Genesis 6:1-22

Noah and the Flood

1When the human population began to grow rapidly on the earth, 2the sons of God saw the beautiful women of the human race and took any they wanted as their wives. 3Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, they will live no more than 120 years."

4In those days, and even afterward, giants[a] lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with human women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes mentioned in legends of old.

5Now the LORD observed the extent of the people's wickedness, and he saw that all their thoughts were consistently and totally evil. 6So the LORD was sorry he had ever made them. It broke his heart. 7And the LORD said, "I will completely wipe out this human race that I have created. Yes, and I will destroy all the animals and birds, too. I am sorry I ever made them." 8But Noah found favor with the LORD.

9This is the history of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless man living on earth at the time. He consistently followed God's will and enjoyed a close relationship with him. 10Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11Now the earth had become corrupt in God's sight, and it was filled with violence. 12God observed all this corruption in the world, and he saw violence and depravity everywhere. 13So God said to Noah, "I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Yes, I will wipe them all from the face of the earth!

14"Make a boat[b] from resinous wood and seal it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. 15Make it 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.[c] 16Construct an opening all the way around the boat, 18 inches[d] below the roof. Then put three decks inside the boat--bottom, middle, and upper--and put a door in the side.

17"Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing. Everything on earth will die! 18But I solemnly swear to keep you safe in the boat, with your wife and your sons and their wives. 19Bring a pair of every kind of animal--a male and a female--into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. 20Pairs of each kind of bird and each kind of animal, large and small alike, will come to you to be kept alive. 21And remember, take enough food for your family and for all the animals."

22So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.



Dig Deeper

The key to understanding this whole passage is to determine who the sons of God are. There is not time to fully discuss all the possibilities here, but the most likely and scripturally consistent view is that they were fallen angels. These fallen angels are alluded to in 2 Peter 2:4, the book of Jude, and the non-biblical book of Enoch (Enoch is not in the Bible but is quoted in the book of Jude, it seems that Peter may have used it as a source, and all of the early Church Fathers who mentioned it accepted it as accurate). What we find here is that these fallen angels went outside of God's intended order and took human women as their wives. They had children that were giant warriors (the Nephilim). The use of 'giant' may refer to their physical stature or their reputation. Verse 9 notes that Noah was blameless, this is the Hebrew word Tamiym, which indicates physical rather than moral perfection. In other words it seemingly indicates that Noah's family had not been perverted by these fallen angels.


According to the book of Enoch, these giants were just as evil as their angelic fathers. The fallen angels and the giants taught all manners of pagan worship, evil, and warfare to mankind. This created such a violent and evil atmosphere that God eventually caused the flood. All of the Nephilim were killed in the flood but were cursed bodiless spirits that would roam the earth until Jesus' returns.


We call these bodiless spirits demons. They are still very active and seem to be responsible for pretending to be the souls of dead humans (what the Bible calls "familiar spirits) as well as continuing to teach humans (1 Timothy 4:1). Apparently demons also posed as gods which were worshipped by ancient people as gods and idols (Deuteronomy 32:17; Psalm 106:37; 1 Corinthians 10:20-21).



Devotional Thought

Noah was commended in this passage for doing everything God told him to. Could this be said of you? Do you do everything the Word of God tells you to? What is one area that you need to improve in obeying God's Word. Write out the specific area of improvement and how you will go about being more like Noah in this area of your life.