JUDGEMENT DETERMINED UPON MAN
[Genesis:6:1-13 [1] And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, [2] That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. [3] And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. [4] There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. [5] And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. [6] And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. [7] And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. [8] But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. [9] These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. [10] And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. [11] The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. [12] And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. [13] And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. ].
“He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy“ (Proverbs 29:1).
I The Days of Noah
1. The marriages of godly men with ungodly women was the principal cause of the moral downfall of the antediluvians, [Genesis:6:1-2 [1] And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
[2] That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
].
2. The marriage of the godly with the ungodly is emphatically forbidden by Scripture, [Genesis:24:3And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:
]; [Joshua:23:12-13 [12] Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you:
[13] Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you.
]; [Ezra:9:12Now therefore give not your daughters unto their sons, neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth for ever: that ye may be strong, and eat the good of the land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children for ever.
]; [Deuteronomy:7:3-4 [3] Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
[4] For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.
]; Deuteronomy:22:9Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled.
; [Nehemiah:13:23-29 [23] In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab:
[24] And their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod, and could not speak in the Jews' language, but according to the language of each people.
[25] And I contended with them, and cursed them, and smote certain of them, and plucked off their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves.
[26] Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.
[27] Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives?
[28] And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me.
[29] Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites.
]; [2 Corinthians:6:14-18 [14] Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
[15] And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
[16] And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
[17] Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
[18] And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
].
3. God‘s long-suffering with the wickedness of the antediluvians was destined to end within 120 years, [Genesis:6:3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
]; [1 Peter:3:20Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
].
4. The men of Noah‘s day became notorious for their deeds, and their land was filled with wickedness and violence, [Genesis:6:4-5 [4] There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
[5] And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
]; [Romans:1:20-23 [20] For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
[21] Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
[22] Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
[23] And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
], [Romans:1:28-32 [28] And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
[29] Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
[30] Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
[31] Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
[32] Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
].
5. These modern times parallel the days of Noah, [Matthew:24:37-39 [37] But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
[38] For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
[39] And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
]; [2 Timothy:3:13But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
]; [2 Peter:3:3-4 [3] Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
[4] And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
].
II Judgement Decreed
1. God‘s anger was provoked against the antediluvians, and destruction was promised, [Genesis:6:6-7 [6] And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
[7] And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
]; [Genesis:6:11-13 [11] The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
[12] And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
[13] And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
]; [2 Peter:3:5-12 [5] For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
[6] Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
[7] But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
[8] But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
[9] The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
[10] But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
[11] Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
[12] Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
]; [Isaiah:24:1-6 [1] Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
[2] And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.
[3] The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.
[4] The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
[5] The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.
[6] Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
], [Isaiah:24:17-23 [17] Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
[18] And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
[19] The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
[20] The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
[21] And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
[22] And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
[23] Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.
], [Revelation:6:12-17 [12] And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
[13] And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
[14] And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
[15] And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
[16] And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
[17] For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
].
2. Only Noah and his family met with God‘s approval, and they were to be saved from the coming judgement, [Genesis:6:8-10 [8] But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
[9] These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
[10] And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
]; [Isaiah:26:20-21 [20] Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.
[21] For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
]; [Exodus:12:23For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
]; [Matthew:24:31And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
], [Matthew:24:40Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
]; [1 Thessalonians:4:15-17 [15] For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
[16] For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
[17] Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
].
Not Without Cause
Ezekiel a Prophet of the Lord wondered at the judgements of God upon the city of God, Jerusalem. God answered Ezekiel‘s questions with the statement, “I have not done without cause all that I have done in it“ [Ezekiel:14:23And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord GOD.
]). A similar question to that which Ezekiel pondered might arise in the mind of the one who reads of the judgements of God that came upon the peoples of the earth in the days of Noah.
The answer wherewith Ezekiel was assured of the Lord that He did not do such things without cause is as equally valid when applied to the antediluvians as it was when applied to the Israelites. It was not without cause that God destroyed all the peoples of the earth with a flood, and our lesson teaches us what that cause was.
Beginning of Sin
“When lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death“ [James:1:15Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
]). Sin was first begun in the Garden of Eden, and when it was finished it brought forth death to the antediluvian world. The disobedience of Adam and Eve and its result hung over the succeeding generations of Adam as a terrible pall. That first sin soon brought forth much evil fruit. Cain slew his brother Abel in jealous hatred; and God forced him out of the society of the first family on earth. He was driven from men, and bore the mark of sin upon himself, placed there by God. As men multiplied upon the earth, sin grew into a vast stock of evil and culminated in the destruction of man in the days of Noah.
A Redeemer Promised
For a time there was a deterrent against the growth of wickedness, which caused God to be long-suffering with the descendants of Adam. That deterrent was the Spirit of God striving with the hearts of men. Through the striving of the Spirit of God with men, the knowledge of God was retained in the hearts of some believers. In these modern times it is that same great deterrent that holds back the floods of sin. (Read [Genesis:6:3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
]; [2 Thessalonians:2:7For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
].)
Adam and Eve had enjoyed sweet fellowship with the Lord, but their sin severed their association with Him. They were thrust out of their habitation, the Garden of Eden, and made to dwell in the world cursed by God. They had been made perfect by God, and had been capable of understanding their Creator‘s will in a perfect manner. But their sin blinded their mental vision, robbed them of understanding, and they henceforth could understand the things of God imperfectly at best.
God did not leave His creatures without hope of any kind, but a promise was given them, a promise that they might regain the inheritance, which they had so recklessly thrown away. The promise was, “I will put enmity between thee [speaking to Satan] and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel“ [Genesis:3:15And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. ]). Divine justice decreed that the woman, who was the first victim of Satan‘s attack on the creation of God, would be the progenitor Of Christ, the destroyer of evil.
