Genesis Chapter 6
The Days of Noah There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all argument, and which cannot fail to keep man in everlasting ignorance. That principle is condemnation before investigation. Attributed to Edmund Spencer
The Path to Folly
He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. Proverbs 18:13
Jesus’ Confidential Briefing
Disciples inquire of His Return and Jesus details precedent events, recorded in three Gospels (Matt 24, 25; Mark 13; Luke 21, 22). Jesus gave a personal warning “Take heed that no man deceive you” (Matt 24:4). But He also gave a strange warning, “But as the Days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.” What does that mean?
A. The wickedness of man in the days of Noah.
1. (1-2) Intermarriage between the sons of God and the daughters of men.
Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
“Sons of God” “Sons of God” in Hebrew is Bene HaElohim (האלהים בני (meaning “a direct creation of God” or “angels” (Old Testament: Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; New Testament: Luke 20:36; Book of Enoch for grammar comparisons; Septuagint LXX). The “daughters of men” or Benoth Adam (אדם בנות (means “Daughters of Adam.” The daughters of Adam, not just daughters of Cain. (Adam had daughters (Gen 5:4); that’s where Cain got his wife!) The phrase, “took…of all they chose” doesn’t sound like the girls had much choice in the matter.
a. When men began to multiply on the face of the earth: During these days of rapid population expansion (especially because of long lifespans in the pre-flood world), there was a problem with ungodly intermarriage between the sons of God and the daughters of men.
b. The sons of God saw the daughters of men: Many have believed the sons of God were those from the line of Seth, and the daughters of men were from the line of Cain, and this describes an intermarriage between the godly and the ungodly, something God specifically prohibits (Deuteronomy 7:1-4, 2 Corinthians 6:14).
i. But this approach leaves many unanswered questions: Why did this make God angry enough to wipe out almost all the earth’s population? Why was there something unusual about the offspring of these unions (Genesis 6:4)? The idea that these were believers marrying unbelievers doesn’t seem to fit the record of the text.
c. The sons of God saw the daughters of men: It is more accurate to see the sons of God as either demons (angels in rebellion against God) or uniquely demon-possessed men, and the daughters of men as human women.
i. The phrase sons of God clearly refers to angelic creatures when it is used the three other times in the Old Testament (Job 1:6, 2:1, and 38:7). The translators of the Septuagint translated sons of God as angels. Those ancient translators clearly thought sons of God referred to angelic beings, not to people descended from Seth.
ii. Jude 6 tells us of the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own habitation. Jude goes on (Jude 7) to tell us they sinned in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh. Here in Genesis 6, as in Sodom and Gomorrah, there was an unnatural sexual union.
iii. It is useless to speculate on the nature of this union. Whether it was brought about by something like demon possession, or whether these angelic beings had power permanently to assume the form of men is not revealed. But we should understand the occult is filled with sexual associations with the demonic, and there are those today who actively pursue such associations.
iv. Jude 6 also makes it clear what God did with these wicked angels. They are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day for not keeping their proper place. Their sinful pursuit of freedom has put them in bondage.
v. 1 Peter 3:19-20 tells us Jesus went to these disobedient spirits in their prison and proclaimed His victory on the cross over them.
vi. An objection offered to this understanding is found in Matthew 22:30, where Jesus said angels neither marry nor are given in marriage; but Jesus never said angels were sexless, and He was also speaking about faithful angelic beings (angels of God in heaven), not rebellious ones.
vii. From the book of 1 Enoch, which is not inspired scripture, but may still contain some accurate accounts: “And it came to pass that the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children… ’ [They] took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments… And they became pregnant, and they bare great giants… And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways.”
d. And they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose: We can deduce why Satan sent his angels to intermarry (either directly or indirectly) with human women. Satan tried to pollute the genetic pool of mankind with a satanic corruption, to put something like a genetic virus to make the human race unfit for bringing forth the Seed of the woman – the Messiah – promised in Genesis 3:15.
i. “The Savior could not be born of a demon-possessed mother. So if Satan could succeed in infecting the entire race, the deliverer could not come.” (Boice)
ii. And Satan almost succeeded. The race was so polluted that God found it necessary to start again with Noah and his sons, and to imprison the demons that did this so they could never do this again.
2. (3-4) God’s response to this great wickedness.
