growing up, the most well known Bible verse was probably John 3:16. Even people who didn't go to church knew about that verse, and would probably see it quoted on TV, or held up on a sign at some point every year. I think that has changed in the last few years - the most well known Bible verse today, at least to people that would not identify as Christian, is likely Matthew 7:1, "Do not judge, so that you won't be judged." Our main question of the day is: "must Christians never judge? Let's read the chapter together, and then discuss what Jesus is teaching here.

In a 2013 message when David Platt, former head of the Southern Baptist IMB, was pastor at the Church at Brookhills in Birmingham, he tackled the issue of church discipline - something that is commanded in Scripture. The thorny question for many in the church is how can church discipline happen when we are told not to judge each other? It's a great question, and Platt gives a great answer:

"What about Matthew 7:1," people ask. Well, keep going to Matthew 7:5. Yes, Jesus gives us warnings about judgment in Matthew 7:1, but when you keep reading, you hear Jesus say, "Why do you see the speck [of sin] that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log [of sin] that is in your own eye?… first, take the log out of your own eye, and then …" Follow this! "… you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:3, 5). The whole implication is that you need to look inward first and humbly examine your own purity, so that you can help a brother or sister become pure. People say, "Well, it's not my place to judge you, and it's not your place to judge me." But we just read in 1 Corinthians 5, church, that it is our place to judge. Look at 1 Corinthians 5:12. "Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?" (1 Corinthians 5:12) The question is, how? We're going to talk about how in a moment, but suffice to say at this moment that we don't hide behind phrases like, "It's not my place to judge," or, "He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone. So since I still sin, I can't say anything." Brother or sister, if you see me walking into sin, caught in sin, being pulled into sin, please don't use super-spiritual jargon like that. Pull me back. And let God use the whole deal to sanctify you in the process, too! That's what Matthew 7:1–5 is all about; it's what 1 Corinthians 5 is all about.

David Platt, "The Cross and Christian Discipline—Part 1," in David Platt Sermon Archive (Birmingham, AL: David Platt, 2013), 3919–3920.

David Platt's teaching here reminds me of Galatians 6:1, " Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so that you also won't be tempted." This does show us that sometimes Christians are called to help restore and lead other Christians to repentance when they sin - but it MUST be done with a gentle and humble spirit. There is never any room in the people of God for what people call judgmentalism or pharisaical attitudes. Jesus gives us an incredible picture of what that is in Luke 18:

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.11 The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: 'God, I thank you that I'm not like other people—greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.'13 "But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner!' 14 I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other; because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

Luke 18:9-14

The self-righteous attitude of the Pharisee here is always wrong and always at odds with Jesus' commands about judging. However, as Platt has pointed out - there IS a time to make judgments among the people of God. And those judgments can and should happen in only one particular area: INSIDE the church in terms of church discipline.

Before we discuss that, I do need to say a word about what is NOT being forbidden by Jesus here. When the Bible is very clear about a certain practice, lifestyle, behavior, attitude of mind, or action being sinful and against God, it is NOT even remotely judgmental to teach and practice biblical truth. MOST of society considers people in the church to be judgmental when they proclaim certain truths in the Bible and call people to repent of their sins. While there is CERTAINLY a way to do this in a pharisaical, extremely arrogant and self-righteous way, that does NOT necessarily mean the person is judgmental. John the Baptist, for instance, was beheaded for calling out the sexual sin of Herod the Tetrarch, who had been trying to be intimate with his brother's wife. John told him that such behavior was NOT biblical. Was John the Baptist being judgmental? ABSOLUTELY NOT - he was being RIGHTEOUS and obeying Jesus' other major command on judging, "Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment." (John 7:24)

Standing on biblical truth in a humble way that is preceded by self-repentance and not accompanied by hypocrisy is NOT being judgmental. Jesus is NOT outlawing that - He is NOT advocating a "to each his own" kind of philosophy. Paul in 1 Corinthians 5 is very clear that the church must make judgments when there are people who are claiming the name of Jesus, but not living the teachings of Jesus:

11 But actually, I wrote you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister and is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. 12 For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Don't you judge those who are inside? 13 God judges outsiders. Remove the evil person from among you.

