Genesis 6:1–22

As we open Genesis 6 we come to the later centuries of the age before the flood. The population had grown greatly, and human wickedness began to rise to a climax. Many have understood the term "sons of God" to mean men of Seth's line — the line of faith — who fell away and married daughters of Cain's line. But we agree with those who take the term to mean beings of an angelic order. That is plainly its sense in Scriptures such as Job 1:6, Job 2:1 and Job 38:7.

It was not long before mankind multiplied greatly on earth. The dreadful effects of sin multiplied with them. The corrupt mixture of "the sons of God" with "the daughters of men" shows this. We have seen in chapter 5 that the line of Seth kept "the likeness of God" in some measure at least. That is why they are called "the sons of God": they were separate from the evils of the line of Cain.

There is no proof in the text that the daughters of men were only descendants of the Cainites. The text supports the view that "daughters of men" means the natural increase of the whole human family, and not a special class. The theory that "sons of God" must mean godly people also cannot stand. The Old Testament never calls believers "sons of God"… The believer is a son of God, predestined to the son-place, with the spirit of sonship in him, crying "Abba, Father." That truth is revealed only in the New Testament.

The Holy Spirit has veiled such a fact in the only manner that suited God and was proper for man. Here the principle of reserve does apply. It does not withhold from a person's soul the deepest blessing of grace for his deepest needs. It simply gives no more than what was fitting for man to learn about the matter. He has said enough… In my judgment "the sons of God" in Genesis mean the same beings as in Job. That shows their chief guilt: they crossed the boundaries God had appointed for His creatures. No wonder that total ruin quickly follows. It is really the basis of fact for more than a few tales of mythology which men have made up.

Enoch has passed off the scene. His walk as a stranger on earth ended when he was taken to heaven without dying… How little influence his life and his departure had upon the world is clear from the first two verses of chapter 6… The mingling of what is of God with what is of man is a special form of evil. It is a very effective tool in Satan's hand for spoiling the testimony of Christ on the earth. This mingling may often look like something very desirable… something to be glad about rather than to grieve over. But our judgement about it depends on the point of view we look at it from… Separation from all evil is God's principle. No one can break it without doing serious damage to the truth.

Notice next the moment in which Noah gave his testimony. There is some likeness between that moment and the present. The Lord Himself pointed this out in Luke 17:26-27… So Noah lived at the close of an age. The storm clouds of divine judgment were gathering on every side. We too live at the close of an age, and once more the judgment of God is preparing for an evil world. Men are as careless and indifferent now as they were long ago.

There is no denying that the early books of the Bible use "sons of God" of angels (Job 1:6; Job 2:1; Job 38:7)... Old Testament usage gives no ground to question this. The phrase applies to angels, not to men — even faithful and righteous men. And the apostolic reference is indisputable. Peter and Jude view the awful crisis at the end of this age in the light of this scripture. They do so from quite different angles. Yet together they bear the testimony of the Holy Spirit that angels were meant here by "sons of God."

The text supports the view that "daughters of men" means the natural increase of the whole human family, and not a special class. The theory that "sons of God" must mean godly people also fails. The Old Testament never applies the term "sons of God" to believers... The result of the marriage of the sons of God with the daughters of men was children who were heroes, men of the Name. Suppose the sons of God were only the godly descendants of Seth, who mixed with the descendants of Cain. Then it is hard to see why the offspring should be a special race, heroes, men of the Name. The giants were Nephilim, which means "the fallen ones."

But God's word in verse 3 settles this matter: "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh." So "the sons of God" were the responsible parties here. They took wives; the wives did not take them. So God calls the sons of God "men," insisting also that they are "flesh," not spirit, as angels are. So early in history, this event stands as a solemn warning. Believers must not yoke themselves with unbelievers.

If the cleverest of enemies seduced Adam, and he followed the sight of his eye and the desire of his heart, then an enemy just as successful now seduces the sons of God... They take wives from all "whom they choose." They listen to other lords, for God is not in all their thoughts. Then it does not matter whether it is the promise of the serpent or the beauty of the daughters of men.

The union of the sons of God with the daughters of men led to the most disastrous consequences. True, the fruit of that union seemed extremely fair in man's judgement... yet God's judgement was quite different... If the holy seed will not keep its purity, everything must be forfeited as far as testimony on the earth goes. Satan's first effort was to put the holy seed to death and so frustrate God's purpose. When that failed, he tried to gain his end by corrupting it.

The effort of Satan has always been to wipe out the distinction between good and evil. The alliance of good with evil never purifies the evil, but always defiles the good. Absolute separation of the one from the other is always God's way.

We need not stop to ask the exact meaning of the phrase "sons of God"... It is enough to note what Scripture shows. A wall of separation stood between those who were OF GOD and those who were of MEN. Breaking it down was the immediate cause of the terrible evils which brought down God's displeasure.

That was the condition of the whole scene, from one end to the other. Against all this corruption and violence now spreading over the earth, God marks out His judgment: "My Spirit shall not always strive with man." There may be, and there will be, a period of patience — as it says, "his days shall be one hundred and twenty years" — but the judgment still stands, and the day when God comes to deal with men will come. The Spirit will not always strive.

Translators and commentators differ a good deal over how to translate this verse and how far it reaches... But the sense is moral rather than physical existence, and the older English version gives it well enough. Some prefer "in his wandering" instead of "for that," and that may well be right. So Isaiah 31:3 says that Egypt is man and not God, and their horses flesh and not spirit. Man had now proved himself no better. But when the LORD warns that His Spirit will not always plead, He is setting a limit to His patience. The hundred and twenty years refer, not to the length of man's life, but to the space given for repentance.

