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,

2 That the sons of Elohim saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

Sethites marrying Cainites led to wicked offspring, the reduction of life expectancy to 120 years, and the flood.



A fair countenance in such a case is a trap-a deception. Solomon's comparison of beauty in such a case is " a jewel of gold in a swine's snout." Nevertheless it is all powerful with the natural man. The glitter of the jewel fascinates him : he has no eyes to discern the nature of the animal that wears it.

Even the sons of God are in danger. It was a potent cause of the corruption that ended in the flood.

Ways of Providence Ch 6



THE ANTEDILUVIAN APOSTASY.

The Sethites and the Cainites stood related to one another as the [ecclesia] of God and the world; or, as the woman and the serpent. So Iong as the sons of God maintained their integrity, and walked in "the way of the tree of life," the two communities had no religious association, or family intercourse.

The time, however, arrived when the middle wall of partition was about to be laid low by a general apostasy. A spirit of liberalism had arisen among the sons and daughters of Seth, the result of an expiring faith, which predisposed them to a fraternity, or mixed communion, with the Cainites, who, like their father, were religionists of a wilful stamp,

The serpent's seed enjoyed themselves in those days as they do now. They were men of the flesh, grovelling in their tastes, habits, and pursuits, and devoted to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Their religion sanctified what pleased them best, and doubtless afforded a fair specimen of the same sort of thing in all subsequent ages. It is probable that the precepts and example of the sons of God had considerably modified the original impiety of the Cainites, so as to bring things to a similar state as that observable in our day.

Sects, between whom there were no more dealings in their beginning than between the Jews and the Samaritans, are now so liberal, that they agree to be silent upon all controversial topics for which they once contended to the death, and to recognise one another as brethren in the Lord! Thus, if they ever had the truth, they have suppressed it by a tacit compromise, and have become highly respectable, and singularly amiable and polite, so that they "have need of nothing," but to enjoy the good things of the world within their reach.

The serpents had become so harmless, and even pious, under the influence abroad, and were withal so fair to look upon, and so enchanting in their ways, that the Sethites took them into their bosoms, and cherished them with the affection of their own flesh. "They saw," says Moses,

"that the daughters of men were fair; and they took wives of all they chose."

This was a fatal step. Can a man take fire into his bosom, and not be burned?

The sons of God corrupted themselves in marrying the daughters of Cain. Instead of bringing them over to "the way of the tree of life," they were beguiled into " the way of Cain" (Jude 11).

For sons of God to marry daughters of Belial is to jeopardize their fidelity to God.

This practice has ever been fruitful of apostasy...

...After the same example, the union of the Sethites and Cainites was productive of the worst results. The offspring of this union were "mighty men of renown," whose wickedness

 "was great in the earth;" for "every imagination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually" (Gen. 6:1-5).

Elpis Israel 1.4.



The "sons of God" of ante-diluvian days were that portion of Adam's descendants that, in profession, addicted themselves to the worship of God. This will not be denied if their humanity be conceded; and their humanity is demonstrated by their apostasy being given as the reason of the flood.

"They (the sons of God) took them wives of all they chose. And the Lord said My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh."-(Gen. 6:2, 3.)

The daughters of men were the fair damsels of the families that feared not God and desired not the knowledge of His ways. As to the sinfulness of the sons of God marrying them, it is a general principle, of wide application, that non-companionship with the wicked is the duty and the safety of such as seek to please God.

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners."-(Psalm 1:1.) "I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers, and will not sit with the wicked."-(Psalm 26:4-6.) "The companion of fools shall be destroyed."-(Prov. 13:20.) "Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers."-(2 Cor. 6:14.) "Have no company with him."-(2 Thess. 3:14.) "With such an one no not to eat."-(1 Cor. 5:11.) "From such withdraw thyself."-(1 Tim. 6:5.)

Now, if there is any wisdom or duty in the carrying out of these principles in ordinary relations, the obligation is tenfold in the matter of matrimonial alliance. The evil of unhealthy association tells nowhere so potently as at the fireside. Hence, the Jews were prohibited from intermarrying with the heathen. The interdict was expressly on this ground:

"lest they draw thee away after their gods."

