Genesis 6:6 Figurative or Literal?

Scripture clearly teaches that God does not change His mind. “For I am the LORD, I change not” Malachi 3:6 KJV.

In Numbers we read, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (23:19 KJV)

The Apostle James writes, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (1:17 KJV)

The three verses above state explicitly that God does not change His mind or repent as though He were making a mistake, backtracking, or trying a new approach. Yet, Genesis 6:6 says, “it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”

Keep in mind that one verse does not a doctrine make. Clearly Genesis 6:6 does not mean that God created humanity expecting human beings to follow Him, and He was dismayed when they didn’t and strayed.

The Bible uses figures of speech to accommodate human understanding. For example, the Bible uses anthropomorphism to ascribe physical attributes to God. The Apostle Peter refers to “the eyes of the Lord” (1 Peter 3:12), and the Apostle John mentions, the arm of the Lord (John 12:38), which depict God’s watchfulness and power respectively.

The Bible also uses anthropopathism to ascribe human feelings and passions to God. The words “repented” and “grieved” vividly portray, from a human perspective, God’s displeasure with man’s rebellion.

God’s written word uses anthropopathisms and anthropomorphisms to accommodate man’s inherent limitations and basic ignorance and to get a meaningful revelation through to him. A parent using “baby talk” to help toddlers understand more easily is another way to look at it.

The Bible uses words like “repented” and “grieved” after the manner of men to express God’s thoughts and actions. In other words, God graciously describes Himself as having human feelings, human passions, human thoughts, and human body parts to communicate effectively with man who would otherwise have no frame of reference.

Genesis 6:6 is figurative language, and not to be understood literally. God does not have eyes and arms because He is Spirit. Nor does He become emotional or get confounded over the depths of man’s depravity and wickedness because He knows everything that has happened or ever will happen and He inhabits the past, present, and future simultaneously.

The Millstone Diaries is dedicated to the truth that is of service to the Faith.

I.M. Kane

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God Is Not the Author of Sin, but He Causes It

God is the ultimate cause of everything, and He is neither responsible nor sinful. Whatever God does is just and right because righteousness is what God does.

God is the ultimate cause of sin, but is not its author. The immediate cause or author of sin is the one who commits it.

The laws that God imposes on men do not apply to Him because He is above law. God is the sovereign Creator, and He has absolute and unlimited rights over everything He created. He can make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor, and the vessel has no claim on Him.

God cannot be responsible for sin, even though He causes it. God’s causing Judas to betray Christ is not sinful. Judas, not God, betrayed Christ, and Judas, not God is the agent responsible for the sin. 

God doesn’t submit to law for no law is superior to Him. No law forbids Him from decreeing sinful acts to be carried out by secondary agents. 

Too often Christians have said that God permits sin, when the truth is He causes it. Scripture reveals how God decreed and caused the prophets of Ahab to lie:  

“I [Micaiah the prophet] saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner. Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do even so. Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee.” 2 Chronicles 18:18-22 KJV 

The sinner is the author of sin and is responsible for it. God cannot be responsible for causing sin because there are no superior or greater powers to hold Him accountable and punish Him, and there are no laws for Him to disobey. 

Peace.

I.M. Kane

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