October 30, 1938. It was the night just before Halloween, and many Americans were tuning their radios to the Columbia Broadcasting System, which had just finished reporting on the weather and began playing music. Within moments, the broadcast was interrupted by a news flash about strange explosions on Mars. The an- nouncer reassured the audience that as more information became available, more announcements would be made. Then the mu- sic continued.
As the night progressed, the music was interrupted frequently, now with terrifying reports of an invasion. Aliens from Mars had landed in New Jersey and in cities around the world. The Earth was under a full-scale attack. Many listening to the broadcast pan- icked, and some even fled their homes for the hills.
But it was all fiction.
A young Orson Wells had adapted the H.G. Wells book War of the Worlds for broadcast and modified the script to present the story as though it were happening in real time. Many listeners took the fiction to be real.
Those who panicked were operating with incomplete information. They had failed to hear the station announce at the beginning and the end of the broadcast that it was all mere drama. Coming in at the middle, hear- ing only part of the story, they had no context and ran off thinking the sky was falling.
Similarly, there is a passage in the book of Genesis that, when read out of context, has caused many to believe the Earth has been in- vaded by aliens from outer space. Let’s take a look at that puzzling verse:
And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that
the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose (Genesis 6:1, 2, emphasis added).
It’s a phrase that runs all the way through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation: “sons of God.” So I think it is important to make sure we understand what it is really saying, don’t you?
Some believe that the term “sons of God” refers to extraterrestrial invaders. They be- lieve that these beings are fallen angels or evil aliens from space who took female humans as wives and produced some notable offspring. They rationalize this belief by saying that this is the only explanation for why the progeny produced by these unions were “giants” (v. 4). They also believe these unholy unions were ultimately responsible for the increased wick- edness of man that led to the Flood.
Some Bible translations flat-out say, “Some of their daughters were so beauti- ful that supernatural beings came down and married the ones they wanted” (CEV). This translation, however, doesn’t line up very well with the original Hebrew. Around the time of Christ, moreover, a lot of apocryphal books were in circulation; some of these works also have these kinds of strange interpretations in them.
For instance, have you heard of the book of Enoch? It’s not in the Bible, but it is briefly mentioned in the book of Jude. The writer of Jude actually quotes a few lines from Enoch, which was a popular apocryphal work from the time of Christ. (It wasn’t actually written by Enoch.) It was a book of fables, similar to the more modern The Pilgrim’s Progress.
Jude pulled a kernel of truth from the book of Enoch, but it should not be viewed as an endorsement for the veracity of every- thing else in the book of Enoch. Likewise, one could preach a Spirit-filled sermon while giv- ing a quote or two from John Bunyan, sharing a small kernel of truth from his allegories. It doesn’t mean the stories are true.
Remember, no Christian religious author- ity—the Catholics nor the Protestants—chose to put the book of Enoch into the final canon of their faiths. They recognized it was more mythological than truth, and it certainly was not inspired on an equal level with the Bible, if at all.
Now that you understand its place, here’s what the book of Enoch says about the sons of God:
It happened after the sons of men had multiplied in those days and daughters were born to them elegant and beau- tiful and when the angels, the sons of heaven beheld them, they became en- amored of them and they said to each other, come, let us select ourselves wives from the prodigy of men and let us beget children (7:1).
Some of the early church leaders read this line, blinked twice, and figured it might have indeed happened that way. As a result, some of God’s people have never totally shaken this fable from their set of beliefs. However, it is a fanciful interpretation that, if taken seriously, actually causes enormous problems with a lot of other Bible teachings.
In fact, there is another important reason to understand this passage. The things that happen in Genesis 6, the first few verses espe- cially, reflect the conditions of the world that led to the destruction of the Earth by a flood in the time of Noah. And these things are be- ing repeated in our day. So it is good for us to understand what the Bible is really saying here and what it is not saying.
On the surface, claiming that the “sons of God” refers to fallen angels might seem to be an intriguing conclusion. But as we shall see, without understanding the context that surrounds this passage, you can actually be confused into believing that certain myths are real.
If there’s ever any confusion about what Scripture tells us, it’s generally due to a lack of information. When the religious leaders were confused about marriage in heaven, Jesus said to them, “Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?” (Mark 12:24). In other words, Jesus is saying here, “You don’t un- derstand what I’m saying because you don’t know the Word of God.” Fortunately, we can clear up any confusion regarding the sons of God quite easily by gathering a little more information from the Bible and comparing Scripture with Scripture.
