GENESIS

Notes on Genesis 6

• Genesis 6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
• 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

This is a very controversial passage. I will give both views and let the reader decide which view seems best. Keep in mind that it is not wrong to marry and chose a wife so God could not have been objecting to marriage. Some say that the sons of God were the line of Seth and the daughters of men were the line of Cain. However, we reason though, we do not see anywhere in scripture where it would have been wrong to marry a daughter of the descendants of Cain.

Here is John Wesley's comments of this subject.
The sons of God - Those who were called by the name of the Lord, and called upon that name, married the daughters of men - Those that were profane, and strangers to God. The posterity of Seth did not keep to themselves as they ought, but intermingled with the race of Cain: they took them wives of all that they chose - They chose only by the eye: They saw that they were fair - Which was all they looked at.

Another commentator stated that the sons of God were those who were born of God and the daughters of men were those who of the flesh or degenerate. However, I point out that before we repent and turn to Christ all of us were of the flesh and not of the spirit.

Some use this passage to point out that marriage between godly believers and worldly unbelievers is not wise. I can agree with that. There is nothing but trouble ahead if a someone who loves the Lord marries someone who doesn't even believe in Him. Whatever happened here though is worse that just marrying an unbeliever. This may have been the case and it led to the depth of sin that God couldn't allow to continue, yet let us not throw away someone else's opinion either that might possibly have some merit.

Something happened to the descendants upon the earth that produced giants. These giants were very wicked and evil. Actually the word used in the original writing mean fallen ones but they were strong, mighty and huge. That is why some scholars believe that the fallen angels came down in the form of men and took wives. I know this is a little far fetched and hard to understand but something very strange happened here that needs to be considered.

There is a verse in the new Testament that would seem to refute this theory. When some were asking Jesus about marriage in heaven, he told them that in heaven they will not marry but be as the angels.

• Matthew 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

Yet to be fair, it doesn't say that angels were incapable of reproduction but those angels who stayed with the Lord and did not rebel, did not marry or live as men. In fact from the book of Jude we see that they might have been forbidden to do so and the fallen angels went ahead and did it anyway.

We do have a verse in the book of Jude that hints of angels who left their original estate.

• Jude 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
• 7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

These verse in Jude is why some commentators believe the sons of God were the fallen angels. I know we surely wouldn't consider them to be sons of God but they were the first created beings and might have been called that. The Hebrew word used does refer to angels as being sons of God.

In Dake's commentary on this. He states that the words, daughters of men in Hebrew is singular meaning, The man Adam. These daughters were daughters of Adam.

Here is Dake's comments:

Seth did not have a son until 235 years after creation and his son did not have a son until 325 years after creation. Where did these sons come from? They could not have been sons of Seth, for these marriages took place when men began to multiply in the very beginning of the race before Seth had sons of marriageable age. The term sons of God proves that they were the product of God, not of Seth. They were the fallen angels of 1 Peter 3:19, 2 Peter 2:4, and Jude 6-7.
For references Dake gives the Septuagint, Josephus, Antiquities, Book 1, 3:1; Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol Viii page 273.

Whatever happened, it was very serious so much so that God had to destroy the whole human race saving only a small number.

I will add here that since I first wrote this study, I read the book of Enoch 1 and he goes into more detail of the sons of God meant the angels that had rebelled against God who mated with the daughters of men.

• Genesis 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

They had 120 to repent and turn back to God. This also could refer to the days of man being shortened to 120 years. Now that age seems to be a long life but in those days it was very short indeed.

• Genesis 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

This seems to indicate that giants were produced by something other than mortal man. We hear of tales of Hercules and other men of renown and this may be the source of such legends. Yet these men were not good heroes that deserve the praise of men but very wicked. We have to stop and think. Remember the prophecy given to Adam and Eve that her seed would defeat the seed of the serpent. Satan may have sent in a few of his angels to defile mankind and in turn corrupt the seed of the woman so that Christ can not come and save.

• Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

I wonder if we are getting that way again. We have laws against murder, stealing and other civil laws but moral laws have been made null and void. Now people can abort a small baby without any qualm of conscience. Men esteem it highly evil to forbid men to marry other men or women to marry other women. Yet this is another form of perversion which will defile the human race and lead them to destruction. It happened before and it will happen again. We call evil good and good evil. We are all mixed up. I can see the day coming when child molestation will not be considered wrong. Our minds have become warped with pornography, filth, with no moral restraints. If we try to speak out we are called Pharisees, homophobes, or hate mongers. Yet we see so many die lost because everyone is afraid to tell them the truth that what they do is killing them both spiritually and physically. Now we have craziness, some wanting to change their gender, stop calling women mothers but birthing parents. Crazy, idiotic stuff going on.

