Genesis 6 - And it was [not] good
Genesis 6 contains both one of the weirdest passages and the most significant passages in the Bible.
Read / Listen to the chapter:
Read the chapter on BibleGateway
Read the chapter in an outlined format:
Genesis 6 (ESV)
1 When
man began to multiply on the face of the land
and daughters were born to them,
2 the sons of God
saw that the daughters of man were attractive.
And they took as their wives any they chose.
3 Then the Lord said,
“My Spirit shall not abide in man forever,
for he is flesh:
his days shall be 120 years.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward,
when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them.
These were the mighty men who were of old,
the men of renown.
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.
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.
13 And God said to Noah,
“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.
14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood.
Make rooms in the ark,
and cover it inside and out with pitch.
15 This is how you are to make it:
the length of the ark 300 cubits,
its breadth 50 cubits,
and its height 30 cubits.
16 Make a roof for the ark,
and finish it to a cubit above,
and set the door of the ark in its side.
Make it with lower, second, and third decks.
17 For behold,
I will bring
a flood of waters
upon the earth
to destroy
all flesh
in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die.
18 But
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.
19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you.
They shall be male and female.
20 Of the birds according to their kinds,
and of the animals according to their kinds,
of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind,
two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive.
21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.”
22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
Watch / Listen to the DIG DEEPER video:
Genesis 6 Summary
v1-4 - Don't freak out when you read this. It's one of the weirdest, most mysterious passages of the Bible, and you're in good company if you're confused by it.
v5-8 - This is one of the most theologically significant passages in the Bible, as it best describes the sinful conditions of mankind. Yet it ends on a note of hope: Noah found favor (grace) in the eyes of the Lord.
v9-22 - God simultaneously announces His plan to destroy the earth, but save mankind through Noah. As we see so often in the Bible, God's justice and mercy are inseparable.
Dig Deeper
Conventional wisdom says that even though there are tons of problems in the world and things are really messed up, people are basically good. If we just really work hard at being good, either as individuals or as a society, we can end the cycles of misery and life will go on happily ever after.
But reality has a way of constantly throwing a bucket of cold water on this worldview, as we often come close, but never seem to achieve it.
Genesis 6:5 helps us understand the reality of things (and ourselves) as they actually are:
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.
This means that people are not basically good, instead all of us are inherently rotten.
Although today's chapter may seem super depressing, it's actually really good news. First, it's always good to know the truth of the situation you live in. You can't pull yourself out of the mess you were born into.
Second, and more importantly, v8 shows us where it is that you will find salvation:
But Noah found favor [grace] in the eyes of the Lord.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who's heart hurts because of our sin, but yet who provides mercy even in His judgment.
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Ask for the perseverance to "walk with God" as Noah did.
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
