Sons of God
Who are the Sons of God?
This question arises because some believe that the Sons of God are rebellious angels & that the Satan of the book of Job was one such,
A JW publication, [Things in which it is impossible for God to lie 1965, pp.167-169] says this
” an angelic son of God in the heavens had rebelled against Jehovah God, thus making himself Satan[Resister] .At a conference of the angelic sons of God in heaven, Satan the Devil came also,”from roving about in the earth & from walking about in it”, So Jehovah God called Satans attention to a man down there on earth, Job in the land of Uz, as being different from all others, ” a man blame-less & upright, fearing God & turning aside from bad”.
Thus there are a number of points to consider, –
1, Did the meeting take place in heaven itself?.
2, Are the “sons of God angels”.
3, Is Satan a “rebel angel”, that had access to Gods presence?
4, To whom does Job attribute his affliction”.
1, Did the meeting took place in heaven itself?.
This is inferred,by some, from two references
Job_1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
Job_2:7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD,
But this language is often used of believers when they come into Gods presence, in prayer , in assembly, or before Gods representative on earth.
Thus Cain was cast out as a “fugitive & a vagabond on the Earth”
Gen_4:14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face [ same word as presence] shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; —— From Gods “faces”,[presence] he was hid,
David made a plea after his sin with Bathsheba
Psa_51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
We are instructed to come before his “presence” with thanksgiving.
Psa_95:2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
Psa_100:2 Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Gods presence is everywhere .
Psa_139:7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
When men stood before the Judges,[ raised up by God to deliver Israel & thus his representatives of agents] they
Deu_19:17 Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days.
Levites separated to “Stand before God”
Deu_10:8 At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.
The word “presence” occurs 1978 times: lit = “faces”[Heb panim] so by implication before the face or presence of God,
So when in the book of Job Sons of God came to present themselves before God it does’t mean that it was a meeting taking place in heaven,
Believers when they meet together are in the “presence of God.”
Mat_18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
2, Are the “sons of God angels”.
JW teach [Things in which it is impossible for God to lie p48]
” To marry the daughters of men ,these heavenly sons of God [angels] materialised human bodies, clothing themselves with fleshly like those of men on earth, —- when the flood came,those disobedient sons of God could not get into Noah’s ark,& so, to escape then from the flood-waters,they dematerialised, dissolved their assumed human bodies, & returned to the spirit realm. They were not admitted back to the heavenly family of Gods perfect , sinless sons. They were degraded to a very low state that the bible calls “tartarus”[ 1 pet 3:19-20, “spirits in prison”. In view of this form of imprisonment those disobedient spirit “sons of the trueGod” cannot materialise anymore & live like husbands with women.. But they still keep as close as they can to mankind,especially to women, whom they prevail upon to serve as spirit mediums,fortune tellers , clairvoyants & so forth”
The expression “Sons of God” occurs 11 times but word for son [Heb =ben] is also translated as Children thus we have expressions such as “children of the Most High”
The expression the Children of God occurs 9x in the NT & always relates to Mortal believers,
1Jn_3:10; In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: —- notice the two classes of “Children” One class of God , & the other of the Devil.
All NT references to “the sons of God” speak of believers”
Those who receive Christ
Joh_1:12; 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:
Those led by Gods Spirit.
Rom_8:14; For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Creation awaits manifestation of “sons of God”
Rom_8:19; For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Believers are to do all things without murmurings & disputings, –
Php_2:15; That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Love of God bestowed upon ,
1Jn_3:1; Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Now are we the “sons of God”
1Jn_3:2; Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
When we consider the OT we find
In the OT the children of Israel are called “children of Yahweh”
Deu_14:1 Ye are “children of Yahweh your God” = “ben word for children = same word as son”
Again the Psalmist says to Israel.
Psa_82:6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children [ben] of the most High.
