Genesis 6 Sermon

Genesis 6:1-22
Sermon Notes
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God Keeps Covenant

April 22, 2018

Lynchburg, Virginia

EXHORDIUM

         In just a few chapters of the opening of the Bible, we have seen God’s amazing work in speaking the world into existence. He created everything that we see. He is the ruler over all things. And He created mankind to rule the earth under Him. But in very short order, man failed to obey God and fell into rebellion.

         But God chose Seth to replace the murdered Abel so that the promise of God would prevail. But even here, mankind was not able to obey God. They rebelled and the righteous line of Seth mixed with the rebellious line of Cain and the result was horrible violence and wickedness on the Earth. 

         It did not take long for this rebellion to fill the whole earth. Once the righteous line had been infected, it spread to all men. It is difficult for us to imagine how horrible that old world was. Think of some of the horrible places of the Bible. Sodom, where there was grotesque wickedness. Jericho, where the enemies of God persecuted God’s people. Even in Benjamin, where God’s people had been decayed to the point of vileness. Throughout the old testament, God’s people mixed with various pagans who worshipped false gods and sacrificed their own children by burning them in the fire. 

         So, even many years after the flood, when God had established His laws and worship in the land of Canaan, His people were horribly wicked. Now, imagine a world that was all of that all the time, no end in sight and no clear laws, lawgiver, or law keeper to police the land. That was the antediluvian world. That is a world without

God as governor. That is a world without God’s law. That is world without the light of the gospel. 

EXEGESIS

Gen. 6:1  And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, ²That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that theywerefair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. Gen. 6:3  And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he alsoisflesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

I already preached the sermon, live long and prosper. In the beginning, mankind was created to live eternally in his human body. That seems almost cruel to us but only because we know the effects of sin and death. Aging in our world is not pretty. Humans are living longer, healthier lives but we also see that long lives end up in a greater deal of slow death with lots of suffering. 

But in the beginning, even after the fall, humans lived hundreds of years in good health. While it appears that child bearing was still for relatively young women, men could produce offspring even if when several hundred years old. 

This all changed after the flood. Because of the effects of sin, men lived shorter and shorter lives, as God had set the upward limit of man’s age at one hundred. Even in our day, with all of our medical advances, we do not seem to be able to surpass this barrier. Right now, the oldest known living person is 117 years old and there are only 5 known people ager 115 or older. 

The purpose of this limit was that God’s people were disobedient to Him. Particularly, their sin involved marrying unbelievers. And what was their reason for abandoning God’s commands in this area? That they saw that the daughters of men were fair. This has always been a trap for God’s Covenant people. For their own lust and desire, they forsake God’s command and choose a mate that will lead them away from God. Even in the New Testament, there is the command to not be unequally yoked. Believers ought not to marry unbelievers, even if the man or woman is fair to look upon, is highly talented, or wealthy. This sort of fulfilling one’s desire comes at the cost of the soul.

When the Lord says that His Spirit will not always strive with man, He is intimating the coming destruction. The world had fallen into grievous sin, yet the Lord did not immediately destroy men or cause them to die in young age. He waited patiently for men to repent but they would not. He is pronouncing the end of His patience and the coming of His wrath in the flood and of His judgment in shorter lives.

John Calvin does not agree that this verse limits the life of sinful man but refers, rather, to the years left before the flood. That may be the case. However, immediately after the flood, the life spans of men begin to dramatically reduce until the time of the patriarchs and even further after them. By the time we get to the Kings, the life spans are under one hundred years.

Gen. 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 barechildrento them, the samebecamemighty men which wereof old, men of renown. ⁵And God saw that the wickedness of manwasgreat in the earth, and thatevery imagination of the thoughts of his heartwasonly evil continually.

Some link this verse with the sons of God marrying the daughters of men, claiming that such a match produced giants. This is one reason some believe the sons of God were angels who produced offspring with women. However, these verses do not need to be read that way. The sons of God were likely the Sethites and the daughters of men were likely the Cainites. The righteous line intermarried with the reprobate line and this was disobedient to God.

However, clearly there is a reference to the giants in the land, the mighty men. Throughout the rest of the Old Testament, the giants are always enemies of Israel. Israel has her own mighty men, but they kill giants by the power of God’s Spirit, not in their own strength and cunning. 

