A True Evaluation
“And the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive...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.” (Gen. 6:2, 5)
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” But what happens when that eye is dim and darkened by sin? What happens when our definition of beauty differs from the Beautiful One – God Himself? In our chapter this week, we come across two vastly different judgments of the same object, and the differences lies in the eye of the beholder.
First, Moses brings before us the judgment of man. Whereas the ESV translates the word as “attractive,” a better translation would be “good.” Man pronounces upon woman the same pronouncement that God pronounced upon His pristine creation in the very beginning; but, oh, how things have changed! The land that once overflowed with the fruit of God’s kindness now overflows with the fruit of man’s wickedness. Women and children suffer abuse and assault (Gen. 4:23-24), blood fills the street, and violence fills the earth. Even worse than this, the godly line of Seth has begun marrying the ungodly line of Cain (Gen 6:2). As violence filled the street, faith no longer filled the heart. And yet, man pronounces this situation as “good.”
How could they dare make such a judgment upon the earth? How could they call “evil” “good” and “good” “evil”? The reason is simple. Every mother thinks her child is the most beautiful child because it is her child. The beholder calls the child “beautiful” because she sees herself in him. Wicked man deems this wicked world “good” because it matches his own wicked heart. Violence against man fills the earth because violence against God first filled the heart. Is this not the case with us all? Before God grants us new eyes to see and a new heart to understand, our judgment is always skewed in our favor.
But God looks at the same situation and pronounces it “not good.” Notice something about these two judgments. Man focuses on the outward appearance, but God focuses on the heart. His judgment is both scathing and true, and it bears repeating. One, the wickedness was great. Man treated sin as a small thing, as a blemish to be overlooked. God deems sin great. Man focused on the body and the behavior and could overlook a coarse thought, but God said, “Every thought and intention of man’s heart.” Not some thoughts, not most thoughts, but every thought. As if we would doubt God’s meaning in this verse, He adds one powerful word – “continually.” Not a thought passed through their mind that wouldn’t be deemed deicide – the murder of God. They focused on their glory, not God’s glory, on their happiness, not God’s holiness; on filling the land with violence, not on publishing wide God’s righteousness. This is “not good.”
If you think that God’s judgment has changed, He repeats it before and after the Flood and onward throughout Scripture. It would be better for us to align the judgment of ourselves with the judgment of God. Our hearts are deceptive, but He is faithful. So, I ask you: what do you say of yourself?
