DISCOURSE X. THE CAUSE OF THE DELUGE. Gen. vi. 1-7. VER. 1-3. When we read of men beginning to call upon the name of the Lord, we entertained a hope of good times, and of comfort, as Lamech said, after toil and sorrow; but alas, what a sad reverse! A general corruption overspreads the earth, and brings on a tremendous deluge, that sweeps them all, one family excepted, into oblivion. First: We may remark the occasion of this general corruption, which was the increase of population. When men began to multiply, they became more and more depraved: yet an increase of population is considered as a blessing to a country, and such it is in itself; but through man's depravity it often proves a curse. When men are collected in great numbers they whet one another to evil, which is the reason why sin commonly grows rankest in populous places. We were made to be helpers; but by sin we are become tempters of one another, drawing and being drawn into innumerable evils. Secondly: Observe the first step towards degeneracy, which was, the uniting of the world and the church by mixed marriages :-The sons of God and the daughters of men ; the descendants of Seth and those of Cain; the seed of the woman and the seed of the Serpent. The great end of marriage, in a good man, should not be to gratify his fancy, nor to indulge his natural inclinations, but to obtain a helper; and the same in a woman. We need to be helped on in our way to heaven, instead of being hindered and corrupted Hence it wasthat, in the law, marriages with idolaterswere forbid : den ;* and hence Christian marriages were limited to those in the Lord. The examples which we have seen of the contrary, have by their effects, justified these injunctions. I would earnestly entreat serious young people, of both sexes, as they regard God's honour, their own spiritual welfare, and the welfare of the church of God, to avoid being unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Thirdly Observe the great offence that God took at this conduct, and the consequences which grew out of it: The Lord said My Spirit shall not always strive with man, &c. Had the sons of God kept themselves to themselves, and preserved their purity, God would have spared the world for their sakes; but they mingled together, and became in effect one people. The old folks were in their account too bigoted, and it seemed much better for them to indulge a more liberal way of thinking and acting. But this, in the sight of God, was worse than almost any thing that had gone before it. He was more offended with the religious, than with the irreligious part of them. Seeing they had become one people, he calls them all by one name, and that is man, without any distinction and in giving the reason why his Spirit should not always strive with man, special reference is had to their having be come degenerate-It was for that he also, or these also, were flesh; that is, those who had been considered as the sons of God were become corrupt. God's Holy Spirit in his prophets had long strove or contended with the world, and while the sons of God made a stand against their wickedness, God was with them, and the contest was kept up: but they having, like false allies, made a kind of separate peace, or rather gone over to the enemy, God will give up the war; let sin have a free course, and let them take the consequences! Bread-corn is bruised, because he will not ever be threshing it. Fourthly: Observe the long suffering of God, amidst his displeasure. His days shall be a hundred and twenty years. This refers to the period of time which should elapse before the drowning of the world, when, as an Apostle expresses it, the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was prepar *Deut. vii. 3, 4. + 1 Cor. vii. 39. See Neh. ix. 30. 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20. ing. All this time God did strive, or contend with them; but it seems without effect. Ver. 4. Among various other evils which at that time prevailed, a spirit of ambition was predominant; a thirst of conquest and dominion; and of course a flood of injuries, outrages, and oppressions. The case seems to have been this: Previously to the unhappy junction between the families of Cain and Seth, there were among the former, giants, or men of great stature; who, tempted by their superior strength, set up for champions and heroes, and bore down all before them.* Nor was the mischief confined to them: for also after that, when the two families had become one, as the children that were born unto them grew up, they emulated, as might be expected, not the virtues of their fathers, but the vices of their mothers; and particularly those of the gigantic and fierce heroes among their relations. Hence there sprang up a number of characters famous, or rather infamous, for their plunders and depredations. Such, in after times, was Nimrod, that mighty hunter before the Lord. Ver. 5. The church being thus corrupted, and in a manner lost in the world, there is nothing left to resist the torrent of depravity. Man appears now in his true character. The picture which is here drawn of him, though very affecting, is no more than just. If it had been drawn by the pen of a prejudiced, erring mortal, it might be supposed to exceed the truth; but that which was written was taken from the perfect and impartial survey of God. Hear ye, who pretend that man is naturally virtuous. That the wickedness of man has in all ages, though at some periods more than others, been great upon the earth, can scarcely be called in question : but that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart should be only evil, and that continually, is more than men in general will allow. Yet such is the account here given. Mark the affecting gradation. Evil: evil without mixture; "only evil." Evil without cessation; “continually." Evil from the very fountain head of action; "the imagination of the thoughts of the heart." Nor is it *They are denominated from to fall; which in this connexion has been thought to mean, that they were a kind of fellers, causing men to fall before them like trees by the axe. are. a description of certain vicious characters only, but of "man," as left to himself. And all this "God saw," who sees things as they This doctrine is fundamental to the gospel: the whole system of redemption rests upon it; and I suspect that every false scheme of religion which has been at any time advanced in the world, might be proved to have originated in the denial of it. Ver. 6. The effect of this divine survey is described in language, taken, it is true, from the feelings of men, but unusually impressive. It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart! We are not to attribute to an immutable mind the fickleness of man, nor to suppose that the omniscient Jehovah was really disappointed: but thus much we learn, that the wickedness of man is such as to mar all the works of God over which he is placed, and to render them worse than if there were none; so that if he had not counteracted it by the death of Christ, there had better have been no world. In short, that any one but himself, on seeing his work thus marred and perverted, would have really repented, and wished from his heart that he had never made them! The words express, with an energy and impressiveness which it is probable nothing purely literal could have conveyed, the exceeding sinfulness and provoking nature of sin. Ver. 7. From this cause proceeded the divine resolution, to destroy man from the face of the earth; and to show the greatness of his sin, it is represented as extinguishing the paternal kindness of God as his Creator: The Lord said, I will destroy man, wнOM I HAVE CREATED, from the face of the earth. He that MADE THEM would not have mercy on them, and he that FORMED THEM would shew them no favour! And further, to show his displeasure against man, the creatures which were subject to him should be destroyed with him. Thus when Achan had transgressed, to render his punishment more impressive upon Israel, his sons and daughters, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, and tent, and all that he had, were brought forth, and with himself stoned with stones, and burnt with fire. However light man may make of sin during the time of God's forbearance, it will prove in the end to be an evil and bitter thing. |