1 Corinthians 5:11-13

It is also clear from Scripture that the Word of God IS A JUDGE of our actions. Consider Hebrews 4:12 " 12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. "

So, in that one fairly narrow arena, Christians are commanded by the Word of God to make righteous judgments and to make those judgments in a righteous way. A righteous judgment is one that is done in accordance with the Bible and not opinion. Do you think somebody is wrong for being a vegan? The Bible tells you NOT to judge them in Romans 14. Do you think somebody is being unethical and insensitive for eating meat? The Bible tells you NOT to judge them in Romans 14. Because the Bible neither condemns vegetarianism nor meat-eating, then Christians must not pass moral judgment on such things. In areas where the Bible DOES give clear commands, however, it is unfaithful for us to fail to follow those commands and call other Christians to as well. When we AGREE with the Word that something is a sin, we aren't make an ungodly judgment, but are making a righteous judgment.

A righteous judgment is a biblical judgment, but even righteous judgments must be done in a righteous way. You simply CANNOT make a judgment if you have not repented of the obvious sin in your life - otherwise, you will be a plank-eye looking down on a speck-eye, and that is foolishness, as Jesus pointed out. Once God has cleansed the plank from your eye, you will be in a better place to make a righteous judgment in a righteous way, and you will do so with the HUMILITY of somebody who has just had a plank taken out of his eye, and not the ARROGANCE of a self-righteous jerk. Frankly, there are way too many self-righteous jerks running around in Christian clothing, and they are bringing shame to the name of Jesus.

Even though I believe that Jesus allows (and even commands) for a certain narrow type of making judgments (given the above parameters), I believe the preponderance of Scripture gives us multiple warnings about making judgments. The overarching concern seems to be that Christians walk in humility, not hypocrisy, and be quicker to point the finger at our own sin (and repent of it!) than to point the finger at the sins of others. These Scriptures bear that philosophy out, and should be a challenge to every fiber of our judgmental, pharisaical and self-righteous beings:

Romans 14:2-4: " 2 One person believes he may eat anything, while one who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 One who eats must not look down on one who does not eat, and one who does not eat must not judge one who does, because God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge another's household servant? Before his own Lord he stands or falls. And he will stand, because the Lord is able to make him stand."

Psalm 31:8-10 " Speak up for those who have no voice, for the justice of all who are dispossessed. 9 Speak up, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the oppressed and needy. "

Romans 2:1-3 " Therefore, every one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things. 2 We know that God's judgment on those who do such things is based on the truth. 3 Do you really think—anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet do the same—that you will escape God's judgment? "

Romans 14:9-12 "9 Christ died and returned to life for this: that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living. 10 But you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written,As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God.12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.13 Therefore, let us no longer judge one another. Instead decide never to put a stumbling block or pitfall in the way of your brother or sister."

1 Corinthians 4:3-5 " 3 It is of little importance to me that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I don't even judge myself. 4 For I am not conscious of anything against myself, but I am not justified by this. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 So don't judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts.

Colossians 2:16-17 " 16 Therefore, don't let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is Christ. "

James 2:2-6 "2 For if someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor person dressed in filthy clothes also comes in, 3 if you look with favor on the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Sit here in a good place," and yet you say to the poor person, "Stand over there," or "Sit here on the floor by my footstool," 4 haven't you made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Didn't God choose the poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? 6 Yet you have dishonored the poor."

James 4: " 11 Don't criticize one another, brothers and sisters. Anyone who defames or judges a fellow believer defames and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? "

I'll close this section on Judging with some great Gospel truth that reminds us who the ultimate judge is: " 30 "Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead." Acts 17:30-31

Today's reading is Genesis 6, Ezra 6, Matthew 6, and Acts 6. It may be that our focus reading for the day should continue in Matthew 6, because Jesus' teaching there is so majestic and beautiful that no passage should really overshadow it. If you will indulge me a bit, we will return to Matthew tomorrow for our focus, but today - we are going to discuss the Genesis passage. Genesis 6 has long been one of my favorite passages in the Bible. It is fascinating, scary, and very, very mysterious. I wrote a book last year called Angels, Ghosts and other Bible Mysteries (on Amazon) that is very focused on many of the mysteries that are brought up in this passage. If you like this discussion, you will probably enjoy that book. If not, then skip the book!

Before we get to the question and answer section, however, let's mine some spiritual gold from this passage.

