Can angels reproduce?

Little is revealed concerning these wonderful hosts of the heavens, whether as to the magnitude of their numbers or the character and conditions of their life. The will of God being of necessity the law of life, wherever moral beings are found, we know they are kept, for every creature of whatever rank must be dependent. Servants of great and dignified rank they are, as seen both in Gabriel and Michael, and with different degrees both of authority and responsibility, classified and numbered for their respective services, they are spoken of as "mighty," "holy," and "elect." Far beyond man in strength, equally beyond him in power of transit, because not confined to a material body, and with interest and attention upon events in distant parts of the creation, they may be said to far excel the frail being who is confined to this planet (see Dan. 4:17; Luke 9:26; 2 Thess. 1:7; and 1 Tim. 5:21).

There are certain features in the constitution of man, however, which go far to make up for this apparent inferiority and serve to bring out the marvellous end for which he was created. Living in a body of clay which binds him to the earth, and of which it forms a part, he is a composite being, both spiritual and physical, which necessitates a range of life in relationships and activities which the higher intelligences could not possibly know. Marvellous workmanship of God in which there is the power to soar in common with other spirit beings right up to God Himself, the great Father of spirits, while in the same personality exists all the emotions of the soul from which springs the natural affections which he has in common with the creature beneath him. Closely connected with this is the wonderful creation of difference of sex and the institution of marriage whereby in the wisdom of God the race is multiplied and continued upon the earth. This is a most blessed feature of human life to which nothing that we know belonging to the higher orders can compare. High and lofty beings though they be, they yet remain units in their individuality and sphere in the great aggregate of creation, while to mankind is given the sweetness of marital and family relationships upon the earth.

Some have supposed that “the sons of God” were fallen angels, connecting this with Job 1:6 where angels are clearly spoken of as “sons of God.” But men are more often in scripture called “sons of God” than angels are. Besides, angels are sexless (Matt. 22:30), and they do not have bodies: they are spirits (Heb. 1:14). It is unthinkable that God would create special bodies for fallen angels in order that they might take ungodly advantage of women.

But this matter is plainly settled by God's word in verse 3: “The Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh.” It is clear that “the sons of God” were the responsible parties here: it was they who took wives, not the wives who took them. So God calls the sons of God “men,” insisting also that they are “flesh,” not spirit, as angels are. So early in history this event stands as a solemn warning to believers against yoking themselves with unbelievers. Such mixtures are often strongly censured in the Old Testament as well as in the New. Compare Ezra 9:1-4 and 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.

Though we are unconscious of the presence of angels we know that they are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall inherit salvation, Heb. 1:14: cf. Ps. 34:7; and we read also that they ministered to the Lord when He was here. Matt. 4:11; Mark 1:13; Luke 22:43. There are 'myriads' of these angels, Matt. 26:53; Heb. 12:22; Rev. 5:11; and they are described as 'mighty,' 'holy,' 'elect,' 2 Thess. 1:7; Mark 8:38; 1 Tim. 5:21: they do not marry, Mark 12:25. We are not told when they were created, but doubtless they are referred to as 'the sons of God' who shouted for joy when God created the earth. Job 38:4-7.

His answer is most simple, but He presses on them first the error of their own thoughts, due to their ignorance of the word of God and of the power of God. They were limiting God to the confines of their own narrow conceptions, as though in resurrection God must return man to conditions identical with such as prevail at present. Among other Old Testament scriptures, Isaiah 64:4 would have at least reproved their narrow thoughts. He tells them that in the resurrection marriage has no Place. Just as among the angels there is no question of difference in sex, so it will be in resurrection life. For resurrection introduces a totally new condition of things.

With simple, pointed words the Lord exposed their pathetic ignorance. Marriage is only for this world. He did not speak of those who die in their sins and will be raised for judgment at the Great White Throne; but only of those accounted worthy (by grace through faith) to obtain "that world," the glory of heaven, and the resurrection from among the dead. They neither marry nor are given in marriage (v.35). (Those unsaved will certainly not be married either, but will be raised only to be cast into the lake of fire.) Nor can death ever again touch those who have been raised, as at present it terminates the marriage relationship (vs.34-36). Moreover believers are as the angels which are neither male nor female, as we are told in regard to the new creation (Gal. 3:27-28). They are sons of God, having a relationship and dignity higher than all natural relationships, being sons of the resurrection, that is, introduced into a sphere that mere human intelligence has not penetrated.

As we open Genesis 6 we are carried on to the later centuries of the antediluvian age, when the population had considerably increased and human wickedness began to rise to a climax. Many have understood the term, "sons of God," to refer to men of Seth's line — the line of faith — who fell away and married daughters of Cain's line, but we agree with those who accept the term as meaning beings of an angelic order, as it clearly does in such scriptures as Job 1:6 and Job 2:1 and Job 38:7. How such connection can have been established, resulting in progeny superhuman in size and strength, we do not know, but we believe that Jude 6 and 7 confirm what we are saying. Sodom and Gomorrha went after "strange flesh," committing such enormous evil as is forbidden in Exodus 22:19, and these sons of God did the same thing in principle, by going after the daughters of men. Thereby they apostatized, leaving their first estate, and lest they should repeat the offence they are held in everlasting chains under darkness until eternal perdition falls upon them. They will be finally judged at the great day of the great white throne.

In Genesis however, we are only told about the terrible effect of this in the world of men. The monstrous men produced were monsters of iniquity, filling the earth with violence and corruption. Yet man in his fallen condition is such that these monsters instead of being considered men of infamy were treated as men of renown. They were the originals doubtless from whom sprang those tales of "gods" and "goddesses" and "Titans," etc., which have come down to us in the writings of antiquity. They are popularly dismissed as fables, but it looks as if they have a larger basis of fact than many care to admit.

