Why Noah and his immediate family were the only ones immune from
this great judgment is significant. Genesis 6:9 says, "Noah was a
just man." He stood out as an example of righteousness and
godliness in a perverse age. Like Enoch before him, Noah also
"walked with God." But there was another reason why Noah was
spared, one that seems to have escaped most commentators. Genesis
6:9 says that Noah was "perfect in his generation." Does this mean
moral and spiritual perfection? Hardly. Genesis 9:20-23 disproves
any such perfection. What, then, does the Bible mean by calling him
"perfect"? The Hebrew word is "tamiym" and comes from the root word
"taman." This means "without blemish" as in Exodus 12:5, 29:1,
Leviticus 1:3. Just as the sacrificial lamb had to be without any
physical blemish, so Noah's perfection. In its primary meaning, it
refers not to any moral or spiritual quality, but to physical
purity. Noah was uncontaminated by the alien invaders.
He alone had preserved their pedigree and kept it pure, in spite of
prevailing corruption brought about by the fallen angels.
(15)
And again:
Noah's bloodline had remained free of genetic contamination.
(16)
This implies, of course, that all the other families on Earth had
been contaminated by the Nephilim. It also proves that the assault
of Satan on the human race had been far more extensive than
realized. It is no wonder that God pronounced such a universal fiat
of judgment.
As for the fallen angels who participated in the abomination, God
put them in custody "in everlasting chains under darkness unto the
judgment of the great day" (Jude 6). This is sometimes interpreted
as Tartarus or the "nether realms" (2 Peter 2:4). This would also
explain why some fallen angels are in custody and why others are
free to roam the heavens and torment mankind.
Such a drastic punishment, both for men and angels, presupposed a
drastic sin, something infinitely more evil and more sinister than
mixed marriages. It was nothing less than the demonic realm
attempting to pervert the human world. By genetic control and the
production of hybrids, Satan was out to rob God of the people He
had made for Himself.
If Satan had succeeded in corrupting the human race, he would have
hindered the coming of the perfect Son of God, the promised "seed
of the woman," who would defeat Satan and restore man's dominion
(Genesis 3:15). If Satan had by any means prevented that birth, he
would obviously have averted his own doom. Satan did succeed to a
large extent. It was for this reason that God drowned mankind in
the Deluge.
