A man once ignored every warning that a flood was coming. The forecasts were repeated over and over, but the skies were still blue, the sun was still shining, and life felt normal. His neighbors laughed at those who were preparing. Why waste time getting ready for something that had never happened before?
Then one day the rain began. At first it seemed harmless. But the water kept rising. The laughter stopped. The excuses disappeared. Suddenly, the only thing that mattered was who had listened and who had not.
It is crucial we choose to listen to God and follow Him.
Sin Corrupts
Genesis 6:1-7. Chapter 6 begins with a mysterious revelation in the first 4 verses. It says, “the sons of God saw the daughters of men” and married them. We will not take a lot of time here, but I do want to give the theories of interpretation for these verses. There are 3 views of this passage:
1. The “sons of God” are believed to be fallen angels; however, the Bible gives no indication that angels are able to reproduce or to have intimate relationships with human women. Also, there is nothing in the passage to indicate the “sons of God” are identified as angels.
2. The “sons of God” (also referred to as the Nephilim) are fallen angels or demons who possessed human men to attempt to keep the crushing of the serpent and Genesis 3:15 from taking place by corrupting the human race. Although this makes it possible for these men to be able to have relationships with these women, there is nothing in the passage that suggests demon possession (but other times demon possession is recorded in scripture, it is described as such).
3. The final view sees “the sons of God” as giants among humanity. The passage is clear about giants among them (Gen. 6:4). We can also note that Ken Ham (the founder of Answers in Genesis) believes the “sons of God” in Genesis 6 are the sons of Seth and the “daughters of men” are the ungodly offspring of Cain. This would then mean marriages between believers and unbelievers and it led to increasing wickedness before the flood. You can read more about Ken Ham’s view in this article: click here.
Genesis 6:5. One thing is clear – “the wickedness of man was great in the earth!” The corruption was so widespread that “every imagination of mankind’s heart was only evil continually.”
The thing we tend to forget (and that we are often surprised by) is that sin spreads farther and faster than we expect! Here is the transforming truth we cannot forget:
…since God is holy, He must judge sin.
We may choose to embrace immorality, profanity, lying, idolatry (putting anything before God), gossip, bitterness, hate, and a hot temper – but we will not be able to ignore the one true holy God forever! There is coming a day that every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord (Phil. 2:9-11). If you ignore the holy God in this life, you will come to regret it in eternity!
Man Chooses
Genesis 6:8-12 - “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” Everyone around Noah was “only evil continually!” Verse 11 emphasizes the evil and says, “the earth was corrupt before God…and filled with violence.” In fact, in Genesis 6:6, it says, “it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth.” This passage is not saying God changed His mind. The Hebrew word translated “repented” in the King James Version actually means pain, sadness, or unhappiness. This is why other modern translations translate that Hebrew word with “regretted” (ESV) and “was sorry” (NASB, NKJV). This does not mean that God feels He made a mistake or He wishes He had done something different. This passage is experiencing grief and sorrow without implying an error.
I remember when our second oldest child was younger than 3 months old and was very sick. He was admitted into Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee for a few days. While we were in the ER, the doctors needed to do a spinal tap and asked me to hold him down so that he didn’t move during the procedure. You can imagine our little boy was crying and pretty upset! I was grieved over his pain, but in no way did I believe this was the wrong decision. This was sorrow without thinking it was a mistake.
What this verse does mean is that God is not pleased with the current state of mankind. So, God is grieved, but mankind does NOT grieve over their sin. Noah lived in a VERY corrupt culture. Yet, he walked with God when NO ONE ELSE would walk with God. What is keeping you from walking with God? Choose to follow Him today!
Verse 7 then reveals that God decides to destroy humanity and every creeping thing off the face of the earth, with one exception: Noah. Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord (6:8). Very few people in the Old Testament are said to have found favor with God. Noah was one of them. This would be the difference between life and death for the future of the human race! Your walk with God will make an impact on your generation!
God Saves
Genesis 6:13-22; 7:1-24. In Genesis 6:13, God begins a conversation with Noah. This is a mind blowing dialogue! Noah finds out:
The end of all flesh is near (6:13)
The earth is filled with violence (6:13)
God is going destroy them all (6:13)
Noah is to build an ark. God gives the specs to Noah. It would be 90 feet longer than a football field and three stories high! (6:14-16)
God speaks of a worldwide flood (6:18)
God will save Noah’s family and make a covenant with him (6:18)
God has a plan for saving the future of His creation (6:19-21)
Wow!! Can you imagine what was going through Noah’s mind at those moments? The Bible doesn’t tell us his thoughts, but we do know one important thing -- Noah obeyed God.
We often have a laundry list of reasons why we cannot obey God right now, don’t we? It’s too hard. It takes too long. It’s too lonely. It’s too scary. Too many disapprove of it. It’s too impossible! Noah was facing all of those reasons, but the only answer we read is that Noah obeyed. I can guarantee you that those who disobeyed God were not happy, comfortable, or thrilled when the rains started and flood waters rose!
Trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey!
Genesis 7:1-9 begins with God calling Noah, his family, and the animals into the ark (2 pairs of unclean animals, 7 pairs of clean animals, and 7 pairs of birds…6:19-20; 7:2-3, 9). Once again, in verse 5, we are told Noah obeys, specifically, Noah “did all that the Lord commanded him.”
Then the floods came...7 days after they went inside the ark. Look at the description of this flood in Genesis 7:11, “the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.” What a sight of horror that must have been for those who rejected God!
7:12 tells us the floods remained on the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.
7:17 tells us the moment the massive ark was lifted off the ground by the water.
7:19-20 reveals that the waters were so deep that even the highest hills were covered and the waters even were 22 feet above those hills! There was no place for a person to escape the devastation!
7:21-23 finalizes the scene and declares nothing survived the flood that was outside of the ark. Only those inside the ark were safe when judgment came!
Noah’s family was only saved through the means God provided. There is coming a day when God’s age of grace will end, the church will be called to heaven, and those who remain will suffer the torment of God’s judgment in the time of tribulation described in the book of Revelations. After the 7 years of tribulation on earth, all who rejected Jesus will face the Great White Throne Judgment, Jesus will say those haunting words, “depart from me for I never knew you,” and those who rejected Jesus will be cast into the eternal judgment called hell.
God always provides a way of rescue for those who trust Him. What are you waiting for? Choose to cast your faith in Jesus and join the heavenly choirs singing,
My faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine!
Now hear me while I pray, take all my guilt away;
O let me from this day be wholly Thine.