True Greatness (Part 2)

(Continued from previous post)

Even in the face of mankind’s great wickedness in the time before the flood, the Lord is gracious. This already becomes evident in his first speech in Genesis 6:3. Instead of wiping out mankind immediately, he gives them 120 years during which his spirit will still remain and contend with them. Only in his second speech (6:7) that follows upon his assessment of the total depravity of man does the Lord speak about the total destruction of life. Yet even here there is hope, for immediately after the Lord’s statement we read: But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord! God looks once more and sees something encouraging. Noah stands in contrast to the rest of wicked humanity as the structure of the second panel in vv 5-8 shows:

A The Lord sees: wickedness of mankind (v 5)

B The Lord is sorry (v 6)

X The Lord’s speech: I will wipe out man and animals (v 7a)

B’ The Lord is sorry (v 7b)

A’ The Lord sees: Noah (v 8)

Through the parallel panel structure of vv 1-8 the author also sets Noah in contrast to those who are mentioned in v 4. The people who are mentioned in this verse seem to have been the great men of the earth before the flood. These were the mighty men, the heroes, the people everyone knew and talked about and remembered even after their death. These were the famous people of Noah’s time. The author literally calls them “men of name”. This is a fitting but also ironic description, because they are not mentioned by name! These men of name remain nameless (in contrast to the “men of name” in chapter 5! See in particular vv 2, 3 and 29.). No one knows anymore who they were. They have been forgotten. What a contrast to Noah, the only human being in vv 1-8 that has a name! And what a name it is:

Now he called his name Noah, saying, “This one shall comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands from the ground which the LORD has cursed.” (Gen 5:29)

Noah’s name means “rest” but his father Lamech also relates it to the word “comfort” which in Hebrew sounds similar to Noah’s name. Noah is the one who will bring rest and comfort both to those who remain faithful to God as well as to God himself! Noah was a fanatic to the wicked people before the flood, but he was the true man of name. In contrast to the nameless men of name, Noah’s name has lived on. Everyone knows who Noah is.

Noah is the true man of name because he has a name and that name foreshadows the salvation that God will bring through him. Those who are saved are those who belong to his family: his wife, his three sons and their wives. Significantly, one of Noah’s sons is called Shem which in Hebrew means “name”! After the flood Shem becomes the chosen son through whom the line of the faithful will continue. Through Shem Noah thus becomes the father of Abraham who is the father of Israel, the people who are saved through the water just like Noah’s family. But through Shem Noah also becomes the father of Jesus, the true Israel, the promised seed and the better Noah who would save people from their sins. Truly Noah is a man of name!

So what does all of that have to do with us today? The key to proper application is to recognize the parallels between the time before the flood and the time before the return of Jesus that Jesus himself alerted us to:

“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. “For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matt 24:37-39)

As in the days of Noah, our world today is filled with wickedness – a result of people living without God and seeking to make a name for themselves. As the example of the sons of God before the flood shows, even believers are in danger of succumbing to the same temptation: to look at things that appear to be good and to take for themselves what they want. To become “men of name,” i.e. to become famous in the eyes of the world, to make a name for themselves, to be important, to be great.

In contrast to this stands Jesus, the second and greater Noah, the true Son of God who came to bring people safely through the coming judgment. Noah was a sinner just like us who ultimately could not bring comfort and rest to mankind (see Gen 9:18-27 and note the allusions to the fall in Gen 3!). He could not save himself or others from the curse of sin. This is only possible through Jesus, who did not seek to exalt himself and become famous in the eyes of the world but instead “humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (Phil 2:8) He is the true “man of name” and his name means “The Lord saves.” He came to save those who have been unfaithful, who have sought to make a name for themselves. The only requirement is that they humble themselves and repent and receive him into their life. Then, like Noah, they will become true sons of God (and thus heirs) and be part of his family (John 1:12). And like Noah they will walk with God and join their savior in his work of salvation. Like Noah they will achieve great things, not for their own glory, but for the glory of God and for the salvation of people. They will seek to make God’s name great and in so doing will become true men and women of name – just like Jesus!

Homework

What is the structure of Gen 6:1-4? How does the structure further support the idea that v 1 is not just talking about numerical increase? What other things are highlighted by the structure?

True Greatness (Part 1)

In my last post I commented on Gen 6:1-2 and the identity of the sons of God and the daughters of men. Today I want to go back to the same chapter and take a look at the structure of the first eight verses. Gen 6:1-8 can be divided into two parts: vv 1-4 and vv 5-8. Both parts begin with a narrative section involving the terms “man,” “see” and “great,” followed by a divine speech, followed by another narrative section about important people. Thus the structure may be laid out as follows:

A Man began to increase/become great, the sons of God saw the daughters of men (vv 1-2)

B The Lord speaks (v 3)

C The heroes of old, men of name (v 4)

A’ The Lord saw that the wickedness of man on earth was great (v 5)

B’ The Lord speaks (v 7)

C’ Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord (v 8)

What is the significance of this structure? By arranging the material in this part of Gen 6 in parallel panels the author invites us to compare the parallel elements in the two panels.

