Born
Adam
0
Seth
130
Enosh
235
Kenan
325
Mahalalel 395
Jared
460
Enoch
622
Methuselah 687
Lamech
874
Noah
1056
Flood
1656
Died
930
1042
1140
1235
1225
1422
987*
1656
1650
2006
(930)
(912)
(905)
(910)
(830)
(962)
(365*)
(969)
(777)
(950)
This is a lineage. It is very likely that many
other children were born that are not listed.
1When
men began to increase in number on the earth and
daughters were born to them, 2the sons of God saw that the
daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of
them they chose. 3Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not
contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a
hundred and twenty years.”
4The 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.
5The 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. 6The LORD was grieved that he had
made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. 7So
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.” 8But Noah found favor in the
eyes of the LORD.
1When
men began to increase in number on the earth and
daughters were born to them, 2the sons of God saw that the
daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of
them they chose. 3Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not
contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a
hundred and twenty years.”
4The 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.
3 Primary views:
Documentary Hypothesis view: added fable/myth
Sethite/Cainite
Fallen angels
“No one can say surely what these verses mean. They come from some
period of primitive thought which is dim to our perception. Were the “sons of
God” rebellious and fallen angels, as Milton conceived them in Paradise Lost?
Were they deities like the Greek gods who came down from Mount Olympus
to consort with the daughters of men? In either case there is a projection here
of an ancient fantasy that is inconsistent with the higher faith of Genesis.
Apparently the compilers included this fragment of an ancient myth because it
was too familiar to be ignored. But though it has a likeness to the traditions of
other lands, there is a difference. In the Homeric epics the love-making of the
gods is simply a dramatic tale that is unconcerned with any moral judgments;
but
here in the views:
biblical account there is the judgment of the Lord. Because of
3 Primary
the sin of the daughters of men the lifespan of human beings is reduced.
Documentary Hypothesis view: added fable/myth
“Yet if there is any value in these verses it is not in anything they directly say,
Sethite/Cainite
but something
which by contrast they suggest. In the old mythology, when the
godsFallen
came down
to earth, they came for their own gratification. They used
angels
human beings for their own transient purposes and left them behind when
they went back to Olympus. The story of the Bible comes to a climax in the
record of One “who, though he was in the form of God . . .””
The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 1, ISBN 0687192072, p. 533-4
3 Primary views:
Documentary Hypothesis view: added fable/myth
Sethite/Cainite: Matthew Henry and others
The “sons of God” were the descendants of Seth, hence a God
honoring “race” as opposed to the descendants of Cain. These
verses indicate a mixing of the holy with the unholy, creating a
general state of unholiness in all of mankind. This resulted in the
advancing depravity of all of humanity with the implication that
Noah and family were the only ones left uncorrupted by the
intermarriages.
It became a Romans 1 Earth. (See verses 6,11,12 of Gen 6.)
The Preacher’s Homiletic Commentary (1892) agrees with Henry,
holding that the Cainites became a ruling warrior class. Brute
force became the only relevant qualification for leadership.
3 Primary views:
Documentary Hypothesis view: added fable/myth
Sethite/Cainite
Fallen angels
Wycliffe Bible commentary, p.12
“In the light of the facts and the accurate rendering of the text, we conclude
that some men of the heavenly group (angels or messengers) actually took
wives of the earthly women. They used their superior force to overpower them,
to make the conquest complete. The “Sons of God” were irresistible.”
Consistent with this understanding would be that an intermingling of human
and angelic would render the resultant breed to be unredeemable, since angels
are not subject to redemption. This is thought to be a Satanic attempt to ruin
the image of God beyond repair. Noah and his family might then have been
uncorrupted by “fallen angel genetics.”
Jude 1:6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but
abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with
everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.
3 Primary views:
Documentary Hypothesis view: added fable/myth
Sethite/Cainite
Fallen angels
John MacArthur:
It’s helpful to me, however, to know that most of the views that are different
than the one that I hold have come later in history, that the earliest views of
Genesis 6 that we can find (even among rabbis, to say nothing of early church
fathers) viewed the “sons of God” as angels. So, by taking, as we did when I
went through that, the “sons of God” as fallen angels-demons-who come down
and possess men, who then take wives and really desire demon involvement,
and have children-that’s to show the depth of the fallenness of man: he engages
himself with demons willingly.
