Episode 23: The Nephilim, the Antichrist, and the End Times

Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope: Episode 23

Gary discusses Genesis 6 and the whole “sons of God” controversy and how it gets tied in with Bible prophecy.

Jesus said His coming “will be just like the days of Noah” (Matthew 24:37). The people were doing normal things—“eating and drinking” and “marrying and giving in marriage.” Jesus told His audience that life would be going on as usual when He returns in judgment against the temple and city of Jerusalem. Jesus did not describe evil behavior like drunkenness and sexual sins like “‘exchanging mates’ or ‘wife swapping,’” contrary to what prophecy writers like M. R. DeHaan and Jack Van Impe claim. “Marrying and given in marriage” is a phrase to describe, well, “marrying and giving in marriage” (see Matt. 22:30; Luke 17:27-28). People did it in Jesus’ day and people do it today. Men and women marry and parents give their daughters away in marriage. There’s nothing untoward about it. D. A. Carson’s comments are helpful:

That the coming of the Son of Man takes place at an unknown time can only be true if in fact life seems to be going on pretty much as usual—just as in the days before the flood (v. 37). People follow their ordinary pursuits (v. 38). Despite the distress, persecutions, and upheavals (vv. 4-28), life goes on: people eat, drink, and marry. There is no overt typological usage of the Flood as judgment here, nor any mention of the sin of that generation.[1]

Support for Carson’s interpretation can be found in Luke’s account of the time just before Sodom’s destruction: “It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:28). Buying, selling, planting, and building describe life going on as usual without any regard to an impending judgment.

Prophecy Wars: The Biblical Battle Over the End Times

There is a long history of skeptics turning to Bible prophecy to claim that Jesus was wrong about the timing of His coming at “the end of the age” (Matt. 24:3) and the signs associated with it. Noted atheist Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) is one of them and Bart Ehrman is a modern example. It’s obvious that neither Russell or Ehrman are aware of or are ignoring the mountain of scholarship that was available to them that showed that the prophecy given by Jesus was fulfilled in great detail just as He said it would be before the generation of His day passed away.

Buy Now

Gary discusses Genesis 6 and the whole “sons of God” controversy and how it gets tied in with Bible prophecy. There is an endless amount of speculation that comes from these four verses in Genesis and entire worldviews are built on it, often including UFOs and aliens.

Click here for today’s episode

Click here for all episodes of Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope

[1] D. A. Carson, “Matthew,” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, gen. ed., Frank E. Gaebelein (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984), 8:509. Also see N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1996), 365-366.

American Vision’s mission is to Restore America to its Biblical Foundation—from Genesis to Revelation. American Vision (AV) has been at the heart of worldview study since 1978, providing resources to exhort Christian families and individuals to live by a Biblically based worldview. Visit www.AmericanVision.org for more information, content and resources