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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Lecture on Genesis Ver.2(100) - Lecture on Genesis Ver.2 (100) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Genesis 6:5-10 |
Date |
2013-05-31 |
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Scripture
Genesis 6:5-10
[5] Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. [6] The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. [7] The LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them." [8] But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. [9] These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. [10] Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
This is Genesis Lecture [100].
In Genesis 6:7, we find that God finally decided upon the Judgment of the Great Flood.
The inevitable reason for His decision is explained in Genesis 6:5-6.
It says, "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart."
About 1600 years had passed since Adam had settled down on this earth.
As God looked upon this earth the evil deeds of man had spread greatly throughout the world.
Every intent of the thoughts of their heart was only evil.
Only the descendants of Seth, the legitimate family line of Adam, thought of God, loved God, and lived in His grace.
The grace of God that was succeeded from Seth to Noah continued for generation after generation.
In time, not only Seth's descendants, but also Cain's descendants, and other sons of Adam and their descendants were living on this earth.
Suppose, from Adam to Noah, every generation bore 3 sons and 3 daughters; according to the formula of PGR (Population Growth Rate) adopted by UN, the population during the days of Noah must have been more than 200 million.
Since (during their life-times) they gave birth to children for a period of many hundreds of years, however, the speed of population growth must have been much faster.
Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say the population may well have been a couple of billion in the days of Noah.
However, among all these people, only the descendants of Seth believed in God the LORD.
Outside of these descendants, most people had forgotten the existence of God.
After they forgot God, they busily lived lives satisfying only the needs of flesh such as what to eat.
Men thought about women, women thought about men.
They were busy seeking only to satisfy their lusts and personal benefits.
For the benefit of their tribes, they were willing to fight.
When there was peace without fighting, they lived lives of carousing in sensual immorality and debauchery.
Sin and evil spread so rapidly that their sin and evil were equal to that of today.
They were so sensual, yet those paid for their harlotry could be easily spotted.
"How can I eat and play more?" "How can I get more pleasure? How can I enjoy things even more? How can I take in better things? How can I satisfy my flesh better?" They were interested only in satisfy their lusts in ways like this.
Their hearts were burning with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of their life.
Since they already forgot God, they didn't hesitate to engage in sin and evil to satisfy their lusts.
Their thoughts and minds were lost to the enemy devil and Satan; they only thought of themselves, and they loved only themselves.
In the beginning of human cultivation, sin had already deteriorated mankind to this extent.
That's why God the Father could feel only sorrow and grieving.
God gave the 1st warning as He granted them a suspended period of 120 years, but it didn't work.
But then He finally decided on the Judgment of the Great Flood.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
When God makes such a judgment, He surely does it in precise justice.
The falling of nations, other than Israel, is also done in the justice of God.
For instance, as you read through Daniel Chapter 5, you can see that the fall of Babylon and the rise of Medo-Persian Empire in 539 BC was clearly in the providence of God.
During the last night of Babylon, Belshazzar, the last king held a great feast for a thousand of his nobles.
They drank from the gold and silver vessels that they took from the temple of Jerusalem, and they praised their idols.
Suddenly the finger of a man's hand emerged and wrote an inscription on the wall.
The inscription was read, "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN."
And Daniel interpreted this writing.
The meaning was;
"'MENE'--God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. 'TEKEL'--you have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. 'PERES'--your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians."
Just like its meaning, Belshazzar was slain that same night, Babyon fell, and Medo-Persian Empire rose.
Whether for an individual or for a nation, when God makes a judgment, He does it in precise justice.
If the fall of the nation that had nothing to do with God was like this; how much more would God assess again and again?
Yet still, the judgment was decided; it stands as the proof that sin and evil were fully rampant on this earth.
Therefore, God finally decided the Judgment of the Great Flood.
Genesis 6:7 says, "The LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.""
Now, why did God say He would blot out not only man but 'from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky'?
The first reason is that 'animals, creeping things and birds of the sky' had something to do with the fall of men.
People made images of many animals with various materials, made them idols, and worshiped them.
