Genesis 6--Corruption Leading to Catastrophe

Genesis 6 English Standard Version (ESV)
LISTEN:  https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Gen.6​
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Increasing Corruption on Earth
6 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah and the Flood
9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
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11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. 21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” 22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

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Let's deal with an issue from this passage.  I'll admit up-front that I don't know exactly what the phrases "sons of God" or "Nephilim" mean (and please don't pretend that you do either).  There are some good commentaries out there with some good ideas from some great Bible teachers, but that's all that they are--commentaries and the ideas of men.  The phrase "sons of God" is a little easier than "Nephilim," but it could have at least three meanings (maybe more).  Which meaning you choose here is not important to this text, nor is knowing the meaning of the word "Nephilim."  Because they are not of vital importance, and this is the story of Noah and not the "sons of God" or the "Nephilim," we're going to use the principle here that we should focus on the main story and the words that we do understand and see if they bring other other words into focus or maybe those other words don't change the meaning of what's going on.

The main point that we see in the first part of this passage is that there is corruption, and from the sounds of it, there is some kind of sexual immorality going on here.  The phrase "took as wives any that they chose" may indicate that like Lamech, the men were taking multiple wives.  Men seemed to be focused on pleasure and what we might call Hedonism.  Notice the language of verse 5.  Not only the actions of men were evil, but every thought of of man was continuously evil.  Every thought and intention of man stood in opposition to God always all the time.

Out of God's goodness and grace, He made it so that man would now live only a short time (in comparison to the lifespans of those that we've read about in Genesis 5) and said that their days will be kept to 120 years.  It is also at this time that God was saddened (grieved) that He had ever created mankind, and since our sin had ruined all living things, God was ready to wipe out all life and start over again, but God will not destroy the righteous with the wicked, and there was one righteous man on the earth--Noah.

God then sets up to make a plan to save Noah and his family by telling Noah to build an ark and to explain to Noah that He will be bringing about a Flood that will destroy all of the life on earth save those who are inside the protection of the ark.  God would bring all the animals that would be saved into the ark, but the men must make a choice whether to enter the ark or not.  God already knew that Noah and his family would be the only ones to enter, but we'll see that Noah preached the message of repentance and salvation to everyone around him (the whole known world at that time) and the ark he was building was a testimony that he believed in the coming judgment and the salvation that was promised.  God held back His judgment for hundreds of years while the ark was being built until the way of salvation was complete, and God would bring forth all that He promised--salvation for those inside the ark and destruction to those that were outside of the ark of salvation.

We are in a similar kind of world today.  The thoughts of the people are moving towards the place where they are again always evil all the time.  God has once again promised a coming judgement, but this time it will not be a flood that destroys the world, but a judgment of fire as all of creation will burn with a fervent heat so hot that the elements themselves will melt and everything will be destroyed until only God and His throne remain and all souls will stand before Him in judgment.  This is the fate of all those who are outside of Christ (our Ark of Salvation) when the end comes.  Before that time though there are other impending judgments that will serve as a warning to those that are still alive, but they will not heed the warnings because they will hate God and the men of that day will love the darkness that they live in, and this time of Tribulation will serve to show that God's coming judgment is just.  And God will create a new heaven and a new earth that will literally be heaven on earth for all those who are kept safe in Christ.

Keep this image in your mind as we continue to study about the Ark and the Flood as we see that it parallels the story of salvation offered through the Cross to all men, but also gives warning of the pending total destruction of the world because God's wrath will not be held back forever.