':a32 ion may also mean that they uere taking more than one r,iife

Sirern, Ham and Japheth. Ham rrlas the youngest (9:2a); .Japheth they chose?l . Such mixed marriages betueen be.].ievers
llaf ]. uhom

the oldest (1Cl21). But- Shem is mentioned first because i'L and unbelievers resulted in godliness being lost. There aTe
uas t-|rrouglr his descendants that Jesus Christ carne (Lut<e 3:36) . many uJarnings in scripture thal believers should not marry un-
The scripture gives priority to the story of our sal,vat,ion. believers. Compare Numbers 25z1-3i Deuteronomy ?:3r4; 1

lir:;+-ilj,ln else in atl r,;or]_d history is more irnportan+, than the Kinqs 11:1-8; 2 Corinthians 6:14. It is a solemn fact that
:;:1,-,ation from *sin uhich is throuoh Cirrist. much unholiness in human history has been due to r,rrong rela-
tionships betrrleen men and uomen.

Chaoter 6
6:3
Then the Lord said. People had groun proud and godlessness
in chapters .i and 5 rrle have seen the human race develooing in uasincreasing. Therefore, God annor..rtces that juclgment must
tLrlo uays: line (the line of Cain) tending to ungodJ.iness,
one come. fYlankind must learn that they are only frail flesh. Yet
thc other (the line oi Seth) calling on the name of the Lord - to shou Godls mercy and pat,iei'rce, judgment rrli.l]- be deJ.ayed 120
i.e . they ulere believers. In chapter 6 these trr.ro lines become years. The unqodly uiil have no excuse fcr their failure to
nixed, leading to unbrid]ed sin and Godls judgment by the f1ood repent. Compare Romans 2:4; 'l Peter 3:2t]. See Additional
aft,er uhich the race continued through the godly lrloah. |'Jote 1 1 .

A.? 6:4
Tt sons of God. (See Additional Note 10). This phrase is There ulere qiants. Evidently the human race inc]uded people
used as a naíT}e for angels in Job 1:6; 2z1 a 38:?. But men rlho ulere physica}ly 1arge and poulerful (compare t\lumbers 13:33).
are also calted llsons of Godll in other parts of the 01d Testa- This is not surprising, for at the creation of the species
ment - Exodus 4:22; Deuteronomy 14:'l; Psa]m 73:15; 82:6. there must have been immense genetic resources present. See
There is good reason for the phrase Lo mean men here also. comment on 5:5. Perhaps it rrlas this very prorrress that made
GcrJls judgnrent as spoken j_n verse 3 is against l|man, rrlho is them increasingly forgetful of God. It is not easy to remain
morta]-ll . If l|the sons of Godll rrlho committed this sin uiere humble in prosperity (ívlattherrl 19z2s1. In r ieu of ujhat uje ale
;lngels, rr.rhy does God go on to punish men? Godls punishment told in velse 5, it seems fikely that these peop]e uere
is only understandable if the sons of God uere human beíngs. 'lgiants|| in evil also, clever at devising increasingly qodless
and violenL behaviour.
The "sons of Godll appeal to be contrasted uith the
lldaughters of menl|. That does not imply that the llsons of 6odll
uJere therefore not human. The phrase merely indicates that 6:5
men u.rere of tuo sorts; those ca].led llsons of Godll and those The Lord sau. |LJe are rr:ninded of 1:31 . But God takes no
not so called. bJe have already seen that mankind had become pleasule in r,lhat he nou sees:
divided into the ungodly and the godly. The latter uere called
'lsons of 6odll because of their rrlorship of God (compare al26). i. every imagination of men's hearts rrlas evil
This verse te]-]_s us that qodly men uere taking rrlives rrlho uJere ii. every irnagination uas ncrthing but er.li], - rlo QooLl in
not uorshippers of God (daughters of men). The Hebretl express- it at all

