Genesis 6
Share
CHAPTER 6
God Is Grieved by Mankind (6:1–8)
1–3 Bible scholars are not certain how these verses should be interpreted. Many believe that the Sons of God mentioned in verse 2 were descendants of Seth, and the daughters of men were descendants of Cain.29 Thus when these two lines—the godly and the ungodly—began to intermarry, God became displeased and decided to shorten their life span (verse 3).
Why was God displeased? Throughout Scripture God has commanded those who worship and obey Him to avoid the moral defilement that results from marriage with unbelievers. Seth’s line, though marred by Adam’s sin, was still God’s chosen line; but the line of the ungodly Cain had been rejected by God. Thus God would not have been pleased with any intermarriage between the two lines.
Though verse 3 is difficult to interpret, an important truth can be seen here. God’s Holy Spirit does contend with mortal man—that is, with man’s sinful, fallen nature. There is a conflict between the Spirit and the sinful nature (Galatians 5:17). And God is patient with us; He desires to release us from bondage to sin; He contends with the evil within us. But He will not contend . . . forever. Let us therefore not delay in turning to God; let us not resist or grieve His Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). Rather let us live by the Spirit and not give in to the desires of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:16).
4 The Nephilim were large men of great strength and renown (Numbers 13:33). Nephilim means fallen ones. Though in men’s eyes they were great, in God’s eyes they were fallen sinners, deserving of judgment.
5–8 As mankind fell deeper and deeper into wickedness, God could bear it no longer; He was grieved; His heart was filled with pain (verse 6). God was like a father grieving over a wayward son; He took no pleasure in punishing sinners. But men and women had become so wicked—every inclination . . . was only evil all the time (verse 5)—that God determined to destroy mankind, together with all other living creatures. Here we see a description of mankind’s real nature—utterly sinful (Jeremiah 17:9; Romans 3:10–12).
But not beyond hope! Indeed, God found one man, Noah, who was righteous . . . blameless30 (verse 9). And so God decided not to destroy mankind totally but to start over again with Noah. Here in the midst of God’s terrible judgment on human wickedness, we see His gracious preservation of a RIGHTEOUS man and, through him, the human race.
Noah Builds an Ark (6:9–22)
9–13 God’s means of destroying life on earth was a flood; God’s means of preserving life on earth was a boat—the ark (verse 14). God knew that the flood alone would not cure man’s evil heart (Genesis 8:21); but through the flood God revealed both His hatred of sin and His mercy toward mankind. Later He would have other remedies to fix man’s heart: first the old covenant mediated by Moses, and then the “new covenant” mediated by Christ. But for now, by God’s grace and through Noah’s faith, the human race would get another chance. The story of Noah exemplifies God’s way of salvation for mankind: it is always by grace . . . through faith (Ephesians 2:8).
14–22 God’s detailed instructions for building the ark highlight Noah’s faithful obedience to everything God commanded him31 (verse 22).
The purpose of the ark was to house a male and female of every species and to keep them alive during the flood (verse 19). Thus the ark had to be big enough to hold all of these creatures, including their food. We are not told how many species there were at that time.
The floodwaters covered the entire earth32 (verse 17). In many different cultures today, there is a story about an ancient flood. That massive disaster has been permanently engraved in the collective memory of mankind.
In verse 18, God said that He would establish His covenant with Noah. This is often called the “Noahic Covenant,” the agreement between God and Noah according to which God would save Noah and his family and Noah, in turn, would (among other things) be fruitful and increase in number (Genesis 9:1). God’s covenant with Noah was similar to His “agreement” with Adam (Genesis 1:28); in fact, Noah is often seen as a “second Adam.”
Notice that God didn’t only spare Noah and his wife; He spared their three sons and their wives as well (verse 18). This is the first of many instances in Scripture where God shows special concern for entire family units.