Acts 6-8 & 10-11: The Transition

A major transition happened in the course of Christianity after the stoning of Stephen--the Word began to be preached to the Gentiles! In this episode we cover: Acts 6-7: The Stoning of Stephen Acts 8: Philip Preaches to the Samaritans & an Ethiopian Acts 10-11: Preaching to the Gentiles We'll get back to the conversion of Paul in Acts 9 next week! Also, what exactly does it mean to be a Gentile?

Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands...Acts 7:48 KJV

The Stoning of Stephen

When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.Acts 7:54 KJV

Stephen was one of the deacons chosen to assist the widows. He is devout man who performs many miracles within the community which enrages the Jews who don't follow Christ. Because of this, they accuse him of blasphemy—which was a very serious crime in Israelite society. When Stephen addresses the issue, he doesn't defend himself. Instead he gives a history of the Israelite nation, pointing out the similarities of his contemporaries to the forefathers who struggled with idolatry. This enrages them even more, so they kill him. Among the Jewish leaders who take part in this is Saul (later known as Paul)! Like Christ, Stephen's last words are a plea of forgiveness for those killing him.

Turning Point

This marks a major turning point in the history of Christianity. Before Stephen's murder, the gospel was only preached to the Jews. After his death, we see focus shift to spreading the gospel beyond the Israelites. This is important to remember as it often comes up in discussion about prophecy!

The Star of David?

⁴²Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of forty years in the wilderness? ⁴³Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.Acts 7:42-43 KJV

During Stephen's speech to the Jewish leaders, he quotes Amos 5:26, which mentions the star of a foreign god that Israel has made "their star." The star in reference is the star known today as the Star of David—the hexagram. This star actually represents idolatry.[6][7][8] It is interesting that Amos condemned them for it in the Old Testament, Stephen condemns them again in the New Testament, and today that star is on the flag of Israel...

Preaching to the Gentiles

What Does Gentile Actually Mean?

The dictionary definition of Gentile is non-Jew, and this is how most Christians define it. However, if you pay close attention to the Bible, this definition seems amiss. Throughout the text we see Biblical authors refer to Hamites (descendants of Ham) and Semites (descendants of Shem) by their tribe names—Ethiopian, Egyptian, Canaanite, Philistine, etc. We never see the Israelites refer to these people as Gentiles and in Genesis 10:5, we see the "isle of the Gentiles" reference a place where Japheth's descendants reside. Furthermore, the Jews have a particular dislike for the Gentiles that is unlike their "separate-ness" from others. The Israelites frequently intermarry with the tribes from Ham and non-Israelite Semites, and we see in Acts 8 that Philip has no problem speaking to the Ethiopian or the Samaritans. Yet Peter has to get a divine message from God to feel comfortable meeting with the Roman Cornelius, and it is only after Peter shares the gospel with these Gentiles (Romans) that the disciples get together to demand answers.

The Samaritans

Acts 8:1-24 covers Philip preaching to the Samaritans. There were already believers in Samaria, many who had already been Baptized—remember when Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well? However, the Samaritans had not received the Holy Spirit, so Peter and John were sent to show miracles and bring the Holy Spirit to them. We are told multitudes were saved there.

Among those multitudes was a sorcerer named Simon who converts. Despite believing, Simon still doesn't fully understand. He desires the abilities Peter and John have (giving the Holy Spirit). He proposes paying for the abilities and is promptly rebuked. Simon's desire to skip the work and jump straight to the power is more common than we think. While many of us would not suggest we "pay" for God's gifts, many do have a desire to skip the process of working and expect all the benefits of a full relationship with Christ. Christ Himself said some things can only be done with prayer and fasting, which means we have to grow in our relationship with Him to be able to perform certain miracles (Matthew 17:19-21).

The Ethiopian

Philip also preaches to a man from "Ethiopia." I put Ethiopia in quotation marks because it is important to remember that here Ethiopia does not reference the country we think of today but rather a broad region in Africa including Cush, Ethiopia, and Nubia. This man is already a believer in the God of Abraham, but he is unsure of how Christ fits into the picture. After asking Philip, he receives the gospel and requests Baptism.