Here is a powerful and encouraging word from our friend and mentor, Charles Spurgeon:

My brethren, how displeased the great God has been with men. He said that it repented him that he had made men upon the earth. That was a striking expression which is used in Genesis 6:6: "It grieved him at his heart." He seemed to grow so weary of man's wanton wickedness that he was sorry that he ever made beings capable of so much evil. Yet he is so well content with his beloved Son, who has assumed our nature, that we read of him, "The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake: he will magnify the law, and make it honourable." (Is. 42:21). The Lord looks down upon those who are in Christ with an intense affection, and loves them even as he loves the Son, for that is the meaning of this word, "In whom I am well pleased." All who are in Christ Jesus are pleasing to God; yea, God in Christ looks with divine satisfaction upon all those who trust his Son: he is not only pleased, but well pleased. If you are pleased with Jesus, God is pleased with you: if you are in the Son, then you are in the Father's good pleasure

C. H. Spurgeon, "The Voice from the Cloud and the Voice of the Beloved," in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 29 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1883), 355–356.

I would say that Genesis 6 presents us with one of the top five mysteries in the Bible - especially if you read it in the King James Version! Check this out:

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

Genesis 6;1-4, King James Version

SO MANY QUESTIONS! What is going on here? Are angelic beings having relations with human women (apparently...) were the offspring of those unions giants (maybe...but that's not the best translation.) did God send the flood because heavenly beings and earthly beings were having relationships?! These are all tough questions and likely too big for our short little podcast to cover, but I'll try to at least give a short answer to some of them. (maybe we'll do a special episode on this chapter at some point)

Question #1: Are heavenly beings in Genesis 6 actually having children with human females?

The answer to this question depends on who, exactly, the "sons of God" are in Genesis 6. There are three main theories. The first is that they are powerful men and leaders that were human - maybe significantly above average humans. Think body-builders, great/tall athletes, charismatic politicians, etc. Theory #2 is that these 'sons of God' are descendants of Seth, thus making the 'daughters of men,' primarily descendants of Cain. This theory is the one I have heard most at seminary and in academic circles. Theory #3 is that 'sons of God' are some type of heavenly creature - an angel, or something like an angel.

I personally see no grammatical or historical evidence of theory #1. All of the sudden these guys realized that human females were beautiful (vs. 2)? This theory doesn't seem to fit the context of the verse very well, and theory #2 even less so. There is literally NOWHERE in Scripture that suggests that the daughters of men were of the line of Cain and the sons of God were of the line of Seth. Seth is mentioned ten times in the Bible, and only twice after Genesis 5. (Once in a genealogy in Luke and in 1st Chronicles) Cain is mentioned only 3 times after Genesis 5, and all three times are in the New Testament, and do not discuss his descendants at all, but only his murder and his wrong-offering. Genesis six mentions neither Cain nor Abel, so this theory - and it is a popular one - simply has no biblical support whatsoever that I can find.

Which brings us to theory #3 - the sons of God are some type of heavenly creature. Believe it or not, this theory has the most textual support by far. The phrase 'sons of God,' occurs three times outside of Genesis in the Old Testament. All three times are in the book of Job, and all three times are clearly speaking of heavenly creatures - angels, or something like angels. That is a strong bit of evidence in favor of viewing these sons of God as Heavenly beings. Vs. 2 is also strong contextual evidence in favor of theory 3. Consider this verse, "The sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful." if that verse is simply talking about human males, the descendants of Seth, or whomever, then it is a strange, strange passage. Did it really take hundreds (or thousands!) of years for human males to realize that human females were beautiful? Frankly, I think that is silly. I believe the biblical text is pointing us to theory #3 that these beings were heavenly.

One more bit of evidence, and this evidence is weak, but worth noting. The Book of Enoch is not a biblical book, and was not written by the Enoch spoken of in Genesis. It was not canonical, and I do not believe it to be inspired. It is, however, a very old book and it was read by people in the early church, and many early church fathers. Scholars' best guess is that the book of Enoch dates to around 100-300 years before the birth of Jesus, though some sections could be older. That book is very, very clear about who the 'sons of God' in Genesis 6 were. Listen to this!

