Pastor Chris Plekenpol and his guests explore the Bible together one chapter at a time. They offer practical insights, theological depth, and real-life applications. Dive in for engaging discussions that bring God’s Word to life, one chapter at a time!
Genesis 6 is one of those Bible passages that can send your imagination into overdrive and it can also expose what you really believe about sin, power, and faith. We jump straight into the question everyone asks: who were the Nephilim, and what does “sons of God” actually mean? Holland makes the case for a grounded reading where the Nephilim are powerful men and violent rulers, not aliens, not fantasy, and not a side quest. Then we trace the repeated “saw and took” pattern from Genesis 3 to show how rebellion often looks like desire plus entitlement.
Plek pushes the conversation into the supernatural angle, connecting Genesis 6 with Jude 6 and 2 Peter 2. We talk through the idea of angels who sinned, what those “chains” passages might be pointing to, and why Matthew 22:30 complicates easy answers. We’re honest about what we can say with confidence, what is speculation, and how to hold the mystery without turning the Bible into a conspiracy board.
Then we bring it home with the clearest takeaway in the chapter: Noah walks with God. When the world is corrupt, when obedience makes you look ridiculous, and when trust feels lonely, that simple phrase becomes a blueprint for real discipleship. If you want a Genesis Bible study that mixes serious Scripture, honest questions, and practical application, press play and stay with us. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves the weird parts of the Bible, and leave a review so more people can find the show.
And this one is action-packed. Holland, first off, who are the Nephilim? We need a really juicy answer here because that's the question all of our fans are wanting to know. I don't know. He doesn't know.
Pastor Holland
Holland, you're supposed to know everything. Okay, here's what I think. And uh I have a really uninteresting position on this. I don't think they're aliens or angels or, you know, anything like kind of crazy weird stuff. I think they were just bad men who were uh powerful warriors in positions of authority. The title Sons of God is used usually for people who are in a ruler kind of position. Um you see that in the scriptures. Yep. And uh the reason I say they're bad is uh when it says that they saw the daughters of man were attractive and they took as their wives any they chose. That's a pattern that points back to Genesis chapter three, when Eve saw the fruit was good and took the fruit. Um she was deciding for herself what was good and taking things rather than obeying God. So it's a pattern uh saw and took that's repeated throughout Genesis and beyond in the Old Testament that indicates rebellion against God. So I think these were powerful, bad men who were mighty warriors and were participants in and contributors to the violence on the earth that led to the flood.
SPEAKER_01
You know, that is a good answer. There is a theory that angels came down and took women, and that's where giants came from.
Pastor Plek
Boom.
Pastor Holland
Okay, I hope that sounds more interesting and crazy.
Pastor Plek
I mean, it sounds neat, but I can back that up. Here's
I'm gonna, you know, did you know that scripture interprets scripture? Let's just take a look at 2 Peter 2, 4 and 5. For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell and lock them up in chains and utter darkness, but be kept until the judgment. And if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others when God brought a flood on an ungodly world. Okay, that that's a reference to this passage. Okay. Doesn't say it has to be, but okay, hold on, hold on. You're you're doubting. But that's okay. Watch this. Watch this. Jude 6 uh says this. Um you also know that the angels who did not keep within their proper domain, but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept in eternal chains in utter darkness, locked up and for the judgment of the great day. Just saying. Um, so I I and then verse seven says, So also Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns that they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire in a way similar to these angels, are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire. Okay, okay. I I'm just saying that there is potential that these sons of God could possibly be angels who either took over men's bot, possessed them, could that be demonic? Okay, okay, okay, or or remember in Matthew 22, 30, Jesus says angels don't reproduce. Right. Okay, could have that been a punishment of this thing because they did reproduce, and we didn't we don't have our angel Bible because we are not privy to those things and we don't need to know them. And so something happened in the angelic realm, a punishment where they are no longer allowed to reproduce.
Jordan Smith
Maybe. Is there an angel Bible?
