GENESIS LESSON 13

     Today we will begin in chapter 6 of Genesis.

     Genesis 6:1 "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on
the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,"

     Genesis 6:2 "That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that
they [were] fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose."

     These few words probably have the greatest variety of opinions than
any other portion of the Bible. Some believe that these daughters of
men were the children of the fallen angels when Lucifer fell from
heaven. Some believe that the sons of God were angel beings who helped
populate the earth. There are so many opinions. I will not go into all
that here. It is unimportant where they came from. I will give my
opinion, then go on. The most logical explanation to me is that Seth's
descendents ( sons of God) married Cain's descendents (daughters of
men) and bare children. We had already mentioned that Seth's line was
Godly and Cain's worldly. These people probably had 20 or 30 children
each. It wouldn't take long at that rate to multiply into a vast
number. We will see 70 go into Egypt and become approximately three
million. All we need to know here was that they didn't marry their
sisters.

     Anytime you see worldly people mary into a family of believers,
it is difficult for the believing spouses to stay faithful to God. Evil
destroys good.

     Genesis 6:3 "And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive
with man, for that he also [is] flesh: yet his days shall be an
hundred and twenty years."

     God saw these people were multiplying so fast and were getting
involved with those of unbelief, so he declared, I won't leave you
very much time to get into all these temptations. I will reduce your
time upon the earth. Instead of living seven or eight hundred years,
as they had before, their lifetime was reduced to 120 years. God was
fast losing patience with mankind. I believe these years were literal
years.

     Mixed marriages are not pleasing to God. God does not approve of
believers marrying worldly people, and this was just what was going on.
We read over and over "be not unequally yoked with infidels". Again we
read, "what fellowship has the light with darkness?" Marriage in the
Lord will not be like this. Man was allowing fleshly desires to rule
over him.

     Genesis 6:4 "There were giants in the earth in those days; and
also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of
men, and they bare [children] to them, the same [became] mighty men
which [were] of old, men of renown."

     I am not certain whether this "giants" meant physical stature, or
whether it meant men like Enoch and Noah who were giants of faith.
Perhaps these people were larger of stature than we are. This very
long life and hard work would tend to need a larger body.

     We do know that years later Saul, who became the first king of
Israel, was tall. An even taller man was Goliath. Even today, in
certain parts of the world, there are very large framed people, and in
contrast there are very small people called pygmies. In our own family
one of my cousins was 7 feet 2 inches tall. By modern standards, that
is very tall.

     Looking at the standpoint of giants in character, we do see in
the descendents of Seth a group of people whose morals were above
others of their day. I really tend to believe, because of the
statement "mighty men, which were of old, men of renown", that it was
speaking more of character than size.

     Genesis 6:5  "And God saw that the wickedness of man [was] great
in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of his
heart [was] only evil continually."

     Beautiful women can easily turn the head of a good man and
corrupt him, as Solomon was corrupted by his many wives. One sin leads
to another. Soon, sin will grow so that it will become a habit, and
cause a depraved mind. God judges the heart, and in the Scripture
above, more than the deeds, God saw that their heart was stayed upon
sin.

     Genesis 6:6 "And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the
earth, and it grieved him at his heart."

     So many parents today are so saddened by the lives of their
children that they wish they had never had children. They can bring so
much joy when things are right, but so much sorrow when they go bad. 
God made man so He might fellowship with them. What a heartbreaking thing 
for them to turn away from their Creator and desire things of this 
world over God. I hurt with God in this. 

     Genesis 6:7 "And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have
created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the
creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I
have made them."

     Here God's hurt and disappointment in mankind overflowed. He said
He would destroy them. You see the animals, fowls, etc., were made for
the use of man. There would be no need for them if Man was destroyed.

     Not only had mankind gotten into every type of sin, but also
which was worse, man stopped fellowshiping with God. Seth's
descendents were now fellowshiping with Cain's descendents. God was
about to reverse this whole situation and do away with His creation.

     Genesis 6:8 "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD."

     God loved Noah and God would take care of Noah. "Where sin doth
abound, the grace of God doth much more abound". In the next few
verses, we will see that Noah loved and respected God. Noah tried to
live as nearly right as he could and still be in the flesh. So many
people do not understand grace, they believe "saved by grace" gives
them the license to do anything they want to, and still be saved.
Grace has even more requirements than the law. God not only wants us
to have the form of religion, as they did with the law, keeping the
ordinances, but God wants us to have pure thoughts coming from a pure
heart. He wants us to desire fellowship with Him so much that it is
the most important thing in our lives.

     Genesis 6:9  "These [are] the generations of Noah: Noah was a
just man [and] perfect in his generations, [and] Noah walked with
God." Genesis 6:10 "And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and
Japheth."

     Noah was a just man seeking to please God, God blessed him with three
sons.