Book of Enoch – Enoch 15: And He answered and said to me, and I heard His voice: 'Fear not, Enoch, thou righteous man and scribe of righteousness: approach hither and hear my voice. And go, say to the Watchers of heaven, who have sent thee to intercede for them: "You should intercede" for men, and not men for you: Wherefore have ye left the high, holy, and eternal heaven, and lain with women, and defiled yourselves with the daughters of men and taken to yourselves wives, and done like the children of earth, and begotten giants (as your) sons? And though ye were holy, spiritual, living the eternal life, you have defiled yourselves with the blood of women, and have begotten (children) with the blood of flesh, and, as the children of men, have lusted after flesh and blood as those also do who die 5 and perish. Therefore have I given them wives also that they might impregnate them, and beget children by them, that thus nothing might be wanting to them on earth. But you were formerly spiritual, living the eternal life, and immortal for all generations of the world. And therefore I have not appointed wives for you; for as for the spiritual ones of the heaven, in heaven is their dwelling. And now, the giants, who are produced from the spirits and flesh, shall be called evil spirits upon the earth, and on the earth shall be their dwelling. Evil spirits have proceeded from their bodies; because they are born from men and from the holy Watchers is their beginning and primal origin; they shall be evil spirits on earth, and evil spirits shall they be called. [As for the spirits of heaven, in heaven shall be their dwelling, but as for the spirits of the earth which were born upon the earth, on the earth shall be their dwelling.] And the spirits of the giants afflict, oppress, destroy, attack, do battle, and work destruction on the earth, and cause trouble: they take no food, but nevertheless hunger and thirst, and cause offences. And these spirits shall rise up against the children of men and against the women, because they have proceeded from them.

One objection that many have to theory #3 is from Matthew 22:30, " 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven." I do not believe this objection holds much water for two reasons: #1 Genesis 6 seems to be talking about intimate relations and not necessarily marriage. It is possible to have relations and not be married. #2, Jesus specifically mentions "angels in Heaven," and Genesis 6 is quite obviously dealing with beings that are on earth. Perhaps angels in Heaven do not marry, but the beings in Genesis 6, be they human or angels are not at all in Heaven, and don't seem to be concerned with the rules of Heaven.

Another objection might say that Heavenly beings are without gender, but I don't see that in Scripture either. There are Heavenly beings in Zechariah 5 that are female (not necessarily angels) and the Heavenly beings in Genesis 18 are clearly male. Can heavenly beings procreate? The only bit of biblical evidence in favor of that possibility would seem to be here in Genesis 6 and I see nothing anywhere else that gives me the idea that they are incapable of such things.

Question #2: Is Genesis 6 telling us that giants used to exist on the earth?

Not necessarily - the Hebrew word there is the word Nephilim. It is a difficult word to translate because it only appears in one - or two - other places in the entire Old Testament. Reference #1 is from Numbers 13 and is probably where the King James translators got the inspiration to use the word, "giant."

30 Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, "Let's go up now and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!"31 But the men who had gone up with him responded, "We can't attack the people because they are stronger than we are!" 32 So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: "The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size. 33 We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim! To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them."

Numbers 13:30-34

So - these Nephilim are clearly quite big and impressive...but are they giants? I live in Salinas, California - about an hour from where the Golden State Warriors play basketball. If I went over to practice one day, and somehow, someway got a chance to shoot around with those guys, I'd probably come home and tell my family that I felt like a grasshopper. I'm 6'1, but compared to Kevin Looney (6 feet, 9 inches) or Willie Cauley-Stein (7 feet!) I'm quite short. I believe that these Nephilim were the offspring of heavenly beings and human females, so it is certainly possible that they possessed traits that were above human capability, but we just can't be sure about their size at all, beyond saying that they were likely significantly larger than the Hebrews.

Question #3: Did God flood the earth because of human-angelic relationships?

If definitely seems like there is a subtle relationship between God flooding the world and whatever was going on with these sons of God and daughters of men. Could 2nd Peter 2 be giving us a clue about this?

4 For if God didn't spare the angels who sinned but cast them into hell and delivered them in chains of utter darkness to be kept for judgment; 5 and if he didn't spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly;

2 Peter 2:4-5

That passage is quite interesting, but also fairly obscure. I'm not sure we should build a lot of theology on it. The fact is, however, that the first part Genesis 6 seems to indicate that the sins of humans grieved God in the context of the flood.

5 When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, 6 the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth,and he was deeply grieved. 7 Then the Lord said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them." 8 Noah, however, found favor with the Lord....

Genesis 6:5-8

The second part of Genesis 6, however, seems to make room for more than humans to be involved in the judgment.

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with wickedness. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth was, for every creature had corrupted its way on the earth. 13 Then God said to Noah, "I have decided to put an end to every creature, for the earth is filled with wickedness because of them; therefore I am going to destroy them along with the earth.

Genesis 6:11-13

So, my conclusion to the question is a weak 'maybe.' If the sons of God are indeed heavenly beings, as I suspect they are, it would appear that their dalliance with human females had at least a small part to play in the flooding of the earth. We might go too far past the text if we say much more than that.

