Weird Stuff in the Bible

The Capabilities of Angels: Could They Actually Mate with Human Women?

Introduction
So on this podcast, we’ve tackled the mysterious subject of Genesis 6 a few times when “the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.”
That’s actually a direct quotation from that chapter. And it’s come up a lot on this podcast because it’s a podcast about weird stuff in the Bible, and this is probably the weirdest thing. If you don’t understand why it’s so weird, it’s because of who the Sons of God are: they are spiritual or angelic beings.
The Sons of God are a collection of spiritual beings that God created and ordered to watch over mankind and report to Him on what mankind is up to. They were to be involved in the management of the earth. But a number of them descended from the heavens and, as the Scripture said, took wives from among women. The testimony of Genesis 6 is that the Sons of God mated with human women and produced children with them.
So this raises a whole lot of questions- mainly: how? How did spiritual beings interact sexually with women- and not only that, impregnate them?
Is this something any angel is capable of?
Could it happen again?
Does it even seem within the realm of possibility that angels have the abilities to manifest physical bodies and sexual organs like this?
So I call it mysterious not because I wonder IF it happened. The Bible is clear: it did happen.
I call it mysterious because I wonder HOW it happened.
Even those who accept what the Bible is saying about the Sons of God and the Nephilim still wonder how it happened.
I find this to be weird, and I’d like to explore why it’s in the Bible.
Turn to Psalm 91, and let’s get weird.
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What Angels can Do
Welcome to Weird Stuff in the Bible, where we explore scripture passages that are bizarre, perplexing or just plain weird. This is Luke Taylor, and today we’re going to be talking about the capabilities of angels.
Now, this is going to read like a list. Many verses and statements. I’m not necessarily trying to build a case that angels can make bodies and sexual organs. That is such an outlandish claim, and my verses today are not necessarily just trying to prove that to you. It’s already proven to me because Genesis 6 says so. Like, I don’t necessarily need another verse to tell it to me to make me believe it. My goal is just to look at the capabilities of angels more broadly. And then by the end, we’ll re-examine the question of whether it’s really so outlandish after all to take Genesis 6 at its word.
Also, the list that I’m going to share with you today is not cherrypicked; if anything, I’m trying to be overly comprehensive. It’s probably the kind of thing anybody could find if they just went and googled “capabilities of angels.” But credit where credit is due, I got my list from a book called And the Angels Came by Dr. Larry Brothers. Dr. Brothers is a personal friend of mine and my eye doctor- and I used to attend church with him. He did a 10-year research project on angels and wrote a book that includes testimonies of many people who had angelic visitations, which is called And the Angels Came. It’s very dry, and I don’t mean that as an insult. It’s very factual. It is not trying to be sensational or dramatic; it is just sharing straight-up facts and personal stories from people. Dramatic stories, but communicated in a very objective way. So I recommend that book, and I want to give it credit because it includes a lot of the information I want to share with you today.
Two things to keep in mind, or two ground rules. 1, angels are created beings. They did not exist in all of eternity past. They were created by God at some point long ago, perhaps around the time when God created the universe. 2, angels are not human spirits. When a person dies, they do not become an angel when they get to heaven. Angels are distinct from the creation of man. When angels appear in the Bible and interact with people, they often appear like ordinary humans. But angels are not humans and humans do not become angels.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk about what angels can do.
Angels can physically manifest in ways that provide protection or guardianship for humans. I’ll make a couple of observations from Psalm 91, a psalm about God’s protection over you, and it sometimes says that God will use angels to do it.
Psalm 91:11
For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways.
So angels can be your guard. You sometimes hear this phrase guardian angel, and you may have heard the idea before that you have your own personal guardian angel who is assigned to watch over you at all times. One possible reason Christians say this is because of
Matthew 18:10
See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
So that phrase “their angels” seems to imply that they each have their own angel or angels. Now, how far can these angels go to protect you? Back to
Psalm 91, verse 12
On their hands they will bear you up,
    lest you strike your foot against a stone.
This says that angels can physically stop you from falling into danger, and can stop danger from hitting you. We see an example of this in Genesis 19, when a group of dangerous men were outside of Lot’s house, surrounding him.
Verse 10 says
But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door.
