Or, Depravity of Mythic Proportions
Scripture: Genesis 6:1-8
Date: October 18, 2015
Speaker: Sean Higgins
For whatever else Genesis 6:1-8 turns over in our souls, it should convict us, humble us, and cause us to seek God’s mercy for our own rebellion. We would be wrong to see the pre-flood wickedness and not consider our own corruption. We would be wrong to see God’s sorrow over, and seriousness about, sin and not mourn and repent from our own sin.
What if God had not made a promise not to flood the earth again, would He see that the wickedness of man is great in the earth and that our intentions and thoughts and conduct are evil and destroy us for it? Could we as bad as, or worse than, those in Genesis 6? He has covenanted not to destroy all flesh again with a flood. His plan includes only one more universal judgment. But are we really less corrupt than those in Noah’s day?
Let’s compare the corruption in Genesis 6 to our current corruption.
The world was drowning in wickedness in Genesis 6. First of all, it was so bad that God flooded the earth and destroyed the entire population save one family. That’s a fact. It was bad enough to warrant extreme judgment.
Second, the depth of depravity is divinely described as “every intention was only evil continually.” It was all sin, all the time. How could it have been worse?
Third, there is demonic influence and offspring among men. The “sons of God” had offspring with the “daughters of man,” all driven by unnatural desire.
Fourth, men had hundreds of years to “perfect” their sin, to invent new forms of wickedness and refine their corruption. Though Genesis doesn’t record the years for Cain’s descendants as it does for Seth’s line, the usual lifespan was long enough to make the limitation of 120 years a significant punishment (verse 3). Can you imagine how soiled your soul could get after 200, 500, or 800 years?
Fifth, many of those in Genesis 6 lived lives that overlapped with Adam himself. They could have seen and talked to Adam about the garden, about the serpent, to hear firsthand experience about how much better God is than sin from someone who lost more blessing than anyone due to disobedience. But other than Noah, they all rejected revelation, including Adam’s eye-witness testimony of paradise on earth.
It’s no wonder “the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him to His heart.”
How do we compare? How high is are the waters of wickedness over our heads?
First, who says that “every intention of the thoughts of (man’s) heart (are not still) only evil continually”? Scripture doesn’t ever reverse or repeal that observation. In fact, none is righteous, no not one. No one seeks God. All have turned aside. Men are slaves of sin, under it’s corrupting dominion. Men walk in sin, follow the course of this world, follow their serpent father, and live in the passions of the flesh and are children of wrath by nature. This is not better.
Second, demonic influence is no less a threat today. We may not talk about it or see demonic offspring walking among us, but Satan’s schemes are no less effective and destructive. We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against “cosmic powers over this present darkness against spiritual forces in the heavenly places.” The devil prowls around like a lion no less today, seeking prey to devour. That’s not better.
Third, men may have had hundreds of years to fine tune their sin, but we have hundreds of cable TV channels to tune into other people’s wicked ideas, thousands of on-demand movies and music to learn from, millions of websites with the ugliest, most God-dishonoring trash in the universe. We don’t need to be creative with our corruption, we can learn from (and are even willing to pay) those who thought of ways for us. It’s easier to be corrupt with more idle time and hands than ever. We can soil our souls in an unimaginable number of ways that those in Noah’s days couldn’t have dreamed of, plus we have the journals of generations of sinners. That’s not better.
Fourth, we may not have met Adam, but we have an inspired Book, one that includes Adam’s story, that we reject. In fact, unlike those in Genesis 6, we have a complete canon of God’s special revelation, six thousand or so years of God’s providence to consider, and we reject it. More than that, we live after God’s incarnate revelation of Himself, God the Son, God in flesh, God among us. His life and work are recorded for us, yet we still reject Him. That’s not better.
Fifth, though the sin in Genesis was so bad that God destroyed the earth’s population in a flood, our sin is so bad, so offensive, so wretched, so dishonoring, that God wounded His only Son for our transgressions. He crushed Christ for our iniquities. He laid on Jesus the iniquity of all us who believe. His death was far more brutal, painful, severe, and unsparing than all the deaths in the flood. That’s not better.
Maybe a balanced comparison between pre-flood depravity and modern day depravity isn’t possible, but we can say for certain that things were bad then, and things are bad now. There is no place for smug self-righteousness on our part.
Last week we spent a lot of time studying the identity of the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:2. For all the pros and cons, I still believe that the best interpretation which explains the most problems takes the “sons of God” to be fallen angels rather than identifying them as the sons of Seth or as tyrannical kings. It doesn’t scan that the problem was that “the sons of (some men) married the daughters of (other men).” Even though this interpretation makes angels at least partly to blame for the corruption, their punishment isn’t mentioned because it wasn’t Moses’ focus. Fathers and their daughters were culpable. Perhaps dads failed to protect their daughters and perhaps the daughters were happily flaunting themselves and seducing. As men multiplied on earth, so did the problems.
Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” (Genesis 6:3)
There are two options to his days shall be 120 years. Option 1 is that 120 years will now be man’s life span. Option 2 is that there will now be 120 years before the flood. But this sounds more like the phrasing of days of years in chapter five. God decides to limit the days of a man’s life to 120 years, from 700 or 800, even 900 years. Then we learn about some of the other mighty men, men of renown who also lived at that time.
