Downfall and Judgment

Introduction

Biblical Timeline

We are in the first age, the Beginning.

This is the first half of Genesis.

The first Sermon in this Series is Genesis 6.

We read this week about Creation, fall of man, first murder, and rise of the population of Men.

We will look into the downfall of mankind into sin and the decision of God to judge mankind.

Outline adapted from: Willmington, H. L. The Outline Bible. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1999. Print.

God’s grief (6:1–7)

Setting the Stage (1-4)

Genesis 6:1–4 (ESV)

1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 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 man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

Sons of God

“the sons of God This Hebrew phrase, bene ha’elohim, and similar phrasings (bene elohim and bene elim) are used elsewhere in the OT only of heavenly beings (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Pss 89:6; 82:6; see Deut 32:8 and note). Thus, bene ha’elohim could refer to spiritual beings who are members of God’s council—the divine council.” (Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.)

Sons of God - in the NT

Jesus - In the beatitudes for the peacemakers (Matt 5:9), Angelic beings (Luke 20:36)

Paul - Followers of Jesus (Rom 8; Gal 3)

Who are the sons of God? (3 interpretation maintain as plausibility through church history)

Sons of God as Divine Beings

“The sons of God may be divine beings (e.g., angels). If so, the error they committed was a transgression of the human realm by these heavenly beings. Their involvement with human women led to a widespread breakdown in morality and an increase in wickedness and corruption. The Hebrew grammar of Genesis 6 could indicate that the offspring of these unions is the nephilim (Gen 6:4) who were considered quasi-divine and possessed unusual height (“giants”; Num 13:33).” (Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.)

“This was the dominant view among Jewish and Christian thinkers until after the fourth century AD, when church father Augustine championed an alternative. It was also the exclusive view until the mid-second century AD.(sons of God - throughout the OT always refereed to Angelic being), It appears in early extrabiblical Jewish works that comment on the stories of Genesis (1 Enoch 6; Jubilees 5; the Damascus Document 2.17–19; Genesis Apocryphon 2.1); (NT - It appears that they understood this event had angelic beings (2 Peter 2; Jude); it also appears in the work of the writers Philo (On Giants 2:358) and Josephus (Antiquities 1.31). In addition, this was the view of the early church fathers Justin, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Origen.” (Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.)

Difficulty with this view is can Angels have relations with humans?

After verse 4, the focus of the judgment and flood in on the sinfulness and corruption of Human beings, no addressing Angels in the text.

Sons of God as Human Rulers

“The sons of God could be understood as human rulers—kings. Thus, “daughters of men” may refer to the harems of these kings.” (Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.)

“The earliest date for this viewpoint is the mid-second century AD. This view developed as a result of the belief that angels could not engage in sexual intercourse. Evidence for this view comes from the reference to the Davidic king as the son of God in Psalm 2:7 (compare 2 Sam 7:14; 1 Chr 17:13). It is further supported by other ancient Near Eastern beliefs that kings were divine or semi-divine.” (Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.)

Difficulties with this view would be from seeing the Nephilim as giants or quasi-divine. Sons of God plural is never used in ancient literature to describe a royal family, only singular for the King.

Sons of God as Godly Descendants of Seth

“In the fourth century AD, Augustine argued that the sons of God are the godly male descendants of Seth. Here, the “daughters of men” represent the ungodly females of Cain’s line. The sin is the intermarriage of godly and ungodly humans, and the offspring are humans.” (Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.)

“There are several weaknesses to this view. First, nowhere in the Old Testament are Sethites identified as the sons of God. Second, this view forces two divergent meanings on the Hebrew word ʾadam in Genesis 6:1–2: the term would have to mean “mankind” in Genesis 6:1, but a specific group of humans—the Cainites—in Genesis 6:2. Additionally, this view implies that all the women of Cain’s line were ungodly, whereas all the men of Seth’s line were godly. While this might be averted by noting that no law existed prohibiting intermarriage of any kind prior to the great flood, this would in turn undermine the entire premise of the view. Also, since only Noah and his family were considered godly in the days of the flood, we can presume that the vast majority of Seth’s descendants were far from godly; Seth had more than one descendant (Gen 5:7). Lastly, the daughters born in the previous chapter of Genesis were born to Seth’s line, not Cain’s—the precise opposite of what this explanation requires.” (Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.)

