August 12, 2026; Genesis 6

Daily Dose of Hope August 12, 2026   Scripture: Genesis 6   Prayer:  Almighty God, We come to you today with humble hearts.  We are broken and we need you.  Help us set aside our scattered thoughts and focus on you this morning.  Help us set aside distractions so we might hear your voice.  In these next few moments of silence, Lord, help us just focus on Jesus...In Your Name, Amen.   Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church daily Bible reading plan.  We are currently deep-diving into the book of Genesis.  Today's reading is Genesis 6.   The first part of this chapter is very strange.  Let me just go ahead and say that.  Who were the sons of God and the daughters of men?  It is beginning to sound more like Greek mythology than the Bible.  What is going on here?  There are several possible options.   The first theory is that the sons of God are fallen angels.  In the Old Testament, the phrase sons of God elsewhere refers to angels, particularly in the book of Job. But a problem with this theory is Jesus' statement in Matthew 22:30, which indicates that angels do not marry. There really isn't any evidence in Scripture to make us believe that angels have a gender or the ability to reproduce.   Other theories are that the sons of God are powerful human rulers or godly descendants of Seth who intermarried with wicked descendants of Cain.  But human males marrying ordinary human females does not account for why the offspring were "giants" or "heroes of old, men of renown."  Additionally, why would God be so angry as to send the flood if he never specifically forbade these powerful humans or descendants of Seth to marry ordinary human women or descendants of Cain?  It seems that the flood and God's judgment is linked to this section of Genesis 6.  Such harsh consequences points to very horrible sin.  Marriage and mating between fallen angels with human women would seem to qualify.   What about Matthew 22:30 when Jesus says that angels do not marry?  Well, the fact that God's holy angels do not marry does not mean that Satan cannot pervert sexuality in this world.  We've seen in Scripture that angels can appear in human form.  Thus, fallen angels could possibly marry and have sexual intercourse with human women, and it would make sense that God would be really, really angry about that.  I would love your thoughts on this.   This leads into how corrupt the world had become.  Humanity had become so very evil, so much so that God regretted making people.  And God basically decides to clean everything up.  So he has Noah build an ark.  He and his family will be the remnant remaining to restart humanity.   I've had hard conversations with people about this passage.  I mean, what kind of god would kill all the living over all the earth except for one family and a few animals?  How do we explain this to our unbelieving friends?   When we look at this story through modern eyes, it is really harsh.  But we have to at least try to look at through the viewpoint of the ancient audience.  God is incredibly sorrowful, grieving even, over the sinfulness of his creation.  He isn't mean and wrathful, like the gods of the Mesopotamians and the other ancient nations.  He doesn't plan on randomly striking people down.  He is still a saving God.  There is only one faithful person on the earth and God plans to save him and his family.  God is intentional, rather than impulsive.  He has a plan for humanity and he will carry it out.    More on this tomorrow.   Blessings, Pastor Vicki