The Story Just Before The Great Flood

Text: Genesis 6:1-8

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 [a] man forever, for he is mortal [b] ; 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.

Things To Ponder

Who were the sons of God that the story is pertaining to? Ans. Sons of God (Job 1:6, 2:1, Jude 6, Hebrews 13:2, Genesis 19:1-3) can pertain in the angelic beings. To which the passage basically describes them to be of different kind of being from man.
What does the sons of God did? Ans. Married the daughters of men.
What did the Lord said about man? Ans. His Spirit will not remain in man forever for he is mortal / corrupt.
What are the Niphilims? Numbers 13:33 describe Niphilims as giants. In fact, it is the Hebrew word for giants which also means, the “fallen-down-ones” being believed that they were fallen down from the sky. The cultures who also know the Nephilims referred to them as “demigods” since they are bigger than that of the regular humans. Our story even describes their children to be “heroes of old, men of renown.” This simply means that they most probably possess special skills, above human abilities.
What happened to man? Ans. Wicked and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
What does the Lord feel about it? Ans. He was grieved that he had made man on the earth and his heart was filled with pain.
What was the Lord’s next step? Ans. He decided to wipe out mankind from the face of the earth,
Who found favor in the Lord? Ans. Noah.

Treasurers To Discover

Was God happy for the union of the sons of God with the daughters of men? What was his reaction? Ans. The story has no indication of approval of God. It even concludes that God was unhappy of it thus giving his judgement that men would have a shorter life. Matthew 24:28 describes negatively about the context of Noah’s time.
What was the result of having too much power? Ans. The story somewhat connotes that man grew wicked and becomes evil (please also refer to Matthew 24:28)
What does the Lord feel about sins and wickedness of men? Ans. He grieves and punishes wickedness.