I'll close with the conclusions of Jonathan Edwards - probably American's foremost theologian - on the question of the giants/nephilim:

"And there were giants in the earth in those days," etc. "Pausanias, in his Laconics, mentions the bones of men of a more than ordinary bigness, which were shown in the temple of Aesculapius at the city of Asepus; and in the first of his Eliacs, of a bone taken out of the sea, which aforetime was kept at Pisa, and thought to have been one of Peleps'. Philostratus, in the beginning of his Heroics, [says] that many bodies of giants were discovered in Pallene, by showers of rain and earthquakes. Pliny, Bk. 7, ch. 16, says, 'That upon the bursting of a mountain in Crete, there was found a body standing upright, which was reported by some to have been the body of Orion, by others, the body of Eetion. Orestes' body, when it was commanded by the oracle to be digged up, is reported to have been seven cubits. And almost a thousand years ago, the poet Homer continually complained, that men's bodies were less than of old.' And Solinus, ch. I, 'Were not all that were born in that age, less than their parents?' And the story of Orestes' funeral testifies the bigness of the ancients, whose bones, when they were digged up, in the 58th Olympiad at Tegea, by the advice of the oracle, are related to have been seven cubits in length. And other writings, which give a credible relation of ancient matters, affirm this, that in the war of Crete, when the rivers had been so high as to overflow and break down their banks, after the flood was abated, upon the cleaving of the earth, there was found a human body of three and thirty foot long, which L. Flaccus, the legate, and Metellus himself, being very desirous of seeing, were much surprised to have the satisfaction of seeing, what they did not believe when they heard." Grotius, De Veritate, Bk. 1, sec. 16, notes. "Josephus, Bk. 5, ch. 2, of his ancient history. 'There remains to this day some of the race of the giants, who by reason of the bulk and figure of their bodies, so different from other men, are wonderful to see, or hear of. Their bones are now shown, far exceeding the belief of the vulgar.' Gabinius, in his history of Mauritania, said that Antaeus' bones were found by Sertorius, which, joined together, were sixty cubits long. Phlegon Trallianus, in his 9th chapter of Wonders, mentions the digging up [of] the head of Ida, which was three times as big as that of an ordinary woman. And he adds also, that there were many bodies found in Dalmatia, whose arms exceeded sixteen cubits. And the same man relates out of Theopompus, that there were found in the Cimmerian Bosphorus, a company of human bones twenty-four cubits in length." Le Clerc's notes on Grotius, De Veritate, Bk. 1, sec. 16. "We almost everywhere in the Greek and Latin historians meet with the savage life of the giants, mentioned by Moses. In the Greek, as Homer, Iliad 9, and Hesiod in his Labors. To this may be referred the wars of the gods, mentioned by Plato in his Second Republic, and those distinct and separate governments, taken notice of by the same Plato, in his third book of Laws. And as to the Latin historians, see the first book of Ovid's Metamorphosis, and the 4th book of Lucan, and Seneca's third book of Natural Questions, Ques. 30, where he says concerning the deluge, 'That the beasts also perished, into whose nature men were degenerated.' "

Jonathan Edwards, Notes on Scripture, ed. Harry S. Stout and Stephen J. Stein, vol. 15, The Works of Jonathan Edwards (London; New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998), 506–508.

By the way, Augustine - writing all the way back in the 300s! Makes a case contra the above, and believes that the sons of God were merely men. His reasoning is that there are at least two men in the Bible that are designated as angels/messengers that were obviously human, and that is likely what is going on here too. I respect and admire Augustine, but disagree with him here, noting that "sons of God" does not, of necessity, equate to angels.

WHETHER WE ARE TO BELIEVE THAT ANGELS, WHO ARE OF A SPIRITUAL SUBSTANCE, FELL IN LOVE WITH THE BEAUTY OF WOMEN, AND SOUGHT THEM IN MARRIAGE, AND THAT FROM THIS CONNECTION GIANTS WERE BORN

