Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. This is study #9 of Genesis, chapter 6 and we will be reading Genesis 6:5-6:

And JEHOVAH saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented JEHOVAH that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

Here, God is showing that He is able to know the thoughts of the imagination of man’s heart. When God looked down upon the people of the world in the time before the flood, He assessed the spiritual condition of man as evil. It was an evaluation of the inner man and what was taking place within the hearts and the minds of mankind that He had created in His image. They were responsible to obey Him and to keep His commandments, but God saw “that the wickedness of man was great in the earth.”

The word “wickedness” is found in Joel, chapter 3 where the Lord speaks of the final judgment of mankind that comes at the time of the end of the world, the time in which we are currently living. It says in Joel 3:12-13:

Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of JEHOVAH is near in the valley of decision.

Here, God is coming up with the same assessment of man at the time of the final judgment; man’s wickedness is great. That is what God said in Genesis 6, verse 5 when it was still 120 years before the flood in 5110BC. God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth. There is no difference or change in what the Lord saw over 7,000 years ago and what He saw at the time of the end of the world when He looked upon the human race. Of course, that is a little amazing to us because we know that the world has multiplied iniquity in our day as never before in the history of the world. Also, there is the fact that there are over seven billion people on the face of the earth as compared to the handful of millions of people before the flood. Just considering the sheer numbers, there would be enormously more sins occurring at the end of the world and, yet, God says the same thing: “And JEHOVAH saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth.” In Joel 3, it says, “For their wickedness is great,” and this passage relates to the judgment at the end of time.

There is a similar assessment of all the unsaved people of the world, even though in our evil day the churches have totally fallen away and become apostate and murder and mayhem are common and homosexuality and gay marriage are accepted and even encouraged. All these things are contrary to the Word of God, the Bible, and they are sinful acts of rebellion against God, just like all the other transgressions of His Law. We see this enormous increase in man’s transgression of the Law of God and it just dwarfs anything in previous history, especially the world of Noah’s day that only had a few million people. We have many cities in the world that have more than a few million people and there is an enormous population of sinners, so why is God saying that the wickedness was great back then as well as today? It is because God looks upon the hearts of man and even during the times when man’s sinfulness was restrained to a point by God’s Spirit, man’s heart was desperately wicked.

You know, this verse really sums up man’s true nature, as it says in Jeremiah 17:9:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

The heart is used to describe what is inside of mankind. It is synonymous with the mind and soul. It is that spiritual side of man that cannot be seen by other men, but the heart is “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” It is not mildly wicked, but it is desperately wicked. If you could choose a word to emphasize and stress great wickedness, the word “desperately wicked” is a good choice. God did not say, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and very wicked,” but He described it as “desperately wicked,” or evil as evil can be. Who can know it? Man does not know it. We do not really know just how ugly, dirty and rotten we are as sinners, but God knows it. God is able to search it out, as it says in Hebrews 4:12-13:

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

There is that all-knowing gaze and intense looking of God. He casts that gaze inwardly to the hearts of man. Man looks on the outward appearance and we are often deceived by others in their outward countenance or appearance. We find attractive people that we tend to think are nice and kind because they look pleasant and, yet, deep within they are desperately wicked and as ugly as anything can be, but man tends to look on the outward appearance and become easily deceived. God is not fooled. God looks deep within and He sees the heart. Here is what God sees, as it says in Psalm 56:5:

Every day they wrest my words: all their thoughts are against me for evil.

It also says in Proverbs 15:26:

The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to JEHOVAH: but the words of the pure are pleasant words.

It says in Isaiah 59:7-8:

Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. It does not leave any room for any other kind of thoughts. It is an all- encompassing statement. Man’s thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. We look at people and they speak and reveal their thoughts and we see sin but we do not see it constantly with every word spoken and, yet, God does. It is not only with the words spoken because sometimes the words spoken do not match the condition of the heart, as it says in Matthew 15:19:

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

Since man’s heart is desperately wicked, these things are not a surprise. So we can see that when God looked down upon mankind at any time in history since the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, it was no different up to the time of the flood or after the flood and right up to this time at the end of the world – God sees only evil continually as He assesses the hearts of people that live upon the face of the earth.