62 63
 iii. every imagination uras aluays evi1, every day Hebreu uord for grace (llchenll) occuts in the Bib}e. lr]orldrLlide
ungodliness is about to be uholly destroyed but God shorris un-
Al1 this rrlas happening rrlhile God patiently uithheld judgment expected favour to one man and through him t,o seven others - 1
for 120 years. It uas not a feu days of human folly. Pecp}e Peter 3:20. 0nly from God could Noah have obtained upright-
took advantage of Godls years of patience to offend him all the ness in a uorld uLhere every thought uas evil. The Hebreul uord
more. Compare Ecc]esiastes 8:11; 2 Peter 3:3-10. See for tt;in6tt used here is also used to mean llreceive" or "9"t".
Additional Note 12. |26a12, received (AV) = (Hebreu) found; Ezekiel 3:1, find
(AV) - this r,lord does not mean that Ezekiel discovered it him-
self : 2l9]a tells us that it rrlas set before him]. 5o the
6:6 fact that Noah is said to havelliound" gtace does not mean that
The Lord ulas ... his heart uas filled uith pain. The
orieved he is to have credit for that. It means that he received
name for ís JEHOI/AH, the name uhich indicates
ílod used here grace. It ulas qiven to him.
covenant relationship and fatherly love. Any father is sad-
dened to uatch his children fail to be the best they could be. Noahis listed along r:lith Abel and Enoch as having faith
Every fat,her feels pain at the sight of certain destruction 11z?), Everyone uho is made a believer is saved by
(Hebret.rs
cominq on his children. Here God sees his creatures take a Godls grace and the evidence that grace has been received is
path that inevitably leads them to punishment. It uould have faith and good uorks. Compare Ephesians 2:6-10.
been better if they had never been born. Compare ltl'ark 14121.
See Additiona.I Note 13.
COívlíviENTARY; SECTION IV
Dhapter 6:9 - 10:1
6:7
I trlill uipe mankind, rrlhom I have created, from the face of the
earth. The Hebrerrl urord here means llLo uash a dish, uiping it The historv from Noah
c}eanll. Compare 2 Kings 21113. Perhaps there is a suggestion
here of the uatery flood that uJould form the punishnent shortly
to come. 6od has the ríght to destroy because he is creator. 6:9
No-one else has the right to destroy anything 6od has made un- riqhteous...blame].ess...ulalked. liie u.rord used for llrighteousll
less God give's permission. God is described as inuardly dis- has the sense of llloyalty to a moral lawll. The urord is used
cussing and reasoning in himself about trlhat he uil]_ do. The of God in Psalm 145z171 God alulays conforms to fixed standards
coming destruction is not an unreasonable, capricious act. of right and urong. So did Noah. The rrrord for "blamelessll
has the sense of llcompletell(e.9. rrríthouL blemish, Exodus 12:5;
A11 the animals, indeed, a1l the beauty of the earth, is finished, 31:40). The final comment is, literally, ?'urítl,
Job
to be destroyed ulhen the human beings are destroyed. lle begin Cod Noah rrla}kedll , puttinq the enrphasis - because of its prior
to learn the seriousness of sin as u,e see houl uidely it causes position in the sentence - cn God as Noah|s companion. The
punishment. phrase about Enoch (5;2a) is not so emphatic. Perhaps the evi}
of Noahls day uras even u;olse than that of Enochls time and
therefore it uas even moIe surprising that Noah ualked ith God.
6:8 This may be uhy the phrase '|among his contemporari-es|| is added
But Noah found favour(orace). This is the first time the in the case of Noah, to highlight the most evil context of his

64 65
 holiness. 5o Noah rrlas a godly, mature, spiritual giant in a uere situated is uncertain. Al1 rrle do kno,.rl is that the capac-
uorld that uas thoroughly corrupt. Saints can survive among ity of the vessel uas certainly 1ar9e enough for t,he cargo it
sinners ! n lotus can grorrr in muddy rrrater . Compare Romans had to carry. See Additional Note 15.
1z7: '|in Rome ... beloved of 6odll. Your poor spirituality
cannot be blamed on your surroundingsI
E:17
1 am qoinq to brino flooduaters. Litera]ly this is: 'lEven I,
6:1 0 behold, Ilt. There is great emphasis here that this judgment
See comment on 5:32. is planned and brought about by God. He is the Lord of the
flocC (Psalm 29;10). Noah is being shoun the auresome sover-
eignty of the 6od trlho ua],ked uith him. The same sovereign
6z12 Lord uill eventually destroy the earth by fire (2 Peter 3:10).
al} the people on earth had corrupted their rrlays. The Hebrerrl
uord for llcorruptedll is from the same root as the rLrord for l'I God could have destroyed the earth in many u;ays - so uhy
uli11 destroyl' in verse 13. In other uords, God merely des- use a deluge? Perhaps because sLJch a f]ood uou}d }eave evi-
troyed uhat rrias destroying itself anyu,,ay. Compare Romans dences of itse]f in the earth. Norrl that archaeology is un-
1z24126z llcod gave them up" and Exodus g:35; 10:1: llthe heart covering these evidences, there is no excuse for unbe}ief
of pharaoh uns hardenedll and l|the Lord said . . I have hardened today! See Additional Note 16, last paragraph. This same
his heartll. 6odts judicial acts never mean that people are Additiona] Note gives biblical arguments to shorrl that the f}ood
sent to he1l uhen they had seriously uanted to go to heaven. uas uorldrlide and not a small local flood. There is enough
All uho ever enter hel1 rrli1], be there because they have reject- ulater on the earth today to flood it massively and entirely, if
ed heaven. our mountains uere all flattened. There is no proof that
there ulere as many mountains or'such high mountains before the
It is of interest to remember that it ulas the days of Noah flood as there are noul. It is not unreasonable to believe in
trlhich the Lord Jesus used as a description of rrrhat the earth the possibility of a universal i]ood.
uould be }ike before the fina} judgment (Mattheu 24:38,39).

