Genesis 6 Bible Study

hello and welcome to the next part of our series chapter a day going through the book of Genesis today we read in Genesis chapter 6 where we enter into the narrative of the flood story so this is in Genesis chapter 6 we find ourselves in the flood prologue if you've been following along with our series you know the events that have happened how we saw God beginning to reveal himself through his special revelation in his word as he described the creation of the universe we saw the creation of humankind and our original creation purpose as image bearers of God to reveal his character and his nature to the created universe we encountered the events that led to human the human fall and our entrance into the mastery by sin and we've followed through the generations and seeing how humankind has been moving and now we come to chapter 6 so without further ado let's get right into the chapter when man began to multiply on the face of the land and the daughters were born to them the sons of God saw the daughters of men were attractive and they took them as their wives any they chose so we come to the beginning of this description that humankind is fulfilling part of its creation purpose and that we have multiplication we have this sense that people are finding spouses and they're having children but there is a sense even in this aspect of the fulfillment of the original creation purpose there is something wrong with humanity and God begins to speak here in verse 3 then the Lord said and here its capital L capital o capital R capital D the covenant God Yahweh the Lord said my spirit shall not abide in man forever for he is flesh his day shall be a hundred and twenty years so as we saw in the earlier chapter when we went through that genealogy we saw the extended lifespans of the people that were mentioned here now God makes a statement this is part of the consequences of human sin God says here basically the death will become more pronounced we will not as human beings enjoy the longevity of physical life but physical death will now come nearer to us so that the average lifespan a long life now for a human being will be a hundred and twenty years it's interesting as we think about that and move forward in the narrative we think through human history this has been the cap for human life through much of human history this has been actually beyond many cultures at many times it's been much less than that but even in our days of with modern science and health methods and being able to to deal with many things that impact human lifespan we still find this to be the ultimate cap of these many years so God does this to people as a natural consequence of the sin that we have entered into he says that the spirit that he gave us in giving us life is not going to stay with us a long time this is a reminder of our state before God and then we continued the Nephilim were in the earth in those days and afterward when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them these were mighty men who were of old the men of renown now we need to pause here for a moment at verse 4 because there's some interesting things here we don't want to get bogged down at them but we want to look at them we see phrases that have appeared in this chapter one of them is the expression pardon me for a moment here we see the expression sons of God daughters of men and then we have this term that's left as a Hebrew term the nepheline and we're told that the sons of God are having sexual relations with the daughters of men and then we're told that the Nephilim are in existence at this time and so there's been much speculation over the centuries is what the writer is trying to communicate here so I'm going to tell you some of the thoughts that people have had on this but we're not going to spend a lot of time on it we don't to get bogged down on it but you need to know some of the thoughts the first question that has arisen is who are the sons of God so option a would be that the sons of God refer to those people who were following in the ways of God so for instance Enoch who walked with God those people who were still being faithful to the God who created them so we'll call these godly men and then some have said well then what's this difference of the daughters of men so some have speculated that the daughters of men referred to for instance the descendants of Cain or descendants of those who had turned away from God and we're told that the sons of God had relations with the daughters of men so the question is well what does that mean and the thought coming out of that is that then those who are following God began to have marital relationships and began to build family with those who had turned away from God thus causing all to eventually turn away from God so that's one thought that would be the a thought the the other thought that people have shared about what's the significance of sons of God and daughters of men is that the sons of God are actually spiritual beings and that the daughters of men simply referred to human women with the idea that spiritual beings those of the angelic hosts those who rebelled against God with Lucifer and went down onto the earth some of them were able to materialize the take on human form and to be sexually active with human women and they produced from them this group referred to as the nepheline nepheline basically means and it's a difficult word to determine but the best meaning of the word seems to be the following so some have said that the reference to Nephilim is referring to back to sons of God the sons of God with a nepheline they were the Fallen ones those angels who had left their first estate and had been cast out and therefore they are having this these sexual relations producing offspring that are becoming this group of people on the earth the problem with that thinking is that part of the reason this thinking Part B has come out is tied to the idea of giants in the land that we read about here and then we hear reference to in the story of the children of Israel coming into the promised land and they said they saw evidence of the Nephilim there of these Giants in the land well the first problem with that line of thinking is that this is of course the flood prologue so all these people here with the exception of as we're soon going to see of Noah his wife is three sons and their wives all of these people are going to be destroyed off the face of the earth so to say we can determine who this group is based on the reference here in Genesis and then again in numbers doesn't work because whoever is here will not exist after the flood so I think there's actually a bit of there's some value in the aid argument here about those who are following God and those who were not and what was happening between them and what was