Gen. 6:5-7: "I am sorry I made them"

[Achilles6129]

“5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”” Gen. 6:5-7 (NRSV)

The question is how an omniscient omnipotent being could be sorry he performed any action. Discuss.

 

[USMC_Convert]

Genesis 8 20, And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.

God thought he was wrong but it turns out he decided he was right…

Thus your able to get on here and debate the omniscient omnipotent Lord of creation.

“5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”” Gen. 6:5-7 (NRSV)

The question is how an omniscient omnipotent being could be sorry he performed any action. Discuss.

 

[meltzerboy]

“5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”” Gen. 6:5-7 (NRSV)

The question is how an omniscient omnipotent being could be sorry he performed any action. Discuss.

There are several instances of G-d’s regret and relenting in the Bible, in which G-d appears to change His mind. I think the more correct emphasis here is on the pain and grief G-d feels when those He created do evil. But since we too can feel pain and suffering (ever since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden), this also reveals one of the important links we have with G-d. After all, we were created in His image. Further, pain is associated with love, not anger, in the context of the verse. IOW G-d is aggrieved that humankind has chosen to commit evil, and this sentiment is due to His love for us.

 

[grannymh]

There are several instances of G-d’s regret and relenting in the Bible, in which G-d appears to change His mind. I think the more correct emphasis here is on the pain and grief G-d feels when those He created do evil. But since we too can feel pain and suffering (ever since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden), this also reveals one of the important links we have with G-d. After all, we were created in His image. Further, pain is associated with love, not anger, in the context of the verse. IOW G-d is aggrieved that humankind has chosen to commit evil, and this sentiment is due to His love for us.

Thank you.

This approach makes sense even though God as a transcendent Pure Spirit does not feel material pain. God’s great love for us is so beyond our comprehension, that our only means of explanation is our own feelings. I especially appreciated the reference to our links with God in that we are in His image.

 

[Aloysium]

. . . how an omniscient omnipotent being could be sorry . . .

As stated above, His being sorry reveals His love for us. What difference would our being good or evil make otherwise.

We are pretty amazing beings - thinking, perceiving, loving, creating, etc. However, in eternity, God felt sorry for this creation since we clearly decided to bring evil into the world from the start.

It is important to remember:

“knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 18-21)

Noah, describes perhaps metaphorically the historical reality of what did happen - the beginnings of God’s church on earth: His embracing us, as part of a new Eden in what is the wood of the cross - humanity in right relation with God.
Original sin was washed away then, as it is now in Baptism.

Scripture reveals the changes taking place within the history of mankind, preparing for the eventual incarnation, whereby we are saved and redeemed.

He was sorry for us and He fixed it.

That’s my :twocents:

 

[mikekle]

As stated above, His being sorry reveals His love for us. What difference would our being good or evil make otherwise.

We are pretty amazing beings - thinking, perceiving, loving, creating, etc. However, in eternity, God felt sorry for this creation since we clearly decided to bring evil into the world from the start.

I dont really get that…WE didnt create evil or bring it into the world, God did that, when he cast Satan down to earth and ALLOWED him to influence and tempt mankind…thus God created evil in the first place.

Plus, God did seem to regret his creation, as he went to great lengths to destroy it all and start over, Noah and the great flood, But I asked myself why God would even need to do such a thing in the first place, if he was sorry for what became of us all, why didnt he just make everyone suddenly drop dead…he did not have to send a flood, after all, he is God and can do anything, if he wanted he could cause everyone and everything to die, except for 1 family, and 2 of each species of animal…?

 

[Aloysium]

I dont really get that…WE didnt create evil or bring it into the world, God did that, when he cast Satan down to earth and ALLOWED him to influence and tempt mankind…thus God created evil in the first place.

Plus, God did seem to regret his creation, as he went to great lengths to destroy it all and start over, Noah and the great flood, But I asked myself why God would even need to do such a thing in the first place, if he was sorry for what became of us all, why didnt he just make everyone suddenly drop dead…he did not have to send a flood, after all, he is God and can do anything, if he wanted he could cause everyone and everything to die, except for 1 family, and 2 of each species of animal…?

