Gen 6:5-11 | KingComments | STEP | The LORD always has a reason for everything He does. He never does anything without cause. He does not always make known the reason for His actions, but sometimes He does, as here. Nothing is left of His good work on earth. Any hope of improvement has vanished. If He now looks at the earth, there is pain in his heart (cf. ; ). Is this the man whom He created so well? Is this the man to whom He did not retain, even after the Fall, His favors? The great wickedness of the people is not only evident from the heinous sin of intermingling their daughters with fallen angels, but is also evident from the lives of the decent people. The Lord Jesus speaks of life “in the days of Noah” and says of the lives of men in those days: “They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage” ( ). These are the ordinary things of life. But in the days of Noah, life consisted of that. God was not thought of. That kind of life also makes the wickedness of people great and is the reason for the flood. When the LORD sees this, He is sorry, or He repents, that he made man. God’s being sorry never has to do with acknowledging a wrong deed. God never does anything wrong. His being sorry indicates His feelings when He sees what man does with everything He has given him. He mourns about it. The element of regret about wrongdoing is not present here. If God repents something, it means that in His government He comes back to something He intends to do, but changes it, when He sees people behaving differently than He may expect. The same we see with Saul, of whom God also says that He is sorry or regrets that He has made him king ( ). The other sense of being sorry or regretting, that it would have been wrong of God to make him king, that He was mistaken, is not possible with God. Of him is true: “Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind [or: is sorry, regrets, repents]; for He is not a man that He should change His mind [or: is sorry, regrets, repents]” ( ; cf. ; ; ). God can be sorry in the sense that He returns to an intention to bless or punish man if the ways of man give cause to do so. A clear example of this can be found in Jeremiah 18: “At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy [it]; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent [or: will repent, Darby translation] concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant [it]; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better [or: will repent, Darby translation] of the good with which I had promised to bless it” ( ). Being sorry on the basis of a mistake is impossible, because God does not make mistakes. The being sorry of God referred to here, shows that man is not a puppet and God is not an unrelenting God. This does not affect the fact that God is omniscient and sovereign. That He is too. It does show how much God is involved with man. Even so that at some point He says: “I am become weary of relenting (or: repenting]” ( ). God gives people so many opportunities, every time they repent He postpones the judgment, but every time they corrupt it. Finally, He can no longer postpone judgment. This is evident here with Noah, although He still gives man a certain time to repent. He used the preaching of Noah, who is called “a preacher of righteousness” ( ). Even the senseless animals are included in the announced judgment. They are made for man to serve and honor God together with him, but because of man’s sin they no longer meet the purpose of their creation.

‏ Genesis 6:5-11

The Reason for the Flood

The LORD always has a reason for everything He does. He never does anything without cause. He does not always make known the reason for His actions, but sometimes He does, as here. Nothing is left of His good work on earth. Any hope of improvement has vanished. If He now looks at the earth, there is pain in his heart (cf. Psa 95:10; Isa 43:24). Is this the man whom He created so well? Is this the man to whom He did not retain, even after the Fall, His favors?

The great wickedness of the people is not only evident from the heinous sin of intermingling their daughters with fallen angels, but is also evident from the lives of the decent people. The Lord Jesus speaks of life “in the days of Noah” and says of the lives of men in those days: “They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage” (Lk 17:26-27). These are the ordinary things of life. But in the days of Noah, life consisted of that. God was not thought of. That kind of life also makes the wickedness of people great and is the reason for the flood.

When the LORD sees this, He is sorry, or He repents, that he made man. God’s being sorry never has to do with acknowledging a wrong deed. God never does anything wrong. His being sorry indicates His feelings when He sees what man does with everything He has given him. He mourns about it. The element of regret about wrongdoing is not present here. If God repents something, it means that in His government He comes back to something He intends to do, but changes it, when He sees people behaving differently than He may expect.

The same we see with Saul, of whom God also says that He is sorry or regrets that He has made him king (1Sam 15:11a ; 35). The other sense of being sorry or regretting, that it would have been wrong of God to make him king, that He was mistaken, is not possible with God. Of him is true: “Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind [or: is sorry, regrets, repents]; for He is not a man that He should change His mind [or: is sorry, regrets, repents]” (1Sam 15:29; cf. Rom 11:29; Num 23:19; Mal 3:6). God can be sorry in the sense that He returns to an intention to bless or punish man if the ways of man give cause to do so.

A clear example of this can be found in Jeremiah 18: “At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy [it]; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent [or: will repent, Darby translation] concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant [it]; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better [or: will repent, Darby translation] of the good with which I had promised to bless it” (Jer 18:7-10).

Being sorry on the basis of a mistake is impossible, because God does not make mistakes. The being sorry of God referred to here, shows that man is not a puppet and God is not an unrelenting God. This does not affect the fact that God is omniscient and sovereign. That He is too. It does show how much God is involved with man. Even so that at some point He says: “I am become weary of relenting (or: repenting]” (Jer 15:6). God gives people so many opportunities, every time they repent He postpones the judgment, but every time they corrupt it.

Finally, He can no longer postpone judgment. This is evident here with Noah, although He still gives man a certain time to repent. He used the preaching of Noah, who is called “a preacher of righteousness” (2Pet 2:5).

Even the senseless animals are included in the announced judgment. They are made for man to serve and honor God together with him, but because of man’s sin they no longer meet the purpose of their creation.

Noah, the Exception

Noah finds grace in the eyes of the LORD. What can that mean other than that he has also sought for it? Whoever seeks grace, is aware of judgment. Noah is no exception to all people as sinners. He also deserves to be judged. He is the exception in the midst of all corruption, because he acknowledges that God’s wrath rests on him. The result is that of him can be said that he is “a righteous man, blameless”. This is also evident from his walk, for he “walked with God”. It must have been a great joy for God that this man walks with Him in the midst of corruption and violence.