#6 The Sons of God and the Daughters of Men -- Genesis 6:1‑8
Attempts to produce a master race did not begin with Adolf Hitler, nor have they ended with him. Our generation seems to have a fixation on super human. In times past, Superman, the Bionic Man, the Bionic Woman, Hulk, and many other television characters contributed to the same theme. And this super‑race is not to be understood as dominating only the realm of fiction.
It is almost frightening to realize that genetic scientists are seriously working to create the master humans, while abortions can be employed to systematically eliminate the undesirables. I read an article in the paper the other day which gave an account of one organization that makes available to certain women the sperm of contributing Nobel Prize winners.
It is much more difficult to determine the ultimate outcome of these attempts than it is to find the origin of the movement. It’s inception is recorded in the sixth chapter of the book of Genesis. I must say as we begin to study these verses that there is more disagreement here per square inch than almost anywhere in the Bible.
After chapter 3, Satan isn’t mentioned by name in Genesis, but he and his demonic hosts are at work doing their utmost to keep the promised Redeemer from being born. This was Satan’s purpose throughout all of Old Testament history. After all, he didn’t want to have his head crushed by the Savior! (3:15) God had declared war on Satan and the deceiver intended to fight back.
One of Satan’s most successful devices is compromise. If he can delude God’s people into abandoning their privileged position of separation from sin and communion with God, then he can corrupt them and lead them into sin. He did this to Israel in the land of Moab (Num. 25; Ps. 106:28-31) and also after they had conquered the land of Canaan (Judges 2; Ps. 106:34-48). The prophets warned the Jewish people not to compromise with the idolatrous worship of the pagans around them, but their warnings weren’t heeded; and the nation experienced shameful defeat at the hands of their enemies.
What was Satan’s plan for defeating God’s people in Noah’s day? To entice the godly line of Seth (“the sons of God”) to mix with the ungodly line of Cain (“the daughters of men”) and thus abandon their devotion to the Lord. It was the same temptation that Christians face today: be friendly with the world (James 4:4), love the world (1 John 2:15-17), and conform to the world (Rom. 12:2), rather than be separated from the world (2 Cor. 6:14–7:1). Of course, this could lead to being “condemned with the world” (1 Cor. 11:32). Lot is an example of this danger (Gen. 13; 19).
The interpretation of verses 1‑8 hinges upon the definition of three key terms, ‘the sons of God’ (verses 2,4), ‘the daughters of men’ (verses 2,4), and the ‘Nephilim’ (verse 4). There are two major inter-pretations of this passage. The two positions need to be looked at before studying the passage. The interpretations focus upon the term “sons of God.”
Who are they?
1. Some interpreters say the “sons of God” are angels (for example, Donald Gray Barnhouse, James Montgomery Boice, and Arthur W. Pink). Five major reasons are usually given.
a. The term “sons of God” definitely refers to angels in Job (Job 1:6; Job 2:1; Job 38:7).
b. Giants (nephilim) were born as a result of the union between the sons of God and the women (Genesis 6:4). This position often says that this union was the historical basis for ancient mythology that talks about half-human, half-divine beings upon earth, that the myths would be embellished, but they would be stirred by faint memories of giant people before the flood. (Cp. Homer and other ancient writers.)
c. Angels may appear in bodily form to men, for example, when the angels appeared to Lot (Genesis 19:1-5).
d. Three passages in the New Testament, according to the interpreters of this position, seem to refer to this passage in Genesis (1 Peter 3:18-20; 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6-7).
e. Jewish writers definitely say this is a reference to angels (Philo, Josephus, and the author of the apocryphal book of I Enoch).
2. Other interpreters say “the sons of God” refers to believers, the true followers of God, the godly line or descendents of Seth. (For example, Matthew Henry, H.C. Leupold, Keil and Delitzsch, The Pulpit Commentary, Chrysostom, Augustine, Calvin, and Luther.)
Ten reasons are usually given.
a. The “sons of God” must be believers, for it is the only way to understand the sequence of thought in the early chapters of Genesis. The early chapters are dealing with the godly line of Adam and Seth and with the ungodly line of Cain, two streams of the human race moving in opposite directions, one godly and the other ungodly.
b. The term “sons of God” definitely refers to believers throughout Scripture.
Þ In Deut. 32:5 Israel is called “His children” (Hebrew, God’s sons).
Þ In Psalm 73:15 the godly are called “the generation of God’s children” (Hebrew, God’s sons).
Þ In Psalm 80:17 Israel is called the son whom God had made strong.
Þ In Hosea 1:10 Israel is called the “sons of the living God” (Hebrew, bene el chay).
H.C. Leupold states the case as strongly as it can be stated:
“But who are these ‘sons of God’? Without a shadow of doubt, the Sethites—the ones just described in chapter five as having in their midst men who walked with God, like Enoch (Genesis 6:22), men who looked to higher comfort in the midst of life’s miseries, like Lamech (Genesis 5:29), men who publicly worshipped God and confessed His name (Genesis 4:26). Such men merit to be called the ‘sons of God’ (bene elohim), a title applied to true followers of God elsewhere in the Old Testament Scriptures. When the psalmist refers to such (Psalm 73:15) as ‘the generation of thy children,’ he uses the same word ‘sons,’ describing them as belonging to God. Deut. 32:5 uses the same word ‘sons’ (‘children,’ A.V.) in reference to Israel. Hosea 1:10 is, if anything, a still stronger passage, saying specifically to Israel, ‘Ye are sons of the living God’ (Heb. bene el chay). Psalm 80:17 also belongs here” (Genesis, Vol.1, p.250-251).
c. The words and context of this very passage tell us that the “sons of God” were men. When the “sons of God” committed this terrible sin...
