In genesis I read that there are "sons of God" who came down to Earth before the flood (In my NIV Bible.)
What is a son of God? Why are they not called angels? Or are they some other sort of heavenly being?
The very
“sons of God” who rule the unfallen worlds, as Adam [Luke 3:38 KJB], the first [1 Corinthians 15:45,46,47 KJB], on earth had [Genesis 1:26,28; Psalms 8:5 KJB] before his fall, and the angelic
“morning stars”:
Job 1:6 KJB - Now there was a day when
the sons of God came to
present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
Job 2:1 KJB - Again there was a day when
the sons of God came to
present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
Job 38:4 KJB - Where wast thou
when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding
Job 38:5 KJB - Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
Job 38:6 KJB - Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
Job 38:7 KJB - When
the morning stars sang together, and
all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Side note,
none of these Job texts, in regards the “sons of God”, are dealing with the Genesis 6-9 KJB account and are not referring to created heavenly beings there. Job 1:6, 2:1 KJB deals with the timeframe in a period well after the flood, and Job 38:4-7 KJB deals with the timeframe long before the flood, when the earth was created. The only texts in Job which are dealing directly with the timeframe of the flood, are Job 22:15,16,17, 26:5 KJB, and please notice it speaks of “men”.
For more on who the “sons of God” are in Genesis 6:2,4 KJB, please see Luke 3:38; Genesis 4:26 KJB, etc., and for the daughters of men, see Genesis 4:16-24 KJB.
See also the following for “sons”, “children”, “father” of the good, etc:
Genesis 6:2,4;
Deuteronomy 14:1;
2 Samuel 7:14;
Isaiah 8:18, 9:6, 63:16, 64:8;
Hosea 1:10;
Matthew 5:9,45 6:9;
Luke 3:38, 6:35,36, 11:2, 20:26;
John 1:12, 11:52, 12:36;
Romans 1:7, 8:14,16,17,19,21, 9:8, 9:26 [citing
Hosea 1:10 KJB];
1 Corinthians 1:3;
2 Corinthians 1:2, 6:18;
Galatians 1:4, 3:26, 4:6,7;
Ephesians 5:1;
Philippians 1:2, 2:15, 4:20;
Colossians 1:2;
1 Thessalonians 1:1, 3:11,13;
2 Thessalonians 1:1,2, 2:16;
Titus 1:4;
Philemon 1:3;
Hebrews 2:10,13 [citing
Isaiah 8:18 KJB], 12:7,9;
1 Peter 1:3;
1 John 1:3, 3:1,2, 5:2.
See also the following for the “sons”, “children”, “father” of the evil, etc.:
Genesis 3:15;
Matthew 13:38;
John 8:42,44;
Acts 13:10;
Romans 6:16, 9:8;
Ephesians 2:2, 5:6;
Colossians 3:6;
Hebrews 12:8;
1 Peter 3:19 [compare to
Psalms 142:7;
Isaiah 42:6,7, 61:1;
Luke 4:18 KJB], 3:20;
1 John 3:8,10,12, 4:4,5,6,7,8.
See the following for comparison with the Genesis 6:2,4 KJB account:
See Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 24:3,37.
See Esau and Jacob in Genesis 26:34,35, 28:8,9 [comparing to Jacob in Genesis 27:46, 28:1,6 KJB], 36:2.
See Isaac and Jacob in Genesis 27:46, 28:1,6 KJB.
See Jacob and Hamor in Genesis 34:9,14 KJB.
See Moses in Exodus 34:15,16 KJB.
See in Deuteronomy 17:17 KJB.
See Balaam in Numbers 25:1,2,3 KJB.
See in Judges 3:5,6,7 KJB.
See Samson the Judge in Judges 14:1,2,3 KJB.
See the Chronicles in 1 Chronicles 5:24,25 KJB.
See Ezra in Ezra 9:1,2,11,12 KJB.
See Nehemiah in Nehemiah 9:2, 10:28,29,30, 13:23,25,26,27 KJB.
See Solomon in 1 Kings 11:1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 KJB.
Many “Sons of God” “looked”/“saw” [“saw the daughters of men that they [were] fair” and “took them wives of all which they chose” [Genesis 6:2 KJB]] and "beheld" [Just as did Samson, “she pleaseth me well”, or King David who went after Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite and his friend, through covetousness had Uriah killed in action “from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman [was] very beautiful to look upon” [2 Samuel 11:2, 12:9 KJB] and Solomon who “multiplied wives” and “loved many strange women” and all Israel who took of the “daughters of the land”], and then “lusted and coveted” and so were ensnared being “Vex[ed], Beguiled, To Commit Trespass Against The LORD, Commit Fornication, Eat things sacrificed unto Idols, worshipped idols” [Numbers 25:18, 31:16; Revelation 2:14 KJB]:
Jude 1:11 KJB - Woe unto them! for
they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
See also the words of Jesus, as it was in the days of Noah and Lot:
Job 21:7,14, 22:15,16,17;
Matthew 24:37,38;
Luke 17:26,27;
2 Peter 2:5, 3:3,6.
In the greater overall picture there is a like message and call for the “people of God” also today to “come out” of “Spiritual Babylon” [just as God had done with physical Babylon; Jeremiah 51:9; Isaiah 52:11 KJB] that “great harlot” [Revelation 17:1, 19:2 KJB]:
See
2 Corinthians 6:14,15,16,17,18;
Revelation 18:4 KJB.
For “giants” of men, after the flood, see:
Genesis 10:8,9, 14:5, 15:20;
Numbers 13:32,33;
Deuteronomy 2:11,20,21, 3:11,13, 9:2;
Joshua 12:4, 13:12, 15:8, 17:15, 18:16;
2 Samuel 5:18,22, 21:16,18,19,20,22;
1 Chronicles 11:23, 14:9, 20:4,5,6;
Isaiah 17:5, 45:14
For “men of reknown” see:
Numbers 1:16, 16:2, 26:9;
1 Chronicles 5:24, 12:30
For more specific details see the Sons of God article.
Isaiah 14:13 KJB - For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above
the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Dualistic texts, for godly men [whose names written in heaven] and angelic beings [who physically are in/from heaven]:
Psalm 29:1 KJB - [[A Psalm of David.]] Give unto the LORD,
O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.
Psalms 89:6 KJB - For
who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD?
who among
the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?