The
6th chapter of Genesis describes the corruption of mankind. We are
told, “When
men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born
to them, the sons of god saw the daughters of man were beautiful and
they married any of them they chose“.
The term Sons of God in the old testament refers to angelic beings.
It appears that Satan, in an effort to prevent the birth of the
messiah, desired to have his demons reproduce with human women. The
result of these demonic unions were “Nephilin”, clearly God
views them as corruptions of His creation. God is so enraged that He
starts the clock ticking, “My
Sprit will not contend with man forever…his days will be one
hundred and twenty years“.
Next we are given a description of how far man had fallen. “The
Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on earth had become, and that
every inclination of the thoughts his heart was only evil all the
time“.
Listen to the sorrow of God, “The
Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth and His heart was
filled with pain“.
Finally we are told, “I
will wipe mankind, whom I created, from the face of the earth“.
Not just man, but “men
and animals and all the creatures that move along the ground“.
But, as always, God finds a remnant, “But
Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord“.
We are told that Noah “was
a righteous man, blameless among the people…he walked with God“.
We
are then told, God said to Noah, “I
will put an end to all people for the earth is filled with
violence… so make yourself an ark out of cypress wood, make rooms
in it and coat it with pitch inside and out“.
The size of this barge is enormous, 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and
45 feet high with 3 levels- roughly the size of the Titanic. God
promised, “I
am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under
the heavens“.
Noah is told, “You
will enter the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons’
wives with you“.
And perhaps the hardest thing in the chapter to believe, “Noah
did everything just as God commanded him“.
For 120 years Noah was obedient building a boat in a place that had
never seen rain. Most of us have difficulty being obedient to God
the entire drive home from church! Some might say the destruction of
the earth was cruel, but in reality it is an act of righteousness,
God’s plan to redeem mankind through the Savior who must be both
fully man and fully God- the perfect sacrifice to pay the penalty for
our sin.
One
of the most sobering verses in the Gospels appears in Matthew 24:37,
“As
it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of The Son of
Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day Noah entered
the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the
flood came and took them away“.
We are promised that Jesus will come for His church like a thief in
the night and we are warned to be ready. “Be
on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour“.
Are you ready?