Only evil?
God’s assessment of the state of the world in Noah’s day: “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5) We can get our minds around the wickedness of mankind being very great. But every intention only evil? That seems an awfully extreme thing to say! Quite similar declarations appear in several places, including Ecclesiastes 9, Jeremiah 17, Psalms 14 & 53, and Romans 3 (where Paul quotes these psalms as well as others). But the Genesis declaration seems like it exceeds even these.
And then we read Jesus’s comments on the state of affairs in Noah’s time: “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:26-27, and almost identically later on in Matthew 24:37-39)
Well eating and drinking and getting married just don’t seem to be “only evil”! Not even mildly evil, in fact. So what gives?
Jesus’s point, of course, is that people at the time of the end will be oblivious. As they were at the time of the flood (and also, Jesus adds, at the time of the destruction of Sodom). This is a pattern, Jesus says. Not an uncanny coincidence! Rather, cause and effect: judgments come because of the focus on the immediate pleasures and cares of this life. But do those cares and pleasures really constitute “only evil”?
Through Ezekiel God says, “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” (18:23, and again in 33:11) The point is reinforced by Peter: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) In other words, God doesn’t execute those extreme judgments until there is no remedy. It was true for Israel (2 Chronicles 36:16, reinforced in Romans 1). And it’s true for the whole world. This is a principle God does not violate.
Jesus highlights the obliviousness in Noah’s time. He knows what the Genesis record says! So what he’s really teaching us is that the focus on pleasures and cares can become so extreme that even good things like meals and weddings become twisted into evil. Because they can get to the point where they drive out every other thought. The context of the verse in 2 Peter clearly says this is what’s going on.
We could stop here, but there’s something else going on in both the Noah account and the last days. In the prior chapter of 2 Peter, the apostle says, “If he [God] did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly…” (2 Peter 2:5) What’s a herald? It is a public crier, an announcer, a preacher. It took Noah and his sons quite some time to build the ship. Just doing it was a proclamation in itself, but Peter seems to say it went beyond this. The principle held – God had no pleasure in anyone’s death, would much rather have welcomed more into the ark! Jesus says the same thing will go on in the last days. In the Olivet prophecy, Jesus forewarns there will be persecution, then says, “This will be your opportunity to bear witness.” (Luke 21:13) Who has the Noah role in the last days? We do!
Listen to this caution from Jesus himself, in Matthew’s account of the same prophecy: (Matthew 24:9-14)
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
What’s this say? It says we may fail! We may be terrified into falling away, we may be deluded by false hopes, our love may turn cold. We need to honestly look in the mirror, and realize we could fail in these ways. Maybe admit we have been slipping that direction already.
But look what else! “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world!” We are going to succeed! At least some will. We will do what Noah did, and bear witness.
Noah’s day did, and the last days will, feature evil thinking, violence, heedlessness. These will be near universal, but there will also be heralds. Jesus conveys to us: “Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” (Revelation 14:12)
Things aren’t real nice right now in the world, in fact getting pretty close to “only evil”. We were expecting this, right? We’ve been preaching it our whole lives! Now’s not the time to grow cold, get discouraged, be led off following any other leader than Jesus. This is a call for endurance, a call to bear witness. A call to be a herald.
Love, Paul
If you have any feedback, please contact me at: paul.zilmer@gmail.com