And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
The Nephilim
The Nephilim (יםִילִ פְנ (is often translated as “giants” and although they were giants, the true meaning is “the fallen ones.” This comes from the root word Nephal (לַפְנ (which means “to fall, to be cast down, to fall away, or desert.” The Nephilim are the fallen ones. The HaGibborim (יםִ ֛ רֹּבִ ּגַה (is translated “the mighty ones.” These are fallen angels. In the Septuagint (Greek LXX) the word Nephilim (γίγαντες) is translated gigantes meaning “giants?” Also, the word gigas (γίγας) means “earth-born.” Geneges is the same word used in Greek mythology for “Titans,” as creatures emerging from interbreeding of the Greek gods with human beings. The word Genea means “breed or “kind.” The English words “genes” and “genetics” come from the same root.
These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:9
Noah walked with God and was a faithful and obedient man. The word “perfect” in Hebrew is tamiym (יםִ מָ ּת (which means “without blemish, sound, healthful, without spot, unimpaired.” Noah’s genealogy was unimpaired by these fallen angels.
New Testament Confirmations
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Jude 6, 7
The word “habitation” or oiketerion (οἰκητήριον) is used twice in scripture (2 Cor 5:2; Jude 6, 7). The first (Jude 6, 7) is describing what these angels gave up or the shed of their heavenly bodies, and the second (2 Cor 5:2) is describing what you and I aspire to have in heaven. In 2 Peter 2:4-5, Peter is linking these angels that sinned with the days of Noah.
For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
2 Corinthians 5:2
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah…
2 Peter 2:4,5
Tartarus
The word Tartarus is the Greek term for the “a dark abode of woe” or pit of darkness in the unseen world. Homer’s Iliad renders it “as far below hades as the earth is below heaven.”
Greek Titans • Partly terrestrial; partly celestial; • Rebelled against their father Uranus; • After prolonged contest were defeated by Zeus and condemned into Tartarus; • Titan (Greek) = Sheitan (Chaldean) = Satan (Hebrew).
Ancient Legends
The interesting thing about this strange view of Genesis 6, is that the same idea is also included in all the myths and legends of every ancient culture.
Greek Titans
• Greek mythology speaks of demi-gods that were partly terrestrial and partly celestial
• They apparently rebelled against their father Uranus
• After a prolonged contest were defeated by Zeus and condemned into Tartarus
• Zeus, Hercules, Atlas and others from Greek mythology were known and in Hebrew called Nephilim
• Titan (Greek) = Sheitan; Chaldean (Hebrew) = Satan When you travel to study the ancient world, you discover and find these demigods modeled in all the ancient writings. In Egypt, the flying god Ashur is on pyramids, walls and thresholds.
Ancient Legends
Included in other cultures
Sumer Persia
Assyria Greece
Egypt India
Incas Bolivia
Mayan South Sea Islands
Gilgamesh American Indians
Pawnee Account “While we were in the sandhills, scouting the Niobrara country, the Pawnee Indians brought into camp some very large bones, one of which the surgeon of the expedition pronounced to be the thigh bone of a human being. The Indians said the bones were those of a race of people who long ago had lived in that country. They said these people were three times the size of a man of the present day, that they were so swift and strong that they could run by the side of a buffalo, and, taking the animal in one arm, could tear off a leg and eat it as they ran. “These giants, said the Indians, denied the existence of a Great Spirit. When they heard the thunder or saw the lightning, they laughed and declared that they were greater than either. This so displeased the Great Spirit that he caused a deluge. The water rose higher and higher till it drove these proud giants from the low grounds to the hills and thence to the mountains. At last even the mountaintops were submerged and the mammoth men were drowned. “After the flood subsided, the Great Spirit came to the conclusion that he had made men too large and powerful. He therefore corrected his mistake by creating a race of the size and strength of the men of the present day. This is the reason, the Indians told us, that the man of modern times is small and not like the giants of old. The story has been handed down among the Pawnees for generations, but what is its origin no man can say.”
If you study Indian lore, you discover the Indians were terrified of six fingered people; so it became customary when meeting a stranger, to hold up your hand to show you only had five fingers. This is recorded in pictographs in Chaco, New Mexico among other places.
