Genesis 6:1-7

The Sons of God Married the Daughters of Men

From the time of the fall, men could be grouped in two major categories. The "sons of God" would be those people who had good morals, were God-fearing and religious. Abel was of this category. He offered in accord with the Lord's will and was accepted in his sight (Genesis 4:1-4; Hebrews 11:4). Enoch was taken off the earth by God because he pleased him. To please God, one must believe God exists and that he will reward those who diligently seek him (Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5-6). The other category was the "daughters of men," who would be those who gave priority to fleshly desires. Cain would be of this group.

There came a time when the righteous began to intermarry with the unrighteous (Genesis 6:2). They chose their mates because of their physical attractiveness instead of their spiritual strength. This wrong motive for marriage turned the hearts of the righteous away from God (compare 1 Kings 11:1-3). People also had their hearts filled with wickedness and the earth was filled with violence (Genesis 6:5; Genesis 6:11). God limited the amount of time he would strive with man to bring him back to recognition of his sins and turn him back (Genesis 6:3). Destruction of the earth was brought by God because of all the wickedness of man (2 Peter 2:5).

God does have a limit to his patience with man's wickedness. He will destroy the earth when he can no longer tolerate man's sinfulness (Genesis 6:5-7; 2 Peter 3:8-10). In the days of Noah, God was sorry, or repented, that he had made man. He did not repent in the sense of turning away from evil. Instead, he turned from fellowship with man because of wickedness.