The first seven verses of the sixth chapter of the book of Genesis describe how the sinfulness of man increased after the fall in the garden of Eden to the point where God regretted creating humanity. “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he made human beings on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created – and with them the animals, the birds, and the creatures that move along the ground – for I regret that I have made them.” (Genesis 6:5-7).
There couldn’t have been a more concise depiction of the complete depravity and corruption of man’s inner soul than this. James 1:15 elaborates on this condition, and how penetrating and devastating it is to the lives of those who indulge in sin. “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” And Jesus said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts – murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” (Matthew 15:19).
Mankind had descended so deeply and so profoundly into carnality, that worldly values and the maxims of society were completely ungodly and evil. This degeneracy and perversion was so prevalent that only Noah and his family were worthy of saving, so God chose to deluge the earth and rid it of civilization.
The Hebrew word used in verse six for “regret” is yin’nā’hem, from the root word nacham. It connotes deep pain, sadness or unhappiness. It does not imply that God felt that He had made a mistake or that He wished He had never created humanity. Just as any parent of rebellious children may experience negative emotions regarding their behavior, they never wish they had never had that child.
God knew full well, that left unchecked, mankind would eventually destroy itself and all the animals and the earth with them. Therefore, He had Noah, the only righteous man left, build an ark in order to save a remnant of people and animals to repopulate the earth after the flood. In reality, the flood not only demonstrated God’s discipline and justice, it exemplified his mercy by not allowing humanity to continue down the path to total self-destruction.
God Is Longsuffering And Patient
Similarly, civilization today is headed down the wide road that leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14) and is destined to destroy itself and the earth as well, unless God intervenes. The Bible predicts that there will come a time when all the armies of the world will be prepared to annihilate each other at the battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:14, 16; Revelation 19:11-21), and they will be oblivious to destroying innocent lives and the very ground they stand on. Once again, in an act of mercy, the Lord will step in and destroy these evil powers.
God has held off delivering justice in order that the maximum harvest of true believers can be extracted from the earth before he pours out his wrath on the ungodly (Revelation 16). The apostle Peter wrote, “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9).
The details of God’s perfect plan remain a mystery, and it is incumbent upon believers to remain faithful and loyal to Christ as we long for His appearing. Paul instructs us in Romans 11:25, “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in,”
And once again Peter’s words remind us regarding Christ Jesus, “After being made alive, He went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits – to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. (1 Peter 3:19-20a). And Numbers 14:18a teaches us, “The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished;”
Jesus said that the last days would be similar to the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37-39), and judgement would come quickly and unexpectedly. Humanity will once again devolve to a state of irreconcilable distance between man and God and be deserving of God’s wrath.
The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
They are the kind that worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:1-6).
Beware Of The Wide Road
Our boastful and arrogant civilization today is rife with all these attributes. Materialism, celebrity worship, self glorification and atheism are societal norms. Sexual depravity permeates all walks of life in the forms of pornography, prostitution, child trafficking and the imposition of the LGBTQIA2S+ agenda on unsuspecting children and the rest of society. Evil is called good and good is called evil. Mankind is persistently rebellious against God’s righteousness as our culture redefines morality and even attempts to argue that truth is relative, while denying God’s sovereignty. Even many people who identify as Christians have succumbed to the deception and find themselves drifting down the wide road along with multitudes of non-believers.
The secret powers of darkness control governments, the food supply, the education system and the mainstream media, thereby promoting the propagandist narratives of Darwinism, climate change, abortion and ultimately suppressing of the truth in order to facilitate their ungodly world design, protect their own interests and cover their guilt. The magnitude of “The Lie” has grown exponentially in the last century through the pernicious erosion of the truth and much of humanity now stands hopelessly floundering in a sea of uncertainty, unable to find the narrow gate that leads to life.
Once more I must cite the words Paul who wrote in Romans 1:18-25, “For the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who supress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is forever to be praised. Amen.”
Despite all of this, the Lord has maintained a posture of forgiveness for those who revere Him, while patiently enduring the blasphemies against His holy name from those who don’t. And with each passing generation, more names have been added to the Lamb’s book of life, so that the King’s banquet hall will be full at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Praise God for His immeasurable love and mercy and the perfection of His salvation!
The brilliance of the Lord’s redemptive plan through Jesus Christ is a mystery to unbelievers and the hope of the saved. Jesus will return to bring restoration to the faithful and deliver justice to the ungodly. “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:7-8).
As the world continues to drift down the path of least resistance, and most of it’s population gives in to carnal desires, without self-control, even denying the existence of God, the Lord holds fast to His promises to all those who call upon His name and persevere in patience. His formidable forbearance means that His greatness instils reverence and His tolerance, patience and restraint provide humanity every opportunity to repent and turn to Him. His love is immeasurable and infinite as is His justice. Praise God for His incomprehensible yet comprehensible love for us!
