LITURGY⤒🔗

Singing:
Ps. 138:1,3
Ps. 5:3,4
Ps. 94:4,5,11
Ps. 75:2,6
Hy. 54:1,3,5←↰⤒🔗

Reading:
2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1
2 Peter 3:1-13←↰⤒🔗

Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Are we free to marry anyone we please? What is the basis of a marriage honouring to the Lord? According to the Form for the Solemnization of Marriage the purpose of marriage is twofold:

First, husband and wife shall live together in sincere love and holiness, helping each other faithfully in all things that belong to this life and to the life to come.

Second, by marriage the human race is to be continued and increased, and under the blessing of God, husband and wife will be fruitful and multiply. If it please God to give them children, they shall nurture these children in the true knowledge and fear of the Lord.

The answer to our initial question seems obvious. A Christian man or woman does not have permission to marry an unbeliever or someone who does not serve the Lord according to his Word. A boy or a girl shouldn't be thinking, "If I can't find someone to marry within the church I can always look elsewhere. There is always the boy I met at college or the young woman I see every day at work." And yet, numerous young people are doing exactly that. They date a man or woman from outside the church without being too concerned about it. Blinded by emotional love and physical attraction such individuals do not see they are walking on a spiritual minefield.

Sometimes men or women who are still single when in their twenties are open to dating anyone who shows some interest in them for fear of being left behind. It isn't easy to remain single when all your friends are married. However, more important than any other consideration is obedience to the Lord. Those who seek a life partner outside the church put their relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ in great jeopardy.

The Bible teaches that having fellowship with God excludes having fellowship with one who does not confess the true faith. “For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:14,15) As believers we have nothing in common with unbelievers. Without unity in faith a relationship between a man and woman is shallow and without substance no matter how well the two of them may get along in other respects. The marital partner you choose must be one with you in serving the Lord and must have an undivided interest in the church of Jesus Christ and in the coming of God's kingdom.

The Scripture passage we will examine undergirds what has just been stated. Genesis 6:1-8 tells us that it was mixed marriages that caused the downfall of the church and the destruction of the world before the flood. Let us listen to the Word of our God summarized under the following theme:

In the Days before the Flood God Exposes the Explosive Character of Mixed Marriages.←⤒🔗

The Explosive Character:←↰⤒🔗

1. Is Ignored by the Sons of God
2. Ignites the Judgment of God
3. Is Defused by the Grace of God.

We read in our text, "the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose." But who are these sons of God and what are we to make of their union with the daughters of men?

Liberal and critical scholars of our day think Genesis 6:1-8 is a mythical story that seeks to explain why there were giants on the earth. The sons of the gods were attracted by the beauty of women. Therefore they decided to come down from the heavens to have intimate relations with these women. As a result the daughters of men gave birth to huge giants called Nephilim.

Such an explanation sounds ridiculous to any Bible believing Christian. Nevertheless, this interpretation managed to find its way into the text of the Good News Bible (which shows us how careful we must be with the use of both translations and paraphrases of Scripture). Although the mythical tale explanation is quite recent, the statement that the sons of God were heavenly beings has a long history.

One of the apocryphal books has had great influence on the modern day interpretation because it definitely regards Genesis 6 to be a story about the sexual union of the angels with the daughters of men. It reads as follows:

And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days daughters were born to them beautiful and comely. And the angels saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: “Come let us choose us wives from the daughters of men so we can have children…” And they took to themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them. And they became pregnant, and they bore great giants…

You may be wondering, "How do people get an explanation like that into their heads?" Well, because Scripture sometimes calls angels "sons of God". For example, Job 38:7 says that the sons of God shouted for joy at the dawn of creation.

The problem for many lies in the fact that Genesis 6 doesn't say, "Now the sons of men saw that the daughters of men were beautiful". However, there are several other factors we must take into account that ought to steer us away from the above-mentioned explanations.

In the first place, though angels are sometimes called sons of God, nowhere in the Bible do we read of marriages or sexual relations between angels and mankind. Secondly, Genesis 6:4 does not say the Nephilim were the result of the relations between the sons of God and the daughters of men but that they were on the earth when the sons of God took to themselves the daughters of men. Thirdly, there is not a word spoken about a punishment from the Lord upon the angels. The Lord is displeased with man. Finally, the angels are not capable of having sexual relations because they are not human but ministering spirits sent forth to serve. The Lord Jesus Christ says in Matthew 22 that in the resurrection we shall be like angels, neither marrying nor given in marriage.