1. In the third book of this work (c. 5) we made a passing reference to this question, but did not decide whether angels, inasmuch as they are spirits, could have bodily intercourse with women. For it is written, "Who maketh His angels spirits,"4 that is, He makes those who are by nature spirits His angels by appointing them to the duty of bearing His messages. For the Greek word ἄγγελος, which in Latin appears as "angelus," means a messenger. But whether the Psalmist speaks of their bodies when he adds, "and His ministers a flaming fire," or means that God's ministers ought to blaze with love as with a spiritual fire, is doubtful. However, the same trustworthy Scripture testifies that angels have appeared to men in such bodies as could not only be seen, but also touched. There is, too, a very general rumor, which many have verified by their own experience, or which trustworthy persons who have heard the experience of others corroborate, that sylvans and fauns, who are commonly called "incubi," had often made wicked assaults upon women, and satisfied their lust upon them; and that certain devils, called Duses by the Gauls, are constantly attempting and effecting this impurity is so generally affirmed, that it were impudent to deny it.5 From these assertions, indeed, I dare not determine whether there be some spirits embodied in an aerial substance (for this element, even when agitated by a fan, is sensibly felt by the body), and who are capable of lust and of mingling sensibly with women; but certainly I could by no means believe that God's holy angels could at that time have so fallen, nor can I think that it is of them the Apostle Peter said, "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment."1 I think he rather speaks of these who first apostatized from God, along with their chief the devil, who enviously deceived the first man under the form of a serpent. But the same holy Scripture affords the most ample testimony that even godly man have been called angels; for of John it is written: "Behold, I send my messenger (angel) before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way."2 And the prophet Malachi, by a peculiar grace specially communicated to him, was called an angel.3
2. But some are moved by the fact that we have read that the fruit of the connection between those who are called angels of God and the women they loved were not men like our own breed, but giants; just as if there were not born even in our own time (as I have mentioned above) men of much greater size than the ordinary stature. Was there not at Rome a few years ago, when the destruction of the city now accomplished by the Goths was drawing near, a woman, with her father and mother, who by her gigantic size over-topped all others? Surprising crowds from all quarters came to see her, and that which struck them most was the circumstance that neither of her parents were quite up to the tallest ordinary stature. Giants therefore might well be born, even before the sons of God, who are also called angels of God, formed a connection with the daughters of men, or of those living according to men, that is to say, before the sons of Seth formed a connection with the daughters of Cain. For thus speaks even the canonical Scripture itself in the book in which we read of this; its words are: "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair [good]; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord God said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became the giants, men of renown."4 These words of the divine book sufficiently indicate that already there were giants in the earth in those days, in which the sons of God took wives of the children of men, when they loved them because they were good, that is, fair. For it is the custom of this Scripture to call those who are beautiful in appearance "good." But after this connection had been formed, then too were giants born. For the words are: "There were giants in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men." Therefore there were giants both before, "in those days," and "also after that." And the words, "they bare children to them," show plainly enough that before the sons of God fell in this fashion they begat children to God, not to themselves,—that is to say, not moved by the lust of sexual intercourse, but discharging the duty of propagation, intending to produce not a family to gratify their own pride, but citizens to people the city of God; and to these they as God's angels would bear the message, that they should place their hope in God, like him who was born of Seth, the son of resurrection, and who hoped to call on the name of the Lord God, in which hope they and their offspring would be co-heirs of eternal blessings, and brethren in the family of which God is the Father.

Augustine of Hippo, "The City of God," in St. Augustin's City of God and Christian Doctrine, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. Marcus Dods, vol. 2, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1887), 303–304.

Today our Bible readings in the Robert Murray M'Cheyne plan are Genesis 5, Ezra 5, Matthew 5 and Acts 5. Our focus passage is Matthew 5, and how could it not be? In this passage, we see the beginning of the most famous and well known sermon ever taught by anybody, the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus here lays down His ethic, His commands, His way of life and His motivations. When we think about the Great Commission of Matthew 28, we should remember that a large part of it - almost half! - is that we teach the world to observe and obey the teachings of Jesus. A good place to start with that (co)mission is here, in Matthew 5.

Our question of the day concerns what might be the most famous verse from the most famous sermon ever, verse 5. Even those who haven't been to church in years are familiar with this verse where we are told that the meek (or gentle, in some translations) are blessed. What an interesting and almost counter-intuitive message! This teaching raises a couple of compelling question: what does it mean to be meek; and how, exactly, are the meek blessed?

The Greek word that is used here is praotēs, and the good news for us is that it is used so frequently in the Bible that we can get a very good idea of what it means.

First, Matthew 21:5 Tell Daughter Zion, "Look, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden." So meekness refers to the kind of King who would ride on a donkey. It has an element of humility to it.

Colossians 3:12 " 12 Therefore, God's chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, " Here we see that meekness also has an element of gentleness to it - the kind of gentleness that fits in perfectly with compassion, kindness, humility and patience.

Titus 3:1-2 helps us understand meekness also, " Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, 2 to slander no one, to avoid fighting, and to be kind, always showing gentleness to all people. " So meekness here is represented by a person who avoids arguments, quarrels and talking bad about other people. Sounds lovely, right!

