Adam: “Cause you know I’m like 900 years old-”
Me: Damn.
Adam:
Me:
Adam:
Me: I’m sorry.
Am I the only one who thinks of the viral moment in the interview between Kevin Hart and Don Cheadle. I think it’s the way Kevin Hart says “Damn” and the organic silence that immediately follows after that lives rent free in my head. As we know, God created man in His likeness. Back then, way back people had longer lifespans, which I still can’t comprehend because of our short lifespans. Can you imagine having a midlife crisis at 300 years old? Or not getting married until you’re 800? Or better yet being married to someone for 300 years? Imagine being able to talk to your great great great great grandfather and he’s still healthy. That’s a lot of generations. I don’t think I would know what to do with myself if I lived for that long.
So here we have Adam’s family line. He had Seth when he was 130 (dang), then lived an additional 800 years, having more sons and daughters (imagine all the kids you can have in that lifespan. I’m getting a headache just thinking about it). In total Adam lived 930 years (again, DANG).
Next is Seth who became the father of Enosh at 105 years old. He lived another 807 years. Altogether he lived 912 years. Enosh lived a total of 905, becoming the father of Kenan at 90 years old. This is the tone of the fifth chapter of Genesis, and it continues with Kenan (910 years), Mahalalel (895 years), Jared (962 years), Enoch, who walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters after becoming the father of Methuselah at 65 years old (eventually Enoch was no more because God took him away), Methuselah (969 years), and Lamech (777 years) who was the father of my main dude Noah! He received the name Noah from his father because “he will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord Has cursed.” At 500 years old Noah became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.
I’m going to take a hypothetical guess and assume that no one lived past or close enough to 1000 years old -based on the pattern lifespans that I viewed. Adam and Eve were fruitful and multiplied, and their kids multiplied, and their kid’s kids multiplied, and their kid’s kid’s kids multiplied. You get the picture. It’s been several hundred years since the fall. Human beings were increasing in number on earth, including the daughters who the sons of God viewed as beautiful and they began to intermarry with them. They were wilding out.
The Bible keeps that chapter going with little insight on the nature of the sons of God. I personally assumed that there were fallen angels who wanted to mingle with humans. There are commentaries who speak on this debate. Bibleref.com a source I use from time to time says “some speculate that they were humans of large physical build. Others suggest these were the offspring of humans and demons. Or that they were aliens. While the number of possible interpretations is almost infinite, the Bible devotes very little time to this particular idea. Rather, it seems to be a footnote in the story of the flood.”
Easyenglish.bible commententary says “We do not know who ‘the sons of God’ were. Some people suggest that they were *angels. Those people think that 2 Peter 2:4 tells us this. But perhaps the ‘sons of God’ were *descendants of Seth who married *descendants of Cain.”
Finally, my handy dandy Compact Bible Commentary says “the sons of God refer to a different group from either the men or their daughters. The phrase occurs elsewhere in the Bible and clearly means “angels”. Job 1:6 presents Satan and his angels coming into the presence of the Lord for an audience with his Majesty. Satan’s angels are there called “the sons of God,” with the suggestion that these angelic beings were once holy ones who served the Lord, but were now allied with the evil one.” Personally, I prefer this explanation.
What do you think about it? (Comment below! I’d love to hear it).
Moving on, God sees this wickedness going and He is 100% not with it. These humans are out here being ghetto in their wickedness, doing what they want, when they want, how they want, and with who they want. I consistently parallel the world we live in now, this generation to the generation of Noah’s time because it’s hard to see the difference. I mean it’s not like we got giants roaming the earth (thank God because I was not a fan of the Jack and the Beanstalk folktale and I’m already short), but the wickedness continues to expand. This earth continues to marinate in evil.
For me, the ray of hope that brings me enough peace to go through life day by day is knowing what Jesus Christ has more in store for me. Life is definitely hard, but this earth is temporary and most importantly not our home. As Christians, we have citizenship in heaven. We are not to indulge in the evil around us but spread the hope we have to others to help them understand that through Christ they have true peace and eternal life. Let’s be honest, the world has no peace to offer. It has a repetitive pattern of chewing you up and spitting you out worse than before. Another reason why it’s important to get to know God and his word. When I was in the world it was nowhere near fun. If anything, I felt worse. The “fun” was disguised as sins that I shouldn’t have gotten involved in that later hurt my spirit deeply. If I didn’t know God and the world was all I thought was to be offered I genuinely wouldn’t be here today.
Circling back to God, He mentions His spirit, which is the second reference to the Holy Spirit in Genesis. The first reference is in anticipation and wonder; the second reference is in anticipation of destruction. God gives a timespan of 120 years that the humans shall live. This verse means that God will extend a “grace period” of 120 years before expanding His wrath on the people.
As for the sons of God and their evident foolery, they fornicated with the daughters of men who bore their children, who became strong and lived in the old times. Apparently, they were famous. The Compact Bible Commentary says “the Hebrew word for giants means “fallen ones”. Many ancient cultures have legends of titans and demigods. This verse appears to be explaining this common memory of humankind. It didn’t dawn on me how much of an impact the giants had on mythology.
Now, I’ve always one hundred percent believed that mythology stemmed from people who denied God and chose to worship false gods. There was never a doubt in my mind on that. However, I don’t know why I never considered the giants playing a part in it. I found this very insightful.
God continues to see the wickedness on the earth from mankind. His own creation, who desired evil over good and the Lord regretted making them in the first place. This section made me sad. Imagine creating something you favored, something you saw as good, just for it to blow out of proportion. That’s how I picture this scene. The Lord makes the decision to wipe all mankind, all animals, all birds, all creatures from the face of the earth. All wickedness, except Noah, who found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
According to bibleref, “very few times in Scripture is God said to experience “regret.” The state of mankind prior to the flood produces this emotion in their Creator. This comment has to be understood in careful context, and with a sense of the original Hebrew language. What God experiences here is not a feeling of error, but a sense of anguish. Much like a parent who feels pained when disciplining a child, but has no doubt that it is the right decision, so too can God feel grief over man’s sin without concluding that He was wrong to create humans. Some translations use phrases such as “grieved,” or even “repented,” all carrying the same idea of sorrow.”
So, He does something about it.
PraiseBreak 