CONTINUOUS DECADENCE

Primary Bible Passages: Genesis 5:9 - 6:5

Key Verse: Genesis 6:5

Memory Verses: Matthew 24:38

Monday: Genesis 5:9-6:5, Genesis 1:6-8
Tuesday: Genesis 5:5,8, Genesis 4:19, Genesis 6:2,5,11-13
Wednesday: Deuteronomy 7:1-5, II Corinthians 6:14-18
Thursday: II Peter 2:5, Jude 14-15, Hebrews 11:7
Friday: Matthew 1:18-20, Matthew 28:18
Saturday: II Peter 3:1-18
Sunday: Matthew 24:36-39, Luke 17:27-28, Acts 7:51

LESSON OUTLINE

I. THE HISTORY OF ADAM TO THE FLOOD.

A. The Chronological Bible says the Flood began May 17, 2319 B.C. ¹

1. This same document lists the time from Creation to the Flood as 1,656 years.² Dr. Henry Morris says that assuming no gaps in the births of one antediluvian patriarch to the next, a possibility which he says cannot be completely ruled out, "but for which there is not internal evidence," there was "a total of 1,656 years from the Creation to the Flood."³

2. Even if there were gaps in the listing of the ages and birth years of the antediluvian patriarchs, the time lapse between the Creation and the Flood would not change by many years. Based on the ages given in the history of the Sethites up to the Flood, the age of the earth is very young, exceeding 6,000 years by only a few hundred years at the most. Keil and Delitzsch allow for some variances but still come up with only 2,066 years from the Creation to the Flood. ⁴

B. Life-spans in the antediluvian or pre-Flood era were very long.

1.Adam lived 930 years. (Genesis 5:5) His son, Seth, lived to be 912. (Genesis 5:8) The oldest person on record was Methuselah at 969. (Genesis 5:27) Methuselah lived more than 58% of the total time from the Creation to the Flood. In the pre-Flood record given in Genesis 5, life-spans of many hundreds of years were the rule and not the exception.

2. Prior to the Flood, a "firmament" (water canopy) encased the whole earth. (Genesis 1:6-8) There is reason to believe the canopy was 10 to 20 feet thick.⁵ This canopy of water would have substantially increased atmospheric pressure. It would have also enriched the oxygen in earth’s atmosphere. Hyperbaric medical chamber experiments have demonstrated that such conditions dramatically enhance healing. Ultraviolet radiation is the current leading cause of genetic damage, cancer, and other health damage factors that shorten the life-span. Far less water than that in the firmament, "the waters which were above" (Genesis 1:7), would have completely filtered out all short-wave or ultraviolet radiation from the pre-Flood atmosphere. Many other pre-Flood conditions contributed to the long life spans.⁶

3. These exceedingly long life-spans contributed greatly to a very large population on the earth prior to the Flood. Genesis 5 records the fact that parents continued to have children for hundreds of years. For example, Enos had a son at 90, then lived 815 years more during which time he "begat sons and daughters." (Genesis 5:10) Furthermore, it is quite evident that, in most cases, the sons and daughters were all still living at the death of their parents. Under the optimum health conditions prior to the Flood, parents could easily have given birth to a child every year, not considering the possibility of twins.

Furthermore, polygamy and sexual promiscuity were rampant. The population exploded. There was also far more habitable land prior to the Flood. The population at the time of the Flood could easily have exceeded the current population of the earth.

II. A WORLD TURNED ALMOST UNIVERSALLY TO WICKEDNESS AT THE TIME OF THE FLOOD. (Genesis 6:5)

A. Dr. Henry Morris lists 15 conditions indicative of that era. They include such things as:

1. Preoccupation with physical appetites. (Luke 17:27)

2. Grossly materialistic attitudes and interests. (Luke 17:28)

3. Inordinate devotion to pleasure and comfort. (Genesis 4:21)

4. No concern for God in either belief or conduct. (II Peter 2:5. Jude 15)

5. Disregard for the sacredness of the marriage relationship. (Matthew 24:38)

6. Rejection of the inspired Word of God. (I Peter 3:20)

7. Widespread violence. (Genesis 6:11,13)

8. Corruption throughout society. (Genesis 6:12)

9. Preoccupation with illicit sex activity. (Genesis 4:19; 6:2)

10. Widespread words and thoughts of blasphemy. (Jude 15)⁷

B. A chief characteristic of the day was the marriage of believers to non- believers. (Genesis 6:2)

1. The "sons of God" married the "daughters of men." Though there are many interpretations of this statement, that these were marriages between the saved and the lost seems to be in greatest harmony with the overall teachings of scripture. Clear prohibitions against this appear in the Bible. (Deuteronomy 7:1-5, II Corinthians 6:14-18)

2. The only reference in scripture of a spirit being cohabiting with a mortal is that of the Holy Spirit with Mary. (Matthew 1:18-20) The Holy Spirit was God, who has all power. (Matthew 28:18) To imagine, as many have, cohabitation between angels and humans presents enormous ramifications and theological tensions and has no firm Biblical justification.

C. A point was reached when God terminated His efforts to bring the world to repentance. (Genesis 6:3)

1. Through the continuous efforts of faithful witnesses such as Enoch, Methuselah and Noah, God has sought the repentance of the world. The work of the Holy Spirit through these men was God’s striving with the world. He did not individually, apart from the word of God, work in the hearts of men to bring them to repentance. Stephen explained in Acts 7:51 that once the Old Testament people heard and rejected the words of God’s inspired messengers, they were guilty of resisting the Holy Ghost.