Modern Giants There is a book written by Stephen Quayle called Giants: Master Builders of Ancient Civilizations (published by End Time Thunder Publishers,90 Safe Trek Pl., Bozeman, MT 59718, 2002). It is an encyclopedia of Giants, all relating to Genesis 6 and other subjects. It contains a catalog of hundreds of giants in human history that we have record of or pictures of.
Genetic Discovery
Scientists at Johns Hopkins University have discovered a gene in mice which controls growth. It is called GDF-8 (Growth, Differentiation, Factor-8). They found that disrupting GDF-8 yielded “supermice” three times larger and much stronger than normal mice (Nature, April 30, 1997).
Biblical Prohibitions
In the Bible there was a death penalty for lying with a beast (Lev 20:15). If a woman lies with a beast, both shall be killed (Lev 20:16). Does genetic transfers of human DNA into animals suggest that we are entering the period which Jesus likened to the “days of Noah”?
“Lines of Seth” View
Many pastors and seminaries explain Genesis 6 as the “Lines of Seth” which there is no Biblical reference to support this view.
This view teaches:
• The “Sons of God” refer to the Sethite Leadership? (Seth’s sons)
• “Daughters of Adam” were the daughters of Cain? (two groups were not allowed to commingle?)
• Sin resulted and failure to maintain separation? (separation was not called for until chapter 11)
• If this view is correct, then who is the Nephilim?
5th Century Origin
The idea of the “lines of Seth” emerged in the fifth century. Celsus and Julian the Apostate used the traditional belief of the angels in Genesis 6 to attack Christianity. Julius Africanus resorted to the Sethite theory as a more comfortable way in dealing with the text. Then, Cyril of Alexandria used it to repudiate the orthodox position. Augustine embraced the Sethite theory and this view prevailed into the Middle Ages and is still commonly taught today.
Text Itself
In the Biblical text itself, “Sons of God” is never used of believers in the Old Testament. Seth was not God. Cain was not Adam. These were daughters of Adam, not Cain (No mention of the “daughters of Elohim.”) Also, grammatical antithesis is ignored (Psalm 81:1-6).
Separation Inferred
Lines of separation were started in Genesis 11. Separation was imposed upon Isaac, not Ishmael. Also, if the Sethites were the “good guys” so to speak, why did they drown in the flood? It says, “All flesh was corrupted” (Genesis 6:12).
Inferred Godliness of Seth
The inferred godliness of Seth is suspect because:
• Only Enoch and Noah’s family of eight were spared in the flood
• Where are the Sethites? The Nephilim “Took…wives” as “they chose”?
• Why did the Sethites perish in the flood?
• Enosh, Seth’s son, initiated the defiance of God. Apostasy began with Enosh: “then men began to profane the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:26). This verse is mistranslated and according to the Targum of Onkelos, Targum of Jonathan, Kimchi, Rashi, and other rabbinical scholars all agree. Jerome agrees. Also, Maimonides, who was one of the most venerated Hebrew sages of the twelfth century, in his Commentary on the Mishnah, 1168 ad. The ancient Hebrew sages understood this angel view of Genesis 4:26.
“Daughters of Cain”
There is no basis for a subset of the “Daughters of Adam.” Cainites were not necessarily godless (Genesis 4:18f). Were the daughters of Seth so unattractive?
The Unnatural Offspring
The Biblical text implies the Nephilim were the supernatural offspring or “mighty men.” One example would be Goliath. There was only Y-chromosomes among the Sethites? (present only in men, no “women of reknown.”) What made Noah’s genealogy so distinctive? (Genesis 6:9.)
New Testament Confirmations The New Testament confirms this three times. “In the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses…” (Jude 6, 7; 1 Peter 3:19, 20; 2 Peter 2:4, 5). Even the unique use of “Tartarus.”
“Angel” View: b.c. The “Angel” view is all throughout the traditional Rabbinical literature, the Book of Enoch (2nd Century b.c.), Testimony of the 12 Patriarchs, Josephus Flavius and the Septuagint (LXX).
“Angel” View: Church Fathers The “Angel” view is also accepted by the church fathers: Philo of Alexandria, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Athenagoras, Tertullian, Lactantius, Ambrose, and Julian.
