Last 5 Days
Corruption, Destruction and Preservation
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 favour 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.
In the first two chapters of Genesis we saw that all of God’s creation was good, and God made every provision for humankind to survive and thrive in this world. (Ch. 1-2) Yet something had crept into the world in Chapter 3 – Satan, the great deceiver who disguised himself in the form of a serpent came to Eve and tempted her, so that she and her husband Adam fell into sin. But God made further provisions for them by providing an animal skin to cover their sin and shame (3:21). In Chapter 4, the history of humankind deteriorated into murder in the story of the first two brothers. Cain killed Abel out of anger and jealousy (4:8). Chapter 5 seems to be a summary of the first five chapters beginning with Adam and ending with Noah. It appears that God was about to do a new thing starting from chapter 6.
Verses 5 & 6 tell us that human morality had deteriorated to the point that it reached heaven. God saw the great wickedness and “regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart,” and verse 7, “I am sorry that I have made them.” Verse 5 gives us some superlatives of human wickedness: It was great, and every intention of thoughts was only wicked continually. And verses 11 & 12 describe the earth in a very interesting way because of man’s wickedness – the earth itself became corrupt (3xs) and filled with violence. Men’s wickedness was not only seen by God, it also greatly grieved His heart. When God is saddened in his heart, who could console Him? Could we empathize with God?
When man’s heart is filled with wickedness, even the land (the earth) his place of dwelling becomes corrupt (contaminated) and filled with violence – disruption and upheaval instead of kindness and peace. Have you seen a country that is bankrupt, and its infrastructure disrupted? Then perhaps there is much evil and wickedness in the people of the land, especially of its leaders. Have you read about unrest, dissent, protests and demonstrations? And the lack of peace, order and harmony? Then, very likely there are some wrongs done in the place, whether be it in the family, company, school, hospitals, or nation.
One lesson I learned from this chapter is: when we walk with God, we are more likely to hear God’s voice speaking to us, to reveal his will and show us what he wants us to do. Verse 9 tells us Noah walked with God, and from verses 13 to the end of the chapter we see that God specifically shared with Noah what He Himself would do, and what He wanted him to do in order to preserve his family and the animal species, to keep them alive when God sent a universal flood to destroy the earth and all the living things.
This event is like a kind of re-creation, as if God was pushing a restart button, with Noah now as the head and his three sons, Ham, Shem and Japheth (v. 10) as the ancestors of all human race. God’s preservation of the human race and the animals included the effort of Noah in making the ark and gathering his family, and two of every kind of birds, animals and creeping things, and it seems obvious that since He was sending a flood, He did not include any fish or sea creature. The preservation also included gathering of the food that was needed for all the creatures to survive the flood.
This chapter ended with a simple but powerful statement that Noah did all that God commanded him to do. (v. 22) No wonder he was called a righteous and blameless man in his generation and God could trust and use him to preserve the human race while He judged and destroyed the wicked and corrupt generation. Today, when all kinds of evil and wickedness, sin and contamination seem to flood the world, are there any Noahs who could stand and be counted by God to obey His commands and do His will?
Dear Almighty and loving God, you are the God who sees every human heart, whether they are truthful and sincere before you or they are false and wicked, for no one could escape your watchful eyes. Thank you that You are the Righteous Judge of all and you desire all peoples to obey your word and follow your will, so that they might live. Thank you that while we were dead in our trespasses, you sent your Son Jesus Christ to save us from our sins and make us into a holy and righteous people for your glory. Teach us to walk with you so that we might be able to hear your voice and obey your leading. In Christ’s Name. Amen!
