“Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.’” Genesis 6:1-3.
The word Lord here has been used, up to this point, thirty-two times, and in every case it is the word used for the covenant name of God, YHWH, meaning I am that I am, the self-existent one.
This name for God was thought by the Jews to be too holy to pronounce out loud, so they would always substitute the word Adonai, which means Lord, when spoken.
This holy name, YHWH, was often written or spoken as Jehovah since the true pronunciation of the name is lost.
An example of the name Jehovah being used to indicate YHWH in Scripture is in the 1898 edition of Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible.
“And Jehovah saith, ‘My Spirit doth not strive in man – to the age; in their erring they [are] flesh:’ and his days have been an hundred and twenty years.” Genesis 6:3. Young’s Literal Translation.
Strong’s Concordance renders the pronunciation of this word as Yeh-ho-vaw, which is often pronounced as Yahweh.
I personally dislike the use of the name Jehovah because the Jehovah’s Witnesses have so desecrated that name that people tend to associate it with their cult.
In the New King James Version you can tell if the word lord just means that, lord, or if the word lord or Lord is used as a term of respect, or for a master, teacher, or a titled person.
The woman taken in adultery is a good example of the use of the word Lord as a term of respect.
“When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, ‘Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” John 8:10-11.
In verse 11 the woman replies to Jesus, “No one, Lord”, which can mean master, teacher or sir, as a sign of respect. There is no indication that she knew that she was speaking to Yahweh, God incarnate.
However, you can tell if it means Yahweh by the type-face. Lord, meaning Yahweh is shown by the first letter being a capital “L” with the following 3 letters ORD being in capital letters also, but in smaller type.
If you have a newer version Bible check out Genesis 6:3 for yourself, if it has what I have described, you will understand immediately what I mean.
I am sorry I do not know how to do this with my computer, so you will have to check out the word Lord in your Bible to confirm whether it is Yahweh or a title or a term of respect.
By the way Jesus said the following to unbelieving Jews.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” John 8:58.
He was using the covenant name of God, Yahweh to refer to Himself. You can cross-reference this with Exodus 3:14 to see just how strong His statement is. Do not ever let anyone tell you Jesus never claimed to be God incarnate.
So here in verse three Yahweh says, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever…” meaning that while men were becoming more and more corrupt, the Holy Spirit was working with them, convicting them and perhaps leading many back to God.
Yet He says, “…for he is indeed flesh…” flesh has two constant attributes, it is weak, and it is sinful.
The flood gives us two interesting views of history. If man were made with his destiny carved in stone with no choice whether to choose God or not, God’s Spirit would have no reason to strive with man.
He could simply sit back and let things run their pre-determined course; not strive with man to turn him back to God. So all men are free to choose God or reject them.
“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:8-9.
The other view reinforces the fact that man will always descend to the depths of depravity, even to the point that God has to destroy him to stop the descent into a hell on earth.
“Then the Lord [YHWH] saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5.
“But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” 2 Timothy 3:13.
The history of this current post-flood world is rapidly coming full circle, and again God is going to do something about it.
“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
Truly, we have always had men with characteristics like those described above; they are woven into the very fabric of history.
However, we have never had so many men who are all of the above at once and they increase in number and power daily.
Soon, after Christ removes His church from the earth (all true Christians) He is going to take His hand of control away and the world will see what it was like before the flood.
“But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
Even then the warning went out those living before the flood.
“And the Lord said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.’” Genesis 6:3.
The fact that verse 3 above begins with the words, “And the Lord said…” indicates that He did not just think these words, He spoke them to someone.
But to whom; there is a number of 120 years given here; it appears as though Noah was not called to build the ark until he had his three sons when he was 500 years old.
It is possible that he began preaching when he heard God’s message in Genesis 6:3 above, and continued preaching for a hundred years as he built the ark right up until he entered it with the animals and his family at the age of 600 years old.
“For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into the chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly…” 2 Peter 2:4-5.
It is quite possible too that someone else started preaching 20 years earlier before there was so much as a board on the ground. Methuselah who died the year of the flood would have been a respected elder among the population.
Or even Lamech, Noah’s father may have begun preaching to the people.
Whatever the case, the warning went out for 20 years without making so much as a dent against the crushing tide of evil which was engulfing everything.
Then a man began to build a boat.
Deadly, Evil and Wicked, Genesis 6:3 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 9-3-14, updated on 11-10-21.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.