And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
The verse marks the time when humanity had grown numerous on the earth and daughters had been born, bringing together the godly descendants of Seth with the idolatrous descendants of Cain. Seeing that the daughters of Cain's line were beautiful, the sons of Seth took wives from among them as they chose, mingling those who feared God with those who did not. Through the influence of those wives they lost their distinct holy character, were drawn into idolatry and apostasy, and that increasing sin brought the destruction of the world by the Flood as God's verdict that the wicked were incurable. Such alliances between those professing godliness and those not obeying God are disastrous, for love founded only on sensual gratification enslaves reason to passion and departs from the requirement not to be unequally yoked, and taking wives as they chose also departed from God's design of one wife for a man. The generation of Noah prefigures the present age, for the same infatuation over appetite and marriage that made the world then ripe for destruction prevails now before the second coming, proving that the great majority are lost and only few are saved.
World Before the Flood
The verse marks the moment when humanity began to grow numerous upon the earth and daughters were born to them, in the generation that lived just before the Flood. It belongs to that time when people had multiplied across the face of the earth and the same corruptions existed that exist in the last days, when the world was ripe for destruction. The sons of God were the descendants of Seth and the daughters of men were the daughters of the descendants of Cain, so the verse introduces the meeting of the godly line that feared God with the idolatrous line that did not. Together with the following verse it introduces those marriages between the righteous and the ungodly that mingled the two classes from Cain's time onward. The account of Noah's generation is real history, and human nature without the Spirit of God then was the same as human nature now.
In that time men, animals, and trees were many times larger than any that now exist or have existed for thousands of years. In the days of Noah those much larger men, animals, and trees were buried by the Flood and thus preserved as evidence to later generations that the antediluvians perished by water. Relics found in the earth give evidence of conditions then differing in many respects from the present, but when those conditions existed can be learned only from the inspired record, not from geology alone, for in the history of the Flood inspiration has explained what geology alone could never fathom. God designed the discovery of these things to establish faith in inspired history, but men by vain reasoning and wrong use turn that benefit into a curse, falling into the same error as the people before the Flood.
Marriages That Corrupted Humanity
As men multiplied and daughters were born, the descendants of Seth, called the sons of God, saw that the daughters of the descendants of Cain, called the sons of men, were beautiful, and took wives from among them as they chose, mingling those who feared God with those who did not obey Him. These unwise alliances between those professing godliness and those who did not respect and obey the commandments opened the floodgates of sin and proved disastrous to both parties. Love founded only on sensual gratification is headstrong, blind, and uncontrollable, enslaving honor, truth, and every noble power of the mind to passion and making the man deaf to reason and conscience, giving to the creature the love that belongs to the Creator in direct departure from the requirement not to be unequally yoked, so that danger lies in any intimate relation with those who have no connection with heaven.
Through the influence of their wives the sons of God lost their distinct and holy character, were drawn into idolatry, departed from God and displeased Him, and this union led to apostasy. The children of Seth were thus seduced from integrity and the holy seed became corrupt through women enlisted in Satan's service to entrap and destroy souls. The same bewitching power was displayed that overcame Israel through the harlots of Midian and that tempted Joseph, betrayed Samson's strength into the hands of the Philistines, caused David to stumble, and made Solomon a slave of passion. Taking wives as they chose included taking many wives, which departed from God's design and arrangement of one wife for a man as given in Adam, and this taking of many wives at choice was a great sin of the old world that brought God's wrath upon its inhabitants. The same custom continued after the Flood and became common even among righteous men, yet its prevalence did not make it right, for it remained contrary to God's will and destructive to family peace, human happiness, and the order of God. It was Satan's studied effort to pervert the marriage institution, to weaken its obligations and lessen its sacredness, for in no surer way could he deface the image of God in man and open the door to misery and vice, and after the Flood polygamy again became widespread.