Candace

Many think "candace" is a proper name in Acts 8:27, however it is actually a title similar to pharaoh.[2][3]

Eunuch

There's a bit of a debate over whether the term eunuch is always literal in the Bible. [5] At the very least it refers to a man who is celibate, though if taken literally, it also means he is celibate because he is disfigured. It was common during the ancient days for those who guarded queens (and concubines) to be emasculated so the king wouldn't have to worry about these guards sleeping with the women [*resists urge to go off on a rant about the sexism involved here*].[4]

Cornelius

Cornelius is a Roman soldier who is a man of God seeking truth. God visits him and sends him to Simon Peter. This is the interaction that requires a vision from God to both men (Cornelius and Simon Peter). When Peter visits Cornelius (and his household), the Holy Spirit falls on everyone in there, including the Gentiles. It is this event that prompts the disciples to convene and discuss whether the Gentiles are to be included in the gospel, ultimately understanding that God has included them in salvation.

Baptism

Baptism is featured heavily in in these chapters. There are a few things I noticed in these chapters that I wanted to point out. One of the issues I had trying to get baptized in our time is that people don't want to baptize you into the Body of Christ, but into their denomination. When I brought this up to the pastor who eventually baptized me, he made a point about that fact that just as God meant for babies to be born into a family, so He meant for babes in the faith to be born into a family. On the surface this sounds great, but if you read Acts 8, it's apparent that after baptizing the Ethiopian, Philip leaves. Similarly, it does not suggest that anyone stays permanently in Samaria after baptizing the Samaritans.

Another issue I take with the way some congregations/denominations handle baptism is the requirement of baptismal classes. Philip shares the gospel with the Ethiopian, who is baptized on the spot because he truly believes. While we aren't told how much time elapsed during the journey, it doesn't seem to be more than a few days at most and could very well have been a few hours for all we know!

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References

1. "Gentile". Merriam Webster; visited May 19, 2020
2. Joshua J. Mark. "The Candaces of Meroe". Ancient History Encyclopedia. March 19, 2018
3. Brent MacDonald. "the Bible and the Kingdom of Cush - so called "Ethiopia"". Not Just Another Book. 2014
4. "Eunuch". Bible Study Tools; visited May 19, 2020
5. Megan Sauter"Eunuchs in the Bible". Bible Archeology. January 21, 2020
6. "Remphan". Bible Study Tools; visited May 19, 2020
7. George Lujack. "Star of David or Star of Remphan?". Scripture Truth Ministries. March 21, 2018
8. "In Acts 7:43, what are “the tabernacle of Moloch” and “the star of Remphan”?". Hermeneutics - Stack Exchange; visited May 19, 2020

1 Chronicles 1-9: Genealogies

Insights from the genealogies are pointed out.

Introduction

The first 9 chapters of 1 Chronicles gives us the lineage of the Israelites. It starts by walking us through from Adam to Noah to Abraham, then traces the lineage of Ishmael and Isaac, before zeroing in on the 12 tribes of Israel. It is a bit hard to follow the names due to multiple wives and chronology bouncing between brothers. Below are a few things that stood out to me.
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Ephrath, Caleb's Wife

Caleb, one of the only two spies to trust God to lead the Israelites to victory, married a woman named Ephrath. I find this interesting because throughout the Old Testament we hear about the Ephrathites. When I first read the word "Ephrathites" I thought it was a misspelling of Ephraimites, but I noticed that the people referred to as Ephrathites all grew up the region known as Judah, specifically around Bethlehem. Once I realized this, I assumed they were dubbed the "Ephrathites" because the descended from a man named Ephrath. However, 1 Chronicles 2 makes me wonder if they inherited this name from a woman? Resources state that the name is given after the old name for Bethlehem, Ephratah.^[1] Of course, that only makes me wonder how Bethlehem received that name in the first place...
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Canaanite Women

Whites in the South spent a lot of time trying to craft their version of Christianity to paint Black people as inferior and deserving of slavery. People even twisted the Curse of Canaan to extend to Ham in attempt to justify the treatment of slaves. Interestingly when we look at the lineage of Judah laid out in 1 Chronicles 2, we can see that the line of Judah sprang from a Canaanite woman. This means David, Solomon, and Jesus all have ties back to Canaan and to Ham.
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Simeon

The end of 1 Chronicles 4 covers information on Simeon's descendants who essentially merged into Judah. However, a remnant of Simeonites survived through the reign of Hezekiah and killed the Amalekites living in the land to establish their own place.
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References

1. "Ehrathite". BibleStudyTools.com; visited February 2017

Who are the Gentiles?

