God’s Grief



Genesis 6:1-8
1When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them,
2the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose.
3Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.”
4The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.
5The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.
7So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”
8But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

One of the things I’m not particularly looking forward to when I die is the revelation of truth about me that will accompany the leaving of this life. When standing in the presence of a perfect and holy God I think the reality of my utter depravity with be overwhelming. Even though I know that I’m a sinner, I still harbor the belief that “I’m not that bad.” (When I say “I”, I mean all of us.)

There are two occasions when God directly deals with that utter depravity in Scripture. The ultimate action comes in the death of Jesus on the cross for our sin saturated existence. His blood dealt once and for all with our ultimate tragedy. The first action takes place just 6 chapters into the story of man’s existence in the story of Noah and the flood. God looks out upon the landscape of His creation and He actually regrets making us! While He is not surprised by what man has become, for God is never caught off guard, He is grieved. The best analogy I can think of is when you are holding vigil over a loved one that you know is going to die soon. You know death is coming and it is sad and tragic. But when it finally happens, you’re not ready. It’s still incredibly painful. You are grieved. God knew the depravity of man was coming. He wasn’t surprised. When He can finally stand it no longer His grief moves Him to action and thus we have the story of Noah.

There has been some speculation and debate about “the sons of God” and the “daughters of man”. Some have even gone so far as to say that the sons of God were angelic (demonic) beings who mingled with humans and created a “super race.” That’s a little crazy and there is no other Scripture to back that up thus making is a very suspicious idea. Most likely, it means that the descendants of Seth, who had remained godly, married the descendants of Cain, who had not. Since we are so very easily swayed in the direction of evil, it didn’t take very long for most of mankind to walk away from God and follow their own sinful flesh. Only one man remained of whom it could be said “he was godly” and that was Noah.

We have not changed much over the millennia. My Dad always used to tell me that you become like the people you hang out with the most. He was not wrong. If you hang out with people who do not love God or want to serve Him, you are far more likely to become similar in your thought patterns. It you hang out with people who love God and enjoy living for Him, that lifestyle is going to be far easier for you. The children of Seth began to hang out (and marry) those who did not love God. Leaving Him behind became easy for them. Should you have non-Christian friends? Sure. How else will they see the life that is lived for Jesus? But should they become the influencing factor in your life? No. That’s a dangerous road to walk. In our story, God’s wrath is about to pour out upon His beautiful creation because of just such a decision.

Comments

  1. personofloveAugust 2, 2013 at 9:41 AM

    Thank-you!!! I cannot tell you how many answers I have been given about this message, even the one you said....Not one of them answer, so I could find it in the Bible..... Yes,this is what you believe...but this sounds the truth as I believe in heart....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Carolyn BiraAugust 3, 2013 at 8:33 AM

      I'm glad this resonated with you. May you find blessing and peace as you continue to seek out God's truth!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more