For this study, we’ll take a look at a familiar pattern in an unfamiliar way. We’ll be looking at the family of God. Throughout Scripture, the phrase “sons of God” appears many times, yet rarely have we been taught to really examine what and who that phrase is referring to and what that means for believers. That exactly what we plan to do here. Let’s begin with a famous passage from the New Testament…
This passage uses the phrase “sons of God” but gives us clarity as to who exactly that is. It’s every believer that is led by the Spirit. Man or woman, we are all children of God and are categorized as “the sons of God”.
There are two different words used in these verses. The first is HUIOS and it literally means male offspring or son. It carries with it legal status and identity as in someone that inherits a fortune from their father. The other is TEKNON and it means child or children, either male or female and carries with it the idea of affection, relationship, and reconciliation.
The N.T. uses these two interchangeably a lot, to describe followers of Christ. There’s a reason they’re used interchangeably though. In the O.T. the phrase “sons of God” is almost universally accepted by scholars to refer exclusively to angelic beings. Notice I said, “almost universally”. One passage in particular puts some scholars on edge when viewing it as referring to angelic beings. We’ll look at that in a bit.
In the N.T. this phrase “Sons of God” also includes humans that surrender their lives to Christ. It’s almost like there’s a piece missing in God’s family and we’re given the honor and the opportunity of filling that missing piece. What if I told you that a piece of God’s family has indeed been lost. Let’s see what the Bible has to teach us…
Part of this pattern that we see in the Bible is that it symbolically connects the phrase “sons of God” with stars.
The context of the verse in Job is God speaking about the creation of the Earth and asking Job “where were you, when the morning stars sang and the sons of God shouted for joy.” Clearly that was before man’s creation, so those “sons of God” couldn’t be humans. Also notice how the stars and “sons of God” are used interchangeably.
The verses in Isaiah are a famous description of satan. We’ve covered this verse before in a different context, (see the PRAISE study)but notice that satan, in this Bible version, is called a morning star, and desires to be lifted above the “stars of God”.
These verses in Rev speak about the dragon pulling a third of the stars down with him. We know this is symbolic language telling us that he led a third of the angels into rebellion. That seems like a big deal, so surely the Bible has more to say about that… and indeed it does…
THE ANGELS WHO SINNED
One of many things these verses teach us is that the sin of the fallen angels is somehow linked with the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. So, what is this sin that the angels committed and how is it connected to sexual immorality?
The Bible gives us some clues by mentioning Sodom and Gomorrah and Noah together. That points us to the general area in the Bible where we can find the fallen angel’s sin and how it relates to “strange flesh”. The only passages that fit these clues are the passages that I mentioned earlier. The ones that some scholars shy away from because they mess with the traditional understanding. So, let’s stare tradition in the face and look at this debated passage of Scripture.
DEBATED VERSE
Right after these verses, the Bible tells us about Noah and the Flood. There are 2 prevailing lines of thought for this passage. One camp believes these “sons of God” are the descendants of Seth, Adam and Eve’s 3rd son, and that the “daughters of men” are the descendants of Cain.
The other camp believes that the “sons of God” are angelic beings and the “daughters of men” are just that- daughters of men. Human women. We’re not here to prove or disprove one or the other. I’m simply using this to show a pattern that emerges in the family of God, so I won’t spend much time on which I’m in the camp I’m in. Either way, the Bible still says “THE SONS OF GOD”, but I’ll offer these 2 questions for anyone that wants to study this further:
1- Why would the Bible directly connect the presence of giants with the sins of these “sons of God”?
2- How would the human descendants of Seth and the human descendants of Cain produce giants and “mighty men”?
Aside from those questions, this is the only example in the entire O.T. that fits the situation that Jude and 2ndPeter describe. A situation where the angels left their proper dwelling place and went after “strange flesh” which is a fancy way of saying “unnatural lust”. Let’s summarize it so we get a clear picture here…
I want us to focus on the “one third”. If indeed these “stars” are symbolic of the angels that fell with satan, then that means there’s a missing “one third” of the Family of God, and that matters. That means that 2/3 remained loyal while one third of the “sons of God” are no longer in the family, and that matters because FAMILY MATTERS.