There's actually controversy over who the Gentiles are... Who knew? Obviously the Israelites were God's chosen people, and Jesus sent Paul to spread the word to the Gentiles, then where does everyone else fit in if "gentile" doesn't mean "non-Israelite?"

Introduction

When I did the post on The Curse of Israel & The Black Israelite Theory, I found a lot of people claiming that only the children of Japheth were Gentiles. Needless to say, I decided to check out their claims.
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Who Are The Gentiles?

Photocredit: ShutterStock.com/William Perugini

Your preacher or bible study leaders are going to say, without hesitation, anyone who isn't a Jew (what they actually mean is Israelite, since the Jews are actually a subset of the Israelites). Those who support the Black Israelite Theory will tell you white people (or descendants of Japheth) are the Gentiles, but not blacks. So, which group is correct?
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The Argument for Non-Jews

Pretty much every dictionary you can find, defines the word "Gentile" to mean non-Jew. Oxford Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Strong's Concordance, and Easton's Bible Dictionary all define "Gentile" to mean non-Jew.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} The English word "Gentile" is a translation of the Hebrew word "goy", which actually means nations, and the Greek words εθνικοσ (ethnikos) or εθνισ (ethnos), which mean pagan, heathen or non-Jew.^[1][2][3] We get the word Gentile from the Latin gentilis which also means non-Jew.^[4] People have held this belief for eons; the definition of the word simply means non-Jew. There isn't really a Biblical conjecture to prove that Gentile means non-Jew. We should be able to Biblically confirm that our definition of Gentile is accurate, though.
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The Argument for the Japhethic Line

People assert that only Japheth's descendants (Europeans) are Gentiles based on Genesis 10:5.

²The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. ³And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. ⁴And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. ⁵By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.Genesis 10:2-5 KJV

Clearly, the Gentiles are the descendants of Japheth, right? When the Bible references Semites, they are always called by their tribe (Ishmaelite, Moabite, etc.), and the same is true of Hamites (Egyptians, Ethiopians, Canaanites). People argue that since these people are never called Gentiles, they aren't Gentiles.
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Discussing the Options

While I can't find a verse that defines Gentiles to mean everyone other than the Jews, there are still a few holes in the idea that Japheth's descendants are the only Gentiles. Genesis 10:5 has to be read in context with the rest of Genesis 10, and when doing this, it isn't nearly as clear that Japtheth's children are being set up as the only Gentiles. Furthermore, most verses about "Gentiles" are general and don't reference a specific person to conclude they are or aren't referring to Hamites or non-Israelite Semites.
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Genesis 10

If we continue reading in Genesis 10, the listing of progenies doesn't stop with Japheth's children, it continues into Ham's descendants.

⁶And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. ⁷And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtechah: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. ⁸And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.Genesis 10:6-8 KJV

Now, is Genesis 10:5 concluding the list of Japheth's sons, or introducing Ham's? Is "by these" prefacing Ham's descendants which follow the statement, or referring backward to Japheth's sons that have already been listed? Or perhaps it's serving as a bridge and referring to both, as most post people assume; after all, Genesis 10:6 does start with "and" insinuating that this is a continuation i.e. "by these (Japheth's sons) and the sons of Ham".

In order to assert that only those descended from Japheth are Gentiles, you must assume that the Gentiles only had islands at that point. What I mean by this is one can say "the isles of Alaska," but there is a whole land mass not considered an island, which is also part of Alaska. Similarly, the sons and grandsons of Japheth settled in isles of the mediterranean sea, which were considered Gentile lands, but that does not mean there were not Gentile lands elsewhere (like Africa).
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Differentiating Between Peoples

Another thing we have to remember is that there weren't "countries" back then, just groups of people, and those people may not have been as genetically diverse as we are today. Remember, the Edomites descended from Esau while the Israelites descended from Jacob, Esau's twin brother. How different do you think they appeared physically? Moses, an Israelite, passed as an Egyptian (Hamite) for 40 years, they must not have been drastically different physically.

