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genesis chapter 6
Genesis chapter 6
We pick up soon after Cain has killed his brother Abel (which of course made him “UN-Abel” ha-ha). The next few chapters change gears and deal with the flood and the events surrounding it.
The general reaction to a worldwide flood by non-believers is one of absurdity. Even if it is accepted as an actual event, it is immediately dismissed as a supernatural event. Scientists will explain that a shift in the planet Venus caused this global event or that the “flood” was a more localized event rather than global. But those theories just don’t hold water (ha-ha “don’t hold water”).
There is an interesting fact about the global flood (and dragons as well), and that is, most all major civilizations throughout history have a global flood and dragons in their ancient beliefs and writings. Not just a few cultures but hundreds of them and all of them allude to a one time global flood (and dragons).
Why do I keep bringing up dragons? Because in the book of Job, the Leviathan is described just like we have come to visualize what a dragon would look like. In other words, dragons (yes, fire breathing reptiles), were at one time just a normal pre-flood occurrence.
Let’s begin reading as we start off with what is surely, to this day, a mysterious section of scripture.
Genesis 6:1-8
When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with[a] humans forever, for they are mortal[b]; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
As a Bible exposition writer I like to consider myself a realist. I want to relate to the reader and as such, I have to be able to say things like, “I don’t understand this part of scripture” or “not sure what God was trying to convey here.”
That being said, verses 1-4 are very interesting to say the least. I don’t really understand this part of scripture and I’m not sure what God was trying to convey here.
He refers to” daughters of men” and “sons of God” and these fantasy like creatures known only as “Nephilim”. God calls them “hero’s of old” and “men of renown”. Though we may not truly ever understand who these “men” were, one thing we can say is they are very much involved with, and perhaps greatly responsible for, the world wide destruction of the earth.
The Bible calls them Nephilim meaning giants. Some say that they were some kind of gods that intermarried with people. Others attribute them to fallen angels. Some say they were kings of other nations and not supernatural at all.
If we had to humanize this section, that is, view it strictly as an actual event, "sons of God" probably refers to inter-religious marriage and sexual relations. The line of Cain produced an anti-Christ spiritual line of people. To put it into applicable human understanding, God will never bless that type of union.
These “Hero’s of old” and “men of renown” meant they were dominating, warriors, merciless and tall. And in mortal mans eyes they were!
So God says this will not continue. Yes marriages of unequally yoked people still exist today and the results usually are not favorable. Good and evil can’t and never will coexist. To “marry” these two is to bring destruction upon the relationship.
This type of relationship led to the downfall of man and consequently the destruction of all the living…
Look at verse 5. The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
Please do not overlook those three little words…“every” “only” and “all”. They represent the incredible patience and mercy of God. They declare the long suffering of our God. God never doles out judgment or punishment prior the exhausting every possible attempt to correct your behavior. It was not until every inclination was only evil all the time, which he sends the destruction.
Sin has shifted from personal to universal. The word “Earth” is used 8 times in verses 1-13. Here is the application we need to grasp and understand about the nature of God…
Gods wrath only falls upon complete depravity.
In the same sentence we must add…
But his mercy, compassion and grace endures where there is still hope.
Things may be bad right now in our world, but there is still hope for people. Even when we read of the impending world demise in Revelations, the withdrawal of God’s spirit , His people have been raptured, the two witnesses are killed, then, even then, there is still hope.
When there is no goodness left, when all the thoughts of all the people are evil all the time, only then does he destroy the wicked. The totally wicked world whose EVERY INCLINATION OF HEART WAS ONLY EVIL ALL THE TIME.
Jesus had this to say...
Matthew 24:37-39
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
*** Gods wrath falls upon complete depravity***
So God’s heart is grieved (verse 6) but not repented as some translation imply. Repentant implies a mistake has been made. God was in pain and broken hearted. So He says His spirit will not contend with mans spirit forever (verse 3). God told man to fill the Earth and multiply and that’s what man did.
His spirit will not contend with mans spirit forever. What does this mean? I am not completely sure. Did the Holy Spirit leave in garden? Did it remain partly? I believe God removed mans ability to change or to love apart from the Spirit of God.
I did not know love apart from knowing God. I thought I did. I thought I could change areas of my life without God, and in some ways I could, but it was never real, never genuine and it never seemed to last. Only by the Holy Spirit are we truly able to love or truly change.
Zechariah 4:6
'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.
Whatever the meaning of God’s Spirit no longer contending with man’s this truth still applies…
***The flood did not change human nature, only the Spirit of God can do that***
Only through Jesus can we obtain the Holy Spirit. Through the flood God erased sinner with the sins. Born again believers also have their sins erased but they remain to do his will. Let's read on...