SPEAKER_01
No, I've never said something that angels have to follow guidelines.
Pastor Plek
Something I'm maybe just going with. You know, and listen, maybe, you know, when you hear about the stories of men of great renown, of these superheroes, maybe these were like the Achilles and the Greek in Greek mythology.
SPEAKER_01
Mythology.
Pastor Plek
Maybe that's where that came from.
SPEAKER_01
I don't know. I don't know. Could it be? Yes. Maybe, maybe but when you when you start finding like bones of things that big. Yep. Something existed. I don't know what it is.
Pastor Holland
So it when what do you mean by that? What are the bones of the thing? What are you saying that comes from? An angel possesses a man and it was just debirths a half angel half that becomes a giant. Yes. That's your position. Yes. Okay. It could be. Yeah. I'm not saying that's not. I'm not saying it's no. I'm just saying I just want to be clear that's clear being expressed here.
Pastor Plek
Yeah. Or or because, and then let's say some of these, because we see angels interacting with humanity. That could be modern day UFOs, maybe.
SPEAKER_01
Oh, yeah. Well, I'm fully on board with that one.
Pastor Plek
All right. So I mean there's a lot of different ways. Now, is it's possible? Is it probable? I don't know. I'm just saying there's something here that seems supernatural in Jude and Second Peter that's referring to.
SPEAKER_01
Well, if people are living thousands of years, right? It's not that far fetched. That why why couldn't they come down and walk the earth? I don't know. Yeah.
Pastor Holland
If they could so okay, still, but maybe nothing's too far-fetched for me. I'm just trying to we haven't really talked about this a lot either.
SPEAKER_01
Just wrapping your head around it, is like, what?
Pastor Plek
Yeah. I mean, okay, the Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of man and they bore children to them, they were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. Now, again, I think your position makes a lot of sense of like it's a it's the leaders who were the sons of God, the ones that God chose to be in charge. And so not as fun as your position. It is way not way, way more cool. And then whenever Jesus goes and um sets the captives free, he sort of taunts the spirits back then who came into men and made the demi-god people. And like he here's the true God man who didn't come to rule and destroy men to make them evil, he came to redeem men. I I think there is a real sense of a victory march through hell that Jesus does when he goes down. And that's kind of what uh Second Peter or sorry, uh yeah, 2 Peter 2 kind of gets into. Okay.
Paul is just like, I could go a lot of different ways, which I know that seems kind of wild. But what would you do applicationally with all this? Like when you when you read this, like God seeing the whole world is completely corrupt in his sight, and he is sad that he made man.
Pastor Holland
The one bright spot in this is that Noah was blameless in his generation and he walked with God.
SPEAKER_01
Yeah, I Noah found favor with God. Okay, I love that part too.
Pastor Plek
I brought this up earlier. Is the bar so low that Noah being righteous is like he was an average guy? In comparison to how wicked everybody else was, Noah's like you and me. Like, you know, I mean, he did get drunk and get wasted and had a lot of people. Right.
SPEAKER_01
We're not there.
Pastor Plek
Okay, fair enough. He was right. I mean, he was a righteous man. I mean, clearly, righteous. Was he perfect? No. No, I don't think we anyone was perfect. But I think sometimes we put Noah on this lofty place that he was way better than everybody. I think that the wickedness of humanity was so bad.
Pastor Holland
In in the land of the blind, the man with one eye is king.
SPEAKER_01
Ooh, see, that is deep.
Pastor Holland
See, I think I stole that from uh Chris Farley at some point. Uh some can't remember what movie that is, but uh in the land of the wickedness, the average man is like Noah looks great compared to the just totally degenerate people of his day. That's what you're saying.
Pastor Plek
Yeah, I and I know that's the wrong way to go because now you're comparing him to other men, which in general does not go well for anyone. So don't do that. Don't go well. At least I'm not as bad as all the rest of these you know people out here, because ultimately compared to God, you are a sinner and not deserving of grace.
