IA.1a. Since in Palestine sowing often preceded plowing, much of the seed would have been scattered on unsuitable ground, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Bible commentary tells us, adding that though much is wasted, seed falling on good ground bears fruit in exceptionally large measure.
IA. 1. In the next teaching, Jesus tells us about those among humans who have been generated by the Devil.
IA.2.
Dogs and pigs. I have inserted these words here in order to amplify the meaning of what Jesus was saying. Consider Matthew 7:6
IA.3. Jesus is speaking here of all who are destined for salvation. You are wondering, why would God be so cruel as to predestine some for the furnace? The answer is that those who are to be saved have the image of God within them, even though they cannot commune with God before Jesus revives their spirits. Others, like Judah Iscariot and like some of the Pharisees who were enraged at Jesus' work and word, are in outward form human, and are convinced that they are human. In fact, they are correct: they are human and so there is a glimmer of God's image on them. But their souls are counterfeit. In a few cases they may even be soulless, but generally they have received souls of non-human life forms.
One doesn't need to have sex with an obvious demon for such an eventuality. When two people with human souls have sex in which somehow serious sin enters in, it is possible the baby will have a non-human soul. Other cases are when a predestined person mates with a non-predestined person. The result may or may not be a child with an inhuman inner core. But, I would say that if a predestined child is born to two non-predestined parents, then God is doing something special – as the Devil would never sanction such a happening.
As Jesus once said, "I'm telling you, when the end comes, there will be two men lying in bed. One will be taken, the other left. Two women will be mashing grain together. One will be taken, the other left. Two men will be working side by side. One will be taken, the other left" (Matthew 24:34-36).
Many people wonder why God permits evil to remain in the world. The answer is: he is compassionate. He wants to give everybody as much of a chance as he can to be saved. The other reason is that some people might be greatly disheartened if they realized too soon that their closest relatives were not made of the right material and were destined for annihilation.
Notice that Jesus gives no justification for genocide. It is up to the angels to pluck up Satan's spawn, not us.
In any case, we must beware using human logic to argue that, since we either must be saved or must be annihilated, there is no need to make a decision for Christ. What is impossible for humans is easy for God. And, to take such a position is the equivalent of testing God in an improper way. It would be like deciding to jump from a high window, on the assumption that God will catch you!
Consider the story in Genesis about "sons of God" mating with earth women. The result was terrible, Genesis tells us.
After Adam's offspring began to proliferate, it happened that the sons of God noticed highly attractive earth women. So they took these good-looking girls as wives. Jehovah said, "My spirit won't always strive with humanity, for humans are also flesh. So, I will limit the human lifespan to 120 years."
In that time, their were giants roaming the earth and, after the sons of God mated with earth girls, the children became powerful people, who you still hear about today. God observed that human wickedness had spiraled out of control all over the earth, with people dreaming up wicked ideas and scheming evil all the time. I unpack this passage this way:
The Genesis writer assumed that these "sons of God" were what were later called angels. But, I suggest, that the earlier, oral tradition meant by "sons of God," Adam's offspring who all had the image of God in them. That image is directly infused by God into a person. But then Adam's offspring saw the Stone Age paleo-Indians that had been on earth for many millennia and took them for mates. At that point, men with the image of God had children by women without that image, and the result was mayhem.
Many of the offspring were intellectually superior but controlled by purely animalistic drives. They also tended to be physically superior. These "giants" had the skills and the base drives to wage murderous wars on the paleo-Indians, which is why they got such an impressive reputation.
Genesis appears to imply (in English) that the giants were not the same as the offspring of the "sons of God." But by placing the two sorts of beings so close together, we can guess that the writer realized he was dealing with two traditions about the same thing.
Note that Genesis associates the shortening of the human lifespan to these matings. That is, the long-lived offspring of Adam had intermarried with the short-lived Paleo-Indians.
A related story is Cain's exile to the land of Nod (Genesis 4:1-17). Nod would be the territory of those humans who lack the full divine image – though we must concede that Cain's son Enoch found favor with God. Other of Cain's progeny were more problematic, however.
Of course, this whole scenario comes from educated guesswork and – even supposing it correct – that does not mean another interpretation of Gen. 6:1-5 isn't plausible.
