Warning and Provision: Genesis 6:1-13

Genesis 6:1‑13  •  3 min. read  •  grade level: 6
Listen from:
We did not have a chapter on the fifth chapter, because it is mostly names. How­ever we might just say this: when you are reading your Bible each day, as we hope you do, you should always take time to read over these names. God has put them down in His Word for a pur­pose, and it shows us that He knows our names, and that He takes notice of little things in our lives. Among all the others, He tells us that “Enoch walked with God.” That is, Enoch lived to please God, and instead of dying as all the others did, God took him to heaven without death. This reminds us of the time when the Lord Jesus will come (it is very soon!), and He will take all those who are trusting in Him, up to heaven without death (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Are you ready for that moment?
Wickedness of Man Great in the Earth
Men and women had been living on the earth for over one thousand five hundred years, and instead of getting any better, they were becoming worse and worse. God looked down, and He has told us just how bad things really were. He saw “that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Your heart and mine are just as bad as this, and there is only one thing that can cleanse them. It is the precious blood of Christ.
“And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man.” God was patient for many years, and the time was drawing near when He must act in judgment. Dear young reader, are you saved? Do not trifle with His goodness any longer, lest He should have to say that His Spirit would not strive with you anymore. What a solemn thing that would be! If your sins are troubling you now, it is be­cause God’s Spirit is striving to bring you to the knowledge of Christ as your own precious Saviour. Open your heart to the Lord Jesus today and you will be saved. Tomorrow may be too late.
Warnings of Destruction
God said that He would destroy the earth with a flood of water. All the fine things, with the harps and the organs of Cain’s city, and all the places of pleasure, with the great men who had built them, were to be buried under the waters of the flood. Judgment was written on them all. But there was one man who had faith. It was Noah. He walked with God, and he believed God. God told Noah to build an ark to shelter himself and all who would enter it from the coming storm, and he did exactly as God told him.
Noah did not follow the crowd, or he, too, would have perished in the flood. I suppose the others told him he was foolish, but he did not listen to them, for he believed God. He preached and warned them, but they would not listen to his message, and the only ones who entered the ark with him were seven others of his own family. Dear young reader, don’t follow the crowd. They may laugh at you in school, and tell you that you should have a good time with them, but don’t forget that the crowd are going down the broad road to judgment.
Further Meditation
1. Why did God decide to destroy the earth?
2. Noah resisted what you might call peer pressure. All those around him were opposed to what God had to say. How did Daniel do the same thing?
3. Living in a godly way when others are opposed to godliness is a real challenge. You might find the pamphlet The Blessedness of Godliness: A Meditation on Psalm 1 by G. V. Wigram an encouragement to you if you have a desire to resist evil and follow holiness.