NOAH PART 1 – THE FAITHFUL PREACHER OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IN A PERVERSE GENERATION
There is much to learn in the study of Noah, and we draw some lessons from this factual account in God’s word. Let us look at the opening verses of Genesis chapter 6:
{{Genesis 6:1-4 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, Gen 6:2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. Gen 6:3 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.” Gen 6:4 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.”}}
ONE LARGE PROBLEM – UNSOLVABLE
The flood of Noah is closely tied in with a corruption unlike anything the world has seen. These opening verses have spawned so many opinions and fanciful conjectures and have given rise to speculations that move this chapter into something extraordinary. We will try to look at this rationally, but I must state that I do not have the answers and I am going to say this – NO ONE has the answers. Do not consider that as arrogant. It is not meant to be.
The problem revolves around “the sons of God”, “the daughters of men” and the “Nephilim”. If you wish to delve into this at some length then read the multitude of opinions that are available but I will brush over this broadly.
You will find nothing much revealed in Genesis chapter 6 in the part dealing with the sons of God and the daughters of men. The reason for that is that Moses wrote very little on the matter, and what people write trying to understand it, is therefore speculation. No one can give you the story and some of the rubbish around has come from the Gnostic writers from around 100-400 AD. The Gnostics go into astrology and imaginations about angels and demons and it is really awful stuff. Some Christian writers have given their thoughts (and some have followed these Gnostic leanings) but it is impossible to say what is the correct truth. Here are the two main views:
VIEW 1
The common view is that the sons of God are fallen angels who were cast out of heaven with Lucifer. The ones who think that, also say that the daughters of men were beautiful women that the demons lusted after to have sex with. As a result giants and monster types were born to them and these were the Nephilim, and the Nephilim existed to the time of David. There is absolutely no way to prove that idea from the bible. It is not a theory that I accept. To start with, Jesus confirmed that angels don't marry, with the logical supposition that they are sexless. They are incapable of sexual union. They were never created to procreate. Also, I think in context, it only implies that this account involved some of the people, not everyone.
VIEW TWO
The other saner view, though incorrect also, is that the sons of God were of the righteous line of Seth (who replaced Abel), while the daughters of men were from the wicked line of Cain. This might have some appeal about it but the view is very inadequate. To start with where are all these righteous people in Noah's time that are supposed to belong to Seth? We know from the bible that the entire world was absolutely corrupted and that every single thought people had was only evil always. The people were “walking wickedness.” The whole world was guilty and corrupted. The only righteous one was Noah, and through association, his wife, and the three sons, and their wives. So this view does not stack up either.
The idiots who belong to the alien conspiracy theories, say that the sons of God were aliens who bred with earth women. That is nonsense.
We will never solve this one because there is no fool proof answer we can find. The two main ideas don't hold up because they are flawed. Not every single thing in the bible can be answered by us, because God stated it, but did not always develop that idea. We know it happened, but we don't know how and by what means. Maybe there is much we will learn in glory. Maybe in glory it will be utterly irrelevant.
NEPHILIM
The Nephilim, that is “giants.” It is natural to refer to {{Numbers 13:33 “And there we saw the Nephilim (Or giants), the sons of Anak, which come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”}} These Nephilim were tall of statue and of great strength.
The Nephilim of Noah’s time may have been a special race but the use of the word after the flood is also a matter some interest. It could not have referred to the Nephilin before the flood for the whole world perished. (Aquila, Rosenmüller, Gesenius, Luther, Calvin, Kurtz, Keil, Murphy, and others consider them as [[“More probable is the interpretation which understands them as men of violence, roving, lawless gallants, "who fall on others;" robbers, or tyrants, giant men of violence.”]]
In the matter of the Nephilim, the bible does NOT say they were the result of sexual union between the sons of God and the daughters of men. It merely writes that “in those days” Nephilim were on the earth. There is no conclusion we can make about this "sons and daughters" account from the verses in Genesis 6. We must say that it happened but we know nothing more than that. It is unsolvable, and if any hearer (or reader) thinks he or she has solved it, let me know.
THE INEVITABLE VERDICT
{{Genesis 6:5-7 “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, Gen 6:6 and the LORD was SORRY that He had made man on the earth, and He was GRIEVED in His heart, Gen 6:7 and 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,”}}
I know some very clever men who can repair items so broken that others would throw them out. I have been watching on television some of the train series from the United Kingdom where heritage railway lines are preserved by some paid staff and a lot of volunteers. These groups also bring into service old steam engines (locomotives) up to 100 years old that just look like rust buckets in a junk yard. They lovingly repair them in total, and they look as shining new as when first made, and put back into service after hundreds, if not thousands of hours of dedicated rebuilding.
Now if it was possible for God to do that with mankind, He would have done it. Lovingly He would have laboured to restore man but some things are just so impossible. Ultimately, there is only one conclusion and God took it. Mankind would have to perish from off the face of the earth. In Isaiah 5 there is a parable of a vineyard that represented Israel. God did everything for His vineyard, tried every means to get it to produce fruit, but it was so mutant it just utterly defied all that was good, and defiled all that was good. Then this was said – {{Isaiah 5:4 “What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes, did it produce worthless ones?”}}
Consequently the decision was made – {{Isaiah 5:5-6 “Now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard. I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed. I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground, Isa 5:6 and I will lay it waste. It will not be pruned or hoed but briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.”}}
So it was with the earth of Noah’s time. There is an expression in verse 5 that is interesting. It is this – {{“every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually”}}. In those 12 words two of them are significant – “every” and “continually”. We have some very wicked people in this world and vile and callous, but it can’t be said, even of them, that “every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” We can not understand that extent of evil. I call it “saturated evil”. Not even one decent thought, one kinder or sympathetic thought – every thought was constantly evil.
