Cataclysm
Genesis 6-9
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/Cataclysm.html
We’ll attempt to answer some controversial questions from our text:
i) Who were the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men”?
ii) What was the physical earth like before the Flood?
iii) Why did people live so long before the Flood?
iv) How does our age compare with Noah’s day?
v) How advanced was the pre-flood civilization?
vi) What about capital punishment?
We all know the story of Noah’s Ark, and it’s a favorite among all ages. So many questions and so much to think about. The dynamics of it all are more than we can take in. But tonite we’ll look not just at the basics as usual, but at some other very important aspects as it applies to the big picture.
In this message we will answer the above questions as best we can.
Who were the sons of God?
The “Hybrid Theory” says they were fallen angels who impregnated human women, creating a race of giants. Here’s some reasons I think this is ridiculous.
The Law of Biogenesis – the fixity of the species. Everything reproduces after its kind.
Matthew 22:30
For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
This could indicate angels as not mating. But fallen angels?
Also, the testimony of the Hebrew language: the word there is ‘gibbor’ for ‘children’ that were the offspring, which is the word for offspring.
Here’s the biggie: a hybrid race would require a hybrid Savior. Sinners are human, not half gods.
So what is the answer? Usually the simplest explanation is the right one. I personally believe the Sons of God is a reference to the godly line of Seth, and the daughters of men is the ungodly line of Cain. Believers mingling w/ unbelievers. It’s always a bad idea. When it works out it’s the exception...it’s God’s grace, but it wasn’t His best plan.
The conditions of the earth before the flood
Much more land, much less water. A supercontinent, Pangea, is the theory I subscribe to. No high mountains, great canyons, and huge rifts. I believe these were created mostly in the cataclysm. Most mountain ranges run north and south, not east and west. This also indicates a separating of the continents.
No vast deserts, tropics, and ice caps. It was warm and pleasant all over. There was lush green vegetation everywhere because of the greenhouse effect discussed in lesson 1. They have found huge palms frozen at the north pole, encased in ice. Also at the south pole, just 200 miles from the pole. And there have been animals found frozen at both poles that couldn’t live there today.
Why people lived so long
Adam lived 930 years, tho’ he didn’t look a day over 900! Why?
The closer you are to the original, the better the genes. The curse takes its toll on the body, as does sins we commit. It’s like copying tapes, every generation loses quality.
Also, the canopy protected man from the sun’s radiation. Dr. Henry Morris says, “Research is only beginning to bring to light the damage that radiation does to our bodies.”
Next reason: they were vegetarians. I don’t understand people like that...but they are healthier.
Finally: the oxygen level was higher due to higher atmospheric pressure. The whole world was akin to a hyperbolic chamber where we heal and live better! In that kind of environment scientists have grown corn stalks 15’ high and tomatoes the size of cantaloupes.
How advanced was the civilization of that day?
Cavemen w/ clubs dragging women by the hair? Not at all. There were very advanced civilizations, history proves. Maybe not electronic technology, but very advanced in terms of construction and standard of living.
Einstein only lived 70 years, but contributed so much. If he could have lived hundreds more years, there’s just no telling what he could have accomplished.
They were highly sophisticated, but also highly sinful. Intelligence has nothing to do w/ your level of morality. Educating people doesn’t make them more moral. The heart of the issue is the human heart.
How does our day compare w/ Noah’s day?
Luke 17:26-27 26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
Just before Christ returns to earth it will be like those days. And what was it like back then?
A preoccupation w/ appetites of the flesh / A rapid advancement in technology / ‘knowledge explosion’ / materialistic attitudes...
Luke 17:28
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
Get all you can, can all you get, and sit on the can!
Also, widespread ungodliness in belief and conduct.
2 Peter 2:5
And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
Jude 1:15
To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Also, widespread violence.
Genesis 6:13
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Also, organized Satanic activity. [see outline, below]
Next, a disregard for marriage.
Genesis 4:19
And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
Polygamy was rampant in the Bible, even among some believers, but it was never God’s will.
Finally, a population explosion. Just since 1950 the population of earth has more than tripled!
Genesis 6:1
And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them...
The conditions prior to the Flood
a) There was an outpouring of Satanic activity –
Genesis 6:2, 4
The Bible indicates 3 big surges of Satanic activity on the earth. This was the first in Noah’s day, then when Christ came was the 2nd, and the 3rd will come in the tribulation.