6:1B
6:1 4 I rrlill establish mv covenant uith vou. This must have been a
an ark. The ulord for llarkll is a rrlord originating in Egypt specia} comfort to Noah, surrotnded as he ulas by extreme ungod-
meanJ-ng a rectangular-shaped vessel like a box. Ii. ulas a barge liness and the threat of uorld destruction. The uord l|cove-
designed to drift more than a ship for sailing. ihe same uord nant|l occurs here for the first time in scripture. In the face
is used in Exodus 2l3). The uood used cannot noul be identified.
',
of enormous sin and overrrlhe],ming judgment, God reveals a gra-
The uord only occurs here in the 01d Testament. The details cious ulil].ingness lo bind himself to rescue some people, though
of construction indicate a vessel about 150 metres long, 25 only eíght, out of the tolat population (1 Peter 3:20). The
metres tuide and 15 metres high, requiring just over 7 metres of divine puTpose to preserve the promised llseedl| ca}ls forth this
in rrlhich to float (see 7:2o). The interior rLlas divided
r,later covenant of grace, God's covenants are aluays about sa]vation.
into 3 decks, each containíng many rooms, to allou for orderli- 6od is shouln to have a nature thal delights to make promises
ness and control of a]l the creatures. The exact shape of the and to keep them; compare Psa]m 25;1ú. The seasons of the
vessel is not clear to us. Precisely hotrl the uindou and door uor}d continue because of Godls promises (822t 9:13). Israel

66 67
existed as a special nation because of t]odls agreement uilh ed that the distinction betueen c]-ean and unclean animals uas
them (15:18: fxodus 24:i-B). Believers today have hope of not knorrln until later ( Leviticus 'l 1 ) and that therefore this
salvation only because of lhe "better covenantll God ntade" of reference in Noahls day is a mistake. Houever, the statement
rrlhich Jesus thrist, is the rnediator (llebreu.rs B:6,13) . in Leviticus is not presented as something quite neu]. A dis-
tinction tretueen certain animals could have been knoun earlier
Atl the people in the ark belonged to one family. 5o a],1 and put into uritten code later by íYloses. See Additional Note
true believers are made into one family by their neu birth and 14.
their common iaith in Jesus Christ. fompare ít]attheu 12:49-50.

7:1 0
0:i9 after the seven days. There ulas a ueekls delay after Noah and
of all livirrq creatures .. +-lrJo. A pair of eaclr kind of his family entered the ark before the rain tregan. This rrlou]d
creature uas tlre nc;mal number of each animal taken, to ensure have further tested l,loah's faith and given further opportunity
the population of the rrrorld after the flooC. Presently (?l2,3) for unbelievers to ridicule l,loah, also allorriing seven more days
three pairs ol certain animals rL.till be adcJed, and one extra for for repentance amonq the unbelievers. Compare Romans 2:41 2
sacrif icia]. of f erings. Peter ]:9.

The next verse indicates that the creatures uou]_d come to

Noah. lJe uould not have to fetch them. Even today uie are 7:13
farniliar uith many anima]_s that migrate Iegularly from one area and the rrlives of his three sons. Evidently Noah and his
to another. If the creator can give them such an instinct, he family had not succumbed to the general practice of polygamy
can certainly assemble them at an ark. Compare 2:19; lYlatther,l theirs ulere all nlonogamous relationships. This must be a re-
1'712?. See Additiona} Note 17. sr.r}t of their godliness.

Is it not remarkable that the spectacle of thousands of

animals gathering at the ark failed to provoke ulorld repentance? 7 l15
came to Noah and entered the ark. Conpare 6:19. Noah did
not have to force them to 9o into the ark. There is the
suggestion here that the creatures uere under the influence of
^.))
ililÁ did evervthino. The uJriteT to Hebreus points out that God. ívlany animals normally object to entering a confined
Noahls meticulous obedierce uras the evidence that he had true space. In a number of Bible passages the animal uorld is seen
faith (Hebrerrrs 11:?). Compare James 2:17,18. To build such to be obedient to the creator - sometimes more so than humans;
an ark and stmk it rlith a year|s requirements of foods u,as an compare Isaiah 1:3.
astonishing achievement. ívlany obstacles had t,o be overcome.
lrje read that llhe did it|l. But ue need to think about, the tre-
mendous amount of ulork that the doing of it must have entailed. 7:16
Compare Ixodus 40:16; Philippians 4:13. the Lord shut him in. Literally, llThe Lord closed behind
him?'. In other ruords, the safety of all in the ark did not
.,) depend on the strength of the ark alone. It rrlas protected by
,7

ilen of everv kind of clean animal. It is sometimes suggest- the pouer of the covenant-keeping Lord also. If the ark sank,

68 69