Genesis 6:3 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Genesis 6:3

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There was going to be a withdrawing of the Holy Spirit. Now, whether that was to take place when the flood came about, or whether it would be even before the flood is unclear, but the Lord says, ‘My spirit shall not always strive with man [in grace], for that he is also is flesh’, which seems to imply that the sons of God, the descendants of Seth have become fleshly, like those of Cain. It seems to be a truncated expression along those lines, in its context.‘Yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years’ – that means to say, he has got a 120 years left before catastrophe, before judgment . This is 120 years before the flood. It does not mean that man’s lifespan is going to be shortened to 120 years. People like Noah himself went on for centuries after the flood; it was not a shortening of lifespan in that sense. It was the limit of time they would have left, during which they might respond to the preaching of Noah in repentance. Noah was to be a preacher of righteousness as Peter tells us (2 Peter 2:5). During that hundred and twenty years, not only was the ark under construction and Noah and his family made famous, but Noah himself preached words of warning that there would be a flood, that there would be a judgment and a destruction. He was to be constantly warning and appealing to the community, to the masses. The result of this was that he was ignored and no doubt ridiculed and scorned. Was it in vain? No, it was a ministry of justice. He would appeal so that God could judge. Was the Spirit withdrawn then and there? Or was the Spirit of grace withdrawn at the judgment ? That is not so clear, and we can interpret it in different ways. But there is going to be a withdrawing of grace from that community. And there are now 120 years to the flood.Some people think that what follows, the instruction to Noah to build an ark because of the flood, began straightaway, so it took 100 years and more to build, but it is not necessary to read the passage in that way. It could be that verse 5 is sometime after verses 3 and 4, and so, while the clock begins to tick and the 120 years begin to pass, the building of the ark may not begin until much closer to the time of the flood. It is not necessary to think that it took so long in the building. There is actually no statement either way.

Application

We learn that there is a work of the Spirit of God in every soul of man, even in those who are not converted. God’s Spirit strives for a limited time to awaken the conscience of those who have reached the age of accountability, to cause them to acknowledge their sin and come for forgiveness. He does not work irresistibly as in the elect, bringing them most definitely to bow the knee to Christ, but he works sufficiently to leave them without excuse. To resist this work of the Spirit is a most dangerous thing to do, because once the Spirit is withdrawn, there is no possibility of salvation, and his patience with the obdurate lasts only a limited time. The right response is to pay close attention to the voice of conscience and to pray for more light and for a willing spirit with which to hear what God’s Spirit says.

We can identify with Noah. I can remember as an unconverted youngster frequently seeing in central London streets the sandwich boards, which have comparatively gone out of fashion, the bold witnesses who would walk up and down the streets all day with their boards saying that judgment was nigh. As a youngster, you looked at this and thought, he must be mad. What a crazy thing, even at a time when there was general concern and fear about atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs, such as we don't see today. Those boards were so ridiculous. You can imagine the same scorn for Noah for 120 years.

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Genesis 6:3 Commentary and Bible Study