As men intermarried and populated the earth, they continued in wickedness, not serving God.

God saw the wickedness of man. Of course, God saw from the beginning but it was if He had not yet looked upon them for judgment. His patience was still enduring but when He looked upon man and saw him, His judgment was determined.

Evil Continually- Mankind had become abased. Of Himself, apart from God, he was utterly ruined. Even his very inward thoughts, continually sought to assault God. Seeing the world as we now do, it is difficult for us to imagine this level of depravity. Not that we do not see depravity. We do and plenty of it. However, the light of the gospel has changed the world in such a way as it can never again be without witness of the light of Jesus. But in those days, man had rejected God and the kingdom of darkness was in full tilt. God saw only a few righteous persons on the whole earth.

Imagine the worst hell-hole in the world. A place like Thailand, or Vietnam, or parts of India, or maybe even certain place in the Middle East, say the recent reign of Isis. In these places of darkness, we still see immense depravity. There is slavery, cruelty, murder, hatred and every evil desire. But even in these places, the light of Jesus is not full extinguished. So, you must imagine a world in which there is virtually no good in man, woman and child. And the Lord saw that. 

Rom. 3:12They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Gen. 6:6  And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. ⁷And 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.

The Lord was sorry He had made man. Man caused God pain.

Calvin says that it is not good for us to think that God would have felt sorry for creating man or have been grieved in His heart. He says this because God knows all things from the beginning to the end. So, that if God created man, He also knew that man would fall. God is said to be immutable, that is unchangeable in His nature. Sometimes, this immutability attempts to describe God as unchangeable in any way, as if He must live ever in one state of being. Calvin calls this talk a mere anthropomorphism and even goes so far as to say that “Certainly God is not sorrowful or sad; but remains forever like himself in his celestial and happy repose:” Certainly, God’s immutability does not mean that He must remain in happy respose. God, at times, is angry at sin. Jesus, who is also God in the flesh, was Himself angry at sin. Jesus marveled at unbelief. He was grieved over sin and over the death of Lazarus.

We should take these words at their face value rather than trying to squeeze them into our theological system. God made man to bear His image. Man sinned egregiously and became a bad image bearer. This angered God. It also made Him sad of heart and God was sorry that He had made man. Why? Because prior to making man, God was in happy repose. He existed as The Triune One, in unity of mind and Spirit as One God in Three persons. But after man had entered into the world, there was a breaking of fellowship between God and man, which also anticipated a breaking in the fellowship of the Godhead as the Son of God must become the propitiation for sin.

         Not only man was destroyed but all the animals, as well. The animals were not sinful but were the domain of mankind. Thus, they were included in his fall and punishment. We should consider our ways, for when we sin, we take down the innocent with us.

Gen. 6:8  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. ⁹These arethe generations of Noah: Noah was a just manandperfect in his generations, andNoah walked with God. ¹⁰And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Noah found grace. Noah was a righteous man. However, it was not his righteousness that saved him but the grace of God. Like Abraham, Noah believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

Noah was just (righteous). He was perfect (complete, blameless). While everyone else was only evil continually, Noah sought the favor of the Lord. 

Noah was upright but not perfect. He and Lot are both called tormented men that God is able to save.

2 Peter. 2:5-9  ⁵And spared not the old world, but savedNoahthe eighthperson, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; ⁶And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemnedthemwith an overthrow, makingtheman ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; 2:7  And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: ⁸(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexedhisrighteous soul from day to day with theirunlawful deeds;) ⁹The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:        

Think about how these men were tormented in their day. In Lot’s day, there were righteous on the earth but none in Sodom.

In Noah’s day, there were no righteous on the Earth. These men were vexed in their spirits. But God knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations.

We live in a day where our souls are vexed. There is sin lurking at the door. Our culture has jettisoned the Scriptures. Our public schools and secular universities fight against the word and will of God. But God sees all of this and delivers the godly and prepares judgment for the wicked. We are not to despair but rather to press on and persevere.

Gen. 6:11  The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹²And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

The earth was corrupt. It was hopelessly fallen. Mankind was full of wickedness. Violence is not from God. Now, there is certainly some justifiable violence, when men must defend themselves or defend the weak. But when violence is the means to gain one’s own advancement, apart from the will of God, then God looks askance at it.

