Chapter 7—When the World Was Destroyed by
Water
This chapter is based on
Genesis 6
and 7.
In the days of Noah a double curse was resting upon the earth in
consequence of Adam’s transgression and the murder committed by
Cain. Yet the earth was still beautiful. The hills were crowned with
majestic trees; the plains were sweet with the fragrance of a thousand
flowers. The fruits of the earth were almost without limit. The trees
far surpassed in size and perfect proportion any now to be found.
Their wood was of fine grain and hard substance, resembling stone
and hardly less enduring. Gold, silver, and precious stones existed in
abundance.
The human race yet retained much of its early vigor. There were
many giants renowned for wisdom, skillful in devising the most cun-
ning and wonderful works, but giving loose rein to iniquity.
God bestowed upon these antediluvians rich gifts, but they used
His bounties to glorify themselves and turned them into a curse by
fixing their affections on the gifts instead of the Giver. They endeav-
ored to excel one another in beautifying their dwellings with skillful
workmanship. They reveled in scenes of pleasure and wickedness. Not
desiring to retain God in their knowledge, they soon came to deny His
existence. They glorified human genius, worshiped the works of their
own hands, and taught their children to bow down to graven images.
The psalmist describes the effect produced upon the worshiper
by the adoration of idols: “They that make them are like unto them;
so is every one that trusteth in them.”
Psalm 115:8
. It is a law of
[52]
the human mind that by beholding we become changed. If the mind
is never exalted above the level of humanity, if it is not uplifted to
contemplate infinite wisdom and love, man will be constantly sinking
lower and lower. “God saw that the wickedness of man was great
in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually... . The earth also was corrupt before God,
50