Gotquestions helps us here too, "Meekness models the humility of Jesus Christ. As Philippians 2:6–8 says, "[Jesus], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!" Being "in the very nature God," Jesus had the right to do whatever He wanted, but, for our sake, He submitted to "death on a cross." That is the ultimate in meekness. "

Here's some powerful wisdom from John Piper on meekness:

Now let's stand back and see if we can see the portrait whole. Meekness begins when we put our trust in God. Then, because we trust him, we commit our way to him. We roll onto him our anxieties, or frustrations, our plans, our relationships, our jobs, our health. And then we wait patiently for the Lord. We trust his timing and his power and his grace to work things out in the best way for his glory and for our good.

The result of trusting God and the rolling of our anxieties onto God and waiting patiently for God is that we don't give way to quick and fretful anger. But instead, like Moses we give place to wrath and hand our cause over to God and let him vindicate us if he chooses. And then, as James says, in this quiet confidence we are slow to speak and quick to listen. We become reasonable and open to correction. Meekness loves to learn. And it counts the blows of a friend as precious. And when it must say a critical word to a person caught in sin or error, it speaks from the deep conviction of its own fallibility and its own susceptibility to sin and its utter dependence on the grace of God....

What effect does Jesus want this promise to have on the disciples? I think the answer is that he wants the promise to give them strength to continue in their meekness. This is the way the promise works in verse 12: "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you." In other words, the promise of great reward gives the disciples strength to endure persecution with joy.

So I think the promise that the meek shall inherit the earth is intended by the Lord to give us the strength to endure in meekness when the natural inclination would be to defend ourselves or retaliate or give way to fretful anger....If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, sitting at his feet on the mount this morning, that is, if you trust him and commit your way to him and wait patiently for him, God has already begun to help you and will help you more. And the primary way that he will help you is to assure your heart that you are a fellow heir of Jesus Christ and that the world and everything in it is yours. He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, will he not freely give us all things with him? All things! No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly. "Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth."

John Piper, Sermons from John Piper (1980–1989) (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2007).

A most curious incident happens in Genesis, chapter 4. Adam and Eve have been banished from the Garden of Eden, and they begin a family. Cain is the firstborn, and he grows up to become a farmer. Abel is the second child, and he becomes a shepherd. Here is the story of Cain and Abel from Genesis 4:

The man was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, "I have had a male child with the Lord's help." 2 She also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain presented some of the land's produce as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but he did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.6 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? 7 If you do what is right, won't you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it."8 Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.9 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?""I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's guardian?"10 Then he said, "What have you done? Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground! 11 So now you are cursed, alienated from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood you have shed.12 If you work the ground, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth." - Genesis 4:1-12

If you've ever felt like a failure as a parent - I have, many times - then consider Adam and Eve, the first parents. Their eldest literally killed their second born - what a horrific thing to endure for a father and mother! Adam and Eve lived in perfection and paradise, and within a very short time, the world went from sinless beauty to horrifyingly dark. Sin is that way, isn't it? It can start out small and seem somewhat innocuous, but sin always leads to worse and worse consequences. James describes the slippery slope of sin this way:

"Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. " - James 1:15

God saw what was coming, and warned Cain to turn away from his jealousy and lust for anger, but Cain ignored the warning, and killed his brother in cold blood. Most of us that read this passage can see why Cain did what he did - it is not justifiable in the least, but we have all been upset when one person is commended, and we are not. A more mysterious question is this: Why did God reject Cain's offering, and not Abel's? Sadly, the Bible doesn't say directly, but there are some very solid clues that point us in the right direction. Hebrews 11:4, for instance, tells us this, " By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith. "

At least part of the answer is that Abel's sacrifice was by faith, and Cain's was not. Another clue might be found in the letter of Jude in the New Testament. In that letter, the church is warned about a group of false teachers who have turned away from the ways of God, and have, "have traveled in the way of Cain." Again, the specific error of Cain is not identified, but in the context of Jude it does seem to have to do with false teaching/false practice/false worship.

Our final major clue, and the one that I believe is the most important, comes to us in Leviticus chapter 17:11, " For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for your lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement."