Nephilim

“Ancient Jewish texts and translations of the OT render the Hebrew word nephilim with terms that describe men of inordinate height. The Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation of the OT) renders the term gigantes (“giants”). The origin of the term nephilim is uncertain; it may have come from the Hebrew root naphal, which literally means “fallen ones.” However, the meaning of “fallen ones” is uncertain; it is also unclear if naphal should be associated with nephilim. The term is not a synonym for “sons of God” (see Gen 6:2 and note); the Nephilim could, though, be the offspring of the sons of God from cohabiting with the daughters of humans.” (Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.)

“a more likely reconstruction is the proposal of a root nāpal II, akin to other weak verbs, pûl II “be wonderful, strong, mighty,” pālāʾ “be wonderful,” and even pālâ “separate, distinguish,” pālal “discriminate.” This pattern of semantically related groups of weak verbs with two strong consonants in common is a notably recurrent phenomenon in Hebrew lexicography. Actually, the translation “giants” is supported mainly by the LXX and may be quite misleading. The word may be of unknown origin and mean “heroes” or “fierce warriors” etc. The RSV and NIV transliteration “Nephilim” is safer and may be correct in referring the noun to a race or nation.” (Fisher, Milton C. “1393 נפל.” Ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament 1999: 587. Print.)

The only connection with Nephilim and Giants is:

Septuagint translation of Hebrew Nephilim to Greek word for Giants.

Connection between Nephilim and Anak in Numbers 13:33 “33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”” Numbers 13:30-33 is the false report of the 10 spies trying to dissuade the Jews from going into the promise land. Are they telling the truth about the Nephilim or using the understanding of Nephilim to scare the Israelites?

Gen 6:4 - “These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown”

Mighty - mighty one (physical) n., a person noted for physical strength; often related to fighting ability. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Renown - reputation ⇔ name n., the general estimation and recognition of a person; understood in regard to their name (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Mighty men of war - Nimrod (Gen 10:8-9) David’s Mighty Men (2 Sam 23:8-38)

Possible interpretation

Sons of God as Divine Beings

“The sons of God may be divine beings (e.g., angels). If so, the error they committed was a transgression of the human realm by these heavenly beings. Their involvement with human women led to a widespread breakdown in morality and an increase in wickedness and corruption. The Hebrew grammar of Genesis 6 could indicate that the offspring of these unions is the nephilim (Gen 6:4) who were considered quasi-divine and possessed unusual height (“giants”; Num 13:33).” (Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.)

Sons of God as Human Rulers

“The sons of God could be understood as human rulers—kings. Thus, “daughters of men” may refer to the harems of these kings.” (Barry, John D. et al. Faithlife Study Bible. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016. Print.)

Combination of 1 and 2

Human rulers influenced or possessed by Angelic beings. Offspring are also influenced or possessed by angelic beings. These human rulers and their offspring are living very sinfully that is bringing leadership to the world (People are following their example) and bringing chaos into the world (Sinfulness and violence).

Like the Antichrist will be a human ruler influenced or possessed by Satan will influence and bring chaos on the world.

Hermeneutics

Through the process of looking at the text and the words we have multiple options of interpreting the text that could be understood biblically. Although we may not be able to fully understand vs. 1-4, we can fully understand the rest of chapter six and the overall context of the flood event (ch. 6-9)

The rest of this chapter is pretty straight forward and the message is simple but powerful.

Vs. 1-4 set the stage as the human race indulging in sinful behavior and bringing into the world chaos and violence.

“120 years”

Genesis 6:3 (NET 2nd ed.)