· God said, “My spirit shall not always strive with man” (Genesis 6:3).
· “God saw that the wickedness of man was great” (Genesis 6:5).
· “It repented the Lord that He had made man” (Genesis 6:6).
· “The Lord said, I will destroy man” (Genesis 6:7).
Every verse deals with man; no verse—not even one reference—uses the word angel. The whole context deals with man, godly man, how he became corrupt, so corrupted that God was going to be forced to destroy man from off the face of the earth unless he repented.
d. Again, note the context: if the male sinners were angels marrying human women, why are the men of the godly line being judged? There is no record in Genesis up to this point that the godly line of Seth had become grossly corrupted. Why then are men now being condemned and judged if the sinners of this passage were angels and ungodly women? Should not the ungodly angels and women be the one’s judged? Satan, the leader of the fallen angels, was judged earlier (Genesis 3:14).
If the “sons of God” are angels, why are the angels not the ones being judged here? The point is clear: the “sons of God” refer to the godly of the earth. The godly began to intermarry with the ungodly line and to corrupt themselves with the worldly ways of the ungodly.
e. Jesus Christ Himself interpreted this passage for us. Note exactly what He said:
“But as the days of Noe 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, until the day that Noe entered into the ark” (Matthew 24:37-38).
“And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:26-27).
Who does “they” refer to? To the people—all the people, both the godly and the ungodly—upon the earth during the days of Noah. Christ is referring to people, not to angels. Christ is telling us exactly what happened to the civilization and society of that day. Men and women, both the godly and the ungodly, were marrying and remarrying and living worldly, ungodly lives.
f. Jesus Christ said that angels do not marry.
“For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven” (Matthew 22:30).
Note the statement of Genesis: the “sons of God...took them wives” (Genesis 6:2). H.C. Leupold points out that this is definitely referring to sexual and adulterous relationships, but it is also referring to marriage, for this is the standard way for the Hebrew to express marriage (Genesis, Vol.1, p.253).
g. Scripture tells us that intermarriage between the godly and the ungodly was strictly forbidden among the godly in the earliest days of history, long before the law was ever recorded.
Þ The law of Moses, which was to be written after the flood, was to forbid intermarriage.
“Neither shalt thou make marriages with them [the ungodly line]; 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” (Deut. 7:3-4).
Þ But long before the law against intermarriage was ever adopted on a national basis, Isaac and Rebekah were deeply concerned lest Jacob marry an ungodly person. This definitely lends strong Scriptural support to the law existing among the godly line of believers, existing from the very earliest days of history.
“And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me?” (Genesis 27:46).
“And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan” (Genesis 28:1).
h. There is no Scripture any place to indicate...
· that angels are sexual beings
· that angels have ever had sexual relations with men or women
· that angels are physical beings with human bodies, nor that they are both physical and spiritual beings. In fact, Scripture declares the very opposite, that angels are spiritual beings (Hebrews 1:14; cp. Matthew 8:16; Matthew 10:1; Mark 1:27; Mark 3:11; Acts 5:16; Acts 8:7).
i. The New Testament passages that are sometimes said to refer to this passage are not referring to this Genesis passage, not at all. The New Testament passages are referring to the original fall of the angels, to the time when they followed Satan in his rebellion against God.
j. The thought of angels marrying and having sex with earthly women...
“Is...monstrous...and mythical” (“The Pulpit Commentary,” Vol.1, p.102).
“Defies the normalities of experience” (Derek Kidner. Genesis. “Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries.” Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1979, p.84).
“Introduces the mythological element as well as polytheism into the Scriptures and makes the Bible a record of strange and fantastic tales and contradicts the [Scripture]” (H.C. Leupold. Genesis, Vol.1, p.252-253).
Some scholars have sought to define the expression ‘the sons of God’ by comparing it with the languages of the Ancient Near East. It is interesting to learn that some rulers were identified as the son of a particular god. In Egypt, for example, the king was called the son of Re.[1]
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for God, Elohim, is used for men in positions of authority:
Then his master shall bring him unto the judges who acted in God’s name (Exodus 21:6, following the marginal reading of the NASV).
God takes His stand in His own congregation; He judges in the midst of the rulers (literally, the gods, Psalm 82:1, cf. also 82:6).
This interpretation, like the fallen angel view, has its roots in antiquity.[2] According to this approach the ‘sons of God’ are nobles, aristocrats, and kings.
These ambitious despots lusted after power and wealth and desired to become ‘men of a name’ that is, somebodies (cf. 11:4)! Their sin was ‘not intermarriage between two groups—whether two worlds, (angels and man), two religious communities (Sethite and Cainite), or two social classes (royal and common)—but that the sin was polygamy.’
It was the same type of sin that the Cainite Lamech practiced, the sin of polygamy, particularly as it came to expression in the harem, the characteristic institution of the ancient oriental despot’s court. In this transgression the ‘sons of God’ frequently violated the sacred trust of their office as guardians of the general ordinances of God for human conduct.[3]
In the context of Genesis 4 and 5 we do find some evidence which could be interpreted as supportive of the despot view. Cain did establish a city, named after his son Enoch (verse 4:17). Dynasties would be more easily established in an urban setting. So, also, we know that Lamech did have two wives (verse 4:19). Although this is far from a harem, it could be viewed as a step in that direction. Also the view defines ‘the daughters of men’ as womankind, and not just the daughters of the Cainite line.
In spite of these factors, this interpretation would probably never have been considered had it not been for the ‘problems’ which the fallen angel view is said to create. While pagan kings were referred to as sons of a foreign deity, no Israelite king was so designated. True, nobles and those in authority were occasionally called ‘gods,’ but not the ‘sons of God.’ This definition chooses to ignore the precise definition given by the Scriptures themselves.