Satan again is attempting to corrupt God's creation. Actually though Romans chapter 1 is coming to pass. When we deny our creator, it starts the downward slop toward destruction. Denying our creator and teaching evolution has lead to a serious lack of the knowledge of God. Without God in our knowledge and in our lives, lead us into abortions, abnormal sexual relations that God did not ordain and many other odd behaviors. All these things become very harmful to the mind. The mind becomes reprobate, confused and is never satisfied. This evil causes more diseases that are incurable. Mankind eventually would destroy themselves but thank God, He will once again intervene to keep us from destroying the plan of God and salvation for those that trust in Jesus Christ to save them from their present evil world and give them life eternal. There are a few also that believe the Nephilim or fallen ones will invade the human race again. I hope not.

• Genesis 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

It had to be something pretty big and not just ordinary sin as we think of sin.

• Genesis 6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
• 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
• 9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

This should be our constant desire and wish - to be considered someone who walks with God.

Yes this can be done. Through Jesus we too can be filled with God's Holy Spirit and begin to walk with God. This is not limited to some great man of the past like Noah, Daniel, Enoch and Elijah. We too can "Walk with God."

• Genesis 6:10 And Noah begot three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

One of these three men are our ancestors. The whole Jewish race came from Shem so the line down to Jesus Christ is from Shem.

• Genesis 6:11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

Violence has never been something God likes to see. Jesus went to a lot of trouble to emphasize love for one another. It is even a test of discipleship. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples when ye have love one to another." Remember the lesson Jesus taught the disciples when he stooped down to wash their feet. They were to be servants, not lords over one another.

• Genesis 6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
• 13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

There must be a line that is crossed that God has to stop. We don't know exactly what kind of things went on but we do have the story of Sodom and Gomorrah as a clue. They had gotten so bad that they desired to rape the very angels of God who came into their city.

Rape is a very cruel violent act that often results in murder, pain and suffering for the victim. Never should it be condoned. We see also from the book of Jude that God considers fornication and going after strange flesh to be a very serious sin. Whatever is against what God created and ordained is strange. Notice God created man and gave man a woman to be his mate. He didn't give Adam two wives. He didn't give Adam another man. God ordained marriage from the beginning. One man and one woman. "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife (not wives) and they shall become one flesh. When we read the stories of Abraham, Jacob, Solomon and David, we see that these had trouble when they married more than one wife. I don't believe God ordained polygamy.

• Genesis 6:14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
• 15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
• 16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

This most probably was a more rectangular structure very long in length rather than the cute little boats we see in pictures.

• Genesis 6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

Notice the things in the water were not to die.

• Genesis 6:18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
• 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

Later we read that the clean animals for sacrifice were taken into the ark by sevens.

• Genesis 6:20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
• 21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.
• 22 Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Imagine what his neighbors thought if he had neighbors close enough to see this construction going on. We shouldn't be surprised if the world thinks we are crazy. We would probably think someone was crazy if we saw him build an ark and told us that God was going to flood the whole earth. Especially since there might not have been any rain until this time. God watered the earth with a mist.

Such a small number of people will be saved here compared to the millions and or billions that were on the earth. One lesson learned is the majority is not always right.

We can be sure that Noah warned others of the judgment to come. In 1 Peter 3:20 it tells us that God waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared before judgment was sent so they must have received some kind of warning. Also: 2Peter 2:5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

Its says that Noah was a preacher of righteousness, so the people were warned. This was no secret escape that was just for Noah's family without warning the others.

So many are still warning today of the coming judgment. We still can repent and get right with God if we only believe. God made the way of escape, all we have to do is repent and believe the gospel. The gospel is Jesus Christ, Son of God coming into human flesh, becoming of us us to live among us without sin, fulfilling all the law that when He was killed, His unjustifiable death can count for our death which is justified because of our sin. He literally died for our sins so that we might live eternally. Faith in what He did for us reverses the curse of the law.

Turning from sin and turning to Christ is saying to God, "I know I am a sinner in need of your salvation." "I am willing to turn from sin and trust you to save me." Jesus is the only way to receive forgiveness of sin and inherit eternal life. If any one of Noah's family had refused to enter the ark, they would not have been saved from the flood. There was no other way. God made another way of eternal life through Jesus. Just as the ark was the only way to be saved, Jesus is the only way to be saved now. God doesn't make two ways of escape. It is always just one. DC

Genesis 7