The description of the descent of mankind into a culture of violence and debauchery in this passage doesn’t really provide us with much detail other than to say that there was violence and a lot of sexual immorality. That immorality even involved the Nephilim who were mythical giants thought to be fallen angels. Even the realms of heaven and earth had been drawn together into a place of sin which is perhaps an indication of how bad things had become.

We need to understand that things had become so bad that the people had moved past the point of seeing the error of their ways and were just doing whatever pleased them at the time. God decided it was time for a reset. A reset that would become a pattern for mankind over the generations that were yet to come. Not every reset would involve the bulk of humanity being wiped out by a flood that washes everything clean but it would involve a cycle of tragedy leading to repentance followed by the slow, inevitable slip back into a life of sin once again. Even a cursory review of the history of faith in the world shows that this pattern has now gone on for thousands of years.

It’s a pattern that also appears in our own lives. We come to faith, repent of our sins and live fairly well until our old habits start to resurface and then as we slip into unholy lifestyles again we find the need to repent and start over. Sometimes that cycle is as short as a day or even a few hours, sometimes its spread over months or even years.

Fortunately our God is bigger than the size of the problems we create and he had a better plan that involved Jesus – His own Son.

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Question:

How does verse 6 make you feel?

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, forgive us for our sins, wash us clean as you once washed the earth, restore your almighty image in us and raise us up to be all that we can be in the power of Your Holy Spirit. Amen.