Though it may be considered offensive, today, when we are ignorant of a culture we tend to generalize people into a group. In the U.S. this is most common among Asians and Africans. It is unlikely that an American sees someone who is Igbo and automatically associates the person as Igbo. They aren't even likely to associate the person with Nigeria, which is the country where the Igbo people live, and would thus be that person's Nationality. Instead, they would simply call the person "African." Similarly, people don't often specify if someone is Japanese or Korean when they first see them, they generalize to "Asian." This is because, while we may see differences in the facial structure of a Korean person and a Japanese person, or a Sudanese person and an Ethiopian person, we are not necessarily exposed to these often enough to memorize which set of features belongs to which group.

In high school, there was a set of twins a year above me that appeared identical, but one twin was about an inch taller than the other twin. I never spent much time around them, so even though I knew one was taller than the other, I never could tell them apart because I didn't know who was taller. Contrarily, my uncles are definitely identical twins and I've been able to tell them apart since I was about four. Why? Because I was constantly around them. This same logic applies to the interactions of the Israelites with the sons of Japheth, the other Semites, and the Hamites.

Israel always went into Egypt, the home of the Hamites, for shelter. Abraham went to Egypt, Jacob and his family went to Egypt, even Jesus' family fled to Egypt to hide from Herod. On top of that, they settled in the land of Canaan, another home of the Hamites. It is quite easy to see that the Israelites intermingled with the Hamites much more frequently than Japheth's children, who migrated north away from the territories the Israelites occupied. This would have made it much easier for them to differentiate Canaanites from Egyptians from Ethiopians from their fellow Semites, compared to the Japhethic lines that would eventually become the Greeks, Romans, Germans, etc. This would give plenty reason for Biblical writers to always specify the tribe/origin of Hamites, but remain vague for the Japhethic line.

Interestingly, however, descendants of Japheth are also called by their affiliation. In Acts 10, Cornelius is referred to as Italian; he is never described as a Gentile. In Acts 4:27, Pontius Pilate is said to be with Herod, Gentiles, and Israelites. We know Pilate was Roman, but it doesn't specify that he was "of" the Gentiles, merely that the Gentiles were also present. Both of these men are clearly of Japhethic descent, why not call them Gentiles?

The term Gentile in it's original Hebrew form simply means nation; it is a generic word to refer to nations. When you look at its usage, throughout the Bible, it's pretty obvious that it's always used in a vague sense, simply to portray some group of people. When the nations are well known (e.g. Israel and Canaan), the writers use their name to refer to them, but when referencing a general population, such as the mixed-multitude of Rome (which included conquered nations), the term Gentile is used.
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Ramifications

The only reason anyone would care about the distinction of Gentile versus Israelite (or Jew), is their stance with God. Before God told Peter not to call the Gentiles unclean, and poured His Spirit upon the Gentiles in Acts 10, only Israelites had a relationship with God. The terms divided people into chosen people of God and other. Many of the people claiming Hamites aren't Gentiles never address the major question that stems from this: are the Hamites and non-Israelite Semites able to be saved? Where do they fall into the spectrum of whom salvation was given to. There are clear verses that show the Israelites and Gentiles were given salvation.

Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also:Romans 3:29 KJV

God is to be worshipped by the Jews as well as the Gentiles. If we read with the understanding that "Gentile" means non-Jew, we understand that this refers to everyone. However, if you read this verse assuming "Gentile" means the Japhethic line, this leaves out Semites who are not Jewish (even Israelites who are not Jewish as "Jew" refers to the Southern Kingdom of Judah not all 12 Tribes), as well as the Hamites. Is God not their God too?

Does it Matter?

