By Brian Mitchell
5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great
in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He
was grieved in His heart. 7 So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have
created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and
birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found grace
in the eyes of the LORD (GEN.6:5-8).
As much as I hate
to admit it, this sounds pretty similar to the days in which we live. It is
pretty difficult to read these words and not see that the societal
circumstances described in the days of Noah bear a striking similarity to the
times in which we find ourselves living. In fact, Paul writes thousands of
years later about a time when circumstances would be similar to those described
in the days of Noah—2 Tim.3:1-5. The point is simple and that is that there
have always been evil and wicked men among us, and it has always displeased
God.
In fact, it was
those circumstances described in Genesis that led God to destroy the world
which He had created with the Great Flood. And this leads to a great question;
can a man live right in times such as these? Given the times we live in it would
be understandable to ask whether or not one could really live a life that is
pleasing to God in the midst of such sin and perversion. We know that we are
supposed to—Tit.2:11-12. But can it
really be done and if so, how?
The answer of
course is yes. We can live right in our day and time regardless of how many
around us want to follow their own path in life. Even in Gen.6, when God was
pronouncing judgment upon the world He had made and preparing to destroy it
with the flood, there are some encouraging words to be found about one man. A
man, that in spite of his circumstances, managed to live righteously in the
eyes of God; a man named Noah—Gen.6:8.
Thus, Noah serves
as an example of the fact that men can still be pleasing to God, even if they
live in a world where “every intent of the thoughts of men’s heart are
continually evil.” Why? Because even in a wicked world, Noah found favor in the
eyes of God.
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