7我们从创世记六章五节读到八节。“耶和华见人在地上罪恶甚大，心中终日所思念的尽都是恶。”（5）所思念的，直译，思想的意念。“意念”一辞，在希伯来文不仅指意念，也指目的和愿望。“耶和华就后悔造人在地上，心中忧伤。耶和华说，我要将所创造的人，……都从地上除灭，因为我后悔造了他们。”（6~7）如果一切到此为止，那就没有希望了。但是，阿利路亚，我们还有第八节！这一节开始于一个重要的“但”字。“但挪亚在耶和华眼前蒙恩。”这是创世记这卷书中最重大的经节之一。撒但很乐意听到，神要把人从地上除灭，但挪亚却在耶和华眼前蒙恩。这转变了局面，改变了时代。阿利路亚，神没有被击败！在表面的失败中，借着一个在耶和华眼前蒙恩的人得胜了。这是个转捩点。如果你配着圣经读一读历史，你会看见在每一个时代，当撒但尽力把局面破坏到极点之后，总有一个人或少数人在神眼前蒙恩，成为改变那时代的人。你们记得以色列人的历史，虽然他们一再堕落，堕落到底，但是出来了一个少年人，使仇敌大大的惊讶，这人名叫但以理。但以理一章八节说，“但以理却立定心意，不以王的膳和王所饮的酒玷污自己。”但以理书说，“但以理却……。”创世记六章八节说，“但挪亚……。”
7Let us read Genesis 6:5 through 8 : “Jehovah 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.” In Hebrew, the words every imagination signify not only the imagination but also the purposes and desires. “And Jehovah repented that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him in His heart. And Jehovah said, I will blot out the man whom I have created…; for I repent that I have made them.” If that had been all, there would have been no hope. But Hallelujah for verse 8! This verse begins with a big “but.” “But Noah found favor in the sight of Jehovah.” The King James Version translates this verse, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” This is one of the greatest verses in the book of Genesis. Satan was glad to hear that God was going to blot out man from the surface of the ground, but Noah found favor, or grace, in the sight of Jehovah. That turned the situation and changed the age. Hallelujah, God was not defeated! In the midst of apparent defeat, there was victory through a man who found favor, or grace, in the sight of Jehovah. That was the turning point. If you read history along with the Bible, you will see that in every generation, when Satan has done his best to damage the situation to the uttermost, there has always been one man or a few people who found grace in the sight of God and who became the ones who turned the age. Remember the history of Israel. Although they degraded lower and lower until they reached the bottom, there was, much to the surprise of the enemy, a young man named Daniel. Daniel 1:8 says, “But Daniel set his heart not to defile himself with the king’s choice provision and with the wine that the king drank.” There in the book of Daniel it says, “But Daniel”; here in Genesis 6:8 it says, “But Noah.”