There is coming a day when the world may match that extent of evil. Jesus said this about the time in the coming Tribulation on earth after the Church will be removed in the Rapture – {{Matthew 24:37 The coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah . . . . Matt 24:39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away - so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.”}} As the Tribulation advances towards the Second Coming, I believe that magnitude of evil will again be on earth. What a horrible time that will be but the Church won’t be here because Jesus delivers us ({{1Thessalonians 1:10 “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”}})
SORRY AND GRIEVED
There is another matter that may seem unusual at face value. In verse 6 it says God was sorry and He was grieved he had made man. Now the omniscient God knows the end from the beginning and this was no surprise to Him whatever that mankind would fall into sin and disgrace, so it is not knowledge that is in question here. It was the emotions of God. That is a subject rarely taught on, but God has emotions. Right through the bible we read many times of the various emotions that belong to God. I am not covering this today - maybe another time – but there are so many. It’s a big subject.
MOVING ON 120 YEARS
We move on from verse 7 to at least 120 years. Those years saw a lot of hard work and commitment and obedience, and God will have it no other way. The Christian life is not like a party where you come and go as you please and let others do the work. It is not a fair weather pastime. God is not into slackness. The Lord does not want those who put their hand to the plough in promise but hardly get to the end of the field/paddock before they get bored or see some other thing that captures their interest. Noah was dedicated right to the end and he has ended up in the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11. Christian, these days are hardening and Jesus wants good soldiers who are faithful right to the end. Determine with God’s help and the power of the Holy Spirit, to serve Him and not look back.
It took Noah 120 years to build the ark and he was a preacher of righteousness, but how do the two go together? We do not know how much preaching he did. We can just imagine the insults and scorn that came his way through his preaching. The preaching content is not revealed to us but it must have been about the coming judgement. A godless world with not one decent thought ever or something good, will not tolerate a faithful preacher of righteousness. They will hurl insult at him. Today we live on the eve of the coming Tribulation wrath of God, and try telling that to people and you get mocking also, even threats because we are in the last days of the Church age and men’s hearts are hard and lawlessness is taking hold.
BEFORE JUDGEMENT THERE IS ESCAPE PROVIDED
{{Genesis 6:17 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.”}} What God shared with Noah became the basis for his witness and preaching. I will share more a bit later about the preaching committed to Noah. His message was destruction. He preached destruction BUT also a way of escape. God was providing a ark whereby men and women could enter in and be saved. God always has a way of escape in His mercy. We know how many obeyed the invitation. There were 8 to begin with and at the end of the 120 years there were still the 8.
Today there is a way of escape from eternal destruction and it is in Christ the ARK of God. Those who enter in will be saved and those who do not enter in but refuse, will perish. How sad is rejection! Those who refuse will realise one day their refusal will last for eternity. Lord, help this generation to see the truth of your word and turn to Christ and enter the ARK and be saved. {{Hebrews 2:2-3 “for if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, Heb 2:3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard.”}}
WHAT DOES THE LORD WANT FROM US?
{{Genesis 7:5 “Noah did according to all that the LORD had commanded him.”}} That is a wonderful testimony. Above all else, what the Lord asks from us is obedience and faithfulness. As I advance in life I do believe that is what the Lord wants. Jesus was obedient to the Father’s will and was a faithful High Priest. Those two examples in the Lord must be also displayed in us. Do you remember what the verdict was when one of the servants stood before his master? “Well done good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:23). More difficult times are to come on this generation if the Lord tarries, and living for the Lord will be strewn with difficulty. Remember what He asks of us is obedience and faithfulness.
{{Genesis 7:1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this time.”}} Is that not really sad? Not even one convert in all that time. In some of these “showmanship seminaries” we have today, Noah would have got a fail for results, but before the judgement seat of Christ he will get honours. It is not in what a man accomplishes, but in commitment and faithfulness that the measure of a man is. Noah faithfully preached to the most wicked generation of people who ever lived so they will be without excuse at the great white throne.
You will notice the unusual expression “preacher of righteousness” and not just “a preacher”. How do you preach righteousness? Is it conversion from wickedness and then to live a righteous life? I feel it meant a direct challenge to the people of his time to repent from wickedness because a disaster was coming and if they did not repent and pursue righteousness, then they would perish. How many people care about the afterlife these days? Most dismiss it and don’t accept there is one. Satan has blinded the eyes and mind to human philosophy and humanism so that the words of faith can not get an entry. What can we do? We can’t force people. All we can do is be faithful in word and testimony seeking the Lord for His help in spreading His gospel.
WHEN GOD SHUTS THE DOOR . . . .
{{Genesis 7:16 “and those that entered, male and female of all flesh, entered as God had commanded him, and the LORD closed it behind him.”}}
There are a number of things in this verse. The first is that it was obedience that entered the ark – they entered in through God’s word. The second is that the LORD closed the door behind them once they had entered. When God shuts no man can open, and when God opens, no man can shut the door. It was a door of two sides – inside and outside. Joy and gratitude and peace on one side, and sorrow, thanklessness and turmoil on the other side. Once God shut the door it was too late if you were on the outside. No amount of banging would open that door.
Today that door is still open and entry is free. God is not willing that any would perish but that all come to the knowledge of repentance. We believe the time is short and the great flood of God’s wrath is about to break over this world like never before. That wrath is detailed in the book of Revelation. In Noah’s time people went about their lives, eating and marrying with not a care about their gross evil, and the coming judgement. So shall it be now. People live for this life only; not for the one that is to come. {{2Corinthians 6:2 for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation.”}} Do not delay. Turn from your sinful ways and enter in and be saved. The door of the ARK (Christ) is opened for you, but it will be shut soon. Come to Him and be saved.
(There are two more messages on Noah)
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
