Genesis 5:25

The Bible says in Genesis 5:25-32, “And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech: And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died. And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed. And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died. And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”

What has just been described for us is the lineage of the people that had come through Seth. These were people who were believers and servants of God. This lineage of people is in direct contrast to the people who had come through the lineage of Cain which was described in Genesis 4:16-24. Cain’s lineage is defined by the statement in Genesis 4:16, “And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord.” Seth’s lineage is defined by the statement in Genesis 4:26 that says, “Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.” Recognizing this difference in the two lineages will help in the understanding of Genesis 6:4 when it talks of the “sons of God” and the “daughters of men.”

Until the flood, people lived for many hundreds of years before they died. That is one of the big differences between people who lived then and people who live now. People could have accomplished more in life who lived for nine hundred years or more, but they also could have sinned more. Another benefit to living for hundreds of years has to do with the amount of knowledge and wisdom that someone could acquire in living longer. Older means wiser or at least it means the opportunity to be wiser. As we see in Genesis 5:32 Noah was at least five hundred years old when he was called to build the ark. Do not ever think that you are too old for God to use you. Abraham was also an old man when God called him. When Moses was forty, he was too young to lead the children of Israel. God sent Moses into the desert for forty more years to learn and to be better prepared. At the age of eighty Moses was finally ready to lead the children of Israel.

Noah was five hundred years old, and we are told the condition of the world at that time. It was not good. It says in Genesis 6:1-2, “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.” We are going to be told about the great wickedness of the earth. This wickedness is so great that God decides that he must destroy all living things except for Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark. There are two important things in Genesis 6:2 that tell us why things became so wicked. The first source of wickedness is the phrase that says “the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair.” The phrase “the sons of God” is a common phrase in the Bible that refers to believers. Believers are referred to as the children of God throughout the Bible. The phrase “the daughters of men” refers to women who were not believers. It is very important that believers marry believers. The Bible says in Second Corinthians 6:14-15, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? Or what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” It says in First Kings 11:4 about King Solomon when he married women who were not believers, “For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.”

In explaining the wickedness of the generation that lead up to the great flood the Bible says in Genesis 6:2, “and they took them wives of all which they chose.” God wants to guide believers in every detail of their lives. We are making a big mistake if we choose anything without seeking the leading of the Lord. When we make major decisions of life that go against the principles of His Word, the consequences will be felt for the rest of our lives. Whom we marry is one of those decisions. Of course, selfishness and self-will are sinfulness. This was a sinful generation before the flood because it was a selfish generation.

The Bible says in 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.” This verse tells us why human beings no longer live for the numbers of years that they lived before the flood. Instead living for nine hundred years or more, we now only live for 120 years if we are even that fortunate. Evidently this shortened life span is another consequence of sin. Why should man live so long if man’s years are going to be spent in rebellion against God?

The Lord Jesus Christ reaches out to people. He does not want anyone to perish. He does “strive with man.” In other words God tries to convince people that they need to repent and turn to Him for forgiveness of their sins. Jesus said about Himself, “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Jesus said about the Holy Spirit in John 16:8-11, “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”

But there is a limited amount of time for you to respond to Jesus. “Today is the day of salvation. Now is the accepted time.” “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment.” The same principle takes place today that took place in the days leading up to the flood. God’s spirit “shall not always strive with man.”

The Bible says in Genesis 6:4-5, “There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men, which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:4 is the second time that the “sons of God” are mentioned in regards to the “daughters of men.” It was already mentioned in Genesis 6:2. For something to have been mentioned twice like this means that the Holy Spirit is emphasizing something very important. Right after mentioning that believers took wives of unbelievers, it says that “the wickedness of man was great on the earth.”

Notice that the wickedness of man is described by saying “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” What goes on inside the inner man is what determines how wicked we are. If we have evil thoughts, then we are evil. If we have pure thoughts, then we are pure. “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.” Jesus said in Matthew 15:18-19, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”

Evil starts in the heart of man. Thoughts precede actions. If the thoughts can be fixed, than the right actions will follow. That is why our thoughts must be closely guarded. It says in Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thine heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.” One way to “keep thine heart” is to put the right things into it. It says in Psalm 119:11, “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Put the word of God into your heart, meditate upon it, and let the word of God replace the thoughts that you would have otherwise had. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

God is holy. God must punish sin. God hates sin. Because of the great wickedness that had spread so greatly in the hearts of men and women on the earth, the Bible says in Genesis 6:6, “And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.” Sin results in death. God gives life, but God also takes it. One of the reasons that God takes people off the earth is because of sin. We have already learned that lesson very well in the book of Genesis. It was true in the case of Adam and Eve, and it is true with the whole generation of people who were alive on the earth during the time of Noah. As we draw nearer to the time for the return of Christ, judgment will come one more time on the entire world because of sin. Jesus said, “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it also be in the days of the Son of Man.”

One of the similarities between the days of Noah and the days of the Son of man is the great wickedness that will exist on the earth. Another similarity is the judgment of God that will surely come. It says in Genesis 6:7, “And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.” Man was created in the image of God. The will of God is for each person to be holy. That is God’s will for you. The question is not so much where you go or where you live, as it is; what kind of person are you? “Be ye holy for I am holy, saith the Lord.” If man chooses sin instead of holiness, then God has no choice but to bring judgment. The truth is that we have all sinned.

But God is a merciful Judge. Even when judgment is on its way, Jesus offers His mercy and grace. God has a plan of salvation for sinful man, and the story of Noah is a great illustration of that plan of salvation. It says in Genesis 6:8, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” No one can please God based upon his own efforts. It takes the grace of God: God giving us what we do not deserve. But there is a human factor involved. “Noah found grace.” If Noah found something, then that means that he was looking for something. He was seeking. Noah desired goodness, and righteousness, and holiness from God. The rest of the people in the world did not. Jesus said, “Seek and ye shall find.”

The Bible says in Genesis 6:9, “These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” Genesis 6:8 said that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Because Noah received the grace of God, Noah was then called “a just man.” “The just shall live by faith.” A man is justified not by the deeds of the law, but by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. “By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of works lest any man should boast.”

Of course, faith without works is dead. Compared to other human beings, a believer should be known as a righteous person. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” When Genesis 6:9 says that Noah was “perfect in all his generations,” it means that Noah was “complete.” Noah was everything that he ought to be in comparison to the wicked generation around him. Instead of turning away from God, Noah “walked with God.” This is the same phrase that was used to describe Enoch in Genesis 5:24. It is also the phrase that describes everyone who is truly serving Jesus Christ. Many people go to church or join a religious group, but not near as many walk with God. Of course, if you walk with God, you will go to church.

Enoch walked with God, and then he was not. God took Enoch off the earth, and took him to heaven. Noah walked with God, and then God gave Noah work to do on this earth: building the ark. God’s will is different for each person. Do not ever tell people that because you walked with God that certain things happened and that the same things will happen to them. God’s will is different for each one of us. We will find out at the judgment why it all happened the way that it did. The end is coming. The judgment is coming. Do what Noah did. Turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and seek His grace. He is merciful, and He can give grace to help in time of need. Jesus has grace that is greater than any sin.

___________________________________________________