In the eyes of God, the only way for sin to be atoned for - (atone means to make amends or reparation, to make things right) - is for there to be the shedding of blood. Because the life of an animal or human is in its blood, the only way to cover sin - to pay for sin - to make things right - is for there to be the spilling of blood. Abel's sacrifice recognized this truth and adhered with it, but Cain's sacrifice did not. I believe that this simple fact explains why Cain's sacrifice was rejected. Not because God loves shepherds more than farmers, but because only blood can cover sin - nothing else...not vegetables, not offerings, not money, not power, not fame, nor possessions. This is why Jesus had to come and die - why His perfect blood had to be poured out. Because only blood can cover sins. Imperfect blood - the blood of normal animals and humans is limited in its effect, but the blood of a perfect and sinless human is infinite in its covering effect. Therefore the writer of Hebrews tells us:

22 So Jesus has also become the guarantee of a better covenant.23 Now many have become Levitical priests, since they are prevented by death from remaining in office. 24 But because He remains forever, He holds His priesthood permanently. 25 Therefore, He is always able to save those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He doesn't need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do—first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all when He offered Himself.

Hebrews 7:22-27

Now that, my friends, is the good news. The sacrifice of Jesus was ONCE for all. We don't have to earn our way in to Heaven. For all who look to Jesus in faith believing - their way into eternal life with the Father is paid for by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, the spotless lamb.

Today's Bible Readings in the RMM Bible Reading Plan are from Genesis 3, Ezra 3, Matthew 3 and Acts 3. Our focus passage is Genesis 3, which is all about the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden.

Encouraging Quote of the Day from Tim Keller, "

In the beginning of history, it was a disaster. Adam and Eve, garden of Eden … What happens? Sin, Serpent … you know the story. Everything is horrible. Death, destruction, evil. Everything is horrible, except there's a glimmer of hope. Do you know what it is? It's a promise. In Genesis 3:15, God says, "I promise that one descendant of Eve is someday going to bruise the head of the Serpent and destroy evil. I promise." Scroll forward to centuries later. God starts talking to Abraham. He says, "I'm going to save the world through your descendants." One night Abraham says, "But how can I be sure?" In Genesis 15, God shocks Abraham (and anybody who understands what he's doing in Genesis 15) when he appears and passes between the pieces of a dead animal and says, "I will save the world through one of your descendants, even if it means I have to die." A second promise. Then, years and years later, Jesus Christ comes into the world, and he's a man of complete integrity. He always means what he says, always says what he means. Absolute integrity. At the very end, in the ultimate act of integrity, he sets his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem, and he goes to the cross. Why? He's fulfilling his promise. He's fulfilling the promise of God, and everything is before him. Everything comes down. Everything opposes him. Hell itself comes down, and he says, "No, I've made a promise," and he goes to the cross and dies for us. You've been saved by the integrity of Jesus. You've been saved by the promise keeping of Jesus Christ. That should humble us away from ever using truth against people, but, on the other hand, it convinces us there is a truth. We can't be relativists at all. It destroys our fear of telling the truth. Therefore, O friends, look at the integrity of Jesus. Look at what he did for you on the cross, and become people of integrity."

Timothy J. Keller, The Timothy Keller Sermon Archive (New York City: Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2013).

Question of the day: What is the Protoevangelium (A.K.A. Protoevangelion/Protoeuangelion?

The word protoevangelium (or protevangelion) simply means "first good news," or "first gospel." Genesis 3 is the worst news in the Bible, really. Up until the Fall in the Garden, things were going pretty great. There was no sickness, death, depression, strife, anxiety, body image issues, or anything like that. Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed - which means they had a level of transparency with each other that went far beyond whether or not they wore clothing. Everything changed, however, when Eve was tempted by the serpent Satan, and Adam stood idly by doing nothing. They both disobeyed God and sin, death, anxiety, fear, and more entered the world. Prior to this, God walked in the garden face to face with humans, but after this, there was a large gulf of separation between God and man. Bad, bad news - almost the entire chapter...except for one tiny glimmer of hope. We see it in Genesis 3:15:

I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. - Genesis 3:15, CSB

In that one little passage, where God is pronouncing divine punishment on the serpent Satan, there is a promise: Somebody is coming to crush the head of the enemy. Who was the offspring of the woman Eve? Ultimately, this passage is looking forward to the coming of Jesus, the savior.

Why did Jesus come? 1 John 3:8 tells us that Jesus came to "destroy the work of the devil." How did he accomplish this? The answer is in Hebrews 2 (and many other places in the Bible):

" Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. "

The sinless Jesus - Himself innocent, but dying on the cross to pay the price of sin, crushed the head of Satan - the devil - by this act of self-sacrifice. He utterly defeated Satan - the one holding the power of death- by His resurrection, which was a tremendous triumph. Because of Jesus' victory here - all who look to Him in wholehearted believing faith will be saved and set free from all fear of death, because death and Satan no longer have any hold on them. The is the Protoevangelion - the first good news.