Further, the whole idea of power hungry men, seeking to establish a dynasty by the acquisition of a harem seems forced on the passage. Who would ever have found this idea in the text itself, unless it were imposed upon it? Also, the definition of the Nephilim as being merely violent and tyrannical men seems inadequate. Why should these men be sorted out for special consideration if they were merely like all the other men of that day (cf. 6:11,12)?
The First Civilization and Society (Part 4): The Corruption of the Godly Line—Co-mingling with the Ungodly Line, 6:1-8
(6:1-8) Introduction: remember, in Genesis 4 we saw the birth, growth, and corruption of the ungodly line of people upon earth (Genesis 4:1-24). Then we saw the descendents of Adam who continued the godly line of people upon earth (Genesis 4:25-5:32). In the first civilization and society, two streams of people were developing upon earth...
· the godly stream (line) who worshipped and served God.
· the ungodly stream (line) who neglected and denied God and who lived unrighteous lives.
Civilization and society were developing along two streams—two lines of people—the godly and the ungodly. The godly walked with God; the ungodly walked after the flesh and the things of this world.
Now, this passage covers the corruption of the godly line. Believers, those who followed God, married unbelievers, those who neglected and denied God and lived unrighteous lives. The result was the same as it has always been down through history: the ungodly pulled the godly down, leading them into a life of sin and wickedness. We shall soon see that the godly line became corrupted, so corrupted that God had to destroy the whole human race.
This is “The First Civilization and Society (Part 4): The Corruption of the Godly Line—Co-mingling with the Ungodly of the Earth.”
1. Fact 1: the godly ignored God and became worldly and immoral (v.1-2).
2. Fact 2: God became disturbed and warned man (v.3).
3. Fact 3: man became lawless as well as immoral in developing the first society upon earth (v.4).
4. Fact 4: God saw man’s wickedness (v.5).
5. Fact 5: God grieved over man and condemned man (v.6-7).
6. Fact 6: God remembered His grace and saved Noah (v.8).
(6:1-2) Seed, Godly— Immorality— Worldliness: the first fact, the godly ignored God and became worldly and immoral.
Three things are suggested in these two verses.
1. The human race began to multiply upon earth. This, of course, refers to both the godly and ungodly families upon earth. But note: when the ungodly increase, so do sin and evil. More and more children were being born into ungodly families, families that stressed the outward and worldly rather than the inward and spiritual.
This meant a terrible thing, for the ungodly always outnumber the godly. There are always more people who follow their own way in life than those who follow God. Consequently, sin and evil were increasing at a far more rapid rate than righteousness and godliness. Eventually, the godly were bound to be contaminated and corrupted unless they guarded and attached themselves ever so closely to God. This will be seen in the next point (point two). For now, the point to see is this: when the ungodly increase, so do sin and evil. The more sinners increase upon earth, the more sin there will be upon earth. This was exactly what was happening in the early stages of man’s history. The population was increasing ever so rapidly and so were sin and evil. Sin and evil were increasing at a far greater pace than was righteousness and godliness.
The more sinners congregate and get together, the more sin grows. This is clearly seen...
· when people flock to large population centers and ignore God.
· when people get together for parties and forget God, wearing clothing that exposes their bodies and dancing with enticing movements and drinking to loosen their inhibitions. Note how much more likely people are to sin when they are in a group of worldly people than when they are all alone. They are much more bold in sinning within a group. It is far easier to sin if someone else is doing it, no matter what it is: sexual immorality, stealing, assaulting, killing.
The godly became worldly and immoral, and they
fed their minds upon sex (Genesis 6:2). They did not control nor deny their
immoral sexual urges. This is the picture being painted in Genesis 6:2. The
godly men began to look at the women of the world, at those who did not follow
God. Note what they began to notice: that the women were fair, beautiful, and
shapely. They focused their thoughts upon their beautiful faces and shapely
bodies, and they desired them. They looked at the outward, physical appearance
and forgot the inward, spiritual beauty.
They did not control their eyes nor their thoughts. The result was tragic: they co-mingled with the ungodly and did all that co-mingling involves: dating, partying, playing around, touching, caressing, kissing, fondling; and they engaged in illicit sex. They looked and saw, and fed their minds upon the worldly and immoral and they engaged in sexual immorality. They completely ignored God and went about doing their own thing, satisfying the lusts of their flesh. They refused to control and deny their carnal lusts.
Þ Verse six tells us how enslaved man became to the passion of lust.
“Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).
Þ Compare these verses.
“For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies” (Matthew 15:19).
“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21).
“Among whom [the worldly] also we all had our conversation [behavior, conduct] in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others” (Ephes. 2:3).
“Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled” (Titus 1:15).
“The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD” (Proverbs 15:26).
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee” (Proverbs 23:7).
3. The godly ignored and rebelled against God. They married the ungodly. They married “all which they chose.” Jesus Christ tells us they were marrying and remarrying, marrying time and again.
“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, until the day that Noe entered into the ark” (Matthew 24:37-38).
“And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:26-27).
Lust was running wild, and note: this was lust among the godly line of believers. The picture is that believers were turning away from God and beginning to live like the world. They were drinking and living immoral and impure lives, marrying, divorcing, and remarrying time and again, remarrying whomever they wished. God’s will and demand for purity and godliness—for a distinctive line of godly believers—was totally forgotten. The human race was losing its godly line of believers: practically everyone was living an ungodly and immoral life, doing his own thing, living like he wished. Hardly any person followed God; hardly any person lived a separated, godly life. The godly line of believers—the godly seed of Seth—was corrupted, almost wiped out and completely erased from the earth. As we shall see in note 6, there was only a handful of godly people still on earth, only Noah and his immediate family.