Jesus applies this to Israel “Ye are Gods”,
Joh_10:34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
Joh_10:35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
So that we are left to consider the Five remaining OT references to “Sons of God”
At the creation “sons of God” shouted for Joy.
Job_38:7; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
These can only be the angels as shown by the testimony “Let US make man in our image”, they were Gods Sons , part of the divine family in Heaven itself , Adam was made in their image & likeness
Gen_1:26 And God [ Elohim,= “mighty ones plural] said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion:So God, Elohim created man in his own image, in the image of God [Elohim] created he him.
Here we have two classes of people, — we need to remember words of John
1Jn_3:10; In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil:
Gen_6:2; That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
The claim that these were “fallen angels” is inconsistent with scriptural teaching ,
— for example concerning Angels “they neither marry or are given in marriage” —- so why would angels seek union with the “daughters of men”
Luk_20:35-36 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: Luk 20:36 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.Mat_22:30
— in addition it is contrary to the teaching that in heaven the , “Angels do always behold the face of God” , that there is harmony in Heaven , —- this is another reason why the Sons of God presenting themselves before God could not be in heaven, — how could Satan gain access to Gods presence ” he is of purer eyes than to behold evil? Hab_1:13
Psa_5:4-5 For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. Psa_5:5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
Lords prayer asks for conditions on earth to be as in heaven, — are we therefore to suppose that satan has access to heaven to suggest evil against Gods servants on earth
Mat_6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Gen_6:4; There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
Just 3 comments on the words used here
1] “Giants” Heb Nephelim only occurs 2x Gen_6:4 & Num_13:33 Here the sons of Anak who lived long after the flood are described as “Nephelim” , as all flesh died in the flood apart from those in the ark, these “giants” must be of human origin. Notice it was “after that” , that the two seeds intermingled , this was in modern parlance marrying outside the Faith, — as it was when “sons of God saw daughters of men”, —– two seeds “seed of the woman & the seed of the serpent” mingled with the result found in Gen 6 ” Wickedness of man was Great in the Earth” , — so it is today, as Jesus warned
Mat_24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
2] “Mighty men” , — Notice they were men, — not half angel, Heb gibbor = strong or mighty , next usage is for Nimrod “a mighty one in the earth”.
3] “Men of Renown” Heb is “shem” = men of Shem,
3, Is Satan a “rebel angel”, that had access to Gods presence?
Job_1:6; 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; 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.
If we take the idea that Satan is a rebel angel to its logical conclusion then we would have to acknowledge that his “seat” [Throne] was at Pergamos & that he dwelt there also?
Rev_2:13-14 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.
So who is Satan?
The Key to understanding this is logical & simple
Heb_2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
- This teaches important principles.
- Devil has the Power of Death.
If we ask the question ,What has the power of death? the answer is SIN,
Rom_6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Christs death was the means of destroying the Devil.
How could the death of an innocent man destroy a supernatural being? —- this makes perfect sense when we view the Devil or “false accuser” as being SIN manifested in the flesh, —– Christ put to death the urgings to sin in his life & overcame Sin although tempted in all points such as we are, —- so The Devil ,Sin was destroyed in his death. ——
Devil has been destroyed.
Whereas the death of Christ at the hands of a supernatural Devil would be a victory, Christ took part of our nature “he himself likewise took part in the same” [flesh & blood] so that through his death he might destroy that which has the power of death, [ Sin]
Now the ressurected Christ is free from the Law of Sin & death ,having destroyed it by his life of perfect obedience,sinlessness even to his death on the stake.
Rom_6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
4, To whom does Job attribute his affliction”.
Job_19:21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.
Job_2:10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
Job_42:11 Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him:
Job recognised that Evil was not in the power of some supernatural being but was of God,
Amo_3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city , and the LORD hath not done it? —– he is a God of goodness & Love but also severity, — the guilty
Rom_11:22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness , if thou continue in his goodness : otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
Exo_34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
Good Bible study harmonises all scripture