Tuesday, August 4, 2009

The Sons of God and the Daughters of Men in Genesis 6

Question:

Just listened to the Soaring devotional on Genesis 5 passage. Now maybe you can explain the first few lines of Genesis 6 about the Sons of God and daughters of men....

Answer:

Sons of God is a metonym for the godly line of Seth (Adam's third son).
[Metonym: a word that denotes one thing but refers to a related thing;
"Washington is a metonym for the United States government"; "plastic is a
metonym for credit card"]

Daughters of men refers to the ungodly line of Cain. Genesis 6 is not saying that
the "Sons of God" are demons who had babies with humans...they are fallen
spirits. Only the Spirit of God can "overshadow" in such a way as in the
conception of Jesus.

Why then do giants result? This fact is what has led to the assumption that
something supernatural is going on. But, remember that this is the same period
where people are living 900 years. There seem to have been greater extremes
possible in a human genome which was only recently damaged by sin's effects.
There were giants not because demons impregnated human women. There
were giants because this kind of extreme stature was possible at this time.

Long Life Spans in the Bible

Question: What's with the extra long years for everyone's age? 896? 800? Am I crazy or does that seem just a bit longer than the average life span? Could you please explain how they are measuring time in the Old Testament?

Answer:

Over the years, there have been Bible scholars who have attempted to
reconcile these long ages by suggesting a different reckoning of time.
Maybe they were counting months and calling them years back then.
Such an explanation runs into other problems:
1. It doesn't explain why there is a gradual decrease in these
lifespans. If this were about differing standards of time, we should see
people living until 900, and then 80. However, there is a gradual
decrease 900...800...700...600, etc. By the time of Abraham, we see
people living to 175. By the time of Moses, some are living like Moses
and Aaron to 110-120. By David's time the lifespan looks like today.
Unless there were multiple standards, it is not likely that we can
explain this in terms of time standards.
2. If we make the years months, or short enough to fit within our
lifespans, there will be a problem with some of the birthdates of the
sons. For example, Kenan, who has a son at 70, would be as if he
were 9.
3. Abraham, who lives to 175, was a Sumerian. The Sumerians had a
lunar calendar.
So, if we can't explain this in terms of standards of time measurement,
how do we answer the question? I would suggest that there was a
gradual contraction in the life span. The entry of sin into the world
introduced a process of genetic breakdown which would culminate in
death. But it didn't happen all at once.
There is some good science to back up the possibility of longer
lifespans.
1. New research into aging shows that there is a cap on our
chromosomes called a telomere. It becomes shorter with every
division. That is why we age, despite the fact that we are constantly
replacing cells. When the telomere gets too short, the cell is subjected
to serious damage. If God's original design for Adam and Eve was for
them to live without death, then it seems reasonable that they would
have had telomeres which do not shorten.
2. Scientists also point out that a gene pool of perfect individuals
would not degrade immediately. It would take many generations for
genetic defects to build in sufficient numbers to compromise the
longevity in a serious way.
3. There is also evidence that senscense (aging) is heavily effected by
cosmic radiation. This radiation produces free radicals which slam into
our cells and cause major cell damage. There is evidence that the
amount of cosmic radiation was much lower until 30,000 years ago.
4. Research into aging has proven that a lower caloric intake
increases lifespan. It is not due to a simple reduction in metabolism.
There is a more sophisticated system, but the bottom line is that a diet
rich in plant foods and a more limited caloric diet could have been a
piece of this longevity puzzle.
The Biblical account of these long lifespans may not be as fantastic as
it seems. That's a quick synopsis. For some additional reading, click
on these links:

http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/1978
http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/longlife.html

This second site is rather technical, but has some awesome proofs.
Hope that helps.
Steve