Modern Scholarship
The authoritative Biblical commentaries of : G. H. Pember, M. R. DeHaan, C. H. McIntosh, F. Delitzsch, A. C. Gaebelein, A. W. Pink, Donald Barnhouse, Henry Morris, Merril F. Unger, Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Hal Lindsey, and Chuck Smith all agree on the “Angel” view.
Sethite View Summary
• Sethite view is shattered by the Biblical text itself
• The inferred separation
• The inferred Godliness of Sethites
• Inferred Cainite subset Adamites
• Unnatural Offspring called Nephilim
• New Testament Confirmations
• Post-Flood & Prophetic Issues
The Rephaim
There is a term in the Old Testament called the Rephaim. The word Repha means “dead,” and can also mean “ghost” or “spirit.” The Rephaim are “the dead ones” and later we will discover they are the walking dead. In Genesis 6:4, the scripture is referring to the Nephilim, and states “… and also after that…” which is after the flood. After the flood, there are people called the Rephaim which are the post-flood Nephilim. This is essential to understand the Old Testament and prophecy!
Who Built the Ancient Monuments? • The Great Pyramid at Giza? • Stonehenge in Britain? • The “Circle of the Rephaim”? Gilgal Rephaim “The Circle of Rephaim” The Gilgal Rephaim is located in the Golan Heights and has five circles including 20-ton stones (Diameter of 155 meters). It dates back to 3000 bc and is built on flat plateau. It is only visible from above and is ten miles from Asteroth-Karnaim (Gen 14:5; Josh 12:4; 1 Chron 6:71). There are some other ruins etc. but these above sites have never been excavated?
Post-Flood Nephilim
What does it mean in Genesis 6:4 “…also after that…”? • There are four tribes introduced: Rephaim, Emim, Horim, and Zamsummim (Gen 14, 15). God instructs Joshua to wipe out everyone of these certain tribes.
• In Numbers 13, Moses sent the twelve spies to scout out the land. Ten witnesses came back terrified and said “we are like grasshoppers in their sight.”
• There were Nephilim in the land (Num 13:33).
• Arba, Anak and his seven sons were known as the sons of Anak or the Anakim. They were encountered in Canaan. Their descendents were Goliath and his four brothers (2 Sam 21:16- 22; 1 Chron 20:4-8)
• Og, King of Bashan (Deut 3:11; Joshua 12) was known as The King of the Giants.
The Stratagems of Satan • Corruption of Adam’s line: as the Redeemer is to come from the seed of a woman (Gen 6) • Attacks on Abraham’s seed: knowing the Redeemer is coming from Abraham’s seed (Gen 12, 20) • Famine (Gen 50) • Destruction of male line by Pharaoh(Ex 1) • Pharaoh’s pursuit to wipe out Israelites (Ex 14) • The populating of Canaan (Gen 12:6) • Multiple attacks against David’s line (2 Sam 7)
Attacks on David’s Line • Jehoram kills his brothers (2 Chron 21) • Arabians slew all, but Ahazariah, who was hidden • Athaliah kills all, but Joash escapes (2 Chron 22) • Hezekiah assaulted, etc. (Isa 36, 38) • Haman’s attempts to wipe out the entire Jewish race (Est 3)
All of these examples are attempts of Satan to throw off the plan of God! Why is Satan still at it today? Because, there is a prerequisite condition of the second coming of Jesus Christ, and that is for Israel to repent and ask God to return!
New Testament Strategems • Joseph’s fears for Mary’s life when she is pregnant as this was punishable by death (Matt 1) • Herod’s attempt in killing all the babies at Bethlehem (Matt 2) • At Nazareth, when they tried to throw Jesus off a cliff (Luke 4) • Two storms on the Sea (possibly not natural storms, professional sailors aboard who were terrified) (Mark 4; Luke 8) • The Cross was his ultimate strategy • Summary of all these strategies in Revelation 12!
An Enigma What do the Golan Heights, Hebron, and the Gaza Strip have in common? They were the areas that Joshua failed to exterminate the Rephaim (Joshua 15:14, Book of Judges)! These territories remain in dispute today!
The Nature of Angels
What is the difference between Fallen Angels and Demons? Are they equivalent or distinctive? In the Bible, Angels always appear in human form. Examples in scripture are: Sodom and Gomorrah, they appear at the resurrection, and they were at the ascension. Angels spoke, they took men by hand, they ate meals and were capable of direct physical combat (Passover in Egypt was by an angel and the slaughter of 185,000 Syrians). They don’t marry (in heaven). Demons of the New Testament are very different and seem powerless, except to the extent they can indwell someone. They apparently always seek embodiment
Can Angels Have Sex?
