But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. (Matthew 24: 36-37)

During the days of Noah, there was a high level of deception among the population in the world. This deceit began in heaven with one of God’s chief angel who was called Lucifer.

God created him with wisdom, abundant riches, and power. He ruled a portion of angels in heaven, and he walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones on the holy mountain of God.

Lucifer was the anointed cherub who was also in the Garden of Eden after God created man. He was perfect in every way (Ezekiel 28:14-16).

In spite, of all these abundant blessings, Lucifer became discontented, and iniquity was found in his heart. The seed of pride entered his heart and he was filled with violence.

Lucifer wanted to be like the most High God and set his throne above the cloud. Of course, the creature cannot be greater than his creator, so he corrupted his wisdom and became foolish.

Immediately, war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon (Lucifer) and his angels (Revelation 12:7-9). Lucifer was defeated and thrown out of heaven into the air with his angels.

He decided to return to the Garden of Eden to overthrow man from his exalted position in the earth.

Lucifer became Satan when he fell into sin. He possessed the body of a serpent and dwelled under the tree of good and evil. Satan knew that the woman’s seed was going to destroy him, so he decided to target the woman (Genesis 3).

The tree of good and evil and the tree of life were not literal trees. They were knowledge. One was good information that would give humans life while the other was the knowledge of evil.

Why would God leave evil in His perfect Garden? Did evil exist before Satan became sinful?

Satan conversation with the woman planted the first seed of doubt, pride, and deception in her mind. She passed on the knowledge to her husband. The deception grew into jealousy, envy, anger and then murder.

After the downfall of the couple, God cursed the ground instead of the man.

“Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil, you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust, you shall return.” (Genesis 3:17-19)

 Adam and Eve had two sons, and they were taught the ordinances of God. Abel offered a clean animal to God, and his sacrifice was accepted, but Cain offered fruits from the polluted earth with an unclean heart. Consequently, God did not accept his sacrifice.

Cain became upset and murdered his brother in a jealous rage. The innocent blood of Abel cried out to God from the cursed ground and immediately the curse was transferred to Cain. The land would no longer yield crop to him.

Cain showed no remorse for his sins and God told him that he would become a vagabond. The Lord placed a mark upon him so that no one would kill him less he received a worst fate than Cain. It was the mark of sin.

Cain traveled east of Eden and got married. I often wondered how he found a wife when there were only three people on earth. The Bible did not explain, but it should be noted that the time span between the chapters in Genesis extends over several years.

Also, the four rivers in the Garden of Eden which flowed to the four corners of the earth could indicate that there was life in the four corners of the earth.

It is possible that when God blew breath into the first man that He made from the dust, life also began in the four corners of the earth. God gave Adam the authority to rule every living thing in the land. Thus when he fell into sin, the entire world became corrupted.

Cain had children with his wife and a generation developed from his seed which was marked with sin. The names of the first male children are closely similar to the names of the descendants of Seth (Genesis 4). But they were different.

The generation of Cain continued to walk in sin (Genesis 4:15;23-24). So God spiritually remade Adam and Eve in His image and likeness, and they gave birth to another son Seth who was in his image and likeness. (Genesis 5:1-2)

The descendants of Seth walked with the Lord and upheld His laws. One of his descendant Enoch was so righteous that he was transported straight into heaven.

Seth’s descendants lived long on earth with the oldest Methuselah living 969 years. Note that the age of the children of Cain was not given in the Bible because I doubt if they had a long lifespan.

There were other atrocities taking place on earth. The Bible recorded that the sons (angels) of God saw the daughters of men and came down to earth to marry them and bore children. These angels took on the appearance of humans.

The result was a catastrophe because these strange couples gave birth to giants. They became famous among the nations. Their fathers were angelic beings who were privy to knowledge that humans did not possess.

God created the angels before humans. Thus they taught men knowledge both good and evil.

The Bible stated that the wickedness of men on earth was so great that it grieved the heart of God that He had made them. The Lord decided to destroy the entire earth and all living things that he had created.

But His mercy intercepted when He remembered one of the descendants of Seth.

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. (Genesis 6:8)

Would you like the Lord to find grace in you? How can you achieve this grace? Do you believe it was fair for God to destroy the earth?

Do you believe that there was a flood? Share your thoughts and answers in the comment box below. We welcome all opinions.

Continue in Part Two