When Love Confronts a Great Evil

Introduction

Wall-E: In a distant future, Earth has become uninhabitable due to excessive waste and pollution. Humans have evacuated the planet, leaving behind robots to clean up. WALL-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth-Class) is the last functioning robot, still diligently compacting trash after 700 years.

WALL-E's lonely existence changes when he meets EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator), a sleek probe robot sent to Earth to search for signs of plant life. When WALL-E shows EVE a living plant he has found, she takes it and returns to her spaceship. WALL-E, having fallen in love with EVE, follows her into space.

This leads to an adventure aboard a massive spaceship where humans have been living for centuries, becoming incredibly lazy and dependent on robots. WALL-E's presence disrupts the status quo and ultimately leads to a mission to return to and revitalize Earth.

In our scripture this morning we find God looking on a whole existence of people whose every intention of their hearts and thoughts were only evil continually. God is scouring the Earth and finds a righteous man, Noah. While we won’t get into Noah’s story today, we’re being set up to understand a follow what’s next.

God is good, God is faithful, God is gracious, God is just, God is righteous, and what is God to do when confronted with a people and a creation that whose thoughts and intentions are evil continually? We’ll find out!

If you have your Bibles, or on your devices, would you turn to Genesis 6:1-8

If you are able and willing, would you stand with me as I read God’s word this morning.

This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Amen. Please be seated.

Setting the Stage

If you are just joining us… we are working through the book of Genesis. And if you’ve never studied Genesis or you’ve missed a lot of this series please go back and listen through the messages on our website citychapel.cc. As our good friend Father Rob Steinbach from Shalom Anglican says, this is like watching a multi-season show… we're studying Genesis, currently at episode 19 of Season 1. Key points to remember:

1. These are ancient stories predating the biblical writer (Moses).

2.They combine oral history, other writings, and divine revelation.

3. The stories were likely first told to Israelites after the Exodus.

4. Genesis 1-11 establishes foundational truths about God, human relationships, and the origin of evil.

When studying this passage, it's important to understand that:

1. The Bible doesn't always give direct action plans for today's questions.

2. Often, especially in the Old Testament, it provides new ways of thinking.

3. Bible study helps us ask the right questions, not just find answers to our existing ones.

4. This passage doesn't recommend specific actions but offers truths about sin's impact on the world.

The God who Contends with the Consuming People

vs 1-2

This portion of scripture is some of the most problematic in the entire Bible. In reading it, we ask who were the “Sons of God”? and what does it mean in vs.6 that “The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the Earth”.

Our chapter begins where people are multiplying on the Earth (good: Gen 1:28)… but then it takes a turn Genesis 6:2 “the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.”

Sons of God: Mighty Men who were Kings (people with power, authority, resources, and often times seen as being partially divine) or Angelic beings

This topic is debated among scholars. While I'll acknowledge different viewpoints, I'll briefly state my position and move on. For those wanting more detail, I encourage you to consult trusted Bible dictionaries or commentaries.

My view: These are humans, not angels. I believe this interpretation fits better with the Genesis account and later Biblical references. The alternative view raises questions about post-flood reappearance of Nephilim (Numbers 13) and doesn't align with how angelic rebellion is typically described in Scripture.

Historically:

1. Until 2nd century AD: "Sons of God" were unanimously seen as angels.

2. 2nd-3rd centuries: Views diverged. Jewish interpreters saw them as rulers; Christian interpreters began seeing them as Seth's line marrying Cain's line.

3. This became mainstream Christian interpretation through the Reformation.

Ultimately, this debate doesn't significantly impact our overall study of God's word. It's a mystery open to personal interpretation.

One thing that everyone agrees on is that what we are seeing here is people/beings are going outside of their calling.

The creation mandate was Genesis 1:28 “God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.””

Genesis 2:15 “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”

As God created Eve and brought the man and woman together we have Moses interjecting saying Genesis 2:24 “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”

Here they are taking and uniting themselves to any woman they want. It’s not cultivating, it’s consuming.

When we become consumers rather than cultivators, we walk in the paths of destruction.

Think about it… pornography is the consumption of others for my pleasure; drunkeness and drug abuse is the consumption of alcohol for my desire of an altered state of consciousness; greed is the consumption of resources and assets to use them for my pleasure; pride is the way of being that sees everything inferior to me for my gratification and the covering up of my insecurities (lying to myself).

This goes back to the violation of the creation mandate. They were to subdue the earth, rule it, care for it, cultivate it, and help it flourish. Here they are seeing the beauty of the fellow image bearers and they are marrying any of them they chose (excess). This is consuming language. We saw this in the fall with Adam/Eve seeing the fruit desirable to make one wise, looking desirable, and they took and eat. Here they are consuming each other.

We see throughout the narrative of scripture that when we are consumers, when we are selfish and desiring those things for our benefit that are not ours to have… when we step out of our mandate, calling, and purpose, we sin. We do terrible things. Children of Israel make a calf in the dessert and 3000 people die, they are afraid to go in the land for their self preservation against the assurance of God and wander the dessert for 40 years, Jonah runs from God swallowed by a fish, Judas turns in Jesus to the religious leaders, Ananias and Sapphira lie to the Lord and die, the examples in the Bible are many.

