Genesis 6:3
So the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years."
So the LORD said
This phrase introduces a divine declaration, emphasizing the authority and sovereignty of God. The Hebrew word for "LORD" here is "Yahweh," the personal name of God, which signifies His eternal presence and covenantal faithfulness. This sets the stage for a significant pronouncement from the Creator, highlighting His active role in human history and His concern for the moral state of humanity.

My Spirit
The term "Spirit" in Hebrew is "Ruach," which can mean breath, wind, or spirit. In this context, it refers to God's life-giving and sustaining presence among humanity. The Spirit's role is crucial in the creation narrative and throughout the Bible, symbolizing God's power and presence. Here, it underscores the divine patience and forbearance with human sinfulness, as well as the impending withdrawal of His sustaining grace due to mankind's persistent rebellion.

will not contend
The Hebrew word used here is "diyn," which can mean to strive, judge, or contend. This suggests a legal or judicial connotation, where God is seen as a judge who has been striving with humanity over their sinful ways. The use of this term indicates that there has been an ongoing divine effort to guide and correct humanity, but there is a limit to God's patience in the face of persistent disobedience.

with man forever
This phrase highlights the temporal nature of God's striving with humanity. The word "forever" (Hebrew "olam") often denotes an indefinite or long period rather than eternity. It implies that there is a divinely appointed time for repentance and correction, after which judgment will follow. This serves as a sobering reminder of the urgency of turning back to God and the finite nature of human opportunity to respond to His grace.

for he is mortal
The Hebrew word for "mortal" is "basar," meaning flesh. This emphasizes the frailty and transience of human life in contrast to the eternal nature of God. It serves as a reminder of humanity's dependence on God for life and sustenance. The acknowledgment of human mortality underscores the need for humility and repentance before the Creator.

his days shall be 120 years
This phrase has been interpreted in various ways. Some see it as a reduction of the human lifespan, while others view it as a countdown to the coming flood, giving humanity 120 years to repent. Historically, this period reflects God's patience and mercy, allowing ample time for change. It also serves as a prophetic warning of impending judgment, emphasizing the seriousness of sin and the necessity of aligning with God's will.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant name of God, emphasizing His eternal nature and His authority over creation.

2. Man (Humanity)
Refers to the human race, which had become increasingly corrupt and sinful during this period.

3. The Spirit of God
Represents God's presence and life-giving power, which was striving with humanity.

4. 120 Years
A period of grace given by God before the impending judgment of the flood.
Teaching Points
God's Patience and Mercy
God’s declaration of 120 years before the flood demonstrates His patience and desire for repentance.

Human Mortality and Sinfulness
The verse highlights human mortality and the consequences of sin, reminding us of our need for God's grace.

The Role of the Holy Spirit
The Spirit's striving with humanity indicates God's active involvement in guiding and convicting us.

Divine Judgment and Grace
While God’s judgment is certain, His grace provides an opportunity for repentance and transformation.

Living with Eternity in Mind
Understanding our mortality should lead us to live purposefully, seeking to align our lives with God’s will.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding God's patience in Genesis 6:3 influence your view of His character today?

2. In what ways can we recognize the Holy Spirit's striving in our own lives, and how should we respond?

3. How does the concept of human mortality in Genesis 6:3 affect your daily priorities and decisions?

4. What parallels can you draw between the 120-year period before the flood and the current age of grace we live in?

5. How can we apply the lessons of God's judgment and grace in Genesis 6:3 to our interactions with others?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 2:7
Connects to the creation of man and the life-giving breath of God, highlighting the Spirit's role in sustaining life.

Psalm 78:39
Reflects on God's understanding of human frailty and His mercy, similar to the patience shown in Genesis 6:3.

