The Lord Was Grieved

Genesis 6:1-13

When was the last time you did something and then you really regretted your decision? Some regrets are fairly insignificant— you wished you had chosen the cod sandwich at Culvers instead of a butter burger. Some regrets carry are a little more serious—you made an investment that went sour and you still feel the sting of your decision. And still other regrets are so heavy that they can follow you around for a lifetime. Part of everyone’s life involves a bunch of coulda, woulda, shoulda, wish I hadn’t kind of experiences. Maybe you have repented of this thing or maybe not, but either way, it is an enormous regret.

We can understand these regrets in life, but do you think that God ever has regrets? Is that even a possibility? What do you make of verse six? The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. Does that sound like regret to you? The KJV is a little more clear and calls it repentance. The ESV says that God was sorry he had made man. My purpose is not to tackle the question about God repenting or changing his mind. We can tackle that in another message. Suffice to say that that is not the kind of repenting we do, for God is perfect and without sin. Nor is it a question of God being surprised like we are surprised, for God has sovereign knowledge of all things, past, present and future. The topic I want to cover is the flood itself—God’s decision recorded in verse seven. 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.” God’s grief led him to a decisive action—wipe the slate clean of every living thing.

Most of us know the basic facts of this story but I do not believe we truly understand it. For example, tell me what is wrong with this picture? The worst thing that might happen is that the elephants get wet and the monkey falls in the water, but that’s OK, because the smiling whale will save the monkey from drowning. This is the kind of picture that gets hung in nurseries and children’s rooms because it is filled with cute little creatures having a fun time on a little wooden boat. Nothing could be further from the truth. It was a scene of worldwide judgment that looked more like this grim painting.

We typically have a lot of questions about the flood story, such as: Did this really happen? How did it happen ? How could God do this? Why was Noah saved? What does it mean for us? The first thing to understand is that this event is part of the Seven C’s of Creation: Creation, Corruption, catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, Cross and Consummation. You cannot understand the flood event unless you keep it in context with the first five chapters of Genesis. Before we go any further, let’s read the passage.

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.

^9 This is the account of Noah.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked 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. ^

Most people who read this story have a gut level reaction and think, “Did God really destroy every living thing on the earth? Were things really that bad? Don’t you think God overreacted just a little?” We don’t want to outright question God or call him a judgmental tyrant, but if we are honest, this can be a difficult story for us. Let me assure you—if you understand it to be an actual, historical worldwide flood then you should be bothered by it. It was a horrendous, catastrophic outpouring of wrath that killed untold numbers of people and nearly every living creature on the planet. In all of the universe and throughout all of human history, this was the most severe act of judgment ever. So yes, this worldwide flood should cause an emotional reaction.

We should have a strong emotional reaction to it, but we usually don’t. How can we possibly put these cute pictures like I showed before on the walls of our church nurseries and children’s bedrooms? If you have these things in your house or if you have children’s Bibles that portray the flood with a cutesy picture, can I suggest that you immediately remove them or get a new Children’s Bible? To picture the flood in this way is a form of mocking God. You may have been mocking God without even knowing it, but from this point forward you don’t have any excuses.

I think the main reason we fall into the trap of “cutesyfying” this story or not taking it seriously is because we do not believe it was actually a worldwide flood. Christians who read this story can be placed into one of three different categories. See which of these describes you.

1.      I believe it was a worldwide flood.

2.      I don’t believe it was a worldwide flood.

3.      I don’t think it matters whether or not it was a worldwide flood.

I believe that Noah’s flood was a worldwide flood and that it matters very much. I want to give you ten reasons why this was a worldwide flood and why it is so important that we all arrive at this conclusion. Even if you put yourself in the first category, it is well worth our time to review the following information.

How do we know if this was a worldwide flood?

1.      The Bible is so incredibly clear. Just a brief listing of verses from chapters six and seven make this point.

(Let me explain how I have highlighted and color-coded these verses.

·         Words and phrases in bold are the subject of what was destroyed.

·         Words and phrases in red delineate the realm of what was destroyed.

·         Words in blue emphasize the various words of destruction

·         Underlined words emphasize the totality of what was destroyed.)

“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. (6:7)

“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. (6:13)

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. (6:17)

You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. (6:19)  Why would Noah have needed to bring two of every creature of most of them would have been safe?

