The Devil Sows Seeds
Scripture identifies the devil as a deceiver, a liar, and a murderer and not as a creator. However, there are two abilities that he does have which might mimic that power. The first ability is found in Bible prophecy (described here) about life being given to the "image of the beast" in order to deceive. Let's look at the precise verse in view from a more literal translation, the NET:
"The second beast was empowered to give life to the image of the first beast so that it could speak, and could cause all those who did not worship the image of the beast to be killed." Revelation 13:15
How do we know that's not creating? God could certainly grant special creative power for a one time use to accomplish this end time event. However, you can measure your conclusion from what other passages tell us:
"Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him." Colossians 1:15-16
“You are worthy, O Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power.
For you created all things,
and they exist because you created what you pleased.” Revelation 4:11
God created all things. Two words listed to define pneûma are breath and spirit. It can refer to any spirit and includes specifically either angel or demon. Therefore, it stands to reason that giving breath or a spirit to an image is still not the same thing as creating a life, even though the context is making a statue come to life and speak. Let me show you further. Scripture tells us that unclean spirits enter people:
(If you like, here's a link for you to further examine the phrasing and definition of the original language. It should pull up to the correct entry, but alternatively, you can enter Revelation 13:15 in the search box and select the translation. Then click the link that appears for that verse, Revelation 13:15 again. A new page will appear. Scroll down and find the word breath and click the Strong's reference number listed there).
“When an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it passes through waterless places looking for rest but does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the home I left.’ When it returns, it finds the house empty, swept clean, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, so the last state of that person is worse than the first. It will be that way for this evil generation as well!” Matthew 12:43-45
We can conclude then, between these truths, that the devil is not a creator because God created everything. Everything was created through him and for him. All things exist for him and his purposes, including the devil. (If you find yourself asking, "why God would do that?," you may want to watch If God is Good, How Do We Explain Evil?) If unclean spirits enter people, and the image is given a spirit, then they can apparently enter inanimate objects as well.
The second is an ability to sow utilizing what God has created, namely seed, and we see this theme reoccur in scripture. There is a sowing of seed that the divine beings of Genesis 6 also perform upon human women. Though it doesn't identify the devil's involvement in the passage you will soon see below, I include it here because we are informed that the devil had obtained a third of the angels in his rebellion noted in Revelation 12:4 & 9 and that is the likely identity of these divine beings. There is also a yet to be fulfilled prophecy about the final kingdom of mankind given through a vision to King Nebuchadnezzar found in the book of Daniel. It foretells the mingling of seed between human beings and a "they" which is not identified. This blending fails because they do not adhere one to another. You can see this prophecy in The Coming Kingdom. Here are the passages that convey an arc of this seed theme:
God Establishes A Seed War - Genesis 3:14-15
"The LORD God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you will go,
And dust you will eat
All the days of your life;
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
Who is the Serpent? Revelation 20:2
"He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years."
Angels' Hybrid Offspring - Genesis 6:4
I've listed 3 versions of the following verse so you can see at a glance the breadth of meaning it contains.
"There were giants on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God lived with the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown." ESV
"The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of mankind, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown." NASB
"In those days, and even later, there were giants on the earth who were descendants of human women and the heavenly beings. They were the great heroes and famous men of long ago." Good News Translation
The phrase sons of God is based on the phrase bēn 'ĕlōhîm in Hebrew and has also been translated angels. It is the same term used in Job 1:6 "Now the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord—and Satan also arrived among them." The NET translation here, which is a literal and idiomatic translation, maintains its literal meaning but includes this among the translator notes; "The “sons of God” in the OT is generally taken to refer to angels. They are not actually “sons” of Elohim; the idiom is a poetic way of describing their nature and relationship to God. The phrase indicates their supernatural nature, and their submission to God as the sovereign Lord. It may be classified as a genitive that expresses how individuals belong to a certain class or type, i.e., the supernatural (GKC 418 §128.v)." An example of a modern English idiom would be "bite the bullet" meaning to accept something unpleasant and just doing what is needed. Another would be "it's raining cats and dogs" which simply means it's raining hard. To interpret these literally would be a misinterpretation.
These sons of God or angels bore children with human women and produced giants called Nephilim, renown mighty men of old that some teachers and researchers suggest were the ancient beings depicted by stone engravings and conveyed through stories that are commonly considered mythology, such as the Titans.
Some would explain away this verse drawing a conclusion that angels can't have sex based on their interpretation of Mark 12:25 where we are told, "For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven." Matthew 22:30 also says, For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven."
This tells us only that marriage is not a function in heaven but does not infer angels can't have sex. We also know that marriage is assigned to earthly living because it is a covenant that ends in death according to 1 Corinthians 7:39. "A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but only if he loves the Lord."
Nephilim are found in several places in scripture after the flood as well and referred to under various titles such as Rephaim, Emim, Horim, Zamzummim, Arba, Anak (and his sons Anakim), Og, King of Bashan, Goliath and his 4 brothers. Interesting to note, the late Bible teacher Chuck Missler posed and answered the question, what does the Golan Heights, Hebron and the Gaza Strip have in common? They were the areas that Joshua failed to exterminate the Rephaim (Joshua 15:14 et al)
Are you seeing a thread develop? This next passage teaches a parable and explains the meaning. This has spiritual application but given that we also just saw a physically manifested example of seed sowing and look ahead prophetically to another physical manifestation of blended seed in the Daniel prophecy, these passages might inform our understanding of the parable.
24 "He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
36 "Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear."
This parable could point to deceptive spiritual influence sown into the lives of those who then become sons of the devil. Or were they already his sons, in seed form, at the time they were sown? If that is the case, it could point to the hybrid Nephilim. Scripture indicates they were present both before and after the flood which suggests this interbreeding continued. It could also point forward to the Daniel prophecy. The question becomes; does it point to one or more than one of these scenarios? I present these passages to bear in mind as you make decisions in the midst of Biblical prophecy unfolding.
While it is not explicitly connected, the descriptions in these new testament passages look back at what seems to be the Genesis event that produced the Nephilim. This is another reason I believe the divine beings, "sons of God" are angels. The passage in 2 Peter, though it changes subject from angels to the ancient world, may be grouping these events because of their shared time frame which would also fit this idea.
"And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day." Jude 1:6
"For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment. And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood." 2 Peter 2:4-5
This theme finalizes with the mingling of the seed of mankind as prophesied in the book of Daniel.