2 Peter 3:9
Speaks to God's patience and desire for repentance, paralleling the 120-year period before the flood.

Isaiah 57:16
Discusses God's Spirit not contending with man forever, echoing the themes of Genesis 6:3.
Divine Forbearance and JusticeT. R. Redwar, M. A.Genesis 6:3
God Striving with ManBishop Atlay.Genesis 6:3
Neglecting the Opportunity of GraceSpurgeon, Charles HaddonGenesis 6:3
Probation, Approbation, and ReprobationR.A. Redford Genesis 6:3
Sin Beyond MercyGenesis 6:3
The Danger of Resisting the SpiritR. South, DD.Genesis 6:3
The Long Suffering of GodT. Guthrie, D. D.Genesis 6:3
The Spirit StrivingHomilistGenesis 6:3
The Spirit's InfluenceEvan Lewis.Genesis 6:3
The Striving of the SpiritFinney, Charles G.Genesis 6:3
The Striving of the SpiritW. Roberts Genesis 6:3
The Time of God's Grace is LimitedW. Fenner.Genesis 6:3
The World's Treatment of the Holy SpiritJ. Milne.Genesis 6:3
Why God's Spirit Will not Always StriveProf. J. G. Murphy.Genesis 6:3
The Demoralization of the RaceW. Roberts Genesis 6:1-5
The Work of SinR.A. Redford Genesis 6:1-8
People
Ham, Japheth, Noah, Shem
Places
Tigris-Euphrates Region
Topics
Abide, Age, Always, Contend, Erring, Flesh, Forever, Hundred, Indeed, Mortal, Nevertheless, Plead, Spirit, Strive, Twenty, Yet
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Genesis 6:3

     3110   Holy Spirit, titles of
     3272   Holy Spirit, in OT
     3284   Holy Spirit, resisting
     5020   human nature
     5204   age
     5726   old age, attainment
     6203   mortality
     9021   death, natural

Genesis 6:1-22

     7203   ark, Noah's

Library
An Unheeded Warning
TEXT: "My Spirit shall not always strive with men."--Genesis 6:31. For the truth of this statement one needs only to study his Bible and he will find written in almost every book of Old Testament and New a similar expression. At the same time in the study of God's word it will be revealed to him that God has a great plan which he is carefully working out. We must be familiar with the beginning and the unfolding of this plan and with the conclusion he reached. When after the rebellion of his
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

The Saint among Sinners
'These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted His way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Marriage of Cana
John 2:11 -- "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him." I have more than once had occasion to observe, that the chief end St. John had in view, when he wrote his gospel, was to prove the divinity of Jesus Christ, [that Word, who not only was from everlasting with God, but also was really God blessed for evermore] against those arch-heretics Ebion and Cerinthus, whose pernicious principles too many follow in these last
George Whitefield—Selected Sermons of George Whitefield

Covenanting Performed in Former Ages with Approbation from Above.
That the Lord gave special token of his approbation of the exercise of Covenanting, it belongs to this place to show. His approval of the duty was seen when he unfolded the promises of the Everlasting Covenant to his people, while they endeavoured to perform it; and his approval thereof is continually seen in his fulfilment to them of these promises. The special manifestations of his regard, made to them while attending to the service before him, belonged to one or other, or both, of those exhibitions
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Our Unrighteousness.
"My Spirit shall not always strive with man."--Gen. vi. 3. Before discussing the work of the Holy Spirit in the sinner's restoration, let us consider the interesting but much-neglected question whether man stood in fellowship with the Holy Spirit before the fall. If it is true that the original Adam returns in the regenerated man, it follows that the Holy Spirit must have dwelt in Adam as He now dwells in God's children. But this is not so. God's word teaches the following differences between the
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Moral Depravity.
In discussing the subject of human depravity, I shall,-- I. Define the term depravity. The word is derived from the Latin de and pravus. Pravus means "crooked." De is intensive. Depravatus literally and primarily means "very crooked," not in the sense of original or constitutional crookedness, but in the sense of having become crooked. The term does not imply original mal-conformation, but lapsed, fallen, departed from right or straight. It always implies deterioration, or fall from a former state
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