Angels Are Spirits
The King James Bible uses the term “sons of God” 11 times in two primary ways. However, it never uses the term to refer to an angelic being.
“Who maketh his angels spirits” (Psalm 104:4). Angels are spirits; they are not flesh. They are all around us now, but we cannot see them. They generally remain in their spiritual form and have very little physical integration in our world—they don’t go to school, get jobs, or raise families. They are here to “minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Hebrews 1:14).
Even if they wanted to marry and have babies, they couldn’t; they don’t have human DNA. It would be easier for a jellyfish to mar- ry a mountain goat than for angels to marry people. Thus, it doesn’t make any practical sense to believe that our passage in Genesis refers to the marriage of angels, fallen or holy, to humans.
Angels are not born; they are created. If God wanted more angels, He wouldn’t need to marry them off to humans or other an- gels to reproduce. He could create them from scratch. Speaking of Lucifer, God said, “The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created (Ezekiel 28:13 NKJV, emphasis added).
Moreover, Jesus tells us plainly that angels do not marry. Marriage is a uniquely human institution, reserved for mankind. “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are giv- en in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven” (Matthew 22:30). Mark and Luke suggest the same thing: “Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God” (Luke 20:36; some translations render it “sons of God”). Notice here that Jesus makes a distinction be- tween angels and sons of God. They are classi- fied separately, which means they are not the same thing.
So if the sons of God are not angels, then who or what are they?
Cosmic Life?
While the sons of God in our passage were not space invaders, the Bible does appear to teach that there is other life out there in the cosmos. It is clear in Scripture that Jesus made other planets: God “has in these last days spo- ken to us by His Son, whom He has appoint- ed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:2 NKJV).
In the parable of the lost sheep, the Earth represents the one lost sheep, a wandering world that went astray, the one Christ came to save. It’s easy to imagine that God, in His infinite existence, created other worlds with other physical beings. Of course, we know He had seraphim and cherubim and other angels prior to our world, so at a minimum we know there are at least those extrater- restrial creatures. “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth” (Colossians 1:16 NKJV). “And ev- ery creature which is in heaven and on the earth … I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!’” (Revelation 5:13 NKJV).
However, it is more than likely that most of these other created beings do not visit this world. You might say that the Earth is infected with a deadly contagious disease called sin, and we are quarantined. The only ones al- lowed to go into a quarantined hospital ward are the hospital staff; in this case, God is the head physician, and His angels are the minis- tering spirits.
Princes of Planets
Thousands of years ago, an intriguing “out of this world” meeting took place in heaven. “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them” (Job 1:6).
In attendance at this meeting are sons of God, as well as Satan himself. Satan says that he has come from the Earth. The sons of God were there representing their unfallen worlds in God’s universe. Satan was there to repre- sent the Earth.
Why would Satan be representing our world? Originally, Adam had dominion over the Earth. He was created by God to subdue and manage it. God said to Adam and Eve, “Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:28).
While Adam was in obedience to God, he enjoyed headship over the world. But once Adam sinned and obeyed Satan, that domin- ion was forfeited to the enemy. “To whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness” (Romans 6:16 NKJV).
Even Jesus referred to Satan as “the prince of this world” (John 12:31). In fact, in Matthew 4:8–10, Satan offers to transfer dominion of the Earth to Jesus—if Jesus would only bow down and worship him. It makes sense that Satan could not give away dominion of the Earth if it wasn’t his to give. So when God calls a meeting of world governors, or “sons of God,” Satan attends to represent the Earth. In the Gospel of Luke, the genealogy of Jesus is traced all the way back to Adam. Notice what Luke says about this lineage: “the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God” (Luke 3:38, emphasis added).
The difference between Seth and Adam is the bellybutton. Adam was created by the hand of God; Seth was born of Eve. Adam was the son of God, created to have dominion over the Earth. Thus, one definition for sons of God is those beings God Himself created to have dominion over the worlds He made. These beings were not born but were created directly by God.
Job 38:7 tells us that when our world was created, “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” The “morning stars” are angels, whereas “the sons of God” are the leaders of other worlds. (See Revelation 1:20.)
With that cleared up, let’s talk about the second way the term “sons of God” is used.
Heirs of Righteousness
The other meaning of sons of God refers to human beings who have been recreated by God’s Spirit.
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). Matthew 5:9 adds, “Blessed are the peace- makers, for they shall be called sons of God” (NKJV). Here Jesus is obviously referring to human beings, but not just any human beings; these are peacemakers, the righteous children of God. In no way should this be construed to refer to angels or aliens.
