This is the third of a three part post on Genesis 6:2. The first dealt with the interpretation, the second the argumentation, and now we turn to the application.
So what’s the point?
First of all, the point is accuracy. We need to work hard to understand the Word of God. It is worth it.
Secondly, the point is holiness. Just as Genesis 6 stood as a warning to the Hebrews who were on the brink of entering Canaan, it stands as a warning to God’s people today. We must not indulge in the impurities of the world, no matter how attractive. Even seeing the beauty of something forbidden is dangerous. As in Eve’s temptation, seeing was the first act, taking the second, and God’s judgment the third.
What you look at may titillate you all the way to hell. This is the danger of pornography. The first look may lead to a beholding gaze. The craving to take another’s dignity by observing his or her nakedness may forever captivate your heart. Instead of believing by faith that God is the greatest pleasure, you will live by sight and poison your heart with the contagion of fleeting desire. Too many are led to death because they desire the beauty of the forbidden woman and have been captured by her eyelashes (Proverbs 6:25). I know too many men who looked once and are now incapable of ever looking away. Like Lot’s wife, they believe enough to flee Sodom and doubt enough to look back to Sodom. They try to look away, but their first look shut and locked the cell door behind them. Too many are slaves of sight, incapable of trusting in God’s voice. At Noah’s time, seeing was the initial act in the world’s ruin which paved the way for a cataclysmic flood.
In a culture like ours, that has fine-tuned the production of images, this is a good warning. The sons of God in Genesis 6 were not exposed to an infinite number of surgically enhanced photo-shopped mega-pixels in high-definition. Yet, they still gave their lives to the merciless.
What do we learn from the sons of God who married the daughters of man? Be careful little eyes what you see.
About the promised offspring: He did come through Seth’s line, but He took longer to arrive than Eve anticipated. His Name is Jesus, the faithful Son of God. Satan flashed the kingdoms of the world before His eyes, but He refused the offer in exchange for a bloody cross and the Kingdom of God. The serpent bruised His foot at the crucifixion, but He crushed the serpent’s head in His death and resurrection. Forgiveness and power are available through Him, even for those presently enslaved by the visual. But you must trust the sound of His voice more than what you see. In other words, walk by faith and not by sight.
