The World Of Noah's Day

Bible chronology places Noah's birth in 2970 B.C.E. - 126 years after Adam's death. By Noah's day, the earth was full of violence, and the majority of Adam's descendants chose to follow their progenitor's wayward example. Thus, "Jehovah saw that the badness of man was abundant in the earth and every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only bad all the time." - Genesis 6:5, 11, 12.

Human rebellion was not the only reason for Jehovah's displeasure. The Genesis account explains: "The sons of the true God began to notice the daughters of men, that they were good-looking; and they went taking wives for themselves, namely, all whom they chose... The Nephilim proved to be in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of the true God continued to have relations with the daughters of men and they bore sons to them, they were the mighty ones who were of old, the men of fame." (Genesis 6:2-4) Comparison of these verses with a statement recorded by the apostle Peter indicates that "the sons of the true God" were disobedient angels. The Nephilim were the hybrid offspring of illicit unions between women and materialized renegade angels. - 1 Peter 3:19, 20.

"Nephilim," meaning "Fellers," denotes individuals who caused others to fall. They were tyrannical bullies, and the sin of their lustful fathers is likened to the perversions of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Jude 6, 7) Together, they whipped up intolerable wickedness on earth.

Next time: "Faultless Among His Contemporaries"