Gênesis 6

Gênesis 6

William MacDonald - “I am the Lord; I change not.” (Mal. 3:6) The attribute of God which describes Him as changeless is called His immutability. He does not change in His essential being. He does not change in His attributes. He does not change in the principles by which He operates. The psalmist contrasted the changing destiny of the heavens and earth with God’s changelessness: “They shall be changed, but thou art the same” (Ps. 102:26, 27). James describes the Lord as “the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (Jas. 1:17). There are other Scriptures that remind us that God does not repent. “God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent” (Num. 23:19). “The Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent” (1 Sam. 15:29). But what, then, do we do with verses that say that God does repent? “It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth” (Gen. 6:6). “The Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel” (1 Sam. 15:35b). See also Exodus 32:14 and Jonah 3:10. There is no contradiction. God always acts on these two principles: He always rewards obedience and always punishes disobedience. When man shifts from obedience to disobedience, God must still be true to His own character by shifting from the first principle to the second. This seems like repentance to us, and it is so described in what we might call the language of human appearance. But it does not indicate regret or changeableness. God is always the same. In fact, that is one of His names. “…thou, the Same, thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth” (Isa. 37:16, Darby). That name is also found in 2 Sam. 7:28 Margin, Psa. 102:27 and Isa. 41:4 Margin, all in Darby’s translation. The immutability of God has been a comfort to His saints in all ages, and a theme of their song. We celebrate it in the immortal lines of Henry F. Lyte: Change and decay in all around I see— O thou who changest not, abide with me! It is also a quality for us to imitate. We should be stable, constant and stedfast. If we are vacillating, fickle and mercurial, we misrepresent our Father to the world. “Be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58). Walter Kaiser - Genesis 6:6 Does God Change His Mind? - Hard Sayings of the Bible In Malachi 3:6 God affirms, “I the LORD do not change.” This is why Christian doctrine teaches that God is immutable—that is, unchangeable. The promise of this constancy and permanence in the nature and character of God has been deeply reassuring to many believers down through the ages. When everything else changes, we can remember the living God never fails or vacillates from anything that he is or that he has promised. For this reason many are legitimately startled when they read that the Lord “was grieved” or “repented” that he had ever made man and woman upon the earth (Gen 6:6). How can both the immutability and the changeableness of God be taught in the same canon of Scripture? Scriptures frequently use the phrase “God repented.” For example, Exodus 32:14 says, “Then [after Moses’ intercession for the Israelites] the LORD relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.” Or again in 1 Samuel 15:11, “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Again in Jeremiah 26:3, “Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way. Then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done.” (See also Jer 26:13, 19; Jon 3:10.) The Hebrew root behind all the words variously translated as “relent,” “repent,” “be sorry” and “grieve” is nḥm. In its origins the root may well have reflected the idea of breathing or sighing deeply. It suggests a physical display of one’s feelings—sorrow, compassion or comfort. The root is reflected in such proper names as Nehemiah, Nahum and Menehem. When God’s repentance is mentioned, the point is not that he has changed in his character or in what he stands for. Instead, what we have is a human term being used to refer—rather inadequately—to a perfectly good and necessary divine action. Such a term is called an anthropomorphism. When the Bible says that God repented, the idea is that his feelings toward some person or group of persons changed in response to some change on the part of the objects of his action or some mediator who intervened (often by God’s own direction and plan). Often in the very same passages that announce God’s repentance there is a firm denial of any alteration in God’s plan, purpose or character. Thus 1 Samuel 15:29 reminds us that “he who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.” Yet Samuel made that statement the day after the Lord told him that he was grieved he had made Saul king (1 Sam 15:11). From our human perspective, then, it appears that the use of this word indicates that God changed his purpose. But the expression “to repent,” when used of God, is anthropopathic (that is, a description of our Lord in terms of human emotions and passions). In Genesis 6:6 the repentance of God is his proper reaction to continued and unrequited sin and evil in the world. The parallel clause says that sin filled his heart with pain. This denotes no change in his purpose or character. It only demonstrates that God has emotions and passions and that he can and does respond to us for good or ill when we deserve it. The point is that unchangeableness must not be thought of as if it were some type of frozen immobility. God is not some impervious being who cannot respond when circumstances or individuals change. Rather, he is a living person, and as such he can and does change when the occasion demands it. He does not change in his character, person or plan. But he can and does respond to our changes. See also comment on 1 SAMUEL 15:29; JONAH 4:1–2. Norman Geisler - When Critics Ask - GENESIS 6:6—Why was God unsatisfied with what He made? PROBLEM: In Genesis 1:31, God was satisfied with what He made, declaring it “very good.” But here in Genesis 6:6, God declares that He is “sorry that He had made man on the earth.” How can both be true? SOLUTION: These verses speak of humankind at different times and under different conditions. The first deals with humans in the original state of creation. The second refers to the race after the Fall and just before the flood. God is pleased with what He made, but is not happy with what sin has done to His perfect creation. Genesis 6:7 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." I will - Ps 24:1,2 37:20 Pr 10:27 16:4 both man, and beast - Heb. from man unto beast, Jer 4:22-27 12:3,4 Ho 4:3 Zep 1:3 Ro 3:20-22 Genesis 6 Resources - Multiple sermons and commentaries GOD "UNCREATES" HIS CREATION 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 (nacham) that I have made them - This passage teaches that there is a limit to God's grace and all flesh had reached His limit. He repeats I am sorry (nacham) for emphasis. Ray Pritchard - So now God decides to “uncreate” the earth. Think of what this means. Whole cities destroyed. Homes washed away. Roads covered. Buildings inundated. Whole villages flooded. Men, women and children vanishing beneath the waves. The whole earth under the waters of judgment. Nothing like it had happened before and nothing like it has happened since. It was a catastrophic judgment that enveloped the entire globe and washed away every vestige of human civilization. Bob