They decorated their houses with idols; they even did their bodies.
God is the only One to receive praise and worship; but people replaced Him with the creatures.
It is just as Romans 1:23 says, "and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures."
To revere and worship creatures more than God the Creator is surely improper.
Actually, man is a being with spirit; isn't it ridiculous for such a being to worship a creature that doesn't have a spirit!
However, not long after human cultivation began, people began to worship idols.
As time went by, it became worse and worse; and it reached its peak in the days of Noah.
Then, God decided to destroy even the animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky.
It was to clearly show how meaningless the idols were, and that the animals which became idols and worshiped were mere creatures.
By the way, the animals lived under water were excluded from the Judgment.
Why was that?
It is just the same as I explained earlier.
The animals under the water were not subjects of worship.
Moreover, people of those days didn't really work much in the sea.
They didn't know much about the sea.
They just spread on the land.
Therefore, they easily made images of idols from the animals of the land and of the sky, but they couldn't do that with the animals of the sea.
That's why the animals of the sea were excluded from the judgment; only the animals of the land and the birds of the sky became the subject to judgment.
The second reason that God decided to destroy 'the animals, creeping things, and the birds of the sky' was that they belonged to people.
People not only made idols from the images of animals, but they also showed off the possession of these animals.
Say, an indicator of one's wealth was how many animals one possessed.
And thus, many crimes took place because of their possession.
People became greedy to possess more, they flaunted what they possessed, and they even stole what actually belonged to others.
1 Timothy 6:10 says, "For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
Money itself is not evil or bad; but people loved money and so many sins and evil were committed.
Before the Judgment of the Great Flood, animals were the major 'possession' of people.
'Animals' didn't actually commit sin, but they belonged to people, and so they were judged along with the people.
Other examples of people and animals being judged can be found in the Bible.
For instance, God tells the Israelites what to put into their mind as they enter the land of Canaan in Deuteronomy 13:12-15.
It says, "If you hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods' (whom you have not known), then you shall investigate and search out and inquire thoroughly. If it is true and the matter established that this abomination has been done among you, you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it and all that is in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword."
God warns people not to serve and worship other gods but only God Himself.
He says that, 'if people serve other gods, not only the people but also their cattle shall be stricken with the edge of the sword.'
It was the same when God ordered Saul to completely destroy the Amalekites in 1 Samuel 15:3.
God said, "Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey"
Likewise, during the judgment of Great Flood, not only people but also animals that were possessed and controlled by the people were judged.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Even though God decided the Judgment, He didn't regret the fact that He began human cultivation itself.
His heart was burning and He was sorry that people who were created after the image of God lost the image of God and that they became slaves to the enemy devil and Satan.
Moreover, a part of people from the Garden traveled to this earth, became stained by flesh, and followed their lust; God greatly grieved at this.
And then, God had a plan of a new stage for the history of human cultivation, and eventually decided on the Judgment.
It was to destroy all men except Noah and his family.
How was Noah able to receive such an amazing grace like this?
The reason can be found in Genesis 6:8-10.
It says, "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth."
Even before God the Father began human cultivation, He already knew people would become corrupted.
He also foreknew that the time would come when the judgment would be inevitable.
If the entire human race is destroyed by the judgment, God's human cultivation will fail.
Since it should be so, God the Father prepared for this in advance.
Among the children Adam, God gave His grace to Seth's family line generation after generation.
He let them revere God the Creator and kept them from being stained by sin and evil.
And God worked so that Noah would be born when sin and evil were so rampant that the judgment would have to come.
Hence, even when God judged the world in His justice, God brought about reason for Noah to receive salvation.
He worked out so that the enemy devil and Satan could not accuse and say, "Why did You exclude only Noah?"
From now on, let's take a closer look how Noah could receive such grace of God.
The scripture says, "Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God."
Let's go back to the time and how such a man like Noah could be born.
Genesis 5:28-29 says, "Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and became the father of a son. Now he called his name Noah, saying, "This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed.""
Lamech, the father of Noah roughly understood the things would be like this in the future.
