• New Testament

    Not So Silent Night Above Bethlehem?

    Will Varner recently posted over at Focus on the Family about how, although we often view the first Christmas night as a beautiful and tranquil evening, it was probably anything but that! Varner notes that although we often visualize angels as messengers of peace and good news, angels were often symbolically gathered for war! The first matter to consider is our mental image of angels. The biblical word cherubim has morphed into the English word cherub, which evokes images of fat and cute little creatures intended to warm our hearts. Such images are foreign to the Biblical description of angelic beings. The second matter is the Hebrew term tsva, often used to describe a group of angels and translated into English as “host.” But tsva is better understood as a military term, and in Modern Hebrew, tsva means “army.”  Luke refers to these angels with the Greek word stratia, which translates that Hebrew tsva (“army”) in the ancient…

  • Old Testament

    Who are the Sons of God in Genesis 6?

    Genesis 6 is one of those debated Old Testament passages where there are at least a few possible interpretations. There are three main options in identifying the sons of God: (1) rulers/kings, (2) the line of Seth, and (3) angels. Although each viewpoint has its advocates, I believe the angelic view corresponds best with the evidence. The situation is described as follows (Gen 6:1-4): 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. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of…