The Survival of the Fittest.
THE STORY OF THE GREAT FLOOD.--Gen. 6-8. Parallel Readings. Hist. Bible I, 52-65. Darwin, Origin of Species; Wallace, Darwinism; 3. William Dawson, Modern Ideas of Evolution; Article Evolution in leading encyclopedias. When Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every purpose in the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, it was a source of regret that he had made man on the earth and it grieved him to his heart. Therefore Jehovah said, I will
Charles Foster Kent—The Making of a Nation

Difficulties and Objections
"Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not My way equal? are not your ways unequal?" (Ezek. 18:25). A convenient point has been reached when we may now examine, more definitely, some of the difficulties encountered and the objections which might be advanced against what we have written in previous pages. The author deemed it better to reserve these for a separate consideration rather than deal with them as he went along, requiring as that would have done the
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God

The Sixth Proposition. All the Objections against the Universality of Christ's Death are Easily Solved
According to which principle (or hypothesis) all the objections against the universality of Christ's death are easily solved; neither is it needful to recur to the ministry of angels, and those other miraculous means, which, they say, God makes use of, to manifest the doctrine and history of Christ's passion, unto such who (living in those places of the world where the outward preaching of the gospel is unknown) have well improved the first and common grace; for hence it well follows, that as some
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

According to which principle or hypothesis all the objections against the universality of Christ's death are easily solved
PROPOSITION VI. According to which principle or hypothesis all the objections against the universality of Christ's death are easily solved; neither is it needful to recur to the ministry of angels, and those other miraculous means which they say God useth to manifest the doctrine and history of Christ's passion unto such, who, living in parts of the world where the outward preaching of the gospel is unknown, have well improved the first and common grace. For as hence it well follows that some of
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

Divine Impartiality Considered.
"For there is no respect of persons with God." The divine impartiality is often asserted in the holy scriptures; and the assertion coincides with our natural ideas of deity. The pagans indeed attributed to their Gods, the vices, follies and weaknesses of men! But the beings whom they adored were mostly taken from among men, and might be considered as retaining human imperfections,--Had unbiased reason been consulted to find out a supreme being, a different object would have been exhibited to view.
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

Noah's Faith, Fear, Obedience, and Salvation
We may take pleasure in thinking of Noah as a kind of contrast to Enoch. Enoch was taken away from the evil to come: he saw not the flood, nor heard the wailing of those who were swept away by the waterfloods. His was a delightful deliverance from the harvest of wrath which followed the universal godlessness of the race. It was not his to fight the battle of righteousness to the bitter end; but by a secret rapture he avoided death, and escaped those evil days in which his grandson's lot was cast.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 36: 1890

Covenanting Enforced by the Grant of Covenant Signs and Seals.
To declare emphatically that the people of God are a covenant people, various signs were in sovereignty vouchsafed. The lights in the firmament of heaven were appointed to be for signs, affording direction to the mariner, the husbandman, and others. Miracles wrought on memorable occasions, were constituted signs or tokens of God's universal government. The gracious grant of covenant signs was made in order to proclaim the truth of the existence of God's covenant with his people, to urge the performance
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

The Writings of Israel's Philosophers
[Sidenote: Discussions the problem of evil] An intense interest in man led certain of Israel's sages in time to devote their attention to more general philosophical problems, such as the moral order of the universe. In the earlier proverbs, prophetic histories, and laws, the doctrine that sin was always punished by suffering or misfortune, and conversely that calamity and misfortune were sure evidence of the guilt of the one affected, had been reiterated until it had become a dogma. In nine out
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

Concerning the Condition of Man in the Fall.
Concerning the Condition of Man in the Fall. [182] All Adam's posterity, or mankind, both Jews and Gentiles, as to the first Adam, or earthly man, is fallen, degenerated, and dead; deprived of the sensation or feeling of this inward testimony or seed of God; and is subject unto the power, nature, and seed of the serpent, which he soweth in men's hearts, while they abide in this natural and corrupted estate; from whence it comes, that not only their words and deeds, but all their imaginations, are
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

