Many years ago before I became a believer – back in the eighty’s – I used to listen to the car radio after midnight on my way to work. A particular show I listened to was called Coast to Coast A.M. with Art Bell. It was a program that dealt with topics that were unusual, esoteric, and that went bump-in-the-night.

That was the first time I heard about extraordinary beings called “sons of God” having relations with women, and that the offspring of these unions were giants called Nephilim.

I found it interesting; and especially so, when it was said  this was recorded in the Bible—Genesis 6: 1, 2, and 4 to be exact.  According to the expert guest on the show, the term “sons of God” referred to fallen angels.

Looking at that Genesis passage now, I don’t see how those “sons of God” could’ve been angels. Angels are spirits who generally remain in spiritual form. I know there have been a few exceptions wherein they’ve taken on human form, but even then they wouldn’t have been able to have children. That’s because they don’t have human DNA. That applies to both fallen and unfallen angels.

There is only one class of beings in which I see the Bible pointing to as “sons of God.” That would be human beings. I say this even knowing about the passage in Job 38:7. It reads, “…the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Some insist that this proves that the “sons of God” are angels.

The “morning stars” are definitely angels (see Rev. 1: 20), but the “sons of God,” the way it’s written in this passage, strike me as a different group of beings. Whoever they are, more than likely this is the same group of “sons of God” mentioned in that specially convened, heavenly council in Job 1:6.

The point, though, is that other than the above Job accounts, it’s clear that throughout the Bible, it overwhelmingly ascribes the term “sons of God” to human beings.

To Israel, “you are the sons of the living God.” Hosea 1: 10.

“But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the “sons of God,” even to them that believe on His name.” John 1: 12.

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the “sons of God.” Romans 8: 14.

These verses, and many others, show that the “sons of God” refer to people. That’s both male and female—“children of God.” However, for the purposes of Genesis 6, the “sons of God” are male.

In those days, Adam and Eve had another son besides Cain and Abel, named Seth. He and his children began to call on the name of the Lord (Gen. 4: 25, 26). By doing so, they became the righteous “sons of God.”

Cain, who killed his brother Abel, settled in another land, and he also had children. They did not call on the Lord. They were the unrighteous children of men. The Genesis focus is on the unrighteous female—the “daughters of men.”

Eventually, for whatever reason, the descendants of Seth, the “sons of God,” began to intermingle and even marry the descendants of Cain, the “daughters of men.”

God warns us about being unequally yoked. In almost every instance, the believer is changed instead of the unbeliever. For example, look at Samson. Look at King Soloman. Almost always, there will be huge problems in such a relationship. In the case of the mixed marriages between the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men,” offspring were produced called the Nephilim.

Tradition identifies the Nephilim as giants. And there were giants in the land. But Nephilim can also mean mighty men, bully or tyrant. Verse 4 of Gen. 6 calls them mighty men of old, men of renown. The point is that mighty and renown doesn’t necessarily mean “giant.”

Thank God that we are protected from thinking of the likes of that long ago “expert” radio guest. We are blessed with the truth against other theories too; for instance, that the “sons of God” are aliens from outer space.

Thank God that we have the Bible to explain itself.