Apostasy Reaches a Climax

April 12 – 18, 2026

Key Text

“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6:5

Study Help: Patriarchs and Prophets, 90–104; Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, 361–368

Introduction

“Fifteen centuries after the sentence pronounced upon Cain, the Universe witnessed the fruition of his influence and example, in the crime and pollution that flooded the earth.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 78

Sunday

1 WICKEDNESS AMONG THE ANTEDILUVIANS

1.a. How did God and the inhabitants of other worlds view the situation existing on earth shortly before the flood? Genesis 6:5

Note: “The holy inhabitants of other worlds were watching with the deepest interest the events taking place on the earth. In the condition of the world that existed before the Flood they saw illustrated the results of the administration which Lucifer had endeavored to establish in heaven, in rejecting the authority of Christ and casting aside the law of God. In those highhanded sinners of the antediluvian world they saw the subjects over whom Satan held sway. The thoughts of men’s hearts were only evil continually. Genesis 6:5. Every emotion, every impulse and imagination, was at war with the divine principles of purity and peace and love. It was an example of the awful depravity resulting from Satan’s policy to remove from God’s creatures the restraint of His holy law.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 78, 79

1.b. How long did God mercifully strive with the antediluvians before sending the threatened destruction? Genesis 6:3. What should we learn from the way the majority responded to Noah’s appeals?

Note: “Noah preached to the people of his time that God would give them one hundred and twenty years in which to repent of their sins and find refuge in the ark, but they refused the gracious invitation. Abundant time was given them to turn from their sins, overcome their bad habits, and develop righteous characters. But inclination to sin, though weak at first with many, strengthened through repeated indulgence and hurried them on to irretrievable ruin. The merciful warning of God was rejected with sneers, with mockery and derision; and they were left in darkness to follow the course that their sinful hearts had chosen. But their unbelief did not hinder the predicted event. It came, and great was the wrath of God which was seen in the general ruin.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 4, 308

“ ‘As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man’ (Luke 17:26). Men will reject the solemn message of warning in our day, as they did in Noah’s time. They will refer to those false teachers who have predicted the event and set the definite time, and will say that they have no more faith in our warning than in theirs. This is the attitude of the world today. Unbelief is widespread, and the preaching of Christ’s coming is mocked at and derided. This makes it all the more essential that those who believe present truth should show their faith by their works.” Ibid.

Monday

2 “MARRYING AND GIVING IN MARRIAGE”

2.a. What restriction regarding the marriage institution did the sons of God disobey? Genesis 6:1, 2; 2 Corinthians 6:14–17

Note: “The race of Cain, spreading from the place of their first settlement, dispersed over the plains and valleys where the children of Seth had dwelt; and the latter, in order to escape from their contaminating influence, withdrew to the mountains, and there made their home. So long as this separation continued, they maintained the worship of God in its purity. But in the lapse of time they ventured, little by little, to mingle with the inhabitants of the valleys. This association was productive of the worst results. ‘The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair.’ The children of Seth, attracted by the beauty of the daughters of Cain’s descendants, displeased the Lord by intermarrying with them. Many of the worshipers of God were beguiled into sin by the allurements that were now constantly before them, and they lost their peculiar, holy character. Mingling with the depraved, they became like them in spirit and in deeds; the restrictions of the seventh commandment were disregarded, ‘and they took them wives of all which they chose’ (Genesis 6:2). The children of Seth went ‘in the way of Cain’ (Jude 11); they fixed their minds upon worldly prosperity and enjoyment and neglected the commandments of the Lord.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 81, 82

2.b. What perverted practice was introduced before the Flood? Give an example. Genesis 4:19

Note: “Polygamy was practiced at an early date. It was one of the sins that brought the wrath of God upon the antediluvian world.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 338

Tuesday

3 EVIL UPON EVIL

3.a. As a result of rejecting God’s law, what additional abominations filled the earth? Genesis 6:11, 12