He is flesh — mortal man — and not God... But De Wette, in his translation, takes the 120 years as the length of life. I believe that is a complete mistake. It is the time allowed for preaching repentance, and for building the ark. "In their wanderings" would be just as good as "because of," or better. The verse would then read: "My Spirit shall not always strive with man (or among men) in their wanderings — he is flesh — but his days shall be 120 years."

It is strange that anyone should think this sets a limit to human life, which was then, and for generations afterwards, far longer. It is the limit of the Spirit's striving with that generation, and at the end of it the flood came. For them the end of the Spirit's striving and the end of their life came together.

So He was present by His Spirit in the days of Noah... His Spirit was then on the earth. In His patience God waited one hundred and twenty years while the ark was being built. His Spirit preached then. But He needed an instrument. The instrument was Noah. In him was the Spirit of Christ, and as the preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5) he brought the warning of coming judgment to the people around him. They did not listen. They went on in disobedience, were swept away by the flood, and are now the spirits in prison.

That is to say, His Spirit would strive through the testimony of Noah for a hundred and twenty years, and no longer. It would be a very strange thing if the Lord kept on striving by testimony with these people only (for he speaks only of them) after they had died.

Sinners, the time is soon coming when the drawbridge of mercy will be pulled right up... God holds back punishment, so men hold back repentance... But though men will not set limits to their sin, God does set limits to His patience.

Nephilim. The meaning of this word is uncertain: some trace it to a root meaning 'to fall,' but it is not clear whether it means 'fallen ones' or 'those who fall upon.' They were men of great stature, which made the Israelites think of themselves as grasshoppers by comparison. Some have supposed they were the offspring of the sons of God and the daughters of men, but Scripture does not say so. It describes those born of that union as "mighty men (gibborim) which were of old, men of renown." Scripture says only that the Nephilim were "in the earth in those days," and they were also seen by the spies about a thousand years later: this is all that is revealed about them.

The wording of verse 4 is not easy. It appears to distinguish between the Nephilim or giants in those days, as afterwards also, and the Gibborim, mighty ones or heroes, who were the fruit of the union of the sons of God with men's daughters... These, being of quite a different source and character, had a fame all their own for might. The reputation they gained of old was not founded on mere stature, like that of the Nephilim.

There were 'sons of God' who took wives of 'the daughters of men.' Genesis 6:4. Some believe these were angels, permitted to take human form: compare Jude 6, 7. Others judge that the descendants of Seth are meant.

Who are the sons of God referred to here? Believing men are undoubtedly called "sons of God" in Romans 8, but it would be beside the point to bring that thought into Genesis 6. The expression is best explained by its use in the book of Job, written about the same time, and there it is beyond all doubt used of angels (Job 1:6; 2:1; 38). Genesis 6 therefore tells us of the spirit world breaking its bounds and entering into unholy connection with the human family... It is beside the mark to quote Luke 20:34-36 as an objection to this. The Lord is there describing the proper state of angels, the state from which the offenders of Genesis 6 departed.

True, the fruit of that union seemed exceedingly fair in man's judgement, as we read, "the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown;" yet God's judgement was quite different. He does not see as man sees... So much for mixing the holy with the unholy. It will always be so. If the holy seed will not keep its purity, all must be forfeited as far as testimony on the earth is concerned. Satan's first effort was to frustrate God's purpose by putting the holy seed to death, and when that failed he sought to gain his end by corrupting it.

The monstrous men produced were monsters of iniquity, filling the earth with violence and corruption. Yet man in his fallen condition is such that these monsters, instead of being counted men of infamy, were treated as men of renown. They were doubtless the originals from whom sprang those tales of "gods" and "goddesses" and "Titans," and so on, which have come down to us in the writings of antiquity.

The most common excuse for a Christian mixing with the world is this: by doing so he will help to raise and purify the people he joins himself to. We need go no further into the Bible than Genesis 6 to see how false that argument is... The sons of God did not elevate the daughters of men, and their offspring took after the baser strain.

How piercing verse 5 is! Man's wickedness became great, or abundant, for he was wholly evil in the deepest springs of his being. His heart was evil; the thoughts of his heart were evil, and the imagination, which lay behind and prompted his thoughts, was evil. And all this was only evil — not one trace of good — and that continually. So before the flood we have the very same verdict about man that Romans 3:10-18 gives us. That passage quotes Scriptures which describe the condition of men after the flood.

The Spirit of God has been pleased to state two grounds on which God brought the judgment of the flood on man. First, because of what he had done: "The wickedness of man was great in the earth." Further on we read that this took two forms, corruption and violence. They are the parent sins of Genesis 3 and 4... Second, because of what he was: "Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Or, as the margin reads, "The purposes and desires of his heart" were such.

"Every imagination" — without exception. "Only evil" — without any mixture of good. "Continually" — without a pause. What a picture!

It would be hard to find a more solemn verdict. "Every imagination" of them was before Him. He loves to credit the least thought or feeling that is good, yet He saw nothing but evil all the day. He is surely the God of judgment, and after due testimony He will not be slow to carry it out.

There is nothing good at all in our sinful nature. Even the most advanced believer said, "I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh" (Romans 7:18). But can it not be improved by diligence in prayer and watchfulness? No, never: it is wholly incurable... We may not be able to bend a bar of iron, yet it may be beaten out until it becomes quite flexible, but it is the same iron still. Its appearance has changed, but its nature is the same.

Was it true then? Is it true today? What does God see in the men of this day? What is the difference between the men of that day and this day? There is none. Man is man. You cannot change him. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?" (Jeremiah 13:23). No, and you cannot change man either. Take a drunkard, an unsaved man. Reform him and polish him up. He is still an unsaved man... There must be a work of God in his soul. Note the force of Scripture. Man is wrong at heart. "Out of the heart come evil thoughts" (Matthew 15:19). Men can read what is outside, but God reads the heart.

