Let us look at the passage of Scripture that gives us a view of the problem that had caused such anguish for God. Genesis 6:3 is very revealing:

“And the LORD said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.’”

There have been two different explanations over the years about the period of 120 years, and it is worth reviewing these first.

Some believe that this period of 120 years was the maximum time that men would live in the future. Up until this time, many had lived way beyond 120 years – note that Adam lived until he was 930, Seth 912, Enosh 905, Cainan 910, Mahalalel 895, Jared 962, Enoch 365, Methuselah 969, Lamech 777 and Noah 500 (see Genesis, chapter 5). However, after the Flood we read that Noah lived a further 350 years; Shem lived until he was 600, Arphaxad 438, Salah 433, Eber 464, Peleg 239, Reu 239, Serug 230, Nahor 148, Terah 205 (all of these are shown in Genesis 11), Abraham 175, Isaac 180.

Secondly, many others believe that the 120 years was the time that God gave mankind before the Flood was to destroy everyone on the earth except the eight people who went into the ark.   If we look at the reason why this was to happen, it would appear from the context that it is not the longevity of mankind but is, more likely, to be applicable to the time humanity had before the Flood would occur. Many Bible scholars feel that God was giving mankind 120 years in which to repent of their wrong way of life, after which would come judgment for their wickedness.

As mentioned, Genesis 6:3 refers to the 120 years.   There is no Scriptural reference that God instructed Noah, at this same time, to immediately build the ark.  God made this decision at a time that was separate to the subsequent instruction to build the ark.  We read the instruction in Genesis 6:14-18:

“Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.  And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.  You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.”

Noah was told to build an ark – and for him, his sons, his wife and his sons’ wives with him to go into the ark – his sons must have been born and married at the time this instruction was made and the promise given.

Genesis, chapter 5, gives the genealogy from Adam to Noah, and in verse 32 we read that Noah was five hundred years old and begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  It is interesting to read of the events of Genesis 6:1-7 which took place and which caused God such anguish, and in verse 9 Noah “found grace in the eyes of the Lord” as he would not have been involved in all of the ungodly activity that made God pronounce His displeasure and condemnation in verse 3.

We read in Genesis 11:10: “This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was 100 years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood.” This leads to the conclusion that Shem was 98 years old when the flood ended, and 97 when the flood began.  In Genesis 7:11 we are told that the flood began in the 600th year of Noah’s life, meaning that he must have fathered Shem when he was 503.  We understand from Genesis 6:18 that God did not instruct Noah to build the ark until after his sons were born, and after they had wives of their own.  Let us make an assumption (which we have to do as Scripture does not give exact dates) that Noah fathered his three sons in three consecutive years which would mean that his last son would be born when he was 505 years old.

We have to make further assumptions as to the age when his sons married.   Let us say that Noah’s three sons were around 20 years old when they married; this would mean that Noah would be around 525 when God instructed him to build the ark.  Noah was 600 years old when the flood came and this would mean that the building of the ark could not have taken more than 75 years – not the 120 years that some have assumed.   In fact, this figure could be less if the assumptions made about the birth of the three sons was not as quick as calculated and the age that they married was greater than the assumed age of 20.   In fact, it is legitimate to make these assumptions because the biblical record is silent on these matters.   However, it is unmistakable that the time needed to build the ark was nowhere near the 120 years that some have assumed.

When reviewing the 120 years of Genesis 6:3, we find that this goes back to the time when Noah was 480 years old, not 500, simply because the Bible reveals that Noah was 500 when he began having sons (Genesis 5:32) but this does not mean that God could not have begun communicating earlier about what He had in mind at a later time.

In brief summary:

God must have first spoken to Noah at age 480

1. Noah sired sons from the age of 500
2. His three sons were married
3. God gave the commission to Noah to build the ark for “you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.”
4. Noah was 600 when he entered the ark
5. The 120 years of God’s patience with mankind at that time ended when Noah entered the ark at age 600
6. The maximum time that it took to build the ark would be around 75 years – or less.

This is an interesting subject, but whatever the exact time it took to build the ark, it is only of academic interest and is a non-salvational matter.   However, the story of Noah’s Ark is a warning that we can take from the historical record showing how God hates sin and the sinful ways of man.   It may not be too long now before God sends Christ back to this earth to destroy man’s sinful ways and societies once again but, this time, He will usher in the wonderful Kingdom of God.

