Who? There seems to be 2 kinds of peoples here: Mankind and the sons of God v.1-2. The sons of God took wives from the daughters of humankind. However, the Lord said in v.3a, "“My spirit will not remain in humankind indefinitely..." If the problem was the sons of God why did God punished just the humankind. Besides, the daughters of humankind has done nothing wrong, except the fact that they were beautiful v.2. I think they are the same kind of people.
What was the punishment?
6:3 So the LORD said, “My spirit will not remain in humankind indefinitely, since they are mortal. They will remain for 120 more years.”
NET, this refers to the time remaining between this announcement of judgment and the coming of the flood.
Why did God punish human?
It started with their marriage v.2 and explained further in v.4. The problem is their descendants. They were Nephilim (giants) Num 13:33, they were mighty heroes (warriors), and famous. Why was that a problem? See the first word in v.5,
"But" the LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth...
I dont know if it was because they were big they become wickedness or they were big and wickedness and therefore it was a problem. Anyway, the descendants of the sons of man and the daughters of human were the problem and therefore God punished them.
Reflection: What kind of descendants we have today? Are your children the reasons for wickedness becoming great on the earth? Are we ourselves the reasons for wickedness on the earth?
How bad was their wickedness?
v.5b ...Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time.
(NET) The author of Genesis goes out of his way to emphasize the depth of human evil at this time. Note the expressions “every inclination,” “only evil,” and “all the time." "There is hardly a stronger statement of the wickedness of the human race than this. Here is the result of falling into the “knowledge of good and evil”: Evil becomes dominant, and the good is ruined by the evil."
Reflection: Do we also have a ladder to wickedness? What is in your heart all the time? No one knows, but God knows. If we allow that to sit in our heart all day long then there is only 1 result.
What was in the heart of God:
God was so offended that only total wipe out would solved the problem. Note, not only did God wipe out mankind, but everything, including animals v.7.
(NET) "Highly offended/was grieved to his heart" can carry one of three semantic senses, depending on the context: (1) “to be injured”; (2) “to experience emotional pain”; “to be depressed emotionally”; “to be worried”; (3) “to be embarrassed”; “to be offended” (to the point of anger at another or oneself); “to be insulted”. This third category develops from the second by metonymy...The third category fits best in Gen 6:6 because humankind’s sin does not merely wound God emotionally. On the contrary, it prompts him to strike out in judgment against the source of his distress (see v. 7). The verb...alludes to the judgment oracles in Gen 3:16–19. Because Adam and Eve sinned, their life would be filled with pain; but sin in the human race also brought pain to God...
Reflection: What have we done today that would offended God and grieve His heart? We brought wound to Him emotionally. Perhaps it is your anger. They are not just your emotion outburst and you need a outlet. It is something that brought wound to Him. Do not take sin lightly.
Audrey
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