Posted on 01/26/2013 7:20:52 PM PST by pastorbillrandles
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. 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.(Genesis 6:1-3)
The signs of the day of Noah that we have discussed earlier; the population explosion, rapid progress in science, technology and the arts, the complete disregard for the primal law of marriage, the blurring of distinction between the lines of the godly and the godless, as well as the rejection of the preaching of Judgment and repentance by Seth, Enoch,Methuselah and Lamech, and the increasing phenomenon of universal violence had come to a head.
God had allowed conditions on earth to be such that people lived hundreds of years on earth. But increasingly, those years were almost universally lived out in a state of God rejection, evil practices, and as a society, an incredible, exponentially growing accumulation of evil. The dark “wisdom” of people who lived for hundreds of years was passed on to each generation, until men and women became hardened beyond any recovery.
But Genesis 6 records a new stage in the progress of evil, something so terrible it is almost impossible to contemplate. Sinful humanity, schooled in dark wisdom, broke through the barrier to communion between fallen Angels and God estranged humanity.
We are told that the “Sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and took of them wives…”.
The phrase, the “Sons of God” is a reference to Angels, fallen or otherwise, as recorded here in Job, which is believed to be the oldest book of the Bible;
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.(Job 1:6-7)
It was at the mention of this dark and mysterious development among men, that the Most High decreed a further limitation upon human life,
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.
There would no longer be hundreds of years of God rejection and accumulation of the experience and ‘wisdom’ of evil, at best, Man would be allowed 120 years to respond to the conviction and internal strivings of his Creator.
The Lord’s apostles, Jude and Peter both refer to this horrifying state of affairs,
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.(Jude 6-7)
Jude likens the Angels which left their own God assigned state, to Sodomites who go “after strange flesh”. Both sins consist of the unnatural joining of the that which God separates, and both bring violent and everlasting punishment.
Peter also referenced this sin, linking it to Noah, the flood and Sodom and Gommorah.
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 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; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;(2 Peter 2:4-6)
Both apostles emphasize the immediacy and ferocity of the Divine Judgment which fell upon these Angels and those who participated with them. The flood, and the fact that those very Angels are presently in chains in a hellish prison, though the time for the judgment o the rest of the fallen Angels has not yet come, testifies to the seriousness of this sin.
But consider our day also, which is rapidly proving to be “As in the days of Noah and Lot”. How many Hollywood Movies have had as their theme the intercourse, spiritual and otherwise, of Angels and men.
Popular abominations such as “The City of Angels” starring Nicholas Cage, have as their theme romantic interplay between an Angel of God,(who leaves his first estate because he falls in Love with one of the fair daughters of men, sacrificing his own immortality), could have been lifted right off of the pages of Genesis.*
These movies are popular because they reflect aspirations among people for such things, Angel movies, Super Hero movies, UFO and Alien movies all reflect the same aspiration for communion with beings above and beyond humanity, but definitely not with the God of the Bible on the terms of Calvary. This is the very sin that brought the flood which wiped out the whole world, except the eight people who were saved.
* I want you to know that I have not seen this movie nor would I ever encourage anyone to see it, such things are damning and corrupting to the soul. I read a synopsis of the movie and was stunned that there were at the same time, several other similar offerings.
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That is kind of my opinion too, that nobody is heeding God's warning, and are just continuing in their own little world. It's kind of like today, isn't it? It looks like not too many are paying attention.
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 (Mat 24:38)
That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. (Gen 6:2)
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 (Mat 24:38)
That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. (Gen 6:2)
Probably very similar indeed!
However,the more I think about it the more that "sons of God" keeps standing out and the fact that Jesus specifically mentions marriage sounds almost provocative considering 1st:the sons of God specifically took "wives for themselves" not just daughters,women etc but "wives" and 2nd: the obsession these days with alien intelligences,supernatural themes and entities,paranormal,new age conciousness etc etc etc ad nauseum.It seems a lot of modern culture spends a lot of time attempting to contact supernatural beings.And that without acknowledging God at all,in fact in a lot of cases in outright hostility towards Jesus Christ and the Bible.
I can't help thinking it actually is more than just a little implicit.
The world was created “good,” as was man. The evil that followed the entry of sin into the heart of man will never be eradicated. Ungodly governments spend all the their citizens money trying to re-create Eden, but they are doomed to failure. Societies without God are festering garbage dumps, the blind leading the blind.
Mat 24:37-40
(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.
(40) Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
A fairly standard minimal interpretation of Matt 24:38 emphasizes the thinking of man was upon daily carnal living void of spiritual life with God.