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

Over many years, we have been asked if we are, or are part of, the true Church of God. We have answered this a number of times; please see:

Q&A – Why Does CEG exist?  This is in our weekly Update number 96 on 6^th June 2003.

Q&A – Are You the True Church? This is in our weekly Update number 479 on 11^th February 2011.

There have been many other references to this, which have been included in our new booklet “How to Find the True Church of God”, where we state the following on pages 1 and 2:

“Even though God’s true Church—the body of Christ (Colossians 1:24)—is a spiritual organism, consisting of all who have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, it is nevertheless physically organized.  Organizations that are divided among themselves need to strive to come to the unity of the faith (Jude 3) and to embrace the unity of the Truth.

“It is the responsibility of every Christian to ascertain where the Truth is being upheld and taught; and this can only be accomplished by comparing the teachings and practices of a particular Church organization with the requirements of the Bible. We read in Acts 17:11 about the people in Berea: ‘These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.’

“We do believe that the Church of the Eternal God and its international affiliates in Canada, the UK and German-speaking areas are part of the true Church of God. While we are not saying that our organizations comprise the entirety of the Church of God, we are saying that we differ remarkably in many areas from other Church organizations, which all claim to represent true Christianity.”

To try to elaborate on this (hopefully, once and for all), let us give an analogy.

Suppose that you had received excellent grades in your “A” level studies at school and were going to make an application to attend a university in the UK.   In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2018, a UK university league table revealed the 93 best UK universities and colleges.   Of these, the universities of Cambridge and Oxford came out as the top two.   The credentials of these two universities are outstanding.

According to Wikipedia, “The University of Cambridge (informally Cambridge University) is a collegiate public research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by King Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world’s fourth-oldest surviving university. The university has educated many notable alumni, including eminent mathematicians, scientists, politicians, lawyers, philosophers, writers, actors and foreign Heads of State.  Ninety-seven Nobel laureates, fifteen British prime ministers and ten Field medalists  have been affiliated with Cambridge as students, faculty or alumni.”

According to Wikipedia, “Oxford university has no known date of foundation, but there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world’s second-oldest university in continuous operation.   Oxford has educated many notable alumni, including 28 Nobel laureates, 27 Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and many heads of state and government around the world.  Oxford is the home of the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious international scholarships, which has brought graduate students to study at the university for more than a century.”

There are 127 other universities listed, with some being very good indeed, and with an impressive history and some which were only created in more recent times. How would you choose if you wanted the very best chance of getting the most valuable education that was available and would equip you to achieve excellency in your chosen career? Would it be the academic teaching that would attract you; or the one that was nearest to your home or the one with the best social life? What about going to the one where your school friends were also going to enrol? Would you be influenced by the decisions of others? What criteria would you use?

Those who wanted to become the best educated and the most successful in their field would surely choose the university that would offer them the greatest chance of success. They would check up on the courses and the teaching that they would receive to ensure that they would be able to achieve their goals. Anything less than this might mean that they may do well but not as well as they could have done with a little more care and research.

If we apply this analogy to the true Church of God, it can be seen that there are those who have chosen a particular Church of God organization to attend, based on the wrong criteria. Areas of consideration can be given to which Church group is closest to them, where the biggest congregation may be, what the social life is like, whether it has facilities for children, and whether their friends are there. They might like it best where they feel most comfortable. These are interesting decisions to make, but the basic, most fundamental question can be overlooked; that of where the Truth is best taught without fear or compromise.

Any serious prospective university undergraduate would surely focus entirely on the education that he would receive and that same yardstick must be used by those within the Church of God.

After the spiritual mayhem of the 1990’s when false teachers altered the true doctrines that the Church of God had taught for nearly 2,000 years (compare 2 Peter 2:1-3), those who would not submit to such heresy had to make a choice of where to attend. There were those who seemed to make decisions based on reasons other than doctrine.   However, the answer is to find the Church of God organizations which teach the biblical truth without fear of favour. Those who choose for other reasons might still make it into the Kingdom of God after perhaps having to endure serious pain and suffering; but those whose main focus is on doctrinal fidelity will certainly make it into God’s Kingdom subject to staying faithful until the end of their lives.

Attending where the whole Truth of God is taught will give members the best chance of making it into the Kingdom of God. Choosing where a person attends based on criteria other than doctrinal teaching could be a dangerous approach. It is much better to attend where the Truth is taught without compromise, political expediency or any other consideration than to be where a more liberal view may be taken.

