Genesis Lesson 6
GOD’S JUDGMENT OF THE FLOOD
AND THE ARK OF SALVATION
Genesis 6:1-7:24
Key Verse 6:13,14
“So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the
earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy
both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood;
make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.”
Chapter 4 of Genesis presents the genealogy of Cain, who rebelled against God; Chapter 5 is about Seth’s descendants, who called on the name of the Lord. Chapter 6 shows the blending of these two genealogies and the tragedy that comes from it. Chapter 7 records God’s judgment of the flood because of men’s wickedness.
Sin began with Adam, and it grew and grew during the time of Cain and Lamech. It reached its full measure at the time of Noah. Sin grew together with the increase of population and human culture. By the time of Noah, the world was full of violence and corruption and sexual immorality. Because sin had reached its full measure, God’s judgment was inevitable. God judged the world with a flood. However, God’s salvation was still there, even in the midst of his judgment. Today I would like to focus on how God’s justice punished sin and how his love nevertheless offered salvation.
The Time of Noah (6:1-7)
The author of Genesis talks about the time of Noah. When men began to increase in number on the earth, daughters were born to them. Most of their daughters were very beautiful. The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Here, the phrase “sons of God” refers to “Seth’s descendants,” who called on the name of the Lord. “Daughters of men” refers to descendants of Cain. Some people think that sons of God may refer to fallen angels, but it is not true. Angels do not have gender, and they do not marry (Mt 22:30). Angels are also a different kind of creature than human beings. If they married a human being they would give birth to another different kind of living creature; but there are no records of any such thing. Therefore, “sons of God” are not fallen angels but descendants of Seth. The sons of God saw the outward beauty of the daughters of men and married any of them they chose. They did not have any interest in knowing whether the daughters had a spiritual relationship with God. These actions show that they had fallen from the spiritual to the physical. Seth’s descendants no longer called on the name of the Lord. Seth’s descendants should have lived lives separate from those of the descendants of Cain in order to please God and walk with him. Believers should not be yoked together with unbelievers. Righteousness and wickedness have nothing in common, and light and darkness do not have fellowship (2Co 6:14-18). But the sons of Seth saw only the physical beauty of Cain’s descendants, and married them. It shows that Seth’s descendants were corrupt to the core. Whenever believers and unbelievers marry, the believers are negatively influenced by the unbelievers and lose their faith. The author of Genesis shows that the root cause of the downfall of Seth’s descendants was marriage with unbelievers. The cause of Solomon’s downfall also came from his ungodly marriage to unbelieving wives (1Ki 11:1-4). Indeed, marriage reflects the spiritual conditions of people and generations.
Marriage is established by God and it is sacred. Marriage was not given to satisfy man’s physical desire but to discharge God’s mission. Marriage is a union between man and woman in the will of God. Marriage has something that man should not treat lightly; there is holiness and sacredness in it. But the descendants of Seth ignored this will of God and married any of Cain’s descendents they pleased. The fact that they were gratifying the cravings of their sinful nature and following its desires made God sorrowful (Eph 2:3). Man’s mind is corrupt and it cannot be a measure of true value. Jeremiah 17:9 reads, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” If we live according to what our mind wants, we will be living according to our fallen nature. The sons of God did not look at the inner condition of the daughters of men. They only saw the physical beauty of women and married them. The daughters of men walked along with outstretched necks, flirting with their eyes, tripping along with mincing steps, with ornaments jingling on their ankles. The sons of God lost their hearts to them. Their generation was corrupted.
Then, in verse 3, “the Lord said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years." As the result of physical marriage, the sons of God and daughters of men became mortal. The word “mortal” refers to the fallen nature of men in the Bible. To be mortal means to have become slaves of sin. It means to not have given up one’s sinful life. Men did not call on the name of the Lord anymore and did not seek God’s favor. They refused the work of the Holy Spirit completely, beyond restoration. This means they became like animals, losing the image of God in them. Men are different from animals. Men have souls and reason. They are supposed to be ruled by reason and to live according to the Spirit. When men live a holy life according to the spirit, they are precious and can truly be men.
What did they do when they became mortal? As Jesus said in Luke 17:27, “People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.” When men do not discharge their mission from God, what they do is nothing but eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage. It was building and buying and selling and seeking pleasure. Then God declared that he would be not with man who had become mortal. “My Spirit will not contend with man forever.” Here, “Spirit” refers to God’s Spirit, that which gives life, the Holy Spirit. Man can maintain his spiritual life when the Spirit of God is with him. But if the Spirit of God departs from a man, he is as good as dead.
