Here begins the story of Noah. God has created man and the universe, time has gone by and men began to increase on the earth. Daughters were born to them. 'Sons of God' married the 'daughters of men'. What does that mean? One popular belief is that the 'Sons of God' are fallen angels, however, according to Matthew 22:30 and Mark 12:25 angels do not marry. Another belief is that the 'daughters of men' refers to people who married into Cain's 'evil' family which would have weakened the 'good' influence of the faithful and increased the immoral influence in the world.
To me, the later seems more likely, but anything is possible as there is much we do not know. Either way, man was becoming more corrupt and God said that His "spirit" would "not contend with man forever" and that man's days would be 120 years which the NIV Study Bible footnotes tell us means that man was given 120 years to change their sinful ways.
Verse 6 says that the Nephilim were on the earth then. The Nephilim were giants, people 9 or 10 feet tall. The same term is used in reference to Goliath later in the Bible. We are told that the Nephilim used their physical size to oppress the people.
Anyways, man became more and more corrupt as time went on & God was sad that people had made the choices they had made. He decided to send a flood to wipe them all out. But, God did find one man, Noah to be a 'righteous' man and He told Noah to build an Ark, or boat, so that he and his family would be spared. He told Noah exactly how He wanted it built and He also told him he could bring his family with him and to bring a male and female from each kind of animal and food to feed them all. And Noah obeyed. (Very important).
Was God saying that He made a mistake when He created man? I don't think so. I think of the flood as sort of like a form of discipline. Like a parent who uses 'tough love' after trying for years to get their rebellious, drug addicted child to change and finally kicks them out of the house, often onto the streets, rather than letting them corrupt and destroy the whole family. And the Bible doesn't say that God was angry, it says that He was sad about it all.
One of the reasons I like to really study God's word is that you learn more about the character of God and the people who 'found favor' in His eyes. God says that Noah was 'righteous' and 'blameless'. But we know that Noah was not perfect. He was human, with human fallacies. This is very clearly shown when, later on, Noah gets drunk and passes out in front of his children-naked! So he was no angel, nor were any of the other people God favored, like Moses, who lost his temper and took credit to himself instead of giving it to God, or Abraham & Sarah who decided to take matters into their own hands when they felt it was taking God too long to come through with His promise to them, or David, who had a weakness for women-lots of them-some of them other men's wives and he had one of the husbands killed! The list goes on and on. These people were not perfect. I love knowing this and I love that the Bible does not try to hide their faults, because it gives me a chance, with all of my faults and failures to still be 'favored' in God's eyes. I know that God is not looking for perfect people, He is looking for people who love Him and are available, with open hearts, to serve Him. When I realized this, it strengthened my relationship with God because I no longer felt so unworthy or like I could never be 'good enough' for Him.
Another point to be made about this story I think is that Noah lived in a world that was filled with corruption and sin but he did not allow that to change him. He stayed true to his beliefs even when everyone around him did not. Are we not faced with the same thing today? It becomes ever harder in our world to even know what is good and what is bad what with the way the world (Satan) can twist the truth of things. I mean, what is the sin? Is it the homosexual? Or is it the people who shun them in the name of God? Is it abortion? Or is it divorce? Or maybe gossip? The bible talks way more about divorce than it does about abortion yet, listen to a Sunday morning church service and you'd swear the homosexuals or abortionists were the more evil. I guess that by bashing them, we let ourselves off the hook. But doesn't God tell us not to judge others? It is very hard to remain focused on what's important and not be deceived. We must remember what is important and know that God does see you and that in the end, that's all that really matters. So, do good, even though it seems that hardly no one appreciates it anymore-do good anyways. Stay the course.
Interesting thing about the Ark: Not only was it huge, the length of one and a half football fields and as high as a four story building, but it was exactly six times longer than it was wide, which is the same ratio that modern shipbuilders use today. Also, it had to take a very long time to build it, maybe...120 years? So, not only did the people have plenty of time to change their ways, they also had a very visual prop to enforce the message being given to them. Nothing like a huge boat in the middle of dry land to make a point!
It is scary though because it's so similar to us today, I mean, who hasn't heard that Jesus will return soon, the end is near, etc. and we have God's Holy Word and history to learn from and yet, we don't live as if God is returning soon. I wonder if I'd be one of the ones taken if He did come back today. I mean, look at the way Jesus lived. His entire life was spent serving, teaching, helping others. He even died for us. He didn't own a house or a car, He walked from town to town, He spent serious time alone with God. I don't know anyone who does that today. Certainly I do not. I mean, we live our lives working to have more money to buy houses, cars, clothes, boats, TV's, etc. And when we die, none of that will even matter. If Jesus walked into our lives today would we not look around at all of our possessions and the things we surround ourselves with and suddenly see and be ashamed and afraid? It does make me worried for myself and others.
