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Genesis 6 through 8 speaks of the third fall of man, which brought in the destruction by the deluge.
Verse 4 of chapter 6 says, “The sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them.” Some expositors say that sons of God in this verse refers to the descendants of Seth, that is, to people who belonged to God. According to the record of the Bible, however, this interpretation is not accurate. Job 1:6 and 2:1 clearly speak of the angels as being the sons of God. The Syriac Version of the Old Testament renders sons of God as “angels.” The angels who came in to the daughters of men were the angels who did not keep their own principality, as mentioned in Jude 6. The angels who did not keep their own principality committed fornication with human beings. By doing so, Satan corrupted man to the uttermost in the age before the deluge. He not only tempted man with outward things in the first fall and corrupted man with human opinions in the second fall, but he also mixed evil spirits with the human race.
Genesis 6:4 says, “The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them.” Nephilim, or giants, in Hebrew means “the fallen ones.” When the children of Israel entered into Canaan, there were the Nephilim in that land. God wanted to kill the Canaanites because there were Nephilim among the seven Canaanite nations (Num. 13:32-33); these Nephilim were the result of the mixture of fallen angels with fallen mankind. God destroyed all the people in Noah’s generation with the flood, not only because they were corrupt but also because they were a mixed race. When these evil spirits were mixed with man, man became extraordinarily lustful and corrupt.
The first fall of man involved man assuming the headship. The second fall involved man following his own will. The third fall involved man becoming flesh (Gen. 6:12). These three causes speak of the three steps of the fall of man. Assuming the headship is the result of man not exercising his spirit to contact God. God is Spirit, and if man is to live before God and contact God, he must live in the spirit, contacting God with the spirit (John 4:24). However, in the first fall man overstepped God and assumed the headship, because he did not exercise his spirit. In the second fall man followed his own will; that is, he lived by the soul. In the third fall man lived by the flesh and became even more corrupt. By not living by the spirit or the soul, man became flesh and lived by the flesh. Because evil spirits were mixed with the human body, man’s lust in the body became very active, becoming capable of committing all kinds of evil. This is the cause of man’s third fall. On the one hand, Satan is the cause of every fall of man; on the other hand, man’s cooperation with Satan is also the cause.
The process of man’s third fall began with man following the flesh, which is full of lusts. At this time man did not even care about reason; he lived and indulged in his lust, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Gen. 6:5). As a result, his whole being was corrupt. In the first fall man forsook his spirit. In the second fall man followed his soul. Moreover, in the third fall man followed the flesh and lived in the lusts of the flesh.
The second part of the process of man’s third fall was man becoming evil and corrupt to the uttermost. At that time “God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth. And God said...I am about to destroy them with the earth” (vv. 12-13). At that time man not only was corrupt but also became a mixed race with evil spirits. Man was so corrupt that even God, who is the most tolerant, could not tolerate it any longer.
The first issue of man being corrupt to the uttermost was the withdrawing of the Holy Spirit. In the first fall man was driven out of the dwelling place of God, but man was still able to see the face of God. In the second fall man was driven out from the countenance of God, becoming unable to see the face of God. But God, being gracious, still sent His Holy Spirit to inspire man and strive with man. In the third fall of man God could no longer do anything. The Spirit of God had no choice but to withdraw from striving with man, because man had become flesh (v. 3). Thus, man was completely separated from God and forsaken by God.
After the Holy Spirit withdrew, the deluge came, which brought in the judgment of destruction. Except for Noah’s family of eight, every fallen human being was destroyed by the deluge (vv. 13, 17-18; 7:13, 17-23).
The way of salvation from the third fall was exactly the same as the way to escape death at the time of Enoch. Noah was born sixty-nine years after Enoch was taken up. Methuselah lived one hundred eighty-seven years and begot Lamech. Lamech lived one hundred eighty-two years and begot Noah (5:25, 28-29). Like Enoch, Noah walked with God (6:9). Noah must have heard about the godly deeds of his great-grandfather, Enoch, and must have been influenced by the godly living of Enoch. Hence, Noah also walked with God, just as his great-grandfather did.
Noah also believed in the word of God. God told him that the deluge would come, and he believed Him. God told him to build an ark, and he built it. God told him to enter the ark, and he entered it. God told him to stay in the ark, and he stayed in the ark. God told him to come out of the ark, and he came out of the ark (6:13—7:16; 8:15-18). He walked completely according to God’s word. This shows that Noah absolutely believed in the word of God. Because he believed in the word of God, he was saved. The way that he took was exactly the same as the way of his great-grandfather, Enoch—taking God as the center, not assuming the headship, and taking God’s opinion as his opinion. As a result, he was saved and delivered from the fall.
We need to see that the fall of man was due to man assuming the headship, following his own will, and following the flesh. The way of salvation is by walking with God, taking God as the center, dropping one’s own opinions, and following God’s speaking. This is the way of following God and the way of salvation.