Brothers and sisters, Genesis 6:1,2 speaks of an unholy alliance between the children of God (the sons of God) and the children of the world (the daughters of men). In their choice of a marriage partner the Lord's people ignore the antithesis. After the fall into sin the Lord put enmity between the seed of the woman (the church) and the seed of the devil (unbelievers). Such enmity was necessary to protect his "seed". God wanted godly offspring. He wanted a generation that would love him and obey his commandments. He desired children who would have him at the centre of their considerations, who would not take one step or make one decision without consulting his revealed will. Because of man's natural inclination to seek himself and do as he pleases, the Lord calls for an antithesis. He separates those whom he calls from a world that lives in sin.

Since the fall into sin we see two seeds and two lines developing. There is the seed of the woman, culminating in the person Jesus Christ and those who are united with him through a living faith, whose end is eternal life. There is the seed and the line of the serpent, of Satan and all the ungodly of every age, whose end is eternal death. By God's imperative these two lines may not be blurred but must remain separate for the salvation and well-being of the church.

The people whom the Lord in his sovereign good pleasure chose to be on his side are named sons of God. They are his adopted children who worship the Lord in Spirit and truth. The apostle Paul writes in his letter to the church at Rome: those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

The sons of God mentioned in Genesis 6, ignore the special relationship the Lord has established with them. Children of the church, descendants of Seth and Enosh, are willing to give up all the Lord has imparted to them – including salvation and eternal life – for the sake of temporary pleasure and attraction. As long as a woman has a pretty face and a nice body, who cares about her outlook on life? The sons of God are not interested in knowing the inner disposition of the women they marry. They do not concern themselves with God's purpose, with the continuation of his church and of his kingdom. These men are superficial.

In the days before the flood, the sons of God had no desire to begin their marriage in the name of the Lord or to complete it to his glory. But, beloved, if that is not the aim of marriage, it's not even worth starting. It's on the rocks before it even gets off the ground! Beloved, outward appearance is not everything. “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30) Women who profess to worship God adorn themselves with modesty, good deeds, faith, love and holiness (1 Timothy 2:9-15). Young men and women of the church should be encouraged to look for the inner beauty and glory of a person who fears the LORD.

Note well, Genesis 6 does not forbid marriage with someone born and raised outside the church. If that were the case, Boaz would have erred in marrying Ruth. Yet it must be clear from the outset of any relationship that the service of the Lord is first. If there is no real commitment in that regard, the relationship must not develop any further. Moreover, we cannot simply assume that since a boy or girl goes to a church everything will be all right. It's not even safe to assume that just because someone belongs to the same church as you do, your marriage will be in the Lord. In all dating, courtship, engagements and marriage plans it must be absolutely clear that both seek God's kingdom and righteousness. A couple is to enter marriage united in faith as taught in Scripture and summarized in the Reformed Confessions.

Brothers and sisters, let us heed the warning of the Lord and live as a holy people separated from the sins of the world both in doctrine and conduct. Since we have the promises of God, signed and sealed to us in baptism, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. (2 Corinthians 7:1) Mixed marriages have nothing but negative consequences. It becomes extremely difficult to continue worshipping and glorifying the Lord without compromise. When a husband and wife are not united in faith, the children, if the Lord gives them, will be adversely affected.

Sons of God are men and women who want to do the Lord's will without compromising for the sake of personal convenience. Do not ignore this fact, beloved, that the world which existed was deluged with water and perished under the judgement of God because of the ungodliness of the world – including those who bore the name of God but did not live accordingly (2 Peter 3:5,6). We come to this in our second point.

2. Mixed marriages ignite the judgment of God because they are a perversion of God's intent and purpose. A man and a woman, joined in marriage, help each other in the Lord's service. In the days before the flood men and women in the covenant neglected their duties, ignoring the position and the privileges they received as sons of God. They did not maintain the sanctity and holiness of marriage because their mind was set on evil. Therefore the LORD sends people with abnormal strength to terrorize the land. For it is in those days that the Nephilim walk the face of the earth. Most often the Nephilim are taken to be giants. Translated literally the word "Nephilim" means "fallen ones, misfits, abnormal". On the one hand, the peoples of the earth admire these giants, but on the other hand they are terrified by them. Isn't that something we see repeatedly throughout history? When the fear of God leaves people cold, their own heroes and their own supermen terrorize them. When the power and the might of the Lord is rejected, he gives the world into the hands of lawless men.