You have brought no evil in this world. Seriously?! I know, the devil made you do it. Right? I am speechless.

You seem to be overthinking the matter while underthinking it by taking what exists between yourself and God out of the picture.

I don’t think I can address your questions as they don’t seem to fit with how I understand Genesis. Perhaps, if you work on your relationship with God, things will end up making far more sense than if you just try to figure it out. Approach scripture as part of the totality that should be your involvement in His church reaching out to Him as He calls and reaches out to us. Continue to seek and you will find Him.

 

[Achilles6129]

I dont really get that…WE didnt create evil or bring it into the world, God did that, when he cast Satan down to earth and ALLOWED him to influence and tempt mankind…thus God created evil in the first place.

Plus, God did seem to regret his creation, as he went to great lengths to destroy it all and start over, Noah and the great flood, But I asked myself why God would even need to do such a thing in the first place, if he was sorry for what became of us all, why didnt he just make everyone suddenly drop dead…he did not have to send a flood, after all, he is God and can do anything, if he wanted he could cause everyone and everything to die, except for 1 family, and 2 of each species of animal…?

The point of sending a Flood was for symbolic reasons. The Flood is intended to wash mankind and their evil from the planet. Also, water is symbolic here of the judgment of God. Since water represents life and God is the God of life the water is symbolic of the judgment of the God of life upon a dead civilization.

 

[Achilles6129]

I guess the point of my OP was how could God foreknow he would be sorry he created mankind and yet still be genuinely sorry that he made them? What exactly does this say about the relationship of God to time?

 

[meltzerboy]

I guess the point of my OP was how could God foreknow he would be sorry he created mankind and yet still be genuinely sorry that he made them? What exactly does this say about the relationship of God to time?

Ah, but since G-d gives us free will to decide, while He knows what we will do, it is still our own decision. Therefore, G-d can be pained by our wrong decisions because of His great love for us. It is believed that G-d is outside of time, having created both time and space. Thus G-d cannot be thought of as doing, thinking, or feeling in a temporal sense based on past, present, and future. All of what we regard as continuous time is fused in the mind of G-d.

 

[mikekle]

I guess the point of my OP was how could God foreknow he would be sorry he created mankind and yet still be genuinely sorry that he made them? What exactly does this say about the relationship of God to time?

That simple fact of him being sorry for creating us DOES seem to imply some passage of time, otherwise he could not really be sorry at the same time as he first created us…?? confusing!!! This is just something beyond our comprehension, we cannot understand this, no matter how hard we try…even for some mathematical genius, the math for this ‘lack of ANY time’ would be almost impossible to create a theory/equation for.

 

[Aloysium]

. . .This is just something beyond our comprehension, we cannot understand this, no matter how hard we try . . .

:twocents:

If you focus on “now”, you get a finite sense of eternity.
Now has no beginning and no end, it just is.
When does now start; when does it finish?

Try: close your eyes, breathe in, breathe out, in and out, in, out.
No matter what you do, you can’t get out of it.
You can focus on something else.
Peekaboo, you’re still there - actually here and now.
Yeah, we are eternal beings.

And, God’s Now encompasses all nows.
He’s the unchanging Centre of it all.
The Creator of time.

Eternity exists because God exists.

 

[Darryl_B]

I guess the point of my OP was how could God foreknow he would be sorry he created mankind and yet still be genuinely sorry that he made them? What exactly does this say about the relationship of God to time?

Jeremiah 18:7-10 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will repent of the evil that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will repent of the good which I intended to do to it.

Repent is not being sorry, repent is to change direction, God changes direction and He changes history’s direction by intervention from it’s natural linear man’s freewill progression to an entirely different history, a new history, a history that God is fully aware of as being a reality from the beginning.

 

[USMC_Convert]

Ok check this out, I believe that God always works through science. He made the laws of physics, nature, etc; he could break them, but why would he when he can use it!!!