But "Noah found grace in the eyes of Jehovah." That is, God's favour rested on him. He was righteous himself, no doubt, but it all came through grace... But the earth was completely filled with violence. Every imagination of the thoughts of man's heart was only evil continually; if sin comes in, it is sure to ripen up.

The Spirit of God has chosen to tell us two grounds on which God brought the judgment of the flood on man. First, because of what he had done: "the wickedness of man was great in the earth." Further on we read that this took two forms, corruption and violence. Second, because of what he was: "every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually"; or, as the margin reads, "the purposes and desires of his heart" were such.

This is not God simply in His nature, but the God who concerns Himself with the ways of His creatures... He who loves to credit the least good thought or feeling saw nothing but evil all the day.

Much depends on grasping the meaning of the word "repent." In Scripture it does not usually mean remorse or sorrow, as so many think. It means a change or turnaround in the attitude of the mind... In any sense of regret or remorse about His personal actions, we are assured that God "is not a man that He should repent."

No doubt, as is so typical of these early revelations, grace shapes the words in a childlike way for the heart and conscience of man. The LORD felt deeply what man ought to have felt but did not.

God is infinitely great, and His holy nature is spotless and pure. So His grief must have been infinite. Yet He must have known in advance that this great grief would come to Him through the fall and corruption of mankind. Why then did God make man, and then let him stay on earth after causing Him such untold grief?

At the end of Genesis 2 God called everything, man included, "very good." Once man had been very good in God's eyes. Now he was nothing but grief to look at. The break was complete.

The gifts of God are without change of mind on His part. When it is not a gift or a calling of God, He may repent. So He repented of creation (Gen. 6:6), as we are told; and He destroyed it. That was not a gift; but simply an act, however immense. But in sovereign love He calls poor guilty men to Himself to make them His own. He gives eternal life, for instance, or forgiveness of our sins, or the place of a child. Such gifts are the gifts and calling of God, and they come without any change of mind.

All this delight was changed; God repented that He had made man on the earth. But in the Child of Bethlehem man is recovered and set up again. God delights in this man, and no such change of mind is possible. No other object in all His creation could awaken the same delight.

Verse 6 tells us how all this affected the Lord. Here for the first time Scripture gives God human feelings. Only in this way could we understand such a matter, and there is nothing out of place in it, since God made man in His own image and likeness. But God's thoughts and feelings must be far deeper and far higher than any man knows. How great His grief must have been! All was good at the start. Now all was so detestable that nothing could meet the case but the total destruction of mankind, apart from a few, and of the living creation God had entrusted to man.

The name Jehovah is needed where the point is not nature but relationship — the feelings and the position it brings.

But here we must make a distinction, or we will certainly go badly wrong. Scripture says here that the LORD repented of mankind, whom He had made on the earth. His work is a thing quite different from His purpose. Corruption spread all through it, and He had no duty to keep in existence what existed only to His dishonour. On the other hand, when a prophet cried out against a great city because of its wickedness, and its people repented at the preaching, God repented of the harm He had said He would do to them, and He did not do it… But here we are not told of the slightest effect.

God did repent of creation, in the state it had reached… But God's calling is His purpose. He has sworn in His holiness, and He will not repent.

Genesis 6:7: God says, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land." But according to this teaching, He had not created at all what He was going to destroy.

Yet animals, creeping things and birds fall under this awesome destruction too, for man's sin has involved the rest of the earthly creation. People may say that when they sin they have damaged only themselves. But man's sin always affects others too, even creatures that cannot reason.

The creation fell with the first man. But God's word says all its groaning waits for the triumph of the Second man, when the sons of God are revealed. What joy to know it!

How much interest the Lord God takes in the whole state of things in that day! Just as we all feel, His eye affects His heart. And then, just as we all do, He takes counsel with Himself… And after all this, just as we ourselves would do, He settles His mind and tells it to a friend. He passes it to the ear, the heart and the sympathies of another.

His faith accepted God's warning, and that warning moved him to fear. Fear moved him to act.

One man alone found favor in the eyes of the Lord (v. 8). Noah was righteous in his dealings with people and blameless in his own character, because "he walked with God." The earth's population had grown so large, and it is a tragedy that only one man walked with God. In this he is a picture of the Lord Jesus. Yet he also shows that a believer can walk in true, godly separation from an evil world, even when no one else joins him... a lonely path with God is infinitely better than having many friends without God's presence.

But "Noah found grace in the eyes of Jehovah" — that is, God's favour rested on him. He was righteous himself, no doubt, but it all came through grace. Moses says, "If I have found grace in your sight"; it is a common expression. In the next chapter God says of Noah, "I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation."

It is written: "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." This comes before the statement, "Noah walked with God" (Gen. 6:8-9). This is always God's order. No man can walk with God until he has tasted the grace of God.

The very way Scripture tells the story should have stopped anyone from thinking that Noah's character in verse 9 is the reason for God's favour to him. Reason of grace! What an idea and expression! Scripture flatly denies any such thought: "If it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace." Noah's righteous ways, his walk with God, flowed (as always) from God's favour.

The phrase "walked with God" is not casual but deliberate. It suits plain historical mention, and it also sets a moral contrast with those marked by the violence and corruption of all flesh on the earth. The name Jehovah is required where the point is not nature but relationship — feelings and position toward another.

The first time the word grace occurs in the Bible it is bound up with Noah — "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (Gen. 6). He believed God when the whole world did not. That made him a righteous man among disobedient men. They were a condemned race; he alone was justified.

Notice this: before God's government ever carried out its judgment, the chosen family, and all with them, were shut safely inside the ark, the vessel of grace... God in grace saved Noah before God in government swept the earth clean with judgment... Every atom of the ark carried the sweet stamp of grace; every wave of the flood reflected the solemn decree of government.

