Noah was
five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Now it came about, when men
began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that
the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took
wives for themselves, whomever they chose. (Genesis 5:32-6:2)
One of the
interesting idioms of Hebrew is use of ‘son of’ to refer to a member of a
particular category. The three verses
above have three examples. Noah is a “son
of 500 years” (or actually a ‘son of five hundreds year’). The “sons of God” are another category, and
the “daughters of the man” form another.
The category of age is a strange way to refer to it, but it works. We use it a lot in modern language but
usually from a reference point of ourselves, “he’s so young”, “she’s just a kid”,
“they’re old”, and so on. Our categories
may not be as precise, but we still use them.
The category
of “daughters of the man” though is one easily understood, but still sounding
strange. C.S. Lewis used this sort of
reference when he refers to human children as “sons of Adam” or “daughters of
Eve” in his Narnian Chronicles. The reference
to the “sons of God” has always caused theologians trouble, and probably always
will. It should cause everyone trouble,
but not everyone thinks about it much.
Those thinking about it and looking into its uses find it
troubling. It refuses to be consistent
enough to pin down to one meaning.
I think the
only meager consistency about the references to the ‘sons of God’ is that these
‘people’ belong in a category shared by God Himself. I suspect without knowing for sure that it
refers to angelic beings, and that what is written of here is an important clue
to the fall of some. Jesus said there
was no marriage in heaven. Some of those
there in the presence of God Himself decided marriage was more important than
remaining before His throne. I see it as
their particular “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”.
So, what
category would I fall into? What am I a “son
of…”? There are a lot of things I could
place there; many not very pleasant or admirable. One of the worst is that I am a son of
addiction; not a happy category, but one that is true about me. While I may try to escape this category, and
while it may not have as strong an influence over me as at other times, I never
truly escape it. That fact came home to
roost last week. I was sick in more ways
than one last week. I had been sick a week
or so back, and was caught last week; caught in my addiction and in my lie to
protect it.
But I live
in more than one category at the same time.
I am also a son of God. And yes, I
am adopted into that category, but I have been placed into it by God Himself
(clearly He takes anybody). So those of
that category before me who chose the daughters of the man over the presence of
God, yeah, I’m in their category. Like
the Accuser in Job who was in the assembly of the sons of God and accused Job, I’m
in his category too. But I’m also in the
category with Paul, my frustratingly good ministry model. I’m in the category with Peter the rocky
human. I’m in the category with John the
loving fisherman (also a son of thunder, by the way).
I am among
the fallen, and also among the living. I
am among the fractured frail failures, and also among the terrible triumphant troops
of the Trinity. I am among the low-born
ignorant peasantry, and also among the Knights of the Realm, Servants of the
King. One I was born into, and one I was
born again into. So daily I walk in two
worlds, two sets of true categories. But
which category will I choose to spend my time in? The choice of Abraham is my choice, where
will I pitch my tent?
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