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. (Genesis 6:4)
Nephilim are mentioned again in Numbers 13:33. The LXX translated Nephilim as “giants” (hoi gígantes). It is interesting that “the gigantes of Greek mythology were defeated and imprisoned in the earth” (Gordon Wenham). Mighty men are clearly offspring of the “sons of God” and “daughters of man,” the Nephilim may or may not be. If verse 4 came immediately after verse 2 it might be easier to conclude, but it still seems like verse 4 continues the thought of the first three verses.
Before we take a look at verses 5-8, it is okay to disagree about the identity of the “sons of God.” It’s worth considering the options and trying to make the best choice. In my case, the more I think about it the more I’m convinced they are angels. Either way, their identity doesn’t redefine the nature of God, change the way of salvation, or remove man’s culpability for sin. Their identity doesn’t even change the point of the paragraph: it was depravity of mythic proportions.
Rabid means extreme or fanatical (as in a rabies-infected dog or a viral disease that causes madness and convulsions). Intense means something of a high degree, forceful or extreme. Things are getting out of hand. Sin not only increased in breadth but also in depth.
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. (Genesis 6:5)
There are three adverbial supremes of man’s evil.
every intention of the thoughts of his heart was evil
Considering the amount of wickedness, it included each and every intention. Wickedness was comprehensive, all possible (of a countable group), without exception. Evil consumed his motivations.
every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
Only, no one or nothing more besides, solely or absolutely. Not even one good thought, 100% toward evil.
every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually
It could be translated, “only evil all the day,” or “all day long.” Considering in terms of time, wickedness was had no interruption. “Extensive” applied to Duration. Non-stop. No break. Moment by moment. Chronic.
This is total depravity not just total inability.
And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. (Genesis 6:6)
Verse 6 is a champion Arminian verse as well as for Open Theists. Motivated by the KJV translation “And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth,” this group sees God “repenting” and concludes that God changed His mind and went with Plan B. He obviously didn’t expect, let alone exert control over, the corruption of man, so He responds to man’s initiating wickedness.
However, “repent” is not a good translation. The ESV is somewhat better: the LORD regretted, or “the LORD was sorry” (NAS). That’s still weak, but “being sorry” doesn’t hint at unknowing or changing. It is further clarified/defined in context by the next phrase: it grieved Him to His heart. Besides, even the way it’s stated: “and it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth” (KJV) is different than we normally hear it where we would expect God as the subject, “God repented.” The point is, if we’re going to say that God repents, He doesn’t repent like men. (See also Numbers 23:19 and 1 Samuel 15:29).
The depth and breadth of depravity grieved Him, but that doesn’t mean it caught Him off guard. Being sorrowful doesn’t equal being surprised. I can plan and then do something I know is going to make me sad, but I still do it because I believe it is the best for a bigger purpose. For example, I hate spanking my kids, but I know it is right. More applicable, God predestined the crucifixion of His Son. It was no surprise to Him. It was not Plan B. Yet nothing grieved Him more. He went through with it because it was best for the maximum display of His glorious grace.
The sinfulness of man leading to the flood was no surprise to the Creator. It was part of God’s guarantee of conflict between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman, and it worked to show off His power and His grace.
It’s odd to acknowledge that God has the power—and the right—to destroy all mankind, but argue that He did not have the power to prevent the spread of sin or to save more sinners. The God who created the universe, who promised the seed, who could see the extreme evil in man’s thoughts and intentions, who sovereignly showed grace to Noah, was not ignorant of what men would become or incapable of doing anything about it. Would we really say that He could cause a flood that shifted continents but that He couldn’t see corruption coming or stop it any other way?
His sorrow is not the same as surprise, nor is the flood judgment a change in plans. It is a response, yes, to man’s sin, but it was part of His eternal plan to do the best for His glory.
By the way, if He’s that feeble, with no idea about the future, then how could verse 7 be taken as a serious threat? God saw, God was sorry, and God plans to act.
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.” (Genesis 6:7)
Wouldn’t we say, “Yeah, we’ll see, God.”
The remainder of chapter 6 through chapter 9 tell the story of Noah and the flood, so we’ll be looking at this for a while. But the major division in Genesis (5:1-6:8) ends with ray of hope, the hoped for relief of Lamech, and Noah.
But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. (Genesis 6:8)
The phrase found favor portrays the compassionate response of one who is able to help another person in need. In human society it is often used in statements concerning helping the poor. Servants hope for favor from their masters. Sons-in-laws hope for favor from a father-in-law. Subjects hope for favor from the king. There often isn’t a reason in the person. Noah found favor in they eyes of the LORD because the LORD is gracious, not because Noah was worthy apart from grace.
In 10 generations, just 1500 or so years, the corruption of sin among men increased so rapidly and intensified so rabidly that God purposed to “blot out man” whom He created.
If the intentions and thoughts of our hearts were known, and they are by God, would we be better? If our corruption is not every + only + continually—and it shouldn’t be, at least for believers—who deserves credit for that? In other words, what made us no longer slaves to sin?
What does a universal flood say about God’s seriousness toward sin? What does the crucifixion of Jesus say about God’s seriousness toward sin?
How does the depravity of man in Genesis 6, leading to the flood judgment, reveal more about God’s glory than a history/world without a flood judgment story? In other words, why do you think God wrote this into the story?