Genesis 6:1–8 (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.
NOTE: The biggest difficulty is identifying the sons of God. There are three possibilities. One, they could be angels (or former angels, i.e., demons), as passages in Job refer to them as the sons of God. Angels do not reproduce, so that does not seem likely. Two, they could be the godly line of Shem was intermarrying with the line of Cain, and being corrupted into sin (that would fit the context the best). Lastly, it could be rulers (upper class) who were taking all the beautiful women (lower class) to be their wives, leaving lower class men without options. In each case there is an argument why "sons of God" would be appropriate. Jude and even 2 Peter hint at angels, but do not explicitly say that they were having children.
I suppose I lean toward the second option. It says that God's heart was grieved (in pain). The woman's judgment for sin was pain in childbirth, but God was experiencing pain as well. The language says that God regretted (or some versions, repented) making man. I believe those are the best words to capture God's emotion. They do not mean that God did not know or that God was surprised but they do capture the heart of God. He was hurt because he knew what man needed to do to truly enjoy life, but man was only intent on sin.
God "starts over" with Noah, but the restart is a very different planet. Survival became much more difficult. Climate extremes were created, and catastrophic weather events started. The phenomena of a rainbow that was part of the changes set up as a reminder of man's rebellion toward God.
PONDER:
- Do I believe that God really knows what is best for me?
- Do I search the scriptures for God's truth, because I know it is good for me and will change me?
PRAYER: Father, we blew it and we continue making mistakes and rebelling against you today. We have broken your heart because you love us so much, and you know the things that make for peace but we would not have it. Much as Jesus cried in the last week of his life:
Luke 19:41–42 (ESV) — 41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
Father, open our eyes to see what real life is truly about.
No comments:
Post a Comment