IA. 1. In the next teaching, Jesus tells us about those among humans who have been generated by the Devil.
IA.2.
Dogs and pigs. I have inserted these words here in order to amplify the meaning of what Jesus was saying. Consider Matthew 7:6
You don't give Temple food to the dogs,
neither do you toss pearls to pigs,
or they might trample them and turn and tear you up.
IA.3. Jesus is speaking here of all who are destined for salvation. You are wondering, why would God be so cruel as to predestine some for the furnace? The answer is that those who are to be saved have the image of God within them, even though they cannot commune with God before Jesus revives their spirits. Others, like Judah Iscariot and like some of the Pharisees who were enraged at Jesus' work and word, are in outward form human, and are convinced that they are human. In fact, they are correct: they are human and so there is a glimmer of God's image on them. But their souls are counterfeit. In a few cases they may even be soulless, but generally they have received souls of non-human life forms.
One doesn't need to have sex with an obvious demon for such an eventuality. When two people with human souls have sex in which somehow serious sin enters in, it is possible the baby will have a non-human soul. Other cases are when a predestined person mates with a non-predestined person. The result may or may not be a child with an inhuman inner core. But, I would say that if a predestined child is born to two non-predestined parents, then God is doing something special – as the Devil would never sanction such a happening.
As Jesus once said, "I'm telling you, when the end comes, there will be two men lying in bed. One will be taken, the other left. Two women will be mashing grain together. One will be taken, the other left. Two men will be working side by side. One will be taken, the other left" (Matthew 24:34-36).
Many people wonder why God permits evil to remain in the world. The answer is: he is compassionate. He wants to give everybody as much of a chance as he can to be saved. The other reason is that some people might be greatly disheartened if they realized too soon that their closest relatives were not made of the right material and were destined for annihilation.
Notice that Jesus gives no justification for genocide. It is up to the angels to pluck up Satan's spawn, not us.
In any case, we must beware using human logic to argue that, since we either must be saved or must be annihilated, there is no need to make a decision for Christ. What is impossible for humans is easy for God. And, to take such a position is the equivalent of testing God in an improper way. It would be like deciding to jump from a high window, on the assumption that God will catch you!
Consider the story in Genesis about "sons of God" mating with earth women. The result was terrible, Genesis tells us.
After Adam's offspring began to proliferate, it happened that the sons of God noticed highly attractive earth women. So they took these good-looking girls as wives. Jehovah said, "My spirit won't always strive with humanity, for humans are also flesh. So, I will limit the human lifespan to 120 years."
In that time, their were giants roaming the earth and, after the sons of God mated with earth girls, the children became powerful people, who you still hear about today. God observed that human wickedness had spiraled out of control all over the earth, with people dreaming up wicked ideas and scheming evil all the time. I unpack this passage this way:
The Genesis writer assumed that these "sons of God" were what were later called angels. But, I suggest, that the earlier, oral tradition meant by "sons of God," Adam's offspring who all had the image of God in them. That image is directly infused by God into a person. But then Adam's offspring saw the Stone Age paleo-Indians that had been on earth for many millennia and took them for mates. At that point, men with the image of God had children by women without that image, and the result was mayhem.
Many of the offspring were intellectually superior but controlled by purely animalistic drives. They also tended to be physically superior. These "giants" had the skills and the base drives to wage murderous wars on the paleo-Indians, which is why they got such an impressive reputation.
Genesis appears to imply (in English) that the giants were not the same as the offspring of the "sons of God." But by placing the two sorts of beings so close together, we can guess that the writer realized he was dealing with two traditions about the same thing.
Note that Genesis associates the shortening of the human lifespan to these matings. That is, the long-lived offspring of Adam had intermarried with the short-lived Paleo-Indians.
A related story is Cain's exile to the land of Nod (Genesis 4:1-17). Nod would be the territory of those humans who lack the full divine image – though we must concede that Cain's son Enoch found favor with God. Other of Cain's progeny were more problematic, however.
Of course, this whole scenario comes from educated guesswork and – even supposing it correct – that does not mean another interpretation of Gen. 6:1-5 isn't plausible.
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