Genesis 6

Last night I read Genesis 6 but I didn't write down any notes. So here they are
S - Genesis 6
This is the story of Noah and the ark! Except in reality, this chapter is really not as dramatic as the children's bible stories and movies etc make it out to be. It's just like any other (well not any other, but you know what I mean) bible story, where God says and man obeys.

O - The start of this chapter is probably quite difficult to accept for both christians and non-christians alike. I don't want to reword it...because I'm not really sure how to summarize it in a few sentences.
1 When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years." 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days--and also afterward--when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown. 5 The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7 So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth--men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air--for I am grieved that I have made them." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.


Some notes I made from the editor's notes from dad's NIV study bible:
v3 - "120 years" could be referring to the life span God appointed to man, or the period of grace God gave us till judgement. More likely the latter, see Gen 11:10-26
v4 - Nephilim refers to people of great size and strength, but Hebrew means "fallen ones". In men's eyes, they were the "heroes of old, men of renown", but in God's eyes, they were all sinners.


It would be hard to accept why v6 "the Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain." and v7 "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth". Before the coming of Jesus Christ, there was no other way to right our sins with God than to face death. Sacrifices and offerings were to praise God and receive blessings (in a way), but the wages of sin was death. God was actually really saddened and felt hurt that man had turned to such sinful ways, and it was because he loved them so much that he wanted to wipe out all of his creation to end all the sin.


11 Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight and was full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.13 So God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.


Now about Noah...
v9 "...Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God."
18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark--you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you.
God gave him specifications of the ark he was to build so that he would have a place of refuge in the flood God was going to bring on the earth.
and
 22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
Good job man. Seriously. That's the part all the movies dramatize. I suppose actually doing it would be a lot harder than it sounds, but the bible just states the point that Noah had complete obedience to God.


A - When men are buried deep in their sinful ways, they don't see any fault with themselves, but in the eyes of God, they are all sinners. God is grieved and hurt when he sees men like this. and that's also why he sent his son to set a perfect human example for us, die on the cross to save us from our sins, and be raised from the dead three days later to sit at the right hand of God in heaven. Jesus death and resurrection allowed us to have a close relationship with God, to be considered God's children.
Thank God for that.
Again this theme of two ways to live - with God and under his rule, or without God and dead in our sin. What does it mean to live for God and with God? To be completely obedient to his command and to live our life according to his plan for us. Easier said than done.


P - Above.