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). Notice that there were those who were not sons of God, but that through receiving Him became sons of God. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14).
It should be mentioned that “sons of God” doesn’t mean just males. Many Bible trans- lations render the phrase “children of God.” Galatians 3:26 says, “For ye are all the chil- dren of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” It is by faith that a man or woman becomes a “child of God.” And, of course, some verses do men- tion God’s adopted sons and daughters. “Even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off ” (Isaiah 56:5 NKJV).
To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a ser- vant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through of God through Christ (Galatians 4:5–7; see also Isaiah 56:5; Philippians 2:15).
The inescapable conclusion from these verses and others is that “the sons of God” in Genesis 6 refers to the righteous children of God.
Daughters of Men
This would mean the term “daughters of men,” used in Genesis 6, refers to the daugh- ters of the unrighteous children of men, or those human beings who do not call on the name of the Lord. In the context of our Bible passage, “daughters of men” refers to the off- spring of Cain and his wife.
Before moving on, I’d like to tackle one of the most popular questions skeptics enjoy posing about the Bible; that is, “Where did Cain’s wife come from?” This is yet another example where you just need to keep reading to get your answer. Genesis 5:4 tells us that Adam and Eve had many sons and daugh- ters. If you lived 930 years, like Adam, and if you were healthy, fertile, and reproductive for only 20 percent of your life, you would still have around 200 childbearing years. With God’s command to be fruitful and multiply, no doubt Adam and Eve’s progeny became quite numerous.
Considering the near perfect vitality and health experienced by the first genera- tions … well, they probably had throngs of children. So Cain undoubtedly took one of his many sisters as his wife. At this point in Bible history, when man’s genetic vitality was at its peak, there was nothing forbidding the practice. Abraham married his half-sister (Genesis 20:2). Isaac married his cousin. It was not until the time of Moses that mar- rying a sister was forbidden, likely because of the greater risk of genetic weakness and health complications with the offspring (Deuteronomy 27:22).
At first, Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain murdered Abel, so God gave Adam and Eve another son, Seth. He began to have children of his own, and they “began to call on the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:25, 26 NKJV). And from what we’ve seen in the Bible, those who call on the name of the Lord are called the sons of God. “But as many as re- ceived him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).
Now Cain had been banished from God’s presence after he murdered his brother. He settled “in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife; and she con- ceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch” (Genesis 4:16–18).
Here, before the Flood, we have the de- scendants of Cain living in cities and the de- scendants of Seth living in the country. As long as they remained separate, the sons of God remained pure in their religious beliefs and practices.
However, eventually they began to in- termingle. Maybe the sons of God needed supplies that could be more easily obtained in the cities where the daughters of men resided. The sons of God and daughters of men became familiar with each other, even friendly. Whatever the case, soon the godly sons of Seth, or sons of God, captivated by the beautiful daughters of Cain, began to marry these “daughters of men,” the descen- dants of Cain.
In other words, the sons of God chose to take wives as they desired—women who were pleasing to the flesh—without regard to their moral character. They ignored good advice and likely did not receive the consent of their parents, nor did they consult with God and consider His will in the matter.
Mixed Marriages
It’s even quite possible the sons of God went into this situation with good intentions. Maybe they believed they could convert these daughters of Cain, introducing them to the Lord their God. It’s also possible the daugh- ters of Cain enticed the sons of God with promises, saying they would eventually fol- low the Lord.
However, the counsel of God could not be clearer:
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteous- ness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:14–18).
God does not want His children marrying the unconverted or the unbelieving, even if they have a pretty face, the nicest disposition, or a passionate belief in regarding the spiri- tual realm. It makes no difference; God says that relationship will have problems.
Praise be to God that He is merciful. Sometimes He blesses us in spite of our rebel- lion and bad decisions. There have been situa- tions in which believers marry unbelievers and the unbeliever eventually comes around. It was still wrong to get married. The words of God are unmistakable: Do not be unequally yoked. But with repentance and submission, God forgives. If that weren’t true, there would be no hope for most of us. God sometimes alleviates the con- sequences of our bad choices, but it is unwise to knowingly ignore His counsel. You become part of the problem that will lead to great wick- edness in the world when all the thoughts of men’s hearts are only evil continually.
So the results of these intermarriages were not only giants, but sorrow. Instead of the sons of God influencing the daughters of men, the daughters of men influenced the sons of God.
Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly (Deuteronomy 7:3, 4; emphasis added).