Genesis 6:9-21
9 This is the account of Noah and his family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[c] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[d]16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”
Note that the children of the unholy unions were corrupt while those of righteous Noah were spared along with him. So God prepares Noah to be saved along with his family while every other living thing is destroyed, except…well, take a look at verse 17 again.
17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.
Now maybe I am reading too much into it but, the Spirit of God was very active during creation and as we have seen. The Spirit was also very active in the flood as well. The water creatures seemed to be sparred. God said he was going to destroy everything that had “breath”, was “under the heavens” and “everything on Earth”.
Perhaps evil did not penetrate into the sea. Sin, temptation, evil deeds even motives of heart and thoughts of the mind did not infiltrate the sea.
In Genesis 2 the Bible says the “Spirit of God was hovering over the water.” It’s as if the Spirit of God was covering the water, protecting it. When Jesus came He brought the Holy Spirit. Every believer is endowed with the Holy Spirit or “Living Water” (Jesus’ words not mine). Prior to His coming, John and others baptized in water but Jesus often said…
Acts 1:4-5
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
Do you see where I am going with this? Just as the creatures of the sea were shielded from sin by the Spirit of God and thus survived the wrath of God (I.E. the flood), so too are we shielded from God’s wrath by the protection we also find in the Holy Spirit. We have Protection over sin and we have power over sin, use it!
Let’s talk about the Ark. This is not fiction, not fantasy. Someone says, “How could it be real? Dinosaurs, floods, waterproof ark?” Let’s talk about some of the realistic possibilities that this whole ark and flood thing could be real.
In closing consider the last verse of this chapter…
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
There were no questions, no pleading and no altering, just simple obedience. He didn’t think how was this going to be done or when he would have time or worry about how to get material, just simple obedience.
Perhaps this attitude of heart is what God found to be righteous in Noah. Perhaps this is the attitude of heart we all need to adopt. Simple Obedience!
Be Blessed
We pick up soon after Cain has killed his brother Abel (which of course made him “UN-Abel” ha-ha). The next few chapters change gears and deal with the flood and the events surrounding it.
The general reaction to a worldwide flood by non-believers is one of absurdity. Even if it is accepted as an actual event, it is immediately dismissed as a supernatural event. Scientists will explain that a shift in the planet Venus caused this global event or that the “flood” was a more localized event rather than global. But those theories just don’t hold water (ha-ha “don’t hold water”).
There is an interesting fact about the global flood (and dragons as well), and that is, most all major civilizations throughout history have a global flood and dragons in their ancient beliefs and writings. Not just a few cultures but hundreds of them and all of them allude to a one time global flood (and dragons).
Why do I keep bringing up dragons? Because in the book of Job, the Leviathan is described just like we have come to visualize what a dragon would look like. In other words, dragons (yes, fire breathing reptiles), were at one time just a normal pre-flood occurrence.
Let’s begin reading as we start off with what is surely, to this day, a mysterious section of scripture.
Genesis 6:1-8
When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with[a] humans forever, for they are mortal[b]; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
As a Bible exposition writer I like to consider myself a realist. I want to relate to the reader and as such, I have to be able to say things like, “I don’t understand this part of scripture” or “not sure what God was trying to convey here.”
That being said, verses 1-4 are very interesting to say the least. I don’t really understand this part of scripture and I’m not sure what God was trying to convey here.
He refers to” daughters of men” and “sons of God” and these fantasy like creatures known only as “Nephilim”. God calls them “hero’s of old” and “men of renown”. Though we may not truly ever understand who these “men” were, one thing we can say is they are very much involved with, and perhaps greatly responsible for, the world wide destruction of the earth.
The Bible calls them Nephilim meaning giants. Some say that they were some kind of gods that intermarried with people. Others attribute them to fallen angels. Some say they were kings of other nations and not supernatural at all.
If we had to humanize this section, that is, view it strictly as an actual event, "sons of God" probably refers to inter-religious marriage and sexual relations. The line of Cain produced an anti-Christ spiritual line of people. To put it into applicable human understanding, God will never bless that type of union.
These “Hero’s of old” and “men of renown” meant they were dominating, warriors, merciless and tall. And in mortal mans eyes they were!
So God says this will not continue. Yes marriages of unequally yoked people still exist today and the results usually are not favorable. Good and evil can’t and never will coexist. To “marry” these two is to bring destruction upon the relationship.
This type of relationship led to the downfall of man and consequently the destruction of all the living…
Look at verse 5. The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
Please do not overlook those three little words…“every” “only” and “all”. They represent the incredible patience and mercy of God. They declare the long suffering of our God. God never doles out judgment or punishment prior the exhausting every possible attempt to correct your behavior. It was not until every inclination was only evil all the time, which he sends the destruction.