Probably, ante-diluvian intermarriages were equally contrary to the same precept. At all events, they result in sin and wholesale apostasy. We cannot do better than take warning and avoid the dangerous if not sinful experiment of taking burning coals into the bosom. Paul bounds a widow's liberty of re-marriage with these words, "only in the Lord;" and can we imagine there is more liberty to any other servant of Christ?

We trow not.

There were "daughters of God," of course, but there was no need for their separate mention, as in the case of the daughters of men, who played a distinct and prominent part in the tragedy. Besides godly women are included in the sons of God; they are part and parcel of the community so named. The greater includes the less always. But, in the other camp, the female element were the more active transgressors or agents of transgression. Hence their prominent mention.

The Christadelphian, Feb 1872



3 And Yahweh said, My spirit shall not [always - erroneos translation? to check!] <contend>  with man <to the olahm>, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an 120 years.

Aion

‮-‬to‮ ‬get‮ ‬at‮ ‬the‮ ‬real‮ ‬import‮ ‬of‮ ‬the‮ ‬phrases,‮ ‬we‮ ‬must‮ ‬ascertain‮ ‬the‮ ‬etymological‮ ‬and‮ ‬scriptural‮ ‬signification‮ ‬of‮ ‬,‭ ‬̆lahm,‮ ‬,‭ ‬ɛd,‭ ‬and αιων,‭ ‬aĭn,‭ ‬which are the originals in Hebrew and Greek,‭ ‬for the‭ ‬ever of the common and other versions of the Scriptures in our tongue.

We‮ ‬shall‮ ‬begin‮ ‬with‭ ‬the word used by Moses in his Five Books,‭ ‬commonly called‭ ‬The Pentateuch.‭ ‬It is used both as a‭ ‬noun and a‭ ‬particle,‮ ‬and‮ ‬is‮ ‬derived‮ ‬from‮ ‬the‮ ‬verb‮ ‬,‭ ‬ahlɛm,‭ ‬to hide,‭ ‬to conceal.‭

The first place in which it occurs is Gen.‭ ‬3:22,‭ ‬where it is stated that Adam was expelled from Paradise that he might not eat of the tree of lives,‭ ‬and live,‭ ‬le-̆lahm.‮ ‬The‮ ‬prefix‮ ‬,‭ ‬le,‭ ‬signifies‭ ‬to,‭ ‬even unto,‭ ‬until‭;‬ and is represented in the Greek version of the Old Testament by εις,‭ ‬into,‭ ‬in,‭ ‬for,‭ ‬or‭ ‬during.‭

Here was something,‭ ‬then,‭ ‬called‭ ‬olahm that Adam was not to live to.‭ ‬He was to be cut off before it arrived,‭ ‬as a punishment for sin,‭ ‬or transgression of the Eden-law.‭ ‬That something was‭ ‬hidden or‭ ‬concealed from present sight,‭ ‬and was therefore styled‭ ‬olahm.

It next occurs in Gen. 6:3, where it reads,

"My Spirit shall not contend with man to the olahm; for that it is flesh to err: his days shall be yet a hundred and twenty years."

The Septuagint, explaining the contention, and taking 'man' as a noun of multitude, referring to the apostatizing generation then existing, renders the passage thus-

"My Spirit shall not remain in these men, εις τον αιωνα, for that they are flesh; but their days shall be a hundred and twenty years."

Referring to these men, Moses remarks in the next verse,

"There were warriors (or giants) on the earth in those days; and afterwards also because that the sons of the Elohim went in to the daughters of the men, and they bare to them; they were the mighty ones which (were) mai-olahm of the olahm, men of renown."

through whom the earth was filled with corruption and violence.-(ver. 11-13.)

This, then, is the first place in the Bible where we get some definite idea of an olahm. These antediluvian warriors were the renowned and mighty men of their olahm. The olahm was, therefore, that present course of things to which they were then related.

