“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5)
How far man had fallen from the moment of creation in Genesis 1 when God said, “Let us make man in our image,” to this commentary on men in Genesis 6. A being created wholly pure and without sin ends up plummeting to this almost unbelievable level of depravity such that every thought, every intent, every idea of nearly every one of Adam’s descendants living at the time of Noah was utterly and completely evil.
In Genesis 6:5 Moses makes a general statement, speaking unfavorably of everyone insofar as they are human beings under the representation of the fall. But these conclusions are not to be read as exaggerations, for they truly characterized all people who had descended from Adam to this point.
Despite our own good intentions, we know all too well by experience how often we fall. Our reason is overwhelmed by so many forms of deception, subject to so many errors, caught in so many difficulties, that it is far from capable of directing us down a good path. Indeed, Paul shows us just how inadequate we are in the Lord’s eyes when he denies “that we are sufficient of ourselves to claim something as coming from us as if it really did,” (2 Cor. 3:5). He is not speaking of the will or the emotions here, but rather our innate inability that anything good or right can even enter our minds.
Is our diligence, insight, understanding, and carefulness so completely corrupted that we can devise or consider nothing right in God’s eyes? Indeed, for the Holy Spirit “knows that all the thoughts of the wise are futile,” (1 Cor. 3:20; cf. Ps. 94:11). So to declare that “every imagination of the human heart is solely evil,” (Gen. 6:5; 8:21) seems most fitting.
John Calvin said, “If whatever our nature conceives, instigates, undertakes, and attempts is always evil, how can that which is pleasing to God, to whom holiness and righteousness alone are acceptable, even enter our minds?”
If left to ourselves, any thinking, reasoning, planning and the like will be useless waste and vanity. David was aware of this feebleness in his own nature when he prayed to be given understanding to learn the Lord’s commandments rightly (Ps. 119:34), for he is keenly aware that his own nature is insufficient. And not once, but almost ten times in a single psalm he repeats the same prayer (Ps. 119:12, 18, 19, 26, 33, 64, 68, 73, 124, 125, 135, 169). His repetition alone suggests its necessity. And what David seeks for himself, Paul commonly implores for the churches. “We ceased not to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of God in all spiritual wisdom and understanding in order that you may walk worthily before God,” (Col. 1:9–10; cf. Phil. 1:9).
Contemplations:
- Lord, we must always remember that though you tell us we ought to do something, we should be humbled that you bear witness at the same time that it has not been placed within our ability to do it unless by and through the Holy Spirit. Augustine once reminded us that this inability of the reason to understand the things of God is by the grace of illumination which is necessary for our minds to understand as much as the light of the sun is necessary for our eyes to see.
- Lord, I know that we open our eyes to behold the light of the sun. But the eyes of the mind, unless you open them, remain closed.
- Lord Jesus, Scripture teaches us that our minds are illumined by the Holy Spirit, and that you have given us the tools for seeing and spiritual perception. David said, “With my whole heart I have sought thee; let me not wander from thy commandments!” (Ps. 119:10). Although he had been reborn and had grown in true godliness, David still confesses that he needs continual direction at every moment, lest he forget what he had been endowed. He even prays elsewhere that a right spirit, lost by his own fault, would be restored (Ps. 51:10). For it is your power that not only restores what you have given at the beginning, but also that which was taken away from us for a time when we sin against you.
Further References for Genesis 6:5:
Proverbs 6:18; Matthew 15:19; Jeremiah 17:9; Mark 7:21
