Series: Foundations: A Study in Genesis

Does God Have Regrets?

April 20, 2023 | Pastor Robert Lee
Passage: Genesis 6:1-8

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years." 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. 5  The 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. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So 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." 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. (Genesis 6:1-8)

CROSS REFERENCES

  • 19  God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? (Numbers 23:19)
  • 11  You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)
  • 3  Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. (Psalm 115:3)

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. What were some of the highlights and lowlights of your week? Everyone needs to get a chance to answer!
  2. Often in our culture, we don’t think of ourselves as being “evil” or “wicked,” yet when the Lord looked upon humanity apart from Christ, it says that “The 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” (Gen. 6:5). If God sees that we are corrupted by evil, why is it so hard for us to see ourselves that way? And why do you think it’s important for us to come to grasp the depth of our sinfulness? What if we don’t?
  3. In Genesis 6:6, it says that “the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth,” yet in Numbers 23:19, using the same Hebrew word, it says that God is not like man “that He should change His mind.” How do passages like these expand our understanding of God’s glorious nature to see that there is no one like Him?
  4. Noah will be saved from the judgment to come, because he found “favor” in the eyes of the Lord. But so often, we care more about finding “favor” in the eyes of our family, friends, classmates, teammates, co-workers, teachers, and others more than with God. Why?
  5. How does a person find favor with God so that they will be saved from the coming judgment upon sin and evil?

Series Information


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