Adam was contemporary with it for 930 years; it was not, consequently, that olahm which he was prevented from seeing without first tasting of death. He then stood related to two olahms, one before the flood, the other at some period after his death, when and where he might be permitted to eat of the Tree of Life in the Paradise of God. These were to him the present and future olahms.

Of the antediluvian olahm, he himself was the head; but of the future, the second Adam, who is also the Tree of Life, of which all eat who are constituted the righteousness of God "in Him, " and are resurrected from the dead.

A BIBLE DICTIONARY - Begun But Never Finished - Bro THOMAS

The Christadelphian, Aug 1872





My spirit shall not always strive with man


When Dr. Thomas described the world as "intoxicated and insane" (Eureka, vol. 3., p. 124), and as "corrupt as in the days of Noah" (vol. ii., p. 571), he only spoke as a man enlightened in the scriptures could speak.

It is saddening to hear a brother question the truth of the Doctor's indictment. Still worse is it to see one holding, as it were, a brief for the goodness of the world. The world is away from God, sunk in wickedness, and its condition grows worse from year to year.

To talk, as some do, about the world improving, becoming more civilised and less superstitious, and increasing in its appreciation of the arts and sciences, is not to the point. Of what use are the world's improvements if they are merely employed to minister to the pride of life and in the service of sin?

If we wish to know, really and honestly, the true character of the world, as it appears from the divine standpoint, let us measure it by its attitude towards the requirements of God-by the doctrines which He asks it to believe, and the commandments which He asks it to obey.

If we do this the Doctor's description will soon be seen to be correct, and we shall have to admit that the world, in its reverence for God and His word, is, with a rapidity which is truly alarming, proceeding from bad to worse.

Let the scientist, the philanthropist, the parson, the common man, be faced with a "thus saith the Lord" on the subject of God, Man, or Israel's Hope, and their duty towards their Creator, and let the truth be pressed home, and then it will be seen that in these possibly respectable, educated, well-clad men, exist the rebellion and wickedness of the contemporaries of Noah.

Bro AT Jannaway

The Christadelphian, March 1910



Arphaxad, son of Shem lived 438 years


In the early history of the human race, death did not cut off the sons of Adam so soon as it does now; where we count our years by tens, the antediluvians counted them by hundreds. After the flood, there were a few lived from two to four hundred years and more; but the length of human life rapidly shortened, especially after the time of Abraham, until at last, when the children of Israel were settled in their own land, it reached its present general limit of three score years and ten.

It has been suggested that this reduction in the length of human life was effected by two decrees, one at the flood, fixing it at 120 years, and the other in the days of the Psalmist, fixing it at 70 years. But for this there is no warrant; the Psalmist's words are simply a statement of fact, not a decree (Ps. 90:10), and the words of the Lord uttered at the time of the flood, have reference to the number of years which were to elapse before the earth was to be covered with water:

"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 was undoubtedly a decree, but instead of relating to the age of all men, it simply fixed a limit to the existence of that generation. If it had been a decree it would have been impossible for anyone living afterwards to exceed it.

The Christadelphian, Mar 1874



4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of Elohim 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.

"‬All‭ ‬men‭" ‬before the Flood were placed under law,‭ ‬which is termed‭ ‬the way of God,‭ ‬and prescribed sacrifice and offerings for sin,‭ ‬faith in His word,‭ ‬integrity or well-doing,‭ ‬a separation of the animal world into clean and unclean,‭ ‬and a sanctification of the Seventh day.‭

By this law,‭ ‬a separation was established among the posterity of Adam.‭ ‬By this law they were divded into‭ ‬two‭ ‬classes:‭ ‬namely,‭ ‬the clean,‭ ‬or‭ "‬the SONS OF GOD‭;" ‬and‭ ‬the unclean,‭ ‬or‭ "‬MEN‭" ‬in their natural state,‭ ‬at whose door the Sin-offering lay unrespected.

Bro Thomas scraps

The Christadelphian, June 1872

5 And Yahweh 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. 


5 And Yahweh 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.


The Truth Concerning the Flesh


The flesh is an hot-bed of iniquity and the fountain of all uncleanness.