At the beginning of Part A we are informed that mankind began to increase on the face of the ground. While the immediately following phrase “and daughters were born to them” suggests that this is first of all a numerical increase, the context suggests that it is also a statement about the greatness of mankind (“when man began to become great”). In chapter 4 Cain builds the first city. Lamech’s sons are introduced as the originators of agriculture, music/arts and craftsmanship. The men in chapter 5 live for a long time and have many children. In Gen 6:4 there are giants on the earth, mighty men/heroes, men of renown. Mankind has indeed become great (in more ways than one). Ironically, however, when God looks at man, the only greatness he can see is the greatness of their wickedness! (The Hebrew word for “great” in v 5 comes from the same root as the word translated “increase” in v 1.) Notice also how the Lord’s seeing at the beginning of Part A’ is contrasted with the seeing of the sons of God at the beginning of Part A. As I noted in my last post the seeing of the sons of God is connected to the seeing of Eve in Gen 3:6. Both Eve and the sons of God see something they consider to be good and proceed to take it. As in the case of Eve, the judgment of the sons of God seems to be flawed, causing their action of taking the daughters of man to be presented as a new fall. In contrast to this stands the seeing of the Lord. His assessment is correct, for as the true judge he does not look only on the outward appearance but also on the heart (v 5, cf. 1 Sam 16:7 and my post Seeing Correctly).

Maybe you noticed that v 6 is missing in the structure above. The reason for this is that there seems to be no parallel element to it in the first panel. This is significant. According to v 6 the Lord was sorry that he had made man and it grieved him in his heart. The word translated “grieve” comes from the same root as the word “pain” in Gen 3:16. God experiences severe pain in his heart because of the wickedness of man. Yet there is no parallel in the first panel. There is no statement that people were pained in their hearts over their wickedness. There is no statement that people were sorry for what they had done. No one repents, causing God to finally “repent.” Thus it appears that the structure also highlights how mankind should have responded to the widespread wickedness, but did not. The Lord’s “repentance” is a direct response to their lack of repentance.

Yet the Lord is gracious. How so? Stay tuned.

(To be continued)

Sons of God and Daughters of Man in Genesis 6:1-4

Genesis 6:1-4 is considered to be one of the more difficult passages in the book of Genesis. One of main issues interpreters have struggled with for centuries is the identity of the “sons of God” and “daughters of man” mentioned in verses 2 and 4. Historically, three interpretations regarding the identity of the sons of God have gained significant support: (1) they are angels, (2) they are human rulers/judges, (3) they are the descendants of Seth. A look at the immediate context of Gen 6:1-4 suggests that the sons of God are most naturally understood as male descendants from the line of Seth, while the daughters of men are female descendants from the line of Cain.

Note that Genesis 6 is preceded by two genealogies. The first is found in Genesis 4. While the bulk of the genealogy is found in verses 17-24, it really begins in v 1:

Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have acquired a man with the LORD.”

The first genealogy thus begins with man. It is the line of man. It follows directly upon the fall of man and contains at least two murderers, namely Cain and Lamech, as well as four people who were known for significant achievements, namely Cain, Jabal, Jubal and Tubal-Cain. Particular emphasis is placed on Lamech, the seventh from Adam, who has two wives and boasts about his excessive and unjustified violence.

Compare this to the second genealogy in Genesis 5. Though most commentators see this genealogy as beginning with Adam in verse 3, this is not really true. In reality the genealogy begins in verse 1 with none other than God himself! As the similar wording in verses 1 and 3 suggests, Adam is God’s son, just as Seth is Adam’s son. This means that the second genealogy is the line of God and that the descendants that are mentioned here are the sons of God. Notice that there is no mention of the fall in this line – it skips from creation right to the birth of Seth. This does not appear to be accidental. While the first genealogy is strongly associated with the fall of man, the second genealogy is not. Particular emphasis is placed on Enoch, the seventh from Adam, who walks with God and is taken away by him as well as on Lamech, whose speech in 5:29 stands in stark contrast to that of his counterpart in chapter 4. Thus the second genealogy presents those who are faithful to God and hope for relief from the curse of Genesis 3. This is in line with New Testament texts like John 1:12 or Romans 8:14 which refers to believers as “sons of God.”

Once the context is taken into account, the terminology used in Genesis 6:1-4 makes sense. The sons of God are male descendants from the line of God in chapter 5. According to Gen 6:2 and 4 these descendants of God married the daughters of man, i.e. female descendants from the line of man in chapter 4. Thus we have a mixing of the two lines. That this is problematic is indicated not only by God’s reaction in 6:3 but also by the allusion to the fall in 6:2:

The sons of God saw that they were good; and they took wives for themselves of all that they chose.

Genesis 6:2 thus describes a new fall that is followed by divine judgment. Yet all is not lost, for there is another son of God who remains faithful and becomes the savior of mankind. Those who belong to his family do not perish in the judgment of the flood, but are saved so that they may live in the earth made new.

Wise builders

In Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount as follows:

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.

Two stories from the OT come to mind that Jesus may very well have been alluding to:

(1)   The rain, floods and wind remind of the story of Noah and the flood

(2)   The wise man who built his house on the rock reminds of Solomon building the temple

A careful look at these two stories from the OT reveals interesting parallels between them:

(1)   Both the ark and the temple are “houses” that are divided into three areas.

(2)   In both cases God gives explicit instructions regarding the construction of the house (in the case of the temple these instructions are given earlier for the wilderness sanctuary – see Exod 25-31).

(3)   Both Noah and Solomon act upon the words God speaks.

(4)   Both the ark and the temple bring salvation to God’s faithful people.

In light of these similarities it is not surprising that Jesus would allude to both of these stories together in the same part of his sermon. At the same time, the importance of salvation in both OT stories is significant, for it suggests that this is also what is ultimately in view in Matt 7. In other words, the point Jesus seems to be making is that the one who hears his words and acts on them will be saved, not because of his own goodness but because by doing so he – just like Noah and Solomon – builds on the only one who can save him, namely the Rock, Jesus Christ himself.

Homework

Read Daniel 7:4, 8, 13. What’s the common element in these verses and what is the significance of this?