Except for Noah

Read This Week: Genesis 6

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. – Genesis 6:5-8 NIV

The words of verses 5 and 6 in Genesis 6 are devastating and haunting. After civilizations began to form and humanity multiplied and spread on earth, God’s assessment when He looks at it all is regret at ever creating human beings. Think about that for a moment. After reading through the glorious process of creation of the universe and seeing how God breathed the breath of life into man and woman, it is sad and gut-wrenching to see people’s behavior at such a point that the Lord wishes He had never made them. How crushing to absorb.

This passage tells us that God is not without reason or justification for His feelings. It describes the depth of man’s depravity just 1,000 years after the fall as sadistic and wicked. The latter part of verse 5 comments that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. There was a wholistic nature to man’s wickedness at that time. In no uncertain terms, the writer of Genesis tells us that human beings are corrupt and sinful to the core and that there is no break in their evil thoughts and wrongdoing. The people of that day were literally always up to no good. God saw this and His heart was deeply troubled.

Yet, there is hope. Just as we saw in the last chapter, humanity, sinful and broken as we may be, is still made in the image of God and is, with His help and faithfulness, capable of living for His glory, purposes, and mission. That hope and aspiration of human beings comes in the beginning of verse 8 and starts with the simple conjunction but which means except for. It says, But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. The world was inexorably lost to its own devices, with the exception of Noah, except for one man and his family.

Except for Noah, there was all this rampant wickedness and depravity on earth. Except for Noah, people were not faithful to God and His ways. Except for Noah, human beings were devious, self-interested, violent, and barely experienced a moment where their hearts were not full of malice. God would have been content to wipe out the human race except for Noah. Verse 9 says Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. That was his witness, his life, and how He found favor with the Lord to be chosen to restart humanity on earth.

Amid his current culture, Noah was counter-cultural. In the middle of widespread moral and societal decay, Noah was upstanding. The Bible says he was righteous, which means he was both holy and ethical. He was spiritual and virtuous. It asserts that he was blameless, whole, and complete in his commitment to his relationship with God and others. And the verse also informs us that He had an ongoing, vital fellowship with God as he walked faithfully with. This testimony is why the Creator told Noah that He would destroy the earth but spare him and his family indicating the power and impact of a life lived for God in any era or generation.

Genesis 6 should be sobering to us but also inspirational and hopeful that we can live a life with God that makes a lasting and eternal difference on earth. Maybe a good exercise for all of us to do is insert our name into this sentence and then finish it: Except for ____________, the world is… It may stir us to think about how we’re different than the world. It may challenge us to examine our lives and see if we’re more like the culture or Noah. Or better yet, more like Jesus.

6 Comments

  1. Javaid Ahmed on August 23, 2023 at 12:42 pm

    God wanted me to review verses 11 and 12 in Genesis 6
    11 The earth was depraved and putrid in God’s sight, and the land was filled with violence (desecration, infringement, outrage, assault, and lust for power).
    12 And God looked upon the world and saw how degenerate, debased, and vicious it was, for all humanity had corrupted their way upon the earth and lost their true direction.

    What He said to me about this is:

    “It is difficult to find beauty in darkness, but that does not mean it is not there. Sometimes there needs to be darkness in order to see what heavenly glow surrounds you and lights up your life. Even when things are dire, fear not, you are with Me and I with you.”

    When we work with God on anything in life it truly takes the “guess work” out of it. We know we can be bold and courageous with Him by our side!

  2. Trina on August 25, 2023 at 8:17 am

    Genesis Chapter 6 Verse 18
    But I will establish my covenant (promise, pledge) with you, and You shall come into the ark— you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.

    ~The Covenant~

    God Is Saying To Me:
    I am God! My heart is weary, sad and weeps for mankind. The loss of direction and purpose must be evaluated and a remedy must come forth. A covenant must be established in complete faith and obedience to me. My desire is to be present now and in the coming days ahead but I need you to be in total agreement with me so that my promises to you and the whole world will be confirmed and faith does not fail or falter.