The great 18th century Bible commentator John Gill shares the account of several Arabic writers on this passage. The picture painted is graphic:
“Immediately after the death of Adam the family of Seth was separated from the family of Cain; Seth took his sons and their wives to a high mountain (Hermon), on the top of which Adam was buried, and Cain and all his sons lived in the valley beneath, where Abel was slain; and they on the mountain obtained a name for holiness and purity...they, their wives and their children, went by the common name of the sons of God...these were adjured, by Seth and by succeeding patriarchs, by no means to go down, from the mountain and join the Cainites; but notwithstanding in the times of Jared some did go down...and after that others, and at this time it became general; and being taken with the beauty of the daughters of Cain and his posterity, they did as follows: and they took them wives of all that they chose...they intermarried with them, which the Cainites might not be averse unto; they took to them wives as they fancied, which were pleasing to the flesh, without regard to their moral and civil character, and without the advice and consent of their parents, and without consulting God and his will in the matter...they took women as they pleased, and were to their liking and committed fornication, to which the Cainites were addicted; for they spent their time in singing and dancing, and in uncleanness, whereby the posterity of Seth or sons of God were allured to come down and join them, and commit fornication with them” (John Gill. Gill’s Commentary, Vol.1, p.37).
“The name of this patriarch [Jared] signifies descending; and, according to the Arabic writers, he had his name from the posterity of Seth, descending from the holy mountain in his time; for upon a noise being heard on the mountain, about a hundred men went down to the sons of Cain contrary to the prohibition...of Jared, and mixed themselves with the daughters of Cain, which brought on the apostasy; when Jared was near his end he called to him Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, and their children, and said unto them, ye know what some have done, that they have gone down from the mountain, and have had conversation [immoral behavior] with the daughters of Cain, and have defiled themselves; take care of your purity, and do not descend from the holy mountain; after which he blessed them and having appointed Enoch his successor, he died” (John Gill. Gill’s Commentary, Vol.1, p.34).
The believer—true godly believer—must live a life of separation and holiness. This does not mean that we are to withdraw from the world and live monastic lives. We are in the world, but we are not to be of the world. We live among the unbelievers of the world, but we are not to participate in their ungodly behavior...
|
· drinking · partying · telling off-colored jokes · committing immoral acts · being unjust |
· being greedy and covetousness · divorcing and remarrying · deceiving and lying |
Believers are to be separated from the world and its ungodly behavior, separated in the sense of being committed to God and His righteousness.
(6:3) Conviction— Holy Spirit— Sin: the second fact, God became disturbed and warned man. Remember, there was great preaching going on during these days:
Þ Adam lived for 930 years. He no doubt proclaimed the truth of God: the perfection of the original creation, his own sin and fall, the promised Savior, and the absolute necessity of obedience and sacrifice in approaching God. Adam taught, preached, and warned his children and grandchildren and their descendents for 930 years.
Þ Enoch also preached and warned the world of their ungodly deeds and of the coming judgment of God upon all ungodliness (Jude 14, 15).
Þ Methuselah’s very name stood as a reminder of coming judgment. He was also most likely a preacher.
Þ Noah was a preacher of righteousness, warning the people up to the very end (2 Peter 2:5).
These are just the preachers we know about; there were probably others. But, in the final analysis, the witness and warning of the preachers was to no avail, not for the mass of mankind. Most people refused to heed the warning of God through the preachers. The people marched right on in their sinful and ungodly ways. The result: God became disturbed, very disturbed, and He warned man.
God gave man two warnings.
1. God would withdraw His Spirit: His Spirit would not always strive with man, not forever. The preachers were warning the people, and the Spirit of God was doing just what He does with people today: convicting them of sin and of coming judgment. But the people were resisting and quenching the convictions of the Spirit. They were not listening to the voice of God struggling within their hearts. They wanted to live like they wanted, to do their own thing.
Note the statement that man is “flesh” or mortal and corrupt (Genesis 6:3). This means that man was no longer just a sinner, but he...
· had given himself over to the flesh completely and fully.
· had abandoned himself, become enslaved to the flesh.
· had sunk to the level of living only for the flesh.
· had begun to live only for the things of the flesh and of the world.
The result: man was about to reach the point of no return, to reach the point where he would be so enslaved to sin and the flesh that he would never repent and turn back to God.
Consequently, God had no choice. God had to give man a final warning: if man did not repent, God would withdraw His Spirit. God’s Spirit would no longer strive and struggle with the soul of man. God would withdraw His Spirit and let judgment fall upon the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
H.C. Leupold gives the following as the reason why God was threatening to withdraw His Spirit from man.
“Men...no longer cared about having their homes [the] centers of godly instruction where divine truth prevailed, being taught by father and by mother...instead [they] chose any woman whatsoever, as the fancy of the moment moved them, to rear their offspring. At that point God determines that He will let His Spirit no longer do His work of reproving and restraining (yadhon), because man has degenerated. Man is no longer simply sinful, as he has been right along since the Fall; the race has also as a whole practically sunk to the level of being ‘flesh’ (basar), just plain, ordinary, weak and sinful stock, abandoned to a life of sin. Man has forfeited all hope of further efforts of God’s grace” (Genesis, Vol.1, p.255).
2. God’s grace was limited: judgment was coming. God gave man one hundred and twenty years to repent. God warned man, apparently through Noah: His grace would flow upon the earth for 120 years more, then judgment would fall unless man repented. God would give man one last chance.
(6:4) Lawlessness— Sin— Robbery— Thieves— Attackers— Civilization— Society: the third fact, man became lawless as well as immoral in developing the first society upon earth. The word giants means “fallers, apostates from true religion”; “falling on men with violence”; “strong and robust in body, and leaders of others” (William Wilson. Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies, p.185). H.C. Leupold says that the word “giants” is probably based upon the Hebrew root naphal, meaning to fall upon and attack. The word, therefore, refers both to the strong of the earth such as the leaders and the powerful, and to the attackers, robbers, and bandits of the earth (H.C. Leupold. Genesis, Vol.1, p.258).