God tells His chosen one that the end of all flesh had come before Him... He tells him how He saw and judged the moral condition of the earth — the very thing He had said in secret before. Then He tells him to get an ark ready to save his household, because in the plans of His electing love and sovereign purpose Noah had already found grace in His eyes.

Then in Genesis 6:9 we read, "These are the generations of Noah." This gives the fitting ground for his escape from the flood, along with his three sons and their wives.

It is written: "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." This comes before the statement, "Noah walked with God" (Genesis 6:8-9). This is always God's order. No man can walk with God until he has tasted the grace of God. "Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations." "Perfect" does not mean "sinless." His sad failure after he came out of the ark is proof enough (Genesis 9:21). But, as the margin suggests, Noah was an upright man who sought to walk before God in integrity.

Further, it is not correct to say that he was a just man, that is, justified before God. … The grace that justified him worked in him and through him practical righteousness before man. … The one (in Romans 4) is justification before God, the root of all. The other is the resulting fruit "shown" before man. Each is indispensable in its place; both are united in their season in every true believer. Practical righteousness is the effect, in no way the cause, of justification by faith. … We also know from Hebrews 11:7 that faith was the starting principle, through grace, of the conduct that marked him out in that day. By that faith he also condemned the world, as heir of the righteousness that is according to faith.

It is recorded in Genesis 5:22, "Enoch walked with God." … These two devout men lived in evil days, but they walked in separation from the evil, and in communion with God.

Noah is an example of the separate saint bearing testimony to the world… Peter tells us that he bore witness for God as a "preacher of righteousness". Lot is a picture of a large class of believers. They have no faith for the separate path, so they settle down in the world. They are saved in the end, but they are no testimony to God while they pass through it. Peter does tell us that Lot was a "righteous man". Yet, by living among the wicked, he tormented his righteous soul day after day. He knew nothing of a walk in peace and nearness to God.

Noah was righteous in his human relationships and blameless in his personal character, because "he walked with God." The earth's population had grown so large. It is deeply sad that only one man walked with God. In this he is a picture of the Lord Jesus. Yet he does show that a believer can walk in true, godly separation from an evil world, even with no one else to share that path. … In any case, a lonely path with God is far better than having many friends without God's presence.

That is how Scripture describes this man when he first appears in the record, at the ripe age of five hundred years. He then made the ark as God directed. God said to him, "I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation" (Genesis 7:1). He proved that he was righteous. He illustrated the obedience of faith.

In Genesis 6:10 we find the names of Noah's sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. Turn to Genesis 10:1 and 1 Chronicles 1:4, and each chapter gives the same names in the same order. Yet in the light of Genesis 9:24 and 10:21 we gather that the actual order of their birth was Japheth, Shem and Ham. But Shem was the one specially chosen in the sovereignty of God, so his name comes first.

A different order than the natural one is before us. The reason: the natural order — that is, birth order — constantly gives way when it crosses the order of grace and God's purpose of blessing.

A fresh start for the race began after the flood that judged a guilty world. God preserved Noah and his three sons from destruction. From them began conditions that continue today, and that will continue for their descendants until the Son of Man comes with the clouds of heaven... So the history of man is comparatively recent, and so is his threefold separation into lands and languages, families and nations. This time the race does not begin with a single line. We have three heads with their wives — three great families to renew the history of man on earth.

The Lord commands Noah to enter the ark with his house on this ground: "For I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation." Someone may object that all the members of the household were probably righteous before God too. But the later history of one of them — Ham — forbids that thought. So nothing can weaken the force of the statement: God delivered the family of Noah from the judgment of the flood because of the faith of its head.

The three sons of Noah, all married men, did not carry one infant into the ark. Eight adult persons passed through the flood. What a touch this is, showing God's thoughtful arranging, His planning tenderness! And it comes in such an unexpected place that it may well comfort many who are going through hard circumstances.

The fountain heads were three, first named in this order: Shem, Ham and Japheth. The first was the family in which God would establish His covenant on earth, and with which He would be in relationship. Then came the one who stood in hostility to God's family. Last came the Gentile Japheth, though he was the eldest and proudest.

Scripture again draws attention to the three heads of Noah's race, "Shem, and Ham, and Japheth," in the same order as before (Genesis 5:32, 6:10, 7:13). Now there is an ominous addition: "and Ham is the father of Canaan." The sad incident that follows explains this at once, and the solemn prophecy that closes the chapter explains it still more. That prophecy echoes through the whole Old Testament, and it will only be brought to completion in that kingdom which awaits the Anointed of Jehovah.

There are two forms in which sin, or the activity of man's will, shows itself — violence and corruption. This showed itself at the time of the flood. The earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence. Satan is a liar and murderer. In man, corrupt desires are even a more abundant source of evil.

Corruption and self-will have been at work from earliest ages, and in fact were the two great evils let loose among the race in the period before the flood is Godward; violence manward.

Then comes man's most serious evil — his corruption before God. That corruption led to an earth filled with violence (v. 11). Violence is against other people, and people call that the worst thing. But their corruption is against God, and they think little of it. If there were no corruption, there would be no violence. … God tells Noah that the end of all flesh was near, because the earth was filled with violence. Violence was the glaring proof of man's corruption (v. 13).

Genesis 6 tells us that the earth was corrupt in God's sight. It also tells us that "the earth was filled with violence." God had set up no government, and men gave free rein to their lawless desires. They took revenge on one another without restraint. Imagine a man among them condemning their terrible ungodliness and warning that the Lord was coming to judge them. Would they hear him without their anger rising to murderous heights?

Ever since sin entered the world through the fall of man, its degrading defilements have been spreading. … Notice: corruption had affected the earth itself, for man had also corrupted God's way. Material as well as moral corruption was present.