What God has called us too (them as well) ultimately through Jesus is a denying of self for the establishing of the Kingdom of God. In losing our lives we find them, in giving our lives away we are saved. Discipleship is a giving away of who we are, of what we have, for the betterment and formation of Christ in someone else. We give away time, money, wisdom, experience, heart, a piece of who we are that someone else might thrive.

vs. 3

God’s Spirit will not “contend with humans forever.”

God was contending. God was involved. There is an idea that God is holding back a consequence that they should rightly be getting. The phrase of vs 3 “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever” is God indicating that judgement is coming.

God is more gracious than what we want sometime.

This word contend in our english Bibles is also translated strive, abide, remain, abide. It’s an intervening of the Lord into a circumstance. We see it in uses in other passages like…

Jeremiah 22:16 “He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the Lord.”

1 Samuel 2:10 “those who oppose the Lord will be broken. The Most High will thunder from heaven; the Lord will judge the ends of the earth. “He will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed.””

Genesis 30:6 “Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son.” Because of this she named him Dan.”

God then ties this statement of not contending with man forever with how many the number of our days will be… that a shortened life of 120 years as opposed to the 800-900 we see in chapter 5 is a mercy or a grace? Food for thought.

If you have seen atrocities, crimes against humanity, if you have ever been to a Holocaust museum or concentration camp, you ask, “God, why?” How long oh, Lord?! We think… thank you God they no longer can commit those atrocities.

Exodus 34:6–7 “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.””

He’s holding it back, but at some point He’s going to let it happen.

God is righteous. God is holy. This means that God must deal with sin. They were giving Him ample reason to them being judged found in Genesis 6:2 “the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.” and what we read in Genesis 6:5 “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”

Moses is setting us up as to why the flood will come, why judgment is coming.

The Nephilim

vs. 4

Here the Nephilim are called “the heroes of old, men of renown.”

There isn’t a lot to say here other then this idea of making a name for ourselves. Often times this is driven out of pride and insecurity. This is pointing forward to Genesis 11:4 “Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.””

This is dangerous trend in our society today. Our popularity, social media, following is often fueled on rage. You say horrible, wicked, unkind things to tear people down and you gain a following. A following means money. Money means wealth and popularity. You’ve gone sold your soul. I see this not only in politicians in main stream media but even among pastors and leaders in the faith community. God we pray you bring conviction that there might be repentance.

The God who Laments

vs 5-6

This is a powerful statement to me, Genesis 6:5 “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”

This is elaborated on a little later in the chapter which Pastor Josh will get to next week.

Violence and corruption are the types of offenses that have been illustrated in the text up to this point, so the conclusion is that sin has reached critical mass and divine response is now inevitable Walton, J. H. (2001). Genesis (p. 308). Zondervan.

If humans were designed to be corruptible, sin must be a possibility. If sin is a possibility, oppression will exist, eventually on a large scale. If God were to wipe out the possibility of oppressive tyrants, he would have to wipe out sin; and to wipe out sin, he would have to eliminate corruptibility. If God were to eliminate corruptibility, we would be nothing but robots. That has not been his design. God’s procedure throughout these early chapters is generally not to eliminate the problem totally, but to isolate, limit, or restrict it in some way Walton, J. H. (2001). Genesis (p. 302). Zondervan.

God is going to bring the enevitable end. We could sit and allow the slow descent into chaos but he’s going to allow the measure to be full and the world is going to let loose… a purge.

Following this observation is another sorrowful lament Genesis 6:6–7 “The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.””

A word and a phrase here are important: “regretted” & “deeply troubled”

“Regretted”: Picture of Translation uses for נחם (LOOK AT THE ORANGE); Our emotions are not so we understand God but we have emotions because God does in its most perfect sense. There are things that have happened that has grieved his heart and there has to be an account… how do you describe that emotion and how do you convey the depths of what that is… I think there are times like this were language just falls short… but its what we have, and the sorrow that God feels is deep and profound.

“Deeply Troubled”: It “grieved” him to his heart. Our hearts are full of evil… God’s heart is grieved! It’s “pained.” This word is related to ‘itsavon. The same word used to describe the pain Eve experienced in childbirth as a result of sin… for Adam… pain in tilling the ground. The pain Noah’s father referred to as well. Now, God himself is grieved from sin. He hasn’t sinned nor has he tasted the bitter fruit of sin… but He has taken on the tragedy of sin to his heart! Here now He communicates to us He feels ‘itsavon! This is our God! Not only does Eve, Adam, Noah’s Father… feel this… but so does God!

Where he would be just to go, yup, you deserve this… time for 2.0… He is grieved.

vs. 8

Everything is messed up! Except… Noah found favor! There’s still hope. There’s still hope of a right human. Of course we know the story doesn’t end with Noah but Jesus. In Christ we have the perfect expression of God and Human… John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” And in Christ… not only does God grieve over sin… he dies for it. In this story the punishment for sin will come down on humanity… God will blot out his creation in the flood and start over with Noah… but not on the cross. On the cross the punishment for sin doesn’t go on man, but on the God-Man! And the new creation that comes from the flood… will now come through faith in Christ. And that new creation is done in us. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

Christ offers that hope that comes with new beginnings.

Gospel Invitation

Pray