So I watched a show once a long time ago that explained all biblical things through science/history, and the scary thing wasn’t that science could do it, the SCARY thing was that God did his will through science. After watching that show I was it total awe and amazement of The Lord.

So to answer your question why didn’t he just make them all drop dead? God obeys his own laws, even if he doesn’t have to.

Yet sometimes, we see him break those laws in his Miracles. In his unending love for mankind, he will break even his own laws at times. It is an amazing thing, God is, The Lord is an amazing God.

If you truly want an answer, if that’s what you really seek, look up the story of St. Augustine on his walk on the beach. Just google St Augustine walks on a beach. There’s your answer, that’s it, that’s all, nothing more, nothing less…

 

[ready]

“5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out from the earth the human beings I have created—people together with animals and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.”” Gen. 6:5-7 (NRSV)

The question is how an omniscient omnipotent being could be sorry he performed any action. Discuss.

The language used here is anthropomorphic, language intended for us humans to better understand God. God actually does not repent or feel sorry for what he has done or experience any emotions like that. But he is all just (all fair) and must punish offenders who persist in their sins, and this is what the writer is getting at. God bless you.

 

[meltzerboy]

The language used here is anthropomorphic, language intended for us humans to better understand God. God actually does not repent or feel sorry for what he has done or experience any emotions like that. But he is all just (all fair) and must punish offenders who persist in their sins, and this is what the writer is getting at. God bless you.

I agree concerning a just G-d; however, at the same time, I think the passage reveals G-d’s mercy and love for us even as He punishes us. As the French say: “Qui aime bien, chatie bien” (“Who loves well, punishes well”). In human terms, there is an internal struggle within G-d Himself. Judaism does not shy away from speaking about G-d in this manner although it realizes the ways of G-d are far beyond our limited comprehension.

 

[ready]

I agree concerning a just G-d; however, at the same time, I think the passage reveals G-d’s mercy and love for us even as He punishes us. As the French say: “Qui aime bien, chatie bien” (“Who loves well, punishes well”). In human terms, there is an internal struggle within G-d Himself. Judaism does not shy away from speaking about G-d in this manner although it realizes the ways of G-d are far beyond our limited comprehension.

You know that God is pure Love, simple and perfect, right? Please believe me when I say that there is no struggle within Him. It is we humans (including those in Judaism that you speak of) who struggle. God punishes us because we need it and because it is an effect of his justice, not because he struggles with the passion of anger, etc… God bless you.

 

[Achilles6129]

The language used here is anthropomorphic, language intended for us humans to better understand God. God actually does not repent or feel sorry for what he has done or experience any emotions like that. But he is all just (all fair) and must punish offenders who persist in their sins, and this is what the writer is getting at. God bless you.

So if God actually does not repent, then why does it say that he did repent?

And how are we supposed to better understand God when he doesn’t mean what he says?

 

[ready]

So if God actually does not repent, then why does it say that he did repent?

And how are we supposed to better understand God when he doesn’t mean what he says?

The word “repent” was used by the inspired writer of the Bible to try and explain God, whose ways are so far above our ways and whose thoughts are so far above our thoughts, whose ways and thoughts are so hidden and inscrutable, yet so simple and perfect. “Repent” is the best word that the writer could find for us humans to understand God in this particular event in the history of mankind. The writer’s words are true (the Bible is infallible), but the word “repent” though true is only anthropomorphic, which means that it is used specifically to make God’s action relatable to us humans. God bless you.

 

[ready]

So if God actually does not repent, then why does it say that he did repent?

And how are we supposed to better understand God when he doesn’t mean what he says?

Here is a passage from the Haydock Commentary on Gen. 6:6. This should answer your question.

Ver. 6. It repented him, &c. God, who is unchangeable, is not capable of repentance, grief, or any other passion. But these expressions are used to declare the enormity of the sins of men, which was so provoking as to determine their Creator to destroy these his creatures, whom before he had so much favoured. (Challoner) — God acted outwardly as a man would do who repented. (Haydock)

I hope this helped! God bless you!