1656 years.
1656 years of human history, and we know almost nothing.
Literally, almost nothing.
We haven’t been told of the great cities that were built, of the reigns of kings, of the superstars of the day. But what we do know, are the most important facts we could hope to know. What we have been told, is this:
Our creation
How sin entered the world
The announcement of a Savior
The murder of Abel, and exile of Cain
The ungodly line of Cain
The godly line of Seth
How the corruption of the entire race came about, save for Noah
The building of the ark and the flood which wiped out mankind, save for Noah
These are the things which are important - do we stand or fall before Him. Not the vain pursuits of a world destined for destruction, but do we live or die to Him.
This article is going to focus on the corruption of the entire race, as it holds a valuable lesson for us. That lesson is this: if we intermingle with the world, we will fall.
When Cain was exiled, his offspring grew and expanded apart from where the sons of God grew and expanded. The character of Cain was taken up by his progeny, as we can see from the testimony regarding Lamech, the seventh from Adam through Cain, “Lamech said to his wives, ‘Adah and Zillah, Listen to my voice, You wives of Lamech, Give heed to my speech, For I have killed a man for wounding me; And a boy for striking me; If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold,’” Genesis 4:23-24.
The sons of God, for their part, continued with the Lord, for the testimony we have of Enoch, likewise the seventh from Adam, but through Seth, is this, “Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him,” Genesis 5:24, and, “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God,” Hebrews 11:5.
As the two camps expanded on the earth, the sons of God began to desire the beauty of the daughters of Cain, “Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose,” Genesis 6:1-2. This had a disasterous effect on them, for by joining themselves to the worldly, they became worldly, for the testimony of God is this, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually,” Genesis 6:5. And so the entire ancient world became corrupted.
Except for Noah.
This is a lesson which God always teaches His people. From the law of Moses, “Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim - for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God - otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods,” Exodus 34:12-16. God warns them not to intermingle with the ungodly, for the natural result will be that we won’t wish to offend them; for when we invite them to our worship, it will come about they might ask us to attend theirs in return. From the desire not to give offense, we might go, and then one thing leads to another, and we are no longer faithful to our Creator and Savior. Ezra 9:10-12 and Malachi 2:11 detail the sad result of Israel, in that they forsook this commandment, and went after their neighbors, just as the ancient sons of God did. Is this not even what caused Solomon to fall?
The church is given the same instruction, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ‘Therefore, ‘Come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘And do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,’ says the Lord Almighty,” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, and again, “For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?” 1 Corinthians 7:16. For if the Lord tells us we have no idea whether or not we’ll be able to convert our mate, we only deceive ourselves if we think otherwise.
We really need to listen to what was told us so long ago by Paul, for it is as true today as it ever was, as true as it was to the sons of God before they looked at the daughters of Cain, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals,’” 1 Corinthians 15:33. For when light intermingles with darkness, the light does not spread; the darkness extinguishes the light.