How many Sons of God were there?

 
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Readers Question / Comment - How many Sons of God were there?

Hi lain,

I wanted to start by saying thank-you for the time that you put into your website, and answering questions. You are a tremendous help!

Up until 2 years ago, I was quite liberal in my interpretation of religion and especially scripture. I reasoned that The Bible was written by fallen men with an agenda to serve. My wife grew up in church, but for me the woods were my “church”. I told her I didn’t need to go to a building full of hypocrites to be close to God. I believed that all people worshipped the same God; we were all his children, and everyone went to heaven (except really bad people).

I had many questions over the years, either because of “scientific proof”, or what I had been programmed to believe were contradictions in The Bible. What made it harder was when I was 17 I had a very profound experience where God revealed Himself to me, but it took 23 years for me to fully embrace it.

I had never asked or confronted my questions about God and The Bible, out of fear of what the answers may be (that the God I had experienced and believed in wasn’t real). So I interpreted and explained everything for what I needed (2 Timothy 4:3, right?!).

Two years ago, I was researching Fluoride so that I could go to my City Council and argue for its removal. And while researching I kept stumbling upon tidbits of scientific information that answered my unasked questions (thanks John Lennox, Stephen Meyer, William Lane Craig), and argued against the main-stream programming in society today. And from there I stumbled, quite on accident, upon Jesus Plus Nothing!. I could feel the truth of your words, and felt I’d found a gold mine of information. Needless to say, I finally found that rock-solid foundation for my faith! And not a moment to soon, as my children (11 and 9) were starting to ask questions, and I was responding with the gibberish that I had come to believe. I now believe that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh, The Bible is the literal word of God, and acceptance of the sacrifice of Jesus, is the only way to eternity with God. And my children now know it too!

Now for my question (I know, finally!). I read an article by Jack Kelley (https://gracethrufaith.com/childrens-stories-for-adults/noah-and-the-flood-part-1-the-x-men/) on Genesis. In his second paragraph he says two males were referred to as “sons of God”; Adam and Jesus. But he only cites the scripture to support Adam being referenced this way. That would be Bene ha Elohim, right? But I know Jesus wasn’t a created being. Does he mean created as in the flesh, or physical body created for God to dwell upon the Earth? Does The Bible really refer to Jesus in such a way? Is there a good place I can research when people make claims about original Greek or Hebrew text used in The Bible?

JPN Reply:

Thanks Eric,

I love reading testimonies like yours so I appreciate you taking the time to write in and share it along with your question. It is really good to read that you are a lot more clear in your faith and now have something definite to share in this regard with your kids. Awesome. A friend and work colleague of mine enjoys the apologetic side of our faith and got me reading and watching some of John Lennox and William Lane Craig a little while back so you are on pretty solid ground there.

As to your question, I see someone wrote in to Jack Kelley and asked a similar question to yours in trying to get clarification in what ways both are the son of God. Have a look here:

https://gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/how-many-sons-of-god-are-there/

I agree with what is written here. Jesus is the only begotten son of God (John 3:16). He is not created and is, and has always been, God. There is the sense that Jesus has always been the Son for the scripture tells us that 'a child will be born, and a son given' (great prophecy of Isaiah 9:6 concerning the Messiah - the child born speaks of His humanity, the son given speaks of divinity). But Jesus is also the Son of God due to His physical birth as a human with God as His Father. This is what Luke speaks about and says that is the reason He was called the son of God:

Luk 1:30-35 The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. (31) "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. (32) "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; (33) and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end." (34) Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" (35) The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

It is interesting that the place where Adam is called the son of God (Luke 3:38) 'the son of' is not specifically in the Greek. It isn't for any of the genealogy apart from in Luke 3:23. Have a look at the following and you'll see that 'the son' is in gray italics the whole way down meaning it is added and not specifically in the Greek.

Luke 3:37 Which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan,
Luke 3:38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.

There will be reasons for adding it and they probably trace back to where it is used in verse 23 but I'm not Hebrew or Greek expert so can't say anymore there. But without it, it traces the genealogy saying '... which was of Enos, which was of Seth, which was of Adam, which was of God.' Thus it is showing the origin of each person and Adam had his origin in the creation of God. All quite understandable and not in any way placing Adam on some kind of level with Jesus.

In terms of how I study the Greek and Hebrew, I use e-Sword and have added books and language resources. Mostly free apart from some add-ons that I have bought. Really helps with the commentaries as well once you have good people that you can trust.

Hope this helps and thanks again for sharing your story! : )

Iain.

Readers Reply

Iain,

Thanks for the quick reply and clarification. I totally get it now.

Sometimes it feels like I won’t ever be able to understand or learn it all. If you keep delving, it seems like you’ll find some new lesson or hidden meaning to a verse on a daily basis (like your study on Feasts of the Lord, which I brought up to some other members of a Bible study at my church recently). It’s awesome how intertwined the past, present, and future are.

With all the information to learn, I sometimes find myself regretting not understanding/embracing God when He revealed Himself to me as a young, despairing teenager. But then I remember that in God’s perfect plan, He must have opened my eyes at the perfect time. God is good!

Many blessings to you and your website for what you do. One day after we’re all called home, I look forward to greeting you face to face and shaking your hand!

Peace in Christ!

Eric