happening to culture the idea of the Fallen ones the nepheline as we see here the Nephilim verse four were on the earth in those days and afterward when the sons of God came into the daughters of men and they bore children to them these were the mighty men who were of old the men of renown some have speculated that the Nephilim the fallen were indeed spiritual beings but they were not mating with human beings they were simply an evil influence in the world spiritually they were here they were helping to corrupt mankind further and further others would say that the Fallen were an evil influence but they weren't spiritual that the Nephilim who were in existence at the time were those who had so hardened their hearts toward God that they were actively seeking to live life in opposition to the will of God so these were many evil men seeking to corrupt these would have been those who would have stood out as it says these were the mighty men who were old the men of renown we often read those expressions and we immediately think of heroes but doesn't say they were heroes and says that they were mighty and they stood out they were remembered but they may have been remembered because of their evil and not because of their goodness as I said I don't want us to camp too long here the important thing that we need to grasp from this as we go through the beginning is again humankind was fulfilling its natural purpose and that they were multiplying on the earth they were entering into relationship but there was a problem with the relationships there was a problem with the people God has limited their lifespan he has brought death closer to them as a consequence of their sin and then we read in verse 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 that is a huge judgment on humankind when you read that this is the omnipotent the omniscient - the omnipresent God looking at humanity and making a declaration this declaration is being made so that the author can record it so that looking back we can understand the ways of God and it makes this statement this is the condition that humanity has reached wickedness was great on the earth and that every intention of the thoughts the thoughts of his heart this is speaking of man that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually this isn't saying that man didn't have good thoughts it isn't saying that there weren't people who were seeking to love one another and care for one another but the general framework of humanity had come to this that if to look at the earth the greatest thing that you would see on the earth and the relation of the peoples together on the earth his wickedness was great on the earth and every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually this is how far we had fallen from walking in the presence of God experiencing him face to face we had reached the point now over the centuries of coming to this point where wickedness was great on the earth and every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually it is important as we look at this if we take as our framework of time passing the genealogy that we looked at in chapter 5 that we can assume that we have now had over 1,500 years have passed since creation that being the case the population of the earth is huge and this is the general condition of the earth so we look at what God's response is to this and the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him to his heart 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 when we notice the wording here that we see of God's sharing his reaction to this to the wickedness it was great on the earth that man's every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually but we see of the Lord we see that he experiences regret grief and sorrow now these are all emotions which we as human beings can understand because they are part of our nature given to us to be the image bearer of God and now he is expressing this is how I feel about what has happened to the creation that I had pronounced very good there is regret there is grief in his heart and there is sorrow because this was not the intent though the Lord knowing all things knew the direction it would go it is still not the intent in creation not the intent for every human being that was not the intent it's difficult for us as human beings because we live in a situation where we do not know and understand all things and then appreciate and react to them in this case we have to look at this and understand that God is all-knowing and yet can experience these feelings genuinely regarding his creation and it doesn't limit his knowledge nor doesn't it limit his ability to feel to understand to grieve and so the Lord makes a declaration that declaration is destruction and if we look at this we understand what is happening here because the wages for sin never change throughout scripture so what is happening here is death that same consequence that man earned in his initial disobedience is being enacted again it was being enacted when god limits the lifespan of human beings it's being enacted in the pronouncement he is just made of bringing destruction on the earth to every living thing upon the earth he is simply acting out that consequence which man accepted upon himself for if you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil the day you eat of it you will surely die this we see his evidence of the first death we talked about a spiritual death these individuals on the earth are spiritually dead and removing themselves farther and farther from the nature character and will of God and that consequence for that leads to physical death but that's what is about to occur but then in the midst of this heavy pronouncement then in the midst of hearing these declarations that the wickedness was great on the earth that every intention of the thoughts of human heart was only evil continually we have this picture even as God displays his regret his grief and his sorrow and gives the pronouncement that destruction is necessary that the wages of this sin will be acted out in physical death we see this phrase in verse 8 but Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord so in the midst of all of this it is possible to find favor with God it is possible for someone to turn to God genuinely it is possible for that to happen in the midst of the conditions of the present world in the midst of this massive population that would have existed at the time that pursues wickedness and the inclinations of their hearts are evil continually in the in the face of this pronouncement of destruction and the vorenii of death it is possible to find favor with God God is looking for those who are kids we read in Scripture of the eyes of the Lord are looking to and fro of the earth seeking those who are his those who would