Simply stated...
· the earth had become a place where sex, immorality, and the flesh were focused upon.
· the earth had become a place where the powerful and the strong ruled and dominated.
· the earth had become lawless, full of attackers, robbers, and bandits. The earth was filled with violence.
· the earth had become a place where the powerful and immoral and even the lawless were the famous of the earth, the very people who were well known and idolized. The powerful, strong, and immoral were the heros of the day, the people most admired and esteemed.
Think how much our society is like the first society of earth.
Þ Think of the cult of beauty and sex, the emphasis upon sex and the flesh today, how sex and the flesh dominate the media, advertisements, and the very thoughts and minds of people.
Þ Think how the strong, powerful, unjust, and immoral rule today; how money, wealth, position, and might control the lives of people all over the world.
Þ Think how lawless so many societies have become, full of attackers, robbers, and bandits. Think how lawless and uncontrolled people become even when some natural disaster has stricken an area and the local residents are suffering. We live in a day of lawlessness and violence.
Þ Think how the powerful and immoral and even some of the lawless have become the famous of the earth, the idols of society. The person may be the most immoral person imaginable—have had several husbands or wives, be a heavy drinker, adulterer, and drug user—but if he or she holds some high position, has money, or is featured in films or sports, the person is built up in the media, made famous and idolized by many.
Þ Think how many film stars, athletes, and leaders within the world live immoral and unjust lives; yet they are the giants, the famous and the idols of the earth. Even some believers—carnal believers—hold them in the highest esteem.
The lawlessness and immorality of man is spelled out in Scripture, clearly spelled out. This is the true condition of society and civilization. Just think of the newscasts that come across our screens and the headlines that dominate the front pages of our newspapers every day. The following is God’s indictment against man, against the lawless and immoral society man has developed:
(6:5) Depravity— Sin— Wickedness— Man— Heart— Thoughts— Imaginations: the fourth fact, God saw man’s wickedness upon the earth.
1. God saw that man’s wickedness was great upon the earth. By great is meant that man’s wickedness multiplied. Man committed more and more sin, more and more acts of wickedness. Society was not getting better, not becoming more and more righteous and godly; society was becoming more lawless and crime-ridden. Lawlessness and crime, immorality and corruption were increasing more and more every year, not decreasing. The wickedness of man had swept the earth—swept every place where man was. (How much like today!)
But great wickedness does not only mean that sin multiplied, it also means that sin became more extreme and terrible. Sin became...
· more mean and vile
· more immoral and perverse
· more destructive and terrifying
· more evil and devilish
· more fleshly and carnal
· more lustful and sensual
· more obscene and flagrant
· more filthy and foul
· more gross and heinous
Since Adam’s fall into sin, man had become exceedingly sinful and more and more bold in his sin. Man was now committing great wickedness upon the earth, and God saw man’s great wickedness. But God saw something else about man as well.
2. God saw that every imagination and thought of man was evil—evil continually—evil all the time. In other words, God saw that man was depraved, totally depraved.
What does Scripture mean by this? Does it mean that man never does anything that is good? No! For we know that man does many things that are good. Man often shows mercy and compassion, and he often works to build up the good of society.
This look at sin means at least three things.
Þ Man has a nature…he tends to follow after the flesh; therefore, he fails and sins. Man cannot keep from sinning and doing wicked things. No matter how much man tries not to fail and sin, he will still find himself failing and sinning ever so often if left to his own fleshly desires.
Þ Man is short of perfection; therefore, man comes short in everything he does. Man can do nothing perfectly, not with absolute perfection.
Þ Man has a corrupt nature; therefore, he contaminates, pollutes, sours, spoils, and hurts whatever he does or touches.
The excellent expositor James Montgomery Boice says this:
“When we say that men and women are ‘totally depraved’ (a good theological term for ‘only evil all the time’), we do not mean to say that they never do anything that we would call good or that they never have aspirations in the direction of real good. We mean rather that even their best is always spoiled by their essentially sinful nature” (Genesis, An Expositional Commentary, Vol.1, p.252).
Now, to the point. In God’s eyes, man’s heart was evil, and note: it was only evil; that is, it was corrupted and contaminated and short of perfection. Anything short of perfection is evil: it stands opposed to God and His perfection.
In addition, the very imaginations and thoughts of man were continually evil. Man’s mind was flooded with thoughts and imaginations that were...
· self-centered and self-seeking
· self-exalting and prideful
· covetous and full of greed
· condemning and judgmental
· negative and attacking
· suspicious and unbelieving
· bitter and hateful
· despiteful and vengeful
· violent and destructive
· sexual and immoral
· lustful and sensual
· fleshly and obscene
On and on the list could go, covering the unending flow of evil thoughts and imaginations that flash across man’s mind every day of his life. The mind is never still, never without thought, most likely thousands of thoughts within every twenty-four hour period. How many of the thousands of thoughts are negative and evil within a day? How many are short of perfection? Tens? Hundreds? Only God knows. But this much we know: our minds are bombarded with negative and evil thoughts every day of our lives. They constantly attack us and we cannot stop them. This does not mean that we never think good thoughts. We do, and we know this. But we also know—if we think about it and are honest—that evil and negative thoughts often flood across our minds. This is what God saw: He saw the thoughts and imaginations of man, that they were evil continually.