Their course degenerated from lightness and frivolity to debasing sins that called for the Flood to rid the earth of their contaminating influence, with inclination and passion bearing sway over reason, self as their god, and the knowledge of God nearly obliterated through selfish indulgence of corrupt passions. Satan overcame the inhabitants of the old world in the same manner as Adam and Eve in Eden, through appeal to appetite, leading them into indulgence of lustful appetite and corrupt passions until eating and drinking became gluttony and drunkenness with appetite ruling mind and conscience. By controlling appetite and exciting and strengthening the passions through continued transgression, he defaced and almost obliterated the image of God in man, destroying physical and moral dignity until fallen man bore only a faint resemblance in character and noble perfection of form to dignified Adam in Eden. Their marrying became corrupt, bewitched, indiscreet, lustful indulgence without consulting God or asking whether it was according to His will and pleasure, not to glorify God but to gratify loose passions and depraved lusts, without God in their thoughts. It was marked by disobedience to parents, wantonness, marrying without counsel of parents or the church, a spirit of improper freedom, forgetting God and increasing intemperance unto corruption and sin, bringing untold misery and dishonor to God, and that same spirit is dangerous and corrupting in any age and stands as a warning against marital impurity. As men increased self-indulgence controlled men and women, with a perverted and defiled marriage relation marked by marrying and giving in marriage, divorce after divorce, and heart-sickening violence in the land where men kill women and women kill men and young girls are killed for refusing marriage, worst near the large cities, with the laws of the land becoming more and more oppressive. This apostasy and increasing sin led to the destruction of the world by the Flood, which in mercy to the world blotted out the wicked and declared God's verdict that they were incurable and unwilling to submit to divine authority.
Warning for the Last Days
The generation of Noah prefigures the present age, for human nature without the Spirit of God then was the same as human nature now. The beginning of a multiplied and crowded world before the Flood returns in the condition of the world at the end, when as men increase self-indulgence controls men and women. That control shows itself in eating and drinking and in marrying and giving in marriage in a perverted and defiled relation marked by divorce after divorce. It shows itself also in heart-sickening violence in the land, where men kill women and women kill men and young girls are killed for refusing marriage, worst near the large cities, while the laws of the land become more and more oppressive, so sanitariums are not to be built up in the cities.
The same corruptions that existed when men began to multiply and daughters were born exist in the last days; the world then was ripe for destruction by the Flood, and the world now is almost ripe for destruction. The sins then were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage in a corrupt way, and the same infatuation over appetite and marriage prevails now as in the days of Noah before the days of the Son of Man. The course degenerated from lightness and frivolity to debasing sins that called forth the wrath of God in the Flood to rid the earth of their contaminating influence. Inclination and passion bore sway over reason, self became their god, and the knowledge of God was nearly obliterated through selfish indulgence of corrupt passions. Their eating and drinking became gluttony and drunkenness with appetite ruling mind and conscience, and their marrying became bewitched, indiscreet, lustful indulgence without consulting God, bringing untold misery and dishonor to God.
The hearts of the young were filled with getting married, becoming disobedient to parents, becoming wanton, and marrying without the counsel of parents or the church. They did not have God in all their thoughts and did not ask whether marriage was according to His will and pleasure. They married not to glorify God but to gratify loose passions and depraved lusts, and would not bear God in their thoughts. Preoccupation with marriage then is a sign of the times now, for the marriages managed before the Flood were a crime, and marriages in the last days are likewise a sign of the times. The same state of being preoccupied with marriage and the same corrupt marrying, driven by disobedience, lust, and disregard for God, will exist before Christ's second coming.
The marriages of the sons of God with the daughters of men were a turning point, for this union led to apostasy and ultimately to the destruction of the world by the Flood. The account therefore illustrates that even a seemingly small choice in marriage can have grave, lasting consequences for oneself and others. The growth of humanity before the Flood became the setting in which grave corruption developed, giving warning about marital impurity. The days of Noah were a time when a spirit of improper freedom led to widespread corruption, and that same spirit is dangerous and corrupting in any age.
In that setting the sons of God were drawn into idolatry and lost their distinct holy character, most turned from God, while Noah and his family remained among the few who did right and honored their Creator. The fact that the whole multiplied world perished proves that the great majority are lost and only few are saved. Therefore those who hold present truth must not be discouraged by small numbers, must not follow the majority, and must not turn to the right or left from duty, because following the majority brings destruction and keeps them out of heaven. Such sins brought the Flood upon the old world and destroyed those sinners, and the awful sins of the last days, like those sins, will bring God's judgment and His unmingled fury upon the world.