But, it says that at that time there were “giants on the earth in those days” and
it uses the word “Nephilim.” The term is from a Hebrew verb “to fall” and it has
to do with powerful beings that crush somebody. This is not a race of people;
this is just some powerful people, some powerful men who fell on others in the
sense of overpowering them-that’s what I put in the note and that’s exactly
what I believe is accurate.
http://www.biblebb.com/files/macqa/70-20-3.htm
1When
men began to increase in number on the earth and
daughters were born to them, 2the sons of God saw that the
daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of
them they chose. 3Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not
contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a
hundred and twenty years.”
4The 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.
Humanity was getting very messed up.
9
This is the account of Noah.
What about Utnapishtim?
(The Biblical text must have been drawn from Gilgamesh!)
Tablet 10
After a long and dangerous journey, Gilgamesh arrives at a shore
and encounters another man. He tells this man that he is looking
for Utnapishtim and the secret of eternal life; the old man advises
Gilgamesh that death is a necessary fact because of the will of the
gods; all human effort is only temporary, not permanent.
Gilgamesh Epic Summary
Gilgamesh text
Tablet 11
At this point, Gilgamesh realizes that he is talking to Utnapishtim,
the Far-Away; he hadn't expected an immortal human to be
ordinary and aged. He asks Utnapishtim how he received
immortality, and Utnapishtim tells him the great secret hidden from
humans: In the time before the Flood, there was a city, Shuruppak,
on the banks of the Euphrates. There, the counsel of the gods held a
secret meeting; they all resolved to destroy the world in a great flood.
All the gods were under oath not to reveal this secret to any living
thing, but Ea (one of the gods that created humanity) came to
Utnapishtim's house and told the secret to the walls of Utnapishtim's
house, thus not technically violating his oath to the rest of the gods.
Gilgamesh Epic Summary
Gilgamesh text
He advised the walls of Utnapishtim's house to build a great boat, its
length as great as its breadth, to cover the boat, and to bring all
living things into the boat. Utnapishtim gets straight to work and
finishes the great boat by the new year. Utnapishtim then loads the
boat with gold, silver, and all the living things of the earth, and
launches the boat. Ea orders him into the boat and commands him
to close the door behind him. The black clouds arrive, with the
thunder god Adad rumbling within them; the earth splits like an
earthenware pot, and all the light turns to darkness. The Flood is so
great that even the gods are frightened: The gods shook like beaten
dogs, hiding in the far corners of heaven,
Ishtar screamed and wailed:
"The days of old have turned to stone:
We have decided evil things in our Assembly!
Why did we decide those evil things in our Assembly?
Why did we decide to destroy our people?
We have only just now created our beloved humans;
We now destroy them in the sea!"
All the gods wept and wailed along with her,
Gilgamesh Epic Summary
Gilgamesh text
All the gods sat trembling, and wept. The Flood lasts for seven days
and seven nights, and finally light returns to the earth. Utnapishtim
opens a window and the entire earth has been turned into a flat
ocean; all humans have been turned to stone. Utnapishtim then falls
to his knees and weeps. Utnapishtim's boat comes to rest on the top
of Mount Nimush; the boat lodges firmly on the mountain peak just
below the surface of the ocean and remains there for seven days. On
the seventh day:
I [Utnapishtim] released a dove from the boat,
It flew off, but circled around and returned,
For it could find no perch.
I then released a swallow from the boat,
It flew off, but circled around and returned,
For it could find no perch.
I then released a raven from the boat,
It flew off, and the waters had receded:
It eats, it scratches the ground,
but it does not circle around and return.
I then sent out all the living things in every direction
and sacrificed a sheep on that very spot.
Gilgamesh Epic Summary
Gilgamesh text
The gods smell the odor of the sacrifice and begin to gather around
Utnapishtim. Enlil, who had originally proposed to destroy all
humans, then arrives, furious that one of the humans had survived,
since they had agreed to wipe out all humans. He accuses Ea of
treachery, but Ea convinces Enlil to be merciful. Enlil then seizes
Utnapishtim and his wife and blesses them:
At one time Utnapishtim was mortal.
At this time let him be a god and immortal;
Let him live in the far away at the source of all the rivers.
Gilgamesh Epic Summary
Gilgamesh text
This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his
time, and he walked with God. 10Noah had three sons: Shem,
Ham and Japheth.
9
Righteousness is never a matter of what one does,
but rather of who one is. (Doing flows from being.)