So the men mentioned there in verse 10 are actually angels. As I stated earlier, sometimes angels appear in the Bible and they are just described as men. That’s what’s going on here; the angels physically interacted with Lot by grabbing him and pulling him inside his house. They physically interacted with the door by shutting it.
So we can conclude that these angels- which are spiritual beings- are able to manifest a human body and interact with people and the physical world as a person would. This is not a theory right here; this actually happened. They were not spiritual beings who were essentially just ghosts and walked through walls. They didn’t possess another human. They made a physical body for themselves.
But they also retain supernatural abilities when they do this.
Genesis 19:11, the very next verse, states
And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.
So angels are not constrained to physical limitations just because they’re manifesting a physical body. They retain their supernatural nature and are even able to perform actions of cursing or blessing humans. Striking these men with blindness would be an example of cursing, obviously, but they’re also able to administer strength and healing.
Daniel 10:18-19
18 Again one having the appearance of a man touched me and strengthened me. 19 And he said, “O man greatly loved, fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.” And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”
Here are some more examples of angels physically interacting with humans, objects, and even animals:
Acts 5:18-19
18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out
I Kings 19:5
And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.”
Daniel 6:22
My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.”
Acts 12:7
And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands.
Or here’s one of our favorites:
Matthew 28:2-3
2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
That’s not just interaction with the world. That’s superhuman strength!
One thing I find odd: angels are also capable of eating food. Now, as spiritual beings, I am not sure what the utility or necessity of things like eating food or sleeping are. I’m not sure if we’ll eat food and sleep in heaven. On one hand, in Revelation there are spiritual beings who are said to worship God day and night forever and ever, so they must not require nap time. On the other hand, heaven is described as entering God’s rest in Hebrews.
When it comes to eating, I know there’s the Marriage Supper of the Lamb spoken of, but I’m not sure if food in heaven is an ongoing necessity or if that’s just a one-time thing. I have my own theories about it, but I’m trying to stick to facts today. So don’t ask me what the utility or necessity of food is for spiritual creatures. I can’t speak to how their bodies function. But I do find it interesting that angels are said to eat on more than one occasion.
God and a couple of angels come to visit Abraham in Genesis 18, it says in
Verse 8
Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
And then in the next chapter, when two of these angels visit Lot, it says in
Genesis 19:3
But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
They are capable of more than simply human interaction and eating food. Angels are capable of killing humans if necessary. Jesus famously said that if He wanted to, He could call down 12 legions of angels to fight the Romans and save Him from dying on the cross. And then there’s this story in the Old Testament when an army of Assyrians had surrounded Jerusalem in the days of King Hezekiah.
II Kings 19:35
And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
Now, the identity of the Angel of the Lord is a whole other conversation. You don’t need to tell me about it in the mailbag. I’m just establishing today the capabilities of angels and not trying to go down a rabbit trail.
Now, one thing that’s obvious about angels is that they’re able to deliver messages from God. This happens so many times in the Bible that I don’t feel like I even need to prove it. But one interesting thing I came across is that angels can even visit you in your dreams. That’s what happened to Joseph in
Matthew 1:20
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
And again in Matthew 2:13
Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”
Angels have personalities, names, and are capable of expressing emotion.
Job 38:7 says
when the morning stars sang together
    and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
However, angels are not omniscient. Only God knows all things. Angels do not. Remember that Jesus said in
Matthew 24:36
But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
And Peter says in
I Peter 1:12
It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
So they do not know all things, and they are not all-powerful. They can be hindered, as Gabriel was in Daniel 10 when he was coming to deliver a message to Daniel. He said
In verses 12-13
Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia,
So obviously, based on this, angels are capable of flight. But do angels have wings? You might be surprised to learn that no, angels do not have wings. There are a few specific spiritual beings called cherubim and seraphim who have wings, but these only show up in a few books of the Bible, and they would not be mistaken for humans. Appearances of angels are much more common, and they just appear similar to humans, without wings. So our statues of human-like bodies with wings coming out of the back is actually not Biblically accurate.
Hebrews 13:2 says
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
So you could meet an angel and not even know it. Which I find fascinating. And kinda weird.