The sophistry of reasoning flesh cannot be excelled, neither can its depths of wickedness be fathomed by any human penetration.

Flesh unconstrained is like fire or water uncontrolled.

There is no worse devil in creation than flesh and blood; neither is there any evil under the sun which it is not equal to. It is Satan's seat.

There is nothing more unconquerable than flesh, nothing more deceitful, nothing more false, nothing more wicked, nothing more envious, nothing more ambitious, nothing more capable of evil in the world than flesh.

Nothing can be found to equal flesh for irreverence and lawless democratic clamour.

A man can have no worse enemy to his own salvation than his own flesh.

There is nothing so unruly as the tongue of the unsanctified, nor anything so full of poison; it is a world of iniquity in itself.—(James 3)

The flesh is the very backbone of iniquity of every hue, the very marrow of rebellion, and the very life and soul of every evil purpose under the sun.

The better state of things in the age to come will be due (in one direction) to the restraints imposed upon the flesh.

Where the flesh reigns, there is every evil work; so long as it predominates it will be a power for mischief in the earth; sin will only be perfectly extirpated when flesh and blood is no more.

Nothing is so distasteful to those who have some confidence in the flesh, as an unsparing description of its works, and a faithful warning against its tendencies. On the other hand, there is nothing to which those truly humiliated by the truth more readily and unreservedly assent than the divinely-attested fact that the heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things.

The triumph of the truth, in all spiritual enlightenment and holy walking, and in all sanctification and preparedness for the Lord's coming, is contingent upon our keeping the body under, and subjecting continually its unholy impulses to the restraints of the truth, believed with all the heart.

To cease from the flesh is the only safeguard against final shame and everlasting contempt.

Bro Shuttleworth

The Christadelphian, Dec 1873



6 And it repented Yahweh that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

The meaning of repented here is explained in the same verse! It grieved Yahweh that he had made man on the earth


7 And Yahweh 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.


8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of Yahweh.

Their apostasy, however, was not perfected without remonstrance on the part of God. There was one eminent man of whom it is testified, that "he pleased God." He "walked with God" in the way of the tree of life, for three hundred years after the birth of Methuselah. His name is Enoch. The spirit of prophecy was in him, and the gigantic wickedness of the Antediluvians aroused him to reprove their iniquity.

Animated by the hope of the promise concerning the woman's Seed, he prophesied of the serpents of his own and future time, saying,

"Behold, the Lord cometh with myriads of His saints, to dispense justice towards all, and to convict all that are ungodly among them of their ungodly deeds which they have impiously committed; and of all their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" (Jude 14-15).

But his expostulation was unheeded, and God graciously "translated him that he should not see death" (Heb. 11:5) [Gen 5: 24]; thus rewarding him for his constancy, and giving the faithful a notable illustration, and earnest, of "the recompense of the reward," and of the certainty of the punishment of the world.

Things went on from bad to worse;

 "for all flesh had corrupted 'His way' upon the earth;" "and the earth was filled with violence." 

Before, however, things had come to the worst, the Lord made another effort to reclaim the Antediluvians. He had resolved to put an end to the wickedness of man upon the earth; for, said He, 

"My spirit shall not always strive with him, because he is but flesh " (Psalm 78:39). 

This intimates a limit to His forbearance; that it should have an end, but not immediately; for it is added, "yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years." [v3]

Elpis Israel 1.4.


9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with Elohim.

10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 The earth also was corrupt before Elohim, and the earth was filled with violence.

12 And Elohim looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

13 And Elohim 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.

14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

Noah provided an Ark of Salvation, an ark which was "atoned by pitch" (for the word "pitch" is from the Heb. kafar, signifying covering; atonement). By this means the faithful family was preserved.

www.logos.org.au



15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be 300 cubits, the breadth of it 75 cubits, and the height of it 30 cubits. 

16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

We read in Genesis, in that very brief description of the ark, that God commanded Noah to make a window tsohar in it (chap, vi., 16.) That is to say, he commanded Noah to make provision for light to enter.