… For the divine nature, what mattered was the horror of an earth corrupt and full of violence. It stands in contrast with Noah — a righteous man, blameless among his generations, walking with God when all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

Remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ: "Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man." Some would have us believe that this earth will be covered from pole to pole with a fair mantle of righteousness. They say this will happen before the Son of Man appears in the clouds of heaven. How was it in the days of Noah? Scripture replies, "the earth was filled with violence." "ALL flesh had corrupted their way on the earth." … "Righteousness" and "violence" are not very like each other.

These are the two great classes of sins that God had before Him when He said He would destroy the world by a flood. The world has not changed. If we are wronged or slandered, if we have personal grievances against others, what do we show? Is it a peaceful or a violent spirit? On the other hand, there is a moral corruption surrounding us, like the air we breathe.

In Genesis 1 God was alone, producing the fruit of His own handiwork, in wisdom, goodness, and skill, and then all was good and desirable... But now it is not God's hand presenting a perfect work to God's thoughts and affections. It is man, the rebel workman, spreading out a wide scene of corruption and violence, for the grief and regret of the mind of God. That is where the secret of the change lies. Man has been at work. Man has been shaping and furnishing the scene, and not the living, blessed God.

Note this: corruption had affected the earth itself, for man had also corrupted God's way. The corruption was material as well as moral... Ever since sin came in, corruption has thrived and grown. Sadly, its willing victims rush to spread its terrible influence, driven by the sinful desires of body and mind. They are themselves "slaves of corruption," as the Scripture says (2 Peter 2:19).

We have to admit, sadly, how corrupt this world is. It touches every area, so everything is falling apart — for the word "corrupt" carries the thought of "decay and pining away."

The passage then points to the most serious evil of man — his corruption before God — which led to an earth filled with violence (v. 11). Violence is of course against others, and people consider this the worst thing. But their corruption is against God, and they think little of it. If there were no corruption there would be no violence... God tells Noah that the end of all flesh was near, because the earth was filled with violence. Violence was the clear proof of man's corruption (v. 13).

There must be the entire destruction of that which had corrupted God's way on the earth. "The mighty men, and men of renown," must all be swept away, without distinction. "All flesh" must be set aside, as completely unfit for God. God said, "I have determined to make an end of all flesh." It was not the end of some flesh only. No, all of it was corrupt in the sight of the LORD — all beyond recovery.

There is nothing good at all in our sinful nature... But can diligent prayer and watchfulness improve it? No, never: it is completely incurable... True, in some we find nature polished, cultivated, and refined; in others, rough, rude and rugged. But it is the same sinful nature in both. We may not be able to bend a bar of iron, yet it can be hammered out until it is quite flexible. But it is the same iron still. Its appearance has changed, but its nature is the same.

Here, then, was a picture of the end of the old creation. All was to pass under the waters of judgement. What then? "Make yourself an ark of gopher wood." Here we have a picture of the new thing. That ark, floating quietly over the dark depth of waters, was a picture of Christ, and of the believer in Him... It all hinges upon this one question. "Am I in or out of Christ?"

How was it in the days of Noah? Did righteousness cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea?... Scripture replies, "the earth was filled with violence." "All flesh had corrupted their way on the earth." "The earth was corrupt in God's sight." Well then, "so will it be in the days of the Son of Man."

The most serious evil of man is his corruption before God, and it led to an earth filled with violence. Violence is of course against others, and people consider this the worst thing. But their corruption is against God, and they think little of it. If there were no corruption there would be no violence. But at this time "all flesh" had corrupted itself. God tells Noah that the end of all flesh was near because violence filled the earth. Violence was the glaring proof of man's corruption. God would destroy the people along with the earth.

The mighty men and the men of renown must all be swept away, without distinction. "All flesh" must be set aside as completely unfit for God. "The end of all flesh is come before me." This was not the end of some flesh only. No, all of it was corrupt in the sight of Jehovah — all of it beyond recovery. God had tried it and found it wanting. Then the Lord announces His remedy to Noah: "Make yourself an ark of gopher wood."

The end of man's time of testing has come before God. It is too late for man to ask for a new trial. He is guilty and under condemnation. It is too late for that poor young man, condemned to death, to talk of being tried again. He must be pardoned or executed. Such is man's condition. The prisoner may dream he is free, and hope to commit no more crimes — but he wakes for execution.

He dealt with him as a man deals with his friend, and as God deals with a chosen sinner. "The end of all flesh is come before Me," says the Lord to Noah, telling him what had been passing in His own heart. Later, on the day of the waters, He showed the same gracious friendship. When the ark was about to float on the scene of judgment, "the Lord shut him in." He did it with His own hand.

The flood of waters that came, covering everything, so that the end of all flesh came, is a picture of the death of Christ. In His death God passed judgment on all flesh and carried it out. The waves and billows rolled over His innocent head. He passed through death and judgment for us and has made Himself our perfect ark, our hiding place. In Him we are lifted above the waters of judgment.

There can be no purifying of the flesh. God has only one way to deal with it. As He said in Genesis 6, "The end of all flesh is come before me." He deals with it either at the Cross, where faith submits to the sentence, for God, "by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, ... condemned sin in the flesh" — or else in the lake of fire.

The Lord, in this way, provided Noah with an answer to His own righteous and purposed judgment that was coming on the world before the Flood. "Make yourself an ark of gopher wood," said God to him. Noah did so, believing the word both of judgment and of deliverance, and he was safe.

Yet the grace of God would provide a refuge for those who realized their need of His grace. God instructed Noah to make a large ark of gopher wood. It was six times as long as it was wide, with three decks and rooms built in, not only for people but for animals too, and covered with pitch inside and out (v. 14). One door is mentioned, which may seem inadequate for so large a ship, but it pictures the truth that Christ alone is the door of salvation for mankind.

