INCREASING CORRUPTION ON EARTH
This is a concise section of the Bible and the shortest I have read thus far. And honestly, I do not understand much of what is being said.
Humanity has started to spread: ‘When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them’. [Genesis 6:1] The next part is where I think it gets confusing: ‘the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.’ [Genesis 6:2] Who are the ‘sons of God’? They are clearly distinct from the generalisation of ‘man’ written prior. Are they angels? Or some other humanoid type?
We then discover humans have such long lives because they have God’s ‘Spirit’. God takes this Spirit away and man’s ‘days shall be 120 years.’ [Genesis 6:3] There is an immediate switch at this point. The Bible now mentions that during those days (meaning the days of the sons of God) the ‘Nephilim were on the earth… and also afterward.’ [Genesis 6:4] I know of the Nephilim and how there is debate around what they were/who they were. I’ve heard they could be fallen angels or giants – the ESV Bible references them as giants. I don’t see the significance of knowing they exist but maybe they get more of a mention later. The focus of this paragraph is clearly the sons of God – whoever they are!
Genesis 6:5-6:7 is quite a shift away from the usual dialogue. In these verses God shows regret – could it be he made a mistake? It appears so. It just so happens that due to God’s regret, he makes more sweeping and unfair decisions that affect more than the guilty party. God doesn’t seem very just.
In Genesis 6:5 God sees that ‘the wickedness of man was great in the earth’ and that every ‘intention of the thoughts of [man’s] heart was only evil continually.’ This is why he then ‘regretted that he had made man on the earth.’ [Genesis 6:6]
The unfair decision I referenced above is when God decides to ‘blot out man whom [He has] created from the face of the land’. [Genesis 6:7] Not only man but animals and creeping things and birds too. Why is it God needs to destroy the other creatures that seemingly haven’t done anything wrong for the sake of man’s wickedness? Notice how God doesn’t ‘blot out’ the creatures of the seas – does he especially like the sea creatures? Perhaps God is a fisherman in his spare time. Or maybe he couldn’t find a way to destroy everything (including sea creatures) that didn’t involve water.
There is, however, one man who can save us from total annihilation – Noah!
NOAH AND THE FLOOD
In Genesis 6:8 we discover that Noah ‘found favor in the eyes of the LORD.’ What follows is essentially an instruction manual to build an ark and a shopping list for Noah.
Noah (and by extension his immediate family) appears to be the only human on earth during his time who was not evil or corrupt in some way. He was ‘a righteous man, blameless in his generation.’ [Genesis 6:9] There is another thing; the second time this has happened – Noah ‘walked with God.’ I now believe this to mean that he lived his life in accordance to how God wanted it, he lived by a set of morals and standards that were favourable in the eyes of God. Not that he physically walked alongside God.
God sets out his plan to Noah, who honestly must have been terrified at first until God made it clear that he and his family would be permitted to live: ‘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.’ [Genesis 6:13] It is unclear who the ‘them’ are in the quote. Perhaps it is all humanity, but I have a feeling He is speaking of a specific ‘them’. However, if Noah is the only decent person on earth then it might as well reference all of humanity.
Next comes the instruction manual for the ark. I won’t go into detail here, if you are interested in knowing more then it will probably be written about in the Event Tracker under “Noah Builds the Ark”.
After instructing Noah to build the ark, God finally reveals that he is going to flood the earth to ‘destroy all flesh’. [Genesis 6:17] Then God finally tells Noah that he and his family shall live: ‘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.’ [Genesis 6:18]
God then tells Noah to bring two of ‘every sort’ into the ark. Essentially, every living creature will go into the ark. A male and a female. Noah must also bring every sort of food to feed both him and his family, and the animals. Either this is a boat the scale of which we have never since seen, or there were fewer animals back in Noah’s days.
The last sentence states that: ‘Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.’ [Genesis 6:22]
The most unusual part of this chapter is the feeling of regret from God. Although he feels regret for creating humanity it isn’t strong enough to wipe us out fully. God must believe that because Noah walks according to God’s code he and his family can begin to repopulate the earth with a much more agreeable human race. This could be a symbol of God’s goodwill, he is willing to give second chances. It could also be seen as naivety, why would humanity be any different after the flood – I do have the benefit of hindsight (but does God not have foresight?).
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I am reading the English Standard Version (ESV).
Published by Crossway in Illinois, USA.
This edition printed 2016.
Visually Interesting 
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