The question was “Do You Believe That You Are, or Are Part of, the True Church of God?” The answer is simple. Yes, we believe that the Church of the Eternal God and its international affiliates in Canada, the UK and German-speaking areas are part of the true Church of God, and, most importantly, certainly fit into the category where doctrinal fidelity is at the very heart of the Truth that is taught boldly, fully, and without compromise.

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)

The Bible has nothing to say specifically about smoking, as during biblical times it was unknown. Let us quote briefly (and selectively) from the website healthliteracy.worlded.org which has this to say about the history of tobacco:

“Tobacco has a long history in the Americas. The Mayan Indians of Mexico carved drawings in stone showing tobacco use. These drawings date back to somewhere between 600 to 900 A.D. Tobacco was grown by American Indians before the Europeans came from England, Spain, France, and Italy to North America.

“Tobacco was the first crop grown for money in North America.  In 1612 the settlers of the first American colony in Jamestown, Virginia grew tobacco as a cash crop. It was their main source of money. Other cash crops were corn, cotton, wheat, sugar, and soya beans.  By the 1800’s, many people had begun using small amounts of tobacco. Some chewed it. Others smoked it occasionally in a pipe, or they hand-rolled a cigarette or cigar. On the average, people smoked about 40 cigarettes a year. The first commercial cigarettes were made in 1865 by Washington Duke on his 300-acre farm in Raleigh, North Carolina. His hand-rolled cigarettes were sold to soldiers at the end of the Civil War.

“It was not until James Bonsack invented the cigarette-making machine in 1881 that cigarette smoking became widespread.”

It will be self-evident that this was not a problem that Christians may have faced until the 19th century but it has subsequently become a problem for quite a number of those who have been called to God’s Way of Life. Today, people may smoke cigarettes, pipes or cigars or they may chew tobacco because they have become addicted to it; or because they feel depressed or suffer from anxiety and look for stress relief or a way to calm down. Also, they may smoke because they think this might help them to lose weight, or because their friends and relatives smoke. Whilst the Bible has nothing to say about a habit that would arise about 200 years or so ago, basic biblical principles apply.

Let us look, first of all, at some Scriptural principles.

In 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 we read the following: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.”

True Christians are those who have repented of their sins, believe in Jesus Christ’s Sacrifice and the gospel of the Kingdom of God, have been baptised by full immersion for the remission of their sins and have received the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands of God’s true ministers (see Acts 2:38).   In such cases, the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit of God which we read about in Romans 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”   These principles are further reinforced in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 where we read: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who (better “which”) is in you, whom (better “which”) you have from God, and you are not your own?   For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

It seems reasonable to assume that in a literal temple smoking would be prohibited and why should the body be any different when explained in the verses quoted above?   In all that we do, in all of our activities, our emphasis should be on honouring God, rather than ourselves.

As one commentator opined: “Does tobacco smoke coming out of your nostrils glorify God?   Does the smell of tobacco on your body offer a good testimony for Jesus Christ?”   The answer should be obvious.

However, this injunction is not to be limited to converted Christians. Someone who wants to become a Christian should take this principle to heart as well and not begin or continue with a habit which clearly violates God’s instructions of right living.

1 Corinthians 10:30-31 states the following: “But if I partake with thanks, why am I evil spoken of for the food over which I give thanks?   Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”   Can it be to the glory of God to inhale smoke with all of the health problems associated with it (to be covered later) and set a good example of Christian behaviour by breathing smoke over those close by?   In verse 32 we read: “Give no offence, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God”, and there is no doubt that many would be offended in the world, let alone Church members.

On the website of the American Heart Association in an article entitled “Why is it so hard to quit?”, the following comments are made: “It’s hard to tackle the physical addiction to nicotine. Cigarettes contain nicotine, a highly addictive substance found naturally in tobacco.  It travels quickly to the brain when it is inhaled and can cause a feeling of temporary relaxation and/or stress relief. Nicotine can also elevate your mood and your heart rate. But this feeling is only temporary. After your body rids itself of the drug, you start to crave another cigarette.  Shortly after you finish smoking a cigarette, your body starts to show signs of withdrawal. You start to crave another cigarette to overcome these symptoms, starting a vicious cycle of dependency.”