To me, the later seems more likely, but anything is possible as there is much we do not know. Either way, man was becoming more corrupt and God said that His "spirit" would "not contend with man forever" and that man's days would be 120 years which the NIV Study Bible footnotes tell us means that man was given 120 years to change their sinful ways.
Verse 6 says that the Nephilim were on the earth then. The Nephilim were giants, people 9 or 10 feet tall. The same term is used in reference to Goliath later in the Bible. We are told that the Nephilim used their physical size to oppress the people.
Anyways, man became more and more corrupt as time went on & God was sad that people had made the choices they had made. He decided to send a flood to wipe them all out. But, God did find one man, Noah to be a 'righteous' man and He told Noah to build an Ark, or boat, so that he and his family would be spared. He told Noah exactly how He wanted it built and He also told him he could bring his family with him and to bring a male and female from each kind of animal and food to feed them all. And Noah obeyed. (Very important).
Was God saying that He made a mistake when He created man? I don't think so. I think of the flood as sort of like a form of discipline. Like a parent who uses 'tough love' after trying for years to get their rebellious, drug addicted child to change and finally kicks them out of the house, often onto the streets, rather than letting them corrupt and destroy the whole family. And the Bible doesn't say that God was angry, it says that He was sad about it all.
One of the reasons I like to really study God's word is that you learn more about the character of God and the people who 'found favor' in His eyes. God says that Noah was 'righteous' and 'blameless'. But we know that Noah was not perfect. He was human, with human fallacies. This is very clearly shown when, later on, Noah gets drunk and passes out in front of his children-naked! So he was no angel, nor were any of the other people God favored, like Moses, who lost his temper and took credit to himself instead of giving it to God, or Abraham & Sarah who decided to take matters into their own hands when they felt it was taking God too long to come through with His promise to them, or David, who had a weakness for women-lots of them-some of them other men's wives and he had one of the husbands killed! The list goes on and on. These people were not perfect. I love knowing this and I love that the Bible does not try to hide their faults, because it gives me a chance, with all of my faults and failures to still be 'favored' in God's eyes. I know that God is not looking for perfect people, He is looking for people who love Him and are available, with open hearts, to serve Him. When I realized this, it strengthened my relationship with God because I no longer felt so unworthy or like I could never be 'good enough' for Him.
Another point to be made about this story I think is that Noah lived in a world that was filled with corruption and sin but he did not allow that to change him. He stayed true to his beliefs even when everyone around him did not. Are we not faced with the same thing today? It becomes ever harder in our world to even know what is good and what is bad what with the way the world (Satan) can twist the truth of things. I mean, what is the sin? Is it the homosexual? Or is it the people who shun them in the name of God? Is it abortion? Or is it divorce? Or maybe gossip? The bible talks way more about divorce than it does about abortion yet, listen to a Sunday morning church service and you'd swear the homosexuals or abortionists were the more evil. I guess that by bashing them, we let ourselves off the hook. But doesn't God tell us not to judge others? It is very hard to remain focused on what's important and not be deceived. We must remember what is important and know that God does see you and that in the end, that's all that really matters. So, do good, even though it seems that hardly no one appreciates it anymore-do good anyways. Stay the course.
Interesting thing about the Ark: Not only was it huge, the length of one and a half football fields and as high as a four story building, but it was exactly six times longer than it was wide, which is the same ratio that modern shipbuilders use today. Also, it had to take a very long time to build it, maybe...120 years? So, not only did the people have plenty of time to change their ways, they also had a very visual prop to enforce the message being given to them. Nothing like a huge boat in the middle of dry land to make a point!
It is scary though because it's so similar to us today, I mean, who hasn't heard that Jesus will return soon, the end is near, etc. and we have God's Holy Word and history to learn from and yet, we don't live as if God is returning soon. I wonder if I'd be one of the ones taken if He did come back today. I mean, look at the way Jesus lived. His entire life was spent serving, teaching, helping others. He even died for us. He didn't own a house or a car, He walked from town to town, He spent serious time alone with God. I don't know anyone who does that today. Certainly I do not. I mean, we live our lives working to have more money to buy houses, cars, clothes, boats, TV's, etc. And when we die, none of that will even matter. If Jesus walked into our lives today would we not look around at all of our possessions and the things we surround ourselves with and suddenly see and be ashamed and afraid? It does make me worried for myself and others.
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