Genesis 6:1-8 - Homilies By R.a. Redford

The days that were before the flood

( Matthew 24:38 ).

I. SIN INCREASING .

1. Licentiousness raging . The special form it assumed was that of sensuous gratification, leading to a violation of the law of marriage. In the seventh age Lamech the Cainite became a polygamist. By and by the sons of God, captivated by the charms of beauty, cast aside the bonds of self-restraint, and took them wives of all whom they chose.

2. Violence prevailing . Those who begin by breaking the laws of God are not likely to end by keeping those of man. From the beginning a characteristic of the wicked line (witness Cain and Lamech), lawlessness at length passed over to the holy seed. What with the Nephilim. on the one hand (probably belonging to the line of Cain) and the Gibborim on the other (the offspring of the degenerate Sethites), the world was overrun with tyrants. Sheer brute force was the ruler, and the only code of morals was "Be strong." Moral purity alone has a God-given right to occupy the supreme seat of influence and power upon the earth. After that, intellectual ability. Mere physical strength, colossal stature, immense bulk, were designed for subjection and subordination. The subversion of this Divinely-appointed order results in tyranny; and, of all tyrannies, that of strong, coarse, passion-driven animalism is the worst. And this was the condition of mankind in these antediluvian ages. And what was even a worse symptom of the times, the people loved to have it so . Those lawless robbers and tyrants and these reckless, roving gallants were men of name and fame, in everybody's mouth, as the popular heroes of the day. As mere physical beauty was woman's pathway to marriage, so was sheer brute force, displaying itself in feats of daring and of blood, man's road to renown.

3. Corruption deepening . Most appalling is the picture sketched by the historian of the condition of the Adam whom God at first created in his own image, implying—

II. GOD REPENTNG .

1. A mysterious fact . "We do not gain much by attempting to explain philosophically such states or movements of the Divine mind. They are strictly α ̓ ì ρ ̓ ρ ̔ ητα —ineffable. So the Scripture itself represents them— Isaiah 4:1-6 :9" (Taylor Lewis). What is here asserted of the Divine thoughts is likewise true of the Divine emotions; like the Deity himself, they are past finding out.

2. A real fact. The language describes something real on the part of God. If it is figurative, then there must be something of which it is the figure; and that something is the Divine grief and repentance. These, however, are realities that belong to a realm which the human intellect cannot traverse. As of the Divine personality man's personality is but an image or reflection, so of the Divine affections and emotions are man's affections and emotions only shadows. Man repents when he changes his mind, or his attitude, or his actions. God repents when his thoughts are changed, when his feelings are turned, when his acts are reversed. But God is "of one mind, and who can turn him?" He is "without variableness and shadow of turning;" "the same yesterday, today, and for ever." Hence we rather try to picture to ourselves the Divine penitence as expressive of the changed attitude which the immutable Deity maintains towards things that are opposite, such as holiness and sin.

3. An instructive fact , telling us

4. An ominous fact . As thus explained, the grief and penitence of God describe the effect which human sin ever have upon the Divine nature. It fills him with heart-felt grief and pity. It excites all the fathomless ocean of sympathy for sinning men with which his infinite bosom is filled. But at the same time, and notwithstanding this, it moves him to inflict judicial retribution. "And the Lord said, I will destroy man."

III. GRACE OPERATING .

1. In restraining sinners . It was impossible that God could leave men to rush headlong to their own destruction without interposing obstacles in their path. In the way of these apostates of the human race he erected quite a series of barriers to keep them back from perdition. He gave them

(a) measuring out to them a long term of years, yet

(b) solemnly reminding them of their mortality, and finally

(c) giving them a reprieve, even after they were sentenced to destruction.

2. In sarong believers .

Lessons : —

1. The terrible degeneracy of human nature.

2. The danger of mixed marriages.

3. God may pity, but he must likewise punish, the evil-doer.

4. The day of grace has its limits.

5. If a soul will go to perdition, it must do so over many mercies.

6. God never leaves himself without a witness, even in the worst of times.