Note: “Polygamy had been early introduced, contrary to the divine arrangement at the beginning. The Lord gave to Adam one wife, showing His order in that respect. But after the Fall, men chose to follow their own sinful desires; and as the result, crime and wretchedness rapidly increased. Neither the marriage relation nor the rights of property were respected. Whoever coveted the wives or the possessions of his neighbor, took them by force, and men exulted in their deeds of violence. They delighted in destroying the life of animals; and the use of flesh for food rendered them still more cruel and bloodthirsty, until they came to regard human life with astonishing indifference.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 91, 92

3.b. Give an example of how men boasted of their spirit of violence. Genesis 4:23, 24. What will be the result of the defiant depravity present in our day? Isaiah 28:21

Note: “At this time, when great light is shining forth from the word of God, making dark mysteries plain as day, is the day of mercy, of hope, of joy and assurance to all who will be benefited thereby, to all who will open their minds and hearts to the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness. But there is an opposite class to this—those who will not come to the light, who despise the truth because it exposes error, and transgression, and sin; and as a result, depravity and boldness in transgression are becoming all-pervading.” The Review and Herald, June 15, 1897

“The forbearance that God has exercised toward the wicked has emboldened men in transgression; but their punishment will be none the less certain and terrible for being long delayed. ‘The Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim, He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work, His strange work; and bring to pass His act, His strange act. To our merciful God the act of punishment is a strange act. Yet He will ‘by no means clear the guilty.’ By terrible things in righteousness He will vindicate the authority of His downtrodden law. The very fact of His reluctance to execute justice, testifies to the enormity of the sins that call forth His judgments, and to the severity of the retribution awaiting the transgressor.” The Signs of the Times, January 25, 1910

Wednesday

4 IDOLATRY AND ANARCHY

4.a. What kinds of worship did man introduce, and what are the results, even now? Psalm 115:4–8; Romans 1:22–25

Note: “They [the antediluvians] put God out of their knowledge and worshiped the creatures of their own imagination; and as the result, they became more and more debased. The psalmist describes the effect produced upon the worshiper by the adoration of idols. He says, ‘They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them’ (Psalm 115:8). It is a law of the human mind that by beholding we become changed. Man will rise no higher than his conceptions of truth, purity, and holiness. If the mind is never exalted above the level of humanity, if it is not uplifted by faith to contemplate infinite wisdom and love, the man will be constantly sinking lower and lower.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 91

4.b. What similarities can be observed between our day and Noah’s? Matthew 24:37; 2 Peter 3:3, 4

Note: “The picture which Inspiration has given of the antediluvian world represents too truly the condition to which modern society is fast hastening. Even now, in the present century, and in professedly Christian lands, there are crimes daily perpetrated as black and terrible as those for which the old-world sinners were destroyed.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 102

Thursday

5 AS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH

5.a. What should we learn from the defiant attitude of the antediluvians? 2 Peter 3:6, 7, 11, 12; Malachi 4:1

Note: “Water will never destroy the earth again, but the weapons of God are concealed in the bowels of the earth which He will draw forth to unite with the fire from heaven to accomplish His purpose in the destruction of all those who would not receive the message of warning and purify their souls in obeying the truth and being obedient to the laws of God.” The Signs of the Times, January 3, 1878

5.b. As the rainbow was a token of God’s covenant with Noah, what covenant does the Lord make with His faithful few in the last days? Genesis 9:12–15; Psalm 27:5

Note: “We may rejoice in hope, for the bow of God’s covenant is over us. He never will forget the children of His care. How difficult for the mind of finite man to take in the peculiar love and tenderness of God, and His matchless condescension when He said, ‘I will look upon the bow in the cloud, and remember thee.’ ” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 1, 1091

“There will be mighty earthquakes and great destruction of human life. But as in the days of the great Deluge Noah was preserved in the ark that God had prepared for him, so in these days of destruction and calamity, God will be the refuge of His believing ones.” Ibid., Vol. 7, 946

Friday

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS

Describe life before the Flood, and the steps God took in mercy.
How is the apostasy of the children of Seth a warning to us?
Why is depravity increasing today, and what will be the result?
What are the causes and results of idolatry?
How does God offer hope even when apostasy reaches a climax?