The word tsohar has been translated by Young " bright object." This window, then, might have been " glazed " with a transparent substance for anything we know to the contrary.

The invention of glass is prehistoric ; glass was certainly made by the Egyptians 1600 B.C., and if known to them, nothing can be said against the possibility of antediluvian glass manufacture. But even if the manufacture of glass was not known when the ark was made, the remarkable substance mica has existed from all ages. It is a glittering mineral, as its name indicates, is transparent, can be obtained in large plates, and is used at the present day in different parts of the earth for windows. Talc is a similar substance, also usable for windows.

Now the word tsohar in its dual number tzohoraim is translated noon, noonday, and mid-day, and occurs about twenty-three times in the Hebrew bible, and if this word has been translated " noon," " noonday," etc., because the word means something bright, we can understand that when God told Noah to make a tzohar to the ark, he referred not to making a light in it, but to the insertion of a bright sheet of some glittering substance which would admit light, such as mica or talc.

There is evidence, therefore, in support of the possibility that the window spoken of in

Genesis vi., 16, was a window in the modern acceptance of the term, that is, an opening filled in with some bright, transparent substance.

Again, referring to the word hallonot used so frequently throughout the Ezekiel specification, we find the word in its singular form used in Genesis VIII., 6, where it is stated that Noah opened the window of the Ark.

Here, then, since we have the word hallon qualified by the word tzohar, and we have the word tzohar qualified by the word hallon, the one must be explanatory of the other. A window which could be opened, and which, without being opened would let in the noonday sun, must either have been formed with transparent substance in a frame-work, or with framed lattice bars.

The latter would prevent the birds from flying out of the ark, but would admit rain. The former would give light, yet keep out the storm. Since the window was at the top of the ark (Genesis 6: 16), and ventilation as well as light would be required, the use of the word tzohar leads one to think that both lattice work and transparent substance were used in the construction of the window to the ark. At any rate, there must have been framed lattice work if nothing else.

Bro Sulley - The Temple of Ezekiel's prophecy




16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

18 But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

19 And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.

20 Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.

21 And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.


22 Thus did Noah; according to all that Elohim commanded him, so did he.

Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness - 2Pet 2: 5

...can we think of such a doom awaiting the world in which we sojourn, and not sorrow for its guilty, condemned inhabitants? Did Jesus weep over one city, and say,

"If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes,"

and shall not our hearts yearn for a whole world that lieth in wickedness, and daily ripens for destruction? And shall we be content, my brethren, with sorrowing? The hour of judgment, near as it may be, has not yet come. The door of mercy still stands open: yea, as yet it opens into the scene of those heavenly delights, and bridal glories, which Christ and his brethren shall share, ere he comes forth from the wedding to execute vengeance on his foes.

And shall we not use the opportunity to sound forth the gospel of God's grace? If it be true that judgment is at the door, instead of the gradual peaceful introduction of millennial blessedness, shall we on that account be less urgent in our entreaties, less zealous in our labours, less instant and earnest in our prayers? God forbid?

Knowing the judgments which await the world around us, knowing that grace has rescued us from those judgments, and that when they are executed, we ourselves shall be with him who executes them, is it possible that we can selfishly enjoy the thought of our own security, and leave the poor world unwarned, the grace of Christ and the Father's love unproclaimed, or poor sinners uninvited-unurged-unintreated to flee to the shelter of his open arms?

O for more earnest love to Christ, and deeper compassion for our fellows. Brethren, the time is short. The moments glide rapidly away. Soon will the only opportunity be gone that we shall ever have of confessing our Master, and seeking his glory, in the midst of a world which either rejects him openly, or the more decidedly rejects him in reality, for owning him in appearance and in word.

May his own truth animate us. May communion with him cause the fountains of compassion for those around us to gush forth. May men be gathered to his arms of mercy. May his people be stirred up to pray, and watch, and labour. May we humble ourselves, and stir up and exhort one another, and so much the more as we see the day approaching!

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Feb 1859