There is a remarkable analogy between our days and the days of Noah in this matter of restless spirit activity. A remarkable condition of things is recorded in Gen. 6:1-4. "It came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all that they choose." Who are the sons of God referred to here? Believing men are undoubtedly called "sons of God" in Rom. 8, but it would be irrelevant to introduce that thought into Gen. 6. The expression is best explained by its use in the contemporary book of Job, and there it is beyond all doubt used of angels (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38). Gen. 6 thus tells us of the spirit world breaking bounds and entering into unholy connection with the human family. That spirits are capable of taking men's form, and performing human functions is clearly shown in Gen. 18; 19, where we have angels eating meals with Abraham and Lot. It is beside the mark to quote Luke 20:34-36 as an objection to this. The Lord is there describing the proper estate of angels, from which the transgressors of Gen. 6 departed. Personally I have no doubt that these are the beings referred to in Jude 6. "The angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness until the judgment of the great day." This cannot mean evil angels in general, for they have their liberty while divine long-suffering continues; the reference is clearly to certain amongst them whose freedom has been taken away for ever. The progeny of the mixed unions of Noah's days were "mighty men, men of renown." Such confusion could not be permitted in God's universe; and this was one reason why the flood ensued. The evil breed was swept away in that catastrophe; and the fact that the apostate spirits have been deprived of their liberty ever since, has acted as a deterrent against the repetition of the offence. But while Satan's tactics may change, his object is the same in all ages. Hence the awful condition of things with which we are confronted to-day — the spirit world seeking by all possible means to get into intimate touch with our fellow-men for their present and everlasting ruin.

To return to Genesis. There were giants born in those days, a progeny half-human, half-angelic; hence the name "giants." What is the effect before God? He saw the wickedness was very great, and destroyed them. Such a mongrel race caused the deluge. The earth must be cleared, or there can be no redemption. Adam's race are the objects of God's salvation, but it must be free from all demoniacal taint. Man, with the system of which he is the first link of all that which through him became subject to vanity (Rom. 8), is alone the object of the deliverance resulting from the bruising of the serpent's head and of the Deliverer's heel. Hence the deluge, hence a new beginning of the human family with Noah. The fallen angels who caused the sin are not roving the earth, but kept in everlasting chains of darkness unto the great day of judgment. (Jude 6.) "For verily he took not up the angels." (Heb. 2:16.) Redemption is for man. Noah found grace in His sight, and so was preserved from the universal corruption. Jehovah said to him, "Come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in all this generation." (Gen. 7:1.) "Thee!" — only one man! Not even his sons are called righteous, but they were preserved with him — doubtless kept from the corruption by his authority; but God's commendation is to Noah alone. The righteousness of the head brings blessing to the whole family: an important principle, which marks God's government even now. But what a proof we have here of the complete subjugation of man through sin to the power of Satan — only one righteous man in a whole world! And what a proof, too, of God's grace and of His determinate counsel to perform the great work of His salvation, spite of sin and the opposition of the devil. One man is kept, so that the promised Seed might come to destroy the works of the devil, and exalt God as a Saviour-God. On the other hand, had the corrupt antediluvian race continued, how could a free salvation be offered to all? How could it be "unto all," if some were found on the earth contaminated with "strange flesh"? For all such are outside the pale of redemption. Had there been no deluge, could there have been God's righteousness to all? The coming of the promised Seed to be exalted in the midst of a loving and intelligent creation — the eternal purpose of God — necessitated the destruction of the old world. Therefore the deluge is not merely an instance of God's judgment, but a necessity for the display of God's glory in Christ, and also a merciful interposition for man, that the platform whereon God would show Himself in boundless grace as the Saviour-God might be purged from all that could stand in the way.

"The sons of this world," was His answer, "marry and are given in marriage; but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. For [as we should read] neither can they die any more; for they are equal to the angels; and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection" (20:34-36). The Sadducees of that day, like many a person in subsequent ages, could conceive of nothing different from that which they had known. Here marriages take place. Hence in their thoughts, if there was a resurrection, marriages must also be contracted on high. Their deduction was fallacious. Marriages do not take place among the saints in heaven. And the Lord gives a reason for that, reported, as we find, only by Luke: "For [this important conjunction has been left out by the A.V.] neither can they die any more." Death reigns not there; hence marriage, by which the race is perpetuated on earth, has no place on high. Further, they are equal to angels, and all of them are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. The test case, so conclusive to those Sadducees against a resurrection, broke down at once. The condition necessitated for its validity will not exist. The Sadducees, trusting to their very limited knowledge, made shipwreck of the faith by denying a fundamental truth, as we now know that of the resurrection to be (1 Cor. 15:13-17). He who came down from heaven here declares the condition of saints in heaven, thereby showing the baselessness of Sadducean ground and the folly of their contention.

(2) The Sadducees take the place of the beaten Pharisees, and raise their question of relationship in the resurrection state, illustrating their difficulty by the case of a woman who had married seven brethren. The Lord answers, that marriage belongs to this world or age, while in the age to come and the resurrection from the dead those counted worthy to obtain these will be as the angels in this respect. The Lord's words announce a resurrection from among the dead comprising the sons of God alone: they are necessarily sons of God if they are sons of the resurrection; the one involves the other. The obtaining the "age to come" (the millennium) goes with this; which is exactly what is said in Rev. 20:5, that the rest of the dead — the wicked — do not rise again till the thousand years are finished. Among the ranks of these blessed ones there is no death either: and so no need of marriage to fill up the gaps caused by death. He adds that even the dead are yet alive to God; and so destroys the materialistic idea of death held by the Sadducees, the basis of their denial of resurrection. And finally, He proves this last out of the Scriptures they acknowledged — the books of Moses. They acknowledged, but did not know them.