Note one other fact as well: a man’s heart controls the kind of thoughts he has. If his heart is set on good things, he will think more good thoughts than he does evil and negative thoughts. He will never be completely free of the negative thoughts, for he has a sinful nature. But, as stated, he will think more good thoughts than evil thoughts. What a man must do is make sure his heart is good, that it follows after God and is focused upon God and the things of God. But this was the very problem of the first civilization and society upon earth: the people rejected God. They ignored, neglected, denied, and rebelled against God. Their hearts—their very thoughts and imaginations—were set on the things of the flesh and of the world. They wanted their fleshly desires satisfied and they wanted to get all the possessions and positions of this world they could. Again, this is what God saw: He saw the thoughts and imaginations of men, that they were given over to evil, continually given over to fleshly desires and covetousness.
The condition of the human heart is tragic. Jesus Christ had much to say about the evil nature of man. Note how forceful and revealing His statements are. (This thought is taken from a message presented by Roger R. Nicole as given by James Montgomery Boice.)
(6:6-7) Judgment— God— Man: the fifth fact, God grieves over man and condemns man. Two significant facts need to be noted.
1. God regrets that He ever made man. The Hebrew word for “grieved” or “repented” (yinnahem) means to pant, groan, lament, or grieve because of the misery of others or of oneself (“The Pulpit Commentary,” Vol.1, p.104). In this case, God grieved over man, that He had ever made man. How could God ever regret that He had made man?
Þ Because man was bringing sin into the universe, multiplying the misery, pain, destruction, devastation, injury, and death that sin causes for man and the universe.
Þ Because man’s wickedness was cutting the heart of God and grieving Him just like a disobedient child cuts and grieves the heart of his father. God’s heart was broken over the misery and pain man was causing by his wickedness.
Þ Because man was arousing the holiness and wrath of God against sin. God is love and His love reaches out to man. But God is also holy and His holiness has to act even as His love acts. God’s holiness has to strike out against injustices and immoralities—against all wickedness—in order to protect the name of God. God has to protect His name, that He is truly God, the Just One and the Loving One, the Sovereign Lord of the universe who is perfect in love and justice. Being perfect, God has to correct all the injustices and wrongs of the earth. Consequently, He had to judge and condemn man for his wickedness. This grieved God to the depths of His heart—so much so that He wished He had not made man.
Þ Because man was condemning himself, cutting himself off and separating himself from God forever, dooming himself to spend eternity in hell apart from God. This was not the purpose for which God had made man, thus God regretted that He had ever made man.
In the words of Matthew Henry:
“Here is...God’s resentment of man’s wickedness. He did not see it as an unconcerned spectator, but as one injured and affronted by it; he saw it as a tender father sees the folly and stubbornness of a rebellious and disobedient child, which not only angers him, but grieves him, and makes him wish he had been written childless” (Matthew Henry’s Commentary, Vol.1, p.53).
2. God judged and condemned man to be destroyed—wiped off the face of the earth—both man and land animals. The Hebrew word for destroy is descriptive: it means...
· to blot out as a writer blots out words he wants removed.
· to wipe off as dust is wiped off furniture.
God determined to blot out man, to wipe him off the face of the earth. But remember why:
a. The great wickedness of man had multiplied and become extreme and terrible, so much so that man and his wickedness was no longer bearable (Genesis 6:5).
b. Man was God’s creature, the most noble and dignified creature ever created, but man abused God’s love and purpose in creating him. Man rebelled against God: he rejected God’s love and purpose in creation. Man chose to reject, ignore, neglect, and deny God, his Creator.
We must always remember the business of creation, the self-evident truths:
Þ When something is created, it must fulfill its purpose or else it is thrown aside as useless and destroyed.
Þ If man does not serve God—fulfill God’s purpose for creating him—then God has no choice: God has to destroy man, for man is useless to the purpose of God.
Þ Man cannot expect God to excuse him when man neglects, ignores, denies, and rejects God. Being a creature of God does not excuse the wickedness and rebellion of the creature.
Þ If the creature (man) rejects the love and grace of God, then he must face the justice of God.
Note that all land creatures were also to be destroyed with man. Why? Because the earth and animals were created for man: they existed for man. Therefore, when man was destroyed, they were also destroyed. They were not destroyed willingly, but by reason of man, because of his wickedness. (How much like today! How many animals and species of animals are killed because of man’s pollution and sport—all out of greed and pride.)
(6:8) Grace— Salvation— Seed, Godly: the sixth fact, God remembered His grace; He preserved Noah. God could not forget or violate His promise. God had just pronounced His judgment upon the terrible wickedness of men: man was to be wiped off the face of the earth. But God had promised from the beginning—promised to Adam and Eve—a godly seed of believers through whom a Savior would come and deliver man from the sin and death of this earth. The Savior was to restore man to his original world of perfection and to face to face fellowship with God. If God was going to destroy the earth, who would carry on the godly line of believers so that the Savior could be born? Who would God save through the destruction of the world in order to carry on the godly line?
There was one man who would remain true to God up until the day of his death. That man was Noah. “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8). What does this mean? It means that Noah believed God’s promise concerning the godly seed, the coming Savior. Noah believed that God was going to preserve a godly people and send the Savior through that people. Therefore, God showered His grace and His favor upon Noah. God had mercy upon Noah and chose Noah to be the person to be saved through the coming judgment. Noah’s faith in the promise of God—his faith in the coming Savior—saved him. Noah was saved “by grace through faith” in the coming Savior (Ephes. 2:8-9). “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” because he believed God, believed God’s promise of salvation through the promised seed, the coming Savior.
The only way people can be saved from God’s wrath is through God’s grace (Eph. 2:8-9); but grace isn’t God’s reward for a good life: it’s God’s response to saving faith. “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household” (Heb. 11:7, nkjv). True faith involves the whole of the inner person: the mind understands God’s warning, the heart Noah, nkjv fears for what is coming, and the will acts in obedience to God’s Word.
