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The extent of man’s depravity reaches its climax in this passage. The line of Cain holds no promise for humankind and there is a breakdown in the line of Seth (if we understand “the sons of God” [benê 'ělôhîm] in v.2 as Sethites). God pronounces judgment upon the entire human race (v.3). The context suggests that 120 years will pass before judgment will be executed. There will still be opportunity for man to repent and affirm God’s design for creation. During this probationary period, God’s purpose for creation is at stake. God’s intent has been thwarted. If creation cannot recover and become willingly subject to its Creator, God will take severe measures to eradicate his creation (v.7).
The spread and intensifying of sin depicted in earlier chapters reaches its peak in ch. 6 with the intermarriage of the sons of God with the daughters of men. Though the sons of God may refer to heavenly beings, it is more likely to mean Seth’s progeny, which the context of 4:25-26 might imply (cf. Dt 14:1; Hos 1:10). The interpretation of Nephilim determines, in large part, one’s understanding of the sons of God. Nephilim need not mean giants, but may simply be synonymous with “mighty men” or “overlords” (v.4; cf. 10:8). The reason, then, that God is so troubled with his creation is that even the redemptive line of Seth (the sons of God) has not lived up to its potential. By blatant disregard of God’s will for creation’s well-being, the Sethites promote their own interest (v.2). God is grieved by the unresponsiveness of his creation to his will, and in v.6 we gain insight into his heartache.
To this point in the narrative of Genesis, sin is merely perceived in its universalizing tendencies. Now we confront, in a vivid manner, the effect that such sin has on the Creator. God is not One who is detached from his creation; he is One who has emotionally invested in it. He enters into the world’s pain and brokenness. And in that anguish, God resolves to begin again. Noah becomes the means of that new possibility (v.8) and, again, the light of hope is not extinguished.