In the end, I find it a purposeless question. Why do I feel that way? Most of the sites I've read, dedicated to pushing the idea that only Japheth's descendants are called Gentiles, are concerned with the treatment of African Americans in America. Their main point is that African Americans are actually Israelites, and those calling themselves Jews are actually Gentiles. The idea of Hamites not being Gentiles is a side issue they discover while "proving" Ashkenaz is a Gentile. Yet they show no love (fruit of the spirit) for their Hamite brethren, to discuss what it means for the Hamites, they only focus on lifting African Americans as the chosen people. Some sites even neglect verses like Romans 3:29, Colossians 3:11, and Acts 28:28, and treat the topic of Gentiles as though they are still unclean and unsalvageable. If Jesus sent salvation to the Gentiles, there is no longer a difference between Jew and Gentile (Colossians 3:11), so there is no need to make distinctions between "true" Israelites and Gentiles (sure, we should point out the historical inaccuracies of depicting Israelites as white-only people, but there is no need to make this a focal point of doctrine). As for the non-Jewish Semites and Hamites these groups remain silent about, Revelation discussed the end of the world and judgment for all mankind. If the non-Jewish Semites and Hamites are being judged everything in the new covenant has to apply to them, too. If they aren't part of the new covenant, what are they being judged for? Since the new covenant hinges on John 3:16 (keyword: whosoever), we know Jesus' salvation extends to these people as well. Furthermore, between the known intermixing of the Israelites and Hamites, captivities, migrations, slave trades, slavery, etc., I'm pretty sure most people on the planet are descended from all three of Noah's sons at this point in time.

My point is, at the end of the day, the only place ancestry may matter is in your ability to be included in the 144,000. I'll do an in depth post on the topic when I get to Revelation, but for now we'll stick to the basics. The 144,000, mentioned in Revelation 7:3-8 and Revelation 14:1-5, are 12,000 from each tribe of Israel (excluding Dan and including Levi) who are God's faithful that are present on Earth until the very end. They will be sealed and witness the horrors of the end of the world, then have a special place in the Kingdom of God. Whether the reference to the tribes of Israel are literal or symbolic is debated among scholars. If indeed it is literal, then not only are non-Israelites excluded, so are women and married men (the 144,000 are described as virgin men). This is the only place in the Bible where your ties to Israel would matter (and still, there is no need to define Gentile for this passage). Some people confuse this passage to mean only 144,000 people go to Heaven, but these are merely a special subset of the people who go to Heaven (see Revelation 7:9). Thus, not being included in 144,000 doesn't exclude you from Heaven, it simply excludes you from a particular group that will be in Heaven. This proves my point that it really doesn't matter that much who the Gentiles are (or were) in the grand scheme of things.

References

1. "1471. goy". Bible Hub. 2016
2. "1482. ethnikos". Bible Hub. 2016
3. "1484. ethnos". Bible Hub. 2016
4. "Gentile". Oxford Dictionaries. 2016
5. "Gentile". Merriam-Webster. 2016
6. "Gentiles - Easton's Bible Dictionary". Bible Study Tools. 2016

Japheth

Japheth is one of Noah's three's son, and one of the eight people who survived the flood. We aren't told much about his character, but the table of nations in Genesis tells us that Japheth's descendants went on to populate Europe and North Asia.

Introduction

Disclaimer: Liberty taken with the depiction of Japheth.
Please remember the Bible does not
specify a description for most individuals.

Japheth is one of Noah's sons, though there is some argument about his birth order, it is evident that he is the oldest. The name Japheth is said to be derived from the Hebrew Yefet, meaning "enlarged."^[1] Japheth's descendants went on to become the peoples of what we call today Europe and North Asia.

Eldest or Middle Child?

Some deny Japheth's position as eldest due to Genesis 10:21, however a careful inspect will show that Japheth is in fact the eldest of the three sons. Those insisting that Japheth is not the eldest are confused as to whether "the elder" refers to Shem or Japheth (the confusion stems from different translations, it seems fairly apparent in the King James Version that Japheth is the elder of the two). It is easily gleaned that Japheth's brother, Ham, is the youngest based on Genesis 9:24. To determine that Japheth is the oldest we need two verses: Genesis 7:6 and Genesis 11:10. From Genesis 7:6 we know that either at age 500 Noah began having sons, or he had already had all three son by the time he was 500. the flood occurred 100 years later, when Noah was 600. If Noah began having children at 500, his oldest child would be 100 at the onset of the flood. If Noah finished having children at 500, his youngest son (Ham) would be 100 at the onset of the flood. However, Genesis 11:10 tells us that when Shem is 100 years, it is 2 years after the flood. This means that Noah was 502 when Shem was born and Shem cannot be the oldest. Since, Ham is the youngest and Shem is not the oldest, Japheth must be the oldest.
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Nations