Pastor Holland
He is, he walked with God. That's where righteousness comes from. Right. You have faith in God and you walk with him. Yeah, and that's so that's the application of that. Yeah, I think walk with God.
Pastor Plek
I I if the rest of the world, even if the rest of the world is in darkness and is wicked, you walk with God. And even if it you look crazy building a uh 45 foot tall, uh uh uh three, what is it, 450-foot long boat? That's crazy. A little bit. And if you build that, well, you're not even near an ocean. And you're not there is no ocean in the middle of the land. You're in the middle of the land and there's been no rain yet, then build the boat and get in and trust God, even when the rest of the world thinks you're crazy. Which ultimately is like when the rest of the world looks at your faith in Jesus and says, Just do it, you are bonkers, then you need to just do it. Jordan, what do you think?
Jordan Smith
Which part? Application. Yeah, let's go application-wise. Uh for me, it just emphasizes the need for thankfulness in the sense that, you know, back then everyone dies except seven people because you know, God says everyone's corrupt. But now with Jesus, we're seen as righteous by God through Jesus' blood. Um so just thankfulness that we have that grace now.
Pastor Plek
Yeah, that's good.
SPEAKER_01
That's good. I just laugh about uh that song CCR song, I want to know. Have you ever seen the rain? And then Noah's dad was so close to seeing the rain, but he didn't make it.
Pastor Plek
Oh, yeah, he was like five years away from seeing rain. He never saw rain. How long did he live? Yeah, like 777. If he could just done like five more five years, you know what they say, right?
Jordan Smith
What? Sucks to suck. Well, there you go.
SPEAKER_01
I mean, I just thought about it though, like you've never seen rain before and you almost made it. Yeah. But didn't. But he never saw the earth flood and he never saw the boat. He, you know, what if he went down not ever knowing Noah if the if it actually worked or not?
That's true, because he would have said for a good solid 95 years, watching him build a boat. But he did say that that Noah would be the one that saved the earth from all its toil and work. And so he did prophesy.
SPEAKER_01
Is that and does that is that work? Do you think that that's work like works like later on, like doing works? Oh, prophesy?
Pastor Plek
Prophesy? Like, like I think that he was a righteous man. I think his dad was righteous. And so whenever it comes to the end, when they're that during that last five years, uh all the righteous people died off, and now all you have left is the sinners and knowing his family. Right.
Pastor Holland
Wouldn't you agree on that one there, uh Holland? Yeah. And you know, how does he bring relief? Well, this is back to chapter five again. But you know, he's I think his father speaking purpose over his life. Um and then getting to see that come about through, you know, um, through the flood and through a new creation. Noah's essentially a new Adam in a way, right? Um creation uh after the flood. So yeah, I love it.
SPEAKER_01
It's funny how we talked about all the generations and generations and and then we're like, whoops see ya. Yeah, all the generations are gone, right?
Pastor Plek
And but but the it does continue with Noah. With Noah. And he has to he does have to start over, but those generations, because they weren't led well, were wicked. Right. But up and but the what's really cool is the the line from Adam straight down to the firstborn son all the way to Noah were righteous people. Yeah. Um, I don't know if that means if you're like a second or thirdborn, like you better get it together or no. Uh, but no, ultimately, like, but then God, what God does, because preference has been given to the firstborn over and over and over again, we watch, and then that shifts with um uh Isaac, or rather, the yeah, that's with Isaac because he's secondborn in a sense to Abram, Abraham with Ishmael. And then with Isaac's two kids, Jacob and Esau, Jacob's given preference. And then that's even switched when with uh all of Jacob's children down to uh you've got Reuben, Levi, Simeon, Judah, it becomes the in a sense the firstborn, but then also the you know 11th born, Joseph, gets the double blessing. Uh in any family, leadership and double blessing was given to the firstborn, the leadership of the family was given to Judah, the double blessing of the family was given to Joseph. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. But we'll get there. We'll get there. That comes in later in Genesis.