Matthew 23:25-28
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you
hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside
they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First
clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also
will be clean.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you
hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look
beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s
bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside
you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full
of hypocrisy and wickedness.
This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his
time, and he walked with God. 10Noah had three sons: Shem,
Ham and Japheth.
9
A man of such integrity that everyone knew it.
Are we seen this way?
This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his
time, and he walked with God. 10Noah had three sons: Shem,
Ham and Japheth.
9
Walking with someone requires agreement and submission.
Are we walking with God, or shouting from across the road?
Do we really want to be this close to God?
Do we really want to go where he is going?
Nets and obligations
This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his
time, and he walked with God. 10Noah had three sons: Shem,
Ham and Japheth.
9
This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his
time, and he walked with God. 10Noah had three sons: Shem,
Ham and Japheth.
11Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of
violence.
9
Corrupt: in the process of being ruined, moral decay
Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Chechnya, North Korea, Iran, Sudan,
Thailand, Pakistan, China, Columbia, Somalia, Mexican drug
wars, Chad, Palestine, Yemen, Haiti, Myanmar, Northeast
India, Chicago, west LA, Rush street . . .
This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his
time, and he walked with God. 10Noah had three sons: Shem,
Ham and Japheth.
11Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of
violence. 12God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all
the people on earth had corrupted their ways.
9
Humanity had set the course for de-evolution
This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his
time, and he walked with God. 10Noah had three sons: Shem,
Ham and Japheth.
11Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of
violence. 12God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all
the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13So 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.
9
“Corrupt” and “destroy” are the same Hebrew word: shachath
This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his
time, and he walked with God. 10Noah had three sons: Shem,
Ham and Japheth.
11Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of
violence. 12God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all
the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13So 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.
9
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is not God saying in effect:
“I am going to give you what you want!”?
Romans 1:21-32
Judges 10:11-14
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
click on passage for link
This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his
time, and he walked with God. 10Noah had three sons: Shem,
Ham and Japheth.
11Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of
violence. 12God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all
the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13So 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.
9
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is not God saying in effect:
“I am going to give you what you want!”?
“I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense,
successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are
locked on the inside.”
“All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice
there could be no Hell.”
CS Lewis
This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his
time, and he walked with God. 10Noah had three sons: Shem,
Ham and Japheth.
11Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of
violence. 12God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all
the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13So 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. 14So make yourself an ark of cypress
wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.
15This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75
feet wide and 45 feet high. 16Make a roof for it and finish the
ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the
ark and make lower, middle and upper decks.
9
The Ark
Nimitz class aircraft carrier
450 x 75 x45 with three lower decks
volume of 290 box cars
The Ark
Nimitz class aircraft carrier
This is the account of Noah.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his
time, and he walked with God. 10Noah had three sons: Shem,
Ham and Japheth.
11Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of
violence. 12God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all
the people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13So 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. 14So make yourself an ark of cypress
wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.
15This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75
feet wide and 45 feet high. 16Make a roof for it and finish the
ark to within 18 inches of the top. Put a door in the side of the
ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17I 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.
9
18But
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.
18But
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. 19You are to bring into the ark two of all living
creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.
20Two 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.
As we shall see in chapter 7, God worked this out.
18But
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. 19You are to bring into the ark two of all living
creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.
20Two 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. 21You are to take every kind of food
that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for
them.”
Would this require
This is auniversal
lot of work!!!
vegetarianism?
18But
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. 19You are to bring into the ark two of all living
creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.
20Two 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. 21You are to take every kind of food
that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for
them.”
22Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
What an incredibly huge task!
Building a huge ship
Growing/collecting all of the food
Feeding all of the animals
Cleaning up after them
Take homes:
God is indeed watching, patiently: Join him!
Hold to the Biblical account with confidence
Satan is always at work to corrupt: Beware!
God is always at work to redeem: Take the walk!
God uses us in his redemptive work.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
They perish because they refused to love the truth and
so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful
delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all
will be condemned who have not believed the truth but
have delighted in wickedness.
Judges 10:11-14
The LORD replied, “When the Egyptians, the Amorites,
the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the
Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you
cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands?
But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will
no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have
chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!”
Romans 1:21-33
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to
him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of
the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals
and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual
impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the
truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the
Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women
exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also
abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one
another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves
the due penalty for their perversion.
28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of
God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.
They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing
evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things
deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of
those who practice them.