Japheth fathers 7 sons that go on to create nations: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. The nations/races that stem from Japheth's sons are thought to be the Armenians, Lydians, Medes, Greeks, Tibarenians, and Moschians (no one has solved the mystery of what nation can be traced back to Tiras)^[2]

Gomer had a son named Ashkenaz, Japheth's grandson. The word Ashkenaz eventually became associated with Jews living in Germany. Gomer's Ashkenaz likely settled in Armenia somewhere with his descendants migrating into the land we now call Germany.^[3][4] Japheth's descendants are described as Gentiles, which leads one to question why the bulk of Jews today are said to be "Ashkenazi" Jewish. At some point, Israelite men settled in the region, coverting and taking for wives the descendants of Japheth's grandson. This particular line of Jews is derived from both Israelite and Gentile bloodlines. This is likely why most Jews today look European.^[5]
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Bible Verses

Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.Genesis 10:1

²The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. ³ And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. ⁴ And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. ⁵ By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.Genesis 10:2-5

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Other Posts About Japheth

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References

1. Campbell, Mike. "Japheth". Behind the Name. 2015
2. Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'JAPHETH (1)'". International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. 1915.
3. "Ashkenaz". Bible Study Tools. 2016.
4. Schoenberg, Shira. "Judaism: Ashkenazism". Jewish Virtual Library. 2016.
5. Tobin, Andrew. "Ashkenazi Jews descend from 350 people, study finds". Times of Israel. September 2014.

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Genesis 6-10: Noah & the Flood

An examination of Noah, his family, and the flood mentioned from Genesis 6-9.

Introduction

Genesis 6 through Genesis 9 details the events of the global flood including the cause, the preservation of life, and the aftermath. These chapters identify the first covenant between God and man and further illustrate the concept that the price of sin is death.
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Evil of Man Before the Flood

The Sons of God and Daughters of Men

In Genesis 6, we are told that just before the flood the "sons of God" married "daughters of men" and became very evil. There is much discussion as to what is meant by the sons of God versus the daughters of men. There are people believe sons of God refer to angels even though out of the 10 times this phrase appears in the Bible only once does it refer to angels[9]. In Matthew 22:29-30, however, Jesus tells us that angels don't marry, making it highly unlikely that in this case this is a reference to angels. The only plausible chance would be if these were fallen angels, which doesn't make sense; why would Moses still refer to them as sons of God? The phrase sons of God is reserved for those who are righteous and follow God. If sons of God refers to fallen angels, is this something that is still occurring even today? Many believe the sons of God refers to the chosen line Seth and the daughters of men refers to the corrupt line of Cain[7][8]. Regardless, we are told that the children of these matches were corrupt men with great power.

That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. Genesis 6:2 KJV

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God Repents of Creating Man

It saddened God that man was so intent on committing acts of evil. Some have argued the fact that God repents or is sorry for creating man (Genesis 6:7) "proves" God does not know the future. However, a more logical explanation is that God knowledge that man would fall to this depth did not stop it from hurting Him when He saw how they behaved. A modern example would be when people go shopping on black Friday: they know it will be hectic yet they still go looking for deals—during the chaos it is likely that they regret coming, even though they knew beforehand that it would be that way, and when they return home with their majorly discounted merchandise they are happy again that they decided to go.

And God 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. Genesis 6:5 KJV

It was the evil in the hearts of man that caused God to destroy them with the flood.
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120 Years