Based on the above comments about addiction, Romans 6:16 ought to be taken very seriously: “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?”   It can be very difficult to give up smoking as many find out when attempting to do so and it can enslave those who have this habit.   It can lead to lust for more of the same and thus it is breaking the 10th Commandment.   In Romans 6:12 we read: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.”

Over the years there have been a few Church of God members who have smoked, even after baptism.   They know that it is wrong but the addictive nature of smoking can cause them great difficulty in giving up the habit.  In Romans 14:23 we read: “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.”   By knowing that something is wrong but doing nothing about it, or trying to give up the habit and not succeeding, is sin.

The following quote is from Wikipedia: “A smoking ban in England, making it illegal to smoke in all enclosed work places in England, came into force on 1 July 2007 as a consequence of the Health Act 2006. Similar bans had already been introduced by the rest of the United Kingdom before this — Scotland on 26 March 2006, Wales on 2 April 2007 and Northern Ireland on 30 April 2007.” This all came about because of the serious health risks associated with smoking.

The health risks of smoking are many.   Smoking is one of the biggest causes of death and illness in the UK.   From the nhs.uk website is the following information:

“Every year around 100,000 people in the UK die from smoking, with many more living with debilitating smoking-related illnesses.  Smoking increases your risk of developing more than 50 serious health conditions. Some may be fatal and others can cause irreversible long-term damage to your health.

“Smoking causes about 90% of lung cancers. It also causes cancer in many other parts of the body, including the mouth, lips, throat, voice box (larynx), the oesophagus (the tube between your mouth and stomach), the bladder, kidney, liver, stomach and pancreas.  Smoking damages your heart and your blood circulation, increasing your risk of developing conditions such as coronary heart disease, heart attack, stroke, peripheral vascular disease (damaged blood vessels) and cerebrovascular disease (damaged arteries that supply blood to your brain).

“Smoking also damages your lungs, leading to conditions such as: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which incorporates bronchitis and emphysema and pneumonia.”

Reading all of those health risks, it is a wonder that anyone smokes at all, particularly a few Church members who have had this habit over the years.   But as this same website observes: “You can become ill if you smoke yourself or through other people’s smoke (passive smoking).   Second hand smoke comes from the tip of a lit cigarette and the smoke that the smoker breathes out. Breathing in second hand smoke – also known as passive smoking – increases your risk of getting the same health conditions as smokers. For example, breathing in second hand smoke increases a non-smoker’s risk of developing lung cancer by about a quarter.”

Those comments bring us on to further biblical principles that we should take seriously in all areas of our lives. This would certainly include those who smoke and here are the verses that talk about it:

In Mark 12:28-31 we read Jesus Christ’s reply to a question from a scribe:

“Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, ‘Which is the first commandment of all?’ Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is: “Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.  And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’”

We are told to love our neighbour and that is certainly not accomplished by smoking in the presence of others who may have personal health difficulties with cigarette smoke, whilst others may resent the smell of smoke on their own clothes even though they may be a non-smoker themselves.   Such action by a smoker is not looking to the best interests of others – just satisfying their own addiction to something that is a serious health hazard.   We read in other verses how we should have care and consideration for others as part of our Christian Way of Life.

These comments are directed to those self-centered individuals who smoke and who thereby violate God’s command of love towards themselves and their neighbours. When it comes to passive smoking, those who are potentially affected should try to do the best they can, within reason, to avoid becoming victims of second-hand smoking. We realize, of course, that this is not always entirely possible—for instance, when they are in a work environment where people may smoke or when they find themselves in other unavoidable situations, but they can always pray to God to give them wisdom and protection from physical harm.

In brief summary, there are enough principles to lead us to the conclusion that smoking is a sin and must not be a habit of any Church member and that it is also addictive and has numerous health risks both to the smoker and those who, in their company, become passive smokers.   We should be well aware of the effect that it can have on others both by example and by potential health risks even to non-smokers.   As a side issue, it is a waste of good money which could be spent more usefully elsewhere.

We are to follow the example of Jesus Christ and, based on the evidence of Scripture, He would not have smoked if cigarettes, cigars or pipes had been available in His day; nor would He have chewed tobacco.   That, together with all of the evidence in this Q&A, should be more than good enough to teach us that smoking is wrong and a sin. For further information, please view Norbert Link’s recent sermon, “What Does the Bible Say About Smoking?” 

Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)