3 So the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain in humankind indefinitely, since they are mortal. They will remain for 120 more years.”

Time between this pronouncement of judgment of God and the flood.

God’s Grief (5-8)

Human’s Wickedness (5)

Genesis 6:5 (ESV)

5 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.

Wicked - evil (behavior) n., morally objectionable behavior (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Intentions of the heart - inclination (characteristic) n., a characteristic likelihood of or natural disposition toward a certain condition or character or effect. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

God’s grief and judgment (6-7)

Genesis 6:6–7 (ESV)

6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 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.”

Regret - to be grieved v., to be caused to feel sorrow. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.) Grieved - to grieve v., to cause to feel sorrow. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Blot out - wipe clean; wipe out, annihilate: to destroy ⇔ blot out v., to destroy something, conceived of as blotting it out. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

God will only put up with sin for so long and then he will bring judgment. The flood is used numerous times in scripture as a event of remembrance of God’s judgment for sin.

God’s grace (6:8–10)

Genesis 6:8–10 (ESV)

8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. 9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God. 10 And Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Found favor (8)

Genesis 6:8 (ESV)

8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Favor - favor (feeling) n., a feeling of favorable regard. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Righteous Man (9)

Genesis 6:9 (ESV)

9 These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

Righteous - righteous adj., characterized by or proceeding from accepted standards of morality or justice. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Blameless - blameless adj., free of guilt; not subject to blame. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Walked with God - The Hithpael is used in this connection to emphasize the continuity of the action. Striking examples of men who so lived before God are Enoch, Noah, Abraham, etc. (Gen 5:22; 6:9; 17:1). (Coppes, Leonard J. “498 הָלַך.” Ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament 1999: 216. Print.)

Obeyed God (22)

Genesis 6:22 (ESV)

22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

Noah was a man living a righteous life with God completely contrary to the world around him. God is going to use Noah to provide a way of Salvation from the coming Judgment of the flood.

God’s guidance (6:11–22)

Destruction! (what God will do) (6:11–13): He is going to destroy all life upon the earth—except for Noah and his family—through a flood.

Genesis 6:11–13 (ESV)

11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Earth was corrupt and filled with violence (11-12)

Corrupt - šḥt, v., ruin, destroy, annihilate; behave corruptly, cause trouble. 142× (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Violence - violence (act) n., an act of aggression; especially involving physical contact: (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

God’s Judgment (13)

Genesis 6:13 (ESV)

13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Construction! (what Noah will do) (6:14–22): He is to construct a wooden boat that is 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. Upon completion, Noah is to bring his family inside, along with at least one male and one female of every animal.

Build an Ark (14-17)

Genesis 6:14 (ESV)

14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.

Way of salvation is the building of the Ark to protect those inside from the flood. We see that the Ark is for Humans and Animals. The Judgment is for the punishment of Sin and well be experience by all who do not accept God’s salvation.

2 Peter 2:5 (ESV)

5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

Noah was not only the builder of the Ark, but a herald of the coming judgment and proclaiming God’s way of Salvation.

Herald - (derivative of κηρύσσωc ‘to preach,’ 33.256) a person who preaches—‘preacher.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 416. Print.)

God shows grace (18-22)

Genesis 6:18 (ESV)

18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.

Covenant - covenant n., a contractual arrangement between God and a person, or between human beings, which required binding action from one or both parties; one party often had higher status in the arrangement. (The Lexham Analytical Lexicon of the Hebrew Bible 2017: n. pag. Print.)

Lessons from Genesis 6

God of Judgment and Grace

God will judge sin.

God will provide a way of Salvation. He will be gracious to those who trust in Him.

In this Text, it shows the nature of God as the Judge of mankind in sin and His love, mercy, and grace in providing salvation. Same message through the Law, Prophets, and Christ.

Isaiah 55:6–9 (ESV)

6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Benediction

Romans 11:33, 11:36 - Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.