In Genesis 6:3 KJV tells us that God put a limit or expiration date on mankind. The question is if this time (120 years) referred to a cap in how long man would be allowed to live (you'll notice that after the flood people live shorter lives) or if it referred to how long it would be before He destroyed the world with the flood. After the flood there are still people who live to 120 years, though if you assume God is restricting how long man can live in this passage, He does not say when He will limit the age of man. It makes sense that if He were restricting age, it would be a gradual process, as the surviving humans would need the extra time to repopulate the Earth. Supporters of this theory also argue that it is possible that the shortening of life was a trait given to Noah and his sons at the moment God spoke, which was passed down genetically (which would also take time)[1]. Currently there is a woman claiming to be 127 years old, however, she does not have proof[5]. The Guinness Book of World Records cited the oldest human to ever live to have been 122 years old[6]. While this is far from the 969 years of Methuselah, it is still greater than 120 years. Yet there are still counters to explain the possibility of someone living beyond 120 years. In this passage God is speaking of His disdain for man's wickedness an inclination to follow the flesh as opposed to God. In some versions of Exodus 20:12 KJV, God says that your days can be prolonged by honoring your mother and father (other translations use "long" instead of "prolonged"). Thus, it is possible that those making it above 120 years were granted a prolonged life for their conduct. It is my opinion, however, that God was speaking of how long it would be until He brought about the flood—this theory has no contradictions. Plus, in Psalm 90:10 KJV, we are told the average lifespan of mankind is 70-80 years. Not only is this consistent with what we see, there is no contradiction as we are being given an estimate or an average. In Genesis 6:3, the 120 years appears absolute. It is hard to say for certain which is the correct interpretation.
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Giants/Nephilim

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. Genesis 6:4 KJV

Many legends, myths, and stories have been created for the mysterious Nephilim of Genesis 6:4 (the Nephilim also appear in Numbers 13:33). So who are they? Are they the unholy offspring of angels and mankind, like some suggest? A portion of the population that grew into giants? Neanderthals!? There are three main suggestions for who the Nephilim are: half-human/half-angel offspring of "sons of God" and "daughters of men", royalty/nobility, or heroes. We know that they existed both before and after the flood, so if they were giants in the literal sense the gene to produce giant offspring must have been within Noah and his sons as well since they return after the flood. If indeed fallen angel went against their angelic nature to produce children, this would have had to occur after the flood as well (which is theoretically possible). Royalty and heroes were bound to reappear after the flood, so that is possible as well.There are arguments for an against each theory (some of the arguments for and against Nephilim being half angel, half man are discussed in the section entitled The Sons of God and Daughters of Men). An in depth argument that the Nephilim were the product of fallen angels can be found here, and brief analysis on many of the theories can be found here.

The main problem I have with the argument for Nephilim being the offspring of man and angel is the timing. In the link above the author suggests that the devil was attempting to "poison" the seed of Eve (remember Genesis 3:15) so that the Messiah could not come to defeat him. The problem with this theory is that if the devil actually believed this was possible, why wouldn't the angels have continued this behavior until the Messiah was born? Why would they only infiltrate one family (Anak)? This is a bit of a plot hole in this theory to me... Of course the devil doesn't have the power to know the future so its possible that he began this course and then changed his mind. Later in the Old Testament we will meet Goliath who is a literal giant (in 1 Samuel 17 he is said to be over 6 cubits tall which is more than 9 feet!), so it seems unlikely that the term "giants" was being used figuratively. It is possible that it was a trait that managed to only be viable in a subset of the population. The tallest man on record was 8ft 11in[10] (exactly one inch shy of Goliath...), so it is possible that this gene still exists, but was simply more prevalent back then. It is hard to say for certain, though I lean towards the latter in my personal opinion.
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God Chooses Noah

Even in all the chaos and evil of mankind, God is able to find one person whom He still considers righteous: Noah. Genesis 6:9 tells us that Noah was just and "perfect in his generations." Perfect in his generations means that compared to those of his era or generation (already referred to as wicked men by God), Noah was very righteous[3]. For this reason Noah is blessed by God and his family is spared from the flood. In Genesis 6:8 the word grace—like the grace we received upon Jesus' sacrifice—is used to describe Noah's blessing. Note also that there is a word play in the original Hebrew words for Noah and grace; both words are made of the same two consonants in reverse order[3].

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6:8 KJV

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The Ark

Noah is instructed to build an ark and in Genesis 6:14-16 we are given the specifications of the ark. It was made of "gopher" wood which is thought to mean either pine or cypress[3][2]. God tells Noah that the ark should be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits tall. A cubit is approximately 18 inches, which means the equivalent contemporary measurements would be 450ft (137.16m) long, 75ft (22.86m) wide, and 45ft (13.72m) tall. That's roughly 33,750ft² of space on each of the three floors Noah is instructed to build in the ark. This would be a massive ship.
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Parallels with Adam

There are many parallels between God's instructions for Noah when he exits the ark and God's instructions for Adam.