For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven. Matthew 22:30; Mark 12:25
Angels are immortal. Someone who is mortal needs to procreate but someone who is immortal does not procreate. The scripture is speaking of the angels in heaven. But in Jude 6, the scripture speaks of the angels (fallen angels, not in heaven) who had “disrobed” their habitation. Again, the word “habitation” in the Greek is oiketerion referring to the body as a dwelling place for the spirit.
The Original Warfare
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15
God is declaring war against Satan. Genesis 3:15 is the first link in the chain of prophesies about Jesus Christ. It is also where the title “the seed of the woman” but most people miss that there are two seeds mentioned here.
The Conflict Between Two Seeds
• The “Seed of the Woman” • The “Seed of the Serpent” (Later is called the Red Dragon: Satan (Rev 12); The Coming World Leader; he has a sidekick called the False Prophet) Everything Satan does is a counterfeit and these are the forces behind the world powers today. Daniel 10 details these events.
One-World Ecumenical Religion
Biblical Christianity is becoming increasingly politically incorrect. The Vatican is positioning for global leadership.
New World Order
We are headed to a new world order, “a world without borders” and the end of the independent Nation-State, multiculturalism and a centralized Socialistic government. The global government is coming for at least three main potential forcing functions: • Nuclear Proliferation • Terrorism is worldwide • Unified because of a Cosmic Threat? (Ronald Regan and John McArthur mentioned the possibility in their speeches)
What is the “Miry Clay?”
Miry clay is clay made from mire, dust. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. Daniel 2:43 “They shall mingle themselves with the seed of men” gives reason to believe they are not of men.
The Restrainer For the Mystery of Iniquity doth already work: only He who now hindereth will hinder, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked One be revealed …whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders… Thessalonians 2:7-9
The Coming World Leader • 33 Titles in the Old Testament • 13 in the New Testament • Jew or Gentile?–It’s a duet! (Revelation 13).
Where Does “He” Come From?
And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life… Revelation 11:7, 8
The Big Lie …Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie. 2 Thessalonians 2:10-11
The Most Absurd War Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.” Psalm 2:1-3
a. My Spirit shall not strive with man forever: God did not allow the human race to stay in this rebellious place forever. This means there is a point of no return in our rejection of God. God will not woo us forever; there is a point where He will say “no more.”
i. All the more reason for us to say today is the day we will respond to Jesus instead of waiting for another day. We have no promise God will draw us some other day.
b. Yet his days will be one hundred and twenty years: This is not the outside lifespan of man but the time left until the judgment of the flood. The flood happened 120 years after this announcement.
c. Giants on the earth in those days: This refers to the unnatural offspring of the union between the sons of God and the daughters of men, though there were people of unusual size on the earth both before and after the flood (and also afterward). These ones before the flood were unique because of the demonic element of their parentage. They were the mighty men of old, men of renown.
3. (5-8) The great wickedness of man in Noah’s day.
Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
The word “repented” is the word Nahòam which in the niphal form which describes, anthropologically, the love of God as having suffered heart-rending disappointment. Literally, it speaks of taking a deep breath in extreme pain.
a. Every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually: This says a lot. It means there was no aspect of man’s nature not corrupted by sin.
i. “A more emphatic statement of the wickedness of the human heart is hardly conceivable.” (Vriezen, quoted in Kidner)
ii. Jesus said, as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be (Matthew 24:37). In other words, the conditions of the world before the coming of Jesus will be like the conditions of the world before the flood:
· Exploding population (Genesis 6:1).
· Sexual perversion (Genesis 6:2).
· Demonic activity (Genesis 6:2).
· Constant evil in the heart of man (Genesis 6:5).