I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made. (7:4)

They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered. The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet. (7:19-20)

Every living thing that moved on the earth perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. (7:21)

Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. (7:22)

Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. (7:23)

Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. (7:23)

If someone had read these chapters and especially these verses for the very first time, not having any prior knowledge of Noah’s flood, do you think they would conclude that this was a worldwide flood? I don’t think there is any question about that fact. But I still have nine more reasons to convince you.

2.      Isaiah believed it.

To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. (Isaiah 54:9)

3.      Ezekiel believed it.

Even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord. (Ezekiel14:14)

4.      Jesus believed it

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. (Matt. 24:37-38)

5.      Matthew believed it because he included Jesus’ words in his gospel.

6.      The writer of Hebrews believed it.

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. (Hebrews 11:7)

7.      Peter believed it. God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved. (1 Peter 3:20)

8.      It is the basis for final judgment of the earth (NOT a local judgment). If he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others...if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. (2 Peter 2:5,9)

9.      It is necessary for understanding total depravity and divine justice

10.  It is necessary for understanding grace.

I will develop these last two points this week and next. What God did with the flood was the opposite of Creation. In chapter one the repeated phrase was “and God made” but in the flood narrative the repeated phrase is “I will destroy” and “I will wipe out”. The flood is the anti-creation. If you come to the rather obvious conclusion that this was a worldwide flood that destroyed every living man and creature except those on the ark, the logical question is, how did things get so bad? How did God change from the wonder of Creation to the wrath of destruction?

The short answer as to what went wrong is what we call total depravity. Look at verse five.

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. Do you see the all’s, only’s and every’s? That’s a good way of stating how bad things had become. The “inclination of the thoughts of his heart.”  Is the same thing as saying “the molding or formation” of his plans and thoughts. I think that the writer intends to make a comparison with 1:31. God saw all that he had made and it was very good. In other words, what God had formed was very good but what man had formed was very evil.

We know that this started in chapter three with the rebellion, then continued in chapter four with the murder of Abel. The slippery slope continued with the sixth generation from Cain, Lamech. Verse 4:24 from the ESV we read, “If Cain’s revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech’s is seventy-sevenfold.” Cain was a murderer and six generation Lamech had become a vengeful, possible mass murderer. The most heinous sins of the father continued to be passed down from generation to generation. Next, we get to chapter six and read about the confusing story of the Sons of God marrying the daughters of men. Have you ever been confused by this little story? Would you like for me to clear it up for you? I can’t do it, and I don’t think anyone knows exactly what happened here, but this is what I can tell you. The sinful actions of the Son’s of God mirrored that of Adam and Eve.

This continued the downward spiral until we get to this penetrating statement in verses 11-12. The word translated as “corrupt can also be translated as “ruined”. The same root word is translated as “destroy” in verse twelve. If you use both words, it looks like this.

Now the earth was corrupt/ruined in God’s sight

God saw how corrupt/ruined the earth had become,

for all the people on earth had corrupted/ruined their ways.

So God said to Noah…“I am surely going to corrupt/ruin both them and the earth.”

When you see it this way it takes on new meaning. Let’s say you had built a very sturdy and attractive storage shed. You took great care in laying the foundation, framing the sides, sheeting, roofing ,siding, trim—all of it was done painstakingly by you, and you alone. One weekend while you were gone, a bunch of neighborhood kids decide to use it as a fort. First they use it for a game of paintball, then they use it for target practice for the 22 rifles. Next, they strip all of the materials that weren’t damaged and finally they set fire to it to destroy all evidence that might incriminate them. When you arrive home you see this absolutely devastated storage shed. Using the language of these two verses, you could say:

Now the storage shed was ruined.

You saw how ruined the shed had become

For all the kids had ruined it.

So you said to your wife, “I am going to the back yard and finish tearing down that shed.

Creation had been corrupted by the long-lived generations of men and women and all that remained was for God to finish what they had started. Creation had been ruined and about to be destroyed. The corruption of mankind brought a dark cloud over all of creation. But then, against the backdrop of darkness and hopelessness, we get this glorious statement of grace.

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

Here is the gospel in the middle of this tragic event. The KJV says that “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” And how did Noah find this grace? Recall that Hebrews said that Noah responded to God in faith. Do you see how it all fits together now? Noah was saved by faith through grace, in the same way that you and I are saved. And the ark was a type or foreshadowing of Christ. In order to be saved from destruction, you must get in the ark, you must be “in Christ”.

But without the backdrop of a worldwide flood, you cannot see the grace of the Lord. Peter makes this clear.

But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.  2 Peter 3:5-7

We must be in Christ and stay in Christ/

Rich Maurer

October 18, 2009