When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with[a] humans forever, for they are mortal[b]; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
9 This is the account of Noah and his family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 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. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress[c] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.[d] 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit[e] high all around.[f] Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
Footnotes
- Genesis 6:3 Or My spirit will not remain in
- Genesis 6:3 Or corrupt
- Genesis 6:14 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Genesis 6:15 That is, about 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high or about 135 meters long, 23 meters wide and 14 meters high
- Genesis 6:16 That is, about 18 inches or about 45 centimeters
- Genesis 6:16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
Genesis 6:1-2
When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.
What makes a woman beautiful?
We might say that some certain features of a woman's physical body make her beautiful or that a woman's personality and charm make her beautiful. But what if a woman doesn't have these physical or personal attributes?
In Genesis 6:1-2, the Bible says that the sons of God (historically understood to be angels) saw that the daughters of men were beautiful and married them.
What I find interesting here is that the Bible doesn't say that the angels saw that some of the daughters of men were beautiful or that a few of them were beautiful. No, it makes a blanket statement implying that all of the daughters of men were beautiful.
God and the angels appreciate all of the variety in women's looks and personalities. They see and admire all that a woman is much more than men or even the women themselves do.
Women, the next time you doubt your own beauty, ask yourself how God and the angels see you. And men, remember that womanly beauty is much broader than your own preferences.
Genesis 6:3
Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
What does the word “contend” mean to you?
It brings boxing to mind for me. A challenger, or a contender, goes up against the champ. The two men fight. They struggle against one another.
In Genesis 6:3, God says that He is contending against humans. He is struggling against humans because their hearts are evil.
When a contender challenges the champ, they are both competing, or struggling, for the title. But what is the goal, what is the prize, when God and humans contend against one another?
God, being the loving creator, always has helping us to live a peaceful and righteous life as His goal. He wants our good. We also want our good, but want to achieve it through our own means.
The problem is that our means and our own ideas of what is good are never as good as God's. God, being the wisest and goodest thing there is, always knows how to best provide our good and always wants to accomplish it.
So, why would we contend against Him?
Let us not fight against God. If God wants to provide good things for us, let's not make Him struggle to do it.
Genesis 6:3
Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
In Genesis 6, God decides to put an end to the human race because of the corruption and violence so pervading the hearts of men. In 6:3, God declares that humanity's days will be a hundred and twenty years. After 120 years, He will wipe out all the humans.
The question is this: If God had decided to wipe humans from the earth, why would He wait a hundred and twenty years? Why wouldn't He just do it right then and be done with it?
The same question can be asked regarding any instances of God's timing. Why won't He answer my prayer now instead of making me wait? Why did He take so long to send Jesus? Why is He taking so long to send Christ again?
I think the answer to this last question can give us a hint into all of God's timing. In 2 Peter 3:8-9, we read, "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."
God is purposely, patiently waiting for as many people as possible to repent and turn to Him before Christ returns.
Maybe He was giving people more time to repent before the Flood.
What about the times of waiting on God in your own life? What do you think God is waiting for? Often, we are not waiting on God to act; God is waiting on us to turn to Him before He does act.
Genesis 6:4
The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
When you think of famous people, who comes to mind? When someone mentions the word "hero," what do you think of?
In Genesis 6:4, the Bible says the Nephilim were men of renown, heroes of old. Historically understood to be the offspring of angels and human women, these Nephilim certainly would have been physically impressive. They were probably handsomely beautiful and more than humanly strong. We are also given to understand that they were taller than normal men. Undoubtedly, they could accomplish great feats of heroism and so win fame for themselves.
But what type of heroes were these men?
As we read further, one theme of the growing evil of humanity was a propensity toward violence (verses 11 and 13). People were attacking one another, and groups of people were warring against others. Seeing that these Nephilim would have been heavy hitters, along with the fact that they are not mentioned as being righteous, as Noah was, we can imagine that their acts of heroism and famous deeds were performed on the battlefield in acts of violence.
The other men of their day would have regarded them as heroes, but God did not. God's hero was an old man named Noah.