· Widespread corruption and violence (Genesis 6:11).
b. The LORD was sorry that He had made man… He was grieved in His heart: God’s sorrow at man, and the grief in His heart are striking. This does not mean that creation was out of control, nor does it mean that God hoped for something better but was unable to achieve it. God knew all along that this was how things would turn out, but our text clearly tells us that as God sees His plan for the ages unfold, it affects Him. God is not unfeeling in the face of human sin and rebellion.
c. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD: While God commanded all the earth to be cleansed of this pollution, He found one man with whom to begin again: Noah, who found grace in the eyes of the LORD. Noah didn’t earn grace; he found it. No one earns grace, but we can all find it.
i. It was true then, and it is true today: But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more (Romans 5:20).
B. God calls Noah to build the Ark.
1. (9-10) Noah and his sons.
This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. And Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
a. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations: This description of Noah – unique to him – not only refers to the righteous life of Noah, but also to the fact he was yet uncorrupted by Satan’s attempt to sow something like a virus among the genetic pool of mankind. We could translate perfect in his generations as, “Noah was pure in his genetic profile.”
i. “Did Noah live a perfect life? No, speaking popularly, and as the Scripture often speaks, we may say that Noah’s character was a righteous one. There must have been flaws in it; and, certainly, after this time, there was one great sad flaw, of which it is not necessary now to speak more particularly, still, God regarded him as righteous.” (Spurgeon)
ii. Spurgeon pointed out that we can know that Noah had the righteousness that is of faith because as soon as the floodwaters had dried up and he left the ark, he offered sacrifices (Genesis 8:20).
b. Noah begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth: Noah’s three sons will figure into the account in a significant way. God will use them as a foundation for the rest of the human race.
2. (11-13) The corruption of the earth and the grace of God.
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
a. The earth also was corrupt… and the earth was filled with violence: Because of the corruption and violence on the earth, and the extent of the corruption, God told Noah that He would judge the wicked along with the earth.
b. I will destroy them with the earth: Some wonder if this is too harsh a judgment, or if this shows God to be cruel or a monster. However, since the fall in Genesis 3, every human being has a death sentence. The timing and method of that death are completely in the hands of God.
i. “On what grounds would God be told that He can bring death to millions of people at the end of a ‘normal’ lifespan, but that He may not do it in any other way?” (Barnhouse)
ii. In addition, it points to a deep and serious problem in the world at that time, something far beyond the problem of believers marrying those who do not believe.
c. And God said to Noah: God told all of this to Noah with the intention of saving Noah and his family. In the midst of such corruption and judgment, there is also grace. Instead of wiping out the entire race, God preserved a remnant.
3. (14-16) God tells Noah to build an ark.
“Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.”
The English word ark came down through the Latin word arca, which means “a chest or coffer.” (The word for the “ark” of the covenant is a different word—aron.)
Naval architects have studied the renderings and measurements and these proportions are ideal. A cubit is approximately 18 - 25 inches. The “window” is the Hebrew word sohar and can best be translated a light or window. This was approximately eighteen inches in height and extended completely around the ark to admitted light and air.
a. Make yourself: This means this was Noah’s project. He was not to simply contract it out to someone else.
b. This is how you shall make it: The ark was as long as a 30-story building is high (about 450 feet or 150 meters), and it was about 75 feet (25 meters) wide and 45 feet (15 meters) high. What is described is not really a boat, but a well-ventilated barge meant only to float and not to sail anywhere. After all, an ark is a chest, not a ship; this refers to the shoebox shape of the vessel.
i. The ark, roughly the shape of a shoebox, was plenty large enough (about the size of the Titanic), and had a cubit-wide opening (18 inches, one-half meter) all the way around the top.
ii. It was not until 1858 that a boat bigger than the ark was built. The ark was certainly big enough to do the job. If the ark carried two of every family of animals, there were around 700 pairs of animals; but if the ark carried two of every species of animals, there were around 35,000 pairs of animals.
iii. The average size of a land animal is smaller than a sheep. The ark could carry 136,560 sheep in half of its capacity, leaving plenty of room for people, food, water, and whatever other provisions were needed.
c. You shall make it: God had not yet told Noah why he must build an ark. At this point, all Noah knew was that God will judge the earth, and he was supposed to build a big barge. Since it had not rained yet on the earth, it is reasonable to suppose Noah didn’t know what God was meant yet.
d. You shall make it: And Noah did make it. Beyond the Bible, there is rich historical evidence for the reality of Noah’s Ark.
i. In 275 b.c., Berosus, a Babylonian historian, wrote: “But of this ship that grounded in Armenia some part still remains in the mountains… and some get pitch from the ship by scraping it off.”
