Genesis Ch 6

The Wickedness of Man

vs 1-4

1When 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.

In the beginning chapters of Genesis we see God telling Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. This was seen as something positive and ordained by God. Well as we get into the story of Noah we see that humans for the most part multiplied, but forgot about the fruitful part. I believe that is pleases God to see families with many children(one of the reasons Adoption is SO awesome!) but we must always remember that God calls us to be fruitful as well. Raising these children in the fear and love of Jesus Christ. Another thing we need to see as we study through Gods word is that he is disgusted by sin and sinners. That He fully intends on judging the ungodly, and that He demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. So out of his great love, He does send Jesus to appease this great anger that he has for sin and sinners. And outside of Jesus there is no forgiveness or redemption. Now real quick the sons of God that are mentioned in these opening verses. There is quite a bit of speculation as to who these "sons of God" are. Here is a good overview of this topic real quick.

This problem is exacerbated by the coming together of the sons of God and the daughters of man (6:2). The identity of both groups is uncertain, and various solutions have been advocated, although none has gained universal support. Various scholars have proposed that the “sons of God” are (1) fallen angels (cf. Job 1:6; some, however, suggest that this contradicts Mark 12:25, though the reference in Mark is to angels in heaven; see also 2 Pet. 2:4–5; Jude 5–6); or (2) tyrannical human judges or kings (in the ungodly line of Lamech, possibly demon-possessed); or (3) followers of God among the male descendants of Seth (i.e., the godly line of Seth, but who married the ungodly daughters of Cain). Though it would be difficult to determine which of these three views may be correct, it is clear that the kind of relationship described here involved some form of grievous sexual perversion, wherein the “sons of God” saw and with impunity took any women (“daughters of man”) that they wanted.

So there are a few different views on that topic. I figured the scholars could do a better job giving us some insight on that topic than I could! God also makes a bold statement. My Spirit will not live in man for ever. 120 years is the number that he gives. Some believe this is talking about life span. Although we know of people in history that have lived past 120. So this is either a general rule that most people will not live past 120. I believe the main idea with this is that it will take 120 years for Noah to build the ark, and after that time period God is going to practically restart the human race because of the wickedness of man.

vs 5-8

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 was sorry 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.

Verse 5 is true of all humans without Jesus Christ. those who surrender to Jesus struggle with all of those attributes, and through sanctification will someday, when we enter into God's eternal rest be freed from the wickedness, the bad intentions etc. As Christians we need to have a very high view of God, and a very low view of man. We are sinful, we are in need of a savior. And there is a coming judgment greater than a flood on those who do not have the forgiveness of Christ.So in the great and eternal plan of God we see Christ almost hitting a rest button, things went from Good in the garden, to horrible. The Lord Jesus was sorry that he created mankind. B It did grieve him to see how humans crave sin, and ignore God. As His anger and grief burned, we read that Christ saw one man that had favor with with God. This is a beautiful story because we see the true heart of God. His anger towards sin and sinners, and His grace and mercy all wrapped up in to one. Christ would not destroy Noah and his family, they belonged to God, and found favor. So God tells Noah of his plan, and "saves" Noah from the impending judgment that is about to come. Christ is our savior! Any who love Him, will never face God's wrath.

vs 9-10

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.

Noah and Moses are the only two people in the Bible to be found with Favor with God. Noah was righteous because he belonged to God, and he walked with God. Not perfect, but blameless. This is the beauty of Christianity. We are blameless because of our perfect Savior who covers us! You have heard it said before that if you were the only one that would have accepted Christ, God still would have sent him, this story always comes to mind as God sees one man Noah, and says ok, he and his family are worth saving from my judgment.

vs 11-13

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.

Imagine that you are Noah and you get this message from God. This had to be overwhelming at first to hear from the God of the universe. The God who by the power of his thoughts made this world. And as our parents told us many times, I brought you in this world, I can take you out! God is essentially saying Noah, the game is OVER for everyone but you, and your family. In the next few verses we see the plan of salvation for Noah and his family.

vs 14-16

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.

The story of Noah and the Ark is one of the most beloved and honored stories in all of Scripture. Most children memorize the main parts of this story in Sunday School or Children's church by the time they are 4 or 5 years old. This story is also one of the first places a skeptic will point too when they try to show the Bible as an ancient book of myth and fairy tale. How could you actually believe that God could fit two and in some cases seven of each animal on earth in one boat? And I have heard people say this as if the Bible describes the Ark as if it were the size of a fishing boat, or a modern day cruise ship. My friend the dimensions the Bible gives for the Ark are HUGE. No wonder it took Noah 120 years to get this thing built! Check this out:

In modern measurements, the ark would have been around 450 feet (140 m) long, 75 feet (23 m) wide, and 45 feet (14 m) high, yielding a displacement of about 43,000 tons (about 39 million kg). The inside capacity would have been 1.4 million cubic feet (39,644 cubic m), with an approximate total deck area of 95,700 square feet (8,891 square m).


Yeah there is never a reason to doubt your Bible! I LOVE that the Word of God gives these dimensions, just another piece of evidence that you can trust your Bible, and that what you are reading is fact, not fiction. It is also interesting that the Bible tells us what kind of wood Noah was to use. And as we read further into this story we read what mountain the Bible says the Ark landed on. In modern times this same mountain has been explored, and there is an enormous wooden ship on top of this same mountain. Made of the same wood the Bible says it was made out of!

vs 17-18

17For 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.

Not to beat a dead horse, but in verse 17 we see that God is no wimp. God does not turn a blind eye to sin, and that He will pour out his judgment and wrath on sin and sinners in His due time. Make no mistake that our God is a God of love, and a God of Holiness and Righteousness. The Cross of Christ was where these two attributes of God meet in perfection. Verse 18 God establishes a covenant with Noah, and tells Noah that he and his family will be spared from the punishment that is coming.

vs 19-22

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.

Noah is told how big to build the ark, what to make the ark out of, what to put in the ark and to store food for the 8 people aboard, and for the animals that would be with his family. 120 years sounds like a long time to people in our day and age. But could you imagine having the responsibility of doing all of this? Making basically a floating city, and enough food to feed 2 of every kind of animal on earth? I am sure that Noah and the rest of his family stopped everything they were doing, and from that point on served God by working very hard to get all of this accomplished in this 120 year time span. As Christians we know there is a day of judgment coming to this planet again. I want to encourage every Christan that may read this study, please be diligent. Please work very hard to get the message of Christ out to the entire world. Talk with your church leadership about how you can have Jesus the focus of everything in your church. We have SO much work to do before Christ's final judgment begins to rain down on this earth!