The Bible is filled with stories about the sons of God mingling with the daughters of men and the disasters that follow as a result. Samson, chosen by God, was derailed by the Philistine women. His parents pled with him to avoid marrying a pagan bride, but he insist- ed on having what he wanted. “Then his father and mother said to him, ‘Is there no woman among the daughters of your brethren, or among all my people, that you must go and get a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?’ And Samson said to his father, ‘Get her for me, for she pleases me well’ ” (Judges 14:3).
Likewise, King Solomon no doubt believed that he could marry the daughters from pagan nations and, with his unsurpassed wis- dom, convert them. However, those pagan daughters drew away Solomon’s heart. This is why God is so adamant about His children not marrying unbelievers. It is almost al- ways the case that the believer is gradually transformed by the unbeliever, not the other way around.
Jesus likewise has a warning for us in these end-times:
But as the days of [Noah] were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, un- til the day that [Noah] entered into the ark (Matthew 24:37, 38).
Jesus here is likely referring to the mixed marriages of Genesis 6 that brought on the universal wickedness leading to the Flood.
As in Noah’s day, before the Flood, things that led to the destruction of the world with a deluge by water are going to happen again. The pre-Flood events are a preview of what’s going to happen before the destruction of the world by a flood of fire when Jesus comes again. History is going to repeat itself, but we don’t have to be among the repeat offenders.
Polygamy
Mixed marriages between the sons of God and daughters of men were not the only re- sult of disobedience. In Genesis 6:2, we read that “they took them wives of all which they chose.” This is also where polygamy began.
“And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah” (Genesis 4:19). Lamech was one of the sons of Cain, and he took two wives. So it wasn’t just marrying out of one’s faith that went against God’s will, it was mar- rying more than one person. The sanctity of marriage was being lost, even at the begin- ning of time.
This sounds like what’s happening in our world today. It’s only gotten worse!
For instance, a popular American reality television program, called Sister Wives, docu- ments the life of a polygamist family living in Lehi, Utah, which includes the man, Kody Brown, his four wives, and their 16 children. The Brown family sued the state of Utah be- cause of its bigamy laws, claiming they’re a violation of their rights based on the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The whole nation was watching because the same arguments are being used for people who say they’re in love with a person of the same gender; with that objection out of the way, a person could easily claim they are in love with two or three or four people.
When the sons of God rejected the sanc- tity of their wedding vows, the peculiarity of their faith, the importance of the distinc- tion between men and women—one mom, one dad, God’s design for a family—violence soon filled the land and the thoughts of men’s hearts were only evil continually. Jesus says this will happen again at the end of time, right before the “coming of the Son of man.”
That time has very much arrived. Turn on the television and flip to almost any sta- tion; you’re going to see promiscuity, perver- sion, divorce, deception, and a whole lot of violence. So many programs are built around killing and murder, while the sanctity of mar- riage is constantly being ridiculed.
But God says, “My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years” (Genesis 6:3). God looked into the future and saw where all this wickedness was leading men and determined that it would have to end. Christ said later, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (Matthew 24:22).
In the end times, God will have to do it again for the elect’s sake. For 120 years, the Spirit of God, through the preaching and example of Noah and his family, strove with that generation that was imprisoned by sin. They refused to listen. When Noah and his family entered the ark and the door was shut, there were only eight people inside that still believed God. Probation was closed for the rest. For seven more days life went on outside the ark for that amalgamated race of Cain and Seth, whose descendants had sacrificed their purity and had given themselves over to evil. Are you pure today? God says to you, “My spirit will not … always strive with man.” Will you listen?
A Giant Problem
You might be thinking that I have forgot- ten to address the “giants” who were born as a result of the sons of God marrying the daugh- ters of men. If the sons of God were merely the righteous offspring of Seth and the daughters of men were the female descendants of Cain, then why were the children of these unions giants and mighty men? How do we explain the offspring of these unfortunate but human marriages?
Well, I believe it’s a simple law of genetics in play called “genetic vitality.”
First, giants have always been around.
For example, take Robert Wadlow, born in Alton, Illinois, in 1918. At birth he weighed a normal eight pounds, six ounces. At six months, he weighed 30 pounds. A year lat- er, at 18 months, he weighed 62 pounds. He wasn’t fat; he was tall. He continued to grow at an astounding rate, reaching 6 feet, 2 inch- es and 195 pounds by the time he was eight. When he was 13, he became the world’s tall- est Boy Scout. At 13, he was 7 feet, 4 inches tall. Eventually, Robert reached a height of nearly 9 feet! (In comparison, Goliath was about 9 feet, 6 inches.) Robert’s height ac- tually qualified him as the tallest person in modern history.