God gave all people of Noah’s time 120 years. That was enough time for them to repent and turn to God. But they misunderstood God. They thought that God’s judgment would never come because it would come only in 120 years. However, to know that the time of God’s judgment is far away should not be an excuse to delay one’s repentance. God does not punish man immediately after man sins. God has great patience. Ezekiel 33:11 reads, “'As surely as I live,’ declares the Sovereign Lord, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.” God wants everyone to be saved. He is patient with all of us, not wanting anyone to perish, but wanting, rather, everyone to come to repentance (2Pe 3:9). 120 years was the time of God’s grace and the time of their salvation (2Co 6:12).
Verse 4 describes the people who were famous in those days. The Nephilim walked the earth in those days. The word “Nephilim” means “tyranny, giant, invader.” They were big and violent. They liked to invade other countries. When sons of God had children from daughters of men, their children became the heroes of old, men of renown. In those days, physically strong people were treated as heroes and ruled over weak people. People valued physical strength so much that the land was full of violence.
Verse 5 is God’s judgment on the people of Noah’s time: “The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” The word “saw” appears in verses 2 and 5. In verse 2 sons of God saw daughters of men. But in verse 5 God saw men. When sons of God saw daughters of men they saw their outward appearance and were corrupted. When God saw men he saw their inner condition and became sorrowful. When God saw the people of Noah’s time, they were completely corrupt in mind and body. The sin of the people of Noah’s time was not superficial but deeply rooted. When a tree branch is rotten, we can cut it off. But when the root of a tree is rotten, we have to uproot the tree. At that time, every inclination of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil, all the time. No one sought God. All had turned away, and they had become worthless, every last one of them; there was no one who did good, not even one (Ro 3:11,12). They felt no sense of guilt, even when they sinned. They had given themselves over to sensuality and indulged in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more (Eph 4:19). In a word, they were hopeless.
“The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain” (6). “God was grieved” did not mean that God regretted having created man. It shows that God’s heart was pained to see man’s corruption. “God grieved that he had made man on the earth” does not mean that his power or knowledge was limited. It does not refer to God’s changing character. God is not a man, who can change his mind (Nu 23:19; 1Sa 5:29). “Grieved” does not mean that God grieved over something in himself or over something he had done. He grieved over the tragedy that was upon men because of their sin. When God saw that every inclination of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil, all the time, he decided to wipe mankind out by means of a flood. God would eradicate from the face of the earth not only man but also animals and creatures that moved along the ground and birds of the air (7). When sin prevails, God judges. This was true long ago and is true in our times. God delivered his judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah. He judged Pompei and Rome when their sin had reached its full measure. When sin reaches its full measure in our generation, God will judge. God’s judgment against sin applies not only to man but also to nations.
Noah Found Favor in the Eyes of the Lord (6:8-7:5)
But God found one person, Noah. If we look at verse 8 we see that “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” God wanted to judge all men and animals and birds and all living creatures but he wanted to exclude Noah. This is because Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord; it means that Noah was chosen by God and God loved Noah. God’s favor appears in the middle of God’s judgment. The Bible shows that God’s favor is given to all sinners who are unworthy. Noah was a sinner and he was an object of God’s judgment. But he walked with God and found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Thus he was exempted from God’s judgment. When God saw the people of Noah’s time he was grieved. But when he saw Noah he was pleased.
What kind of person was Noah? Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Ecclesiastes 7:20 reads, “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.” Romans 3:10 declares, "There is no one righteous, not even one”. But the Bible says that Noah was a righteous man. “To be righteous” does not mean “Not to sin.” It means that he had a right relationship with God through his faith. The word “blameless” is usually used for animals chosen for sacrifices (Ex 12:5; Lev 1:3,10). When the word “blameless” is used for a man it means morally blameless. The author of Genesis describes Noah’s faith in one sentence: “He walked with God.” The faith of Enoch was expressed in the same way. “Noah walked with God” means Noah did not live according to his sinful desires, but rather obeyed God and lived according to what God wanted. It was challenging for Noah to live according to God’s desire when everyone around him lived according to their own sinful desires. Many people want to live righteous lives, but when they see the adulterous environment of the world, they compromise and live sinful lives as well. They adjust themselves to other people in order not to be isolated. But Noah was different. Even if every other person had given up his faith, Noah did not give up his. He did not compromise with the world at all. Even though all other people lived worldly lives, he lived a holy life. Whereas all other people passed through a wide gate, he alone entered through a narrow gate. He lived in the world, but he did not belong to the world. While all other people loved money, and lived human-centered lives, he lived for God. He struggled hard to live in the sight of God and tried to live according to God’s law. It was a holy life against the sin of the world. Noah was like a fish that tries to swim against the current. A man can win over his sin only when he walks with God. By having a close and constant fellowship with God, Noah overcame himself and his sinful desire and his own generation. He not only kept his faith but also preached righteousness according to 2 Peter 2:5. He was not influenced by his generation but influenced his generation. God treasured one man, Noah, more than millions of other people. Then God saved him from his dreadful judgment.