As you think about your heroes and those people of renown in our culture, consider what it means to be a hero in God's eyes.
Genesis 6:5
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.
Genesis 6:5 tells us that "every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time." What does this mean? Should we take it literally and suppose that the people of Noah's day were utterly evil, that they never had a good or generous or loving thought in their heart?
I think the key word here is "inclination." It's not that the people never had a good thought, but what were they inclined toward? What was their gut response, their initial attitude? The Bible tells us that they were inclined toward evil.
How did they get this way? What happened to make their first thought toward anything be the wrong response?
The way I understand it, there are three possibilities of how their and our hearts can be inclined:
- We can be inclined toward neither good nor evil but have free will to choose either.
- We can be inclined toward evil.
- We can be inclined toward good.
In the beginning, Adam and Eve had perfect free will. They had not yet sinned and could choose either to do so or not to do so. When they sinned, though, the choice became a little more one-sided. Their very nature became sinful, and in their sinful nature, they became inclined toward evil. One sin led to another. Eating the forbidden fruit led to hiding from God and blaming each other. Later, Cain's refusal to give God his best offering led to envying his brother, which led to deceit, which led to murder, which led to lying to God.
The people in Noah's day were inclined toward evil because of their sinful nature and because they continued to reinforce that sinful nature by adding sin to sin to sin. They conditioned themselves to react to each new situation with evil thoughts.
The third direction in which a human heart can be inclined is toward the good. When we accept salvation and allow God's Spirit to cleanse our hearts, we are once again given the opportunity to choose either the good or the evil, just as Adam and Eve could freely choose. If we listen again to our sinful nature, we will fall away from Christ, or, at least, not grow in Him. But if we listen to the Spirit, by practice and repetition, we will train our hearts to incline toward the good. This is spiritual growth. This is discipleship. This is allowing God to give us a new heart.
So, where are you on that scale of heart inclination? How do you respond to things? What is your knee-jerk reaction? Is it toward evil or is it toward good? Maybe you're somewhere in the middle. Gauge your thoughts and ask God to continually cleanse and train your heart toward Him. The people of Noah's day would not listen to God's Spirit when He tried to contend with their spirits. Let us not be as hard-hearted when God speaks to us.
Genesis 6:5-9
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
9 This is the account of Noah and his family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.
God regretted making the human race because they were evil. They had only evil in their hearts. But Noah was different. Noah was righteous, blameless, and walked with God (verse 9).
What about you? What's in your heart? Would God say that there is only evil there all the time (or most of the time), or would He find hope in you like He did in Noah? What is your attitude usually like? What are your goals and ambitions? How do you react to people and situations in your daily life?
God always loves us, but He's not always proud of us. Evil things we do or think break His heart. Let us strive to be high points in God's life by being like Noah: righteous, blameless, and walking with God in all we do, say, and think. Hate sin, ask God to purify your heart so that your motives are pure, and maintain a constant conversation with God as you walk with Him throughout your day. Then, God will see you as a source of hope in this dark world and will look on you with favor.
Genesis 6:6
The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.
What do you regret in life? What do you wish you could take back or do over?
Have your regrets for the past taken away your hope for the future?
Even God had regrets. He regretted making the human race. He was going to throw the whole world away and be done with it.
But then, He found hope in Noah. Noah's righteous life gave God hope and caused Him to make some changes: to start over, yes, but ultimately, to continue on His mission He had started in this world.
You may have regrets too. You may have things you need to change. You may need to start over. But if you commit to living righteously, as Noah did, you can also have hope that God will be with you and will bless you in your future as you also become a source of hope for Him.
Genesis 6:6
The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.
Our God is a God of passion. He is a God of emotions. He is not a flat, unfeeling observer. He loves, He gets angry, He grieves, and in Genesis 6:6, we see that the sinfulness of humanity deeply troubled His heart.
What an impact we have on the heart of God! To think He cares for our affairs and the state of our spirituality so much that we can deeply trouble His heart.
But what I notice here is that God isn't simply deeply troubled in His heart, and then, moves on. He doesn't feel the emotion and then, simply shrug it off or "get over it."