Since this earth was cursed according to Adam's sin, he foresaw that sin and evil would be rampant in the world, and that a judgment would be made on this earth.
But that was not all of it; he also knew that his son, Noah, would survive the judgment and become the new starting point for human cultivation.
And so, he was not nervous about the approaching judgment, but his heart was consoled.
The fact that Lamech foresaw the future shows that he clearly communicated with God the Father.
It also means that he lived a proper life in the sight of God.
Enoch was the grandfather of this Lamech.
Noah was born after Enoch ascended, but Lamech, Noah's father, lived together with Enoch for about 100 years.
Even though they didn't lived under the same roof, they spent about 100 years together out of 300 years for which Enoch walked with God on this earth.
Lamech knew very well about Enoch who loved God and was loved by God. He also knew that Enoch didn't see death, but he was taken up alive.
Therefore, Lamech himself revered God and he tried all by all means possible to raise his children in the truth.
In addition, Noah's grandfather, Enoch's son, Methuselah lived right before the Judgment of Great Flood.
He survived Noah's father.
From when he was young, Noah could correctly learn from his father and grandfather for many long years.
Noah was born and grew up like this in this kind of environment.
That's why he could live a different life even in the world full of sin and evil.
He grew up in the truth to become a righteous man and blameless in his time.
Even though Noah was born in the grace of God, it didn't mean that it didn't take any effort on his part.
He kept his heart, and he wished to commit himself completely.
Genesis 5:32 reveals such a mind of Noah just a little.
It says, "Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth."
When I explained Adam's genealogy before, I said it was not always the case that their first born son continued their family line.
For example, Seth was not Adam's first son yet he was the one who continued Adam's family line.
However, Shem was Noah's first son and he continued Noah's family line.
Noah gave birth to his first son at the age of 500.
By the standard of his days back then, he bore his first son quite late.
Why did Noah give birth to his children very late like this?
When sin and evil were rampant in the world, Noah didn't have any intention to marry and have children.
He wished to commit his entire life to God completely, and he didn't get married.
Since he had a righteous heart, however, he was sorry as he saw and heard the unrighteousness of people.
As written in 2 Peter 2:5, Noah preached righteousness.
And, when he was close to 500 years old, he got married, and had children.
It was because he realized the providence of God for him.
He realized that there would be the judgment of Great Flood, and that the human cultivation would restart through him.
And so, 100 years prior to the Judgment of Flood, when he was 500 years, Noah had Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Our Lord said in Luke 17:27, "they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all."
Noah didn't get married like others who married following their lust.
He decided to marry only to fulfill his duty as an instrument of accomplishing God's providence.
He met a woman God had prepared for him, and had a family.
Likewise, Noah didn't live his life as he pleased; he lived his life by the will of God alone.
That's why he could have clear communication with God, and in the end, he lived a life of God's walking with him.
Since Noah showed the example of a righteous life, his wife, his three sons and daughters-in-law could escape the judgment.
The biggest reason why they escaped the judgment was because they belonged to Noah; and yet they also obeyed Noah's word to live by the will of God.
Even though they were the family of Noah, if they had not followed the truth taught by Noah, but loved the world, they couldn't have received the grace of salvation.
Think of Lot's wife and his sons-in-law.
When God destroyed the city of Sodom, God thought of Abraham and saved Lot.
God tried to save not only Lot but also his family, but his wife and sons -in-law were not saved.
It because Lot's sons-in-law didn't believe Lot at all, and his wife didn't cut off her attachment to the world.
It is the same today.
No matter how much grace of God is overflowing in this church, the fact of attending this church cannot guarantee your salvation and blessing.
Each of you must follow the will of God and live in the light yourself.
It is because the judgment and salvation will be decided according to the word of God alone.
Of course, if don't leave this church but live in the truth, any one of you can receive abundant blessing.
As the head of this church, who is in charge of Manmin, I've piled up justice before God the Father more than enough; if you make an effort even a little, you can get more than your effort alone.
May you be more grateful for the grace you have received, change with hope, and come into spirit and whole spirit, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, I pray! |
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