Genesis: The Spread of Sin
I wrote this short commentary for uni and it was the first time I ever received an A for anything I think :P, so I hope you enjoy.
The spread of sin in Genesis 3 - 11 gives us the reason for why the world is the way it is, abnormal and corrupt in God’s sight. From the initial sin that causes the fall of man comes a chain of events that show the effect sin has on us and the very world itself. The heights of mans disobedience of God eventually provoke the destruction of all living things in the flood and would eventually destroy mankind were it not for Christ. These chapters of Genesis show the problem of sin and eventually lead to the solution of redemption.
The origin of Sin
Sin is first introduced at the very start of Genesis chapter 3, where mankind makes its first decision to disobey God. The origin of sin or more precisely; the choice for sin is not when Eve eats from the Tree of Knowledge but when mankind is given freewill through the directive of God. Since sin is any act or thought that goes against God, the initial sin of mankind was when Eve chose to believe Satan over God and not necessarily the action itself.
The catalyst for the fall of man is represented by a serpent; one of God’s good creatures used as a disguise for the great deceiver, the devil (Rev 12:9). Appropriately labelled crafty, the serpent starts by exaggerating the restrictions God has put on the use of the garden “You must not eat from any tree in the garden” (Gen 3:1). Although the woman dismisses this statement, it still has an effect on her as she starts to question God’s directive. By adding “and you must not touch it” (Gen 3:3) to God’s words she has distorted its meaning and upon touching the fruit and not dying she may have been further enticed to eat it.
The affect this initial sin had on mankind was the provision of the ability to self-judge, to realise what goes against God and to have the choice to do it anyway. Does someone sin if they do not realise they are going against God? Given that Adam and Eve were originally naked but felt no shame would show that the answer is no, they don’t sin (Gen 2:25). We see that when they do have the knowledge of good and evil they realise they are naked and are ashamed (Gen 3:7). “They are able to make the necessary choices but will always remain uncertain whether their choices are wise or right, or whether the means they devise to reach correct goals are valid” (Dumbrell 2005:23).
The affects of Sin
When Adam and Eve are put out into the world the spread of sin extends to the natural environment. It is no longer natural in the sense that it has been affected by the fall of man. Whether the verse “Cursed is the ground because of you” (Gen 3:17) refers to the corruption of the natural world, it has still most definitely been affected by the sin of mankind. In the beginning the world was good in God’s eyes (Gen 1:31) but since the fall of man it has become corrupt and filled with natural disasters and abnormalities.
With mankind out in the world, the spread of sin extends to the relationships between people and not just God. In the very next generation after Adam and Eve, sin can be seen through selfishness, jealousy and even murder. Cain’s selfishness is seen not by the type of offering he provides but by his motives behind it. Since God sees in his heart that he is selfish he looks in favour of Abel’s offering over Cain’s. Cain then becomes jealous which in turn leads to the murder of a brother as one of the first sins ever committed. This shows the rapid spread of sin in the lives of people from a simple act of selfishness to the murder of a family member.
From the act of murder in the 2nd generation comes the complete self-reliance and independence from God in the 7th generation. Lamech is first mentioned when he marries two women which goes against God’s divine intensions (Gen 2:24). His sons then go on to develop all kinds of different skills in order to become self-reliant with no need for God. When Lamech is wounded by a young man, in his own arrogance he justifies killing the man because of Cain’s protection from murder. He then claims to be seven times as protected as Cain as if murdering someone was actually benefiting him (Gen 4:24).
Through the spread of sin we can see two classes of people emerging, those who follow God and those who follow the ways of this world. A parallel can be seen in Genesis where Cain represents those who follow the world and Abel represents those who follow God. All of Cain’s descendants live independently from God in contrast to the line of Seth. Seth being the replacement for Abel; when his son was born “man began to call on the name of the Lord” (Gen 4:26). This is supported by the fact that Noah, who “found favour in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen 6:8), is from the line of Seth as described in chapter 5.
The flood
After many generations, sin started to become part of the world. It was always present in mankind from the fall of man, but everyone except Noah ignored God and relied on their own efforts in life. And so because of this, God would “not contend with man forever” (Gen 6:3).
The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.”
(Genesis 6:5-7)
God’s grace starts to come to an end and only Noah finds favour in God’s eyes. The spread of sin has become so overwhelming that God actually grieves for making mankind; this could be considered the climax for the spread of sin.
Upon wiping out all of mankind except for Noah and his family, God’s grace for humanity returns and he promises never again to “destroy all living creatures” (Gen 8:21). Noah’s simple act of making an offering to God after the flood pleases him so much that he no longer wants to destroy man “even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood” (Gen 8:21).
From this point in Genesis we can see that the spread of sin reaches its climax just before the flood and God has to put a stop to it. The flood does not rid the world of sin but simply rids the world of those who do not follow God. The presence of sin after the flood is affirmed when Noah’s son tells others of his father’s nakedness instead of covering him like his brothers do (Gen 9:21-23).
Mankind’s attempt at unity
Since the fall of man, sin escalated until it was stunted by God’s intervention with the flood. The next stage of sin was unity in the proud efforts of mankind with disregard for God’s divine authority over all creation. Humanity became united with a universal language and common speech (Gen 11:1) which would allow the creation of a godless human kingdom.
The tower of Babel shows the proud efforts of man as they tried to make a name for themselves (Gen 11:4) and tried to unite without God. Through their own efforts they tried to reach heaven through the tower of Babel (Gen 11:4). The irony of this construction was that God had to come down to see it (Gen 11:5), showing the primitiveness of man’s efforts.
Upon seeing man’s efforts to unite in Godlessness, God had to break their unity by scattering them across the world and confusing their languages (Gen 11:8-9). This could have happened over a period of time and due to their isolation they formed different languages which can be seen today. This stage in the spread of sin requires God’s divine intervention in order to keep the world in control. Through the flood and the tower of Babel, it can be seen that God is in control and whilst he does let things run their course, he will never let the world get out of hand.
Conclusion
The chapters of Genesis 3 – 11 give us the chain of events that lead to the ultimate need for God’s saving grace from our own disobedience of God’s directive. The fall of man marked the time when sin started to become part of the world and caused the corruption of the natural world itself. Were it not for righteous people such as Noah, the existence of mankind would have come to an end long ago. Although we cause God to grieve the day of our creation, through his grace he is still willing to forgive us. Mankind’s own attempts to unify will never prevail as can be seen from the Tower of Babel. The spread of sin shows us that the only way we can truly unite is in God.
Bibliography
Dumbrell, W. J. 2005, The Faith of Israel, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids MI.
Fritsch, C. T. 1966, Genesis (The Layman’s Bible commentary), SCM Press, London.
Richardson, A. 1969, Genesis 1-11, SCM Press, London.
Thielicke, H. 1960, How the world began, Fortress Press, Philadelphia.
Schaeffer, F. A. 1972, Genesis in space and time, Inter-Varsity Press, Illinois.
Von Rad, G. 1961, Genesis, SCM Press, London.
Atkinson, D. 1990, The message of Genesis 1-11, Inter-Varsity Press, Illinois.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
