Agree or Disagree Double Reference or Not Genesis 6:3 Vs Matthew 24:37
This paper will discuss and contrast the double reference view for interpretation
for Genesis 6:3 Vs Matthew 24:37. A definition of double reference by the professor
of this class defines double reference as "partial fulfillment of a prophecy
with still future fulfillment." Let's first look at these two scriptures "And
the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh:
yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years" (Gen 6:3 KJV). "But
as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Mat
24:37 KJV). The Spirit of God is at the center of everything that God does. In creation
"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of
the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters" (Gen 1:2
KJV). In individual lives, "And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find
such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?" (Gen 41:38 KJV).
By the Spirit Christ preached "And in the spirit he went and preached to the
spirits in prison {20} who refused to obey God long ago in the time of Noah. God
was waiting patiently for them while Noah was building the boat. Only a few people--eight
in all--were saved by water" (1 Pet 3:19-20 NCV). But as the scriptures states
God's Spirit will no always strive with man "The secret power of evil is already
working in the world, but there is one who is stopping that power. And he will continue
to stop it until he is taken out of the way" (2 Th 2:7 NCV).
So we have
two examples of where God's Spirit has a time limit in dealing with man and his sin.
First in the days of Noah and then in the end times when the Church will be "Raptured"
and the restraining power of the Holy Spirit will be taken out of
In the
New Testament Jesus provides us with a warning prophecy of what the end times will
be like "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of
man be" (Mat 24:37 KJV). I believe when Christ spoke these words they can
be applied or interpreted this way. Man in sinful state has always lived near the
edge where God's judgment could come at any moment. I believe that these two scriptures
tell that in both cases God will have reached his limit and that judgment will occur.
"And 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" (Gen
6:5 KJV). This scripture could have easily described man at almost point in our human
history of living in sin. I don't believe that Gen 6:3 and Mat 24:37 can be tied
together as an example of double reference. I believe that Gen 6:3 is a clear statement
that God's Spirit will not always strive with man and then God announced judgment
on man.
In Matthew 24:37 we have Jesus describing that the end of time will
be like the days of Noah before Jesus will return a second time. I believe that the
first half of Gen 6:3 is prophetic statement that tells us that God has a limit in
dealing with sin. That He deals with sin on an individual level, sometimes with all
of mankind (The Flood) and then with the second coming of Christ and then finally
at the end of the Millennium Kingdom. So I believe that we cannot use these scriptures
as an example of double reference.