Meditations of the Misery of a Man not Reconciled to God in Christ.
O wretched Man! where shall I begin to describe thine endless misery, who art condemned as soon as conceived; and adjudged to eternal death, before thou wast born to a temporal life? A beginning indeed, I find, but no end of thy miseries. For when Adam and Eve, being created after God's own image, and placed in Paradise, that they and their posterity might live in a blessed state of life immortal, having dominion over all earthly creatures, and only restrained from the fruit of one tree, as a sign
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Departed Saints Fellow Servants with those yet on Earth.
"I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets." That the saints do not remain insensible, while their bodies are in the dull, but become angels, * see and serve God and bear his messages, and minister to the heirs of salvation, hath been argued from several considerations, in the preceding discourse; but we chiefly depend on revelation. The text and several other scriptures, we conceive to be our purpose, and sufficient to establish our theory, and that the same is illustrated and confirmed
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects

Mount Zion.
"For ye are not come unto a mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that no word more should be spoken unto them: for they could not endure that which was enjoined, If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned; and so fearful was the appearance, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake: but ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto
Thomas Charles Edwards—The Expositor's Bible: The Epistle to the Hebrews

The Growth of the Old Testament Prophetic Histories
[Sidenote: Analogies between the influences that produced the two Testaments] Very similar influences were at work in producing and shaping both the Old and the New Testaments; only in the history of the older Scriptures still other forces can be distinguished. Moreover, the Old Testament contains a much greater variety of literature. It is also significant that, while some of the New Testament books began to be canonized less than a century after they were written, there is clear evidence that
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

They Shall be Called the Children of God
They shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9 In these words the glorious privilege of the saints is set down. Those who have made their peace with God and labour to make peace among brethren, this is the great honour conferred upon them, They shall be called the children of God'. They shall be (called)', that is, they shall be so reputed and esteemed of God. God never miscalls anything. He does not call them children which are no children. Thou shalt be called the prophet of the Highest'
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

What the Scriptures Principally Teach: the Ruin and Recovery of Man. Faith and Love Towards Christ.
2 Tim. i. 13.--"Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus." Here is the sum of religion. Here you have a compend of the doctrine of the Scriptures. All divine truths may be reduced to these two heads,--faith and love; what we ought to believe, and what we ought to do. This is all the Scriptures teach, and this is all we have to learn. What have we to know, but what God hath revealed of himself to us? And what have we to do, but what
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Man's Inability to Keep the Moral Law
Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God? No mere man, since the fall, is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but does daily break them, in thought, word, and deed. In many things we offend all.' James 3: 2. Man in his primitive state of innocence, was endowed with ability to keep the whole moral law. He had rectitude of mind, sanctity of will, and perfection of power. He had the copy of God's law written on his heart; no sooner did God command but he obeyed.
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The Doctrine of Angels.
I. THEIR EXISTENCE. 1. THE TEACHING OF JESUS. 2. THE TEACHING OF THE APOSTLES. II. THEIR NATURE. 1. CREATED BEINGS. 2. SPIRITUAL BEINGS. 3. GREAT POWER AND MIGHT. 4. VARIOUS GRADES. 5. THE NUMBER OF ANGELS. III. THE FALL OF ANGELS. 1. TIME AND CAUSE. 2. THE WORK OF FALLEN ANGELS. 3. THE JUDGMENT OF FALLEN ANGELS. IV. THE WORK OF ANGELS. 1. THEIR HEAVENLY MINISTRY. 2. THEIR EARTHLY MINISTRY. a) In Relation to the Believer. b) In Relation to Christ's Second Coming. THE DOCTRINE OF ANGELS. We are not
Rev. William Evans—The Great Doctrines of the Bible

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