The ark is built of gopher wood. We do not know this "gopher," but the name is very close to the "copher" or "pitch" named afterward... Because of this, the gopher has long been thought to be the cypress, which could well have supplied the "pitch" for the ark's seams. The picture would then fit even better. There is no doubt that the gopher, like the acacia wood of the tabernacle ark, refers to Christ, and "copher" is the word used elsewhere for "atonement." It was not enough that the tree be cut down to provide a refuge from the waters of judgment. The seams also had to be sealed with the pitch the tree supplied. And so death by itself, even Christ's death, would not have been enough to make safe the soul that fled to Him for refuge.

Now there was one very interesting feature in that ark. It was covered "inside and out with pitch." That was not only to make it watertight. It would do that, of course. But it was also to teach us a great truth, even if Noah did not understand. The word "pitch" in our translation is the same word translated "atonement" seventy times in the Old Testament. Only in this one place is it translated "pitch." It means a covering — a covering God ordained and provided for the man who had found grace in His eyes. Wherever Noah looked inside the ark, he saw this covering. Wherever God looked outside the ark, He saw the covering. Atonement within, atonement without.

The waters of judgment fell upon the ark, but because it was covered, not one drop touched those inside... It is significant that the waters of judgment also covered the unbelievers, but there was no atonement in that covering.

Remember, the Lord's own hand shut Noah and his family in the ark (Gen. 7:16), which was made judgment-proof outside and inside (Gen. 6:14). God Himself secured the door. None could enter, and none could get out. "The Lord shut him in." God took charge of the door — safety — while Noah looked out of the window above — communion.

As a sinner there is nothing before you but judgment... But you may find a place of safety. You say, Where is it? You do not have to prepare an ark, because God has prepared one. Christ is the place of safety now. He bore all the judgment and the wrath, rose from the dead, and is now at God's right hand.

So Noah started his great work of preparing an ark to save his household. God was the Architect, so he had no need to worry about its design. His only concern must have been to carry out properly what God had designed. A single man receives a commission to build a gigantic ship, and apparently in the middle of dry land! It was an extraordinary command, and it must have called out faith of no ordinary kind in Noah.

Its proportions were to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits broad, and 30 cubits high. If the cubit is taken at 18 inches, its length would have been 450 feet, its breadth 75 feet and its height 45 feet. If the cubit used was 21 inches, the dimensions would be one-sixth larger.

In the whole history of the world up to about a century ago, every other ship ever constructed was a mere shell compared with this. Only in quite recent years have these dimensions been surpassed. But what God said, Noah did, and he proved that God's command was his enabling.

The objection is that the ark was not big enough to "take in all the creatures" — more exactly, the animal races belonging to the dry land. It has been proved, over and over again, that it was. It has been calculated that it was a vessel of more than forty-two thousand tons. That is eighteen times as much as the largest warship. One warship can stow, say, a thousand men, with provisions, for a much longer time than the flood lasted, besides an immense weight of guns, shot and so on. So it is clear the ark could easily have received the animals that could not live in the water.

The shape of the ark was not meant for sailing through storms and waves. But it suited exactly the purpose it was made for. Someone once built a freight ship in the same proportions, for use in quiet waters, and people declared it a great success.

Now it is of the greatest importance to stand firm and unbending in the faith. We are not dealing with poetry and its figures of speech. This is the language of sober history. It deals with facts, and with God's declaration about them… It is the plain and unvarnished statement of fact. The question is: are believers to accept the word of God without hesitation?

I do not suppose the men of the world thought it was built on the right lines. But he did not care one bit about that. God had given him the lines to build on (verses 14-16), so he did not care how they criticised his ark.

Noah's ship had no pump in it. Indeed it could not. Such a thing would have been a witness against it. It would mean that God's provision was not enough by itself. That could never be. He rested in the seaworthiness of his vessel because of God's appointment and approval of it — indeed, I may say, because of God's building of it. Faith kept his heart quiet about the judgment; hope filled it about the coming glory.

It was entirely of God. He devised the ark, and gave Noah its specifications. The storm might rage, both above it and around it, but the ark was never submerged. "The ark floated on the face of the waters." A type of Him who bore the storm of divine wrath on behalf of all His people. The greatness of His person made Him equal to so mighty a work.

Noah was the builder but God was the Designer of the ark. The door was in the side, so people could get in easily. The window was above, to let in light from heaven and to shut out any view of the flood waters soon to come. Its dimensions were large. The cubit is reckoned to have been 18 to 22 inches long. The ark was made only to float, not shaped like a ship for travel, so its capacity must have been very great.

This is not poetry with its figures of speech. It is the language of sober history, dealing with facts and with God's declaration about them. It is the plain, unvarnished statement of fact.

A window was to be made to the ark. Gen. 6:16. The word tsohar means "a place of light." It was probably set in the roof, and may have served for ventilation as well as for giving light. In Gen. 6:16, after speaking of the window, it says, "and finish it to a cubit above." Does this refer to the size of the window, or does the word "it" refer to the ark? It has been said that the word rendered "it" is feminine and cannot refer to "window," which is masculine. So the cubit may refer to the roof: the middle of the roof raised a cubit to give it a pitch.

It may be that the window "finished — to a cubit from the top" was an opening that encircled the whole ark, giving full ventilation, but able to be closed.

The Lord secured the door with His own all-powerful hand. He left Noah the window. From it Noah could look upward to the place from which all the judgement had come, and see that no judgement remained for him. The saved family could only look upward, because the window was "above." They could not see the waters of judgement, nor the death and desolation which those waters had caused.