To understand God’s truth but not act upon it is not biblical faith; it’s only intellectual assent to religious truth. To be emotionally aroused without comprehending God’s message isn’t faith, because true faith is based on an understanding of the truth (Matt. 13:18-23). To have the mind enlightened and the heart stirred but not act in obedience to the message is not faith, for “faith without works is dead” (James 2:14-26). The mind, heart, and will are all involved in true biblical faith.
Everybody who has ever been saved from sin has been saved “by grace, through faith,” and this includes the Old Testament worthies listed in Hebrews 11. Nobody was ever saved by bringing a sacrifice (Heb. 10:1-4; Ps. 51:16-17), by keeping the Law (Gal. 2:16), or by doing good works (Rom. 4:5). Salvation is a gracious gift that can be rejected or received by faith. Like Noah, we must all “find grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen. 6:8).
Note: this is the first time grace or favor is mentioned in the Bible. Every person is saved just like Noah was: by the grace of God through faith in the promised seed, the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
A REFUGE AND A WARNING
With Noah as our example, we might do well to look at the New Testament. There are at least two ways that the New Testament uses the flood story to teach Christians. One is as a figure for Christ. The other is as a warning.
Let's think about how the flood story is a figure of Christ. That's how 1 Peter 3:20 speaks of the refuge of the ark in the midst of the flood. Noah and his family were called into the ark. God shut the door from the outside and prepared them for the day in Noah's six hundredth year when the deluge would begin. In that day there was no possibility of learning to swim well enough to survive. They couldn't climb high enough to reach safety. Similarly, there is no way to fix or escape the problem of our sinfulness. We need a savior, somebody to gather us in and protect us. God needs to act. There's nowhere to go except into the ark, to be united with Christ, the one who is the source of our salvation.
The other lesson is the one we began with, the warning. The flood came as a surprise, and Christ's second coming is going to come as a surprise.
We tend to think that our experience is a good teacher, as if it were sufficient to make predictions about the future. We assume that because God hasn't dramatically intervened with terrible judgment during our lives that such things will never happen. But Jesus' warning (which is also given in 2 Peter 2:5) is that just because the end hasn't come yet doesn't mean that it's not going to. Another cataclysm is coming. These people were eating, drinking, partying, going to weddings, and living out their corrupt but comfortable existence-and then came the deluge.
You're a fool if you avoid what the Spirit of God is saying to you. If you're not a Christian and are putting off responding to the claims of the gospel, be aware that there will come a day when there's no longer a choice to make. Not every option stays open forever.
The warning is to take seriously what God takes seriously. If you're a Christian, is the Lord calling for a response from you, an act of repentance or obedience that you are avoiding? The end will always come as a surprise, whether it's the end of your life or the end of the age. If there's a call on your life that you're holding God at arm's length about, ask for the strength to say yes to him.
Noah and the Rest of Mankind: A Great Contrast of Character—Why God Destroyed the Earth, 6:9-12
The world knows little about the Bible, but few are unaware of Noah’s ark. There are jokes about it, pictures of it, movies about the search for the ark, even ceramic representations of it. A knowledge of the flood is almost universal, even apart from the biblical account of the book of Genesis.
“But it seems as if we must conclude that the Genesis flood at least engulfed all of mankind, if not the whole earth, because of certain indications in the Genesis narrative and because on all continents and among almost all peoples of the earth flood accounts have been found. These accounts all refer to a destructive flood occurring early in the respective tribal histories. In each case one or a few individuals were saved and were charged with repopulating the earth. To date, anthropologists have collected between 250 and 300 such flood stories.[4]
This familiarity with the story is the greatest obstacle to our benefiting from a study of it in Genesis. We come to the text with our minds made up, thinking that there is little or nothing new about it that should change our thinking or behavior.
For example, we would suppose that the theme of the story is that of judgment and destruction and, to a degree, this is true. Hollywood would make much of this event. We would see all kinds of sinful acts graphically portrayed on the screen. When the plot could no longer sustain lust producing scenes, the focus would turn to destruction and violence. Families would be severed by raging torrents. Mothers would be torn apart from their babies. Buildings would shatter and collapse in the deluge.
While this may seem to be the thrust of the account, not one descriptive word can be found of the actual process which resulted in agony, suffering and death. Not one scene is played before our eyes of such devastation. Judgment is certainly a theme in this event, but, thank God, there is a much greater theme, that of the saving grace of God. While we dare not ignore the warnings of this text, let us not lose sight of its encouragement either.
While some have fixed their attention on the sin and devastation of the flood, others have concentrated on the mechanics of the deluge as over against its meaning. While I am certain that there is much of interest here to the scientific mind, let me simply caution you that much of that which is proposed in the name of science is still theory and speculation. I do not in any way wish to discredit or discourage such efforts. I only desire to say that we dare not build our lives on it, and to point out that this kind of approach does not focus on the principle purpose of the account of the Genesis flood.
A detailed analysis of the event is not the purpose of this lesson, but rather a broad view of the meaning and message of the flood for men of all ages. With this in mind, let us turn our attention to this event.
Except for the increase in violence and crime, the times were pretty good. People were “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” (Matt. 24:38), and life was going on as usual. When friends met at the market or at wedding feasts, they laughed about Noah and his family (“Imagine building that big boat on dry land!”) or discussed Methuselah, the world’s oldest man (“He’ll die one of these days, mark my word!”), or talked about Enoch, the man who suddenly disappeared (“Strangest thing I ever heard!”).
Methuselah was Noah’s grandfather, and Noah knew that when he died, nothing stood in the way of God’s judgment falling on a wicked world. For over a century, Noah had been warning people about the coming judgment, but only his own family had believed him and trusted the Lord.