Gen. 6:13  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. 

Because the violence of man was so great, God determined to destroy man. But even  in this, God remembered His promise to protect the seed of the woman.

¹⁴Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. ¹⁵And this is the fashionwhich thou shalt make it of: The length of the arkshall bethree hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. 

This is the ark of salvation, like Mose’s ark, like the ark of the covenant. 

The ark is built of wood and waterproofed with pitch. It was 450 long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet tall. 

Heb. 11:7By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

¹⁶A 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; withlower, second, and thirdstoriesshalt thou make it. 

¹⁷And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein isthe breath of life, from under heaven; andevery thing that isin the earth shall die. 

God destroyed the Earth. This should call us up short. We tend to think of the devil as the one who is the destroyer. And, indeed he is. But God judged the wickedness of the Earth drowned all the people and the animals.

¹⁸But 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. 

God establishes His covenant with Noah, the believer. God promises Noah rest.

Remember this. God establishes His covenant with mankind. He did so with Adam and Eve. The covenant was explicit when God gave Eve a promise in Gen. 3:15 that her seed would crush the seed of the serpent. The sons of God would defeat the sons of the daughters of men.

But mankind failed miserably. The righteous line sinned miserably. They mixed with the enemies of God and fell away from God. The whole world was corrupt except for Noah and his sons. And even one of his sons would do a wicked deed. But in order of the promise to remain active, God had to do something about it. God had to save mankind because mankind was wholly inadequate to save himself.

There is another bible theme that emerges here. God chooses one man to save mankind or to save His people in the Earth. Over and again this theme crops up. In later times, there are more than eight righteous. This point with Noah is the low point of history. But there are times when the promises look very bleak. There are few righteous on the earth and unless God had kept a posterity, the promise would cease. 

Keep in mind God choice of Adam, Seth, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Joshua and each of the individual Judges who were saviors, and Kind David. Of course, all these earthly Saviors failed to save mankind completely because they were not God. Thus, a Savior, who was God in the flesh was necessary. This all points to Jesus Christ, the man who both saved His people and defeated every foe. Through Him, the second Adam, the seed of the woman crushes the serpent’s head. The Church takes its proper role as the new Eve to restore the Garden to its intended end.

Along with Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives, were the ones to repopulate the Earth. We all have a common ancestor in Adam about 6000 years ago. And we all have a common ancestor in Noah about 2348 BC, so about 4400 years ago.

¹⁹And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sortshalt thou bring into the ark, to keep themalive with thee; they shall be male and female. ²⁰Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sortshall come unto thee, to keep themalive. ²¹And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gatheritto thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

Noah and his sons were to bring animals two of every kind and seven sets of clean beasts, presumably so they could be eaten.

One estimate of kinds is that there were about 935 kinds of animals. Kinds probably relate mostly to families in the taxonomic system. Also, if the animals brought into the ark were infant or juvenile, they would take up considerably less space initially. 

EXHORTATION

Gen. 6:22  Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Noah was a righteous and obedient man. God saw all the wickedness on the Earth and God also saw Noah. And God saved the world through this one man.

After Noah, the world changed. Never would it be left without a significant witness of God-fearers. And after Jesus, the gospel would change the world from a place where God’s Spirit would not always strive with man, to a place where God’s Spirit would always strive with man.

We should remember what a righteous man does. A righteous man does all that the Lord commands him. Of course, our righteousness is not absolutely our own. We are sinners and sin. Noah sinned. Abraham sinned. But they both believed God’s promises, were reckoned righteous and then got about the business of obeying God.

We do the same thing. We believe God, in Jesus Christ, the Lord covers our sin and imputes to us the righteousness of Jesus Christ. If we are clothed in Him, then we are righteous. And then Jesus says, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” 

The Christian is the one who follows God and does what He says.  And those who will not obey God will find themselves in the end outside of God’s favor. 

Is our obedience absolute? No, it isn’t. In fact, the more we get on with Jesus, the more we recognize our own failings. But this recognition should make you two things.

First, because you love God, it should cause you to strive more to obey Him.

Second, because as you get to know God, you realize how Holy and Perfect He is and how far you fall short in comparison to Him. Thus, your failings push you closer to Jesus. You become ever more reliant upon Him and His Spirit for your daily obedience and thus you grow in grace.