The passengers in that wonderfully guided and protected vessel did not need their eyes for steering. They were not to look out on the solemn scenes of the judgment taking effect around them. Meanwhile the waters, which were the grave of the world, floated them above its mountain-tops up to the blue heavens, growing calmer as they rose. What a time for them — shut in by God, with God! And what a preparation for the new life they were to begin in the world beyond the flood!

One door is mentioned, which may seem too little for so large a ship, but it pictures the fact that Christ alone is the door of salvation for mankind.

Remember the Lord's own hand shut Noah and his family in the ark, which was made judgment-proof outside and inside. God Himself secured the door. None could enter, and none could get out. "The Lord shut him in." God took charge of the door — safety — while Noah looked out of the window above — communion.

It had rooms — varied ages, orders and families of salvation, but one Christ. It had three floors: that is, there is development in Christ — progress to higher and still higher levels. But clearly all who are "in Christ" have perfect salvation. That is no matter of degree or attainment. Salvation is as complete for the small timid animal creeping for refuge onto its lowest deck as for Noah on its topmost floor — no more and no less.

God gave warning of the flood well in advance, and there was no doubt of its coming. It would destroy every living thing on earth (v. 17). In the same way, God has given advance warning of another judgment. He has appointed a day when He will judge the world by the Man He has ordained, the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 17:31). Men may mock at this, but it will come just as surely as the flood came. It is not simply that God allowed it to come, but He insists, "I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth."

The flood was not one of God's hidden works of providence, like the kind we see in the story of Esther. That story is important in itself, and we learn much from it. But the flood was a judgment God inflicted, and prophecy made it known beforehand. It was also worldwide. That set it apart from other times God stepped in, however real and instructive those were, and made it fit to compare with the days of the Son of man.

Here we see the patience of God. He bore long with the sinners before the flood and gave them space to repent. Every day that Noah worked at the ark, every plank, every nail, every stroke of his hammer was a warning and a threat of the coming judgment. And more than that: God could do nothing until Noah was safe in the ark, after He Himself had shut him in.

"The Lord said, I will destroy man." Nothing less would do. What had corrupted God's way on the earth had to be destroyed completely. "The mighty men, and men of renown" had to be swept away too, with no exceptions. "All flesh" had to be set aside as wholly unfit for God. "The end of all flesh is come before me." This was not the end of some flesh only. No — all of it was corrupt in the sight of the Lord, all of it past saving.

I believe the flood covered the whole earth, wherever man was. There is no mistake about it. Some have questioned that, speaking in general terms, as if it only covered the inhabited earth. But Scripture says, "the mountains were covered," and "the tops of the mountains were seen," and so on. That sounds like the whole earth. Either way, you have to allow for a miracle... The flood's universality, complete universality, seems to me to be plainly meant, because it destroyed the world that existed then. God puts an end to the whole system of the world.

The flood that came, waters covering everything so that the end of all flesh arrived, is a picture of the death of Christ. In His death God passed judgment on all flesh and carried it out. The waves and billows rolled over His innocent head. He passed through death and judgment for us and has made Himself our perfect ark, our hiding place. In Him we are lifted above the judgment waters.

"I will establish my covenant with you" had been God's word to Noah, before the ark was made, or the waters had come (Gen. 6:18). Now the judgment is past, and the new earth is inherited. So God sets that covenant out in full, and pledges it again, to His elect (Gen. 9:8-17). And it is here that the word "covenant" is first used.

"Everything that is on the earth shall die," says the Lord to him, "but I will establish my covenant with you." So He discloses the secret: God would establish the earth according to His own purpose, in resurrection, stability, and beauty.

However, if God ordained judgment, He ordained salvation just as surely. God established a covenant with Noah to this effect: He would preserve Noah and his family by means of the ark. They were the only exception to the awesome destruction of man's civilization.

So God made His intention known to the man who believed Him. He would deliver Noah, his wife and his family in the way appointed. Carrying this out was a fitting and remarkable test of Noah's faith. It meant a long time of waiting, continuous labour, and entire but active submission to God's word. Noah kept two things before his spirit. First, the world was doomed, and judgment would fall on it at God's hand because of its wrongdoing. Second, he and his family would without doubt be sheltered from it in the ark, with the creatures needed to renew the world after the flood.

The same ark that lay open to him lay open to them also. Why? Was it because they had faith? No; but because he had, and they were connected with him. God gave him a blank cheque for himself and his family, and it fell to him to fill it up by bringing them in along with him.

God does not say, Go into the ark, but Come into the ark. He was "in Christ" (2 Cor. 5:19), and when He invites them to Christ, He invites them to Himself. When the storm-threatened traveller comes to make the divine Ark his refuge and home, he finds that Another is there to welcome him. God has made it His own retreat and tent… The word is altered to 'go' in a current translation of Genesis. I cannot see any ground for this needless change. It is true that boh is sometimes rendered 'go', when the context seems to require it. But in the vast majority of cases where it is used, it means 'come'.

The ark had a window above — looking towards Heaven and not upon the earth and its judgment beneath. It had one door and only one, in the side. All of it applies wonderfully to Christ and salvation. The flood of waters came and covered everything, so that the end of all flesh came. That flood is a picture of the death of Christ. In His death, sentence was passed on all flesh and carried out. The waves and billows rolled over His innocent head. He passed through death and judgment for us. He has made Himself our perfect ark, our hiding place. In Him we are lifted above the judgment waters.

So in Genesis 6 it says that "the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence." It is not "Jehovah" now but "God." … What does He do then? He directs the ark to be made. For what end? The preservation of the creatures that needed the ark. So He orders that two of every kind should be taken into the ark. We can easily see how fitting this is. It is simply a measure for keeping the creature in being by God the Creator, despite the judgment about to fall. It has nothing to do with moral relationships. … Here, then, we only hear of pairs entering.

