Genesis 6:5-12
English Standard Version (ESV)
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 regretted 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.
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.
Noah and the Flood
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.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.
Accompanying Bob Deffinbaugh sermon: The Sons of God and the Daughters of Men, and The Flood
Accompanying John MacArthur sermon: The Destruction of Mankind Part 1 and Part 2
All calamity is due to sin. All of it. All the calamity that exists in our world today is the result of the Fall and the world that we live in now because of the Fall. Illness, suffering, pain, death - it's all written in to the fabric of a fallen people living in a fallen world. Sometimes, God brings extra calamity on top of this every day calamity in the form of judgment, like He does here with the flood - and that He will certainly do it again at the Second Coming.
However, God always warns before judgment. Noah preached righteousness for 120 years before God destroyed the world in the flood.
And He is patient before He brings that judgment. Sometimes, from our perspective, too patient! After all, when we've been offended, we want justice now.
But eventually, God determines when iniquity is full, and His patience reaches its limit, and He intervenes with judgment. He did it with the flood, with Sodom and Gomorrah, with Israel, with the northern kingdom of Israel, with Jerusalem in about 70AD. He warned them time and again, sending prophet after prophet, being patient and giving opportunity for repentance. But eventually, when iniquity had reached its limit, God's patience ended in completely deserved judgment. And all of those times are previews of the ultimate judgment awaiting humanity at the end of human history.
However, this passage is not only a lesson on judgment. It is also a lesson on grace. God offers redemption, He offers forgiveness, He offers salvation. Despite our wretchedness.
V5 is devastating in it's summation of mankind's spiritual condition. The intent and thought of everyone was only evil all the time.
God saw the evil heart of man, and He grieved. He did not change His mind - God's character, purposes, and promises never change. But His emotions do. God grieves about our sin and about the consequences of our sin because His holiness demands judgment. Mankind's sin did not surprise Him, but it still grieved Him, and it did not alter His purposes.
The good news, however, is that it is possible to be saved from judgment! Noah was righteous, not because of his good works, but because of his faith. He believed God. And he lived in light of that belief.
MacArthur: You know what's encouraging? God knew the heart of Noah, He knew the heart of his wife and the heart of his sons and the heart of their wives. And God always knows who belongs to Him in the midst of any judgment.
Judgment can only be escaped by God's grace. That was true in the flood and it will be true at the time of the Second Coming as well.
God provided an ark for Noah, and He provides an ark for us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Tomorrow's scripture focus: Genesis 6:13-22
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