Read: Genesis 6
The first few
verses of Genesis six give us background on why the flood was necessary. It tells of the moral corruption that had
been going on in the earth, which was staggering (v. 5). Yet, even in the midst of this moral failure
and the evil that was escalating on the earth, God gave them 120 years to
repent (v. 3). Verse 6 tells us that God
was grieved by all the evil on the earth and that His heart was filled with
pain. What had happened to His beautiful
creation? The first few verses of this
chapter mention several beings that walked the earth at that time. First we read of men (v. 1), then we read that
these men had daughters (v. 1) which are referred to as “daughters of men” (v.
2). Verse two also speaks of a third
being, the “sons of God”. Who are these
“sons of God”? This phrase is only used
in the Old Testament and in every place in Scripture where it is used it means
angelic beings, not human beings (see Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:1-7; Psalm 82:1-7; Deut.
32:8; Dan. 10:13-14, 20-21). So what is
going on here is that fallen and powerful angelic beings had sex with women and
impregnated them bringing forth incredibly evil hybrid offspring called
Nephilim (v. 4). This was a direct
perversion of God’s creation! Satan was
actively trying to corrupt the bloodline of man so that there would be no
Messiah to crush his head (Gen. 3:15).
The Messiah had to be 100% human (we also know that He was 100% God)!
These events were so wicked that the New Testament tells us that God had to
lock up all the angels who participated in them and that they still sit
chained, waiting for judgment (1 Peter 3:18-20; 2 Peter 2:4-5; Jude 1:6).
These demonic hybrid offspring were the “heroes of old, men of renown” (v. 4). What’s going on here? It is commonly thought that some of the ancient
legends and pagan mythologies about super-humans and god-men are probably
loosely based on some of these demonic giants (Greek mythology concerning evil
characters like Achilles and Ajax and Zeus and that sort of thing). Yet even throughout all this corruption, we
see God’s grace, goodness and love. He
did not judge the world immediately but rather called
Enoch to be a prophet and name his son Methuselah which we learned means “his death shall bring”. This prophetic name spoke loudly about the
coming judgement of God. When Methuselah
died, God would judge the earth! Do you
think it’s a coincidence that Methuselah was the oldest man to ever live? God gave the people of the earth 969 years to
repent! As Methuselah got older and
closer to death Noah, his grandson, began to build an ark – further warning
that judgment was coming. Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord (v. 8); he was righteous,
blameless and walked with God (v. 9).
God told Noah of His plans to destroy the earth and commanded him to
build an ark (v. 14) and gave Noah the specifications (v. 15-16). God then established a covenant with Noah (v.
19) and commanded him to bring two of all living creatures into the ark to keep
them alive and to collect food to be eaten for all of them (v. 21). Noah obeyed everything that God commanded him
(v. 22).
Throughout history, people have attacked the story
of the flood saying that God would have to be an immoral God, an angry and
violent and murderous God, to wipe out the entire human race, except for one
family, with a flood. But when we understand
the background of what’s going on here we realize that this flood wasn’t God
killing humanity, but God SAVING humanity.
Human beings had a choice to either follow totally evil demonic
super-beings or they could follow the one true God. Through the influence of
these demonic beings humanity was becoming unbelievably corrupted and turning
to wickedness. If God would have let it continue the whole human race would
have been sucked in, and the Messianic bloodline destroyed causing humanity to
be lost forever. The flood was God’s mercy in saving mankind from the Devil’s
plan of domination and destruction.
Prayer and Journaling
1. God
was grieved and filled with pain over the evil on the earth (v. 6). We too live in a world full of evil. Marriages are falling apart, sexual sin is
rampant, babies are aborted, and additions are increasing as teens experiment
with drugs and alcohol. This is not
God’s plan for His creation! Yet do
Christians feel pain over the evil in our world? Do they grieve over the sin that is
widespread? God’s grief shows that He
cares, that He loves us and that He desires us to walk with Him. Ask the Lord to awaken His children to how
terrible sin is and how appalling the effects of sin are. Pray that your heart would be softened so
that you will grieve over your sin and the sins of our nation. Pray for a heart of love and care for those
who are destined for an eternity in hell.
2. In
Genesis 6 we see how Satan tried to pervert humanity and corrupt mankind. He is still at work today trying to take what
God has made as pure and pervert it.
Impurity is rampant in our society, especially sexual impurity. Yet sex and sexuality were created by God. They are lovely and good.
Common forms of sexual impurity:
TV, movies, coarse joking, pornography, same sex relationships, sexy novels,
immodest dressing, adultery, fornication, voyeurism, lustful thoughts,
masturbation, bestiality, mooning and many more sexual impurities.
God calls us to guard our hearts
against impurity. We cannot allow even
the smallest vile thing into our minds and into our homes.
a. Ask the Lord to show you any areas where you
have sexual impurity in your life even if it is in the smallest form. Don’t make excuses, just write it down in
your journal.
b. Pray
a prayer of confession, confessing your sin and admitting that this is sin.
c. Thank the Lord for His forgiveness.
d. Ask
the Lord to show you what you can do today in order to flee from sexual
impurity. For example, what TV shows do
you need to stop watching? What about
movies? Or environments? Etc.
3. God
is good! Even in the mist of the
perversions of Genesis 6, He shows His love and grace in not judging the world
immediately but giving people time to repent.
Thank Him for His goodness.
Praise Him for His grace and forgiveness. Ask Him to impress on your
heart how good He has been to you!
