Hi,
God knew before the foundation of the Earth that He would have to send Jesus. He saw the beginning from the end and everything in between. Why did he repent of making man in Genesis and say he was going to destroy them all? He surely saw how bad they would get. I am having trouble understanding these two statements.
Thanks
Hi,
yeah it is a good question and one that has confused people. Here is the passage for others:
Gen 6:5-8 NASB Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (6) The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. (7) The LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them." (8) But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
There are theological debates over this passage. One group, that call themselves 'Open Theists,' believe that God doesn't know everything about the future and therefore there are actions of humanity that seemingly 'take Him by surprise'. This is NOT CORRECT OR TRUE. But the passage causes debate because of our experience as humans and also how it is translated in the KJV especially. There is what it says in various translations:
Gen 6:6 KJV And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
Gen 6:6 NKJV And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
Gen 6:6 NIV The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.
Gen 6:6 NASB The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
Gen 6:6 AMP And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved at heart.
You will see that the KJV uses 'repented' meaning to change your mind, whereas other more recent versions express His sorrow or grief at that time. The Hebrew word here is nâcham - "A primitive root; properly to sigh, that is, breathe strongly; by implication to be sorry, to pity, console or (reflexively) rue; or (unfavorably) to avenge (oneself)."
As humans, we have regrets all the time and looking back would change our decision if we could. We may say things like:
"In hindsight, I'm sorry that I said that"
"Thinking back on it now, I wish I hadn't bought that house... or car... or whatever"
"In retrospect, that job wasn't right for me and I regret taking it"
Or (hopefully not!) "With what I know now, I wouldn't have married him/her"
All of these give a sense of sorrow over a past wrong decision and action that we would change and fix if we could go back and have that time over again. But this is NOT what God is saying here. He is NOT saying 'You know, with what I know now, I can see I made a mistake when I made man and if I could go back to the beginning again I don't think I would create him. It would just be the angels and I. And actually some of the angels have been trouble as well so I wouldn't create them either!' No. God does not change His mind because He knows all things in advance. He is not like us in that way.
Num 23:19 “God is not a man, that He would lie, Nor a son of man, that He would change His mind; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
The Bible is clear, as you mentioned, that He knows the end from the beginning. He created both the angelic realm and mankind KNOWING the fall and the trouble that would eventuate. And He knew of this time at the flood when wickedness would be rampant upon the earth. But just because He knows all things in advance doesn't mean that He is unaffected by it when it plays out on earth. The fact is that this time of Noah was INCREDIBLY wicked. By the Bible's own statement 'every intent of the thoughts of his (mankind's) heart was only evil continually.' God was tremendously grieved at this time. He had sorrow and pain over the actions of His creation, just as a parent can be over the actions of a disobedient child. Yet it doesn't mean that He made a mistake creating them or wanted to go back and change that. And neither would a parent. It is expressing the pain and sorrow He felt at this point in time in 'anthropomorphic' language (where God’s reaction is stated in human terms). This is done so that we can understand but there can be differences. For example, in this case God's regret comes from the wicked choices mankind makes, not the choice that He made in making mankind.
And yet, thankfully, we also read:
Gen 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
That is, even in the worst of times, there is still the small ray of light pleasing the heart of God. Though there was great grief, there was also the reminder of what it was all about. Thankfully, though God saw all the trouble that would come upon this earth, He also saw the ones that would love Him and through His grace find salvation and eternal life in Him. Which is what it is all about. That is why the Bible says:
'...for the joy set before Him endured the cross...' (Heb 12:2)
Just as God can be grieved over the actions of humanity, So He can also find joy in His creation. And Jesus will be full of joy as He presents us, believers, in joy, to His Father!
Luk 15:6-7 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
Jud 1:24-25 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.
Hope this helps : )