GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
GENESIS 6:5-7
5 The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every formation of thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
Verse 5 and its judgment of man’s very thoughts as always evil is repeated in Genesis 8:21. It is given to us twice to show that it was on account of sin that the ancient world was rightfully destroyed, for sin was everywhere. But again, sin is still everywhere, since this judgment was given again after the flood when only Noah and his family were left, to show that it is not only the deeds, the words, and the thoughts of man that are corrupt, evil, and sinful. It is also man himself who exists as a sinful creature. For if we were to stand quietly without a sinful thought in our heads, we would still be sinners because we were born with original sin. Sin is not only a stain on what we do and what we say, but all that we say and do is sinful because we are sinful.
This picture of man’s sinfulness is not just about the wicked generations that lived before the Flood. Moses includes a little word here, raq, that means “only.” Man’s thoughts, even the formation of those thoughts (in the NIV, his “inclination”) is not only evil, but only evil– nothing but evil– all the time. This is also repeated in chapter 8. We still stand guilty of this today, even like the wicked Cainites and their families and also the descendants of Seth who had become the heroes and tyrants of old and their families who had mocked the Ark that Noah had been building for a hundred years, and then they looked in sudden, pleading terror as the rain fell and the waters rose. But there was no hope for them left, because judgment had come.
This is not the only passage to proclaim the guilt of original sin in mankind. It might help to list a few of these with some comments.
“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5). It is not the act of conceiving a baby that is sinful, but the sinful nature of the parents that passes along the guilt of original sin.
“All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3). There is no time in this life when human beings are outside of the condemnation of sin. Infants are not guiltless, but bear the guilt of Eve and Adam even in the womb, and therefore need God’s grace.
“Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!” (Job 14:4). No pure and sinless man can be brought from the union of two sinful parents. Professor Martin Chemnitz observed: “Not only do the philosophers not accept this, but they categorically reject it and argue vigorously for the nobility of human seed” (Loci p. 287).
6 The LORD grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with sorrow.
Since man, corrupt from birth, was also violent and filled with nothing but unbelief, the Lord was filled with sorrow. This is the same word we find in the curse formula: “In sorrow you will bring forth…” (Genesis 3:16) and in Psalm 127:2, “the bread of sorrow.” Luther: “One should not imagine that God has a heart or that he can grieve. But when the spirit of Noah, of Lamech, and of Methuselah is grieved, God himself is said to be grieved” (LW 2:49).
Now, God is changeless (“I the Lord do not change,” Malachi 3:6); he is immutable. By recognizing this, we believe that God’s essence and all of his perfections are eternally and constantly one and the same, and that any change of God’s being, his willing, and his thinking, is excluded. It is true that God created time, space, matter, and so on, but this does mean that he limits himself to these finite things or becomes limited and finite himself. Just because he created a rock doesn’ t mean he is limited to being a piece of stone. Rather, like a jeweler striking a stone to make it more beautiful, he sees what we do not, does what we may not understand, and yet preserves his infinite plan at all times. It is such a simple thing to say but so very difficult to comprehend in the correct way: “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him” (Psalm 115:3).
7 And the LORD said, “I created mankind; I will wipe him from the face of the earth– men and animals, and creatures that crawl along the ground, and the birds of the air– for I am sorry that I made them.”
God resolved to destroy everything with breath; to wipe them out like a person wipes a dish (2 Kings 21:13). A shortened list of the land animals (animals and creatures that crawl) in addition to birds will be killed by the coming catastrophe. All things in creation “were subjected to frustration” (Romans 8:20). But why kill the animals? First, the method of killing all mankind would necessarily destroy the animals. But it is also true that God made the animals for man’s benefit. Now, to judge mankind, God would destroy everything. Eden itself, we believe, would be wiped out in this Flood. All of it. The potter would destroy the pot and begin again.
This account prepares Christians for the wrath of God that is on its way. Certainly the law is proclaimed here, and we are reminded that we have original sin, but also that there are terrible consequences for all sins, inherited and actual. We know from the Scriptures that God forgives the sins of all who ask for this forgiveness in true contrition and repentance.
But this passage also keeps us mindful of what is coming. Our Lord Jesus said, “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” (Luke 12:49). And Isaiah foresaw the Day: “The Lord is coming with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind. He will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire” (Isaiah 66:15). For “Christ will appear for judgment and will raise up all the dead. To the godly and elect he will give eternal life and endless joy, but ungodly men and devils he will condemn to be tormented without end” (Augsburg Confession XVII:1-3). So we are prepared for the true reality of the end of the world, because God has done it once before, but with water, not flames. This teaches the Old Adam in each of us to turn from sin and to be serious about our repentance, our preaching of law and gospel and the mercy of God, and to be ready for the end. And it also teaches the new Christian, born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5) to put our faith in our Lord Jesus. “Make the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16). For while we are “only evil all the time,” our God has been gracious to us and has saved us, and so we trust him to keep his promises, including the promise we love to confess: “The forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.”
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Listen or watch Bible classes online. https://splnewulm.org/invisible-church/. Archives at St Paul’s Lutheran Church https://splnewulm.org/daily-devotions/ and Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: www.wlchapel.org/connect-grow/ministries/adults/daily-devotions/gwfy-archive/2026
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Genesis 6:5-7 only evil all the time