The End of an Era

Matthew 24:32 – 44, Genesis 6:1 – 8
We go back to the early world. We now come to the end of this era. 3 men marked the genealogy, Adam – who was the first sinner; Enoch who shows that if we walk with God we will conquer death and Noah who tells us there will be a judgement. This chapter is intriguing – men had lost part of the likeness to God. This chapter builds up to the Flood.
1. THIS PERIOD IN HISTORY HAD DISTINCT FEATURES – Matthew 24:37.
This speaks of the days before the flood – what men did before the flood. The Bible speaks of ages and how they ended. A time of ignorance before Christ returns. The Dark ages were times of ignorance and moral uncertainty. In His Olivet discourse He speaks of how things will be immediately before he comes for a second time. He compares it to the time of Noah. These are Epochs in history with similar characteristics. The spiritual condition before the flood are the same as they will be before Christ’s return. The record of history has been the collapse of one civilization after another. The Bible speaks of times and seasons. If we are living in the days immediately preceding the return of Jesus Christ we shall find similar conditions to the days of Noah. It was business as usual – marriage, work and supporting family. It was a time of technological advancement. They knew so much but understood very little. Romans l – they professed to be wise but were fools. Today we have achieved so much but it is accompanied by much moral darkness and ignorance. Jesus said people in Noah’s time went about their business oblivious to what Noah was saying – of ‘crazy Noah’ who was building a boat when none was needed, apparently. He warned them of impending judgement but they went their own way. Perhaps they laughed at him, perhaps they got annoyed at him for making a ‘special claim’. None of them took any notice of what he said.
2. THIS PERIOD IN HISTORY SAW COMPROMISE – verse l
Who were the sons of God? There are several views, but the application os the same – men compromised.
a) Human rulers who were despots, striving for fame and fertility? The daughters of men were beautiful, but they were fallen women.
b) They were fallen angels in human bodies who married human women. There a lot of problems here – angels having sex with people, it sounds like Greek mythology – its not really tenable.
c) The best view is that they were the believing descendants if Seth who married the line of Cain. People who compromised. It was the intermarriage of believing men and unbelieving women. It was Satan seeking to turn a generation away from God. It was a sexually promiscuous age where men took the women they wanted. They ignored any character or spiritual traits. The rule is ‘think first and feel later’. The sexual drive is very strong and can neutralise or weaken faith. We can choose what is wrong. The Sethites compromised and chose a faith that led to sin. It contaminated a whole society. In Romans l Paul describes a fallen society, it began in Genesis 6.
3. THIS PERIOD WAS NOTED FOR CORRUPT MEN – verse 4
Who were the Nephalim? There is only one other mention in the Bible – Numbers l3 when the spies went into the land and saw these giant men, they called them Nephalim, they felt dispirited and alarmed by what they saw. The word Nephalim means ‘to fall upon’ and thus points to men of violence who had a reputation of falling upon their enemies. They were malicious and became notorious around the world. They were men who could sway multitudes to do what they wanted - see Genghis Khan, Hitler and Stalin etc, they led their people to kill millions. Al Qaeda will get their people to use dirty bombs. These people were notorious for their violence, they embodied the worst traits in men. They lived a long time – everyone did. They became very skilled in what they did. When good men live a long time it can be good, what if evil men live a long time and become skilled in evil and torture. Unchecked evil is an unimaginable horror. People lived like that in the old world. The Nephalim refined their violence over a long time. For the good of humanity such cancer needs cutting out, so God acts, he uncreates the world and washes away all vestiges of human wickedness that made life so miserable. He brings the Hitlers and Stalins of this world to a short end.
4. THIS PERIOD SAW GOD’S PATIENCE RUN OUT – verse 3.
God only permits wickedness a short reign. God will judge wickedness, he gives them a count down – one hundred and twenty years, then people face judgement. Noah was boat building for all that time. It was a warning. Noah was famous world wide and he was preaching a warning, why did they not listen? Romans l describes the breakdown of society, there have been occurrences of this before, but here it was everywhere. 2 Peter 2:5. Churchill warned politicians and society about the rise of Hitler, that he would be a danger to the world. People ignored him and did not want to listen or contemplate what he was saying. It was too late and Hitler did attack the world and cause harm. God warns us today, we are all accountable to God for what we do. We don’t like to think about this. We don’t like to listen to bad news. God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. He postpones judgement to give us time to repent. God is calling us and is calling you, he wants you to hear good news, his son has been sent to die on the cross and to rise again so we have the hope of a better world. God’s patience will not last forever. Here a l20 years, is the time limit.
5. THIS PERIOD SAW GOD ANNOUNCE JUDGEMENT – verse 5
Grief is a mixture of love and anger at what causes pain. God’s grief is a sign of his great love. The Lord is not some unfeeling God who watches in benign disinterest while men and women destroy themselves. It grieves Him to see our rebellion and sin, and He only brings judgement after he has warned and appealed to us to turn from our sin. When He does judge, his judgement are always just. He has a right to judge man. Ezekiel 33:ll. He appeals to take account of unpalatable facts, we are accountable to Him. ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways. Why then will you die? We must put our trust in the Son of the Living God so we can live in Heaven with God. May God help us to do this.