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Housekeeping/Mailbag
Next time on this podcast, we have discussed the capabilities of angels. Now I’d like to talk about demons. So next time, I want to discuss the origin of demons. I want to talk about this because something caught my attention while I was in the Book of Enoch last week, and demons might not be what we were always taught they were while growing up. So I am going to do that study next time.
Make sure you’re subscribed so you can get it!
What weird stuff in the Bible do you want to know more about? weirdstuffinthebible@gmail.com
One piece of feedback I got last time, I think her name is Dawn(?), said, “It was the “weird stuff” in the Bible that drew me to God and following Jesus.” And I’m grateful to hear that testimony. I think that’s true for a lot of people out there.
Another comment I got, and I don’t know their name, it says: I just recently bought the book of Enoch. I do want to have better understanding of the bible before I start reading it though. I have been on the fence about the apocryphal books because I don't want to be mislead or confused so I thank you for the difference with the pseudepigrapha.
I completely understand and agree, and that’s why I waited so long before I touched the Book of Enoch myself. I did read through it once a few years ago and I didn’t think too much of it. In retrospect I think any fears I had about it being dangerous or something were overblown. BUT I completely endorse anyone who says they just want to have a better understanding of the Bible before jumping into something supplemental like Enoch. 1000% agree, there.
Another friend of the show, Joe in North Carolina, said, “It's worth exploring, but not if it distracts from reading the Bible.” I agree with that. Books like Enoch can give you information, but the Bible gives you transformation. Most days I need transformation more than information. So I’ll probably poke around in Enoch a little on some future episodes, like next week’s, but only in the interesting of seeing where it intersects with Scripture.

Closing Thoughts
So in closing, I just want to say this. It’s amazing how much this thing of mating with angels comes up in popular culture. We can start with ancient culture. The stories of ancient heroes are interestingly frequently the offspring of a human woman with an angelic or godlike being.
Hercules was this way: he was a son of Zeus and considered half-god.
Gilgamesh of Mesopotamian literature
One that stands out to me is from modern times is the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. The main character, Peter Quill, is told by his mother in the first movie that his father was an angel. And it’s a movie where characters fly around in spaceships, so you can deduce from that that his father was someone from another world.
Then in the next movie, you find out that Peter’s angel of a father is actually a deceptive, godlike being. And it’s quite fitting that his name is literally Ego.
It is so bizarre to me that this idea is something that frequently in pop culture. And it’s almost like there’s something deep down inside humanity that makes us create stories like this. Like we can’t help it, it just comes out in our art.
And the question is raised in this movie: can this godlike or spiritual being actually create a human body and literally mate with a human female? I won’t phrase it the way they bluntly phrased it in the movie, but it’s the same question many people also have when they look at Genesis 6.
So, are angels able to mate with human females? Would angels- fallen angels, in this scenario- be capable of creating bodies with the human genitalia necessary for that kind of interaction?
Well, we see that they’re able to manifest bodies that are able to interact with the world in all kinds of other ways. The most surprising to me is eating. Why eat? Why would it be necessary? It wouldn’t be necessary. But when invited to share a meal, they were able to partake in it, which means they can create bodies that mimic or share in the biological functions of humanity.
Once you realize that, recreating the human reproductive system really doesn’t seem like that much of a stretch.
If that is still too much of a stretch, consider this: perhaps their creation of life in human females was more like what God did with Mary in the New Testament. God created a life within Mary supernaturally. Perhaps the Sons of God in Genesis 6 were able to do something similar to create life in their human wives, no sexual intercourse necessary.
Another possibility I’ve seen mentioned is that the Sons of God, being spirit beings, possessed the bodies of human men similar to demonic possession in the New Testament, and that this is how they were able to produce children sexually with human women. That’s not my perspective, but that’s an idea that seems more likely to some people.
I don’t have all the answers. But when I look through all the capabilities of angels that are demonstrated throughout the Bible, lots of those questions kind of just melt away.
Angels are capable of manifesting physical bodies, interacting with humans, interacting with objects, interacting with animals, performing miracles and supernatural acts, blessing and cursing humans- and even fathering offspring. A lot of that seems weird to the modern mind, but this was not weird to the people of ancient times.
And the Bible is not weird. WE are weird, because we don’t know about all the things that angels are capable of. But now we do. Thanks for listening, God bless you for sticking around until the end, and we’ll see you next time.