(Genesis 6:1-22) Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty 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 men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. 10 Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
13 Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. 14 Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. 18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. 21 As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.” 22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
God is holy and cannot be in a relationship with sin. But God is also loving and fair, so He gives mankind a chance to change their ways. In this particular case, He gave them 120 years.
There is speculations around who are the sons of God, the Nephilim (for example, many think they are a form of fallen angels); but it doesn't really matter! The point is - they were a bad influence. And in those days, society had gone to a very dark place. People had become so depraved and evil that God was sorry He had ever created them; except for Noah, who was a "believer" and followed the Lord.
God had a plan to cleanse the earth, and to protect Noah and his family. Of course He would - because He had already promised that Jesus would deal with sin when He came to earth the first time. And at the end of the Tribulation, at Jesus' second coming, He will cleanse the earth again, and establish His Millennial kingdom.
The great flood and the ark also illustrates God's living water which cleanses us, and His grace which saves us from His wrath. When we put our faith in God, our sins are washed away, and we are sealed by the Holy Spirit to be protected for all eternity.
Notice also, that God advises Noah to fill the ark with food. The takeaway from all this is that God's words not only save, but sustain and equip us. How encouraging to know this, that we can trust God in all things!!! That, after becoming a Christian, God doesn't want to just leave us "there" to fend for ourselves and leave us there to just float around aimlessly to whither away. He has given us the Bible, which is our spiritual food. All we have to do is read, and desire to obey, and God does the rest.
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