When Jehovah is stating His thoughts about Noah, and giving His directions about His relationship with man and the earth, He tells Noah to take clean animals by sevens — still two and two, male and female. And they all go in two and two, as God had commanded. This ties the two names together in the text itself in a way that would make separating them difficult. The reason for distinguishing the clean animals (still two and two, male and female) is too obvious to cause the smallest difficulty. The twos refer, moreover, to male and female on a general principle. A person must be very hard pressed for a difficulty, or for a discovery, to find a contradiction here.

Carrying this out was a fitting and remarkable test of Noah's faith. It involved a long wait, continuous labour, and complete but active submission to God's word. Noah kept two things before his spirit all the time. On the one hand, the world was doomed, and judgment would fall on it from God's hand because of its sins. On the other, he and his family would without doubt be sheltered from it in the ark, with the creatures needed to renew the world that would come after the flood.

The animals, clean and unclean, taken into the ark, along with the birds of the air, give us the hint that creation will share the blessed effects of salvation. The later prophetic word, and Romans 8:19-23, tell us of a coming deliverance of groaning creation.

Some of every sort are carried with Noah from the place of death into the ark of salvation. The "eight souls," as Peter calls them, but with them remnants of the animals of the earth, small and great, winged birds and creeping things — all are housed and redeemed together with Noah.

It has been proved, over and over again, that the ark was big enough. People have calculated that it was a vessel of more than forty-two thousand tons: four hundred and fifty feet long, seventy-five broad, and forty-five high. That is eighteen times as much as the largest warship. One warship can stow, say, a thousand men, with provisions, for a far longer time than the flood lasted, besides an immense weight of guns and shot. So it is clear that the ark could easily have received the animals that could not live in the water.

The ark is Christ, and the flood it saves through is the judgment of the whole world, which perished in it. Those preserved come through to a new world that emerges from the waters. There the sweet savour of accepted sacrifice secures lasting blessing.

Then what does He do? He directs the ark to be made. For what purpose? The preservation of the creatures that needed the ark. So He orders that two of every kind should be taken into the ark. We can easily see why this is fitting. It is simply a measure by God the Creator to keep the creature going, despite the judgment about to fall. It has nothing to do with moral relationships.

In the accounts where Elohim gives directions for saving the different kinds of creatures, He directs that two of every sort be taken, male and female, to keep them alive. Nothing could be simpler than the meaning of this. Jehovah then states His thoughts about Noah, and gives His directions about His relationship with man and the earth. He tells Noah to take clean animals by sevens, still two and two, male and female. And they all go in two and two, as Elohim had commanded.

From east, west, north, and south, the hand of God gathered the dumb creatures. The people must have thought it strange when those animals went in. They were wiser than men. They obeyed the call of God. Men would not then, and many will not now, so God says, "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand" (Isa. 1:3). These animals knew the call of their Creator, and they passed in safely, but man paid no attention.

Carrying this out was a fitting and remarkable test of Noah's faith. It meant a long wait, continuous labour, and complete but active submission to God's word. Noah kept two things constantly before his spirit. One: the world was doomed, and judgment would fall on it from God's hand because of its sins. The other: he and his family would without doubt be sheltered from it in the ark, with the creatures needed to renew the world that would come after the flood.

The animals, clean and unclean, taken into the ark, along with the birds of the air, hint that creation will share in the blessed effects of salvation. The later prophetic word, and Romans 8:19-23, tell us of a coming deliverance for groaning creation.

For plainly, the ark is Christ, and the flood it saves through is the judgment of the whole world, which perished in it. Those preserved come through to a new world which rises out of the waters. There the sweet aroma of accepted sacrifice secures lasting blessing.

All that the man of faith needs is to know that God has spoken; this imparts perfect certainty to his soul. "Thus says the Lord" settles everything. A single line of Sacred Scripture is a full answer to all the reasonings and all the imaginations of the human mind. When someone has the word of God as the basis of his convictions, he can stand calmly against the full tide of human opinion and prejudice. It was the word of God which sustained the heart of Noah during his long course of service. How could Noah have preached righteousness for 120 years if he had not had the word of God as the ground of his preaching? How could he have withstood the scoffs and sneers of an unbelieving world? How could he have kept on testifying of a judgment to come, when not a cloud appeared on the world's horizon? Impossible.

So Noah started on his great work of preparing an ark to save his household. God was the Architect, so Noah did not need to worry about its design. His only concern must have been to carry out rightly what God had designed. A single man receives a commission to build a gigantic ship, and that, it seems, in the middle of dry land! … But what God said, Noah did, and he proved that God's command was his enabling.

The great thing to notice in Noah, warned of the coming catastrophe, is his simple obedience to the voice of God. God gave the dimensions of the ark — the window, the door, and the different decks. Noah made every part of it exactly as God commanded.

In Hebrews 11 we find the principle of his walk. It was faith, not sight… It was faith working holy obedience — "Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him." How simple, how blessed, and how opposite to the walk by sense and sight! That walk leads us in self-will to do the very thing God commanded not to be done.

Carrying this out was a fitting and remarkable test of Noah's faith. It meant a long time of waiting, continuous labour, and complete but active submission to God's word. Noah kept two things before his spirit at all times. One was that the world was doomed, and that judgment would fall on it at God's hand because of its sins. The other was that he and his family would beyond doubt find shelter from it in the ark.

Faith here for a hundred and twenty years seemed to be a fool. Noah was building a ship for dry ground. His neighbours may well have mocked him. But he saw the thing that was invisible.

He had only to build an ark according to God's command. He would soon find he was building something for his own safety. Obedience was his blessing.

Noah's faith recognised that the world was a judged scene… Noah prepared an ark for the saving of his house. We do not have to prepare an ark. But we have to accept the shelter of the death of Christ, and the end of all flesh before God. Then we find how the power of God's salvation carries us through a judged scene.