The judgment of God is ignited by mixed marriages. The LORD threatens to destroy all flesh with the flood in 120 years. He says, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever", or more accurately, "My Spirit will not plead with man forever". It is a gift of the Lord that man lives. If man will not live for the Lord, the Spirit will be taken away. God breathed into Adam the breath of life and after the fall into sin he renewed him with that same Spirit. The line of Seth and Enosh was renewed by the Spirit of life. The Spirit of the Lord pleaded with man that he should serve him. But when the children of God follow the patterns of unbelievers his patience and longsuffering end.

The abominable behaviour of the youth of the church is strongly condemned by the Lord. Mixed marriages are so loathsome that he “was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain". It is as though the Lord is saying, "Why did I make Adam, if all his descendants turn away from me; if even the seed of the woman are ready to give their hearts to unbelievers, to seek their marital partners among those who have become unfaithful to me?"

It grieves the Lord to see his children living in sin. Now he must act in faithfulness to his Word and destroy humanity from the face of the earth. Verse 7 reads, “So the LORD said, ‘I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air – for I am grieved that I have made them.’” Of course you realize, such a turn of events does not make God happy. He did not take great delight in destroying the world with the flood.

Brothers and sisters, the LORD takes the sin of mixed marriages so seriously that he sends an all-encompassing and extensive judgment. God's perfect work – the work about which he himself had said, "It is good" – will be wiped out. his judgment will be so drastic that not only man but also the beasts and the birds and the creeping things will be destroyed. Man stands at the head of all creation and the things he does will affect all the rest of creation.

In the Lord's judgment, the world returns to the formless void it was prior to the first day of creation. Yet for man, it is even worse. The Lord will not reduce man back to nothing. People will exist; but in isolation from God, in darkness, in hatred, in pain, in suffering, in hell. That's the judgment of the Lord that will come upon the wickedness of the world.

But thank God, Genesis 6:7 is not the last verse of the Bible! In wrath the Lord remembers mercy. For in verse eight we find these words of comfort: "But Noah found favour in the eyes of the LORD". That brings us to our last point: the explosive character of mixed marriages is defused by the grace of God.

3. A defused explosive does not go off. When there is a bomb threat, a professional squad is brought in to defuse a potential disaster. The same thing happens in our text. Although the world's population will be reduced greatly – only eight survive the judgment of God – the Lord does not make a total end to the world at this time.

The Nephilim will be destroyed because the earth does not belong to them. It does not belong to the sons of God who turn their back on the Lord either. The meek shall inherit the earth. The earth is for those who live by the promises of the covenant and put all their trust in God. Noah is such an individual. That is why he finds favour in the eyes of the LORD. Did it make life easy for Noah? No. It may have been the reason why he stayed single for a very long time because he could not find a wife who would stand beside him in the service of the Lord – we don't know. His first child was born to him when he was 500 years old. Yet what the Bible says about Noah is very comforting. In a world filled with wickedness and lawlessness it is possible to be faithful to the Lord.

Was Noah spared because he lived such a good life? No. He was saved from judgment by the Lord's grace. Grace is always something that comes to us undeserved. Did it matter how Noah lived? It sure did! For if Noah had not lived as a son of God, he would not have found favour in the eyes of God. Noah listened to the Word of the Lord which said: the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent may not be mixed together. That is a deadly combination. The Lord carried Noah safely through the judgment for the sake of his own work. His church gathering work cannot and will not end until the full number of the elect has been gathered in.

Noah's name means "comfort". For in him we see the Lord's grace toward all those who fear him. They will not perish in the judgment of God. Not until the end of days will there again come a judgment like the one of the flood. But as we await the final day we shall live as sons of God in our marriages, in our personal lives, in our dating and engagements. You and I belong in the camp of Jesus Christ. He has bought us with his precious blood and made us his possession. For your own comfort live by the Word of God and recognize the division the Lord has placed in the world. Then you can be assured the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit will be with you all – now and always. Amen.