The world was good in the sight of God, according to Chapter One of Genesis. But Genesis 6:11,12 says that the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. It was filled with wickedness, evil, greed, murder, strife, rape, deceit and malice and it was inevitable that God would judge men. Consider verses 13 and 14: “So God said to Noah, ‘I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.’” God told his plan of judgment to Noah and asked him to build the ark. God gave him detailed instructions regarding the materials and layout of the ark. Then he established a covenant with Noah to keep the lives of every person and every living thing inside of the ark. The ark was enormous, because it had to hold every kind of animal (18,19). The ark was to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high. The ark had approximately 1,500,000 cubic feet of space, so we can have some sense of the ark’s great size. It would be equivalent in volume to 522 standard American railroad stock cars, each of which can hold 240 sheep. God asked Noah to build such a huge ark so that many people could be saved. Here we can see God’s vast scale and vision. God wants us to build a huge spiritual ark to save not only our family members but many other people as well.
The ark was not to navigate but to float. Since it was designed by God it was very solid and safe. It was almost impossible for the ark to be overturned. It could rebound to its normal position even if it tilted 90 degrees to the side during an ocean hurricane. God asked Noah to build the ark for him. This shows that our life of faith is basically for ourselves.
How did Noah accept the word of the Lord? Look at 6:22 and 7:5: “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” “And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.” An ordinary man would not believe that there would be a flood in 120 years. The words of God’s judgment must have been a challenge to Noah because he had never heard such words of judgment before. But Noah believed it because it was the word of God. It shows his awesome respect for God’s word. Noah took the word of God’s promise and command seriously and accepted them. Adam’s problem was that he did not have ultimate respect for God’s word of command. But Noah accepted the word of God’s command with utter respect. The foundation of Noah’s faith was the spoken word of God. Because he believed the word of God he could prepare the ark. While all other people were deep in sin and the day of God’s judgment was approaching, he silently prepared the ark. He did not build it in his own way. He used the exact material God had indicated and built it exactly according to God’s design. Even when it was difficult for him to use the exact wood and follow the exact layout, he didn’t change anything. He did not add or subtract from God’s instructions, but built it just as he was commanded. He did not adjust the word of God to himself, but adjusted himself to the word of God. He was foolish enough to obey the word of God to the letter. He could do so because he believed in God. Hebrew 11:7 reads, “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”
To build the ark for 120 years must not been easy. People must have ridiculed him as a “fanatic,” “fool,” “cult member” and so forth. He must have devoted much time, money and energy to the work. He must have been tired and he could have become poor. Most of all, his inner fear and doubt and sense of isolation must have been challenging. He might have thought, “Why should I build such a huge ark?” “Will God really judge the world?” He may have despaired when people never listened to him, no matter how much he preached righteousness. But he held on to the word of God’s promise and overcame all. He was a lonely preacher and he was the heir to righteousness by faith.
In any generation there are always scoffers who deride those who live by faith. Apostle Peter tells us about their existence and how we should treat them. “First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this “coming” he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’ But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2Pe 3:3-9).
People do not believe in God’s judgment. They say that all things work at the same speed, based on the same principle, and will work in the same way in the future, with no intervention of God in human history or geography. Scoffers say that God’s promise for Jesus’ second coming will never be fulfilled. But God’s judgment is coming closer with every moment.
How did Noah build the ark? Did he build it with bitterness in his heart? He might have built something out of obligation in a year or two, but no one could build in bitterness for 120 years. Noah could build for so long because he had joy and hope and a sense of mission. Noah walked with God before he built the ark and during the building of the ark and after he had built the ark. He always trusted God and loved him and depended on him. Furthermore, he must have always been joyful and praying and thankful (1Th 5:16-18). He must have been filled with spirit. He had God’s comfort and love. By giving him the task of building the ark, God planted faith in Noah and warned the people of the world through him. Noah’s life condemned those ungodly people and exposed their sins. God was long-suffering because he wanted them to repent and be saved.
