Genesis 6:5-8 - Only Evil All the Time

Chad Werkhoven
Jun 30
3 min read

Apart from God's grace, you have a one track mind.

Text reads "The Lord saw how great the wickedness..." from Genesis 6:5, in a white circle against a cloudy, dark sky background. Mood is somber.

Genesis 6:5-8

5 The LORD saw how great the wickedness of man (ʾā·ḏām) had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth — and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

Canons of Dordt

Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election

Point 2 - Limited Atonement

Point 3 - Total Depravity

Article 3: Total Inability

All people are conceived in sin and are born children of wrath,
1. unfit for any saving good, inclined to evil,
2. dead in their sins, and slaves to sin.
Without the grace of the regenerating Holy Spirit
1. they are neither willing nor able to return to God,
2. to reform their distorted nature,
3. or even to dispose themselves to such reform.

Summary

This passage introducing the flood account begins with familiar words in the book of Genesis: the LORD saw. This word appears seven times in the first chapter as God surveyed the progress of His creation, with the report each time that what He saw was good. But here in chapter six, the goodness is nowhere to be found.

Now, instead of goodness, all the LORD sees is how great the wickedness of ʾā·ḏām had become on the earth. It wasn't that there were just pockets of wickedness amongst the good. Genesis doesn't catalog all of the particulars of the widespread sin or report the details of what life was like at this point in history, though it does go on in v11 to indicate that the earth was corrupt in God's sight and full of violence.

The full truth of the serpent's lie was now completely evident. ʾA·ḏām had been promised that upon eating the fruit, he and Eve would be like God, knowing good and evil. It was as if with this full range of knowledge the serpent offered he would be able to choose the appropriate response to any situation on his own, independent from his creator.

But now, rather than dishing out the ugly details, our text today provides a far more damning description of the problem humanity faced then and continues to face now as a result of taking the serpent's bargain: now every inclination of ʾā·ḏām's heart was only evil all the time.

Dig Deeper

It's no wonder that the LORD regretted that He had madeʾā·ḏām on the earth, and His heart was deeply troubled. Verses like this one seem to throw a huge monkey wrench into our highly tuned theology as to who and what God is. How could an omnipotent, omniscient, immutable God regret His own divine decisions?

Certainly there's more to this than we can discuss in this short post, but let's instead follow the advice that John Calvin gives in commenting upon this passage:

We don’t need to get caught up in complicated questions here. The point is clear: when humanity became deeply corrupt, God was grieved because they no longer reflected the people He had made. It’s as if God said, “This is not the humanity I created in My image. I can’t recognize this defiled and degenerate creature as mine anymore. (Paraphrased and shortened for modern English).

What we want to focus on today is the two huge aspects of grace seen in today's passage. First, notice that God's regret - whatever it represents - doesn't come until Genesis six, well over a millennium after ʾA·ḏām ate the forbidden fruit. ʾA·ḏām's depravity filled world, and it deserved destruction the moment he sinned, yet God gracefully and patiently waited until that sin reached its full measure.

Secondly, and most importantly, is what Noah found. Modern English translations for the most part translate verse 8 the same exact way: Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. But this is one of those times when it's useful to go back to the good 'ol King James Version, which puts it this way: Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Even in the midst of our total depravity, God provided salvation for His covenant people.

AAA Prayer (About)

ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who sees our wickedness and depravity yet shows us His grace through Christ Jesus;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for the strength to fight against the evil inclinations of your thoughts;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: