Rockey's Thoughts

Make Truth God's Again (MTGA), Part 2

Rockey Jackson, August 1, 2024

This article will begin where “Make Truth God's Again, Part 1” left off, with Noah and the flood. We will continue to contrast the two different worldviews: first, that we are physical beings having spiritual experiences and second, that we are spiritual beings having a physical experience. We will also contrast two theologies: first, the traditional school of thought that teaches the creation stories in Genesis 1 & 2 as a single event and second, the theology that sees each creation story as unique. It will be an example of how things may be viewed differently if our worldview and theology change as we learn more about the creation over time.

Part 1 noted seven significant differences in the two creation stories.

Table 1: Differences in the creation of Humanity on the sixth day and Adam.

The story of Noah, the flood, and Noah's descendants is found in Genesis chapters six through eleven:

1. 6:1-2, Sons of God marry daughters of men.

2. 6:3, Prophecy that lifespan of man will be shortened to 120 years. (Fulfilled after the flood.)

3. 6:4, Sons of God and daughters of men produce hybrid race of mighty men and giants.

4. 6:5-7, God decides to destroy man.

5. 6:8-10, Noah finds favor in God's sight and has perfect genetics from Adam.

6. 6:11-22, God instructs Noah to build and provision an ark for his preservation.

7. 7:1-24, The flood.

8. 8:1-19, Noah's deliverance from the flood.

9. 8:20-22, God's covenant with creation.

10. 9:1-17, God's promise to Noah,

11. 9:18-28, Noah and his sons.

12. 10:1-32, Descendants of Noah's sons. (This is commonly called the catalog of nations.)

13. 11:1-9, The tower of Babel.

14. 11:10-32, Shem's descendants. (With age at death.)

This gives an overview of Noah's flood and the aftermath for those who want to know the whole story. This article will only explore the beginning and the end of the story in detail.

The backstory leading up to the flood reveals some very strange things going on. It says in Genesis 6:1-4:

1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. 3 And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 4 There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. (Verse three is a prophecy that is fulfilled after the flood in Genesis 11 and following. We will see the fulfillment at the end of this study.)

This passage describes the sons of God marrying the daughters of men and producing hybrid offspring who are giants, mighty men, and men of renown. Does this open the door for there to be some truth in the Greek mythologies?

Who are the sons of God that are referenced in this passage? When I was a youth, I was told that the sons of God were fallen angels. This was supported by referencing that everywhere else in the Old Testament the sons of God were angels. This didn't set well with me. Personally, I have always found the thought of angels having sex with humans to be revolting.

Also, I was already aware of the gospel story where the Sadducees confronted Jesus concerning the resurrection in Matthew 22:23-33:

23 The same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, 24 saying: “Teacher, Moses said that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 25 Now there were with us seven brothers. The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother. 26 Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh. 27 Last of all the woman died also. 28 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her.”

29 Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. 31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.” 33 And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching. (Parallel accounts are found in Mark 12:18-27 and Luke 20:27-38.)

(This is another reference that shows spiritual life as the ultimate reality and that we should think of spiritual life first when God is talking about life and death. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had obviously died physically centuries earlier. Jesus asserts that they are alive. He could only mean spiritually.)

I believe the testimony of Jesus. He says that angels do not marry. Spiritual beings are eternal and don't need to procreate to sustain their species.

In our world, nearly every living species must have a male and a female to procreate. Therefore, our language reflects this fact and every living thing is labeled a male or a female. Throughout scripture, God and the angels are depicted as males. However, I believe that they are asexual because a second sex is never even hinted at. Without a female counterpart there is no reason to be male.

If we come to the scriptures with the worldview that we are spiritual beings having a physical experience, then combining the above with what Paul writes in Galatians 3:23-26 makes perfect sense.

26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

In eternity we will be neither male nor female, but, like the angels, we will be asexual and never marry nor be given in marriage.

When I looked into the term son(s) of God in the King James Bible, I found fifty-eight occurrences. (See Appendix A: Son(s) of God.) Six are in the Old Testament. Two are here in the passage we are studying concerning the flood. These two references do not provide any further insight as to who is referenced as the sons of God. Three references are in the book of Job. In Job they specifically identify the sons of God as angels coming before God in Heaven. The last reference is in the book of Daniel. When Daniel's three friends are thrown into the fiery furnace, the king looks in and sees a fourth man who he describes as like the son of God. There are two schools of thought: one, that it was an angel, and two, that it was a theophany of the pre-existent Christ. In the New Testament, son(s) of God occurs fifty-two times. Forty-five times it refers to Jesus as the son of God. Six times it refers to Redeemed Saints as sons of God. In one occurrence it refers to Adam as the son of God. This is found at the end of the genealogy of Jesus as recorded in the book of Luke.

