Read Genesis 6
Wickedness in the World
1 When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their 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 humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Noah and the Flood
9 This is the account of Noah and his family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
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. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 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. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
Go Deeper
Genesis 6 provides some interesting history of Noah and his family tree with God allowing people hundreds of years of life in those ancient days, and earth’s population had grown. With some deeper study, we see that Noah descended from Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve. We also read about giants called Nephilim, who were mighty warriors in the land. Some argue that Goliath descended from these. In Genesis 6:3, God declared that man would now live 120 years. Theologians comment that this declaration could have been a warning from God to avert the devastating judgment of the flood that was to come. However, humanity did not appear to listen. We read of God’s judgment over man and creation, but we will also see His mercy and love.
It is heart wrenching to read God’s words in Genesis 6:5-7: “I am sorry I have made man, and he has grieved my heart.” God made man with the purpose of a vibrant, loving relationship with him, the earth, and all creation. Humanity had turned this purpose against all God had desired. However, the good news in verses 8-9 is spoken through one man, Noah, who “found favor with God because he walked with Him.” We read that God entrusted Noah telling him of the coming destruction of man and creation, but promised salvation for Noah, his family, and animals. The details given by God are remarkably detailed in this chapter! Thankfully, Noah did everything according to all that God had commanded.
There are many lessons for us to learn through the faithfulness of Noah. First, we know that Noah faithfully walked with God. We can only imagine the continuous ridicule and rejection by his extended family, friends, and foes. He surely had many days that were discouraging and full of doubt. Even through the insults of his community, Noah built the ark adhering to every detail while he waited for God’s perfect timing. If we find ourselves in a similar place, keep waiting on and trusting in God. These periods of waiting allow us to dig deeper into the treasure chest of God’s love and faithfulness. Keep seeking and asking God for His help as well as support from others in our lives that love God. This will serve as a life boat through and past our storms. We can trust God who is always faithful.
Second, God grieves today over our disobedience as we turn our backs on Him and His righteous ways. To keep our hearts from grieving the heart of God, we can follow the blueprint of examining our lives in Psalm 139:23-24 which says, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.” This is the prescription to not grieve our Lord, but, if we have, He will still work at drawing us back to Him. His love and mercy over us never ends. Only a heart of love can be grieved.
Finally, Noah and the ark are a representation of Jesus Christ. In obedience to God at great cost to him, Noah built the ark and saved mankind and the animals. May the courageous and unwavering heart of Noah, and the sacrificial love of Jesus move us to walk more closely every day with God in Christ.
Questions
- What sticks out to you about the story of Noah? Why?
- How hard do you think it was for Noah to wait on God while building the ark? Discuss this with your Life Group.
- How have you most recently grieved the heart of God? Confess to Him with a repentant heart ready for change and let His forgiveness free you as only Christ can.
A Quote
George Williams, an early 1900’s commentary writer said, “Jesus is as sure a personal Savior to a sinner as the ark was for Noah, his family and creation.”
14 thoughts on “Genesis 6”
6 “The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.“
It is so heartbreaking to think that God “regretted that he had made human beings”!
I agree..when I read that I thought the same thing
What impressed me as I read this morning is that it is possible even when surrounded by an evil & a depraved culture to choose righteous living and a close relationship with God. “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God”(v10). By choosing God he was able to swim upstream against the influence and flow of culture. Far too often our present generation mirrors that of Noah’s time. May we “be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which we shine as lights in the world”(Philippians 2:15).
Amen!
I do have a question from this reading. I know God is all knowing and out of love He created us knowing what we would do. What does it exactly mean when it says He regretted making man? Because regret usually means you realized you made e mistake, but God can’t make mistakes since He is all knowing and sovereign?
I had the same question.
I think the Hebrew word more closely means grieved or sorry. He knew this would happen, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t grieve him. It’s similar to when the Bible says he “remembers” the Israelites when they were enslaved in Egypt. It’s not that he forgot about them, it’s just that the time had come to move them into the promise land.
Waiting=patiences
Psalm 32:9 Do not be like the horse or like the mule without understanding,
which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.
Noah and his family waited for and built an ark for something they had never seen, rain. I am sure there were so many people that told him, he was crazy. BUT GOD showed him through a commitment that He, God, would take care of him and his family. Then when the water came, Noah and his family had to be on the boat for one year and 17 days. Ugg, waiting=patiences. I am learning these each day. The correlation between the flood and Jesus’ death burial and ressurection is also interesting thoughts. We must live out to our ability a holy and righteous life. We must have integrity, authenticity, and obedience to God and His word.
God thank You for giving me Your Word for me to learn more deeply about You. God thank You for the grace and mercies that are new every morning. God help me to live my life with integrity, authenticity and obedience to You and Your word. God thank You for these minutes today, that I can be a light in a dark place. God thank You for speaking Your love and truth. Thank You for me seeing people in my path through Your love goggles. Thank You that I speak about Your love. God help me to understand better who You are and how I can glorfiy, edify and honor You with my minutes today in Jesus name amen.
WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can imagine the prayers and conversations that Noah had with God the day he was called to build the ark. “Noah did everything just as God commanded him” (v.22)
He knew how faithful God would be if he was obedient.
Allow us to be followers that are obedient even when the ask seems so difficult and different than this world, because he is so faithful.
I read this chapter and am very analytical. Like how can god regret making humans if he is all knowing & outside of time? How big was this boat with Noah to store food for all of the earths animals?
I looked into some of these questions and the answers were par. Anyways…
Overall, I’m so thankful for Jesus’ grace over my life. Im a Pharisee. I’m the evil human beings but gods grace has been changing me. This plan has helped so much with consistent time with gods word. God should have wiped me from the earth a long time ago but he loves me so much. Thank you Jesus! May you continue to bless my knowledge. May I love you with all of my heart, mind, soul and strength.
Bless my mind to try and reconcile some of these “fairytale” or far fetched things in the Bible. You have always shown yourself.
Noah demonstrated faith by following God’s instructions. God is longsuffering, but he will judge the world again at the end of time. I pray that I may find God’s favor in this chaotic world.
I do have a question from this reading. I know God is all knowing and out of love He created us knowing what we would do. What does it exactly mean when it says He regretted making man? Because regret usually means you realized you made e mistake, but God can’t make mistakes since He is all knowing and sovereign?
I am by no means a scholar here so I went to Gotquestions.org… The Hebrew root for the word “regret” actually means “to sigh.” Since we know God does not make mistakes, the concept of sighing is a more descriptive term for the kind of regret God experiences. Genesis 6:7 says that, after seeing the wickedness on the earth, God regretted making man. This does not mean that the Lord felt that He made a mistake in creating human beings, but that His heart was sorrowful as He witnessed the direction they were going. Since God knows everything beforehand, He already knew that sin would bring consequences, so He was not surprised by it (1 Peter 1:20; Ephesians 1:4; Isaiah 46:9–11). Instead, this glimpse into God’s character shows us that, even though He already knows we will sin, it still grieves Him when we choose it (Ephesians 4:30).
What got me was the following “only a heart of love cane be grieved”.