	Adam	Noah
Dietary Instruction	Genesis 1:29-30 - Can eat herbs and plants	Genesis 9:4 - Can eat both animals as well as plants
Exceptions to Dietary Instruction	Genesis 2:17 - Can't eat from the Tree of Knowledge	Genesis 9:3 - Can't eat blood
Fill the Earth	Genesis 1:28 - Be fruitful and multiply	Genesis 9:1,7 - Be fruitful and multiply
Punishment to the Earth	Genesis 2:17 - Cursed is the ground, it brings forth thorns and thistles	Genesis 9:2 - Animals now have fear
Man is Special	Genesis 1:26 - Man made in God's image.	Genesis 9:6 - Murders of men must receive death because man was made in God's image
Price of Sin is Death	Genesis 2:17 - God says "You will surely die" of eating the forbidden fruit	Genesis 9:5 - Sacrifice required

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The Covenant

Before Noah even begins building the ark, he is told by God that if he follows God's instructions God will make a covenant with him. After the flood, in Genesis 9, God makes the first covenant to man with Noah. In this covenant He promises not bring another flood to the Earth as well as promises not to punish the Earth for man's mistakes. God then sets a rainbow in the sky as a sign of this promise. Nay-sayers may suggest this is an elaborate explanation of the rainbow which always occurs after the rain, but an obvious question is: if it was made up, how did they know it wouldn't flood again and that world would never be destroyed by water? All scientific versions of the end of the world also end in fire.
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The Flood

Animals

Genesis 6:19 is the origins of the two by two idea; here Noah is instructed to bring two of every animal to the ark, one male and one female. Later in Genesis 7, Noah is told to bring clean beasts by sevens and unclean animals by twos. In Genesis 6, God was defining a pair for Noah: one male one female. God was explaining to Noah that in order to keep the species alive a pair of each species was needed. In Genesis 7 God is telling Noah an exact number to bring. In essence He said told Noah it requires 2 to say the species survived the flood but He wants more than two aboard the ship. It is unclear if sevens refers to seven pairs or groups of seven. Some believe it to be seven pairs, others think three pairs with one left over for the sacrifice Noah gives God directly after the flood. Note that by referencing clean and unclean animals, we are also being told that either Noah already understood the distinction of clean and unclean animals or that this is the moment the distinction was made to God's people. Thus the notion of clean and unclean predates Judaism.
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The Timeline

Once Noah finishes the Ark, God tells Noah the flood will begin in 7 days. We are told that the flood began on the 17th day of the second month during Noah's 600th year on the Earth. In the Jewish Calendar, Iyar is the second month which aligns with our April or May (naturally, remember, April showers bring May flowers)[4]. However, they could mean the second month after Noah's birthday, it is not clear. When the flood started, water came from both "the fountains of the deep" and from the sky. This means it not only rained but water came from out of the ground as well. This continued for 40 days and 40 nights (this could possibly mean simply 40 days as in Genesis 1 we are told night + day passed and it was the first day). The water reached a height of 15 cubits (22.5ft) which overtook the Earth for 150 days. It took another 150 days for the water to recede from the Earth. The Earth was dry on the on 27th day of Noah's 601th year (a little more that 1 year later). An in depth overview of the timeline is shown in the article Biblical Overview of the Flood.

In History

It is common knowledge that the story flood persists throughout many cultures in the ancient world. In a future post, we'll look a some of them and discuss the significance of the global flood.

References

1. Cramer, Guy. God's Limit on Man's Years. Trinity Consulting. 1998
2. "Gopher Wood". Jewish Encyclopedia. 1906
3. Holman Publishers. Holman KJV Study Bible. pg 19. 2014
4. "The Jewish Month". Chadbad.org. 2008
5. Li, David K. "127 Year Old Said to be the Oldest Person to Ever Live". New York Post. August 31, 2014
6. Oldest Person Ever. Guinness World Records. 2015
7. "The Sons of God". The Bible Study Site. 2015
8. "Who Are the Sons of God?". Associates for Scriptural Knowledge. 2014
9. "Who were the sons of God in Genesis 6?". GotQuestions.org. 2015
10. "Tallest Man in History". Guinness World Records. 2015