And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was full of violence.
Just before the flood, God looked at the world and summed it up in two words: corrupt and violent. Two questions follow — why these two evils, and why is the earth itself charged, not only the people in it?
One writer reads the verse as Scripture's own account of how sin works.
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.
These two evils are not new, and they do not point the same way.
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.
Order matters here. Scripture names corruption first, and one writer explains why people get the ranking of these two evils backwards.
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).
Why did violence fill the earth with no check on it? One writer looks at the age itself, and at the risk run by anyone who spoke against it.
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?
One writer traces this ruin back to its start, and takes the word "earth" at face value.
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.
This is God's own verdict, not a human survey. One writer asks what that scene was to God Himself.
… 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.
Jesus said His return would come in days like Noah's. One writer uses that to test the hope of a world getting steadily better.
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.
The same two evils become questions for our own life.
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.
- Root — corruption comes first: it is against God, and people think lightly of it.
- Fruit — violence is the visible proof of it; remove the corruption and the violence would not exist.
- Reach — corruption is toward God, violence toward people. The ruin reached the earth itself, material as well as moral.
- Restraint — God had set up no government yet. Lawless desire ran unchecked, and the man who warned them stood in danger.
- Repeat — the days of Noah are the pattern for the days of the Son of Man. The same two evils test our own spirit and desires.
And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth.
God looks at the world before the flood, and His verdict is one word: ruined. Three questions follow — what "corrupt" means, whose way all flesh had corrupted, and what God does when the ruin covers everyone.
Genesis opened with God looking at His own work and calling it very good. One writer sets that scene beside this one and asks who has been at work since.
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.
The older wording says all flesh had corrupted "his way" — that is, God's way. The damage was not only in behaviour but in the earth itself.
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).
The word behind "corrupt" explains why the ruin spread through everything.
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 verse before this one pairs corruption with violence. One writer explains which of the two is worse, and how people rank them the other way round.
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).
The word "all" rules out any idea that judgment fell on the worst of society while better people survived on their own merits.
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.
The verdict falls on nature, not just on conduct. So effort and polish change nothing.
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.
The same passage that announces the end also gives the order to build. Commentators read the ark as a picture of Christ, and the flood as the end of the old order.
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?"
One writer also holds this scene up against what people expect the world to look like before Christ returns.
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."
- Corrupt — the word carries decay and wasting away. The ruin was moral and material, and man had corrupted God's way, not just his own.
- Cause — corruption toward God came first. The violence that shocks people was only its proof.
- Scope — "all flesh," not some. God swept away the famous and the brutal alike.
- Incurable — polish changes how the iron looks, never what it is. God does not improve that nature; He judges it.
- Ark — God announces the end, then names one shelter, a picture of Christ. The only question left is whether you are in Him or outside.
And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is full of violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
God speaks the sentence on a whole world to one man, and He gives His reason: the earth was full of violence. What does "all flesh" cover, why does God name violence, and why does the same speech that announces destruction also lead to an ark?
The verse names violence as the reason for the sentence. One writer looks under that violence, and separates what people notice from what God notices.
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.
Older translations read, "The end of all flesh is come before me," and the writers below quote that wording. The sentence covers everyone, not just the worst offenders. God keeps nothing back as still usable, and in the same breath He names His remedy.
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 word "end" marks a closed case, not just a coming disaster. One writer pictures the difference between a man awaiting trial and a man already condemned.
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.
Before the flood arrives, God speaks. He tells Noah what He had already settled in His own heart, and the way He tells him matters as much as the news.
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 does more than end the old world. The same waters lift the ark, and one writer sees the death of Christ in that.
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.
One writer takes this sentence beyond the flood. God does not improve the flesh, and only two places remain where He ends it.
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.
- Cause — Corruption toward God came first. The violence that filled the earth was its visible proof.
- Verdict — God ends all flesh, not just its worst examples. It was tried, found wanting, and beyond recovery.
- Closed case — Man's testing is over, not just going badly. Two options remain: pardon or execution.
- Friendship — God told Noah what had been passing in His own heart, and later shut him in with His own hand.
- Shelter — The waters that ended the old world carried the ark. Christ passed through that judgment and is Himself the hiding place. So the flesh meets its end at the Cross or in the lake of fire.