2. The end of God’s patience with the antediluvian world should be a sobering testimony to the current world. II Peter 3 is a serious promise of God that just as God destroyed "the world that then was" with water because of its wickedness, even so He will ultimately destroy "the heavens and the earth, which are now" when wickedness reaches a sufficient degree of maturity. It is noteworthy that God specifically says conditions similar to those of the pre-Flood era will trigger God’s future judgment of the world by fire. (Matthew 24:36-39)

 

FOOTNOTES

1. Reese, Edward, The Chronological Bible, Nashville: E.E. Gaddy & Associates, 1977, page 2.

2. Ibid., Index, page i.

3. Morris, Henry, The Genesis Record, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1976, page 154.

4. Keil, C.F. and Delitzsch, F., Commentary on the Old Testament, Grand Rapids: Eerdsmans Publishing Co., 1973, Vol.I, page 121.

5. Baugh, Carl, Panorama of Creation, Oklahoma City: The Southwest Radio Church, 1989, page 46.

6. Ibid., pages 52-58.

7. Morris, pages 174-175.

SUMMARY

Prior to the Flood, life spans were very long. Most people lived more than 900 years. Considering the fact that the time from the Creation to the Flood was probably 1,656 years and not more than 2,100 years, a large number of the people born prior to the Flood were still living when the Flood began resulting in a very large population. There is no firm scientific evidence that the earth is much more than 6,000 years old. Placing the age of the earth at more than 10,000 years requires extensive speculation and many unreasonable assumptions.

By current standards, the antediluvian climatic conditions were almost like a paradise. The firmament (water canopy) around the earth generated optimum conditions for long lives. The water in the firmament filtered out most of the ultraviolet radiation rays from the sun. These short radiation rays are extremely damaging to life and their presence significantly shortens the length of mortallife. The canopy also increased atmospheric pressure and enriched the oxygen in the atmosphere. The canopy created a greenhouse effect, eliminating polar and desert regions and also created an even, mild temperature worldwide. Great supplies of food were readily available everywhere. These and other factors were conducive to long life-spans.

The population of the earth exploded. A set of parents could have a child every year for 900 or more years. Animal populations have demonstrated that in cases where a population is low, unusual events such as the birth of twins can occur, thus speeding a population explosion. Polygamy and promiscuous sexual conduct contributed to the high population growth. With people living so long, well over half of the people born before the Flood were still living when the Flood began. It is reasonable to believe that the population at the time of the Flood exceeded the earth’s current population.

The years just prior to the Flood were characterized by a world almost fully turned from God to self. Whatever God was for, they were against. The people of that age were preoccupied with their physical appetites. They lusted after food, sex, pleasure and material things. Theirs was an inordinate affection with comfort and sensual fulfillment. There was no concern for God in either what they thought or did. Jude recorded the fact that they blasphemed God. They rejected the word of God as evidenced in their total disregard for the preaching of Noah and the visible testimonial of the Ark, by which Noah condemned the world. Society was totally corrupted; violence was a main characteristics of that era.

Their special preoccupation was with sex. The sacredness of marriage meant nothing to them. Every kind of sexual promiscuity and deviance was acceptable and in full practice. Jesus personally highlighted sexual sins and a disregard for the sacredness of marriage and the home as the chief characteristics of the pre-Flood era.

As time progressed from Adam and Eve forward, the marriage of believers to unbelievers was accepted and became common. This unholy mix led to the corruption of the whole human race. By the time of the Flood, this unrestrained sin had led true believers to the brink of extinction. This seems to have been one of the primary reasons why God determined to discontinue his efforts through His preachers to turn the world from its sins. Those believers who would marry unregenerate people should beware. Not only does this sin bring enormous heartache to the guilty party, it also has long-term degenerative social connotations as seen in the history of the world before the Flood.

The judgment of God against the world in the form of a Flood and the events leading up to that Flood are a warning to the world today that full-blown wickedness by modern man will lead to another worldwide judgment by God. His coming judgment against a future world consumed with the sins of the pre-Flood era will not be by water, it will be by fire. II Peter 3 is a most vivid chapter predicting and detailing God’s future judgment upon the earth.

QUESTIONS

1. Approximately how many years ago did the Creation occur?

2. Approximately how many years transpired between the Creation and the Flood?

3. What was the approximate length of average life spans in the pre-Flood era?

4. Discuss the negative impact of ultraviolet radiation rays on life spans.

5. Discuss the firmament which surrounded the earth prior to the Flood.

6. Discuss various ways the firmament extended life spans.

7. Explain why the population of the earth prior to the Flood so rapidly reached a very large number.

8. Discuss how widespread wickedness had become prior to the Flood.

9. Where were human appetites centered prior to the Flood?

10. Discuss society’s attitude toward marriage prior to the Flood.

11. Discuss man’s attitude toward God and His ways prior to the Flood.

12. Discuss widespread violence in the pre-Flood society and compare violence in today’s society.

13. Compare the materialistic mind-set of the pre-Flood era to the world’s current mind-set.

14. Compare the pre-Flood era’s preoccupation with illicit sexual activity to that of modern society.

15. Consider the statement that the pre-Flood society was "corrupted" in light of today’s world.

16. Discuss the marriage of the sons of God to the daughters of men.

17. Discuss the only time in scripture where a spirit being cohabited with a mortal.

18. Explain how God’s Spirit strove with man prior to the Flood.

19. What great future judgment upon the earth is foreshadowed by the destruction of the earth by water?