He acts. He does something. When God's heart was deeply troubled, it moved Him to try to correct the situation.
So, the question is, what makes your heart deeply troubled? And what do you do about it? Like God, probably the things that most trouble your heart are the results of sin in the world – children going hungry, people being treated unjustly, people taking advantages unfairly... When your heart is troubled by those things that should not be, what do you do?
Injustice deeply troubles God's heart, just as it does ours. And He will not let it stand. He will take action to correct the situation, usually doing so through our actions.
Let the strength of His deep passion move you emotionally, and actively, as together with Him you work to bring justice.
Genesis 6:6-7
The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”
In Genesis 6:7, God says He's going to wipe the human race from the earth because of their sinfulness. Then, He adds that He's going to destroy all the animals along with them.
Why would God do this? Why are the animals being punished for humanity's sins? That doesn't sound fair!
But we have to remember that in Genesis 1:28, God made humans the rulers over the animals. And as the saying goes, everything rises and falls on leadership.
The sin of our first parents had consequences for the whole created order. Even the ground was changed because of their sin (Genesis 3:17-18).
Our sins carry consequences as well, and never for us alone. Adam and Eve's sins had consequences for the animals and the ground. The sins of the people of Noah's day threatened to destroy every living thing. And our sins can affect those around us.
At its core, sin is selfishness because it places your (momentary, fleeting) desires above the good of others. The sins of the people of Noah's day didn't hurt only them, and our sins don't hurt only us.
Genesis 6:9
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.
What does it mean to be righteous?
Genesis 6:9 tells us Noah was a righteous man, and then it tells us what that means: "blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God."
We often think of righteousness as only having to do with our relationship with God. But this verse shows us that righteousness involves two things: being blameless among others and walking with God.
What does it mean to be blameless among others?
It means that no one has anything against you. No one can accuse you of anything. No one can say that you've hurt them or cheated them or looked funny at them or made a joke at their expense or failed to help them when they needed it. You're blameless among the people. The people can put no blame on you for anything you've done but shouldn't have or haven't done that you should have.
Before we go further, pause and ask yourself, is there anyone in your life who might be blaming you for something? Is there anyone who could have something against you?
What can you do to make that right and so, become blameless among the people once again?
The second part of being righteous is walking with God. How do we walk with God? What does that look like in your life?
I imagine two friends walking on a long journey together. Because they have so much time before they reach their destination, they have plenty of time to talk, and they talk about everything. They talk about small things, and they talk about big things. Their friendship grows as they continue to discuss new subjects, deeper subjects, and they question and challenge each other when they disagree.
That's how God wants us to walk with Him in life. He wants us to discuss everything with Him and let Him challenge our hearts and our thinking when He deems it necessary. As we continue to open up to Him and allow Him to open up to us, we will grow closer to Him until one day, we reach our destination, where even though He walked with us the whole way, He'll also be waiting for us at the end.
That's kinda neat, 'eh?
So, Righteousness = Being blameless among the people + Walking faithfully with God.
Genesis 6:12
God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.
Strangely, this statement from Genesis 6:12 gives me hope.
It tells me that I'm not merely a victim of my situation or condition or surroundings.
It tells me that I'm in control.
What I mean is that the Scripture doesn't say that all the people became corrupt because Satan corrupted them or their sinful nature corrupted them or they were born with no choice but to be corrupted or that everyone else was corrupt, so they had to be corrupt too.
No, the Scripture says that the people were corrupt because THEY had corrupted their ways.
Yes, we face outside temptation from Satan and the demons. We do have an enemy to fight against. Yes, we face inside temptation from our sinful nature. We are prone to selfishness and other sins. Yes, we have disadvantages that we were born with biologically and disadvantages in our surroundings and the people we know.
But we also have a choice as to whether or not we allow those things to corrupt us or not. We can stand up to temptation, and we can overcome our conditions and situations. Ultimately, the only person who can corrupt my ways is me, and I choose not to be corrupted, no matter what the temptation or situation.
How about you? What choice will you make?
Do you have another insight into Genesis 6? Please share below!
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