Genesis 6 - The Corruption of Mankind

Summary https://marksbiblejourney.blogspot.com/2019/10/genesis.html

"The human race multiplies, but mankind becomes corrupt.  God shortens the average life span of mankind to 120 years.  Mankind becomes so corrupt that God grieves and regrets creating them.  God decides to wipe every living thing off the face of the earth.  Noah, however, followed the ways of God.  God favored Noah, and He tells Noah of his plan.  God plans to flood the whole earth.  God tells Noah to build a large boat called an ark.    Noah is to enter the ark with his immediate family and two, male and female, of every creature on the earth.  They are to enter the ark whenever the earth begins to flood.  Noah listens and obeys the Lord."

Reading from the Amplified Bible (AMP) version..

• “Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive and remain with man forever, because he is indeed flesh [sinful, corrupt—given over to sensual appetites]; nevertheless his days shall yet be a hundred and twenty years.” v.3

• “There were Nephilim (men of stature, notorious men) on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God lived with the daughters of men, and they gave birth to their children. These were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown (great reputation, fame).” v.4

• “The Lord saw that the wickedness (depravity) of man was great on the earth, and that every imagination or intent of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually.” v.5

• “But Noah found favor and grace in the eyes of the Lord.” v.8

• “Noah was a righteous man [one who was just and had right standing with God], blameless in his [evil] generation; Noah walked (lived) [in habitual fellowship] with God.” v.9

• “The [population of the] earth was corrupt [absolutely depraved—spiritually and morally putrid] in God’s sight, and the land was filled with violence [desecration, infringement, outrage, assault, and lust for power]. ¹² God looked on the earth and saw how debased and degenerate it was, for all humanity had corrupted their way on the earth and lost their true direction.” v.11-12

• ^“God said to Noah, “I intend to make an end of all that lives, for through men the land is filled with violence; and behold, I am about to destroy them together with the land. ¹⁴ Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make in it rooms (stalls, pens, coops, nests, cages, compartments) and coat it inside and out with pitch (bitumen). v. 13-14

• “For behold, I, even I, will bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy all life under the heavens in which there is the breath and spirit of life; everything that is on the land shall die. ¹⁸ But I will establish My covenant (solemn promise, formal agreement) with you; and you shall come into the ark—you and your [three] sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.” 17-18

• “So Noah did this; according to all that God commanded him, that is what he did.” v.22

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My personal observations and reflections...

• We know from the last verse (v.32) of Genesis 5, that “Noah was five hundred years old, and he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” Genesis 6:1 started with the phrase “Now it came to pass” (NKJV), so I think some time or years have passed between these 2 Chapters.

• THE CREATION OF GOD, “MAN”, GOT WILDLY CORRUPTED. Not only did mankind multiplied greatly in number, but it also increased and leveled up in SIN :( We read the words “sons of God” (who took wives from the daughters of men), Nephilim, giants—some kind of hybrid and anomaly happened.😱 God created man for a woman. Not for anything else. This is a very bad, and sad situation indeed. Imagine for a moment all the chaos and darkness that was happening.

*According to the Bible’s footnotes: “Sons of God” - This phrase has been interpreted as a reference to: (a) royalty or rulers possessed by fallen angels, (b) the descendants of Seth who called upon the Lord (see 4:26), or (c) fallen angels (cf Job 1:6)

• 120 YEARS LIFE SPAN. From 500-900+, we see that the lifespan of men has been significantly decreased by God.. *According to the Bible’s footnotes: “This may refer to the time given man to repent before the flood, or to the normative human life span after the flood.” Our days have become so limited, life is really short if you think about it.. For me it’s about QUALITY over QUANTITY—I would rather choose a life well lived in light of God’s goodness and glory, than live a long(er) life that is filled with misery because of sin.

Also, if God declared this early on in Genesis 6 (v.3), then, there is no way God will TOTALLY annihilate mankind.

• GOD WAS DEEPLY GRIEVED. It made me think about Jesus when He cried and experienced a lot of emotions while accomplishing His mission here on Earth. We are made in the IMAGE and LIKENESS of God.. I’m sure that Creator God grieved because of His great love toward mankind, His children-- He cannot bear seeing them getting destroyed, corrupted by the enemy, and their many sins (rooting from disobedience). Imagine a parent that is heartbroken over their child’s rebellion. If we are capable of feeling that way because of our love, imagine how God must have been grieved. A hundred, thousand times over than what we feel. Because GOD IS LOVE.❤️

• THE LORD SAW—“every imagination or intent of the thoughts of his (man’s) heart were only evil continually.” This convinces me all the more that God is always PRESENT (Omnipresent), always watching over us. Whether there is good, whether there is evil. He knows everything (Omniscient), all that is going on in the deepest hearts of men. That is really, WOW. He knows me to bits, and that fills me with so much wonder and awe.

• GRACE. As God was grieving and deciding about the fate of mankind, we are introduced to a man of God named Noah. If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time that GRACE was ever mentioned. It means "unmerited favor." “Salvation by Grace. Grace is, therefore, God's unmerited favor - His goodness toward those who have no claim on, nor reason to expect, divine favor.” (https://www.auburn.edu › ~allenkc › fbf › grace)

• INTEGRITY. Noah is a human being that strived hard to be in right standing with God. He is not perfect, he is also a sinner (“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, Romans 3:23), and he also constantly (and badly) need God. But he had great faith, and that also caused him to have great obedience in God. Like other men of God, I’m sure it must have been hard for Noah to endure and live in a sinful and corrupted world that time. How was he able to do it? I believe God sustained his faith!

• GOD’S PLAN OF SALVATION. Finally, God talked to Noah, and He revealed to him ALL that He was about to do, and How he will use Noah to accomplish it. For a moment, I imagine if Noah was surprised at all by God’s message, or not so much because of his habitual fellowship with God (“Noah walked with God” v.9). EVERY DETAIL, and ALL OF THE INSTRUCTIONS were given by God, nothing was left out (size of the ark, materials, design, form, who/what will enter). I won’t be surprised if Noah reacted, “This is crazy!” But Noah just LISTENED and acted/followed God by faith. He trusted God, and eventhough building an ark is a great calling or undertaking to do-- one that other people will see and will doubt and laugh about-- Noah just obeyed God.

• COVENANT. The first time we hear/read this word from the Bible, the first time God made a covenant to His people. In this case, it is a “covenant” given to Noah and his family—but it is a picture of God’s great covenant, the final, New Covenant which is “a new relationship between God and humans mediated by Jesus which necessarily includes all people, both Jews and Gentiles..”

*Side trivia: Today I learned that there are a total of 5 Covenants “Noahic Covenant, Abrahamic Covenant, Mosaic Covenant, Davidic Covenant and the Fifth Covenant or the (New Covenant).”

• OBEDIENCE. NOAH DID EVERYTHING GOD COMMANDED HIM TO DO. Genesis 6, which started chaotic and sad, ends with this good note. Oh thank God. There is hope, and God will preserve mankind and His plans will prevail. To God be all the glory in Noah’s life and obedience!

***GRACE, ARK, COVENANT, NOAH-- everything points to Jesus our Lord and Savior!🙌 I am reminded of Him in everything; He is foreshadowed in every way by God! Jesus is GRACE, He is the ONE WHO WILL SAVE US ONCE AND FOR ALL, He is the COVENANT, Noah is a picture of Jesus in his generation, he showed Christlikeness in the way he obeyed God.

📷Photo by Mark Furches

Colorado. https://throughmyblueeyes2011.blogspot.com

Read the Bible here:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+6&version=AMP

Photo Editor used to add texts:
https://www.befunky.com/