Sunday, March 10, 2019

Gen 6:1-6:10


    Gen 6:1-4 (ESV) 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.

    • Genesis 6:1 sets the stage. It does not really say the problem. If you stopped at verse one, you would come to the wrong conclusion
      • Daughters being born is not the problem
    • What is occurring in verses 2 and 3?
      • Multiple marriages
      • Selfishness (lust of the flesh)
        • Older, wealthier men (still young looking) were marrying all the younger women
        • Why do I say older, wealthier men?
          • The length of life
          • The delayed effect of age on a person's looks
          • The association of wealth to older age
    • Many possible explanations for verses 1-4, sons of God and Nephilim
      • Some suggest angels or fallen angels (2 Pet 2:4-5 & Jude 6-7)
    2 Peter 2:4–5 (ESV) —
    4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
    Jude 6–7 (ESV) —
    6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
    • The problem with these two passages, is that they seem to read that the fallen angels were cast into hell. But it doesn't say the time technically, and we know that not all demons are in hell
    • Similar passages in Jubilees 7.21-22 suggest demons (also called giants as well), and called Watchers
      • The Giants devoured themselves
      • As for whether the Book of Jubilees should be in the Bible, we must first recognize the fact that God is the One at work in the Scriptures, and if He wanted the Book of Jubilees as a part of Scripture, no man (or Satan) could have prevented it. Hundreds and hundreds of years of Christian (and Jewish) scholars have labored to ensure that the Holy Scriptures remain true and untainted. Part of the problem with the Book of Jubilees is that so little remains of original writings that there is no way to determine if the book as it now exists is the same book that was originally written. This is one huge reason that the Book of Jubilees fails the standards of the canon of Scripture.
    • Others that the godly line of Seth was marrying into a wicked line (similar to believers marrying unbelievers in the NT)
      • The previous passage (chapter 5 would suggest this). The godly line of Seth started to intermarry with the ungodly line of Cain
    • Lastly, they were "dynastic rulers." These would have been powerful men who were indwelt with demons
    • We discussed 120 year limit last week. Currently, there is no one who has ever lived beyond 120 years after the flood. Why?
      • God commanded it
      • Something changed in the atmosphere
      • Before the flood" Long life just led to greater sin (the daughters marrying only older wealthier men, which then probably led the younger man to do the same thing when they were older)

    Gen 6:5-7  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 was sorry 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."

    • Verses 5 and 6 relate another "first" in scripture, what is it?
      • Evil and sin have already been mentioned; first mention of "every inclination"
    Isaiah 53:6 (ESV) — 6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
    and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.
    Psalm 14:2–4 (ESV) — 2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
    to see if there are any who understand,
    who seek after God.
    3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
    there is none who does good,
    not even one.
    4 Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
    who eat up my people as they eat bread
    and do not call upon the Lord?
    • Verse 6 is translated differently across the key versions

    ESV
    AMP
    NIV84
    NASB95
    RSV
    And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
    And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved at 
    heart.
    The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.
    The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
    And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.

    • Lemma: nhm -- to regret; to be sorry; to console oneself; to comfort
    • The difficulty of the translate is that this is an action for God, and the word that best describes it is here.
    • It is an emotional response of God to a situation

    • A first: God was grieved and God's heart filled with pain
      • Pain has previously been mentioned in relationship to physical pain, and sorrow in terms of emotional pain
      • First time, God is referenced to having pain (an emotional type)
    • What is the cause of God's pain?
      • The great amount of sin in the world
      • Just think how God must feel today?
        • The girls killed by their father (in news this week)
        • The broken families
        • The stories of incest and rape
        • The rampant sexual immorality exploited by the media and the internet
        • Drugs, rebellion, anger, selfishness, greed, …

    Gen 6:8-10 (ESV) 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.

    • Verse 8 is in contrast or an exception
      • Favor is grace
      • The consonants in Noah's name are the reverse of the consonants in the Hebrew word for grace (an anagram)
    • There is another "first" usage in this verse, what is it?
      • A person is called righteous
        • What righteous is not?  Not a legalistic obedience to commands
        • What righteous is?  Heart desire to please God by our behavior
      • A person is called blameless
        • Integrity
        • Can't blame or call sin
      • Not the first, but Noah walked with God (3rd person to walk with God / word used twice for Enoch, and implied for Adam & Eve)
        • Relational aspect to the person's faith
        • Gen 5:24 (ESV)  Enoch walked with God, and he was not,  for God took him.
        • First "walk" is God walking in the garden
        • Gen 3:8 (ESV) And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
        • Walking emphasizes the relational aspect of God. It is a time to ask questions and talk to him
    • Noah had three sons
      • Shem -- father of the Semitic tribes
      • Ham -- Caananites come from the branch of Ham
      • Japeth

    • Chiastic structure of next session:
        A God resolves to destroy the corrupt race (6:11–13).
          B Noah builds an ark according to God’s instructions (6:14–22).
             C The Lord commands the remnant to enter the ark (7:1–9).
               D The flood begins (7:10–16).
                 E The flood prevails 150 days and the water covers the mountains (7:17–24).
                   F God remembers Noah (8:1a).
                 E’ The flood recedes 150 days, and the mountains are visible (8:1b–5).
               D’ The earth dries (8:6–14).
             C’ God commands the remnant to leave the ark (8:15–19).
          B’ Noah builds an altar (8:20).
        A’ The Lord resolves not to destroy humankind (8:21–22).”

    (Ross), Constable, T. (2003). Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Ge 6:8). Galaxie Software.

    APPLICATION:
    1. Pure selfishness, violence, and injustice brought pain to the heart of God

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