I don't think this is conclusive either way. I will note that it sounds very different to say that everywhere else in the Old Testament sons of God means angels as opposed to saying that sons of God means angels one other place in the Old Testament, in the book of Job.

Are there any outside sources that may shed more light on this subject? One might reference the Watchers in the Book of Enoch. I've read the Book of Enoch and it does tell the story about two hundred Watchers who decided to take the daughters of men as wives. A hybrid race of humanity was born to them. However, Enoch did not tell his readers who the Watchers were. Apparently, it was known at the time but has been lost over the centuries.

There are many accounts of incubus and succubus experiences. However, I've never found one account where offspring were produced. (An incubus is a male demon believed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women. A succubus is a female demon believed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping men.)

Another source that can be cited are the Greek mythologies. These came to be known as mythologies as time progressed, people migrated, and some of the details changed. However, they were originally firsthand observations. In the Greek mythologies there were three races. First there were the preexistent earthbound men and women. Then the Titans appeared. They were small in number and over time they disappeared. When these two races intermarried, they produced a hybrid race that the Greeks called gods. They also disappeared in time. Both the Titans and the gods lived a very long time, long enough for the Greeks to think they were immortal, but they did eventually die.

I don't think there is enough evidence here to state conclusively which school of thought is right. It might be good to keep an open mind while we continue to learn more over time.

Let's continue with the backstory leading up to Noah's flood. It says in Genesis 6:5-12:

5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. 9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

Within ten generations, including Adam, man became so corrupt that God became sorry that He had created him. So God decided to destroy man. Only one man, Noah was found to be just before God. It says that Noah was perfect in his generations. This refers to Noah's genealogy being perfect all the way back to Adam and Eve. His DNA was the same as theirs.

I have looked up the Hebrew word for man and men used here in Genesis 6, for the creation of Adam in Genesis 2, and for the creation of men on the sixth day of creation in Genesis 1. In all cases it is the same word (Hebrew number 120 in Strong's Concordance). In English it is Adam and translated man or men. I am not a scholar of the Hebrew language. I don't know why the translators chose to translate it man (singular) or men (plural). I also don't know why they chose to transliterate it in the story of Adam's creation. I will note that it is interesting in light of the possibility of two creations of humanity, one plural and one singular, that here in the first eleven verses of Genesis 6 every place they noted the daughters of men it is translated plural and every place man is evil and to be destroyed it is translated singular. Could this possibly be meant to direct our attention back to the two creation stories?

The story of the flood continues in Genesis 6:13-9:28. God tells Noah to build the ark and to provision it. God floods Noah's world and kills both man and animals. God is sovereign and He can do anything He wants to do. So, if people want to just believe that God made it happen and worked it out, that's okay with me. I, however, have many reasons from the creation that make me believe that Noah's world was not the same as the entire Earth.

The words Earth and world are often times synonymous, but not always. Most are familiar with the phrase: “Welcome to my world.” When I was a young child it was the title of a song made popular by Jim Reeves. History teaches us that there were a succession of world empires that actually only ruled a small portion of the Earth. The traditional religious teaching of my youth taught me that the flood was universal and destroyed all life except what was saved on the ark. I no longer believe that. Here is a list of reasons why I believe Noah's flood destroyed only Noah's world and not the entire Earth.

History:

1. The flood is believed to have occurred about 2348 B.C. Anthropology teaches me that many people groups who were living at that time were not effected by the flood.

Logistics:

2. Gathering animals from seven continents.

3. Returning animals to seven continents.

4. Fitting all of the animals into the ark.

5. Fitting all of the food and water required for 377 days into the ark.

6. Having extra animals on board to feed the carnivores.

Manpower:

7. Feeding, watering, and cleaning up after all the animals with only eight people.

Material:

8. Enough water to flood the entire earth to a depth higher than the mountains.

We know how much water the Earth contains. It fills the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, underground aquifers, glaciers, polar ice caps, and humidity in the atmosphere. There is no water to cover all the mountains of the Earth. In the story of the flood we are told that God caused it to rain for forty days and forty nights. He then opened up the fountains of the deep. We know what the fountains of the deep are. They are springs and artesian wells. Whenever there is significant precipitation at higher altitudes it causes these fountains to gush forth, but it doesn't materially enlarge the available water contained throughout the Earth. I think we might turn this around and say that we are in a state of perpetual worldwide flooding. The extent of the flood is the high water mark on the coastlands.

