Genesis 6-7 & The Importance of Family Above All Else

Chapters 6 and 7 explain how the world became so wicked that God destroyed it with a flood but not before sparing Noah and his family and commanding Noah to build an ark. I think these stories will always be part of my favorites because of a big message I got after reading chapter 7.

Genesis 6 - The Wickedness of the World; Genesis 7 - Noah and the Flood

I had two main questions after reading this short chapter. Why are they sons of God but daughters of humans? And who are the Nephilim?

After learning that part of Eve's punishment in The Fall is to desire her husband, I've been a little confused about my role as a woman in the eyes of God. Then in Genesis 6:2 I feel even further confused when it says, "the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose." Why are the sons of God? And why are the daughters of humans? To me, the word choice there is like saying daughters (or women) aren't good enough for God. But I just can't bring myself to believe that. I'm sure I have to be misinterpreting something, and it's really driving me crazy.

I'm not sure if this is supposed to be taken literally either. I've found some commentary from others on the web about this passage, and one suggestion says that this should be thought of more as good people are marrying and having children with bad people. At this point in the Bible, we know that all the people on earth are descendants from either Cain or Seth, and we know that Cain's side represents bad, and Seth's side represents good. Perhaps "the sons of God and the daughters of humans" are actually the descendants of Seth marrying the descendants of Cain, and Cain's side is leading Seth's side astray. This is what I want to believe, but I'm just not sure why it wasn't then written "the Sethites and the Cainites."

But I also know that God wiped out all of these people with the Flood. So does it even matter that the sons were of God and the daughters were of humans? Regardless, God didn't like it, so that's not what He wants, right?

And then the Nephilim... What? Genesis 6:4 says, "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." But what does that even mean? I tried to look up what the Nephilim are, and I couldn't find any answers. Nearly everything just seemed like far-out speculation. What puzzles me most is that the Nephilim were on earth "afterward." Does that mean after the Flood? I'm assuming so. So if God wiped out all the wickedness with the Flood, then were the Nephilim not wicked? And they couldn't have been children of the sons of God and daughters of humans because then they would have been killed by the flood. Right?

We then learn that Noah is granted favor by the Lord and is commanded to build the ark for himself, his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives. He's given specific instructions about the materials he should use to build the ark and how big it should be and with what it should be filled - "two of all living things, male and female." (Ge 6:19) And we know that Noah did just as he was told. 

In Genesis 6:3 God says, "My spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years." I've noticed that some people believe this 120 years will be the new life span of humans (And apparently after the flood people live much shorter lives, but I haven't gotten that far yet.), and though this may be true, I interpret this more as how many more years before God floods the earth. God gave Noah 120 years to build the ark.

And this is when I began to realize that I'm reading the Bible for the right reasons. In that 120 years, I can't imagine Noah wouldn't try to warn the people of this flood and try to get them to walk with God so they could be saved. Noah was a righteous man. A righteous man just doesn't keep an apocalyptic disaster all to himself. I'm sure God saw his righteousness not only because he walked with God but also because he tried to preach to others and lead them to walk with God. The key word here is "tried." When all was said and done, the only people who were saved were Noah and his family. So even with all of Noah's preaching and efforts to help people have faith in God, he could only convince his family.

Even though Noah failed in his ability to preach to the masses, God still saw him as righteous because at least, as the provider of his family, he was able show his wife and sons and sons' wives God. That's really all that mattered.

I feel like the story of Noah and the Flood sends a subtle message to us to take care of our household. There is no point in talking the talk if we can't convince our own families to walk with the Lord. Why live a christian life at work or at church or at soccer practice or out with friends if we aren't living a christian life at home with the ones we love most? First and foremost, we have to make sure our families are solid.

One of my main reasons for reading the Bible is so that I can raise a good family someday. I want to have a strong relationship with my husband, and I want to be able to parent my children well. I'm hoping that by reading the Bible I'll be able to create a strong family unit. And the story of Noah and the Flood is reaffirming my reasoning here. I want to be able to lead my family more than anything else, and that's exactly what God wants, too.

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What do you think about Genesis 6? What're your thoughts on "the sons of God and the daughters of humans?" How do you interpret those words? And what's your impression about the Nephilim? What do you think they are, and do you think they're around today? And if so, in what form?

Also, how do you foster a strong family unit? If you're the head of your household, how do you encourage your spouse and/or children to walk with God? If you're still waiting to have your own family, how will you ensure that God is alive within the walls of your home? And growing up, how did your parents teach you about the Lord?