Today we will begin in chapter 6 of Genesis.
Genesis 6:1 “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the
face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,” Genesis 6:2 “That
the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they [were] fair; and they
took them wives of all which they chose.”
These few words probably have the greatest variety of opinions than any
other portion of the Bible. Some believe that these daughters of men were
the children of the fallen angels when Lucifer fell from heaven. Some
believe that the sons of God were angel beings who helped populate the
earth. There are so many opinions. I will not go into all that here. It is
unimportant where they came from. I will give my opinion, then go on. The
most logical explanation to me is that Seth’s descendents (sons of God)
married Cain’s descendents (daughters of men) and bare children. We had
already mentioned that Seth’s line was Godly and Cain’s worldly. These
people probably had 20 or 30 children each. It wouldn’t take long at that
rate to multiply into a vast number. We will see 70 go into Egypt and become
approximately three million. All we need to know here was that they didn’t
marry their sisters.
Anytime you see worldly people marry into a family of believers, it is
difficult for the believing spouses to stay faithful to God. Evil destroys
good.
Genesis 6:3 “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with
man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and
twenty years.”
God saw these people were multiplying so fast and were getting involved
with those of unbelief, so he declared, I won’t leave you very much time to
get into all these temptations. I will reduce your time upon the earth.
Instead of living seven or eight hundred years, as they had before, their
lifetime was reduced to 120 years. God was fast losing patience with
mankind. I believe these years were literal years.
Mixed marriages are not pleasing to God. God does not approve of
believers marrying worldly people, and this was just what was going on. We
read over and over “be not unequally yoked with infidels”. Again we read,
“what fellowship has the light with darkness?” Marriage in the Lord will not
be like this. Man was allowing fleshly desires to rule over him.
Genesis 6:4 “There were giants in the earth in those days; and also
after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they
bare [children] to them, the same [became] mighty men which [were] of old,
men of renown.”
I am not certain whether this “giants” meant physical stature, or
whether it meant men like Enoch and Noah who were giants of faith. Perhaps
these people were larger of stature than we are. This very long life and
hard work would tend to need a larger body.
We do know that years later Saul, who became the first king of Israel,
was tall. An even taller man was Goliath. Even today, in certain parts of
the world, there are very large framed people, and in contrast there are
very small people called pygmies. In our own family one of my cousins was 7
feet 2 inches tall. By modern standards, that is very tall.
Looking at the standpoint of giants in character, we do see in the
descendents of Seth a group of people whose morals were above others of
their day. I really tend to believe, because of the statement “mighty men,
which were of old, men of renown”, that it was speaking more of character
than size.
Genesis 6:5 “And God saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the
earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [was] only
evil continually.”
Beautiful women can easily turn the head of a good man and corrupt him,
as Solomon was corrupted by his many wives. One sin leads to another. Soon,
sin will grow so that it will become a habit, and cause a depraved mind. God
judges the heart, and in the Scripture above, more than the deeds, God saw
that their heart was stayed upon sin.
Genesis 6:6 “And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the
earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”
So many parents today are so saddened by the lives of their children
that they wish they had never had children. They can bring so much joy when
things are right, but so much sorrow when they go bad. God made man so He
might fellowship with them. What a heartbreaking thing for them to turn away
from their Creator and desire things of this world over God. I hurt with God
in this.
Genesis 6:7 “And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created
from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and
the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.”
Here God’s hurt and disappointment in mankind overflowed. He said He
would destroy them. You see the animals, fowls, etc., were made for the use
of man. There would be no need for them if Man was destroyed.
Not only had mankind gotten into every type of sin, but also which was
worse, man stopped fellowshiping with God. Seth’s descendents were now
fellowshiping with Cain’s descendents. God was about to reverse this whole
situation and do away with His creation.
Genesis 6:8 “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”
God loved Noah and God would take care of Noah. “Where sin doth abound,
the grace of God doth much more abound”. In the next few verses, we will see
that Noah loved and respected God. Noah tried to live as nearly right as he
could and still be in the flesh. So many people do not understand grace,
they believe “saved by grace” gives them the license to do anything they
want to, and still be saved. Grace has even more requirements than the law.
