Noah
Noah (His Obedience to God)
Condition of Mankind
The Corruption of Mankind
1 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them,
2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.
3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, bbecause he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
7 The LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”
1–4. Sons of God and daughters of men. The point of this cryptic passage, whichever way we take it, is that a new stage has been reached in the progress of evil, with God’s bounds overstepped in yet another realm.
2. The sons of God are identified by some interpreters as the sons of Seth, over against those of Cain. By others, including early Jewish writers,19 they are taken to mean angels. If the second view defies the normalities of experience, the first defies those of language (and our task is to find the author’s meaning); for while the Old Testament can declare God’s people to be his sons, the normal meaning of the actual term ‘sons of God’ is ‘angels’,21 and nothing has prepared the reader to assume that ‘men’ now means Cainites only. Possible New Testament support for ‘angels’ may be seen in 1 Peter 3:19, 20; also in 2 Peter 2:4–6, where the fallen angels, the flood, and the doom of Sodom form a series that could be based on Genesis, and in Jude 6, where the angels’ offence is that they ‘left their proper habitation’. The craving of demons for a body, evident in the Gospels, offers at least some parallel to this hunger for sexual experience. But where Scripture is as reticent as here, both Peter and Jude warn us away. We have our proper place as well! More important than the detail of this episode is its indication that man is beyond self-help, whether the Seth-ites have betrayed their calling, or demonic powers have gained a stranglehold.
8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, bblameless in his time; Noah walked with God.
10 Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
13 Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.
14 “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.
18 “But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
19 “And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.
20 “Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.
21 “As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them.”
22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.
37 “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
38 “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Noah: (After the Flood)
HEBREWS 11:7
7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.
BUT! NEXT WE SEE THAT THE BIBLE IS COMPLETELY HONEST IN ITS REVELATION OF THE TRUTH ABOUT THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE A PART OF GOD’S STORY!
20 Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard.
21 He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.
22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.
24 When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him.
25 So he said,
“Cursed be Canaan;
bA servant of servants
He shall be to his brothers.”
26 He also said,
“Blessed be the LORD,
The God of Shem;
And let Canaan be his servant.
27 “May God enlarge Japheth,
And let him dwell in the tents of Shem;
And let Canaan be his servant.”
28 Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood.
29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.
To the ancients, however, even seeing one’s father naked was a breach of family ethic. The sanctity of the family was destroyed and the strength of the father was made a mockery.
Canaanites, The
1. Descended from Ham. Ge 10:6.
2. An accursed race. Ge 9:25, 26.
3. Different families of. Ge 10:15–18.
4. Comprised seven distinct nations. De 7:1.
5. Possessions of, how bounded. Ge 10:19.
6. Country of, fertile. Ex 3:17; Nu 13:27.
7. Described as
a. Great and mighty. Nu 13:28; De 7:1.
b. Idolatrous. De 29:17.
c. Superstitious. De 18:9–11.
d. Profane and wicked. Le 18:27.
8. Extremely numerous. De 7:17.
9. Had many strong cities. Nu 13:28; De 1:28.
10. Expelled for wickedness. De 9:4; 18:12.
11. Abraham
a. Called to dwell amongst. Ge 12:1–5.
b. Was promised the country of, of inheritance. Ge 13:14–17; 15:18; 17:8.
c. Had his faith tried by dwelling amongst. Ge 12:6; 13:7.
12. Kind to the patriarchs. Ge 14:13; 23:6.
13. Israel commanded
a. To make no league with. De 7:2; Jdj 2:2.
b. Not to intermarry with. De 7:3; Jos 23:12.
c. Not to follow idols of. Ex 23:24; De 7:25.
d. Not to follow customs of. Le 18:26, 27.
e. To destroy, without mercy. De 7:2, 24.
f. To destroy all vestiges of their idolatry. Ex 23:24; De 7:5, 25.
g. Not to fear. De 7:17, 18; 31:7.
14. Terrified at the approach of Israel. Ex 15:15, 16; Jos 2:9–11; 5:1.
15. Partially subdued by Israel. Jos 10:1–11:23; Jdj 1:1–36.
16. Part of left
a. To try Israel. Jdj 2:21, 22; 3:1–4.
b. To chastise Israel. Nu 33:55; Jdj 2:3; 4:2.
17. Israel ensnared by. Jdj 2:3, 19; Ps 106:36–38.
18. Some descendants of, in our Lord’s time. Mt 15:22; Mr 7:26.