Nacham

When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved. Then the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.” Noah, however, found favor with the Lord.

Genesis 6:5-8 (CSB)

Have you ever looked around at the world and thought that it was evil and out of control? I have and on more than one occasion. I have often wondered what God must think when He looks down at all the things going in the world today? Surely it must bother Him. Has the world ever been this bad? Well, this passage from Genesis seems to suggest that it has.

This takes place right before God tells Noah to build an ark so that he and his family can escape the coming judgment. Looks what it says here. God saw that mankind was completely wicked and wanted to do nothing but evil. It does say that He found favor with Noah but it appears that the rest of humanity disgusted Him. Twice it says He regretted making man and that He was deeply grieved.

The English word “regret” is used to translate the Hebrew word נָחַם (nacham). It can mean “to be sorry” or “to console oneself” for a previous action. It can also mean “repent” depending upon the context. I find it incredibly fascinating that things had gotten so bad that God was sorry He had created us. He was so sorry that He decided to kill every living thing on the planet except for Noah, his family, and the animals that found shelter on the ark.

How bad was the world that God resorted to this? In my finite human mind it is hard for me to imagine a place so evil that it eclipses the wickedness our world has seen in just the last two centuries. I ask myself, “How can we possibly be better than the antediluvian world?” I don’t know that I can answer that. I also don’t know if that is even the correct question to ask in the first place. I imagine that God looks down on today’s world and is just as disturbed by what He sees. So what’s the difference?

This is pure speculation on my part but I believe it comes down to Jesus. Whatever was broken by mankind’s first sin was fixed on the cross. I can’t say for certain by in my mind when God looks down on us now He sees us through the eyes of Jesus. Jesus came to fix things. Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, wrote these words:

For God was pleased to have
all his fullness dwell in him,
and through him to reconcile
everything to himself,
whether things on earth or things in heaven,
by making peace
through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 1:19-20 (CSB)

God reconciles everything to Himself through Jesus. Jesus died not only to save us but to restore the world back to its original state. That will happen when he returns. Until then the world will continue to experience wickedness and people will continue to do evil. I don’t know why God has waited this long? I do know that He is patient and doesn’t want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). He promised that He would never destroy the world the way He did with the flood. He has also promised that all things will be made new (Revelation 21:5) when Jesus returns.

Does God still regret making us? While I cannot truly answer that I believe that He now looks down and sees us through the lens of the cross and that He looks forward to the day when we are no longer broken and fragile.

Grace and peace.