The Book of Genesis
Part 13
When we began our studies in the Book of Genesis in January 1956, we noticed the two general divisions of the book; namely, “The Origin of the Nations,” and “The Origin of the Nation.” We more explicitly stated these as, “The Origin of all Peoples,” and “The Origin of the Chosen People, Israel.” We then began to subdivide the first section of the book, and began to examine Creation, Reconstruction, Man, and the Fall. We must continue with this interesting part of this Book of Beginnings, for the two, important events, the Deluge and the Tower of Babel, demand some consideration.
The Deluge
We shall not occupy our time with either the archeological evidences of the flood or with the geological effects of the flood. That there are certain scientific difficulties in many honest minds to our understanding of the details of the deluge is conceded, but the sincere Christian does not expect God to reveal every detail of His act to His creature man. For the believer, it is sufficient to know that God has accomplished works of His own planning. The spiritual mind confides in God and seeks to understand only that which God is pleased to reveal of His mighty acts and inscrutable ways.
The Retrospect:
The first family: A review of chapters 4 and 5 will acquaint us with the family life of early man. The very first human family, that of Adam and Eve, suffered through the Fall the sorrow of travail, the mystery of pain, the toil of the provider, the grief of bereavement, the violence of crime (The first death in the human family was by the hand of man as if to show that death did not come through God, but by human sin.), the severity of sovereign punishment, and the certainty of death. These, the effects of sin, increased in frequency and intensity as men multiplied, and more particularly, as family life developed into social life as man built cities in which flourished
The first civilization: The features of a substantial civilization are given us in chapter 4 where we read of a city, therefore architectural design (17), of gainful employment ( 20 ), the musical arts ( 21 ), poetical literature (23-24), a system of technical education (22), and manufacturing (23). Along with progressive materialism in that early civilization, we also have an expansion of sin for here we find polygamy condoned and murder excused (4:23-24). Inspite of this obvious degeneracy we discover
The evidence of Godliness (4:25-26): Seth was given to Adam and Eve in the place of Abel, and in the days of Seth’s son, Enos, men began “to call upon the name of the Lord.” As materialism was so prominent in the descendants of Cain, spiritualities were more marked among those of Seth.
Notwithstanding the salutary influence of the godliness of the line of Seth, “God saw that the wickedness of men was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth” (Gen. 6:5-6). Moreover the two lines soon intermingled, and the result of their abnormal wickedness soon appeared (6:4). Those who called upon the Name of the Lord, looked upon the daughters of men, those of Cain, “They took wives of all which they chose.” This promiscuous immoral intercourse is stated as the consumation of the corruption of both lines and not as the cause of the giants referred to in chap. 6:6.
There are two characteristics of Antedeluvian humanity which do not generally exist since the Flood; namely, the longevity of the span of life, and the hugeness of the human frame, “There were giants in the earth in those days.” Although some thousand years later there were giants in Canaan, it is probable that in a time when men lived for centuries their vigour produced individuals of much more than ordinary height, persons of unique size. It is no more necessary for the Bible student to seek an explanation for the immensity of the physical bodies of the Nephilim (giants) than it is to seek a reason for the prolongation of physical existence in Antedeluvian days.