Then Methuselah died and things began to happen. One day, Noah and his family entered their “boat” and the rains came. (“It can’t go on forever,” people said. “It’ll stop one of these days.”) But it rained for forty days and forty nights, and subterranean explosions discharged more water on the earth. Even after the rain stopped, the water continued to rise; and within five months, the whole earth was under water and everything that breathed was dead. Everything, that is, except Noah and his family, the eight people everybody laughed at.
What kind of a person was Noah? He was the kind of person you and I should be and can be as we live in our world today.
(6:9-9:29) Division Overview: Noah— Seed, Godly: this Scripture begins a new section of Genesis. It covers the generation of Noah: this is the record, the history, the story of Noah. But Noah: In this contrast lies the hope of all of subsequent human history! Were there not a man and a family who by God’s grace stood out from the wickedness of their day, there would have been a new beginning on the part of God that would have omitted all of us!
Genealogy (or family histories) is found in ten significant passages in Genesis (2:4 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2). just … perfect: These words together mean “genuine righteousness” (in contrast to the others of Noah’s time). The phrase walked with God is also used of Enoch in 5:22, 24. It indicates a continual pattern of life—a marked contrast with the pattern of life of the rest of the peoples of the world at the time!
Remember how wicked man had become. Man had made the earth a cesspool of immorality and a society of lawlessness and violence (cp. Genesis 6:1-2, 4-5, 11). Man was living to fulfill the desires and lusts of his flesh, living for the cult of beauty and sex, living for money, possessions, position, power, recognition, and honor. Man had forgotten God altogether and was living only for himself and self-gratification. Man was not fulfilling his purpose for being upon the earth. In fact, man was working against the very purpose for which God had created him. Man was destroying both the earth and himself. He was standing opposed to God and to everything God stood for and had purposed for the earth. God had no choice; God had to destroy man, to wipe man off the face of the earth.
But what about God’s promise? God had promised that there would always be a godly line of people upon the earth, a godly line through whom He could send the Savior to the world. How could God destroy man and the earth and still fulfill His promise? There was only one way: God had to choose one man and his family and save them through the destruction of the earth. This is what this section of Scripture is all about: this is the history of Noah. Noah and his family were the people chosen by God to survive the destruction of the earth, the people chosen to preserve mankind and the godly line of believers through world destruction.
This section of Scripture is the record of the great flood that covered the earth, the account of God’s judgment upon man—all because of his great wickedness, his terrible, gross wickedness. But this is also the story of a courageous man, perhaps the most courageous man who has ever lived. This is the story of a man who stood toe to toe with the rest of the world, who stood faithful to God when everyone else—all of humanity—turned against God. Imagine standing all alone against the whole world. This was Noah. Noah stood for God when everyone else forsook and denied God and went their own way in life, rejecting the way of God.
Again, this is the generation—the history and story—of “Noah: The Man Chosen to Preserve Mankind and the Godly Seed Through World Destruction (The Flood)” (Genesis 6:9-9:29).
A. Noah and the Rest of Mankind: A Great Contrast of Character—Why God Destroyed the Earth, Genesis 6:9-12
B. Noah and the Ark: God’s Great Demand for Faith—What Noah Had to Believe, Genesis 6:13-22
C. Noah and the Last Week: God’s Great Invitation and Noah’s Great Obedience, Genesis 7:1-9
D. Noah and the Flood: God’s Great Judgment of the Earth, Genesis 7:10-24
E. Noah and God: God’s Great Preservation (Salvation) of Life, Genesis 8:1-14
F. Noah and the Great Day: God Sends Noah Forth Into the World to Begin a New Life, Genesis 8:15-22
G. Noah and the New Beginning (Part 1): God Establishes a New World Order for Man, Genesis 9:1-7
H. Noah and the New Beginning (Part 2): God Establishes a New Covenant with Man—The Noahic Covenant, Genesis 9:8-17
I. Noah and the Human Race: The Future of the Human Race Foretold, 9:18-29.
(6:9-12) Introduction: note the great contrast between Noah and the rest of the earth.
Þ Noah was just and perfect and he walked with God.
Þ The rest of the earth was corrupt and violent, so much so that the earth was “filled with violence” (Genesis 6:11). All the people—not just most, but all—had corrupted their way upon the earth (Genesis 6:12).
This is why God destroyed the earth and why Noah and his family alone were saved. This is the message of this descriptive passage: “Noah and the Rest of Mankind: A Great Contrast of Character—Why God Destroyed the Earth.”
1. The character of Noah (v.9-10).
a. He was just or righteous.
b. He was perfect or blameless.
c. He walked with God.
d. He reared a godly family.
2. The character of mankind (v.11-12).
a. Man was corrupt.
b. Man had filled the earth with violence.
c. Man was seen by God.
d. Man had corrupted his way upon earth.
Broadly speaking this section deals with the necessary preparations for the flood. The reasons for the flood are given in verses 9‑12. Revelation concerning the flood is given to Noah in verses 13‑21. The order to enter the ark is given in Genesis 7:1‑4. Genesis 6:22 and 7:5 records the obedience of Noah to the divine instructions.
Verses 9‑12 of chapter 6 and the concluding verses of chapter 8 are the most crucial of this passage because they underscore the reasons for the flood and God’s underlying purpose for history. For this reason we shall devote the majority of our attention to the introductory and concluding verses concerning the flood and to the New Testament passages dealing with this same subject.
While the flood was intended for the destruction of mankind, the ark was designed to save Noah and his family and to ensure the fulfillment of the divine purpose for the creation and the divine promise of salvation of Genesis 3:15. The key to our understanding of the event is to grasp the contrast between Noah and those of his generation.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God (Genesis 6:9).