The verse marks the time when humanity had grown numerous on the earth and daughters had been born, bringing together the godly descendants of Seth with the idolatrous descendants of Cain. Seeing that the daughters of Cain's line were beautiful, the sons of Seth took wives from among them as they chose, mingling those who feared God with those who did not. Through the influence of those wives they lost their distinct holy character, were drawn into idolatry and apostasy, and that increasing sin brought the destruction of the world by the Flood as God's verdict that the wicked were incurable. Such alliances between those professing godliness and those not obeying God are disastrous, for love founded only on sensual gratification enslaves reason to passion and departs from the requirement not to be unequally yoked, and taking wives as they chose also departed from God's design of one wife for a man. The generation of Noah prefigures the present age, for the same infatuation over appetite and marriage that made the world then ripe for destruction prevails now before the second coming, proving that the great majority are lost and only few are saved.
World Before the Flood
The verse marks the moment when humanity began to grow numerous upon the earth and daughters were born to them, in the generation that lived just before the Flood. It belongs to that time when people had multiplied across the face of the earth and the same corruptions existed that exist in the last days, when the world was ripe for destruction. The sons of God were the descendants of Seth and the daughters of men were the daughters of the descendants of Cain, so the verse introduces the meeting of the godly line that feared God with the idolatrous line that did not. Together with the following verse it introduces those marriages between the righteous and the ungodly that mingled the two classes from Cain's time onward. The account of Noah's generation is real history, and human nature without the Spirit of God then was the same as human nature now.
In that time men, animals, and trees were many times larger than any that now exist or have existed for thousands of years. In the days of Noah those much larger men, animals, and trees were buried by the Flood and thus preserved as evidence to later generations that the antediluvians perished by water. Relics found in the earth give evidence of conditions then differing in many respects from the present, but when those conditions existed can be learned only from the inspired record, not from geology alone, for in the history of the Flood inspiration has explained what geology alone could never fathom. God designed the discovery of these things to establish faith in inspired history, but men by vain reasoning and wrong use turn that benefit into a curse, falling into the same error as the people before the Flood.
Marriages That Corrupted Humanity
As men multiplied and daughters were born, the descendants of Seth, called the sons of God, saw that the daughters of the descendants of Cain, called the sons of men, were beautiful, and took wives from among them as they chose, mingling those who feared God with those who did not obey Him. These unwise alliances between those professing godliness and those who did not respect and obey the commandments opened the floodgates of sin and proved disastrous to both parties. Love founded only on sensual gratification is headstrong, blind, and uncontrollable, enslaving honor, truth, and every noble power of the mind to passion and making the man deaf to reason and conscience, giving to the creature the love that belongs to the Creator in direct departure from the requirement not to be unequally yoked, so that danger lies in any intimate relation with those who have no connection with heaven.
Through the influence of their wives the sons of God lost their distinct and holy character, were drawn into idolatry, departed from God and displeased Him, and this union led to apostasy. The children of Seth were thus seduced from integrity and the holy seed became corrupt through women enlisted in Satan's service to entrap and destroy souls. The same bewitching power was displayed that overcame Israel through the harlots of Midian and that tempted Joseph, betrayed Samson's strength into the hands of the Philistines, caused David to stumble, and made Solomon a slave of passion. Taking wives as they chose included taking many wives, which departed from God's design and arrangement of one wife for a man as given in Adam, and this taking of many wives at choice was a great sin of the old world that brought God's wrath upon its inhabitants. The same custom continued after the Flood and became common even among righteous men, yet its prevalence did not make it right, for it remained contrary to God's will and destructive to family peace, human happiness, and the order of God. It was Satan's studied effort to pervert the marriage institution, to weaken its obligations and lessen its sacredness, for in no surer way could he deface the image of God in man and open the door to misery and vice, and after the Flood polygamy again became widespread.
