A Corrupted Earth — Human Hearts, Divine Grief, and Noah’s Grace
Genesis 6:5–12 shows how far the world has moved from Genesis 1. God had declared creation “very good”; now human wickedness is great, the intentions of the heart are continually bent toward evil, the earth is corrupt before God, and it is filled with violence. The problem is not one isolated offense. Sin has spread through human thought, society, and the world humanity was meant to steward.
God’s response is described in deeply personal terms: He is grieved at His heart. The text then announces judgment, yet verse 8 interrupts the darkness with one of the most important turns in the Flood story: “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” Genesis 6:9 describes Noah as righteous, blameless in his generations, and one who “walked with God,” deliberately recalling the description of Enoch in Genesis 5.