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Genesis 6:3-4
● Gen 6:3a . . And Yhvh said: My Spirit shall not strive with man
forever
Some translations have "abide" instead of strive. But the Hebrew word is
diyn (deen) which means: to rule; by implication: to judge (as umpire); also
to strive (as at law). It can also mean to plead the cause of; or to contend in
argument.
So. How did "My Spirit" accomplish this striving with man? In person
Himself? No; just like He always has: via a holy man.
"Noah, a preacher of righteousness" (2Pet 2:5)
According to 1Pet 3:18-20, the Spirit of Christ and My Spirit are one and the
same spirit. In point of fact; according to 1Pet 1:10-11, all the Old
Testament preachers (a..k.a. prophets) were motivated by the Spirit of
Christ. (cf. Rom 8:9 and 1Cor 6:19 where the Spirit of Christ and The Spirit
are again seen as one and the same spirit)
Anyway, point being: there does come a time when God's patience runs out.
Not because He can't take it anymore, but because when human beings
become too decadent and too incorrigible, then any more reasoning with
them would be like throwing good money after bad; and risky too.
"Do not give what is sacred to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before
swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to
pieces." (Matt 7:6)
It's sad but true: there are people out there so devoid of spiritual values that
they're practically feral.
Contrary to the mushy, sob-sister brand of Christianity going around like
swine flu, there is a time when forgiveness is not only impractical, but it's
also unreasonable. Hell is populated with people who will never, ever be
forgiven. They crossed a line and now there's no going back; ever. God no
longer has any interest in their welfare. They are forgotten and ignored; and
can expect neither pity nor sympathy from God ever again.
● Gen 6:3b . . for they are only flesh.
The problem with flesh is it's brevity. Because people eventually die, God
has a limited amount of time to work with them before they pass on.
● Gen 6:3c . . yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty
years.
Some feel that God set the limits of human longevity in that verse. But
people still continued to live long lives for a great number of years
afterwards. Even Abraham, who lived many, many years after the Flood,
didn't die till he was 175 years old. It's far more reasonable to conclude that
God was announcing a deadline; viz: they had 120 years left to get ready to
meet their maker. But you think that alarmed anybody? Heck no. They went
right on; business as usual.
"And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of
Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in
marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and
destroyed them all." (Luke 17:26-27)
● Gen 6:4 . .There were giants on the earth in those days, and also
afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men,
and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who
were of old, men of renown.
The Hebrew word for "giants" in that passage is nephiyl (nef-eel') or nephil
(nef-eel') and I have no clue why the KJV's scholars translated it giants
because it doesn't mean that at all. For one thing; it's an ambiguous word
with more than one meaning. It can indicate someone who cuts, knocks, or
brings things down, or a killer; and/or bullies and tyrants.
Now; granted that some bullies are big guys; but not all tyrants are big
guys. Take for example Kim Jong-Un of North Korea, He isn't especially
imposing but Mr. Jong Il sure knows how to exercise power excessively and
brutally.
In other words: nephiyl doesn't necessarily indicate a special race of people;
but simply people whose ambition is to dominate others; even if they have
to completely destroy their culture and kill them all off to do it; viz: nephiyl
personalities are not good followers nor are they very good team players. It
can be accurately said of nephiyl personalities that they would rather rule in
hell than serve in heaven. In other words: if they can't conquer God, then
they would just as soon have nothing to do with Him.
Historical examples of nephiyl types would be men like Genghis Khan of
Mongolia, and Alexander the Great of Greece; Napoleon of France, Peter
Alekseyevich Romanov of Russia, Chandragupta Maurya of India, shogun
Minamoto no Yoritomo of Japan, conquistador Hernando Cortes of Spain,
Timur: founder of the Timurid dynasty, and Zahir-ud din Muhammad Babur:
founder of the Mughal dynasty that ruled the Indian subcontinent for over
three centuries.
Q: If all the nephiyl types drowned in the Flood; then how did their
characteristics manage to resurface down the road?
A: Well; from whence did nephiyl types originate in the first place? Same
place every other personality type originated: from Adam's genes; viz: since
Noah and his wife, and his sons and their wives, were Adam's descendants,
then nephiyl characteristics survived the Flood by riding it out in the DNA of
the people aboard the ark.
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In your first paragraph in which you make the claim that the Hebrew word is din/diyn, is not true. According the Bible Hub web page, the transliterated word found in this verse is yā·ḏō·wn and is the only occurrence of this Hebrew word in the Old Testament.
Strong's Concordance
din: to judge
Original Word: דִּין
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: din
Phonetic Spelling: (deen)
Short Definition: judge
Strong Number: - H:1777
Transliterated: - yā·ḏō·wn
Actual Hebrew Word in verse: - יָד֨וֹן
Meaning of word: – will contend
Part of Speech: – A Verb
You also make the claim that Noah preached to the people before the flood but it is not recorded that he ever did nor is it recorded that God required him to do so. The 2 Peter 2:5 reference you quoted tells us that Noah was a herald of righteous which all “Christians” should be in their daily living. From memory the Book of Jasher suggests that Noah preached for the people to repent but this book also suggests that he moved away from the people when he began to build the ark.
Now with regards to the 120 years within around 25 descendant generation the length of the life of mankind had reduced from Noah’s time to a maximum length of 120 years.
Patrairch Age they died
Noah 950
Shem 600
Arachshad 438
Shelah 433
Eber 464
Peleg 239
Reu 239
Serug 230
Nahor 148
Terah 205
Abram (Abraham) 175
Isaac 180
Jacob 147
Joseph 110
Aaron 120
Moses 120
Joshua 110
God set in motion the means by which the age of mankind would be reduced such that when he began interacting once again with many people the age of the people had reduced down to 120 years on average in length.