     Genesis 6:11 "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the
earth was filled with violence."

     It seems that masses of people were involved in every type of
sin. Brother was killing brother. It seemed this Cain group had
polluted the Seth descendents and violence and crime was rampant.
Except for Noah, it seemed everyone was involved. Verse 12 tells how
universal it was.

     Genesis 6:12 "And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was
corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth."

     We might say that about the earth now. There is crime on every
hand. So many abominable things to God prevail today. Rape, incest.
homosexuality, murder, stealing, lying, cheating, adultery, disobeying
parents, drugs, alcohol, filthy movies and television are common.
About the only way you can raise children to be Christians in this
society today would be to totally isolate them from this evil and
corrupt generation. The rock music alone can pervert a child's mind so
badly, that he or she may never be able to function as a Christian.
Most who listen to the subliminal messages of this music can not face
reality of any kind, much less make firm decisions as a Christian. Our
society has gone mad and God will not tolerate it. We must realize
that God is angry, and unless we repent as a nation, we will see
something much worse than the flood, because our sins are more
perverted than theirs. It seems there are no modern day Noahs, who
have walked uprightly before God.

     Genesis 6:13 "And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is
come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them;
and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth."

     The forces of nature are subject to God. If you will notice here.
God was going to destroy them with the very thing that meant more to
them than He did. You see, they had their eyes and their hearts
caught up in the things of this earth; so God would destroy them with
the earth. He was telling Noah, I am going to wipe them off the face of
the earth. We will see in verse 14, God provided a way out for all who
earnestly seek to please Him.

     Genesis 6:14  "Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou
make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch."

     We have heard so many preachers talk about this ark of safety. I
think we should look at the physical and the spiritual implications
this ark holds for all of us today.

     If we are right with God, there is a way out of every problem
that we face. Our ark of safety is belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. As
this ark saved Noah and his family, Jesus Christ will save us and our
families. One thing that really concerns me today is that we are not
building our ark as God commanded Noah to do. Some are being saved, but
very few are shoring up the sides and thoroughly preparing for the
disaster. Noah was not saved from the flood, he was saved in it. We
have a Brill Cream religion - a little dab will do you!

     Noah worked continuously preparing. He never questioned whether
God had told him the truth or not. He went diligently to work. God had
a perfect plan for the ark. He has a perfect plan for us, too. Noah
had an attribute that many could take a lesson from today. He took
instruction well. When God spoke, he listened. So many of us will not
slow down enough for God to speak, and even if He does, we seldom
listen, We are a generation that does not like to be instructed. Our
hearing apparatus in the heart is coated over with cares of this
world.  How many people even bother to read God's word: to fellowship
with God, we must get into His Word. I hear people say " I don't
understand the Bible". Get some help. get in a good Bible study and
start digging. The best treasures are not on the surface. All is not
lost, if we will just heed the Scripture in II Chronicles 7:14 "If my
people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and
pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I
hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their
land."

     We, Christians, are God's people who are called by Christ's name.
Such an arrogant generation. How can we humble ourselves?  Not many
people will even admit to praying at home. and even fewer pray in
public. We won't find God's face out playing golf, at football and
baseball games, hunting, and all the other places that we put ahead of
God. If our people would read the Bible and pray even half the time
that they watch television, it would really get God's attention. It is
very plain what God would have us do. Become new creatures in the Lord
Jesus Christ, put God ahead of everything else and then, He will hear
us, forgive us, and save us and our land.

     In the next lesson we will continue into the flood.





                             Questions 13

1.  In V-2, when men began to multiply upon the earth. what happened?
2.  The most logical explanation of the sons of God and daughters of
    men, in my opinion, is what?
3.  If Seth's line was Godly, what was Cain's?
4.  Seventy people went into Egypt and approximately how many came
    out?
5.  God first reduced the life span to what?
6.  How does God feel about believers marrying non believers?
7.  What was man allowing to rule over him?
8.  What are two opinions of the giants mentioned?
9.  Who was the first king of Israel?
10. What causes a depraved mind?
11. In V-7, name four things God said He would destroy.
12. What was even worse than man sinning?
13. In V-8, what did Noah find in the eyes of the Lord?
14. Which has more requirements in God's sight, the law or grace?
15. What two descriptions of Noah were in V-9?
16. What did Noah and Enoch have in common?
17. Name Noah's three sons.
18.  What two things were rampant when God decided to destroy the
     earth?
19. Name ten or more things that are an abomination to God.
20. How could you raise children free of all this?
21. What are the forces of nature subject to?
22. What would God use to destroy them?
23. What kind of wood was used to make the ark?
24. What is our ark of safety?
25. What is a Brill Cream religion?
26. To fellowship with God, we must do what?
27. II Chronicles 7:14 tells us what?

                                Notes.