Chapter Three
DESTRUCTION OF FLESH
From the time of man's expulsion from the Garden of Eden, he continued on the path of self until a point was reached where "only evil" prevailed.1 When God saw the wickedness of Noah's day, He regretted that He had made man. There were tyrants2 (giants) in the land who married the women and fathered powerful men.3, 4 There is a belief that fallen angels cohabited with the women. But this cannot be true, because the fallen angels have been kept in chains under darkness until the day of Judgment, as Jude 6 tells us. Because of the depths of evil in man, the LORD told Noah that His Spirit would not strive with man forever, "for he also is flesh,"5 and He said, "I intend to make an end of all flesh, for through men the land is filled with violence; and behold, I will destroy them and the land." (Genesis 6:13 Amplified).
The wickedness of man came as a result of his knowledge of good and evil. Man had become a full-fledged creature of flesh and blood, capable of every kind of evil imaginable. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD,6 and God called him and his family out, preserving them as a remnant while all other flesh perished in the flood.
The mortality of flesh was pointed out many times. Especially throughout the Psalms, the frailty of mortal man and the greatness of God can be seen. For example, "He remembered that they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again." (Psalm 78:39 NKJV). David was constantly exalting the LORD God. He knew from personal experience the compassion of God toward man, and he said, "As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust." (Psalm 103:13-14 NKJV).
The prophet Isaiah spoke of the fleeting life-span of mortal man. ". . . All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." (Isaiah 40:6b-8 NKJV).
Peter, the apostle, seemed to be echoing Isaiah when he spoke similar words. "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the LORD endures forever." (1 Peter 1:24-25a NKJV).
When Jesus comes
Jesus is coming back to receive unto Himself the remnant who have been faithful to Him. When He walked this earth, even Jesus did not know when that day would be, but His Father did. He tells us that it will be just like it was in Noah's day, with people going on with life as usual, marrying and giving in marriage until He comes.7 I believe Jesus was referring to how the wicked hearts of these carnal creatures was "only evil." Once again as in Noah's day all flesh will perish, but not with a flood of water covering the earth, as the beautiful rainbow reminds us. This time the destruction will come with the arrival of Jesus, the Son of God--a "Consuming Fire."8
If man is taken up with the things of this life in the flesh--eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage--and if he is not consumed with a burning passion for God, he will be consumed by the burning passion of God.
1. Genesis 6:5
2. Hebrew #5303
3. Hebrew #1368
4. Hebrew #8034
5. Genesis 6:3a
6. Genesis 6:8
7. Matthew 24:36-39
8. Deuteronomy 4:24, Hebrews 12:29
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