I believe that the flood of Noah did indeed destroy his world and eliminated the Adam Race of man who were still living in a small geographic area. The domestic animals along with a few more species and Noah's family were saved in the ark. It then becomes a manageable task for eight people to provision and care for all of them.

After the flood, we see the fulfillment of Genesis 6:3, “3 And the Lord said, 'My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.'” Noah is the last man with perfect DNA from Adam. For ten generations, from Adam to Noah, the lifespan of Adam creation man remained fairly constant with an average of 930 years. Over the next thirteen generations, from Noah to Joseph, the DNA of Adam is nearly bred out of the human genome. Joseph died at the age of 110. (See Appendix B: Life expectancy from Adam to Joseph.)

We know from the age recorded for Noah's son Shem and from the law of genetic averaging that Noah's wife, his sons, and his son's wives were hybrids. (According to the Law of Genetic Averaging, the probable lifespan of the hybrid race would be the average of the parent's lifespan expressed in the formula (f+m)/2=c. Where f is the father's lifespan, m is the mother's lifespan, and c is the child's expected lifespan.) They and their descendants were well aware of their declining lifespans. They tried to resist it by marrying other hybrids. We see it in the tower of Babel incident, recorded in Genesis 11:1-9, when they tried to keep from being scattered and absorbed into the general population. We see it in the stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Abraham marries his half-sister (see Genesis 20:11-13). Isaac marries his first cousin as recorded in Genesis 24. Jacob also marries his first cousins as recorded in Genesis 28 & 29. When Jacob is presented to Pharaoh by his son Joseph, we see the following exchange in Genesis 47:7-10.

7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?” 9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” 10 So Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.

So we see that Noah's descendants tried to maintain their lifespan and they were very concerned as Adam's DNA was bred out of the genome and their lifespans diminished.

I don't believe that I've found a single smoking gun that proves either theology or worldview. I do think, depending on interpretation of the Scriptures and of the creation, that there is ample evidence to support either position. Obviously, I've come to believe that the two creation stories are indeed unique, or I would not have written this article. It wasn't one thing that made me leave behind what I was taught as a child. It was the preponderance of evidence and the fact that it solved many problems that I saw in the teaching of my youth:

1. If we are all descended from the same two ancestors who had the same DNA, then why don't we all have the same DNA?

2. If the two creation stories of humanity recorded in the Bible are a single creation, then why are they diametrically opposed to each other?

3. How did fallen angels, who are most likely asexual and can only simulate intercourse, procreate with women? They do not have creative power like God does, so where did they get the necessary genetic material to produce a viable embryo?

4. Why were there giants after the flood when they had been eliminated and the conditions that produced them were supposedly removed?

5. Why did it take thirteen generations for God to shorten man's lifespan from nine-hundred and thirty years to one hundred and twenty years? God said it, why didn't it just happen then?

Personally, I don't believe that angels are capable of breeding with humanity. I do believe the hybrid giants were the result of intermarriage between the sons of the man Adam and the daughters of men who were created on the sixth day. After the flood, Noah and the surviving hybrids continued to marry the daughters of men and produced more giants and mighty men. They were never large in number and their genetic lines were virtually bred out of the genome over time.

All of the illustrations I've used are from the very beginning of the Bible. If the foundation of a house is not level and square, then problems will propagate throughout the entire structure. It is the same with our interpretation of Scripture. We need a proper foundational understanding or error will propagate forward. Our worldview is different and we've learned much more about the creation since the dark ages. Theology, worldview, and knowledge of the creation will all affect our interpretation of the Bible. Whatever we choose to believe, I do hope we can all agree to Make Truth God's Again.

I did not come up with the theory that the two creations were unique on my own. For the story of my journey, see Appendix C: Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due.

Appendix A: Son(s) of God

Appendix B: Life Expectancy from Adam to Joseph

Appendic C: Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due