Abyssus Abyssum Invocat. Pt. 2 (One wrong step leads to another).

        In our previous letter we saw that the sons of God who were the descendants of Seth, and the sons of men who were the descendants of Cain, remained separated for a while. The sons of God were godly and lived righteous lives, they preached that men and women were to repent and turn to God for forgiveness and restoration to the family of God. The sons of Cain were ungodly and rejected the loving call of God to return to Him and rejoin the family of God, forsaking their sinful ways. The Bible tells us that Enoch in the seventh generation of Adam preached to these ungodly people. Here’s what we read in Jude 1:14: …‟Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment upon all and to convict the ungodly of their wickedness and of all their blasphemies against God.” Jude 1:14, 15.

        At some point in the anti-diluvian history these two distinct groups merged, joined together, the godly and the ungodly. When this happened the entire earth corrupted itself to the point where God, in order to preserve righteousness in the world, had to destroy all mankind and all life except those that took refuge in Noah’s ark. Good scientific research shows much evidence that the earth was once completely underwater. For those who understand English take time to view these two YouTube presentations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zd5-dHxOQhg. And: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJNtUEzRGxM. 

        In the realm of anthropology we find much evidence across the entire earth of Noah’s flood story in the beliefs, mores, and mythologies of nations. My friends, in light of all of this that we have seen, heard and read, I appeal to you to please consider God in your life and turn to Him and live and not perish. Here’s God’s appeal to you as He appealed to His ancient people: ‟Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die…” Eze. 33:11. (ESV).

        What made the sons of God and the sons of Cain unite together, from which union came rejection of God and His instructions to humanity, leading eventually to a global flood which destroyed all life except those that took refuge in Noah’s ark? Genesis 6:2 gives us this answer: ‟…the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and they took them wives of all that they chose.” The verse says that, first, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful (Heb. ‘Tov’); secondly, beholding the beauty of the daughters of men, the men of God took of them wives. Follow me closely now as we reason together. Did the sons of God have daughters of God around them besides these daughters of men? The answer is of course, yes. So here’s the question, were not the daughters of God beautiful and even nobler than the daughters of men? Again the answer is, yes. What made the sons of God turn away from the daughters of God and go to the daughters of men for wives? The answer is encapsulated in the Hebrew word ‘tov.’

        When one researches the etymology, or origin, of the Semitic term ‘tov’ in Semitic philology or linguistics, the answer is crystal clear. The Hebrew word tov in the Semitic languages means pleasant, agreeable, desirable, of good use, to adorn, to serve well, excellent, favour, wealth. In Semitic thought, something is ‘tov’ when it is of utilitarian value, when it serves a good or pleasurable purpose. Here are a few examples in Scripture:

Gen. 2:18 ‟And the Lord God said that it is not good that man should be alone.” ‘Good’ (tov) here means that it is not proper, not helpful, for man to be alone; he’s missing something.

Gen. 20:15 Abimelech told Abraham, ‟my land is before you, settle wherever you please.” ‘Please’ (tov) here means whichever portion of land is good, useful, for you there you can settle.

Gen. 30:20 ‟And Leah said, God has endowed me with a good (tov) gift, now will my husband honour (love and respect) me…” Leah figured that because she bore her husband so many sons, that was ‘tov,’ so he will love her (like he loved Rachel).

Num. 10:29 Moses told his father-in-law to accompany them into Canaan and they will do good for him, for God has promised good (tov) things for Israel. The father-in-law would benefit being with the new nation of Israel because of God’s promises.

Deut. 8:11-15 Here Moses tells the people that they should be very careful not to turn away from God’s commandments and instructions when they get into Canaan and prosper and build good (tov) houses and live in them. The good (tov) houses were houses that were pleasing and enjoyable to live in.

        The foregoing texts show us that the word ‘tov’, meaning good or beautiful, carries the meaning of ‘something useful for someone or for some function’, ‘pleasing to the beholder’. Therefore, when Gen. 6:2 says that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were tov (some languages translate tov as just, good, beautiful), it means that the daughters of men presented themselves in a seductive manner, attractive, and tempting to the point where the sons of God capitulated to their seduction and befriended them even taking them as wives. Were not the daughters of God even more noble and beautiful? Yes, they were, but they did not dress seductively like the ungodly women; like men in all ages of our world, the godly men could not resist the ‘sex appeal’ of the daughters of men and entered into close friendship and marital relationships with them.

        Friends, isn’t this exactly what is taking place in our world today? Are not women (and men) dressing in ways that tempt men beyond control? Just think of it, hot pants, short shorts, low neck dresses, open chest blouses and dresses with slits strategically placed, mini skirts, see-through beach clothes, not to mention the bikinis! These were the seductive sights that were able to dethrone the godly people back then according to the meanings of the Hebrew word tov, and they are the same seductive sights that are gelling godly men today to ungodly women. Please remember that ungodly here does not mean necessarily wicked, or bad; it simply means that the ungodly life is not shaped by godly principles and morals.

        To the ungodly morality is relative and western societies along with many other non western ones have gone way past the sexual revolution which began with the Kinsey Report of the Progressives and the New Left in the United States in the nineteenth century and has now spread almost to all the world. This ungodliness leads to the rejection of God’s morality and to the acceptance of evil and wicked practices. You and I are witnesses to this in our present generation. Yet we have a choice of being in God’s Ark of safety, untouched by the storms of evil around us. Have you made your choice as to which course you will take, dear reader?

        When the godly entered marital relationships with the ungodly they sealed their destiny, the destiny of their children and of the world. There was none now that rose up to restrain mankind from his wicked practices, the very imaginations of his heart became continually evil. This is why God strictly warned His followers against having marital relationships with the ungodly. One wrong step opened the door to another till none could shut it and till it was too late. However, God in His great love for His creation made a way of escape for everyone. He sent a man to warn people that He will destroy the beautiful creation after one hundred and twenty years. Accordingly, Noah preached the longest sermon of reconciliation ever; God bore patiently with humanity until they had passed the bounds of their limitation. And unexpectedly the Flood came and took Men, women, and children away! Men, because they refused to accept the warnings of God. Women, because they chose to follow the men. And children, because their parents, teachers, and leaders convinced them that Noah was wrong. What a travesty of human guidance!

        You see, friends, God is the source of all life; to reject God is to reject life. But despite such great divine judgement, God has promised humans that sin and rebellion will never again exist in this universe. Nahum 1:9: ‟What do ye imagine against the Lord? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.” Isn’t that wonderful news friends! Yes, it is. Let’s plan on being there.

        My appeal to everyone reading this letter is, please, take refuge in God, He loves you and wants to restore you to the divine image. Evil will not again be allowed to exist in God’s wonderful universe. He will destroy evil, satan, and everyone that is contaminated by evil– everyone, that is, who has rejected the divine remedy for cleansing. In my next monthly article we will look at evidences of Noah’s flood amongst the nations of earth.

Deut. 33:26: The eternal God is thy refuge,
and underneath are the everlasting arms:
and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee;
and shall say, Destroy them (the enemy).

Luke 12:32: Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

If you have any comments or questions, please contact Pr. Ron Henderson at ronhende@outlook.com.