Genesis 6:3 “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years” (emphasis supplied).
The coordinating conjunction “and” underscores the immediate context of the previous verses. When God’s faithful children began to mix with the wicked and give themselves up to the lusts of the eyes and of the flesh, they slighted the light of truth and unleashed a nearly universal flood of corruption that would have destroyed all remaining goodness and morality in the world if God had not intervened. God sent warnings through Enoch, Methuselah and Lamech, with relatively little effect. Finally, God sent the last warning message through Noah, and set a definite time limit on the intervention of His Spirit.
“My spirit shall not always strive […]”. In the original Hebrew, “strive” is dîyn dûn, a rich expression that means "to rule; by implication to judge (as umpire); also to strive (as at law): -contend, execute judgment, judge, minister judgment, plead (the cause), at strife, strive” (Strong’s in E-Sword App). With this wide-angle-lens view of “strive,” we see the Spirit of God convicting, warning and pleading with humanity. As the argumentation in a courtroom concludes prior to the judge’s ruling and sentencing, so there eventually comes a point when the Spirit’s striving with men’s consciences is over, before Divine sentence is pronounced and applied to the guilty. Before the flood came, everyone had already made their choice to either accept or reject the strivings of the Spirit of God. That choice was not made in a day, but over a period of time.
Unfortunately, there are many distractions that deaden the voice of the Holy Spirit. Among these, the Scriptures explicitly identify lust and sensuality, or the appetites and passions. Gluttony, intemperance and selfish indulgences of every stripe, including fornication, immorality, and all unlawful sexual thoughts and actions are choices that quickly numb and deaden the conscience and cut off access for the Spirit of God to speak to us.
“But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit” (Jude 17-19). Lust and sensuality mock God’s Spirit by willfully choosing a path of separation from God, the Author and Sustainer of Life. As we reject life, we bring death upon ourselves.
Throughout the genealogy of chapter five, days refers to the lifespan of an individual, measured in years: “And all the days of [name of patriarch] were [number of] years: and he died.” (Genesis 5:4-5,8,11,14, 17, 20, 27, 31). Here in Genesis 6:3, God’s warning indicates one-hundred-twenty years as the maximum remaining time to repent, setting humanity’s literal deadline when mercy would cease to plead.
Thus, from the beginning of the Scriptures, “Days shall be […] years” refers to the allotted time of probation, or the extent of time in which the Spirit of God strives to bring a person or group to repentance and faith in God’s salvation. “Days shall be […] years” also foreshadows the day for a year principle of Bible prophecy, which is exclusively connected with the closing period of divine judgment, especially on those who claim to be God’s people while rejecting His authority and living in rebellion to His laws. There are only two options and two outcomes: bear your own sins and perish, or confess and forsake them, and let Jesus Christ, the Son of Man bear them for you, so you may live (see Numbers 14:20-35, Ezekiel 4:1-6, Matthew 9:6, 18:11, 20:28).
Comments
Post a Comment