Finally the ark was finished. We read in 7:1: "Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.” The expression “Go into the ark” means, “Come thou and all thy house into the ark” (KJV). It meant that God would be with them inside of the ark and that they would be safe with God in the midst of the flood that would destroy the whole world. The reason why God saved Noah and his family was because they had lived by faith in the sight of God. Because Noah had lived by faith, he and all of his household were saved (Ac 16:31).
God asked Noah to take with him seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth (2, 3). See 7:4: “Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made." God told Noah that he would judge the world in seven days. Think about it! After seven days the world would be destroyed! We cannot waste one hour or even one minute. Noah did all that the Lord commanded him, in fear and with a trembling heart (5).
God’s Judgment of Flood (7:6-24)
Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth (6). Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives entered the ark, and pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark. There was a long procession of animals before the ark. It was the procession of salvation. It was an amazing scene. All the animals came to the ark knowing that judgment was imminent. The procession of the animals lasted for 7 days. The people of Noah’s time watched the animals’ procession for 7 days. They could have shouted, “Wow, that’s amazing!” or watched it with joy, but no one came to the ark understanding the meaning of the animals’ procession. God was clearly warning people of his judgment by means of the animals’ seven-day procession. But no one took heed. They were too spiritually blind and deaf to see or hear anything. They intentionally rejected God’s invitation to the end. As a result, God’s dreadful judgment came upon them (Pr 1:24-28).
Noah and his family and all the animals entered the ark as the Lord had commanded. Then God shut the door of the ark (16). This means that door of the ark was shut not by man but by God, and it was sealed. The fact that God shut the door gave confidence to all the men and animals inside of the ark. They could see that they were under God’s protection and will. The door was open to everyone and anyone until the last minute. But when the time came, God shut it. No one can open a door that God shuts. Now the time of God’s grace was over and the time of God’s judgment had come. This was because the people of Noah’s time had intentionally rejected God’s grace. The opportunity to be saved is not always open. There is surely a time when the door of heaven will be closed. Then, no matter how earnestly we ask, it will not be open. It will be the end of everything.
The seventeenth day of the second month of the six hundredth year of Noah’s life was the time of God’s judgment. On that day, all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth for forty days and forty nights. The author describes God’s dreadful judgment in verses 21-24. “Every living thing that moved on the earth perished - birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.”
On that day, all the people who had denied God’s existence and those who had persecuted Noah and ridiculed him and those who had lived according to their own desires and all lustful men and proud men died in the flood. Only Noah and his family were saved. That “Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark” shows the amazing grace of God. All people were judged by God, but those in the ark were saved. The ark did not have engines or oars. It was not a boat for taking refuge in, operated by men, but rather a lifesaving boat operated by God. The ark foreshadows Jesus Christ. God gave Jesus as the saving ark for all men. Only those who were in Noah’s ark were saved. Similarly, only those who believe in Jesus are exempted from God’s judgment and receive God’s salvation (Jn 5:24). In Noah’s ark there was life and rest and peace. In the same way, only in Jesus is there life and peace and eternal rest.
From God’s judgment of the flood we learn several things. First of all, God judges sin. God judges us not according to our human condition or achievement or possessions but according to the sins that we commit. Therefore his judgment is fair.
Secondly, God’s judgment is thorough and dreadful. Many make fun of God’s judgment, saying, “Well, lots of people are going to go to hell - it must be a tolerable place. Why can’t I stay there?” and take God’s judgment lightly. But God’s judgment is dreadful beyond our imagination. Revelation 21:8 says that hell is a place of burning sulfur and that people suffer eternally, as described in Mark 9:48,49, a place “where ’Their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' Everyone will be salted with fire.”
Thirdly, there is God’s judgment. People do not believe in God’s judgment. They think that everything ends with death and so they seek pleasure while they live on earth. But death is not the end of everything. Hebrews 9:27 reads, “man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” Apostle Peter warned people more dreadfully. 2 Peter 3:10-11 reads, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives.” Jesus also talked about signs of the end of age, "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed” (Lk 17:26-30). Sin appears in a universal form and in the same way God’s judgment will appear in a universal way.
The Bible warns that God will judge people by fire. When we think about God’s judgment we cannot live life carelessly. We should live in fear and with a trembling heart. Life is given only once, so it is very important for us to use it correctly. The eternal future of our lives depends on how we use them. Our eternal salvation depends on whether or not we stay inside of Jesus.
God judges men fairly. He is just. Therefore we should prepare ourselves for the day of God’s judgment by living a life of faith, as Noah did. Then, when Jesus comes again and we stand before the judgment seat, he will say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!” And we will receive eternal life and great glory and rewards.