After Cain had slain his brother Abel, another son was born to Eve, and she named him Seth. “For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.“ To Seth was also born a son; “then began men to call upon the name of the LORD“ [Genesis:4:25-26 [25] And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. [26] And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD. ]). So in the third generation from Adam, men were calling upon the name of the Lord. We know that despite the increasing wickedness of the antediluvians, the lamp of truth -- the knowledge of God -- was kept burning, because Enoch the seventh from Adam, had this testimony that he pleased God. But while the worship of God was kept alive in some degree by the descendants of Adam in the house of Seth and Enoch, it was not so with the descendants of Cain.
We read in the divine record that the house of Cain built cities, and grew in numbers; but nowhere is there any record that any of the house of Cain paid honour or obeisance to the Lord. The register of the generations of Adam, which records the lineage of Christ, does not list Cain or any of his descendants.
Cain was driven out from the face of God, and his descendants are those whom the Bible speaks of as being reprobate. (Read [Romans:1:29-32 [29] Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, [30] Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, [31] Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: [32] Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. ]; [Jude:1:11Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. ].) Cain‘s descendants finally perished in the flood, which God sent upon the earth, but the world is still plagued with many of a similar disposition.
Unequal Yokes
Even though the light of God‘s truth and worship, was kept by some members of the house of Seth notably Enoch and Noah, right on down to the time of the flood, generally there was a disastrous departure from the faith. The sons of God (meaning those who were justified by God by their faith in Him) began to marry with those who knew not God. The result was most calamitous. In the days of Noah, who was the tenth from Adam, mankind had become so wicked that, the Bible states, ‘“it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.“ How different had been God’s feelings toward His handiwork when He first made man. Then He had said when looking upon the first man that “it was very good“ [Genesis:1:31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
]). Of all the many peoples on the earth at the time of the flood, only Noah and his family found favour in the eyes of the Lord.
Harvest of Sin
The sons of men should have learned, from the example set before them in Adam and Eve, that God does not tolerate sin. A further example was Cain who experienced the displeasure of God upon his sin. The men of Noah‘s day were of that number of whom it was written many centuries later, “The word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it“ [Hebrews:4:2For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
]). They profited not by the example of those before them, and so perished in their sins.
There is no provision made by God for the tolerance of sin. It must be destroyed. God has provided a remedy for sin, and that remedy is the Blood of Christ, which, when applied to the heart by faith, eradicates sin.
The antediluvians had become giants in stature; but physical strength and beauty have no redeeming merit with God. (Read
I Samuel:16:7.) The antediluvians became renowned for their deeds, but they were such deeds of great evil and violence that God promised destruction upon them all.
So long as a portion of the people of the earth had followed God in righteousness, the world was spared. However, when the godly intermarried with the ungodly, the tide of righteousness ebbed so low that destruction became certain. The Bible is most emphatic in its teaching that there cannot be a mixing of righteousness with unrighteousness, because righteousness is a true ingredient whose purity can stand no mixing with impurity. This truth was first taught to the antediluvian world in a most emphatic manner, but it was a lesson learned too late to profit them.
God does not have fellowship with the unrighteous. It is only through the Blood of Jesus Christ that an unrighteous person can ever hope to have communion or fellowship with God. “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin“ ([1 John:1:5-7 [5] This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. [6] If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. ]).
The Scripture plainly teaches that Christians are not to marry those who are not Christians; the righteous are not to marry the unrighteous: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship bath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?“ [2 Corinthians:6:14Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? ]).
Marriage of the godly with the ungodly is forbidden of God; even though the intention and hope is to influence the unrighteous for good. In such marriages the Word of God has been disobeyed. God cannot bless that which has been done in defiance of His Word.
This is not to be misconstrued to mean that those people who are converted after their marriage should leave a companion simply because he or she is not saved. Marriage can be dissolved only by death; and the conversion of one person often brings about the conversion of the partner in marriage. It is when one who is a believer joins with an unbeliever that he or she disobeys God.
Coming of the Son of Man
“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be“ [Matthew:24:37-39 [37] But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
[38] For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
[39] And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
]). From this passage of Scripture it is apparent that the world has not learned from the dreadful example set before them by the men of Noah‘s day. The very same sins with which the antediluvians provoked the anger of God upon themselves are committed in this twentieth century. As the men of Noah‘s day were indifferent to God‘s warnings against sin, so also are the people of this modern age indifferent to all God‘s warnings regarding sin.
Much of the religious world no longer preaches that divorce and remarriage is a transgression of God‘s law, as the Bible plainly states that it is. They do not teach that Christian living is a separation from the lusts and sins of the world. “Thy silver is become dross“ was Isaiah‘s lament to Israel [Isaiah:1:22Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: ]), and is applicable to the so-called Christian world today.
The cocktail bar has replaced the family altar in many homes. Instead of Bible reading and prayer night and morning with the children that they might be taught the ways of righteousness, television teaches the children the maxims and immorality of the world.
Holiness is almost a forgotten virtue, but the nations that forget God will forget Him at the price of eternal damnation. The sins which God was angered with in the days of Noah are the same as the sins of this modern age; and God is no less angry with the people of today. The souls of men are no different now than they were in the days of Noah; and sin is sin, in whatever time it is found, in whomsoever it is found, and there is no respect of persons with God. “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come“ [Matthew:24:42Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. ]).
1. Who were the antediluvians?
2. Who were the descendants of Cain? Describe their spiritual standing before God.
3. Why are not the descendants of Cain listed in the generations of Adam?
4. How do we know that God is not pleased with the marriage of believers with unbelievers?
5. What caused God‘s anger to be provoked against the people of Noah‘s day?
6. What similarity is there between the days of Noah and today?
7. What was the difference between the sins in the days of Noah and the sins of today
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