YHWH is a God of completion and perfection, so a missing “one third” just won’t do. It stands to reason that if there’s a lost “one third”, then a found “one third” would be added to complete the family. And if that’s the case, surely the Bible would at least give us some clues about that, right? Indeed it does…
THE FOUND ONE THIRD
Do you see a pattern in these verses? Two thirds destroyed, one third saved. John’s vision in Rev tells us that 1/3 of humanity will be destroyed by the 4 angels that were bound and another 1/3 of humanity will be destroyed by fire, smoke and brimstone. I’m not sure exactly how that all plays out, but I am sure it isn’t good.
The context of the verses in Zechariah is actually a dual prophecy. One that not only predicts the destruction of Jerusalem and the coming of the Sheperd, but also the destruction of the earth and the second coming of the Messiah. The very next chapter describes the DAY OF THE LORD, which not coincidentally, lines up with Rev.
Ok, on the one hand we have a lost “one third” of God’s heavenly family. On the other hand, we have a found “one third” of God’s earthly family. Wouldn’t it be a profound pattern if the Bible somehow hinted at combining those to make a whole new creation? Indeed it does...
NEW SONS OF GOD
Luke 20:34-36Jesus answered and said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; 36 nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.
1 Corinthians 6:3Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?
There it is. Equal to the angels and sons of God, judging the fallen angels. Equal to doesn’t mean equal in substance, it means equal in status. We’re not gonna transform into angels. They are a whole different creation. We’ll be given new bodies. We’ll be a new creation, literally. You want to know something cool? There’s another Profound Pattern that relates to the Family of God. It’s present all throughout Scripture, just beneath the surface. For the sake of time, I’ll jump right to the reveal.
In this graph we can see a pattern. The reversal of the firstborn’s blessing. It’s a pattern that shows up over and over throughout scripture. The younger sons chosen to receive a special blessing over the older sons. That doesn’t mean that their father loves the older son any less, but maybe He recognizes that the younger son needs extra care.
I don’t know if any of you have a younger brother, but I do, and I remember growing up, my younger brother could get away with all kinds of things that I got a in trouble for. To the point sometimes I got mad because he was able to get away with certain things and because he needed some extra care.
Can you imagine what the angels must think about us? To them, we’re like the younger brother. To them, we’re the ones that need some extra care. How do the angels see us? I want you to put a pin in that thought for a minute… Remember, in the Greek language of the New Testament, there are 2 distinct words that are translated as “SON” or child. One is HUIOS and it means the son of “legal identity” and the other is TEKNONand it means the son of “affectionate relationship.” There’s actually another place in the N.T. that uses them both.
The HUIOS son and The TEKNON son
Of course, this is the famous parable of the prodigal son. In verse 30, the older brother calls the prodigal son “this huios of yours,” using the “legal” term, after all, he did receive his inheritance first. This is the older son trying to distance himself from the younger. There’s no warm affection, only cold anger.
The father responds by telling the older son- “teknon, you are always with me.” This reassures the older son that he’s still in a position of affection and relationship and he has access to all that the father possesses. He then explains why the celebration is important, because the younger son was dead and is now alive. He was LOST and is now FOUND.
Many theologians connect this parable with the relationship between Jewish believers and gentile believers. I don’t disagree with that, I think that’s definitely part of it. But I also think there may be an even deeper connection that we often miss. Remember that thought I asked you to put a pin in? What if this parable also connects the relationship between the loyal, heavenly “sons of God” that weren’t lost and the younger, earthly “sons of God” who were finally found? And what if the younger prodigal son is not only symbolic of the gentile believers who were spiritually dead and lost, but also of humanity itself, who threw away our blessing so that we could “eat the fruit” of a stupid tree? Hopefully this has allowed you to see some Profound Patterns in the Family Matters of God. And hopefully it encourages you go deeper into His Word and to realize that we are the TEKNON- SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD. Amen.