Sin has shifted from personal to universal. The word “Earth” is used 8 times in verses 1-13. Here is the application we need to grasp and understand about the nature of God…
Gods wrath only falls upon complete depravity.
In the same sentence we must add…
But his mercy, compassion and grace endures where there is still hope.
Things may be bad right now in our world, but there is still hope for people. Even when we read of the impending world demise in Revelations, the withdrawal of God’s spirit , His people have been raptured, the two witnesses are killed, then, even then, there is still hope.
When there is no goodness left, when all the thoughts of all the people are evil all the time, only then does he destroy the wicked. The totally wicked world whose EVERY INCLINATION OF HEART WAS ONLY EVIL ALL THE TIME.
Jesus had this to say...
Matthew 24:37-39
As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
*** Gods wrath falls upon complete depravity***
So God’s heart is grieved (verse 6) but not repented as some translation imply. Repentant implies a mistake has been made. God was in pain and broken hearted. So He says His spirit will not contend with mans spirit forever (verse 3). God told man to fill the Earth and multiply and that’s what man did.
His spirit will not contend with mans spirit forever. What does this mean? I am not completely sure. Did the Holy Spirit leave in garden? Did it remain partly? I believe God removed mans ability to change or to love apart from the Spirit of God.
I did not know love apart from knowing God. I thought I did. I thought I could change areas of my life without God, and in some ways I could, but it was never real, never genuine and it never seemed to last. Only by the Holy Spirit are we truly able to love or truly change.
Zechariah 4:6
'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.
Whatever the meaning of God’s Spirit no longer contending with man’s this truth still applies…
***The flood did not change human nature, only the Spirit of God can do that***
Only through Jesus can we obtain the Holy Spirit. Through the flood God erased sinner with the sins. Born again believers also have their sins erased but they remain to do his will. Let's read on...
Genesis 6:9-21
9 This is the account of Noah and his family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[c] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[d]16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”
Note that the children of the unholy unions were corrupt while those of righteous Noah were spared along with him. So God prepares Noah to be saved along with his family while every other living thing is destroyed, except…well, take a look at verse 17 again.
17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.
Now maybe I am reading too much into it but, the Spirit of God was very active during creation and as we have seen. The Spirit was also very active in the flood as well. The water creatures seemed to be sparred. God said he was going to destroy everything that had “breath”, was “under the heavens” and “everything on Earth”.
Perhaps evil did not penetrate into the sea. Sin, temptation, evil deeds even motives of heart and thoughts of the mind did not infiltrate the sea.
In Genesis 2 the Bible says the “Spirit of God was hovering over the water.” It’s as if the Spirit of God was covering the water, protecting it. When Jesus came He brought the Holy Spirit. Every believer is endowed with the Holy Spirit or “Living Water” (Jesus’ words not mine). Prior to His coming, John and others baptized in water but Jesus often said…
Acts 1:4-5
On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
Do you see where I am going with this? Just as the creatures of the sea were shielded from sin by the Spirit of God and thus survived the wrath of God (I.E. the flood), so too are we shielded from God’s wrath by the protection we also find in the Holy Spirit. We have Protection over sin and we have power over sin, use it!
Let’s talk about the Ark. This is not fiction, not fantasy. Someone says, “How could it be real? Dinosaurs, floods, waterproof ark?” Let’s talk about some of the realistic possibilities that this whole ark and flood thing could be real.
- The measurements. If you created a boat using the biblical measurements, you would have a structure that could literally rock back and forth almost completely perpendicular with the water and yet not tip over. Remember the old commercial jingle? “Weebles wobble but they wont fall down.” Noah was the first “ARKitect” (sorry).
- The ark size was equivalent to 522 railroad cars which in turn could accommodate 125,000 sheep. Not hard to believe all the animals could fit in that space.
- There probably were no subspecies or large animals on board. Even the elephants and dinosaurs were probably small ones or babies.
- The climate, pre-flood, made all animals indigenous to the area, not like today where certain animals can only live in certain places. So the likelihood of “all” animals being near the ark is plausible indeed.
- Even animals that may have been geographically distant would have migrated to the ark because God placed migration instincts into many animals.
- Hibernation phenomenon. Truly the animals that hibernate today can be called almost miraculous. For an animal to lay still and dormant, not drinking or eating for extended periods of time is amazing. This phenomenon could have affected all the animals in the ark.
In closing consider the last verse of this chapter…
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
There were no questions, no pleading and no altering, just simple obedience. He didn’t think how was this going to be done or when he would have time or worry about how to get material, just simple obedience.
Perhaps this attitude of heart is what God found to be righteous in Noah. Perhaps this is the attitude of heart we all need to adopt. Simple Obedience!
Be Blessed
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