    What This Means To Me::
    Because of the fall of man, I must be completely, wholeheartedly in total obedience to father God. My every thought and action must be sacrificed and made whole through God. I cannot live an obedient and fruitful life without giving God my entire being, mind, spirit, soul and heart. He wants me to flow spiritually with Hm, through Hm and for Hm for the Kingdom of God and Heaven. His love for mankind is infinitely deep and our commitment and agreement of desire and spirit must be reciprocated to Him so that we are one in Him. His sacrifices to us and our sacrifices to Hm will be presently and eternally blessed. We must give everything, every ounce of us to Him! He is a gracious and merciful God of hope, love, faithfulness, provision, safety and eternal life! Thank you God for never leaving us or forsaking us and once again, being a God of blessings and provision for your children! ❤️❤️❤️

  3. Alma on August 27, 2023 at 2:02 pm

    This week in genesis chapter6 I got a song

    Faithful
    Let’s come together to worship our Lord let’s come together to worship our lord , singing glory, glory hallelujah. We are sons and daughters of our Lord. We are growing in our faith , becoming closer to our Lord, knowing it’s only going to be better It’s only gonna get better with our Lord every day is a new day. Every day is a new day. Every day is a new day with our lord Let’s have a heart like our Lord helping sharing Spreading Gods love being kind lifting spirits up for our Lord let’s come together sharing his love , sharing his Love
    Amen..

    God loves it when we are faithful he loves it when we put him first and middle of everything that we do helping others throughout Our week God is love and helps us . Thank you God.

  4. reachchurch on August 27, 2023 at 6:15 pm

    This Week in the Life: Genesis 6

    For the best experience, we suggest you listen to the first song, the message, and the second song.

    1. Sunday Worship – First Song: https://reachchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023-0827-Worship1.wav
    2. Sunday Message: https://reachchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023-0827-Message.wav
    3. Sunday Worship – Second Song: https://reachchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023-0827-Worship2.wav

    Join the Party Line Live – Schedule: https://reachchurch.org/connect

  5. Heidi on August 28, 2023 at 9:44 am

    It is all about our heart❤️
    We can learn from the past, we can learn what blesses God’s Heart, He really knows what is best for us!
    God speaks to our hearts if we will listen and follow His instructions, if we do He saves us from troubles and we’re blessed!
    He loves it when we desire to honor Him with our whole heart ❤️
    This is a great song to sing every morning to him. I want to encourage you to think about him all throughout the day talk to him, study the Bible and listen and respond to what he says you will be blessed.

    I Give You My Heart

    This is my desire
    To honor You
    Lord, with all my heart
    I worship You
    All I have within me
    I give You praise
    All that I adore
    Is in You
    Lord, I give You my heart
    I give You my soul
    I live for you alone
    And every breath that I take
    Every moment I’m awake
    Lord, have Your way in me
    This is my desire
    To honor You
    Lord, with all my heart
    I worship You
    All I have within me
    I give You praise
    All that I adore
    Is in You
    Lord, I give You my heart
    I give You my soul
    I live for you alone
    Every breath that I take
    Every moment I’m awake
    Lord, have Your way in me
    And I will live
    And I will live for You
    And I will live
    And I will live for You
    Oh and I will live
    And I will live
    And I will live for You
    Lord, I give You my heart
    I give You my soul, I live for You alone
    Every breath that I take, every moment I’m awake
    Lord, have Your way in me
    Have Your way
    Have Your way, have Your way

  6. Kathy on September 2, 2023 at 8:22 pm

    This is what God gave me in Genesis 6. There is a point of no return, in your rejection of Me. There is a point when I will say “no more.” Today you should respond to Jesus, instead of waiting for another day. Tomorrow is not promised. “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” He didn’t earn grace; he found it. You don’t earn grace; you can find it. I regarded Noah “as righteous.” I will use Noah’s 3 sons as a foundation for the rest of the human race. Because of the corruption and violence on the earth, I told Noah that I would judge the wicked, along with the earth. The ark was Noah’s project. Noah obeyed and the ark was built. Noah was a “preacher of righteousness.” Noah building the ark was a heroic act of faith. The conditions of the world, before the coming of Jesus will be “exploding population, sexual perversion, demonic activity, constant evil in the heart of man, and widespread corruption and violence.” This is how the world is now. You are to be ready for Jesus’s return. Remember you don’t earn grace; come to Jesus now, and you will find grace.

    What this said to me is we all need to not reject God. We are to confess our sins, repent and come to Jesus now and not wait. We are not promised tomorrow; do it today.

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