Changes can be for the good. Sadly, changes can also be for the worse. The population of the earth began to grow. "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." (Genesis 6:1-2) With this population growth also came all kinds of sins. Early in the history of Cain's descendants and Seth's descendants two distinct classes of human beings emerged. Cain went out from the presence of the Lord. "And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden." (Genesis 4:16) It would make sense that because Cain was banished from the presence of the Lord that his seed could not claim nearness to God in their relationship with the Lord. It is not surprising that they would be called "the daughters of men." The descendants of Seth who took the place of righteous Abel "began to call upon the name of the Lord." They would feel entitled to call themselves by the name of the God upon whom they called. They were "the sons of God." These two distinct classes, sons of God and daughters of men refer to the descendants of Seth (sons of God) and the descendants of Cain (daughters of men.) The sons of God could not have been angels because the sons of God married the daughters of men and angels "neither marry, nor are given in marriage." "For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven." (Mark 12:25)

 

          As the population grew man became more and more wicked. God said man's day would be 120 years. "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 6:3) These 120 years is not referring to God shortening the years or the age to which man would live on the earth. Instead, the 120 years was a period of grace in the days of Noah during which time God was still endeavoring to bring the people to repentance. In that period of time there were giants in the land. The term translated giant means a tyrant or bully or fallen ones. These were the violent tyrants of those days, those who fell upon others. They may have been larger in stature than other but more likely they were very violent. Man became so wicked that God repented for making man. God promised destruction of man, beasts, creeping things and fowls of the air. This destruction was the result of man's evil deeds. It was during this time of wickedness that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God’s grace demonstrates His righteous character while directing and empowering true Christians to grow in that same righteous character. Grace is related to everything God believes and everything God does.

 

          Noah was found to be "a just man and perfect in his generation." He was righteous because he walked with God. (Genesis 6:9) Noah had three sons and they each had a wife. His sons were Shem, Ham and Japeth. Noah built an ark at the commandment of God to save life when the destruction came. God gave Noah specific instructions for building the Ark. He lovingly obeyed what God commanded. "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." (Hebrews 11:7) Noah and his family were delivered when this world wide flood came. This deliverance was part of the covenant that God had made with Noah. "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." (Genesis 6:18) Pairs of animals went into the Ark, male and female, to preserve life. Food was also put into the Ark. "Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he." (Genesis 6:22)

 

          Men began to multiply upon the earth -- Genesis 6:1-5: God had early in man's life commanded, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:28) The people lived long lives so the population grew rapidly. By the time of the flood there were likely several million people upon the earth. The Bible does not say that the giants were born when the sons of God took the daughters of men as wives and had children by them. Observe, "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." (Genesis 6:4) The sons of God were not angels. Every reference to angels in the Bible presents them as sexless, spirit beings. The correct understanding is that the sons of God were the descendants of Seth. The daughters of men were the offspring of Cain. None of Cain's descendants survived the Flood. There were men of renown on the earth. "Renown" means they were well know, ruled and they were feared. The wickedness of man became great in the earth. Every thought, purpose, wish, desire, and motive of these people was "only evil continually."

 

          God repented that He made man -- Genesis 6:6-12: Both the descendants of Cain and the descendants of Seth had become very corrupt! God gave clear and specific reasons for the destruction of the earth. His reasons for destruction by the flood were: (1) Intermarriage of godly people with the ungodly (Genesis 6:1-2), (2) Man lived a life of flesh instead of a spiritual life (Genesis 6:3), (3) Man was guilty of great wickedness (Genesis 6:5), (4) The thoughts of man were only evil continually, (Genesis 6:5), (5) The earth was corrupt before God (Genesis 6:11), (6) The earth was filled with violence (Genesis 6:11), and (7) All flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. (Genesis 6:12) God judged men as being guilty of sinfulness, wickedness and violence. He judged man and destroyed him from off the face of the earth with the exception of the eight people in the Ark. (1 Peter 3:20-21) Man corrupted his ways by evil thinking. He constantly sought for new ways to gratify the flesh. When men leave God they become more violent so we are not surprised to read, "the earth was filled with violence." Many sins of the heart lead to physical assault and murder. Man had ample warning about coming judgment, but the message fell on deaf ears. However, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." (Genesis 6:8) This is the first reference to grace in our Bible. Noah was a righteous man who submitted himself to God and worshipped Him. He chose to walk with God daily. He and his family were in the minority as the righteous always are. Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, followed the example of their godly father. Observe this sad statement about the condition of the earth, "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." (Genesis 6:11-12)

 

          God instructed Noah to build an Ark -- Genesis 6:13-17: God would not allow His plan for the world to be thwarted by the wickedness of men. He announced His intentions to send the flood to Noah in these words, "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." (Genesis 6:13) God commanded Noah to build an Ark and He gave him specific dimensions for the Ark. The ark was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet height figuring the cubic as 18 inches. The Ark was not a ship; it was a barge like "chest." In fact the original word for "ark" meant "chest." The Ark would not be driven in any fashion; it would simply float upon the water. The ark was built of Gopher wood. It was sealed with pitch, a tar like material. The Ark was to be built with rooms; it was to have one window and one door. It is estimated that the Ark had around 101,000 square feet of floor space. In Noah we observe how faith works. Noah first believed God and then he went about the business of living for God every day of his life. Remember, "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." (Genesis 6:9) The ark was built to withstand the terrific impact of a great flood of waters and to be completely stable. God said, "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." (Genesis 6:17)

 

          God's covenant with Noah -- Genesis 6:18-22: After God told Noah that He was bringing a flood upon the earth He promised to make a covenant with Noah. God destroyed things that breathed upon the earth. Fossils show that even some fish and sea creature were killed by the great deluge of water. Many fish survived in order to replenish the waters. God made a covenant with Noah that he and his family would be safe inside the ark. There would also be pairs of the various kinds of animals in the Ark to preserve life. The Ark held a pair of every kind of unclean animal and seven pairs of all clean animals. (Genesis 7:2-3) The Ark contained two of each "kind" or species of animal that were on the earth. Animals that cannot breed with each other are different "kinds" of animals. It is possible that the animals on the Ark were young animals. They would not have taken as much space or eaten as much food.  God told Noah that the animals would come to him. "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." (Genesis 6:20) On the Ark was Noah's family, all the animals and enough food to last for over a year and likely food to last for a while after they left the Ark. In Hebrews 11:7 we read, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." I should ask myself if I have the same kind of faith that Noah had. "Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he." (Genesis 6:22) Noah believed God and did all that God said do

 

          Man would be so much better off if he would follow the steps of Noah and obey God. Allow your faith to move you to obedience. To become a Christian you must hear the gospel (Romans 10:17), believe in Jesus as the Christ (Mark 16:16), repent of all sins (Acts 17:30), confess Christ as Lord (Romans 10:9-10) and be bap­tized for remission of sins. (Acts 2:38) After baptism remain faithful to God. (Revelation 2:10) Life on earth is always better when we have Jesus as Savior and the hereafter with Jesus will be very far better!