turn to him even in their fallen state even in their weakness even in their brokenness who would seek the Lord and Noah finds favor with the Lord it's a picture of hope and what is a very dark very heavy passage these are the generations of Noah Noah was a righteous man so we learn about Noah here he was a righteous man he was blameless in his generation and he walked with God now at this point in Scripture this phrase has appeared only once before and that was in the previous chapter as we read about Enoch and Enoch walked with God and because Enoch walked with God he did not experience physical death but God took him so this reflects a long-term relationship with God blameless in his generation meant that among those he interacted with among those in his community he was known as someone who sought to live well with his fellow man as the image bearer he was fulfilling that mandate and we were told that he's a righteous man I know it's important to note it does not say here that he is sinless he is not sinless for only there was only one who was not sinless Adam in his created initial state was not sinless Eve Eve pardon me and Adam and Eve and the created state were innocent before the fall and did not have sinned but after the fall every human being is born in a state of sin every human being is under the mastery of sin Noah was in that state but he looked to God even in his brokenness he's looking forward to God and God credits his faith in him for righteousness God credits him his desire to follow God even in his sinfulness because we know that though he may have been blameless in his generation acting as the image bearer of God in his daily life the fact is there would still be sin present but he sought after God verse 10 and Noah had three sons Shem ham and Japheth now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and the earth was filled with violence so again in the narrative God is reinforcing through the writer an understanding of the condition of the world at the time when the flood would be brought that violence becomes sort of a focal point in the condition of the world those who were meant to live in harmony with each other reflecting the harmony that God would have with his people are now embroiled in violence and God saw the earth and behold it was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth 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 make yourself an ark of gopher wood make rooms in the Ark and cover it inside and out with pitch this is how you are to make it the length of the ark has 300 cubits its breadth 50 cubits and its height 30 cubits make a roof for the Ark and finish it a cubit above and set the door of the Ark in its side make it with lower second and third decks for behold I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which the breath of life under heaven everything that is on the earth shall die 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 and 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 of the birds according to their kind some of the animals according to their kinds of every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind two of every sort shall come into you to keep them alive 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 no it did this he did all that God commanded him so we have this picture here because Noah has found favor with God God is going to bestow mercy upon him so in the midst of violence and a world full of corruption the Lord shows mercy to a sinful man and the Lord uses Noah to be his agent an agent and a saving work there is a picture here of the believer who experiences God's mercy and through his mercy has forgiveness to be able to take on again the role of image bearer as the ambassador for Christ becoming an agent in the saving work that God seeks to do for all people as we proclaim the gospel we see here in this act of mercy we have of course the building of the Ark this structure whose purpose was become the means of salvation in the face of judgment the ark would be their salvation as death came upon the earth the ark would preserve their life the picture here of salvation even as God is exercising his righteous judgment at this time in history he is also laying out a picture of what he is offering to do for Humanity that when judgment comes and death comes because of the consequence of sin there can be a way to be saved from death we also see in the description of the ark that God is not only providing a way of salvation for this portion of humanity but he's also using them as agents to preserve life for his physical creation that he had made and had originally pronounced as good as you see the animals being brought in after their kind into the ark as we go into the rest of this narrative as we move through the next chapters it is it is a hard story when we see the righteous judgment of God being poured out on humanity we as human beings feel sympathy for those who will fall under God's judgement but we need to recognize that God feels that wait as well though God is perfectly just and perfectly holy though the pronouncement of the punishment for sin was made clear from the foundations of the world we know as we read in Scripture that the Lord takes no delight in the death of the wicked but his desire is that they would turn and repent so the Lord's desire would be that whole generation that was caught up in wickedness would have turned would have sought to walk with God so that the Lord may preserve them as well but they did not I hope as you are meditating on this chapter as you're thinking about the picture we see of Noah the picture we see of his role as an agent in the saving process as we see the picture of God's judgment that you reflect on what is happening in our own world today as we have a world that is also filled with violence and people have turned away from God and God is seeking those who would be blameless in our current generation to be image bearers of God to be ambassadors for Christ to be a royal priesthood a holy nation a special people set apart to God so that we can be agents proclaiming the means of salvation for today there is a way of salvation and it's not an ark that saves from the flood it's Jesus work on the cross so that non need parish that everyone come to eternal life I hope this has been an encouragement to you and as always please let us know your comments and your feedback we'd love to hear from you and if this has blessed you please share it with somebody else thank you and God bless

Channel: Biblical Discipleship

Views: 2,965

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: StoneRidge, Stephen Michels, Bible Study, Genesis, Genesis 6, Chapter-A-Day, the Flood, Noah

Id: EpLg5f0726Q

Length: 35min 16sec (2116 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 16 2018