Our day is different from past times in only one regard, but man’s heart has not changed today. Man is not more evil in heart today than he was before the flood or 100 years ago. Man is not more evil today, even though we might think that as we see mankind committing more evil, speaking more evil and doing unspeakable evils. Yes, man is involved in committing and showing forth evil like never before in history, but the difference is not the heart. Actually, what God has done in lifting His hand of restraint upon sin at the end is to show the true nature of mankind, more and more, and that is what we are seeing today. We are seeing what has always been the condition of the sinner in rebellion against God as he shakes his puny fist at God and says, “I am going to do it my way.” But, again, in past history God had restraints upon society and upon the churches and the Spirit of God held back and suppressed sin to a large degree in the world in order for the world to function. Man was desperately wicked with a deceitful heart and he was only doing evil continually in his heart and, yet, outwardly there was a certain level of submission to the laws of the governments and the laws of the churches.

Starting with the loosing of Satan back in 1988, we entered into the end phase of earth’s history at the time of the Great Tribulation. Satan was loosed by God and he went into the churches and we see a multiplication of sin within the congregations. Satan also took a greater role in ruling the world and his kingdom of darkness, so it was as though the chains fell off and the restraints were lifted and mankind was showing forth and demonstrating what lies within the heart of man. That is really what we are seeing. We are not seeing more evil people, but we are seeing a true representation of the evil heart that always resided within the sinner. Now at the end, God is showing the true situation of the ugly heart of man for all to see. So, it is something that had been held back and man could think he was “good” and people might think they are improving. There was talk of that just decades ago of man making moral progress, but there is no more talk of that because it has become obvious that man is wicked. Man is evil and we see the terrible and ugly things that man is doing in the world, outwardly. The souls of the true people of God are vexed and grieved and we shake our heads and wonder, “How can people do such things?” There are such evil and ugly things being committed and, yet, it has always been the nature of the sinner. Of course, we would prefer that God’s Spirit would still be restraining sin in the hearts and minds of evil men to hold them back from these things, but that was not God’s plan. God’s plan was to allow it to come forth and to be seen. That is why He tells us in Romans, chapter 1 that these things will be in evidence, in Romans 1:24-32:

Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Sin, sin and more sin. Do you see how God has given man up and given man over to a reprobate mind? I just read from Romans, chapter 1, but that is basically the framework for what we read in the newspapers today and what we hear in all the news broadcasts regarding the filthy deeds that are being done all across the earth. It is a revealing of the inner desperately wicked heart so that which has always been inside mankind can now be seen on the outside through his words, actions and evil deeds. When we look at the things that are going on in all the nations of the world (without exception), we just shake our heads. It is a feeling of disgust because it is so black and dark; it is so bad. Man takes something “good” and calls it “bad” or man takes something “evil” and calls it “good.” We see this because God gives His elect eyes to see and ears to hear and He gives us a mind to see the actual situation and God’s people see the horrible ugliness that has descended upon the face of the earth. What we are seeing is not the full depths of the evil heart of man. May God prevent us from seeing the full wickedness that is within the sinner because it is so evil that there would be no more ability to function in the world. Man would simply devour his fellow man and there would be no limit to the evil. In order for the world to continue, the Lord has not completely lifted His restraint, but it has been a gradual progression of lifting the restraints as we see the heart of man reveal itself more and more. No wonder God says in Isaiah 55:6:

Seek ye JEHOVAH while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

This is a time reference to the day of salvation, which is now past. It goes on to say in Isaiah 55:7:

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto JEHOVAH, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

God put His finger upon the problem: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.” Man must forsake his thoughts that are flowing forth from his heart – evil thoughts and desperately wicked thoughts. They are thoughts that are only evil continually, so how can he forsake them? The only way to do so is for God to perform a “heart transplant,” as He says in Ezekiel 36:24:

For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

God is indicating that the one He saves has his evil and desperately wicked heart taken out of him. It was only evil continually. It was 100% evil, seven days a week, but God does a heart transplant and God gives a new heart, making a man after His own heart, as the Lord said of David. It is the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ and it is a perfect and clean heart without sin. No more evil resides in the heart of the child of God.