The occult is all around us today in many forms, and even the most harmless in appearance such as books and games are anything but harmless...they are doorways into the dark!
b) All humanity had become corrupt and violent –
Genesis 6:5, 11-12
Ill.—when the Soviet Empire fell thousands of nuclear warheads went missing...most sold to the highest bidder. Only God knows where those are now, but we live in very violent days and terrorism probably has their hands on this technology already.
c) God decided to destroy mankind in 120 years –
Genesis 6:3, 6-7, 13
They had a chance and space to repent.
Here’s 7 points of light God gave that world and this one:
• The witness of creation – without excuse [Rom. 1, Ps. 19:1].
• The witness of conscience – Rom. 2 teaches that we have an inner recognition of God, and His absence in our hearts. You don’t need a Bible to know when you do wrong.
• The promise of a Redeemer – Gen. 3:15
• The knowledge of a sacrifice – Gen. 4:4
• The preaching of Enoch – they had a godly man telling them God’s truth, but they wouldn’t listen.
• The preaching of Noah – what accountability they faced once the door of the ark was closed! It was a long message w/ a visual illustration all the while! The laughed and scoffed.
2 Peter 2:5
And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
• The ministry of the Holy Spirit
God’s judgment upon that world was fair. And it will be with this world.
Genesis 6:3
And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
God’s Spirit was working in hearts, convicting them, or trying to.
2) The deliverance through the Flood
a) Noah finds grace in the eyes of the Lord – Genesis 6:8
“But” is an important conjunction throughout the Bible.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 5:8
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
b) Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives board the ark -
Genesis 7:1
“And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.” 2 Peter 2:5
c) The Flood passes and the ark rests upon the mountains of Ararat.
Noah is told to “be fruitful and multiply” – Genesis 8:15-17, 9:1
9:6 The death penalty is established. It has never been revoked. [Rom. 13; Acts 23]
d) God establishes a covenant with Noah – Genesis 9:9-17
Noah was an ordinary man who walked w/ God.
6:9
Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
We too are ordinary people, but God can use us to do extraordinary things.
A basketball in my hands is worth about $19.
A basketball in Michael Jordan’s hands is worth about $33 million.
It depends whose hands it’s in.
A tennis racket is useless in my hands.
A tennis racket in Venus Williams’ hands is a championship winning.
It depends whose hands it’s in.
A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal.
A rod in Moses’ hands will part the mighty sea.
It depends whose hands it’s in.
A sling shot in my hands is a kid’s toy
A sling shot in David’s hand is a mighty weapon.
It depends whose hands it’s in.
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches.
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in God’s hands will feed thousands.
It depends whose hands it’s in.
Can I take my life into my own hands and expect it to count for much? No, but the sky’s the limit when I’m placed in God’s hands.
Noah was a regular guy, but in God’s hands he was great. It had never rained before, but he believed God. How ridiculed he must’ve been.
Here’s the big lesson:
Matthew 24:36-39
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
There’s also some typology here:
Enoch pictures the church taken out of the world just before the sky began to fall. [God took him]
God’s children are always saved from wrath poured out.
Those on the ark picture the Jews delivered thru the world in tribulation.
The ark itself pictures Christ as our refuge thru the storms of life. “In Christ” is where you want to be.
6:14 “pitch” is the tar like substance they applied. But the Hebrew word for it is the exact same one translated ‘atonement’ in Leviticus 17:11
They were delivered safely to dry ground. And if that were the end of Noah’s story it would be great, but it wasn’t the end.
3) The tragedy following the Flood
a) Noah becomes drunk from his own vineyard – Genesis 9:20-23
Believers are capable of doing anything unbelievers do, if they get their eyes off the Lord.
v. 24 Something perverse happens here and it prompts a curse.
b) Noah dies at the age of 950 - Genesis 9:28-29
c) The ultimate tragedy in his life may be seen by the fact that no spiritual accomplishments whatsoever are recorded during his final 350 years.
He didn’t finish well. He was a spiritual lion but went out as a lamb.
1 Corinthians 9:27
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Sometimes after victory we can have a mighty fall. Pride and independence can creep in. Let’s finish well!
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/Cataclysm.html