ii. Around a.d. 75, Josephus said the locals collected relics from the ark and showed them off to this very day. He also said all the ancient historians he knew of wrote about the ark.
iii. In a.d. 180, Theophilus of Antioch wrote: “the remains [of the ark] are to this day to be seen… in the mountains.”
iv. An elderly Armenian man in America said that as a boy, he visited the ark with his father and three atheistic scientists in 1856. Their goal was to disprove the ark’s existence, but they found it and became so enraged they tried to destroy it, but could not because it was too big and had petrified. In 1918 one of the atheistic scientists (an Englishman) admitted on his deathbed the whole story was true.
iv. In 1876 a distinguished British statesman and author, Viscount James Bryce, climbed Ararat and reported finding a four-foot long piece of hand-tooled timber at an altitude of more than 13,000 feet (4,300 meters).
vi. Six Turkish soldiers claimed to see the ark in 1916.
vii. In the early part of this century, a Russian aviator named Vladimire Rokovitsky claimed the discovery of Noah’s ark. He was stationed in southern Russia near the Turkish border and Mount Ararat. As he tested a plane he and his co-pilot flew over Ararat and discovered on the edge of a glacier what he described as a boat the size of a battleship. He said it was partially submerged in a lake, and he could see there was an opening for a door nearly 20 feet (7 meters) square, but the door was missing. Rokovitsky told his commanding officer and an expedition was dispatched to find the ark and photograph it. The report was forwarded to the Czar, who was soon overthrown and the photos and the report perished.
viii. In 1936 a young British archaeologist named Hardwicke Knight hiked across Ararat and discovered interlocking hand-tooled timbers at a height of 14,000 feet (4,600 meters).
ix. During World War II two pilots saw and photographed something they believed was the ark on Mount Ararat.
x. There have been many more recent attempts to find and document the ark, but they have been hindered by politics and surrounded by controversy.
e. Cover it inside and outside with pitch: The pitch worked to waterproof the wood. God told Noah to cover it with pitch inside and outside, which makes it possible that the ark was preserved for a long time. It is possible God still has a purpose for the ark, to use it to remind the world of a past judgment shortly before a future judgment.
i. Peter, in 2 Peter 3:1-7, relates the future judgment to the judgment of the flood saying, unbelievers willfully forget… the world that then existed perished being flooded with water. Perhaps, before Jesus returns, God will make it even more necessary for people to willfully forget these things.
ii. Because of this mention of pitch (a petroleum product) in what most people think is the Middle East, it is said that John D. Rockefeller looked for (and found) oil in that region based on this verse.
4. (17-21) Why the ark must be built and what Noah must do.
“And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 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. Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.”
Noah obeyed the Lord even though there was no “rain” it those days and he labored for 120 years to build the Ark.
a. Everything that is on the earth shall die: We can only wonder what Noah felt when he heard this remarkable announcement from God. God called Noah to an essential role in the greatest judgment – and greatest salvation – the world had seen.
b. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark: Despite the dramatic judgment coming, God will make a covenant with Noah, and he and his family will be saved. God will also use Noah to save a remnant of each animal so the earth could be populated with people and animals after the flood.
c. Take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself: God also commanded Noah to take all the food he could. There must be a lot of food for Noah and all the animals.
5. (22) Noah’s obedience.
Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.
a. Thus Noah did: When given this staggering job to do, Noah did it. We don’t hear of him complaining or rebelling; he simply obeyed.
i. The words, so he did cover an awful lot of material and years; yet Noah did not shrink from what God told him to do.
b. According to all that God commanded him, so he did: The Bible presents Noah as a great hero of God. He was an outstanding example of righteousness (Ezekiel 14:14), a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5), and Noah condemned the world by offering salvation in the ark that the whole world rejected (Hebrews 11:7).
i. Noah was a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5), yet in his 120-year ministry, it seems that no one was saved.
ii. “The work of building the ark was laborious, costly, tedious, dangerous, and seemingly foolish and ridiculous; especially when all things continued in the same posture and safety for so many scores of years together; whereby Noah, without doubt, was all that while the song of the drunkards, and the sport of the wits of that age. So it is not strange that this is mentioned as an heroic act of faith.” (Poole)