Their course degenerated from lightness and frivolity to debasing sins that called for the Flood to rid the earth of their contaminating influence, with inclination and passion bearing sway over reason, self as their god, and the knowledge of God nearly obliterated through selfish indulgence of corrupt passions. Satan overcame the inhabitants of the old world in the same manner as Adam and Eve in Eden, through appeal to appetite, leading them into indulgence of lustful appetite and corrupt passions until eating and drinking became gluttony and drunkenness with appetite ruling mind and conscience. By controlling appetite and exciting and strengthening the passions through continued transgression, he defaced and almost obliterated the image of God in man, destroying physical and moral dignity until fallen man bore only a faint resemblance in character and noble perfection of form to dignified Adam in Eden. Their marrying became corrupt, bewitched, indiscreet, lustful indulgence without consulting God or asking whether it was according to His will and pleasure, not to glorify God but to gratify loose passions and depraved lusts, without God in their thoughts. It was marked by disobedience to parents, wantonness, marrying without counsel of parents or the church, a spirit of improper freedom, forgetting God and increasing intemperance unto corruption and sin, bringing untold misery and dishonor to God, and that same spirit is dangerous and corrupting in any age and stands as a warning against marital impurity. As men increased self-indulgence controlled men and women, with a perverted and defiled marriage relation marked by marrying and giving in marriage, divorce after divorce, and heart-sickening violence in the land where men kill women and women kill men and young girls are killed for refusing marriage, worst near the large cities, with the laws of the land becoming more and more oppressive. This apostasy and increasing sin led to the destruction of the world by the Flood, which in mercy to the world blotted out the wicked and declared God's verdict that they were incurable and unwilling to submit to divine authority.
Warning for the Last Days
The generation of Noah prefigures the present age, for human nature without the Spirit of God then was the same as human nature now. The beginning of a multiplied and crowded world before the Flood returns in the condition of the world at the end, when as men increase self-indulgence controls men and women. That control shows itself in eating and drinking and in marrying and giving in marriage in a perverted and defiled relation marked by divorce after divorce. It shows itself also in heart-sickening violence in the land, where men kill women and women kill men and young girls are killed for refusing marriage, worst near the large cities, while the laws of the land become more and more oppressive, so sanitariums are not to be built up in the cities.
The same corruptions that existed when men began to multiply and daughters were born exist in the last days; the world then was ripe for destruction by the Flood, and the world now is almost ripe for destruction. The sins then were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage in a corrupt way, and the same infatuation over appetite and marriage prevails now as in the days of Noah before the days of the Son of Man. The course degenerated from lightness and frivolity to debasing sins that called forth the wrath of God in the Flood to rid the earth of their contaminating influence. Inclination and passion bore sway over reason, self became their god, and the knowledge of God was nearly obliterated through selfish indulgence of corrupt passions. Their eating and drinking became gluttony and drunkenness with appetite ruling mind and conscience, and their marrying became bewitched, indiscreet, lustful indulgence without consulting God, bringing untold misery and dishonor to God.
The hearts of the young were filled with getting married, becoming disobedient to parents, becoming wanton, and marrying without the counsel of parents or the church. They did not have God in all their thoughts and did not ask whether marriage was according to His will and pleasure. They married not to glorify God but to gratify loose passions and depraved lusts, and would not bear God in their thoughts. Preoccupation with marriage then is a sign of the times now, for the marriages managed before the Flood were a crime, and marriages in the last days are likewise a sign of the times. The same state of being preoccupied with marriage and the same corrupt marrying, driven by disobedience, lust, and disregard for God, will exist before Christ's second coming.
The marriages of the sons of God with the daughters of men were a turning point, for this union led to apostasy and ultimately to the destruction of the world by the Flood. The account therefore illustrates that even a seemingly small choice in marriage can have grave, lasting consequences for oneself and others. The growth of humanity before the Flood became the setting in which grave corruption developed, giving warning about marital impurity. The days of Noah were a time when a spirit of improper freedom led to widespread corruption, and that same spirit is dangerous and corrupting in any age.
In that setting the sons of God were drawn into idolatry and lost their distinct holy character, most turned from God, while Noah and his family remained among the few who did right and honored their Creator. The fact that the whole multiplied world perished proves that the great majority are lost and only few are saved. Therefore those who hold present truth must not be discouraged by small numbers, must not follow the majority, and must not turn to the right or left from duty, because following the majority brings destruction and keeps them out of heaven. Such sins brought the Flood upon the old world and destroyed those sinners, and the awful sins of the last days, like those sins, will bring God's judgment and His unmingled fury upon the world.