Volumes have been written in academia on the topic, especially from the turn of the century (1900’s) and with the rise of Dispensationalism.
Euhemerism focused upon the premise that mythology had some basis in historical fact, but studied to what extent it may have been factual vs allegorical or metaphorical in meaning.
I’ve recently began reading the Books of Enoch, and they nicely indicate where much of the GAP theory details were premised.
IMHO, just as a satanic strategy has existed to destroy all of Israel, thereby defeating Prophetic promises to man from God, there also was a prior strategic goal to corrupt all flesh, also attempting to prevent the completion of God’s Plan. Gap Theory is consistent with such observed satanic strategy.
While I recognize the Books of Enoch are extra biblical, and in reading them, they lack the same food for God the Holy Spirit during their study, I find it interesting that the Apocrypha is still considered canonical in the RCC. Also interesting is that the first 12 chapters of the first Book of Enoch makes references to the Rapture on several occasions, while the RCC frequently denies the Rapture, but insists upon the canonicity of the Book of Enoch.
Revelation tells us of a demon army that will be loosed from the Euphrates in the End Times and even its leader’s name.
I’ve wondered if some US military campaigns after WWII and Korea, haven’t been driven by occultic goals to bind and loose demons in those remote lands. I’ve conversed with many a Mason who believe in Vietnam/Cambodia, Bosnia, and in Afghanistan that UFOs an alien contact was documented. Also that many angelic manifestations occurred in those areas, but not always well reported, but kept quiet. I also have observed those who are attracted to the occult describe military operations in caves, which happened to involved blood letting and appeals to the angelic domain, indicating they had ulterior occultic agendas, even where most were unaware.
If such demons were loosed, then demon possession might be much more prevalent than we attribute their behavior/presence in our culture.
As in all things, through faith in Christ we may remain on path with His Plan to be in the right place at the right time to do the right thing in the right manner. So while such things might be interesting, and worthy to consider they might exist where least expected, we still remain focused on life through faith in Christ, and don’t need the preoccupation with the occult.
Although the Word of God existed prior to the Sumerians.
BFL
“A fairly standard minimal interpretation of Matt 24:38 emphasizes the thinking of man was upon daily carnal living void of spiritual life with God.”
Interestingly, what is mentioned “eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” are all good things when God is in the picture. The problem comes when God is not factored in - one ends up with gluttony and drunkenness, trying to become one flesh without the commitment of marriage, so-called “gay marriages”, etc.
Getting married is an every day event, just like eating and drinking. There’s nothing in the text that implies the marriages referred to are anything out of the ordinary. In fact, the plainest reading of the text is that marriages are used because, just like eating and drinking, they are such a completely ordinary event.
I’m not saying that it couldn’t be an additional implication, but there is really nothing to lay your finger on that points to that which isn’t more easily explained by a less extraordinary interpretation.
I believe the emphasis is on daily living and our happiness by our own provision, as opposed to reliance on God’s Provision.
**I am sometimes curious about what the physical world was like before the flood. Like housing, infrastructure, technology. I wonder if there was anything like computers or electronics beforehand ?**
Steel is the basis, directly or indirectly, of everything we call a modern convenience. No steel= no electricity, no horseless carriages, no plastics, etc.
There’s no indication that they were that far along in manufacturing before the flood.
The ‘nothing new under the sun’ implies that man hasn’t created anything from nothing. He has seen God’s creatures perform tasks that he himself cannot do, but by using them as models, has tried to duplicate their capabilities, whether it be navigating under, on, or above the surface of the earth. Outerspace? Man simply realized he had to take some air with him when getting that high.
The human brain is still the model for computers, and always has been. It is still unsurpassed in it’s capabilities. Man still hasn’t created from nothing a better living creature of any type than what God has arleady created. Man still gets excited when he finds a another species that he didn’t know existed.
The pre-flood people didn’t need as much technology as us. They were stronger, faster, smarter, healthier... They certainly didn’t need medical technology. I imagine that they could live a pretty good life without all the modern things we have and so there wouldn’t be a drive to develop these technologies.
It's certainly not something I would want to argue over but it's still an interesting possibility especially considering the inordinate amount of interest in the occult these days.You can hardly read a magazine or newspaper without seeing a deluge of ads for so-called 'phsycics/mediums' offering guidance and so on.
Having said that I think you're right that the main implication is that man is carrying on as if nothing is happening.Totally blind to what's headed his way.We certainly live in interesting times!
God bless
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