But this oversize fame wasn’t always easy for him. His clothing required three times the normal amount of cloth, and his size 37 shoes cost thousands of dollars a pair—and that was back during the Great Depression. When Robert turned 20, the International Shoe Company provided his shoes for free and hired him to promote the company. That’s all he did for an income. He visited more than 800 towns in 41 states and trav- eled 300,000 miles on his goodwill tour. The shoe company had to modify a car so he could get in, removing the front seat so he could sit in the back and stretch out his long legs. Even though he was of enormous size, he was very good natured, intelligent, and gen- tle. People were always giving him shocked stares. They would ask him, “Does it bother you when everyone stares at you?” He would reply, “Oh, I just look above it all.” He tried to maintain a normal life, enjoying stamp collecting and photography. He’d even take pictures of people taking pictures of him.
Robert was a modern-day giant, with no need of fallen angels nor aliens to produce him or explain his existence. The giant off- spring of the sons of God and daughters of men likely resulted from genetic vitality. When a people group is isolated for years and only intermarry with one another, like some Pacific Islanders do, the gene pool be- comes restricted and more prone to birth defects and genetic abnormalities. After several generations of this kind of isolation, when they finally marry outside their island or tribe, the children of those unions tend to be more healthy, robust, and, yes, even big- ger. The biggest cats in the world are ligers, a hybrid between tigers and lions.
Adoption Choices
Not everyone who thinks he or she is a son or daughter of God really is.
The Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day, boasted to Jesus that they were the chil- dren of Abraham. Jesus corrected them. “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham” (John 8:39). You might not get a real sense of how scandalous this statement was for Jesus to say when you read it at first—but it so publicly embarrassed the Pharisees that they eagerly began seeking His death. But Jesus didn’t stop there …
Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceed- ed forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do (John 8:42–44).
This is a simple principle to test our true heritage. Which “father” do we follow in our actions? The Pharisees were leaders in the church, yet that did not give them security. Just being a member of a synagogue or just being Jewish did not make them children of God. Today, just by being on the books in your church does not make you a son or a daughter of God. Instead, we are the children of the one whom we obey. Whose desires we do, that is our father, whether of righteous- ness or of sin (Romans 6:16).
That’s pretty serious. So whose child are you? Are you a child of God?
When we are born again and are adopted into the family of God, we will want to imitate our heavenly Father. “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6 NKJV).
If you are not a son or daughter of God now, the wonderful news is that you can choose a new family.
By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing plea- sures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward (Hebrews 11:24–26 NKJV).
When called by God, Moses traded in his Egyptian adoption for a heavenly one. Through Jesus, you can too.
When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adop- tion as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ (Galatians 4:4–7 NKJV).
Jaycee Lee Dugard was 11 years old when she was kidnapped at a bus stop on June 10, 1991, by Phillip Garrido and his wife Nancy. She was kept in a soundproof shack that was isolated from public view. Cruelly held as a slave, she also fathered children for the Garridos for 18 years. After a while, this circumstance became normal for her. It be- came ordinary. She had come to believe that she was part of the Garrido family, but she later found out what kind of fiends Phillip and Nancy really were. Fortunately, she was eventually discovered and delivered from that terrible condition and was reintroduced to her real family. Talk about a total change of a life!
Similarly, the devil has kidnapped a lot of people in this world who should be children of God. He’s taken them and abused them, and he has manipulated them into thinking they are with their true family. They are con- vinced that the lies of the devil are the truth, that he is their friend. Phillip Garrido made that claim over Jaycee. Perhaps even you have gotten so used to the devil, you think you are part of his family. You have become comfort- able having him around. But he’s a kidnapper, an abuser. You’ve got to wake up and hear Jesus saying that you can be free. Phillip Garrido was sentenced to 431 years in prison. His wife was sentenced to 36 years. Jaycee received a $20 million settlement from the state, plus a big book deal. She’ll probably be okay financially if she manages her money well for the rest of her life. What a change of fortune from living in a hovel in some per- vert’s backyard—to being liberated, finding your real family, living a clean life, living a normal life, and suddenly going from poverty to riches. What a radical transformation!
That’s what the Lord wants to do for us. Right now, you can choose to be a child of the King, an heir of eternal life, and become a son or daughter of God in whom He is well pleased! Just ask Him.