God not only wants us to have the form of religion, as they did with the
law, keeping the ordinances, but God wants us to have pure thoughts coming
from a pure heart. He wants us to desire fellowship with Him so much that it
is the most important thing in our lives.
Genesis 6:9 “These [are] the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man
[and] perfect in his generations, [and] Noah walked with God.” Genesis 6:10
“And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”
Noah was a just man seeking to please God. God blessed him with three
sons.
Genesis 6:11 “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was
filled with violence.”
It seems that masses of people were involved in every type of sin.
Brother was killing brother. It seemed this Cain group had polluted the Seth
descendents and violence and crime was rampant. Except for Noah, it seemed
everyone was involved. Verse 12 tells how universal it was.
Genesis 6:12 “And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was
corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.”
We might say that about the earth now. There is crime on every hand. So
many abominable things to God prevail today. Rape, incest. homosexuality,
murder, stealing, lying, cheating, adultery, disobeying parents, drugs,
alcohol, filthy movies and television are common. About the only way you can
raise children to be Christians in this society today would be to totally
isolate them from this evil and corrupt generation. The rock music alone can
pervert a child’s mind so badly, that he or she may never be able to
function as a Christian. Most who listen to the subliminal messages of this
music cannot face reality of any kind, much less make firm decisions as a
Christian. Our society has gone mad and God will not tolerate it. We must
realize that God is angry, and unless we repent as a nation, we will see
something much worse than the flood, because our sins are more perverted
than theirs. It seems there are no modern-day Noahs, who have walked
uprightly before God.
Genesis 6:13 “And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come
before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold,
I will destroy them with the earth.”
The forces of nature are subject to God. If you will notice here, God
was going to destroy them with the very thing that meant more to them than
He did. You see, they had their eyes and their hearts caught up in the
things of this earth; so God would destroy them with the earth. He was
telling Noah, I am going to wipe them off the face of the earth. We will see
in verse 14, God provided a way out for all who earnestly seek to please
Him.
Genesis 6:14 “Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make
in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.”
We have heard so many preachers talk about this ark of safety. I think
we should look at the physical and the spiritual implications this ark holds
for all of us today.
If we are right with God, there is a way out of every problem that we
face. Our ark of safety is belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. As this ark
saved Noah and his family, Jesus Christ will save us and our families. One
thing that really concerns me today is that we are not building our ark as
God commanded Noah to do. Some are being saved, but very few are shoring up
the sides and thoroughly preparing for the disaster. Noah was not saved from
the flood, he was saved in it. We have a Brill Cream religion – a little dab
will do you!
Noah worked continuously preparing. He never questioned whether God had
told him the truth or not. He went diligently to work. God had a perfect
plan for the ark. He has a perfect plan for us, too. Noah had an attribute
that many could take a lesson from today. He took instruction well. When God
spoke, he listened. So many of us will not slow down enough for God to
speak, and even if He does, we seldom listen. We are a generation that does
not like to be instructed. Our hearing apparatus in the heart is coated over
with cares of this world. How many people even bother to read God’s word:
to fellowship with God, we must get into His Word. I hear people say ” I
don’t understand the Bible”. Get some help. get in a good Bible study and
start digging. The best treasures are not on the surface. All is not lost,
if we will just heed the Scripture in II Chronicles 7:14 “If my people,
which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my
face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and
will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
We, Christians, are God’s people who are called by Christ’s name. Such
an arrogant generation. How can we humble ourselves? Not many people will
even admit to praying at home. and even fewer pray in public. We won’t find
God’s face out playing golf, at football and baseball games, hunting, and
all the other places that we put ahead of God. If our people would read the
Bible and pray even half the time that they watch television, it would
really get God’s attention. It is very plain what God would have us do.
Become new creatures in the Lord Jesus Christ, put God ahead of everything
else and then, He will hear us, forgive us, and save us and our land.